It's vacation Week

Yippee hehe although when I think about it  - I really don't think I want to Yippee at all hehe just jokin'. But you see I do get one week off from official study but I am still going to keep working away at my modules for when I have to pop away for surgery. And my boys get two weeks off school - so there will be no lovely peaceful and quiet study time in Smithville. No siree - it will be go go go. Boys and their friends popping in and out, going here and there, needing to be fed and dropped off all over the place. I usually love school holidays, but I must admit that I have started to love my nice quiet days sitting studying away - rambling on with my own thoughts. I can't possibly talk to myself while the boys friend's are here hehe - my boy's know that I am mad so they wouldn't care but it might get out around town that I talk to myself and that would be no good at all hehehe.

Well this week has been a busy one as mentioned in my last post. I have completed and submitted Learning Portfolio A and some clever career planning for Prep Skills, done some PowerPointing in Computer Skills and done lots and lots for Essay Writing. That one has definitely been the hardest this week, making me stretch the comfort zone boundaries heaps. But it is settling into my brain slowly but surely. And when I look back to when I first started - I have come a long way and learnt heaps. I am still loving it all! Week 6 after our little vacation week looks like a busy one as well - so I really want to keep plodding away to keep in front. I will have a PowerPoint presentation of my own to do as well as Assignment 2 for Essay Writing and then I think at the end of week 7 I have to do an oral presentation.

This module in Prep this week has been great - Clever Career Planning. WOW I didn't realise just how many resources there are available to help you with choosing the career that is right for you. I wish all this had been around when I was at school - although I don't think I would of appreciated it then. Anyway it is mine for the using now and I am gunna use it!!!!

 I am still not 100% sure what I want to become when I grow up - but I am on the road of discovery and enjoying each step that I take. 

    

Isn't it exciting!!!!!!!!

ok well I am off to go get some zzzzzz's - it's only 8.30pm but I am so tired tonight.

Have a great weekend.

 talk soon

 x joy

Week 5

Hello and welcome to week 5. Today is Tuesday and is my second day in study mode for this week. Yesterday I spent the day doing Computing and loved every minute of it -  playing with PowerPoint. I have wanted to delve into PowerPoint for along time now but have just not got around to it. So yesterday was the perfect opportunity to have a structured play following instructions. It is great and there are so many things that you can do with it. I actually didn't feel like I was studying at all as I was having so much fun.

Today however is a little different hehe - I am doing Essay writing and it doesn't involve any fun for me! I have just put the books down and need to have a break as all the information is swimming around in my head all intermingled. I am sure that when I come back to it tomorrow it will be clearer. As much as I love writing, the concepts are not coming easily for me and the activities are very difficult. I know I am only learning but it is taking a few goes to get onto the right track. It will get easier the more I do it so I will just keep at it.

I am going to share a little funny from today with you. My dear hubby comes home everyday for lunch and we share all about our mornings during this time. He is very encouraging with my studies and sits and listens for ages about what I am learning. Today after revisiting reading 10 in The Essay Writing Resource Materials I asked him if he knew what a Synonym was - his response was 'yes it is a spice to put on apples' (cinnamon). He thought this was hilarious so I asked him what an Antonym was and he replied 'an ant that sits on top of the synonym on the apple'. It gets worse - I ask him what a Homophone is and he replies 'it's a mobile phone crossed with a hover craft so it hovers in the air' and then his explanation of a Homonym is a hover phone for him and then you get Homoher which are hover phones for girls. OMG by this time he is just cracking up as he thinks he is so clever hehehe I must admit that I did have a giggle as well 

This apple is just missing the Synonym hehe 

And people wonder why I love him hehe

Anyway I am off to go and look at my Prep Skills for the week now. So I may be back again later today.

 I hope you are having a giggly day as well

talk soon

x joy

ps must do the referencing for the apple picture:
ant on the apple picture www.kiddyhouse.com

Did you miss me

It has seen all of about 30mins since I was last here but here I am again this time looking at Team work. I have found all of this section interesting as well (no boring learning here I can tell you).

 You see I have been a part of many a group and teams in my life time and I have never sat and looked at what makes a good group - yes I have known some of it but  have not put much thought into it so all the ideas were great to see written down. It is so easy to let things distract you in group meetings and run over time, let others dominate etc etc. I partically like the ideas about checking progress and ground rules - as it is easy to just get into it and then discover something is just not working.

Being a good listener is also another topic that I found interesting as you don't tend to think about it in any great detail in day to day life. I like to think that I am a good listener but have to admit that I do zone out when something doesn't interest me. And I must say that I hate it when someone doesn't look at you when you are talking (yes my darling Hubby I am talking about you hehe) so I do always try to do that.

Ok well it is 2pm and I haven't had any lunch yet so better go feed the brain (and the belly) I still have a little more to go in this module so I will have to get back into it again after a break.

talk soon

x joy



Back again

Hello, it's still Thursday and I am still working through my Module 4 for PSU and I am now looking at The Five Study Skill Components (Cottrell, S 2008 The Study Skills Handbook 3rd edn p. 26), Self Awareness and Self Evaluation, Awareness of what is required, Methods, organisation, strategies, Confidence and permission and Familiarity: practice and habit. This is interesting when you break study down into these five sub skills and look at them. And as I have touched on before nearly everyone has the ability to learn, but how well they learn is something different. Mastering these sub skills is basically cutting things up into small more managable pieces and working with it. If you can be successful at this you can succeed in any learning that you put your mind to.

In relation to giving myself permission to learn without feeling guilty is something that I definately have to overcome . In my mind all my life you had to be smart to go to Uni, it wasn't for the average person. Although I am slowly over coming this especially in the last few weeks, though I am finding that this notion is also coming from outside sources as well. So I not only need to continue to  work through the negative feelings for myself but to block these outside influences. I am capable of being successful at not only study but anything else that I choose to undertake in life. I am learning wonderful new skills that will help me to identify what skills I need to succeed at anything.

But also I do already have a lot of skills. I have been very successful at various roles and  careers in my life. And it's funny how when you are a Mother and Wife you can tend to forget these skills. I guess that while in the work force you are constantly made aware of your skills as you undertake day to day runnings of business. You have more focus on them, for instance if you are asked to facilitate a meeting - you know you can do it as you have done it heaps of times before or you need to evaluate figures - you know you can do it as you do it everyday. But being out of the everyday working environment it is easy to forget these skills - yes you can change a nappy or cook a meal but when will that need to be added to a CV (well I guess if you are going for a job as a nanny or chef hehe). I have excellent people skills and these are from both my working life and also my home life. Sure there are afew areas that I could brush up on, but generally I know that I can hold my own when it comes to working with people. Actually when I look at the Current Skills and Qualities activity (p.27) there are only a few that I do not have experience in, again some could be brushed up, but generally I do ok in most areas.

However if you had asked me to do this activity when I first came out of school - I probably would of run and hid somewhere. I'm sure most older people would be the same. Really the skills that you acquire through experiencing life are invaluable.

Ok so off I go to work through my Personal Statement. Really it comes down to the things that I write  about here although I can only write one or two senctences - that may be hard for old yabba mouth here who prattles on and on all the time hehehe but I will force myself to work out of my comfort zone and keep it short.

talk soon

 x joy 

My Jung Typology Results

Hello and Happy Thursday to you,

Well today I am doing my Prep skills for University Module 4. I started it yesterday but as you know I was not having a very good day, so I ended up needing to have some time out. And in the process of taking that time out I have made a profound discovery. Well profound to me anyway - don't get too excited. You see I undertook the Jung Typology Test yesterday and I got the result of ISFJ but it just didn't ring true with the results for me. While reading the descriptions my responses were that it was only kinda like me. It just didn't fit properly, just didn't feel right.

So this morning with my fresh new brain in place after a good nights sleep and not feeling so emotional and weary I undertook the test again. And guess what -  my result today was INFJ -  do you hear the bells ringing and the drums banging - well I do cause the description was ME exactly ME. It was one of those moments in life when you go "oh duh that is why I do that" hehe. It was very profound - wow. I could see myself staring back at me. I love interacting with people but also do like and need some "me peace and quiet time - alone with my thoughts" and sometimes my personality does puzzle even me. I hate superficial interactions and ofter find myself sensing peoples intentions with what and how they are doing things. I like organisation and I do love to write - I have always kept journals in one form or another (and I still have them all - I can't throw any of them out as they are a link into my innermost thoughts and help me to make sense of the world). And I am definately a Doer as well as A Dreamer!

Back to the sensing of others intentions - that is very profound for me cause I have always done this and have really questioned myself for doing it. Usually feeling uncomfortable with what I was thinking but not knowing how I was thinking it. And on occassion I have talked with other people about it and it has been dismissed as "how would you know that".

So all in all it has been a very informative session so far for me and I am only half way through the module. Thinking about the impact of these personality traits and how they might impact on my study and learning, at this stage I can only see benefits however I do want to spend some more time looking and thinking about the results and I am sure that will bring some more insight into any weakness'.

Ok well I am off to go do my next activity so I am sure that I will be back a little later.

talk soon

x joy  

One of those days

Hello - it's Wednesday and I have to admit that I am not feeling that great. I think I am suffering from a mixture of being a little unhappy with myself and the fact I am  not feeling the best. In my prep skills module one I was told there would be these days so I am trying not to be too hard on  myself.

My not being happy with myself started yesterday after I submitted my assessments, that weren't due till Friday, early. Oh my goodness - why did I do that??????? I don't know what I was thinking - well yes I do really if I think about it. I had worked then re worked and re worked again my Essay Writing assessment and I was happy with that one (I think anyway) and I had gotten to the point that I thought if I kept reworking it, I would change it completely and I was happy with what I had done. So that brings me to my Computing Assessment - Urgh. This is the one I am upset with - you see I sat down yesterday morning at about 9.50am ( I was super organised and wrote down the time so that I didn't go over the designated 2 hours) I worked happily away for about an hour when Hubby came in with a diet coke and a piece of apple slice (yummo how could I resist hehe) anyway I jotted down the time and then kept track of how long I was away from the computer and restarted my time when I returned. And kept working merrily away. Anyway I got to the point that I had finished and had checked my work about four times and was happy with what I had done - famous last words hehehe.

So on with the story and for some reason I decided to go and upload it via a practise upload that I had seen was mentioned in an email earlier in the day via emails. So off I go and upload it and then had a little look at what I had uploaded and I noticed that I had incorrect spacing after one paragraph so I happily go into my documents and change it and upload it again into what I was thinking was the practise site. It wasn't - I was in the entirely wrong place - I was at the official test upload site unbeknown to me still.  At that point I thought I was happy with it all so decided to send it for marking - BLAH what was I thinking. It told me I had already sent it for marking and I had sent both copies away. But it gets worse - I send an email to Michelle and tell her what I have done re sending two copies in and she says no worries she'll check it out. So I pop back and look at what I have uploaded and I find another mistake - OMG - what have I done.  For some reason I had made a whole reference live in my reference list - don't ask me how I did it cause I have no idea but I did. At that point I just closed the computer down and walked away cause I was so cranky at myself. I have not yet been able to go back and look for any other mistakes that I may of made. 

So I think I have to use this as a good learning experience and work out what went wrong. Urgh! Firstly and most importantly I have to check where exactly practice uploads are and not just think I remember. Then I think perhaps that I shouldn't send assessments away early - perhaps I need to finish working on them, then leave it for a day or two and then recheck them with a fresh mind before I upload them. I can't change what I have done, so no use worrying (can I still cry though hehe) so onwards and upwards from here and not let it get me down or influence the rest of my study today.  

Then as I mentioned earlier my health has suffered a set back although I am determined not to let it effect my studies. I had surgery in Feb for problems suffered during my son's birth and although I knew that I had to have 3 lots of further surgery later in the year - I am suffering a complication and may have to have more surgery very soon. I may have to fly down to Brissy next week if nothing changes. So consequently I am feeling very flat and a bit sad. I spent a very restless night stressing over this and my stuff up with the assessments - so really a tired head is not a good head - so I need to cut myself some slack, shake myself out of this sad mood and move forward. I am studying for a reason - I am enjoying studying so get over it. hehehe let me just give myself a little slap around the face as well hehe

Ok well after my moaning and groaning (sorry to bore you) but I had to get if off my chest. I am off to go watch this weeks Prep lecture with a diet coke in hand.

So have a good day

 talk soon

 xjoy 

Welcome to week 4

Hello,

 it's Monday morning again already - I feel like it was only Monday yesterday but here we are again. Gee I hope the whole year doesn't go this fast otherwise it will be Christmas before we know it.

Well as planned I had my nice, blissful, relaxing weekend and I feel fresh and ready to go today (I think anyway). I have had a slight complication with my surgery last month but it not anything that will stop me studying, however I am not firing on all cylinders as I would like.

I have two assessments due this week, one for Essay Writing and the other for Computing - it is abit scary but I am hoping to be well prepared for both. I forgot to tell you that I did complete my very first assessment for Prep skills last week and I got 95% which I am pleased about although I am kicking myself as the question that I got wrong was one that I didn't look up as I thought I knew the answer (another lesson to myself in the making I think). It was a question about where do you find details of course descriptions and I thought it was online but it is actually in the student handbook. I will always remember that now won't I hehehe.

Ok so I am coming to the end of module 2 in Essay writing hence the assessment due this week and my study guide wants me to reflect on a few little things - so here goes. Firstly how do I feel about moving towards the arena of academic writing? Hhhhmmmm well I still do not feel great confidence in this area but I am certainly gaining some skills in this department.  I really have only ever written in the first and second person before with writing only really being for me and a few other people, so writing in the third person really is something very new. As is the acedemic paragraph but I am starting now to understand it all. My confidence is growing with the conventions that module 2 has given me although I will need to do revision, revision and some more revision for it to become clearer. It is really funny because I know that I am changing as a person as I undertake these writing activities, I now find myself looking at writing very differently. I read articles and try and identify the conventions that have been used. Although it hasn't changed my blogging style - I still just ramble on with what ever comes to mind hehehe.

I am excited about the week ahead even with the assessments that are due - this is all so very interesting. And each time I find myself overwhelmed I am trying to look at the bigger picture and tell  myself that I just need to work a little  harder and then I will be able to understand whatever it is I am struggling with. Like when I was looking at the activity 2-10 which is part of my Essay Writing assessment. When I first looked at it -  boy -  my first thought was that I couldn't do it but I thought I will just read it all through and give it a go and then sit back and look at it from there and then make any changes it needed until it was ok. And at this point I have a paragraph that is resembling kind of ok, to work with, so now I just have to play and polish it up. hehehe I just saw another lesson to myself - break it down and work slowly. I love this reflecting writing!!!!

So tomorrow will be spent doing some computing work in readiness for that assessment and then I will spend some more time polishing my paragraphs. Fancy that  - me polishing paragraphs - I spent my childhood (well some of it anyway) polishing my Mum's beloved brass collection, so polishing sentences will be easy compared to spending hours rubbing on the 'Brasso' and polishing it up.

Ok well I am sure I will see you over the next few days as I prepare for these assessments.

So have a good day and if it isn't a good day - try and make it one

talk soon

x joy