Well, the private classes went OK last week so I’m not going to starve to death…yet. We’ve just had Dieca telling us a bit more about the UCAS application process so I’ve got to write a personal statement for that….pressure!
We watched a fascinating yet tragic documentary about the Guerre Civil. We then started reading “La Lengua de las Mariposas” in class. This was difficult…I felt we worried about individual vocab items and didn’t concentrate on the more general aspects – the story, the characters. It was also complicated by the fact that the author seemed to jump about in time on the 1st page…the main character was in school then worrying about starting school. Also the PRETÉRITO IMPERFECTO is the same in 1st & 3rd person, which made it tricky to know who the subject was!
However, I did get a basic feel for the 2 principal characters…and on Saturday morning I managed to read the whole story! Of course, I didn’t understand every word but I followed the tale which is the most important thing!
Other than that, nothing much of note!
Monday, 16 November 2009
Monday, 9 November 2009
Monday 9th Nov
Last week was a bit of a financial disaster: no hope of extra financial support from the college, TLI won’t continue the evening classes, and the potential study at Riccarton was cancelled. That triple whammy hit me fairly hard: do I judge success by money alone? Well, no but I’d like enough to have a life! Maybe I am discovering more about the reality of student hardship. We’ll see how the private class idea works out but I guess I might have to start looking for bar work!
Enjoyed a good chat with Scottish Anna in the literature class, and it’s true that explaining your understanding of something to another person can strengthen your own understanding, and occasionally make you realise some gaps in your knowledge. I’m looking forward to doing more short story review work. I never really did suss out the Queen of Sheeba / King Solomon reference though!
The role plays in French have been great fun and I’m still pleased with how much had been implanted deep within my mind! However, I need to keep working on new vocab: car – la voiture, and what was meat??? Maybe just order boef!
Popped in to see Joe and had a brief chat about progress. I didn’t do enough last week, but I really didn’t feel like working on Thursday after the money disappointments, and the weekend??!! This week I’ll finish the History section, and do some research & planning on the Symbol of Catalonia.
Scott’s communication class has been fascinating of late: Calvinism, the Enlightenment, David Hume et al. Perhaps I should try and study Scottish history?? I didn’t finish the Hume assignment in class and this was good….The last time I pushed myself to finish my writing within the class time, and although I passed without problem I feel that I rushed the work. Better to take one’s time and experience higher levels of satisfaction.
I find Maths a very pleasant way of starting a Friday morning – it is logical captain, and there is a definite answer to be found. Onto Pythagoras and his groovy triangles!
After all my moaning about Chartism, Evan thought it was excellent and actually read out a section in class. Pleasing but a bit embarrassing!
Enjoyed a good chat with Scottish Anna in the literature class, and it’s true that explaining your understanding of something to another person can strengthen your own understanding, and occasionally make you realise some gaps in your knowledge. I’m looking forward to doing more short story review work. I never really did suss out the Queen of Sheeba / King Solomon reference though!
The role plays in French have been great fun and I’m still pleased with how much had been implanted deep within my mind! However, I need to keep working on new vocab: car – la voiture, and what was meat??? Maybe just order boef!
Popped in to see Joe and had a brief chat about progress. I didn’t do enough last week, but I really didn’t feel like working on Thursday after the money disappointments, and the weekend??!! This week I’ll finish the History section, and do some research & planning on the Symbol of Catalonia.
Scott’s communication class has been fascinating of late: Calvinism, the Enlightenment, David Hume et al. Perhaps I should try and study Scottish history?? I didn’t finish the Hume assignment in class and this was good….The last time I pushed myself to finish my writing within the class time, and although I passed without problem I feel that I rushed the work. Better to take one’s time and experience higher levels of satisfaction.
I find Maths a very pleasant way of starting a Friday morning – it is logical captain, and there is a definite answer to be found. Onto Pythagoras and his groovy triangles!
After all my moaning about Chartism, Evan thought it was excellent and actually read out a section in class. Pleasing but a bit embarrassing!
Monday, 2 November 2009
Monday 2nd Nov
Hooray! I'm have a multimodal (ARK) learning preference.
Strongest in Reading & Writing, closely followed by Kinesthetic, then Aural with Visual coming in last. I'd say that makes me quite a 'traditional' learner: I like to be able to read the words and make my own deductions. Of course I also like to be able to ask questions and hear the answer. When it comes to understanding some physical processes I want to be able to touch or physically interact to feel how something works.
Strongest in Reading & Writing, closely followed by Kinesthetic, then Aural with Visual coming in last. I'd say that makes me quite a 'traditional' learner: I like to be able to read the words and make my own deductions. Of course I also like to be able to ask questions and hear the answer. When it comes to understanding some physical processes I want to be able to touch or physically interact to feel how something works.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Fri 30th Sep
Been a wee while but that's because of the mid-term break.
This week has been a bit mixed:
On Monday we looked at PowerPoint in study skills, which was useful & easy.
Later in Spanish we did a wee bit of unreal conditionals which requires the use of the subjunctivo imperfecto (or something!). Anyway I seemed to remember it without too much hassle.
The Literature assessment I’d done before the holiday was fine and we’re going on to look at short stories. That should be good!
And Scott was pleased with my Communication assessment so that’s out the way. We watched a fascinating programme about the Calvinist influence on the Scottish psyche in preparation for a listening assessment. I’m looking forward to that too.
I finally finished my Chartism essay on Thursday, but today Evan told us more of what we should have included…seems a bit unfair. I handed my work in anyway, and we’ll see what he makes of it.
I also tried the Spanish listening homework on the Stevenson virtual campus thing…a challenging listening but there were really badly organised and worded exercises. I got most of the answers in the end, but left feeling hacked off!
This week has been a bit mixed:
On Monday we looked at PowerPoint in study skills, which was useful & easy.
Later in Spanish we did a wee bit of unreal conditionals which requires the use of the subjunctivo imperfecto (or something!). Anyway I seemed to remember it without too much hassle.
The Literature assessment I’d done before the holiday was fine and we’re going on to look at short stories. That should be good!
And Scott was pleased with my Communication assessment so that’s out the way. We watched a fascinating programme about the Calvinist influence on the Scottish psyche in preparation for a listening assessment. I’m looking forward to that too.
I finally finished my Chartism essay on Thursday, but today Evan told us more of what we should have included…seems a bit unfair. I handed my work in anyway, and we’ll see what he makes of it.
I also tried the Spanish listening homework on the Stevenson virtual campus thing…a challenging listening but there were really badly organised and worded exercises. I got most of the answers in the end, but left feeling hacked off!
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Tues 13th Oct
Just a quick note as I had to charge into town to pick up tickets for Nick Cave's reading tonight and so I'm not at the library!
We had the first assesment in Literature today. Although I believe my analysis of the poem was good, I found it very difficult to write about how the work had effected me on a more personal level. On first reading the poem, I felt that it did move & touch me but, following my disection of the poem I found it difficult to recall those feelings. It was as though the act of considering the individual elements reduced the power of the complete work.
Perhaps next time I should start by noting down my the emotions the poem stirs within!
We had the first assesment in Literature today. Although I believe my analysis of the poem was good, I found it very difficult to write about how the work had effected me on a more personal level. On first reading the poem, I felt that it did move & touch me but, following my disection of the poem I found it difficult to recall those feelings. It was as though the act of considering the individual elements reduced the power of the complete work.
Perhaps next time I should start by noting down my the emotions the poem stirs within!
Monday, 12 October 2009
Monday 12th October
OK, here are the notes I took on Friday night in the pub on last week's antics:
Study Skills: it's well meaning & theoretically but I would prefer more practical work. I spoke to Dieca today about PowerPoint, and she said we will look at it after the mid-term break. So, I guess that was a good active thing to do!
Spanish: Jordi praised my essay on "Los Problemas de los Jovenes" but I feel I'm still making too many mistakes with SER & ESTAR...need to de revision! And carless mistakes with noun/adjective agreement...I think I need to print my work out and have a good look at it before I hand it in..... I came in early this morning and printed it, but now I need to find quiet time to read it!!
Literature: My work on "Valentine" received good marks which was pleasing as it had been written while suffering from flu, and I didn't feel it was really 'me'. I'm quite enjoying the experience of being guided through the murky world of poetry analysis. We're getting some kind of in-class assessment tomorrow, and that should be a very interesting experience!
French: No problems in class, and it's fascinating discovering the little bits of French that have been floating about my mind all these years! I still reckon French is somewhere between the 'purer' Latin languages (Italian, Spanish & Portuguese) and our 'bastard, mongrel' English! I need to do more revision....trouble is the classes aren't so difficult for me and I enjoy having to 'lower' my communicative levels!
Investigating Europe: Joe is a good guy and he approves of my project plans! Perhaps more importantly, he's given the official checks I require so I don't have to attend the class every week. That could provide a useful lunch break, as I'm teaching on a Wednesday evening. It was good fun going through the Barca games and reading up about key moments in the Spanish press & Sid Little's columns in The Guardian. I MUST FIND SOME SPANIARDS TO INTERVIEW & GET THE INTRO WRITTEN!!
Communication: We did a pre-assessment assessment but I won't get feedback till Thursday. I think I wrote too much of an essay, whereas Scott wanted something with more individual answers to the questions. Problem was I started writing the summary and found my style, so I wanted to continue in the same vein, and try to link the various points I should have taken notes to plan my specific answers I guess. I noticed that Chris was writing by hand, rather than using the computer like everyone else. He said that he gets distracted by spell checks, and loses his chain of thought...hhmmm.
Maths: I succesfully passed the geometry section, which I was pleased about as I'd had some problems with the vertical & horizontal aspects. I guessI'm not a spatial learner, well not in 2 dimensions anyway! Happily boogying through the algebraic stuff now. Should I complete Outcome 3 in the mid-term week? Will it speed things up? What exactly is the "Maths Investigation" all about then??
History: Well, we've been given our first writing assignment - 4 sides on The Chartists of all people! I think they were a bunch of middle-class people who organised demonstrations in favour of parliamentary reform...but Evan said they failed. He gave us a couple of articles to start us off, and it will be good to be able to write about a new subject without too much input from the teacher!
Study Skills: it's well meaning & theoretically but I would prefer more practical work. I spoke to Dieca today about PowerPoint, and she said we will look at it after the mid-term break. So, I guess that was a good active thing to do!
Spanish: Jordi praised my essay on "Los Problemas de los Jovenes" but I feel I'm still making too many mistakes with SER & ESTAR...need to de revision! And carless mistakes with noun/adjective agreement...I think I need to print my work out and have a good look at it before I hand it in..... I came in early this morning and printed it, but now I need to find quiet time to read it!!
Literature: My work on "Valentine" received good marks which was pleasing as it had been written while suffering from flu, and I didn't feel it was really 'me'. I'm quite enjoying the experience of being guided through the murky world of poetry analysis. We're getting some kind of in-class assessment tomorrow, and that should be a very interesting experience!
French: No problems in class, and it's fascinating discovering the little bits of French that have been floating about my mind all these years! I still reckon French is somewhere between the 'purer' Latin languages (Italian, Spanish & Portuguese) and our 'bastard, mongrel' English! I need to do more revision....trouble is the classes aren't so difficult for me and I enjoy having to 'lower' my communicative levels!
Investigating Europe: Joe is a good guy and he approves of my project plans! Perhaps more importantly, he's given the official checks I require so I don't have to attend the class every week. That could provide a useful lunch break, as I'm teaching on a Wednesday evening. It was good fun going through the Barca games and reading up about key moments in the Spanish press & Sid Little's columns in The Guardian. I MUST FIND SOME SPANIARDS TO INTERVIEW & GET THE INTRO WRITTEN!!
Communication: We did a pre-assessment assessment but I won't get feedback till Thursday. I think I wrote too much of an essay, whereas Scott wanted something with more individual answers to the questions. Problem was I started writing the summary and found my style, so I wanted to continue in the same vein, and try to link the various points I should have taken notes to plan my specific answers I guess. I noticed that Chris was writing by hand, rather than using the computer like everyone else. He said that he gets distracted by spell checks, and loses his chain of thought...hhmmm.
Maths: I succesfully passed the geometry section, which I was pleased about as I'd had some problems with the vertical & horizontal aspects. I guessI'm not a spatial learner, well not in 2 dimensions anyway! Happily boogying through the algebraic stuff now. Should I complete Outcome 3 in the mid-term week? Will it speed things up? What exactly is the "Maths Investigation" all about then??
History: Well, we've been given our first writing assignment - 4 sides on The Chartists of all people! I think they were a bunch of middle-class people who organised demonstrations in favour of parliamentary reform...but Evan said they failed. He gave us a couple of articles to start us off, and it will be good to be able to write about a new subject without too much input from the teacher!
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Tuesday 6th
I'd like to write a wee piece, but I'm not going to try and wade through all those various sections we were given by Dieca...sorry, I feel it's more important to try and access my learning thoughts and all those different areas to consider just put me off a bit!
French – I’m happy with my progress, and some long lost memories of those 80s classes are slowly filtering back. I reckon Monsieur Boyer buggered up my chances of getting anywhere with the language back in 3rd year…but that was then! I feel I’m OK with the numbers and expressing likes & dislikes was fun.
Spanish – No problem with speaking in class, and I think a lot of the other students come in from school! No wonder they look so young! I’m fine with the imperative Habla (tú) Hable (Usted) Hablad (vosotros) y Hablen (Ustedes) but I’m still a bit confused about the impersonal se…do we just use it when talking in general and writing general instructions?? What is the difference between se habla y hablase??
Big Cheer to Bill for showing me how to change keyboard settings so I can get Spanish letters!
History – generally interesting and Evan is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher. His descriptions of the Renaissance & Reformation were most illuminating. I do find it a little frustrating when we just have to sit and listen; memories of Mr Small. I guess that is something I’ll have to get used to in lectures though!
Literature – Madeleine seemed to like my essay on “Valentine”, which is good as it was produced under flu like conditions! And, hooray, we’re going to get an in-class assessment next week!!! I think a lot of people are getting a bit fed up with all the theory stuff, and want the chance to demonstrate their abilities and get some real feedback. Surf or die, baby!!!
French – I’m happy with my progress, and some long lost memories of those 80s classes are slowly filtering back. I reckon Monsieur Boyer buggered up my chances of getting anywhere with the language back in 3rd year…but that was then! I feel I’m OK with the numbers and expressing likes & dislikes was fun.
Spanish – No problem with speaking in class, and I think a lot of the other students come in from school! No wonder they look so young! I’m fine with the imperative Habla (tú) Hable (Usted) Hablad (vosotros) y Hablen (Ustedes) but I’m still a bit confused about the impersonal se…do we just use it when talking in general and writing general instructions?? What is the difference between se habla y hablase??
Big Cheer to Bill for showing me how to change keyboard settings so I can get Spanish letters!
History – generally interesting and Evan is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher. His descriptions of the Renaissance & Reformation were most illuminating. I do find it a little frustrating when we just have to sit and listen; memories of Mr Small. I guess that is something I’ll have to get used to in lectures though!
Literature – Madeleine seemed to like my essay on “Valentine”, which is good as it was produced under flu like conditions! And, hooray, we’re going to get an in-class assessment next week!!! I think a lot of people are getting a bit fed up with all the theory stuff, and want the chance to demonstrate their abilities and get some real feedback. Surf or die, baby!!!
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