Update

  Some new posts on my “PhD Journey” page and various additions about what I’ve been reading in my classes  under my “Readings” page.

Where has the time gone?!

I look at the date of my last blog and realize how much I’ve neglected it.  That and I work too many hours without any play.  Might explain why I cracked last Thursday in class.  Honestly that morning (well that evening as well) I didn’t feel ‘right’.  Not really crazy ‘right’ but the I’m-in-a-mood-and-I’m-not-sure-why kind of feeling.  It was only when I cracked up in class - by cracked I mean burst into tears, made pointed comments in class and left the room – was that I realized I had been working for 2 weeks straight, 10-12 hour days and still not feeling that I’ve accomplished anything. 

Good thing retail therapy always helps.  That and taking Friday off.  That and going on a date.  Ok, all that is busy enough added to my study/work schedule, but it’s fun.  And it’s a nice distraction.  And I needed it.

So here I am on a Monday morning and what did I accomplish before 10am?  Finished a conference abstract and submitted it for approval, finished reading an article that I’m considering for a short analysis due Thursday.  Updated my contact list of universities for potential research candidates and received the go-ahead from my tutor to carry on with the first draft of my study. 

I’ve decided that taking a break is good and should be included into my weekly schedule (how crazy does that sound?!).

Concentration

Honestly I have not idea why, oh WHY I’m having such a hard time getting my head down and reading.  I find that I read about a quarter or a third of an article, then get distracted by email/cleaning/laundry/phone/internet/to-do lists, go off to do xyz then return and try to pick up where I left off, only to read another bit before getting distracted.  And when I finally do finish what I’ve been reading I have a very vague grasp of what I’ve read. 

Lastly – added new section called “Planning of Research” under my Courses page!

Update

I’ve added a new section entitled “Courses” which I’m using as a blog to record my reflections on the courses that I’m taking this year.  These reflections cover my thoughts on class that day and the assigned readings for that week.  Thoughts on further reading can be found under “Readings” page. 

And more rambling under PhD journey added!

Update

I’ve added a new section titled “International Student Money Matters” under my PhD Journey page.  Says it all really.  Have a look!

Update

I’ve re-vamped my pages so now I only have two to keep tabs on!  One is entitled “PhD Journey” and the other “Readings”.  Take a look as see what’s going on!

On motivation and end goals

So I’ve right-clicked, saved and finally sent off my PhD proposal and, to my relief, it was accepted.  I wasn’t too worried that it would be rejected but a part of me was feeling “Hmmm…I hope it was enough!  I hope they understood the direction I’d like to take!  I hope…”.  Various thoughts and feelings all mixed up. 

Thank goodness I recieved an email from my professor that I’ve been accepted onto the programme.  Yeah!  Just now in the waiting game for all my documents to come in before I can apply for a (nother) UK visa: original university acceptance letter and bank statements.  Whew.  Just hope the UK and Canadian posties are quick.  Fingers crossed. 

In the meantime I’ve been continuing reading up on the various areas of my topic, namely CRT and Whiteness Studies.  They’re from a US legal background but it serves to get my head around the major premise of CRT.  How it applies of TESOL is the end goal.  At the moment I’m feeling a little lost with all the concepts and terminoligy.  So to make sense of it, I’m starting a new page on this blog entitled “Readings” in order to track my thoughts on what I read.  I’ve got a rubbish memory so I figure setting things down in a blog would help to clairfy things.  Plus a lot of the books have discussion questions and further readings to consider as a starting point. 

I guess I’m feeling a little

On IELTS ‘examiner’ experiences

I think in the future, should a course come up, I’d like to learn how to be an IELTS examiner because I think the knowledge would help with the teaching of an IELTS preparation course.  I found myself thinking “What am I suppose to be looking for again?” when conducting speaking tests today.  It was difficult at times to place where a student should be, 5.5 or 6.0?  What’s the difference again? 

I have an idea where they are but it is difficult at the time when you know the students and know that they are better than their performance on that day.  I had to stop and remind myself to evaluate them on their performance and not on what I know of their skills previous to the speaking test. 

It was an interesting observation of myself and I had to actively stop and think and re-evaluate what I was doing and why I was doing it.  So no wonder I was so bloody tired at the end of 3 hours!

IELTS Listening and Writing Part 2

Perhaps it’s just my week, or maybe due to what else is going on in my life, today was just a great class. I enjoy teaching skills based lessons and today was no exception.  With this class, it was the first lesson that I had with them (on this topic) so it’s was always going to be bit shaky at the start as there is a bit of a range between levels.  There are some that are at the higher end of the spectrum, in that their speaking and writing foundations are solid, where there are others who are still trying to string a sentence together.  It’s a bit of a mix.

I started with Listening, taking a very guided tour of listening for synonyms/paraphrases of key words in questions and general listening practice.    Listening is always the ‘universal’ leveler as most students have a hard time with this skill.  So this section went relatively smoothly, though I would like to encourage them to listen to material outside of class, but there is only so much you can do. 

The writing section…I felt I should have given more practice in class by having them write sentences out to practice, for example, expressing an idea for/against the topic.  Some of them had rather incomplete sentences, grammatically incorrect and various other factors.  I needed more time, and more of a focus, on this in order to demonstrate how useful it was.

GenAc Induction Week: “So what?” and other matters

Induction week is usually translated to “I don’t really need to be here” week for students, returning and old alike. I must admit as a ex-post grad I used to think induction week was kinda unnecessary. Good thing I attended as I got a lot of relevant information and made some friends in other faculties – an opportunity that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t participate.

I guess looking at it from the teacher’s perspective makes me realize just how much work is put into a week like this. I am rather disappointed that only 1/3 of the GenAc students showed up and out of that 1/3 about 3/4 show at all. For students who are really worried about their IELTS exam you would think that they would take this course more seriously – induction week included.

But I’m complaining now, and not even the best laid plans go right. I am looking forward to this term and the challenge for me personally. Teaching-wise it’s been while since I’ve taught high level learners and so I’m looking forward to the challenge of motivating them to try even harder. First week will be crucial for setting the scene, in my opinion.