This time last year I was working in my current job full time. I like the place where I work but working full time in retail can be mentally and physically draining. Especially coming up to Christmas, some customers expect so much from you. I knew for a long time that I did not want a career in retail and that I had to go back to education to make a good career for myself.  Now that I am in college I work part time, so I don’t feel as drained by it and my mood is a lot better when I go into work.

Some of the people I work with are younger than me and I would always feel a little bit jealous when they would tell me they had completed college. I felt like I had fallen behind and as though I was stuck and that I would stay stuck in retail.
When I was 19 a lot of things happened in my life that prevented me from going to college. I did not even have the time to think about it.

Over the summer I had found a love for the Korean language. I wanted to improve myself instead of just working every single day. I felt like I was loosing my brain cells.
I learned the Korean alphabet in one day and was able to read and pronounce Korean words very easily, even if I did not know what that meant.
I did some language exchange and met some really amazing friends through it who shared their culture with me. Through helping my Korean friends learn English I decided that I would like to become a teacher.

Before the summer ended I applied to Whitehall College. I applied through the college website and I was soon invited to attend an interview. The interview went really well and I was offered a place. I was so happy when I was accepted and I felt such a wave of relief.  I finally felt like I wasn’t stuck in retail anymore and that I was starting the path to my career of being a teacher.

My first week of college I remember feeling excited and ready to start learning. I enjoyed most of my classes.
Nowadays I am finding it difficult to find a balance of work and college. I work every weekend and I do full days on Friday and Saturday.  It is very tough but I have to keep trying.

When I complete my course at Whitehall I want to get my distinctions and I want to be accepted into DCU.

I feel like I have gained a lot of new skills such as research skills, referencing, study skills, time management skills, etc. that will definitely help me academically next year when if I go to DCU.
I have learned how to manage my time, I’ve learned how to write assignments and essays. These new skills will be very beneficial for me next year and in my future career.

During my time at Whitehall I hope to achieve great results in all of my subjects.
In order to do this I need to hand in my work on time and make sure that I have put in my best work.

At the moment I feel like I have a lot of assignments and work to do. But I am slowly getting through it. Last night I got a lot of work done and I made a list of everything I need to complete by a certain date. I am slowly crossing off the things on my list. Tonight I am going to work on two essays so that they are done and out of the way.
Next week I will have a weeks holiday’s from work so that will give me some time to get extra work done and to study for the Christmas exams.

I feel like after Christmas the months will fly by and soon I will be doing my Final Exams.
I really hope that I can finish the course and get the results that I want.
If I don’t get the results that I want I will only be letting myself down.

Today in class we worked on more tasks for word processing.

Before class we attended one of our lectures in DCU.

I felt that this lecture was more structured than the others and the lecturer gave us some good information and I did not feel so stressed/worried about what we have to do as she explained it pretty well.

Then in Geraldines class we worked on our tasks for word processing.

After Geraldine marked the students in class in the roster she told us that we all did really well in our assignment so I felt relieved about that.

I then worked on my tasks and finished the first page.

 

Unfortunately I had to leave early for work.

Lately I am finding it a little hard to find a glance of work and college.
I work every weekend so I don’t really get a day off and usually work long days.

This is leaving me feeling like I do not have enough time but I am going to work on it so that I don’t let my work pile up.

I think the best thing for me to do is go to a cafe after I finish work and just work on my assignments I find that working in a cafe is the best environment for me to stay focused and get my work done.

When I am at home I look after my little brother so it is a little bit harder to focus on my work. I also want to give him more attention when I am with him because I am not really at home these days so he misses me.

I think after the Christmas break I won’t feel as stressed about my work because it will be finished and I can focus on the year.

Today in class we did our assignment for word processing.

I did not feel nervous for this assignment as the previous Friday Geraldine gave us the brief and we did a small practice on a handout.

In the assignment we had to describe what word is and we also had to explain some of the features of word

I read the assignment carefully as I went along and then typed out exactly the instructions that were on the sheet given to us by Geraldine.

We then had pictures of some of the icons in word and explain what they do in the programme.

I filled out each one of them and I think that my explanations were good so I hope that I will receive a good mark.

I thought that the assignment would not really take long but because I wanted it to be perfect I did not finish until the class ended.

When I finished I felt happy that it was finished and that I didn’t have to think about it.

I did not feel worried after the assignment because I felt that I did pretty well.

I also made sure to go to the classes leading up to the assignment so that I will understand the assignment properly.

Hopefully I get a good mark.

Today is the first day back after mid-term.

In this class we focused on our research projects again.

I decided to change the direction of my research project to “the pressure of exams on Irish students”

after getting feedback from Julie and Geraldine I felt that this was a better topic to do for my research project.

I started to research different articles and began filling out my secondary research form with my sources and references.

This got me started on my research project and I was able to gather lots of information.

I used the note taking skills that we learned in class in the first couple of weeks in college and this helped so much.

During my research I found a lot of useful information for my project.

I found many articles about Irish students under stress during examinations in the leaving certificate.

I also found that many of the stresses of the students taking leaving certificate examinations many of the articles stated that stress and mental health problems are related to this.

I want to do more research to find out how many students are effected by stress and mental health in Ireland while taking exams.

While I was doing my research I used the online internet researching technique that we learned in the first few classes for research and study skills.

I feel that I have found a lot of useful information for my project but I will need to look at many different sources to make sure that the information I am gathering is correct.

Today in class we focused on our research projects.

We were focusing on our secondary research.

We picked a topic to work from and then googles different websites to find information.

The topic I picked was “the factors that affect students academic performance”

I picked many different topics for this such as

– Obesity
– Bullying
– Social Status
– Mental Health
etc.

I am interested in researching factors that effect a students academic performance because eventually I hope to become a secondary school teacher and it will be important to look out for these things and to help students in any way possible.

I looked at lots of different websites so that I could gather information for my project.
I copied and pasted all of the websites that I looked at into a document that was given to us by Geraldine and put them down as my secondary sources for my project.

I felt that this was useful because to make any successful project there must be a lot of work and research put into it.
Also exploring different topics provides more information and helps to bulk up the project and give you a lot to talk about

I am still a little bit unsure about what topic to choose for my project but I am sure I will figure out what to do when I look at many different sources.

I liked this lesson because we got started on our projects and felt that it was useful as we will be marked on our project.

While researching I used the technique that we were shown in class about how to use the internet for researching.

In this lesson I was expecting to start my research project. The teachers had explained to us that for our modules research skills and word processing we would have a research project to do that is combined for both modules.
I was expecting to get a start and find some websites that would help me with my project.

 

In this lesson I learned how to source websites and information for my project

 

The teacher explained to us that we had to look up different websites to find out information that we could use for our project. She told us that when we find a website that seems useful, to copy and paste the link. She gave us a sheet to copy and paste the links into so that we could later print it out and add it to our research project.

I googled different websites. My research topic is about the different factors that can affect students academic performance.
I googled topics such as the leaving certificate in Ireland, students mental health in Ireland, exam pressure, socioeconomic background.

When I found the websites that I thought would be useful to my project I copied and pasted the links into the worksheet that the teacher gave to us.

 

I will apply this learning by using this research technique whenever I have future research projects or even when I want to find out information about something that I need to gain more knowledge in.
When I am researching for my next college project I will look up many different websites by typing in key  words and topics relating to my project to find as much information as possible.
By researching many different websites you can gain different perspectives and viewpoints about certain topics.

 

My preffered learning style is through visual and audio. I researched many different websites but the ones that helped me the most were the ones that were neatly designed and well structured, if a website is messy or uneasy to read I will not stay long enough to read everything. I also watched some youtube videos that related to my research topic as I learn best through visual and audio this really helped me to gain the  information that I needed for my project.

 

My most successful outcome of this activity was finding out exactly what topics I would use in my research project. I googled many different topics that relate to the effect of students academic performance but the ones that I found and chose throughout this activity were : mental health/ stress / anxiety / exam pressure / socioeconomic background

 

 

 

 

 

A strength of the weakness is that it encourage students to look at multiple sources for their project instead of just one.

A weakness was that

 

In the future instead of looking at the same two websites for research projects I will look at as many websites as possible to gather all the information I need then I will choose the best and most reliable websites to use as my sources or references. This will improve how I gather and use the information for my future projects.

 

The activity was useful because it gave students a chance to research a broad range of different topics that might relate to their research project.

One change that I would make to the lesson is to get students to do a brain map first using keywords and topics that relate to their research project to make it easier for students to know what they are looking for.

Another change that I would make to improve the lesson is to get students to make sure that the websites they are using are reliable as there can be alot of fake and unsourced information on the internet.

 

The next time I am in a similar situation I will use the new research technique that I learned. I can use this technique when I have to do my research projects in Whitehall and also in DCU. Next time I can also go to the library so that I can also have books to reference that can back up the points I have found on the internet to make sure that the information is correct.

 

I can apply this learning technique to my future career by researching different schools and different places that I would like to teach in. In the future I would like to teach abroad so I can research what TEFL courses are the best choice for me and research what country will be the best place for me to teach abroad in. I can also research new learning techniques to teach my students and new lessons/ways of teaching.

Today is the 22nd of October.

In class today we focused on time management skills.
We planned out our weeks by doing up a timetable and filling out what days of the week we would study, go to college, go to work, exercise etc.

I felt that this was a good idea because it gave me time to think about how much time I am spending in certain areas of my life and what I need to pay more attention to.

When I had my planner filled out I realised that I don’t really have much time to spend with my friends but I try to meet them whenever I can.
This year is important to me and I want to do well so that means I have to sacrifice staying in some weekends to study or finish up my assignments.

we also calculated how much time we are spending at work, at college, etc.

this was useful to see how I actually spend my time and many hours I use efficiently.

I currently work Wednesday evenings, Friday evenings, Saturday’s and Snday’s so I don’t really get a day off which is difficult but when I have the mid term it is nice for me to be able to relax then.

I find the balance of work and college difficult but it has to be done.

It is my first week back to college after being on holidays.
I was sick for a couple of days and then I went on holidays to Spain.
I’m feeling very tired but I don’t feel like I am behind on my work because I worked on assignments that were due this week before I went away.

In today’s research skills class we made up our own individual study plans.
I felt that this is a good idea especially for students who are bad at time management.
However I don’t feel that I would not use this plan a lot as my days of the week are usually different.
I work in a store part time, usually on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays Sat and Or Sunday.
If I am not working I will go home to look after my little brother. While I am looking after my brother I usually try to work on assignments or study.  If someone is at home to look after my brother I can meet my friends also depending on their time schedules.

I feel that it is more useful to plan out my days on my iPhone so I can immediately check what I am going to do that day.

Overall this would be a good lesson for people who have bad time management skills or for people who are feeling overwhelmed with college life.

Today is the 28th of September 2018.
Another week in college has passed and we are finally settling in.
In last weeks class we covered not taking.
I felt that this was a good exercise as it helped me figure out what was the best way to take notes and to summarise exactly what notes I needed to focus on instead of learning off a big block of text.
We did this note taking activity in class to help us to find the best way to take notes.
I feel that this will really help me in the future when I am studying for my exams in college.
I think that this lesson was helpful as some people may not be used to taking notes for exams or study so it is very beneficial to them.

We also focused on how to reference in assignments and note taking.
I enjoyed this lesson because it gave me useful tips for the future when doing assignments in Whitehall and hopefully next year in DCU.

We learned about plagiarism and how easily an assignment can be plagarised.

We learned how to do citation and referencing using Harvard which actually was a lot easier than

I found this lesson easy and informative and I think that I will definitely use these learning styles in the future as I will have many essays and assignments to write.

For my next assignment I will use the referencing style and note taking style to ensure that I get good marks.

*This week we also had our first lecture at DCU *

For my first lecture at DCU I was expecting to learn a lot of new and interesting things.
I was looking forward to learning about the campus and what I will be doing in the next couple of weeks at DCU.

In this class I learned how to take down notes quickly and effectively.

I learned to highlight the most important part of the text instead of highlighting the whole passage. I also learned to write down the most important things that the teacher says beside the passage of text so that it will be easier when it comes to studying or remembering pieces of text for exams.

 

Before I arrived at DCU, myself and a classmate had previously looked around campus to find the room that we would have our lecture in. I arrived early before the lecture. Myself and my classmates waited outside until the previous class left the lecture room. When we walked inside there were not enough seats for us. We had to find some seats that were stacked at the back of the lecture room. I was excited to start my first lecture at DCU. However time kept passing and there was no sign of our lecturer. A member of DCU staff came to us after 20 minutes and told us that our lecturer was running a little bit late because she somehow ended up on a completely different campus. I felt a little bit irritated as I had woken up early and I has also skipped breakfast so I was beginning to get a little bit hangry by this point. Finally our lecturer arrived. She was very nice and she apologized. However when she began the lecture I found it quite hard. to hear what she was saying. English is not her first language so it was a mixture of this and her voice being quite low which stopped me from hearing everything properly.
From what I gathered, the lecturer explained to us what we would be doing this term, and what this module consisted of.
The lecturer told us that but the end of our module at DCU we will :

Become independent  learners
Become collaborators
Become Reflective practitioners
Become better communicators
Become Critical self evaluators
Become more aware of ourselves

The lecturer told us we will also work on stress/time management and group work. The lecturer explained how we would be marked for this module. She told us we had to do a group presentation and then a written paper with approximately 1200 words.

 

I can apply this learning throughout my course in Whitehall and to prepare myself for next year if i get accepted into DCU
I can use the independent learning skills, collaborative skills,, reflecting, communication, and self awareness skills that I have gained throughout my time at Whitehall and carry these skills all through life.

 

I learn best through visual and audio. I learned best in my lecture at DCU by listening to what the lecturer was saying, however, because it was very hard to hear her voice, and I was sitting at the back I found it quite difficult. I took down whatever notes I could hear properly and after our lecture I asked my classmates about parts of the lecture I was unsure of and then I took down small notes in my phone which I then transferred into my notebook for future reference.

 

One of the most successful outcomes of the activity is that I learned about my module in DCU, what the course will consists of and how I will be assessed. I felt that I understood the structure of the module after this lecture.

 

One of the less successful outcomes of this activity is that the lecturer showed up late, so students were sitting around waiting for her and getting irritated. This didn’t start the lecture off well.
When she arrived she apologized.
Another less successful outcome of the activity is that her voice was quite low and I could not hear what she was saying.
This made it hard for me to understand everything and I felt a little bit frustrated.

 

In order to achieve these improvements I can work on my time management skills so that I can complete each of the tasks for this module in DCU, such as completing the reflective journal on time, and getting my group presentation completed in time. I can work on my collaborative skills by working with the people in group to get the work that is needed completed in order to achieve the highest mark possible on my grade.

 

I have already completed my first week of college. So far it is going well.

Today we took the VARK test to find out our individual learning styles.

There was a number of different questions and we had to put a tick beside the statement that we most related to. At the end the statements were calculated up and we were given a final score.

That score determines your individual learning style.

The style that I got at the end of the test was visual, audible , read and write

today we also focused on our own individual learning styles.

I found that my own individual learning style was through visual and audio learning.

I like taking down notes neatly and in colour code so that it looks pleasing to the eye. If my notes are messy and scribbled down it is harder for me to focus and learn.
I also learn best through audio. I enjoy learning languages and I find that when I am looking at my notes and listening to an audio of the language I progress really well and can learn quickly.
I enjoyed this lesson as it made me realize and think about the best way that I study/learn. I think this is very useful for students to be aware of how they learn best.

I definitely relate with this learning style and I will now be more aware of how I am learning during my time at college.

I think that this type of test is would be very useful for teachers to give their students as it helps students to figure out their own learning style and gives the teacher a look at her students and how they learn best and how many of her students have similar learning styles. This would be beneficial to teachers especially when planning lessons for their classes.
I think that I will use this activity in my classes when I eventually become a teacher.

I liked this activity because it gives students a chance to understand their own learning and also the how others around them learn.