All work that I had to do at home is now compleat. I only have to do assessments in class for English Lit., history and Spanish.

Today is review day on the Access course and what I thought about it.

OVERVIEW.

In a lot of ways I was very nervous about this course. First of all I had been away from education for 28 years and I did not know what to expect. On the first day I met previous students of this course and I felt a bit overwhelmed by what they had to say. I had left a secure job paying a good wage and I was starting to think, that maybe I had done the wrong thing. As the week progressed I started to settle in and realised this was just what I needed, something to push and challenge me. I had been a manager and was used to working to deadlines, time management and being focused on what I was doing. These skills were transferable to the learning process. The course has progressed at a good pace. Over the past year I have learned how to investigate topics on my own, work in a group, present my ideas, write essays, both critical and factual and also understanding a new language (to a certain extent.)

I found the tutors were very supportive and the subjects were interesting. English Lit was a struggle to begin with, but I now have a better understanding of poetry. All the other subjects have been very good. I found the trick was to keep an open mind and keep pushing myself. I am now near the end of the course and I can look over the past year with satisfaction and pride. I have put a lot of hard work into this and I am ready to reap the rewards, namely a place at Edinburgh Uni. I would never have been able to achieve this without this course.

All the subjects apart from Study skills felt relative to what I was doing. I have singled out Study skills because at first I thought the information i was getting was a bit daft e.g. "make sure you have a proper desk to study at, in your house" One of the best bits of advice I could have received. Study Skills does make sense after a while because it does give you the skills to learn. This might sound silly, but no matter how long you have been out of the education system, it is always good to be kept informed and hear about new ideas on how to make study more simplistic. What I liked about most of the topics was the fact that, after the tutors explained the subject with me , I then had to go and under my own steam, produce a written piece of work to reflect my understanding on the subject. Feed back was quick and the comments were always helpful.

I look back on the past year and I can see how I have improved. My thinking process and my outlook on life has changed along with my self esteem. I am now able to look forward and know that so many doors are going to be open to me. I really only have positive things to say about the course and the tutors on it. However, room changes and lack of facility's in some of the classrooms left both myself and the tutor perplexed. I felt that some of tutors were being a little lax with their deadlines. I would make sure that I would have my essays done on time, only to find out that others still had not started theirs. To me this defeated the purpose of setting a deadline. These are niggling details, as I have mentioned before, this course suited my needs.

The main thing I have learned on this course, is not to be afraid of new challenges. Ask, if I'm not sure. Keep focused and enjoy the experience. I have, throughout this year set myself targets and I have been able to achieve them. I now feel confident to say, "I'm going to be a University student."

College has given me the opportunity to see that I am more than a butcher and that I do have untapped knowledge and potential. I am now starting to formulate plans and ideas for my future that I would never have imagined last year would be possible.

Right then let's review my progress on the targets that I set myself for last time.

History: I have only one whole essay to do at home and to tidy up my personal project. My timetable for this is on track. Essay will be in on time 14/05/10 and personal project will be in the week after for Evan to evaluate. I'm on top of this and will finish by the end of May.

English Lit: Comparative essay was difficult, but I have this ready to hand in for 11/05/10. The class essay is still to be done. Therefore, I am on course to have this ended by May.

Spanish: Oral and writing to be done in class. These are the only I have. To combat this I am exploiting my Spanish friends and girlfriend. These are classroom exercises and will be completed in due course.

Maths: I only have half of outcome 4 to do and outcome 5, but outcome 5 is straight forward and I will be able to do that on 11/05/10. Outcome 4 on the other hand is on algebra, which is as clear as mud to me, so it might take a bit longer. I want to have this done by 18/05/10.

Yet again I am writing this to outline what I have left to do on this course and the timescale I will take to do this.

HISTORY: 2 essays on Germany. This will take me 1 week. Personal investigation, 2-3 weeks.

ENGLISH LIT: 3 essays. 2 at home, 1 in class, 5 weeks for all, this is a liberal estimate.

SPANISH: There are still 3 assessments left to do and the only one I have concerns with is the oral assessment. This should be compleated by the end of May.

All the above will be reviewed on a weekly basis to see if I'm on track.

Easter break is over and only 8 weeks left to go, Christ.
I can safely say that I have finished communication, investigating Europe and maths (well I'll leave that one for now.)
History is ongoing but I am making a start on the last 2 essays and I have a good understanding on the topic so I should find them easier than the previous ones. My own topic is ready to type, so I'm not to worried about this subject.
English Lit is another matter. I'm struggling with my comparative essay and I will have to talk to Maddy about this. My own critical essay is OK because I know the story well.
Spanish (when she can get back!) is still hard but I am doing enough to pass. Dose not seem to matter what I do I can't seem to get to grips with it.
Diacas class is still a good opportunity to raise any concerns regarding the course and to discover things that will help me study even at this late stage.
I have a meeting with Jordi to discuss the course so far.
All in all things have went a hell of a lot better than I thought they were going to go at the start of the course.

TIME TABLE FOR FORTH COMING ASSESSMENTS.

SUBJECT ASSESSMENT PLAN TO COMPLETE

SPANISH LISTENING THESE WILL BE DONE
ORAL ON SET DAYS AND I
WRITING CONTINUES STUDY.


COMMS 2 PRESENTATIONS READY TO DELIVER
2 OUTCOMES READY TO DELIVER


ENG. LIT. COMPARATIVE COMPLETE 1 OVER
ESSAYS EASTER THEN AS
THEY ARE REQUIRED.


HISTORY INVESTIGATION TO HAND IN AFTER
2 ESSAYS EASTER. ESSAYS
STILL TO BE ISSUED
2 WEEKS TO DO.


At the moment I have 2 outstanding assessments for communication but they will only take 3 days to finish and I will hand them in on Thursday.
English Lit. and history is still to be handed out but I have already started my history investigation. On average an essay takes me 2 weeks and I know that we have 2 essays for history after Easter so that is a month straight off. English is only 750 words so this will take me less time to complete. I confident that I will achieve the entire course work in the time allocated without getting stressed.

Been a while since I have done this, so I should have done what I set out to do last time.

Eng Lit: read Heart of Darkness, God it was hard going, not my type of book but I feel ready to answer questions on it. New poem by TS Elliot, that was a bit dark but it gave an insight into an Edwardian mans frame of mind. Expect there will be questions on this as well.

Spanish: Not getting any easier but I seem to be doing ok in the tests, just have to stick with it.

Communication: Done the group talk, went well, have my other 2 talks prepared and will do them on Thursday also hand in my 2 other written outcomes.

History: gearing up for the next essay which should be on Versilles Treaty and reading up on my personal investigation.

Study Skills: Not been for 2 weeks, so I will find out what I have missed on Monday.

Time for work

I have still got quite a bit of work to get through and I'm in the process of planning the work that I have to do for these subjects:

History: I am starting to research my topic I'm doing for my history investigation which will be formed as a question "Who were the Cockleshell Hero's."

Communication: I have to discuss (in a group) a topic that we have aggred on. This will be on the army and its changing face from the Falklands to the present day.
My other topic will be a powerpoint presentation on the Roman amphitheatre in El Jem Tunisia.

Spanish: This is my weakest subject and I'm a nervous about the oral presentation. I'm practising what I'm going to say which is ok but its the questions that will be asked after this. My problem is not understanding the question or how I want to answer it, its just trying to put my words in to Spanish. I'm trying to address this by talking more Spanish to Gema and getting her to correct me when I'm wrong, which is often.

English lit: Reading the "Heart of Darkness" which is interesting and I'm looking forward to the questions that will be related to it.

Communication skills: Bloggs are great.

My hopes are high on achieving all of the above and hearing from Edinburgh University about my course.

Monday 22.2.2010

A blog is for self reflection not a chore. This is quoted so many times I should be doing it without a prompt, but this is not the case. Oh well I'm bad. So lets catch up on what I've done.

English Lit: 2 weeks ago I felt like sticking pins in my eyes because it was so boring. The same topic was repeated over and over instead of letting us getting on with the work in hand. Last week was much better. We sat a mock assessment, this is much better suited to me, I learn about tnhe subject then do a written piece of work on what I have learned instead of going around the houses with it. I also get feedback on how I'm doing, good or bad.

Spanish: The last 2 weeks have been pretty intensive, learning the past verbs, but this is to get us ready for the assessments this week. Once again I am confident with the reading and listening but the speaking, well I know what I want to say and I know how to say it but my mouth just lets me down at the last second and I speak gibberish. MUCH MORE PRACTICE needed. I am in the proccess of talking to Gema in baby spanish and she is helping me with my pronunsiation.

Study Skills: Twice I have had to do a stand up presentation without preperation, I found this ok because I'm able to think on my feet but it useful to keep this skill alive.

History: Missed last week due to illness but I have been told that I had passed the assessment we had the week before.

Communication: Again due to illness I had missed this lesson, but I got the asignment online and I'm in proccess of doing it. The week before I had to do a spur of the momment presentation with only 5 mins preperation, again not a problem with this.

All in all the course is still pushing me and I'm learning all the time. This is what I enjoy.

Hows it going.

I'm still sticking with my overall plan and it's going quite well apart from my old enemy; SPANISH. I Know why this is, I'm not taking advantage of my Spanish girlfriend well not in the that way, I really should be doing more oral exercises with her. On a serious note though, I am starting to use my Spanish at home and in company even although I'm told that I sound like a Spanish retard (in a nice way) but I will persevere.

History assessment went well (I hope) because I had prepared for it and I knew what I wanted to say.

Had to do a couple of stand up presentations at short notice, this was not as traumatic for me as it was for others. I don't have a problem with this type of exercise but it is good to get feed back on how I come across to other people.

English Lit (once we get a proper room, this is fast turning from joke to farce) is still OK.

Looking back at last weeks blog I see that I was able to stick to my time table and by doing this I was able to hand in my history project on time and well written. I had a major breakthrough in Spanish, I now understand verbal endings and I'm now using small sentences in the house. I will start forming longer sentences as my confidence grows but I will introduce a planned topic to talk about every day for an hour using present and past tense and have a bit of fun doing this.

As I said history is up to date with essays and I'm confident about the up coming assessment. The history investigation is a bit more difficult and by Friday I will have come up with a topic question to focus on.

I had said that I would have finished maths last week, this was very optimistic for me but I only have to go to the drop in centre once to complete this part of the course, this will free more time to focus on other subjects.

English Lit. is a bit up in the just now as I don't know when or what the assessments are going to be on but this should be rectified on Tuesday.

Scott in communication has told me exactly what the assessment comprises of, 2 oral presentations, again I will have chosen the topics by Thursday.

Tuesday nights are free now as I have passed my ESOL course and got the certificate to prove it (whose a cleaver boy.)

My main priorities comprise of; finding topics to write and talk about for history and communication respectively and to continue handing in good quality work on time.

Goals for spanish; go through and learn the hand outs after spanish lessons and to use the topics in conversation with my partner so that I'm more confident during the lessons.
Overall the past week has been good. I have only one outcome in maths to do and I will finnish that on Friday then that will be maths compleated. The history essay I am working on will be handed in on time on Friday and I am also starting my history investigation, this will have to fit into my new timetable.

I have set aside 4 hours every day for study and essay writting;
Sunday- 2 hours Spanish, 2 Hours history.
Monday-2 hours Spanish, 2 hours english.
Tuesday-night off.
Wedensday-2 hours Spanish, 2 hours history.
Thursday-2 hours communication work.
Friday-2 hours Spanish.
Satarday-Off.

This is a flexable time table and will change as required depending on my work load at college. I feel that it is important to have time away from study as much as study its self and I'm sure that keeping to this timetable will make life more easy and study more productive.

Reflective Thoughts
Over the past week I have had time to look back not only at the past week but also since I have started this course.Although there are different subjects they are now starting to crossover into each other and I'm now able to use the transferable skills learnt in those subjects, eg. learning how to pick out what is important in texts, how to be subjective and critical when writing essays, being able to find out information from different sources and how to implement these findings on my own with little or no direction from tutors.A lot of the skills I'm using now, I used in my past life as a butchery manager, eg. Timemanagement and problem solving.Skills I thought I had lost are now being refreshed, such as, writing reports, giving detailed accounts and retrieving important information from different agency's. All this was done when I was a member of the children's panel.When I'm given homework or I have to undertake an essay or project, I'm now able to set targets on when I complete them.Short term, I have to set targets for Spanish verbs, therefor I'm starting to practice a set amount every night and also gain confidence speaking Spanish, so I have started talking to my Spanish girlfriend in Spanish for an hour every night.Maths is a different kettle of fish. There is no easy fix with this. Best way is to ask, ask,ask and ask again.
Posted

Getting better

Getting better
New things to think about and ways to achieve them.I'm still finding Spanish a problem, as I have said before, not so much the reading but the writing and saying.I Know a lot of words in Spanish but it's just trying to get them in the right order with the right verb ending.There are lots of different lessons on line and I have to admit that I have been lazy and that I now understand that I will have to put much more effort into this topic. I enjoy the subject and starting this week I will be doing a lot more online studying. I feel that I'm falling behind and that i should be at a higher level than I am. This is my own fault and I know I will really have to work hard at this if I want to pass the course.English Lit. has been a good topic because of the energy that Madeline has for it. Work being set is quite challenging for me because I have not done this before, this is the main reason why I like it. I am finding that the skills in this subject crossover into other subjects.The written assessment I had done before the holidays had some good comments and the few areas that needed my attention were only to expand on my answers. I now know what is expected and I also know where I have to concentrate on my answers. I have to read a short story and be prepared to answer questions on this. I feel that I'm ready for this and I'm looking forward to it.Communication is another subject I enjoy and I'm finding the assessments quite straightforward eventhough I'm having to come up with my own ideas instead of waiting for Scott to tell me what to write. Scott has also given me feedback and again I know what is expected. I will compleat my second assessment before Thursdays class incorporating the feedback I got on the last one.I have not been to maths for a few weeks now due to holidays and personal issues. I will go to the maths drop in centre to check what I have missed and if the work I have been doing is ok.Investigating Europe has taken a twist due to the fact that I changed my project topic from bullfighting to the region of Valencia. Joe was fine about this and I will have the first draft ready for him to read in 2 weeks time. I spend an hour on this each night and I will be this disiplined with Spanish.Study skills has given me some very good advice on learning skills and I'm going to start reading aloud and listening to myself as I do Spanish excersises.I have always been interested in history. Evan has the same energy as Madaline and I found writting an essay about Chartism very interesting because of the research I had to do. I am waiting for his feedback and where I need to improve.I will be sitting down with my girlfriend later on today to sort out a timetable. This will include time for; study, gym, shopping, housework, eating, socialising and sex.
Posted

Go on my son

well that was a week an a half.Handed in my European project,Joe was pleased with it, just need to tweek it a little bit and I'll be happy with it.I have written out my application for Uni, but that needs to be tweeked.Finnished of my assesment for English Lit and looking forward to the next topic.got word from scott that have passed the 2 Written assignments. VVV happy 'bout that.handed in my history essay, not to happy with it,could have put more detail into it, but ran out of time. Lesson learnt, be more aware of the time and what I have to do. I'll see what sort of feed back I get from Even.Spanish oral. I done a lot better than I thought I would, but verbs let me down. I will have to spend 1 hour a night with verbs and using them in written sentaces.This week is the first week I've felt pressureised in handing in my work. Maybe it was my time management or the amount of work was a real strain, but I done it and I'm still having a ball.I'm starting to see the results of my wrk and I must addmit, I'm proud of myself, but as always there are areas I must work harder in and I have taken on board some of the tips offered in Diacas class .

On my way

Where to start.... it's been a busy couple of weeks for the whole class, but the Christmas break is nearly here so, not that much left to do.Investigating Europe is done and dusted, just my presentation to do and I'm not to worried about that.English Lit. is more interesting, Madaline is still as daft as a brush.Maths is a work in progress. It's as hard now as it was when I was at school but I'm getting there, slowly but surely and with some more study I should be on to out come 4 this Friday.Communication is going well. Passed my 2 assessments and I'm now working on an essay about the for and against reasons for capital punishment, under the catchy title of "Life or Death".I will use my next history essay for the second part of the written work in communication.History is still by far and away the most enjoyable subject, mainly due to Evan. I have an essay to hand in next Friday and I will make sure that I use the lesson I learnt in the last one: plan it, make time for it and do not get bogged down in a different topic.Spanish can still cause nights of tongue twisting and spitting, but I have past my 2 oral assessments, so it must be sinking in. This is the subject that is most difficult for me and I really have to use my partner more, not for oral although she is Spanish therefore I should have no excuse.Study skills is where the action is at the moment though. Diaca has been doing great work to help with our personal statements for UCAS. She has berated, harassed and cajoled us along the way in an almost motherly sort of way, more or less like Alecia, must be a Spanish thing.Without their help though I don't think many of us would have done the UCAS form or be able to say "Tiene una mesa libre para dos, por favor".All that is left now is for Diaca to write a glowing report and for a University to say "OK then" and of course, I have to pass the rest of coursework.Jordi will be meeting with us next week and we might be able to get some feed back from him concerning the reports our tutors have given us.Oh it's all so EXCITING.

Uni or Bust

University has become a step closer now as I have now sent off my UCAS form.I am proud of what I have achieved in such a short time.Anyway back to the course. Everything is going well and I am managing all the work that has been set. I have had very positive feed back from my tutors. This goes to show that hard work and perseverance does pay off.Christmas break is now hear and I must be sad because I am starting to look forward to coming back already.

New Year, New Term

This is going to be a more reflective blog this time around, looking at what I have done and what I am now going to do to go forward.

SPANISH

I find this subject to be the biggest challenge of all. However I am able to read and understand what is being said. Speaking is an ongoing process but with learning a new language It shows me the amount of study I have to do to keep all the information fresh.Overall I want to be able to hold a simple conversation in Spanish which I know I will be able to do by the end of this course and with the work we are doing this is not an unrealistic task.

COMMUNICATION

This is very good for self confidence and learning how to put my thoughts and ideas onto paper. The essay skills, especially the critical reading and writing exercises are good and I am able to transfer these skills to other subjects.

LITERATURE

Poetry was my first introduction into literature and at first I thought it was a load of rubbish, but after a couple of weeks I started to get into it. Learning how to dissect a piece of writing, analyse, criticise and formulate answers makes the understanding of how poetry and other styles of writing work more enjoyable. I am looking forward to the short story section because I am better equiped to deal with the work that will be set out.

HISTORY

History has shaped our lifes and I find this the most interesting subject. I have handed in all essays and I am getting good feed back on all of them. I have an essay to hand in on 22nd Jan so I will set aside an hour a night to compleat this task.

COMPUTING

This is an ongoing subject but it enables me to be more confident in using them.

MATHS

Nearly at the end of this subject and I am surprised at how well I have done. I am able to problem solve now!!!!!!!!!!!

INVESTIGATING EUROPE

Compleated this subject and it has taught me so much. I was able to use the skills I have learnt in; Communication, Literature and History into practice along with self investigation, time management, goal setting and individual learning.