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.
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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.
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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.