Visits, learning
My mum came to visit me this week which was a nice change. We mostly wandered around Bangor and I showed her the stuff I've discovered, then in the afternoon we undertook this majestic project of improvement upon the yard for the benefit of dem kitties:
Let's be real, this entire house is really outfitted for the benefit of dem kitties. My crazy cat lady mug is about to take pride of place in my office now, right alongside the one that says 'trust me I'm a doctor'. They were both gifts because my friends and family know me well. My students are either going to love me or think I'm completely nuts. I'm really curious to see what they're like. I've only taught in one place before and whilst there was a fair amount of diversity, it's still possible to identify a 'type' that probably 70% fall in to, i.e. young White urban and middle class with above-average secondary education. I've also taught night classes to adults which was way different. Anyway where was I? So my mum and I went to the Pier and then when wandered around Bangor for a bit whilst she exhorted me to look at the natural beauty, to which I responded that I had already seen it. I have not as yet transformed into an outdoor person. Then we found the Gwynedd Museuem and Art Gallery which was small but surprisingly full, with a lot of local history. I liked 18th -19th C clothes including details of the people who wore them, the collection of extremely creepy children's dolls (seriously I would not turn my back on them if they were in my bedroom) and the collections of little items belonging to people who used to live here. I was right about the Puritan presence (Puritan was the word I was looking for in a previous entry when I talked about the graveyard, but I couldn't remember it). The first meeting of the temperance society in the UK was held here. (We also went to the Cathedral which filled me with nope and I realized that had I lived in an earlier era, I would totally have been a melt-it-and-give-it-to-the-poor style Puritan). There was a preacher's notes from a sermon written on this tiny tablet in Welsh, and a huge wooden slab from the late 1800s for hanging around the necks of children caught speaking Welsh in school. Apparently the unfortunate person had to wear until someone else was caught speaking Welsh, at which point it was transferred to them, and whoever was wearing it at the end of the day/week got 'punished'. Punishment not specified. I didn't get to see everything and will definitely go back, particularly as it's free and I'm reaaaalllly trying not to decimate my small savings any more this month. Moving is expensive. I know I'll be fine once I start getting paid, and can even - gasp - start saving again - but that's not till September. The good thing is I have a fair bit of freezer space now which I am learning to use for economy.
All the main chapters for Fanfiction and the Author are written! I'm now in the process of chopping up and reshaping the introduction and lit review of my Phd, to be followed by the methodology and conclusion. Then I need to re-read it all, do the bibliography and index by November 30. I have some concerns about the inclusion of images from Sherlock, Game of Thrones and SPN, because it's my responsibility to make sure they're legal to reproduce. Which, I mean, they should be. A few black and white images out of a franchise in the context of a critical book totally comes under fair use, minimal usage, right of quotation etc. But I'm kind of taking that responsibility. I assume it will be okay. Whatevs. It's not like the showrunners are gonna read it.
In the meantime I'm writing lectures for my modules this term, and preparing for my PGCE course. I did actually get a good idea from reading today, which is that I could assess the critical theory module by requiring students to keep a weekly journal on how what they've learned has changed the way they look at some aspect of their media/cultural life, and then at the end, have them write a referenced summary report on it. I'd probably require them to hand it in halfway through for formative assessment, then give it back to them to complete for the final assessment. I don't want them to think of 'the theory module' as one more item to check off a list that you tack on at the end, but get them using theory from day 1, and realize that 'Theory' isn't this scary academic mystery but literally just a way of looking at things that shows up what you wouldn't otherwise have seen.
I'm starting to see people around a bit - as in, people from the department when I'm going in to print things etc - but I really want to make some actual friends here. I guess Induction on September 2 will be the opportunity for that. Apparently it involves a boat. :S. That's all I've heard. I have no idea in what capacity it involves a boat or what I will be expected to do with the boat.
More soon x
Let's be real, this entire house is really outfitted for the benefit of dem kitties. My crazy cat lady mug is about to take pride of place in my office now, right alongside the one that says 'trust me I'm a doctor'. They were both gifts because my friends and family know me well. My students are either going to love me or think I'm completely nuts. I'm really curious to see what they're like. I've only taught in one place before and whilst there was a fair amount of diversity, it's still possible to identify a 'type' that probably 70% fall in to, i.e. young White urban and middle class with above-average secondary education. I've also taught night classes to adults which was way different. Anyway where was I? So my mum and I went to the Pier and then when wandered around Bangor for a bit whilst she exhorted me to look at the natural beauty, to which I responded that I had already seen it. I have not as yet transformed into an outdoor person. Then we found the Gwynedd Museuem and Art Gallery which was small but surprisingly full, with a lot of local history. I liked 18th -19th C clothes including details of the people who wore them, the collection of extremely creepy children's dolls (seriously I would not turn my back on them if they were in my bedroom) and the collections of little items belonging to people who used to live here. I was right about the Puritan presence (Puritan was the word I was looking for in a previous entry when I talked about the graveyard, but I couldn't remember it). The first meeting of the temperance society in the UK was held here. (We also went to the Cathedral which filled me with nope and I realized that had I lived in an earlier era, I would totally have been a melt-it-and-give-it-to-the-poor style Puritan). There was a preacher's notes from a sermon written on this tiny tablet in Welsh, and a huge wooden slab from the late 1800s for hanging around the necks of children caught speaking Welsh in school. Apparently the unfortunate person had to wear until someone else was caught speaking Welsh, at which point it was transferred to them, and whoever was wearing it at the end of the day/week got 'punished'. Punishment not specified. I didn't get to see everything and will definitely go back, particularly as it's free and I'm reaaaalllly trying not to decimate my small savings any more this month. Moving is expensive. I know I'll be fine once I start getting paid, and can even - gasp - start saving again - but that's not till September. The good thing is I have a fair bit of freezer space now which I am learning to use for economy.
All the main chapters for Fanfiction and the Author are written! I'm now in the process of chopping up and reshaping the introduction and lit review of my Phd, to be followed by the methodology and conclusion. Then I need to re-read it all, do the bibliography and index by November 30. I have some concerns about the inclusion of images from Sherlock, Game of Thrones and SPN, because it's my responsibility to make sure they're legal to reproduce. Which, I mean, they should be. A few black and white images out of a franchise in the context of a critical book totally comes under fair use, minimal usage, right of quotation etc. But I'm kind of taking that responsibility. I assume it will be okay. Whatevs. It's not like the showrunners are gonna read it.
In the meantime I'm writing lectures for my modules this term, and preparing for my PGCE course. I did actually get a good idea from reading today, which is that I could assess the critical theory module by requiring students to keep a weekly journal on how what they've learned has changed the way they look at some aspect of their media/cultural life, and then at the end, have them write a referenced summary report on it. I'd probably require them to hand it in halfway through for formative assessment, then give it back to them to complete for the final assessment. I don't want them to think of 'the theory module' as one more item to check off a list that you tack on at the end, but get them using theory from day 1, and realize that 'Theory' isn't this scary academic mystery but literally just a way of looking at things that shows up what you wouldn't otherwise have seen.
I'm starting to see people around a bit - as in, people from the department when I'm going in to print things etc - but I really want to make some actual friends here. I guess Induction on September 2 will be the opportunity for that. Apparently it involves a boat. :S. That's all I've heard. I have no idea in what capacity it involves a boat or what I will be expected to do with the boat.
More soon x