We are Week One, our first week. Now is a time to be sorting
out and getting started. As we talked about in induction here are some points
that are important as you start:
1)
Work out when you have to have your assessed
work hand-in by (January 2015) and make sure you understand what it is. In
other words where are you heading on the journey of this module?
2)
Make a space for your work – in your diary
through organised times for when you will working, in your house/office/coffee-shop
through having a place to ‘shut the door’ and start working, in your life
embracing the notion you are a student (again!!).
3)
Start to open lines of communication with the BAPP learning community, this is through starting your blog and giving us the
address, visiting other people’s blogs and leaving comments, getting skype
sorted out, contacting your advisor if you have any questions etc…
I am going to have virtual ‘office hours’. These are times
when you can skype in to talk to me without an appointment. These will be
Tuesday and Thursdays 10am to 11am and Saturdays 8pm to 10pm.
So for comment to this post please let us know what tips you
have for starting back/starting-up. What has worked for you?
Adesola
Having just spent 3 years in very vocational training the idea of getting back into more academic work was incredibly daunting. So for me, I found doing small chunks of work across periods of time worked well because I would not stress myself out and work myself up if I struggled expressing my thoughts into words.
ReplyDeleteWork spaces are also very important, I am very visual in my learning but it also means I am prone to visual distractions, I can't have anything visually distracting in the background like TV but instead for a more relaxed ambiance I choose to have music as it doesn't distract me from my work!
Timing is vital too, myself and my family have very busy lifestyles so I choose small periods throughout the day to work, i enjoy closing the laptop and having time to reflect and distract myself with my day to day life! But also I when I am working I hate being distracted by my day to day life, so I have to make sure I am away from siblings and parents because I often get irritated so I choose times to work where it is quieter and less hectic!
Finally having a game plan, I use my calendar app in my phone because now with iCloud it automatically updates it on my laptop and iPad, so I have my schedule accessible all the time. Tangible calendars are also great, my family has one on the fridge that we all contribute our schedules to so it helps keep the whole family organised and can inform everyone at a glance of whats going on or where someone is! My mum also uses an academic diary, that she keeps in her handbag, I prefer a more digital approach but the old ways also work just as good!
I hope this helps anyone else daunted by the whole becoming a student again situation we face. But I think the thing that has also helped a lot is that we are all in the same boat and you do not have to face anything alone!
I have all of the course readers and additional material on my Kindle, so I can access them at any time. I keep a little notepad in my bag so as I'm reading (usually on the train on my commute!) I can scribble down things as they occur to me.
ReplyDeleteI keep my schedule in a written diary (I just prefer having pen and paper - my computer crashed once and took all the information on the calendar with it so I'll never trust a virtual calendar again!) and add notes or reminders when things are coming up to a deadline - there's nothing worse than turning the page of a diary and seeing that something is due *tomorrow*!
I have set aside specific times of the day to really work at things: I bumble along during the day with my Kindle and notepad but when I get home I spend a good hour or two consolidating my scribbles into typed up notes that I can then form into coherent blogs, assignments etc.
I think a tip would be - you have more free time than you think! On the train/bus/waiting at an audition/waiting in rehearsals/sitting around backstage... so don't stress too much!
xx
My tip would be to read and then allow time for digestion before re-reading again or jumping into a state of 'I must do this work' mode! I sent myself into a mild panic when I overloaded myself with an influx of information in one go, that I hadn't actually given time to absorb into my brain! So, I'm now trying to move at a steadier pace, that allows me time to absorb, reflect and then asses the information that I've gathered. It seems to be working much better so far!!
ReplyDeleteGreat points
ReplyDeleteI found it useful to rid myself of old 'clutter' (in my room, workspace, life) so I feel fresh and ready to start something new. I went through all my old notes from Drama School, my clothes, diaries and things I have held onto for a long time and really asked myself if they still benefitted me in this next chapter of my life and career. With a lot of the things the answer was no and so they had to go! As a person who always tries to do too many things at once I now feel I have a better overview and it willl be easier for me to stay on top of everything if there aren't a million things that require my attention. After reading the above comments I also set my own little workspace and started a new folder for all my BAPP related files. After reading the handbook I also transcibed the essential dates and tasks into my notebook in bullet points. It really helps me to have this clearly structured idea of what I need to tackle and how I can make sure I don't overload myself but instead take it step by step. So far I feel calm and confident about this approach :)
ReplyDelete