ED209 - Tutorial.

I have said before that I am impressed, so far with my tutor. This one is a lot like having a teacher in school.

She is informed, knowledgeable and SETS HOMEWORK. I've not had that for years.

I am taking a brief hiatus in the middle of the day to write this. Otherwise, I have been reading up on the chapter that was set for tonight's tutorial and engaging in the sporadic duel I have with the printer. We were sent links from which we are required to print some material. Some questions for this evening and a couple of PDFs which we should read.

Firstly, I had to schlep all the way upstairs and bring down the printer to be with the computer. It would never do to move the laptop. Oh no, the temperamental madam can't be having that. We won't take our electricity supply if we are moved even a millimetre.

Printer decided the first document was OK, after all, how much of a challenge are two pages? Of course, this was all to lull me into a false sense of potential accomplishment. Next up, the first PDF. Thirteen pages. I thought I would conserve resources and ask it to print double-sided. Unfortunately, the printer was quite happy to follow its own agenda and continue with the single-sided. Oh well, at least it all printed.

The final document was a shorted PDF, only seven pages this time so I thought, "What the heck, let it do singles, we've come this far". Huh! One page at a time. By that I mean, I hit, "print all pages", and it printed page one but insisted the entire bundle was done. Second time, I went to the select pages radio-button and selected, "2-7". It printed page 2. And stopped.

Even I can learn a lesson, I know when I am defeated.

This time, I opted solely for the one page and entered "3" in the select option box. It did it. Then I let hope triumph over experience.

I thought, "perhaps it will be happy now". I opted for, "4-7", in the page range. It did 4 and 6 and asked me to turn over the pages to complete the double-sided printing.

I stared at it. That had been the previous document, not this one. Still, like a good little drone, I obeyed. It took the paper, let me hit the continue button and - stopped.

So, pages 5 and 7 were completed as single print jobs.

I don't know why I bother.

It should have been a five minute job, find the documents, download and print.

Oh well, they are done now and read, all ready for tonight.

Let's hope I can make it. With a family to look after and one who cannot be left, I can't go until Himself gets home to look after the youngest. He set a reminded on his telephone last evening.

He left his telephone at home this morning. Now it won't remind him and I can't text him to remind him. I could call the office but, well, they will only laugh. I can't email him because there is a very strict policy about personal emails. We would both be hit by it as I also work for the same people. It would have to be explained to me how it is more intrusive and time-consuming to email a reminder than it is to call the office and speak to a person directly or ask someone else to pass on the message. However, it is what it is and we have to accept it.

Tonight's topic; children and perception.

Should be fun and interesting, should I be able to attend. If not, at least I have some extra papers to read and some directions for study.

Relief of a task completed.

Friday was frantic for me. I still had so much to do to my TMA and in the middle of it I had a meeting with my daughter's psychologist. I had been reluctant to schedule any meetings for the week before deadline but this time there was no option. We needed to speak before another meeting I have this coming Wednesday.

When you have a child with a disability you end but with lots of people involved in your family life. People with whom you would not necessarily choose to be involved in different circumstances. Thankfully, my daughter's psychologist is very good, very straight-forward and more than capable. Let's be honest here, she stands out against most, not all, of the rest who are involved. Unfortunately, in order for my daughter and us, to access the services we require, the others have to be a part of things.

So, out meeting happened. We discussed how she could help, we talked about what had been useful and what not. Indeed, WHO had been useful and who not. We looked at expectations and possible routes to meet those and we discussed how my background might add to some of the communication difficulties I sometimes have with some of the others. What helps the psychologist and I work together and understand each other is we are from the same place. She is also from Northern Ireland. Therefore, idioms, mannerisms etc., are understood rather than being misinterpreted. I shall find this useful, I think, in the forthcoming meeting.

How does any of this relate to the TMA, well, in itself it doesn't but it did last three and a half hours. Yes, you read that correctly. When it finished I thought I was going to cry. Or squeal. Or just lie in a heap and capitulate.

However, I didn't. On went the kettle, out came the coffee and back to it I went. It did mean that it was nearly time for the children to come home and therefore there was very little uninterrupted time left.

Long and short - TMA done and dusted, read and re-read by about 9pm and submitted.

Thank goodness for the electronic submission system.

Some people I know have asked me if I am not worried about work getting lost on it. Well, my answer is no -ish. It is not so much a question of lost. Once a paper has been submitted a receipt number is generated. This is, supposed to be, accepted as proof that it all went through.

My concerns are more around, the site itself being down, or over-worked as deadline draws near. As long as I get the receipt, I am happy. There was a time on DSE212, when the system wasn't working. That was different, I did worry then, especially as you have to have permission to send in a postal submission and the deadline would still be the same.

On to the next chapter now and also the other course. Although I only undertook S170 out of general interest in Evolution and it is only a ten point course and not part of my degree, there is no point not working on it. That would be mad.

The next piece for ED209 is practical. That should be fun.

Nearing the deadline.

Just a short post before bed-time.

The deadline for the TMA approaches and I have work tomorrow. However, I am now much more happy with how this is going than I had thought. I shall take my main resource to bed and have a little read before sleep claims me, then, in the morning, an hour or so writing before I go to work should iron out most of the kinks.

Earlier this evening I did think I would have a significant impact made on it by now. Or rather, a more significant. However, the joys of a child with a detestation of sleep and other family members having call on my time meant I have not achieved all I had hoped.

Never mind. The notes are compiled, the draft written and the outline prepared. Just getting the final work down on paper. Not the hardest bit, actually. I find, once the preparation is in place and I have had a night to sleep on the draft, it does not take too long to get 2000 words on paper.

I think the key really is, to state the obvious, to know what you want to say. Once you have that, all you have to do is say it.

That's the theory anyway, tomorrow and Friday will see if I can put it in to practice. Well, I have to, if it is not submitted by midnight Friday, I can forget about it and that is not an option.

This course, as I have said before, is a serious undertaking for me. It is my opportunity to alter my career path. Or give myself a decent career path. I know I could be of some use to others and I have no intention of not meeting the challenge.

So, why have I been writing this when I could have been putting down a few hundred words on my paper? Well, I'm tired. Think of this as a personal de-brief at the end of a long study-day. I need the chance to get these thoughts out of my head, to let the ideas and theories I have been considering all day coalesce into something meaningful and useful.

Now that that is done, goodnight.

Blogger Wordle Word-cloud.

TMA

Me: Woman.

Me: What?

Me: Get on with it!

(Perhaps something you would more ususally read in my Tumblr account but since it is about this paper I thought I would put it here. Have a good one.)

ED209 Paper Due.

This week is going to be busy. The deadlinefor the first assignment of ED209 has been confirmed as this coming Friday, the 13th of March. That can mean only one thing. Full force now toward finalising the TMA. For those unfamiliar with The Open University and its jargon, TMA stand for Tutor Marked Assessment. In other words, I have a paper due at the end of the week.

I have chosen my option, I have compiled notes. I have even made use of the work sheets and handouts provided by the tutor and had a look at the questions she posed to aid with research.

Now all that lies ahead is to ensure that I know enough and can be coherent enough to compose a thorough answer. Well, there is nothing for it but to get my head back in the books, pens and markers by my side, ready to make notes, question myself and get the order right in my own head. I shall have to resist the temptation and lure that is Twitter.

When I embarked on this series of courses, I was afraid to admit, even to myself, that it was for more than the interest. That the aim was indeed to get a degree and change my career path. I tried to tell myself that I would perhaps just do the odd one because psychology has always interested me. Now that I am about half way through I have no problem saying, "I want to graduate in psychology and go on to a post-graduate course and do something with my life and to help others".

It has taken some time to get to this point. Age is not on my side. The numbers of psychology graduates each year means that every place on a post-grad course is the source of intense competition. Most require some work experience, as well as a good degree. There will be no scraping through and managing. I shall have to pass each course to the highest of standards in order to be able to compete with all the bright young things, with their eager minds and lack of other commitments.

Of course, there is disingenuousness there. There will also be older graduates, those with families, those who act as carers. Those who have worked for many years in one area of psychology or another and who have now decided to formalise their training or to get the official qualification, the lack of which has been hampering their progress.

Therefore, this week there can be no distractions. I want to do well. The only person who can do that for me, is me. The only one I shall have to blame if I don't, is also me. So, after this brief respite from the books in order to gather my thoughts and self-motivate, it is back to it.

Getting back to writing.

There is a wonderful feeling about starting a new course. The smell of the new books, the excuse to buy stationery but all this has been previously discussed. Once the course gets underway there are more pressing requirements. Basically, it's time to work.

One of the things about taking a distance learning course is the fact that you are treated as an adult. The very thing for which so many call when at school. The upside is you are trusted to get on with things. The downside, if you don't, you can't necessarily count on a tutor being that interested that they are going to chase you to discover why.

The main course that I am taking this year is Child Development. This will, hopefully, be my final one at Level 2. I still await the result of my previous course, the dreaded DZX222. (More of which in earlier posts.) Hopefully that one got a pass. Hopefully. I certainly do not want to go through it again.

A month into this course, ED209 and the first submission date for the first paper is looming. Friday, 13th of March. This one threw me slightly. In previous years the cut-off day has always been a Tuesday. I've looked at the course timetable numerous times to be sure I am right.

Of course, this does mean I shall have to have it in by 11.59 p.m. on the 10th. I can't have it all done and then discover that the date was wrong. There's no point saying, "Well, you could point out their error to them and make them stick to it." That's not how I work. My nerves would be in shreds before then.

This year, again, so far anyway, I seem to have a very competent tutor. She seems organised and a provider of materials. Now, isn't that good. Just last evening an email to remind us to use the online forum and that she would post some questions and notes to help with the TMA. So far, I can't fault it.

I'm never entirely sure how I feel about forums, forae? Whatever. However, if the tutor is going to go to use it to work with us, well, let's give it a whirl.

So, first TMA. Here are the two options:

1. How far do different theories of child development take account of social and cultural factors?

2. Children are active in constructing their own learning.

To what extent do the four theories in Chapter 2 'Theories and development', support this statement?

Well, unsurprisingly the forum has been full of questions. What do we do? What does this mean?

I have to be honest and I know I could end up eating my words when the marks are back but, the OU hands it to us. Below each option is a full page of advice on where to look, as if the the second part of option 2 were not enough for that. There is a paragraph on structure, even suggested word counts for each component part of the essay. The advice on option one NAMES the people associated with the theories. Come on people, you can't ask for more. Otherwise they will be doing it for you. It's an essay. It says so, nice and clearly at the top. There are other reports and practical assignments for later but this is the first one.

So, my little rant has reminded me that there are those studying who have not done so in some time. Perhaps they were not so keen on school or perhaps a considerable amount of time has passed and they just want to be sure they are doing the right thing in the correct way. Well, I can understand that. I shall be the same later, I am sure. Essays, I've written loads, practical reports, not so many. I'll be glad of the advice.

Now, don't get me wrong, they've given us the framework, I'm going to use it. I've learned that to not do so can result in decreased marks.

Next thing, NO answers on a postcard please, I don't want to be accused of cheating.

Shouldn't take too long, it's only 2000 words, four to five sections, by the time you make the rough notes and include all the theory and associated people, it's done. What? You didn't get that I can talk? How on Earth do I manage on Twitter?

Talk to you later, off to work now, got to earn those peanuts somehow.