Week 1 Post 2

The office environment

1.     What are your work hours; how are you supervised.

I work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The office manager supervises me.

2.     Describe your work area.

My work area is a small room in the basement. Every staff member works in their own small space, and they use their telephones for communicating each other. In my room, there are a big desk, two monitors and a telephone. Every staff member is working with their two monitors. 

3.     Describe your daily routine.

I start with closing files. If new clients' consultations are appointed, the receptionist asks me to prepare a new file and preliminary documents for the consultation.  Everyday my work changes and increases.

4.     How is work initiated? Is it dictated, written out in longhand, sent to you by email or do you write your own correspondence, emails, etc.

My work is initiated by the dictation because I do not have my internal email. However, my lawyer always emphasizes that staff members must use their internal email for their communication in order to send messages correctly. 

5.      Have you done anything this week you particularly enjoyed or did not enjoy.

The immigration law and documentation are new for me, but I have enjoyed learning the new system. In addition, I was delighted to deal with the PC Law ledger. 

6.     Do you check voicemail?  Do you record your own voicemail greeting?  Do you answer the telephone?

I do not check voicemail and not record my own voicemail greeting. I do not answer the telephone.

School-related reflection

1.     In some courses, in place of exams, you have had quizzes, tests and portfolios. These were often completed outside of class, allowing you the opportunity to review your textbook and other resources.  Upon submission, you received instant feedback.  Would you have preferred an exam instead of the smaller, more frequent tests/quizzes/portfolio?  Did the quizzes/tests/ portfolios assist you in learning the theory?  Explain your answer.

For the effective learning, I need a repetitive training, and after the exam/quizzes/tests, I need sufficient time to correct my misunderstanding and master the concept. Portfolios are the most helpful for me to understand theories. 

2.     Was it helpful to have answer keys on the bulletin board?

I think answer keys on the bulletin board are the best way to learn the documentation.