Eek, I was so nervous for today's presentation. I hate speaking in public. I know everyone says that but I really do. It makes my palms of my hands go all clammy and my heart beats like crazy. BUT, I know I have to just push myself forward and do it... and I did! I'm so proud of myself! Our group did really well and we really seem to be coming together. The problems we had with the group member not turning up didn't seem to matter in the end as they knew what they had to say and said it. And when I thought about it - like really, REALLY thought about it, it was the team that mattered.
I finished my essay for History and Politics and am now working on my Psychology one, which is due in soon. History and Politics was really different from school even tho I had done history before. I think I maybe done okay. It was all the background reading we had to do that made it different but we got a sheet describing the course and it told us exactly what to read for the different classes.
To be honnest, I did a lot of the reading when I was meant to but there were some bits I couldn't be bothered doing at the time. This was a pain because I had to go back and read them for the first time when I was preparing for my essay. Lesson learnt: it might feel easier not to do the reading but you're really just giving yourself more work and you have to do it when you are more presured. So my essay in H&P is worth 40% and the exam is 60% of the mark which is okay as I don't mind exams too much. In the other hand, tho, my Psych work is in three bits - an essay, a report AND a test. I don't know what I prefer but I guess with three bits to it then you have more chance of getting an assesment style you like? Hmmm...
This is all different to what everyone at home says about uni. I have been told that you aren't allowed to ask for help and they don't tell you what to do, you just have to know. I suppose this is kind of true, the second bit, but I honnestly think I am getting more direction in uni study so far than I did in school. Plus, I feel better that they trust me to do the work so it makes me want to do it more.
So, having a good week so far but it is only Wednesday! Oh, in Learning Skills today we did academic writing. Not US, LOL, but we studied it. It was hard to think about it since we were getting nervous for our presentation but I tried my best. I'll try to remember it when I am finishing off writing my Psych essay.
Ta-ta for now,
Holly Green xxx
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Friday, 25 June 2010
Halfway to...?
Hello dear reader. Well, we're oficially halfway through Summer School. It's been a learning curve for me so far but I am enjoying it. My last post was very long so I am taking on board the comments about that and will try to make this one shorter. You see - REFLECTION on my last post and APPLICATION of that new knowledge to this situation! The girl's doing good!
Rubbish stuff out the way first: Groupwork is really getting me down at the moment because a member of my team was meant to bring in some stuff on Wednesday and just didn't turn up. I mean... Just. Didn't. Turn. Up!! Seriously - how can people do that? I did think that maybe they had something personal going on - you know, the benefit of the dout and all that but no! I found out later they just seen it was a sunny day so didn't bother coming in. Grrrr. I'm trying to stay positive because there's no point in getting annoyed. Maybe these people haven't worked in a team before? In my part-time job we all have to work together so maybe that's why I understand a bit better? Hmmm. I will grit my teeth and continue on. It's good experence for teamwork in the future.
Psychology is really interesting at the moment. The new lecturer, David Lindsay , is just brilliant! We're doing 'personality' at the moment which is fascinating.
OMG, how could I forget to mention? I found these great Personal management tools online on the learning skills website. I forgot that we had been told about them a couple of weeks ago and I have found them dead useful. http://www.learningskillsplus.com/personal-management.html and you go down the page to ls10_personal_management_toolkit.pdf I found out a lot about myself and how I manage my studies. It's funny how long ago school seems already and how my learning style has changed since summer school. I am getting used to the idea that I am completely responsible for myself - though it's nice to go home to a home-cooked dinner so complete independence is not upon me yet!!
Critical thinking has been on my mind since my last blogpost comment from the LEAPS tutor. I have been trying to apply it to my subjects by thinking more widely about the subject. I try, for example to think of practical examples of what we are being taught. I also think about the sources of information a lot more now and try to put information in context in order to understand it. Sometimes if you can explain an idea to someone in a different way then it helps to understand it.
Okay, sticking to my shorter posts I better go now but just a few points to round off:
A dude from Queen Margaret came in to tell us that GOOD Summer School reports are vital if we don't get our grades. I'm not going to QM anyway but it did make me think about my report and got me thinking about how it might read.
The Planet of Sound festival was awesome! I can't believe there was merchandise and everything but I wish there had been an Office shoes stall like I saw the Saturdays at a festival getting freebies from! (I'd hate to be famous but freebies ROCK!) It proper felt like a festival too because later we went to the Pleasants and played silly games. (update - hottie in my group does look fetching in a sumo suit!!)
Team presentation next week and I have to finish my SWOT analysis. it takes me back - LOL - a whole three weeks to that lady Morag telling us about that right before the blog demo. :)
See ya, Holly x
ps Prom was great but my friends are still being a bit funny that I'm not hanging about with them. how are they gonna cope when I'm (hopefully) in uni? :/
Rubbish stuff out the way first: Groupwork is really getting me down at the moment because a member of my team was meant to bring in some stuff on Wednesday and just didn't turn up. I mean... Just. Didn't. Turn. Up!! Seriously - how can people do that? I did think that maybe they had something personal going on - you know, the benefit of the dout and all that but no! I found out later they just seen it was a sunny day so didn't bother coming in. Grrrr. I'm trying to stay positive because there's no point in getting annoyed. Maybe these people haven't worked in a team before? In my part-time job we all have to work together so maybe that's why I understand a bit better? Hmmm. I will grit my teeth and continue on. It's good experence for teamwork in the future.
Psychology is really interesting at the moment. The new lecturer, David Lindsay , is just brilliant! We're doing 'personality' at the moment which is fascinating.
OMG, how could I forget to mention? I found these great Personal management tools online on the learning skills website. I forgot that we had been told about them a couple of weeks ago and I have found them dead useful. http://www.learningskillsplus.com/personal-management.html and you go down the page to ls10_personal_management_toolkit.pdf I found out a lot about myself and how I manage my studies. It's funny how long ago school seems already and how my learning style has changed since summer school. I am getting used to the idea that I am completely responsible for myself - though it's nice to go home to a home-cooked dinner so complete independence is not upon me yet!!
Critical thinking has been on my mind since my last blogpost comment from the LEAPS tutor. I have been trying to apply it to my subjects by thinking more widely about the subject. I try, for example to think of practical examples of what we are being taught. I also think about the sources of information a lot more now and try to put information in context in order to understand it. Sometimes if you can explain an idea to someone in a different way then it helps to understand it.
Okay, sticking to my shorter posts I better go now but just a few points to round off:
A dude from Queen Margaret came in to tell us that GOOD Summer School reports are vital if we don't get our grades. I'm not going to QM anyway but it did make me think about my report and got me thinking about how it might read.
The Planet of Sound festival was awesome! I can't believe there was merchandise and everything but I wish there had been an Office shoes stall like I saw the Saturdays at a festival getting freebies from! (I'd hate to be famous but freebies ROCK!) It proper felt like a festival too because later we went to the Pleasants and played silly games. (update - hottie in my group does look fetching in a sumo suit!!)
Team presentation next week and I have to finish my SWOT analysis. it takes me back - LOL - a whole three weeks to that lady Morag telling us about that right before the blog demo. :)
See ya, Holly x
ps Prom was great but my friends are still being a bit funny that I'm not hanging about with them. how are they gonna cope when I'm (hopefully) in uni? :/
Friday, 18 June 2010
Week 2: DONE!
I wish I was Gordon Ramsay - then I could shout 'DONE!' at the top of my voice and get paid for it! That's what I feel like this week having made it through week 2 (well, day 11 if you count induction day). It might be something to do with the sun being out but I just feel really positive today.
Psychology on Tuesday morning was really good and I am starting to enjoy it a lot. I've never done it before in my life but it kinds of makes sense once you start to let your brain think that way. Maybe lots of other things in uni will be like that and maybe there's just bits of my brain I need to tap into...
OH - that reminds me... I've done my assessment calendar and filled in all my dates of when stuff is dew in. Now, if only I can remember to look at it then I will be onto a winner. (I think I might be more NERDY than I thought as well because I have also written myself mini-deadlines for getting parts of assesments done and I am really sure I am going to stick to them. It will be a challenge as there is only me to make sure I do them. I must remember to post about this so you can see if I've followed it. Hope so - LOL! :)
History/Politics is quite hard for me as I've never had a history brain at all. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it all but it wasn't my first choice so it's not where I SHINE!! Hahaha!
The Wednesday Learning Skills sessions are really useful and I am determined to keep all my notes for them as I'm gonna need them as soon as I go to uni (if I get in - fingers crossed)! This week we did critical thinking. Basically, it's about about not just going 'oh, okay, it's in the newspapers, it must be true', for example. We learned that there is a difference between 'active' and 'passive' learning. I think I came from school as a passive learner but am now starting to think more like an active learner already - all 11 days in as I am! What it is not about, though, is being really annoying to the lecturer like this:
Lecturer: 'Good morning, class'
Active Learning Student: 'Hmmm, now you say it's morning, but can you prove it?'
That might not make you very popular!! Massive LOL!!
Anyhoo, my group is working quite well so far but there are a couple of people already not pulling their weight. *sigh* I'm not really sure how to handle this but I don't want it all to get like Big Brother with people talking behind each other's backs so I'm just gonna see how it goes. Maybe those people have other stuff going on? Or maybe they're just lazy!!
I have my prom next week so I really can't wait for that. My friends were moaning a bit last week because I was doing this summer school so it will be nice to have a big night out with all of them and just ROCK IT!
One more thing before I go - because I have posted like the biggest amount of text like EVER on here! We are meant to be taking part in some Planet of Sound Festival next Wednesday! Sounds like a boutique festival to me! Weird, though, cos one of the bands, Newtongrunge, sound a lot like my friend's friend's band so if it is them then maybe I can get some backstage passes! I can't remember if they were Newtongrunge or Preston Pfanz and the Seton Sands tho. I'll find out and let you know.
Right, promise I will go now and stop blabbing on. We've been told to try and post about twice a week so I think I have been doing that okay so far.
Take care of yourselves - and each other! Haha, Jerry Springer rocks!
Holly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ps on second thoughts I don't think I want to be Gordon Ramsay. He's a bit of a big bully.
Psychology on Tuesday morning was really good and I am starting to enjoy it a lot. I've never done it before in my life but it kinds of makes sense once you start to let your brain think that way. Maybe lots of other things in uni will be like that and maybe there's just bits of my brain I need to tap into...
OH - that reminds me... I've done my assessment calendar and filled in all my dates of when stuff is dew in. Now, if only I can remember to look at it then I will be onto a winner. (I think I might be more NERDY than I thought as well because I have also written myself mini-deadlines for getting parts of assesments done and I am really sure I am going to stick to them. It will be a challenge as there is only me to make sure I do them. I must remember to post about this so you can see if I've followed it. Hope so - LOL! :)
History/Politics is quite hard for me as I've never had a history brain at all. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it all but it wasn't my first choice so it's not where I SHINE!! Hahaha!
The Wednesday Learning Skills sessions are really useful and I am determined to keep all my notes for them as I'm gonna need them as soon as I go to uni (if I get in - fingers crossed)! This week we did critical thinking. Basically, it's about about not just going 'oh, okay, it's in the newspapers, it must be true', for example. We learned that there is a difference between 'active' and 'passive' learning. I think I came from school as a passive learner but am now starting to think more like an active learner already - all 11 days in as I am! What it is not about, though, is being really annoying to the lecturer like this:
Lecturer: 'Good morning, class'
Active Learning Student: 'Hmmm, now you say it's morning, but can you prove it?'
That might not make you very popular!! Massive LOL!!
Anyhoo, my group is working quite well so far but there are a couple of people already not pulling their weight. *sigh* I'm not really sure how to handle this but I don't want it all to get like Big Brother with people talking behind each other's backs so I'm just gonna see how it goes. Maybe those people have other stuff going on? Or maybe they're just lazy!!
I have my prom next week so I really can't wait for that. My friends were moaning a bit last week because I was doing this summer school so it will be nice to have a big night out with all of them and just ROCK IT!
One more thing before I go - because I have posted like the biggest amount of text like EVER on here! We are meant to be taking part in some Planet of Sound Festival next Wednesday! Sounds like a boutique festival to me! Weird, though, cos one of the bands, Newtongrunge, sound a lot like my friend's friend's band so if it is them then maybe I can get some backstage passes! I can't remember if they were Newtongrunge or Preston Pfanz and the Seton Sands tho. I'll find out and let you know.
Right, promise I will go now and stop blabbing on. We've been told to try and post about twice a week so I think I have been doing that okay so far.
Take care of yourselves - and each other! Haha, Jerry Springer rocks!
Holly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ps on second thoughts I don't think I want to be Gordon Ramsay. He's a bit of a big bully.
Monday, 14 June 2010
Start of Summer School
OMG - Summer School is startin to feel like I’ve always been here!! Is that a good or bad thing? I don’t know yet… LOL!
I really wasn’t sure about comin to Summer School as hardly anyone else from my school is here. All my friends are gonna be out enjoying the sun in the summer holidays but I guess it’s okay cos I’m not here all day every day and I still get the weekends. Have met some really nice people anyway so it’s not looking too bad. Couple of hotties in the group already and one of them is even in my Personal Tutor group… cringe!
It's weird cos this place just doesn’t look like what a university looks like in films or on tv or that but I like that. All the buildings are named after old men and I am getting confused already but sure I’ll get the hang of it soon. I think I thought everyone would be staring at us when we were here but we kind of fit in. We don’t look that young compared to other people and most of the students are on holidays now so we get to be them for the summer, I guess!
We have to do this Learning Skills course too which covers study skills. There is some stuff I did in school like time management but they kind of do it different here so it's not like hearing the same thing again. Also, not everyone did it at school so its helpful and uni already seems different from school cos the teacher (agh, lecturer, I will never get the hang of that) isn't always telling you what to do every step of the way and some of it is up to you to work out. Someone said that even if you bumped into your lecturer on the day an essay is due they wouldn't say 'oh, hi such-and-such, remember your essay is due in'. You've just got to know yourself cos they are too busy. That scares me a bit.
I don't know what other people do before uni but there is a website and everything for our Learning Skills so I feel like we're gonna be further ahead than them already. In my classes in Psychology and History/Politics I am getting on okay so far I think but I’m not really sure I guess til we do coursework. The lecturers told us what is expected of us at university and in summer school so as long as I can keep up with that I should be okay. We have had some social stuff happening too but I was gutted last week cos we never got rounders (which is a bit like baseball or softball if you don’t know, marker person, OMG!) and I had wore my flat shoes all day just for that even though they didn’t go with my outfit. Humph!
Okay, gotta run now cos my bus is coming in like ten minutes and I need to get home, lol!
Loadsa love,
Holly Green
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I really wasn’t sure about comin to Summer School as hardly anyone else from my school is here. All my friends are gonna be out enjoying the sun in the summer holidays but I guess it’s okay cos I’m not here all day every day and I still get the weekends. Have met some really nice people anyway so it’s not looking too bad. Couple of hotties in the group already and one of them is even in my Personal Tutor group… cringe!
It's weird cos this place just doesn’t look like what a university looks like in films or on tv or that but I like that. All the buildings are named after old men and I am getting confused already but sure I’ll get the hang of it soon. I think I thought everyone would be staring at us when we were here but we kind of fit in. We don’t look that young compared to other people and most of the students are on holidays now so we get to be them for the summer, I guess!
We have to do this Learning Skills course too which covers study skills. There is some stuff I did in school like time management but they kind of do it different here so it's not like hearing the same thing again. Also, not everyone did it at school so its helpful and uni already seems different from school cos the teacher (agh, lecturer, I will never get the hang of that) isn't always telling you what to do every step of the way and some of it is up to you to work out. Someone said that even if you bumped into your lecturer on the day an essay is due they wouldn't say 'oh, hi such-and-such, remember your essay is due in'. You've just got to know yourself cos they are too busy. That scares me a bit.
I don't know what other people do before uni but there is a website and everything for our Learning Skills so I feel like we're gonna be further ahead than them already. In my classes in Psychology and History/Politics I am getting on okay so far I think but I’m not really sure I guess til we do coursework. The lecturers told us what is expected of us at university and in summer school so as long as I can keep up with that I should be okay. We have had some social stuff happening too but I was gutted last week cos we never got rounders (which is a bit like baseball or softball if you don’t know, marker person, OMG!) and I had wore my flat shoes all day just for that even though they didn’t go with my outfit. Humph!
Okay, gotta run now cos my bus is coming in like ten minutes and I need to get home, lol!
Loadsa love,
Holly Green
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
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