Dark and misty 5-6pm run. No bloody light at the Links!
3* full meadows with The Cramps. So 11.25 kms in 1 hour. Feel fine so far...
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Sun 6 November
NEW DIRECTION...RUNNING!!
Today I did a hungover jog - 2* full meadows + half low + up Mid Meadows walk to Bristo SQ. Total about 10. Time 1hr. crisp clear day. Later had cycle round Hollyrood.
Last weekend nought as was at Helen's wedding.
Tues...good jog/run just 2 low with a dash at the end.
Thurs..started jog 1 full, then ran low with sprint. Need to forget sprints until more strength built up!
Today I did a hungover jog - 2* full meadows + half low + up Mid Meadows walk to Bristo SQ. Total about 10. Time 1hr. crisp clear day. Later had cycle round Hollyrood.
Last weekend nought as was at Helen's wedding.
Tues...good jog/run just 2 low with a dash at the end.
Thurs..started jog 1 full, then ran low with sprint. Need to forget sprints until more strength built up!
Friday, 21 May 2010
Evaluation
I came back to Edinburgh to do this course as a highly motivated individual, but also with a lot of fears, worries and uncertainties. I knew I wanted to get into Uni and I knew this course would put me back into the learning environment. I was fairly confident that I would be able to adapt my ‘teacher’ lifestyle to being a student without too many problems. My expectations? I guess I had hoped for something more academic, but that’s to do with the path I wish to follow. Clearly, there has to be a practical element to this course.
One of the most positive experiences was meeting and getting on with my class mates, many of whom are considerably younger than I. It was great learning to work together, and being able to help some people. Hopefully, I can also say I won the respect of my teachers! Other good points were that I became comfortable on the ‘other side’ of the classroom and used that freedom to investigate the directions I felt to be interesting, as well as what I had to.
The course could be improved by:
• Microsoft Word tutorial at beginning of course
• Essay writing tutorial near beginning of course
• The 2 points above could be used to prepare for writing the UCAS personal statement
• Separate English language component for non-native speakers
• Clearer guidance about plagiarism – still a lot of fear & uncertainty
• A clear document for each subject detailing assessments & assignments to be passed; Scott had an excellent one for Communication
My own performance has been above satisfactory! I have passed all elements of the course without undue effort or stress, although the level did allow me to take certain liberties: I should have worked harder on my notes taking. I have remained generally motivated and patient; and have tried to look on the bright side when faced with adversary and disheartenment. I have tried to help my peers both when I am in college, and through email. Since Easter, things have dragged a little and I’ve felt frustrated with some of the restrictions placed on the course content by the practicality of exam preparation.
I'd say that I have learned more about myself and my learning processes than anything of great significance within the subjects. Maths & French served to remind me of skills I had studied before. Literature & History extended the level and scope of my abilities within these subjects. Communication confirmed some of my strengths. Spanish challenged me to convert my knowledge into more accurate constructions. I fine tuned my abilities to make and keep commitments, to set workable timetables and to prioritize.
Live long and prosper
One of the most positive experiences was meeting and getting on with my class mates, many of whom are considerably younger than I. It was great learning to work together, and being able to help some people. Hopefully, I can also say I won the respect of my teachers! Other good points were that I became comfortable on the ‘other side’ of the classroom and used that freedom to investigate the directions I felt to be interesting, as well as what I had to.
The course could be improved by:
• Microsoft Word tutorial at beginning of course
• Essay writing tutorial near beginning of course
• The 2 points above could be used to prepare for writing the UCAS personal statement
• Separate English language component for non-native speakers
• Clearer guidance about plagiarism – still a lot of fear & uncertainty
• A clear document for each subject detailing assessments & assignments to be passed; Scott had an excellent one for Communication
My own performance has been above satisfactory! I have passed all elements of the course without undue effort or stress, although the level did allow me to take certain liberties: I should have worked harder on my notes taking. I have remained generally motivated and patient; and have tried to look on the bright side when faced with adversary and disheartenment. I have tried to help my peers both when I am in college, and through email. Since Easter, things have dragged a little and I’ve felt frustrated with some of the restrictions placed on the course content by the practicality of exam preparation.
I'd say that I have learned more about myself and my learning processes than anything of great significance within the subjects. Maths & French served to remind me of skills I had studied before. Literature & History extended the level and scope of my abilities within these subjects. Communication confirmed some of my strengths. Spanish challenged me to convert my knowledge into more accurate constructions. I fine tuned my abilities to make and keep commitments, to set workable timetables and to prioritize.
Live long and prosper
Monday, 17 May 2010
Monday 17th
Last week continued to be a period of disruption due to ankle pain, and the London trip. However, I handed in the History essay, read more of Cochrane, did another mock Spanish Higher and worked on Literature. So life goes ambling on! Oh, and I got good news from SAAS about finance for next year!
I had a wee meeting with Madeleine, and she reckons I’ll be fine. It was a bit frustrating as I would have liked to talk more but so it goes. I’ve got nearly 2000 words for the comparative essay which is too much, but I’ll let Madeleine worry about that.
This week all I’ve really got to do is
Work on my “Enduring Love” essay
Write about Cochrane – I’ve got a pretty clear idea of the direction
Do Spanish homework
And that’s all folks!!
Monday, 10 May 2010
10th of May
I’m sat at home with my ankle in an elevated state today...it’s my own silly fault for running through the pain, and it’s definitely taken its toll over the last week! Once again I realise how reliant on good health, both physical and mental, I am. It’s been difficult to really get into work of late due to aches and pains. Still, at least I’ve taken some positive steps to move on from past mistakes.
We’ve been doing a lot of exam practice in Spanish, and Jordi has been giving out writing assignments which, I hope, has got me back into the groove! I really should get a better dictionary...Marta seemed to have a good one.
I’ve been making slow but steady progress on the Literature work...I really enjoyed reading “Enduring Love” again, and I’m happy to summarise the plot, but I’m not certain about analyzing the ‘writer’s craft’. I have a check up meeting with Madeleine tomorrow. The comparison essay is also unclear...I could write loads, but it’s only supposed to be 1,500 words. I need to seek advice, and one should never be ashamed to admit that!
Wrote and handed in what I think is a damn fine history essay on the Treaty of Versailles. However, Evan has dished out the Hitler one, and wants it in for this Friday!!!! Now, I didn’t like that so I took positive proactive action and wrote 1,900 words of it over the w/e. That required me to speed up the whole investigate, write, consider, re-write and so on process. A pity as I feel that I build up a clearer picture and hence a better essay by doing some work then looking at it again after some time away. Fresh perspectives and all that jazz! But the Hitler one looks OK, so I’ve proved I can bang out an essay over 36 hrs or so. Oh, and we’ve got to do another bloody in-class assessment so that’ll have my hands aching!
It would have been useful to have been given a handout with brief details of ALL the essays, assignments, assessments, projects to be passed AT THE BEGGINNING of the course. Ah well, what goes on....
We’ve been doing a lot of exam practice in Spanish, and Jordi has been giving out writing assignments which, I hope, has got me back into the groove! I really should get a better dictionary...Marta seemed to have a good one.
I’ve been making slow but steady progress on the Literature work...I really enjoyed reading “Enduring Love” again, and I’m happy to summarise the plot, but I’m not certain about analyzing the ‘writer’s craft’. I have a check up meeting with Madeleine tomorrow. The comparison essay is also unclear...I could write loads, but it’s only supposed to be 1,500 words. I need to seek advice, and one should never be ashamed to admit that!
Wrote and handed in what I think is a damn fine history essay on the Treaty of Versailles. However, Evan has dished out the Hitler one, and wants it in for this Friday!!!! Now, I didn’t like that so I took positive proactive action and wrote 1,900 words of it over the w/e. That required me to speed up the whole investigate, write, consider, re-write and so on process. A pity as I feel that I build up a clearer picture and hence a better essay by doing some work then looking at it again after some time away. Fresh perspectives and all that jazz! But the Hitler one looks OK, so I’ve proved I can bang out an essay over 36 hrs or so. Oh, and we’ve got to do another bloody in-class assessment so that’ll have my hands aching!
It would have been useful to have been given a handout with brief details of ALL the essays, assignments, assessments, projects to be passed AT THE BEGGINNING of the course. Ah well, what goes on....
Monday, 26 April 2010
Monday 26th April
The end of April is zooming in! And then it’ll be May and then June and that’ll be the end of this year of study!
I’ve just made Edinburgh my FIRM choice, with Glasgow as INSURANCE so adios to Aberdeen & Stirling. I went on a useful visit to Stirling Uni and it looks a good place to study….for younger types who don’t want to study in a big city.
Over Easter I read a damn fine book about Thomas Cochrane and used Spanish in a real environment. And relaxed!!
Last week I got a clearer picture of the Literature & History assignments, so will talk about them in the plan. I gained a year, lost some brain cells, found a copy of “Enduring Love” by Iain McEwan and started re-reading it for Literature. I passed the Spanish listening NAB (14/16), got 15/15 in the French NAB and, most importantly, got an A1 in the Advanced Higher Spanish prelim despite that terrible first listening (3/10). Jordi did point me in the direction of a listening magazine on Click view, and I definitely need to get myself “into the groove” before the next listening exam. In my defence it was the day after the snowy trip to Glasgow.
Oh, and at the weekend I read and highlighted the handouts Evan had given us on the Treaty of Versailles.
Looks like I’ll be bidding au revoir to French; I’ve passed all the NAB things without any problem and I don’t reckon the course can teach me much more.
So that leaves:
Spanish
Exam preparation June hour a week
Essay writing June check with Jordi
Literature
Essay 1 Draft this week Tues pm / Wed am 4 hours
Read Enduring Love over this week 2 hours
History
Project: read Chile chapters of 2nd Cochrane book Wed Am/Thurs PM 2 hours
Essay 1 1st draft this week 6 hours Thurs PM / Fri Am 2 hours
I’ve just made Edinburgh my FIRM choice, with Glasgow as INSURANCE so adios to Aberdeen & Stirling. I went on a useful visit to Stirling Uni and it looks a good place to study….for younger types who don’t want to study in a big city.
Over Easter I read a damn fine book about Thomas Cochrane and used Spanish in a real environment. And relaxed!!
Last week I got a clearer picture of the Literature & History assignments, so will talk about them in the plan. I gained a year, lost some brain cells, found a copy of “Enduring Love” by Iain McEwan and started re-reading it for Literature. I passed the Spanish listening NAB (14/16), got 15/15 in the French NAB and, most importantly, got an A1 in the Advanced Higher Spanish prelim despite that terrible first listening (3/10). Jordi did point me in the direction of a listening magazine on Click view, and I definitely need to get myself “into the groove” before the next listening exam. In my defence it was the day after the snowy trip to Glasgow.
Oh, and at the weekend I read and highlighted the handouts Evan had given us on the Treaty of Versailles.
Looks like I’ll be bidding au revoir to French; I’ve passed all the NAB things without any problem and I don’t reckon the course can teach me much more.
So that leaves:
Spanish
Exam preparation June hour a week
Essay writing June check with Jordi
Literature
Essay 1 Draft this week Tues pm / Wed am 4 hours
Read Enduring Love over this week 2 hours
History
Project: read Chile chapters of 2nd Cochrane book Wed Am/Thurs PM 2 hours
Essay 1 1st draft this week 6 hours Thurs PM / Fri Am 2 hours
Monday, 29 March 2010
Monday 29th
Right, Easter is looming like a big loomy thing. I still have quite a personal few things to do before the trip to Spain on Thursday but I managed to get quite a lot cleared up last week so college shouldn’t be too much hassle.
Spanish – got feedback from Jordi on the 2 essays, put in the hours on updates & rewrites, and re-submitted them. Jordi seems happy with my “Lengua” effort so that should be that. Dieca cast an approving eye over my “memoria historica”, and will see what Jordi has to say. This week in class we’ve got a NAB and the Advanced Higher prelim so I’ll have stay focussed for them!
Lit – I’ve been happily re-reading and highlighting HOD, but Madeleine somewhat confused the issue by giving us “Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, which is some kind of TS Elliot masterpiece. It is a good poem, but very dark and with commentary and symbolism on a number of levels. I’ll be missing the class tomorrow (as I’m through in Glasgow) so I guess I’m taking HOD & Prufrock to the beach!!
French- my writing was fine, and I’ve not had any real problems with the listening practice. Once again I found the class a bit dull to be honest. Dieca suggested speaking to Deborah and asking if I can use the class time in the self-study centre. We’ll see what happens after Easter. We have a listening NAB on Wednesday so clean ears!
Communication – 2 presentations given & passed. Thursdays are my day off! Yipee!!
History – Interesting stuff on German unification and the build up to WW1. I downloaded some info on the Treaty of Versailles, so I can get an overview on that.
This week I’ve got the IELTS class starting, a trip to Glasgow and I’m away to Mallorca on Thursday…so I’m not going to do much college stuff outside Stevenson. Perhaps the most important thing is to decide which books to take to sunny Spain...HOD stuff obviously, and maybe one of the History books.
Hasta la proxima…..
Spanish – got feedback from Jordi on the 2 essays, put in the hours on updates & rewrites, and re-submitted them. Jordi seems happy with my “Lengua” effort so that should be that. Dieca cast an approving eye over my “memoria historica”, and will see what Jordi has to say. This week in class we’ve got a NAB and the Advanced Higher prelim so I’ll have stay focussed for them!
Lit – I’ve been happily re-reading and highlighting HOD, but Madeleine somewhat confused the issue by giving us “Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, which is some kind of TS Elliot masterpiece. It is a good poem, but very dark and with commentary and symbolism on a number of levels. I’ll be missing the class tomorrow (as I’m through in Glasgow) so I guess I’m taking HOD & Prufrock to the beach!!
French- my writing was fine, and I’ve not had any real problems with the listening practice. Once again I found the class a bit dull to be honest. Dieca suggested speaking to Deborah and asking if I can use the class time in the self-study centre. We’ll see what happens after Easter. We have a listening NAB on Wednesday so clean ears!
Communication – 2 presentations given & passed. Thursdays are my day off! Yipee!!
History – Interesting stuff on German unification and the build up to WW1. I downloaded some info on the Treaty of Versailles, so I can get an overview on that.
This week I’ve got the IELTS class starting, a trip to Glasgow and I’m away to Mallorca on Thursday…so I’m not going to do much college stuff outside Stevenson. Perhaps the most important thing is to decide which books to take to sunny Spain...HOD stuff obviously, and maybe one of the History books.
Hasta la proxima…..
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