In an Expo this HUGE (ULTIMATE) if I didn’t have some system of organization it would become way too overwhelming and I’d miss out on a LOT that is available. Read below to see how I’m doing it. And if you aren’t registered for the Expo yet, click here or the banner to get your ticket.
Yesterday I was only able to "attend" one live session. Cris and Katherine Loop spoke on Socialization. The topic garnered a lot of interest and the attenders were blessed.
On the Members Site I made it through the "I’s". It’s helping that I know many of the vendors already, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time at their sites learning about them. But I did run into a few that I was unfamiliar with. After skimming through them, I bookmarked and downloaded the information of the ones I am interested in, to check them out further during a less hectic week.
I also took an hour away by myself for some quiet time to think through my topic I’ll be speaking on Fri. afternoon. Though the outline is completed, I still need to think through the presentation. I will need a bit more of that quiet time today and/or tomorrow. So that means I will miss more sessions, during the bit of "free" time I have.
A friend and I also took the afternoon to go visit our local used book store. (Which is why I didn’t make it to any other sessions.) But, as usual, even though "I really didn’t find anything", I walked out $50 poorer in cash and richer in great classic books.
All my Mommy Grab Bag and other downloads are organized, and I thought I’d share with you what I did. It may be helpful for you too. I created a folder called UHSE. Inside that folder I created folders for each company that I downloaded from, and saved all their resources in that folder. (Some only have one, but this way I know where it is from. The titles don’t always tell.) By organizing them in this way nothing will get lost in the glut of other educational resources I already have on my computer, and I will go through the UHSE folder as time allows.
I download pretty much everything, then read through them (when I get a chance) and decide if they’ll be helpful to us or not. If I think so, I move them to my regular education folders, based on area of study (history, science, art, etc.) I have a special folder in each of those called "samples", for those things that aren’t really usable as they are, but I am possibly interested in ordering. Then when I’m planning a study I look through those folders and pick what we can use for that study, and what I’m going to order (if anything).
I bookmark any site I want to get back to to learn more about the company and their products – in my regular bookmarks, set up by area of study. I also set up a bookmark folder for UHSE which has my links to the Vendors, Seminars, and Mommy Grab Bag, and my Affiliate account. Also in that folder I have bookmarked the "Specials" page of any of the special offers I may want to take advantage of, so I don’t forget them.
The other organizing you’ll want to do is to take the schedule Cindy sent us (of the speakers) and print it out. (I’m in her time zone. But if you aren’t, mark YOUR times for each session.) Mark the sessions you REALLY want to attend. Circle them in red or something.
Even better put the sessions on your computer/Palm – handheld calendar and set alarms for each session you don’t want to miss. You can put all the sessions on your calendar, or just those that you REALLY want to attend. If you just put the ones that are high priority on your calendar, with alarms, still keep the sheet with all sessions, just in case you get a lull in your day and you think, "I could listen now. I wonder what they’re talking about."
For sessions that I’m really too busy to "attend", but I’m not doing something that requires full concentration (i.e. I’m not teaching the children, and they are not trying to work on book work) I’ll turn the session on. Even though I’m not sitting right there, I catch bits and snippets here and there as I go about my other responsibilities. This helps me know which sessions I really want to listen to when the audios become available. Remember to also sign up for the RSS feed so all sessions will come into your podcasts on iTunes. Then they will all be there waiting for you and you won’t miss any.
For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
Order Christian & Home Ed Resources here
Get future posts to this blog by email:
Search
Subscribe to our feed
0