Destressing...

Well the past few days for all U211'ers has been quite stressful with the run up to the first TMA deadline of the course.  There has been so much support and comradeliness on the Forums it has been great, the new posts were coming in thick and fast as people were taking a break from the word counting, referencing, general muddling over what the question meant.  Whatever time of day you visited it was active, for the first time I felt that I was not alone and that I was part of our community.

As for the TMA itself well, I am glad to be rid of it, I managed to hand it in with plenty of time to spare before deadline which was great!  I don't know what to expect in terms of a grade, I am hoping for a 40% pass at least I might even be hopeful for 50-60%.  The biggest sense of achievement really comes from actually carrying on when I wanted to give up and making a submission of something I worked my hardest on.

I have learnt a lot from this experience, I know that going forward to make notes as I read, I know not to worry about other peoples experiences of the course and to concentrate on how I am getting on and deal with it in my own time, I know that I can ask for help or express a concern on the Forum and will be met with others in the same boat.  I am not the worlds most organised person, and if it were a sliding scale I'd probably be closing in on the worlds least organised person, but I have begun to make use of organisational tools.  Every TMA and Tutorial is marked in my Outlook calendar, with alarms to remind me plenty in advance, I have also marked in other appointments and commitments so that I can make study appointments with myself.  As a result it is not only helping with my studies but every area of my life.

Now we all just have to think about what we wrote until the marks come back, which should be within the next two weeks, I'll keep you posted.  Now best get started on the next lot of studies and checking out TMA02!

Three firsts...

Well I really meant to post before now as there has been quite a lot going on to report.  I had my first U211 Tutorial at the weekend and I found it to be very useful.  The group was a nice size of about 11 people and the tutor was quite enthusiastic which was nice as I had been worried that his lack of contact was going to be an indication of tutorial quality, but I am pleased to say that was not the case.  It was good to know that like myself most people also felt a bit daunted by the module, I think that comes from the fact that it is a compulsory module in so many degree combinations so a lot of us wouldn't go near this subject by choice.  That said it is very interesting and the tutor told us that most people find the first block the hardest going and find the rest of the course a lot better, so there is hope!

TMA01 is due next week and I have been working through the text book with my highlighter pen and writing summary notes for each sub-section which I am finding extremely helpful and I have decided that I will tackle the materials this way from now on.  I don't think that I have ever been taught how to study properly, I really have never taken notes about anything but now I am able to identify areas of interest and by trying to summarise in my own words I am finding the information is even sticking!  I don't expect to get a high mark for the TMA and at the moment I am aiming for the 40% needed to pass, which is helping to take the pressure off, of course I am trying my best and it would be nice to get higher but 40% would suffice.

L193's website opened today and the first thing I checked, as I think most OU students do, was the TMAs and their submission dates.  I was surprised at the pace of the course, although I suppose it is beginners but the final TMA is due at the end of August and the ECA at the End of September, I expected that because it started one month after U211 that it would finish a month after too which would make it mid July.  I will aim to get ahead as much as I can so that I don't find L130 too much of a step up.  As for the TMAs themselves they look quite straight forward and I was happy that I can complete most of the first one without looking anything extra up, so over the past year of evening courses I have retained some knowledge!

I am still excited to be studying, I will be happier after next week when the first assessment is under my belt though.

Bis später!