Islam

This week for my personal learning goal I spent time learning about Islam. I read that portion of the book: Idiot's Guide to World Religions. I found it very interesting and realized that there was actually a lot I didn't know about the religion. I found many parallels with Christianity that I did not know existed. I also am now more able to understand the way their culture works and possible reasons for their fundamentalist groups. This really opened my eyes to the religion, people, and culture of Islam and I am now encouraged to explore more world religions to try and understand our world and the people in it better.

Healthier Sleep Patterns

My personal learning goal for this week in response to chapter 9 was to try to adjust myself to healthier sleeping patterns. My objectives for this were to cut back on caffeine, go to bed earlier, and to not waste time in the mornings by sleeping in. The methods I used to achieve this goal were: avoid going to C-Store to avoid temptation of buying energy drinks, hence hopefully the lack of caffeine will let me fall asleep earlier, and to set multiple alarms in the morning to make sure I get up. I measured my success by realizing that I was more tired more often, although I did accomplish more throughout my week. My attitude has changed in that I think caffeine helps me however too much leads to poor sleep patterns. This directly relates to chapter 9 because it is a good example of self-regulated learning. I set up a Winne and Hadwin 4 phase model. I also realized how my environment affects my sleep patterns and what I can do to help regulate them which is an example of social cognition.