Open Days

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and have had a good week!

This weeks post is going to be all about university open days, the benefits, my experience of open days, tips about where you can find out about selecting a university and all that fun stuff!

Going to as many open days as possible is going to give you the absolute best variety of universities to choose from, I think it is absolutely vital that you visit your potential university before putting it as one of your choices and heading off in September. There would be nothing worse than turning up to a uni that you're going to be living at for 3 to 4 years and finding it's nothing like the pictures because everything is different and pictures can lie, or even realising that it's not everything you wanted in a university you just chose it because you were rushing and didn't visit any open days. There are no negatives to going to several open days, only positives. You need to see your potential university for a number of reasons:

• You have to live there for 3 years
• You are paying a lot of money to attend university 
• It needs to suit all of your needs e.g. close to home/far from home
• It could look completely different to the pictures
• Just because your friends like it doesn't mean you will, do not take someone else's opinion
• You need to work out the halls you want to move into as there are different options. 
• Is there any part time work you could sign up for
• Does it have all the facilities you require for both leisure and studies e.g. a gym for leisure and enough computers for studying 
• Are the lecturers people you could see yourself getting along with
• Does the course offer everything you want it to 

The list is endless really, but there's a few vital things that you need to consider. 

My experience of looking round universities is quite minimal. I was very unsure of what I wanted the one thing I knew was that I wasn't ready to be miles and miles away from home I wanted to be close enough that I could commute for my second year if I wanted but I needed to be far enough away to experience freshers properly and living in halls of residence. I picked Bedfordshire and another university however I didn't actually look around the other one I picked which was why I was so happy when I found out I had got into Bedford. I was so unsure of the other university as I had seen Bedford and it fitted every one of my needs and I didn't want to go to an unknown university and have regretted my decision. I think this is why I believe open days are absolutely necessary I should have visited the other university to make sure it was right to put down as one of my options but I didn't which was a mistake because I'd have been so nervous if I hadn't gotten into Bedfordshire.

Tips on where you can find out more about university selection and open are available on UCAS or even the universities websites themselves. My advice would be to scour these websites and find the ones that seems like they would suit you the best, then apply for some open days and get a real feel for the universities, your choices could change dramatically when you actually visit the universities themselves. 

Just please do not apply for anything before seeing and looking round it. Make sure everything suits you before making any drastic decisions. 

The University of Bedfordshire offers open days throughout the year and this is what they include on the day: 

An open day includes the following activities

• Welcome talk and introduction to the University of Bedfordshire
• Course session with academics from the course you're interested in
• Tours of our campus facilities and student accommodation
• Talks on topics including: student finance, application and personal statements and student life
• Opportunities to speak to academics, support services and current students

Thanks for reading, I hope this was helpful. 

Until next time, 

M

Third Year Expectations...

Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

Seeing as I've finished uni and am not quite sure what sort of things you'll be interested in I thought I'd write a bit of an expectations post. So, what I think third year is going to be like and how it will pan out from listening to peers who have gone through it, my own judgement and what my lecturers have been saying...

My first and probably biggest expectation is that it's going to get very real and very serious. I have heard a lot of people say before that first and sometimes second year are complete walks in the park compared to the final year of university and this seems to be a recurring theme no matter what course you're studying. I personally don't think anyone is ever fully prepared for what to expect for the whole dissertation aspect of final year. Me included, I think it's definitely a huge shock to our systems from what I've heard and I wish I could know what to expect fully but obviously I never will because it's definitely one of those things that if you don't ever experience it, you'll never really understand what it's like. So, yeah dissertation is most probably going to shock me into wanting to be a complete uni nerd and do everything by the book, having said that I don't think anyone ever does every little thing we're supposed to.

I thought this image represented expectations brilliantly. 

Secondly, I definitely think the social side of uni will die down completely, especially in those crucial 'diss' months. This is another reason I know third years going to be the biggest struggle of my uni career, because third year students are barely out on student nights throughout those key dissertation writing months and then all of a sudden they all start appearing again when they've submitted and finished them. I don't think this will affect me as much as others because I'm commuting again and that means less nights out anyway because the thought of a home cooked meal and a bath often outweighs the thought of going out in the freezing cold and waking up feeling horrendous, this makes me sound like I don't like going out, I DO! I have just learnt over the years I have been going out that it doesn't need to be every night because I found myself getting bored of the same old thing every week.

Another big change I think I'll notice is my personal time spent in the library. I thought this year I'd spend more time in the library but I actually barely did, apart from when I had a massive three hour break between lectures. I find it so hard to concentrate in there but I know it will be essential for dissertation work next year so I think I'll be forcing myself to spend many hours in there. I work so well from home, I have my own office and everything gets done so much quicker, eBooks are literally my savior. Although, I much prefer having a book in print as I find it so much easier to find what I'm looking for, so library books are going to have to be my new thing.

Other than these three main things, I don't think much else will change. I mean obviously my lecturers, timetable and all of those things will but the way second year has gone, I really want to keep the approach to uni I have as it's very positive at the moment and just get through this final year of my degree.

It's so weird to think I'm so close to graduating and that massive step closer to my dream job. University was honestly the best decision I ever made. I think my current placement has made me realise how much teaching will suit me and I know I'll be good at it. I have had cold feet about teaching as my career path but my love for it has been restored, all I needed was to get into a setting and remember everything I love about it!

Graduation can't come quick enough! 

Until next time,

M.

FINISHED!

Hi Everyone, I hope you've all had a brilliant week... I certainly have!

I finally finished my final assignment which was my webfolio for my digital age unit, it's not due till the 25 of this month but I feel so relieved to have it done and submitted now, weight off my shoulders! Now all I have to think about is placement and going on holiday next month, yay!

Its scary to think that I am basically a third and final year student now (bearing in mind I get decent grades back). I have a lot of grades that I'm waiting for, as does everyone around this time of year I guess!

This year has been so different to my first year, for some reason I've felt less stressed out about deadlines, felt confident about what I'm handing in assignment wise pretty much every time and just in general been happier in the way I'm experiencing university life. I mean I guess this is all mainly down to the fact that I'm not commuting, going home to my own bed, a bath, my family and a home cooked dinner is bliss to me after last year which seemed like I was away for a lifetime. I appreciate everything so much more and university has stayed interesting for me as I'm not living and working in this same environment constantly. I love that I go to uni, have a good number of nights out with friends per term but am not obliged to have to go out every week if I don't want to, I'm lucky I've got good friends who let me crash at theirs otherwise I'd of missed out on a lot socially I reckon. I honestly enjoy going to my lectures this year because I travel about 35-40 minutes to get there I find myself engaging more and actually wanting to learn, whereas last year I missed a lot of lectures and found myself not listening more often than I should of.
Thursday's were quite tough at the start of this year as I had a three hour gap between lectures which isn't enough to go home but also long enough to get bored, but once the workload kicked in I was so grateful for these three hours in the library, I managed a good load of assignment work throughout the months.

Third year I know is going to be tough, I got my grade back for my research proposal assignment which I want to use for my dissertation but I didn't get as good as I'd hoped so I need to make sure I tweak this over the summer to make it a more worthy piece of work and a good starting point for my dissertation to go off. Although I've got a lot of work to do next year (well October) I am still so excited and I know I'll be more than ready to start back in October after having such a long summer break. In terms of blogging this week I will try and make a list of topics to post about as these weekly posts wont exactly be relevant any more, so maybe I'll post more about A-level life and exams as I know you're all going through this stage in your lives at the moment.

Well this was an interesting image to find, third year... yay?!

Revision was never my strong point so I truly feel for all of you taking exams, all I can say is I hope you're not too stressed and keep thinking about that post exam party! Ha!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Until next time,


M.

University Open Days

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all well and enjoying the Easter break, I definitely am!

I thought I would talk about open days in this post as I'm sure some if not all of you are well on your way into visiting universities and finding the ones that you like best, but if not then this post can offer you some advice about choosing a university and what to look for when researching your potential choices.

Visiting a uni is the best way to find
out more

Open days really are the BEST way of getting a genuine feel for a university, the only way you'll ever know what a university is going to be like is by walking round and looking in every nook and cranny there is possible whilst you're there. Bedford was the only university I visited, partly because I had a Saturday job at the time and couldn't afford not to take time off as most of the open days were on Saturdays when I was looking and partly because I didn't have much choice when it came to university as I wanted to stay relatively close to home so that I could have the option to commute if needs be. Don't get me wrong I could have looked at a couple more but I just didn't and luckily for me it worked out ok, however if I were choosing a university far from home I would 100 percent only put it as one of my choices if I'd seen it.

Living away from home for three or four years may not seem like much at time because you're still doing a-levels and its a 'long time coming' but really it is only round the corner and before you know it you could be being shipped off to a part of the country you really no nothing about. So, my first piece of advice is VISIT UNIVERSITIES no matter what you think of their websites of brochures, everything is different in person and I would advise all of you to visit as many as you can because you never know, one you weren't so keen on from the pictures might actually be everything you want and more, so basically I'm using the cliche 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

One thing that made me feel more sure about Bedford than my other choices was because I'd seen it, I knew the distance it was from home which is perfect, I knew where I'd be studying down to the exact rooms almost, I'd visited the town centre and I'd even looked at potential job opportunities, everything about it felt right and that really is only down to the fact that I was familiar with the town and everything in it, not familiar enough to miss out on the initial exploring when you arrive but just enough to feel extra comfortable with my choice of university.

Here's a link to the universities open day page of their website in case any of you want to have a look and come along to one.

And take a look on YouTube to watch some videos all about their open days:

I study at the Bedford campus

If you really cannot gain access to a particular university you are interested in and really think it would be great for one of your choices I would consider scouring their website, google and any online forums for reviews of everything from the accommodation you are applying for to the best place for a cooked breakfast. It might be an idea to contact the university direct and ask for any extra information or even if they can help you in any way to learn any more information if you don't ask you don't get and all that.

I hope this post helps you on the path to finding your university and offers advice in the ways to do so.

Hope you have a good week, I'll speak to you next Friday when my Easter break will nearly be up :-(

Until next week,

M

First month over...

Hi everyone!

Well this is my last blog post of February! Can't believe its been four weeks already!

I thought I'd talk a bit about internships in this post, so I'll cover where to find them, how they benefit you and how the benefit readers...and whatever else springs to mind!

So, I began blogging for the University back in the first few months of my first year. I got a notification on my 'BREO Shell' which is basically where I get my lecture notes and anything university related is on here. It's an internal site that all members of staff and students use daily to keep track of lectures and assignments and all that good stuff! So I believe the notification was a link to get in touch with the marketing team and arrange an interview. The interview was at the Luton campus however, which is about 50 minutes away from the Bedford campus where I am based, but this didn't put me off because I wanted the experience and realised how interesting it would be to do.

So I am the blogger for Education and Teaching for the University. There are bloggers for the other courses too I believe. I was surprised to find out when I first applied that no one else had snapped the opportunity up and I think this was because we were all new and didn't really know our way around the whole 'BREO' site etc.

This brings me to my first piece of advice; read EVERYTHING. Don't miss out on something really beneficial just because you couldn't be bothered to read an announcement. The University lecturers really do try their best to help you gain experience and have an exciting time at university. I am extremely grateful for my lecturer putting this announcement on BREO back when I was a fresher because now I'm still here and still enjoying blogging about my time spent at university.

Not only is blogging beneficial to the readers, for example possible students trying to get an insight into what the University is really like and whether they would suit a particular course or not, but it is also a really good thing for people like me to do to broaden my skills, have something to stick at, and one of the best things that I cannot wait for is reading back from the very beginning of my blog posts to reflect on university and all the obstacles I've overcome.

In terms of lecturers and seminars this week, not much has been happening. I've been super ill this week but I still managed to make it to all but one lecture, yay! In Comparative ed we watched a documentary on the history of South African education to add to the growing collection of countries we need to know about. It was actually really moving and terrifying to watch how some parts of the world lived. In Lifelong learning we had a lecture on the ICT curriculum. We are currently having lectures on all the subjects to help us decide which two we want to use for our poster presentations we've got later on in the year. Digital age was actually an optional lecture where we got up-to-date on our webfolios, as our next formative deadline is creeping up on us! Research methods was the lecture I missed but it was in qualitative data analysis I believe (I will be catching up on notes soon)!

All in all it's been quite an easy week; just preparing for the next lot of assignments in April/May time. But I thought I'd tell you all a bit more about blogging and internships.

In all seriousness, if you can, go for an internship. They really are great opportunities and if you can manage to bag one that you really enjoy (which I really have) then even better. They also show such commitment to future employers that you were involved in your university and got stuck in. I really would recommend one and good luck to anyone who is interested.

On a side note, if you don't manage to get a blogging internship I'd seriously consider blogging your experience at university anyway... To have all or most of your experiences in writing would be really nice to look back on and treasure. So, have a think about it guys because blogging really is fun!

Hope you all have a great week and I'll speak to you next Friday!

Here's a couple cliché 'Spring time' pictures to brighten up the post and get you all looking forward to the next couple of months!

M

2000 words... DONE!

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all ok!

So I think I mentioned last week that this weeks post would basically be a low down on one of my units called The Lifelong Curriculum, seeing as last weeks was dedicated to the Digital Age unit.

I had to make this image really big so that you can see all of the words, which I hope you can as this is the biggest it will go. This image is one of many that come up when you search lifelong learning online. I personally think it is a brilliant representation of what lifelong learning is. It shows so many different words that contribute to the whole idea of lifelong learning and they are all jumbled together which shows that things may not be in order but they still happen and we still learn. 

As we speak I have just uploaded my 2,000 word essay (well 1,849 to be exact, we are allowed 10 percent either side of 2,000), for my first assignment for Lifelong.

I'm not going to lie to you, this is one of the units I thought I would love. I primarily took it because I wanted to become a teacher which most people on my course want to do (obviously)! However, I'm not sure whether it's because I have had a change of career path or because the unit itself may not suit me as well as I thought it would, but I'm just not loving it,which is a shame I know. One of the main good points about being able to choose two units of your choice in second year is that you are more than likely going to enjoy the two you get to pick.

You are probably wondering now "Change in career....?" Well basically, I still want to work in education, I had just been having cold feet a couple months back about becoming a teacher. I do still like the idea of it, I just don't LOVE it. I'm not upset about it, because I have done a lot of research and am planning to go and see the career adviser's at uni so I  don't want to say anything until I know its definitely possible, I'm sure it is I just want clarification from someone who really knows what they're talking about. A.K.A a career adviser.

So I do still love my course and I know it was the right choice for me, I'm just slightly moving away from the whole 'actual teacher' role.

The course is still completely relevant to my possible career path.

Lifelong curriculum is all about how the current national curriculum supports us throughout our whole lives and is not something we just leave behind at school. You study every subject and complete an assignment and presentation about the subjects of your choice. It is very interesting and has actually opened my eyes to the fact that I do still use such things I learnt in school that I thought would never be relevant in later life.

As far as the assignments go, I've only completed the essay so far but I know the presentation will be the nicer of the two for me because I am quite a relaxed presenter and writing essays is not exactly a walk in the park for me, especially long ones like this one!!!

For this assignment, I chose the English National curriculum for key stage 2, mainly because I enjoyed English the most at school. It was difficult, I won't lie, and I found it hard to start off, but once I was into it, it wasn't so bad. I wouldn't say it was the best essay I've ever written though; I'm not the most confident about this one.

If you want to be a teacher, take this unit as it is recommended by the University that you do so, and I do see the relevance to a teaching career.

I'd also like to say that it really doesn't matter if you don't know what you exactly want to be. I was getting stressed that I had changed my mind and tried to convince myself teaching was what I was doing; I had made up my mind and I just had to stick with it. But I just flipped one day, and realised that I can be whatever I want, and began researching and found something I'm truly interested in. So, basically don't worry if you are taking or thinking about taking a degree but haven't yet figured out your career path or ideas of what you want to do.

I thought this was an interesting image as it represents exactly what this post discuss... the fact that even if you go off track and change your mind, you're still learning no matter what path you choose, and that is what lifelong learning is all about. 

Until next time,

M

Last Blog Post :(

Hello Everyone,

Yes, this is my last blog post of the year which is actually quite sad. I have enjoyed posting and reflecting back on the weeks gone by.
I do have some exciting news which is that I will hopefully be back next year! I'm over the moon about the fact that I could be carrying on my blog as I think it's such a benefit to both you all reading it, but also for myself too.

Readers are able to get a real inside scoop on what their university life will bring for them and even better if you're hoping to study teaching at the University of Bedfordshire! Those of you who are have been given a real good head start in a way as you know in some respects what to expect from your first year and I would love to be able to carry on and tell you all about how you second years will pan out.

I'd like to thank everyone who read any of my posts throughout the past year and also the people who gave me the opportunity to start this blog. It's been a great experience and I will hopefully get to speak to you all soon!

Good luck to everyone getting their results this month, I hope you all get what you achieve and maybe see those of you hoping to attend UoB next year!

Video blog of my year at the University of Bedfordshire

This post is going to be a video presentation showing an overview of my first year of university. I hope you all enjoy it!

Review of First Year from meganloveys1234

Birthday Celebrations and Another Holiday on the Cards?!

As you may have already guessed it was my birthday on Thursday! I had a wonderful day and got spoilt rotten! I have been celebrating, I went out last weekend and last night I went to BBQ with some uni friends which was nice to catch up and see them, it ended up to be a really good night!
I turned 19 which is a boring age I suppose, I had my big 18 last year which was a very big celebration and to be quite honest I didn't want to stop being 18 ha never mind!

Some more exciting summer news, my cousin and I might be booking a last minute holiday at the end of August. We had always planned to go away together and we both really want to go on holiday so fingers crossed that all comes together and we actually go!

I've started my reading for next year, and by started I mean very briefly, but still it's not just sitting there! I can't really give you an insight into what I'm going to be learning about be the books are about a lot of things. However, if I do get to study the two options I've picked I can tell you that I will not have any exams next year, well none that involve sitting in a cold hall for two hours writing non-stop and coming out with a cramped hand and a rumbling stomach... Yeah, none of that kind!
As you all know I've done that deliberately because I am the world's biggest exam hater and I can't bear to sit another endless exam next year, I'd much prefer to have coursework and assignments as it means I can work on them for a long period of time and don't have to use my useless memory to do well!

I hope all of your summers are going well, I bet you're all off on party holidays(I was in Magaluf this time last year) celebrating the end of A-Levels before you all separate and head to university for your new adventures!

Well, have fun doing whatever you're doing and I shall speak to you next week in my video blog... Exciting!!!

I can't wait for you all to see it, I've worked hard on it and hope you all enjoy watching something a bit different on my blog!

Speak to you next week!

Summer update!

So, I haven't really got much 'degree' related to post about this week, so I thought I would tell you all about how my summer is going... which is very well!

The one great thing about being a student at university is the LONG summer..

So:

• I've been on holiday to Spain which was amazing but a week is soooo not long enough!
• I have managed to bag myself two new jobs and I have been able to leave my old one which is great because I was not enjoying it anymore.
• It's my birthday this month..19th which I suppose is quite a boring birthday but I have loads planned, not thing necessarily to do with my birthday, some obviously, but I just have good plans in general at the moment.
• I may be planning a last minute holiday..maybe if I can afford it...I guess student shouldn't go on holiday twice a year should they...save save save! 
• I'm getting bored sometimes...long summers are good but not so good when everyone else is still at work/school.

One thing I can tell you all about is that I keep getting notifications about resits in the summer which I don't have to worry about but it's quite interesting because I can tell you all what it would be like if you did have to resit and whether you'd feel all alone because it's the summer and maybe the lecturers don't work in the summer....

WELL...
that's definitely not the case. The resit process is extremely good, lecturers have scheduled dates that they will be available throughout the summer so that students can meet with them and have revision classes which I think is really good, the tutors really care about their students and want them to do well so they give up some of their summers to help and guide those who didn't quite meet the requirements to go through to their second years but are so determined still to achieve their degrees.

There are notifications all the time on Breo about what to revise, the exam questions have been put up and it just seems like they are getting all the help they can get which is really reassuring to me and hopefully will be to all of you guys as well.

So, don't panic you wont be alone if you don't quite make it through.

I hope all of your summers are going well..

BYE! 

Exam advice!

I've decided to write this post to try and give you all some advice on how to prepare yourself for you exams, and what to expect. I think this is important for you all to know because I went into one of my exams this week thinking I knew everything about the topics that were going to come up and ended up panicking slightly when the question wasn't as straight forward as I'd expected it to be.

First of all, and this is the ONE piece of advice I stress you all to take in if you take in at least one thing from this post, and it's to expect the unexpected. The only problem I found when I opened up that question paper was that the question was so difficult to understand and I struggled to read between the lines as to what it wanted me to answer. Luckily, when I came out of the exam I spoke to some friends and it seems as though we all got the same thing from the question and therefore wrote about similar things, but in all honesty I was not one hundred percent sure when writing it that I had chosen the right theories and topics to discuss. 

So here's my advice and tips for you all:

- read the question, and I know what you're all going to think, everyone tells you this and it's obvious, but trust me I panicked and confused myself even more. Everyone was expecting that a significant name of a theory would be written within the question and it turns out it wasn't and therefore we all worried ourselves. What the question actually wanted from us was to think outside the box a little bit and understand what theory the question was actually talking about. 

- plan your time, this is vital. This particular piece of advice was a godsend to me when I was writing my exam answers. As soon as I opened my exam papers and read over the questions until I understood them completely(or as much as I possibly could), I then wrote down every last piece of information that I knew about the topic in question and then went from there and began to write whichever question I had decided to write first. 

-re-read your answer as you write, most people tel you to read over your answer at the end of your exam, however I think it is a much more beneficial idea to read as you write. I think this solves a lot of babbling and going off of topic which is unfixable when you have five minutes left of your exam. 

So, I hope this post gives you all some confidence in how to prepare and plan yourselves for your exams now and in the future, I will certainly be sticking to these rules from now on. 

Exams are next week!!!

I have just realised that my exams are next week, and that has given me a lot to think about...for a quite a few reasons.




1. I feel like I need more time to prepare even though I am all revised out I still want more time, but I suppose that's always how it goes. I cannot believe I have turned my whole revising attitude around, all those years at school I had such a laid back attitude towards revision and generally always decided that going out for lunch or anything other than revision was more worth my time.. But from doing a-levels and now am at university level I have realised that achieving a first does not come without some hard work.




2. I will no longer be a fresher. This I'm not so scared about because I realise that I'm only two years away from gaining a degree and that's the one and only reason I am at university, to get my all important degree to put me in the right direction to having my dream job and career. So I guess I'm glad I wont be a fresher anymore, and to be honest I don't think I could cope with another fresher's fortnight again..non-stop partying takes it out of you!




3. My summer holiday is less than five weeks away! This time in five weeks I will be laying by the pool in the sun, without any kind of exam thought in my head.. BLISS!




4. My birthday is soon...ish! That's always a good thing.




5. I have the whole summer of no uni work, this is such a nice feeling. Summer is my absolute favourite time of the year, I am so excited to catch up with friends and just have a brilliant summer with everyone I love!



Those are all of the current thoughts that are going through my mind right now, first and foremost revision but after next week it will be the thought of a relaxed and enjoyable summer at home.

Understanding Education and Schooling (Exam Overview)

Ok so here's exam overview part 2, and in this post I am going to describe as best as I can the main things you should know about my second exam which is from the topic Understanding Education and Schooling. This topic covers a wide variety about education as a whole.. and the best thing about this exam is that we have been given the questions already!


So, what happens is a few months before our exams we are given five questions to choose from and you only choose two to answer...sounds easy right?! Each question relates to something we have covered in this particular unit and basically you just pick the ones you think you can answer the best.
I have picked a question about learning styles and behaviourism for mine and all I have to revise are the lecture notes and slides to do with these two topics.


This is by far the easier exam to revise for out of the two because its obvious what exactly I need to revise, however, I have to say I'm not doing too bad at Social Constructions either.. touch wood!
There's not a whole lot I can say about this exam because I'm only revising two particular topics within the unit as there is no need for me to learn anything else, as long as I know everything I need to know about learning styles and behaviourism I think I have a good chance of doing well.


So, for the learning style question, they want to know that you understand what a learning style is and the different concepts of using them within educational settings, and this question also wants you to focus particularly on the disadvantages that using learning styles could give to a young child and schools.


The behaviourism question wants you to give a clear explanation of what behaviourism is and then is focused on how behaviourism techniques are used within the classroom.
So, they are quite different questions, but I like this because I have not yet mixed any of the theorists up in the wrong question and I think that this is purely because the questions I have picked are so different.


I hope these last two posts have given you a good insight into what you should expect for your end of first year exams!

Social Constructions of Childhood (Exam Overview)

Ok, so I think I need to go into more detail about which subjects my exams are on and what the revision I'm doing entails.

Social Constructions of Childhood is one of the four subjects that I have been studying for my first year of university. It involves a lot to do with the history of education and the theorists supporting these views. I'm going to break this post down into two parts.. firstly I will talk about section A of the exam and secondly section B.

There are four questions in total, two for each section and we have to answer one question from each section.

Section A
This is examining part two of the unit and the first question supposedly deals with older sociological thoughts which therefore means we have to talk about theorists and their ideas about childhood, dating back to historical childhood.

The second question is dealing more with recent sociological thought. So, new theorists ideas on childhood and perhaps linking back to the ideas from previous years and seeing if there are links? Well that's my thoughts on how I would answer that question anyway..however even though I will look over this question I am mostly going to be revising for the first question as I feel this will be the easiest option for myself.

So, for my revision I have made a mind map containing a section for each theorist/idea that may come up under the first question in section A, and I have included a few bullet points of the most important things for each theorist/idea.

Section B
This is all to do with part three of the social constructions unit.
The first question focuses on images, culture or literature. So, how the child is perceived in these views.

The second question, which is the one I have chosen to write about focuses on children in film, TV or news. I decided to pick this one because I remember enjoying this particular lecture the most out of the two and I find it overall more interesting to talk about.

I think it is so important to pick the question that you feel most comfortable talking and writing about, there is no point picking the one that you think the examiners will 'like most' because there is no such thing. It should be interesting to you and therefore encourage you to revise more and come out with a good result in the end because you took the time and made the effort to construct a good response to your specific question.

I hope this blog post gives you an idea into the structure and layout of what you will experience in terms of exams if you are coming to education studies at the University of Bedfordshire next year.

On another note I think I should inform you all that I was able to choose my optional units for next year. It took a while but I am happy with the options I have chosen and I think these are definitely the best ones for me.

If you don't already know, in year two of education studies everyone has the same two core subjects and we are given about five or six optional units to choose from so I chose 'Lifelong Curriculum' because it is recommended for anyone wanting to study a PGCE (which gives you qualified teaching status) after their degree which is what I want to do, and also 'Children and Young people in the Digital Age' which is briefly described on our unit selection document as these three questions:

1. What are the challenges and opportunities experienced by children and young people in the digital age?

2. How are these constructed and understood in different media, settings, policies and practices?

3. What are the potential implications of new technologies for children and young people’s welfare, education, employment and social experiences?

I decided on this other option because it seemed the most interesting for me and I enjoy working with computers and this is one of the main things we will be using, it also involves a 5000 word e-portfolio for our only form of assessment which encouraged me even more because exams are not for me! 

How I felt when trying to choose my options!

Speak soon! 

Third term has begun!

I'm sure you can tell by the title of this post, yes it's official the last few weeks of my first year of university began on Monday and I am definitely the most worried about this term...might have something to do with my two exams at the end of this month? Yes, it certainly does... I'd love to go into more detail but I'm afraid that will have to come after I have actually sat the exams. A word of advice though.. START REVISING EARLY!
I know that everyone used to say this to me at school and I was never overly bothered and dare I say it..didn't care that I wasn't revising as much as was expected, but I have definitely learnt my lesson with these two exams and am revising because you have to pass these exams to carry on into your second year and it would be such a waste to ruin it all with failing your exams at the end of the year.. so yeah REVISE!

So it has been revision revision oh and more revision...urgh. Well I say 'urgh' but it's actually going really well and I feel extremely organised, which is a first for me because I was never the 'organised one' when I was in school and sixth form. Oh well, I think I've changed for the better in that respect.
After my two revision lectures on Monday I am most worried about the Social Constructions of Childhood exam..purely because I have been given a number of questions that will definitely come up in my Understanding education exam..so I'm most prepared for that one for sure.
I'm not saying these exams are easy, but I certainly feel more confident about these than I did about any of my A-Level exams...which is not what I was expecting at all.

Here's a picture of my revision..how exciting!

As far as contact time with university is going, I have actually finished all of my lectures for the year..so I'm actually back at home now for the summer basically. So I am having to motivate myself from home which in some ways I find easier and in others..more difficult. I would say I had more distractions at uni because I lived with flatmates and went out during the week..whereas at home I've not got many distractions
during the day as everyone is either at work or school..and then I have my little part-time job which sometimes gets in the way but I suppose that's the price you have to pay if you want to run a car and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Sorry to bore you with revision talk all the time but I'm afraid that is what my life consists of at the minute...I can't wait to tell you all about how the exams went and my grade(preferably if it's a good one)!

Third Term!

Ok, so I guess it's time to start thinking about my 3rd and final term as a first year at the University of Bedfordshire. It's not much of a term to be honest for me because we have one final week of revision lectures and that's it. Most people will probably stay in Bedford until their exams are finished but I've made the decision to go home after the last teaching week and then drive to Bedford for my two exams.
As for preparation, I think I am as prepared as I can be at this stage, I feel a little skeptical about my exams at this point but I think after I have attended the revision lectures I will feel a lot more comfortable and ready to sit my exams in May.

My Easter break has been jam-packed! I have actually managed to bag myself a job back home which is great as I have a lot planned over the summer and therefore need money! I feel like I have been at home for absolutely ages so goodness knows what I'm going to do with myself all summer. Work , work and work I suppose..oh and go on holiday..

I have been asked to talk about when I applied for university in this blog post which has actually proved quite interesting for me because it snow feels like a lifetime ago! My decision was pretty easy when it came to narrowing down to my firm and insurance choices. I knew I wanted to stay close to home and all of my university choices were within an hour away from where my family and I live. I picked all of the same courses 'Education Studies' for each university and therefore all I had to decide on was the university and halls of residence. I chose Bedford for a few reasons, 1: the halls are so nice and clean, 2: the university is also very nice and small which I liked, 3: the lecturers I met where all so friendly and welcoming and 4: it was my all round favourite university that I had visited. I wasn't fussed whether I got my firm or insurance choice purely because they were both as good as each other and meant I would be doing the exact course that I wanted to do.

The inside of my accommodation in Bedford, and yes it actually does look like this! 

The entrance to Liberty Park. 

I want to stress that it's not all about the stats and figures(it is partly) but you have to like the university you are looking at, one thing I think every applicant should remember is to not settle for second best. Aim high and do not be afraid to come out with your insurance choice, so choose wisely everyone!

Good luck with your UCAS applications and Happy Easter to you all!

Things I didn't know about University but wish I did!

Easter's going too quickly and my exams are creeping up around the corner so I thought that instead of posting another 'exam related' blog I would treat you all to a list of things I didn't know about university that I really wish I had before I went!

So here goes;

1. Things Cost Money. Looking back I was quite naive when moving from home where most things were at easy reach and money wasn't a huge issue because I had a job and supportive parents, to moving out on my own. I soon realised that everything costs money and it's hard to get by if you don't have any. It wasn't the daunting amount of money I am forking out via my student loan that is the problem, it's day-to-day costs that I never thought about when living at home. Most students prepare themselves for the costs of going out drinking and books, however I forgot about the simplest of things like snacks(no-one can sit through a 2 hour lecture with their stomach rumbling), fancy dress outfits (no-one wants to be the odd one out), fines for not handing your books in on time (I've had one and don't intend to have anymore after hearing about the fine)!!
   So, keep a good eye on your bank account before it's too late and you've spent all of your loan and have to open an overdraft...which luckily I haven't had to do! 
2. Self-Motivation is an absolutely KEY skill to obtain. So, most people are told that 'don't worry you're first year is easy you won't have to do much work' however, this is not the case. Prepare yourselves for a huge step up in terms of workload. It takes a while to get used to but you will soon learn that you have to get up, go to the library, and finish that essay, otherwise you have to rely on exams or other assignments and you're more likely to fail! Some decide to write their essays the night before and stay up all night writing it but if you want a good class degree this is not an acceptable standard of essay and you will not achieve a very good grade. 
3. Not everything is as it seems in the prospectus. Make sure you visit the universities you are applying for, there would be absolutely nothing worse than picking any old uni(they all look nice in pictures) and turning up to it looking more like a prison that a university. I did actually look at the University of Bedfordshire beforehand however a friend of mine is stuck in an awful halls of residence and the uni's not much better. So, try before you buy!



Yes, it looks amazing and yes, it tastes amazing but it's too expensive for dinner every night!

4. Lastly, takeaways. It is so easy for students to become lazy when they move to university because food isn't free or magically put in your fridge. It costs money, a lot of money so before you decide it's too hard and expensive to cook recalculate and you'll soon realise that takeaways every night is going to cost a significant amount more than buying a weekly shop. Don't be lazy, get some cooking skills in you now before you get to uni and it's too late!  

It's Easter!

Hi everyone, well the first week of the Easter break is over and it's safe to say I have enjoyed being home! There has been lots of catching up with friends and family but also a lot of revision for my exams that are at the end of May!

As for how the exams work in your first year, you have to go to a hall in Bedford to take them rather than at the university itself, I'm not sure why I'm afraid!
The best thing about these exams, and also what makes them so different to school GCSE'S or A-Levels is the fact that I have been given the questions for them, which is so much better than going in without any idea of what could come up... My revision style is completely different to school, which is good because I was quite worried that I'd have to go back to revising like I had to at school, I didn't want to have to do that because let's just say I'm not the best at sticking to revision schedules. It's different and more suited to me because I have to write my essay for the exam and memorise the essay and theorists so that I can go into the exam and write my essay after setting out my plan.
We also got to have a look at the different options we can choose to take next year which was really good for me because I have one main problem and that is that I do not take well to exams and exam conditions, I don't know why but I have never done well in exams(even my A-Levels!). By getting an insight into the options it allowed me to see what topics involve exams and which do not, this is such a bonus... However, I am going to make sure that I do not exclude certain topics just because they have exams! So, deciding time is after Easter I think and I know that I'm going to take digital technology for sure as I'm interested in this more than others, I can't quite remember other topics but I know for definite there are these two; SEN( Special Educational Needs) and lifelong learning, just to give you all a little look into what you could study in your second year of Education Studies.

As well as revision, I went on a trip to London with my family to see a comedy show at the O2! It was hilarious and was a nice break from revising the whole time. I also caught up with some friends from uni last week which was nice!

It is so strange to think that I have nearly finished my first year of uni, I can't quite get my head around the fact that this time last year I was trying to decide where to go! When people tell you time flies when you're at university, they definitely are not lying..trust me! I had no idea it would go this quickly. Uni was definitely the right decision for me, but it isn't for everyone I admit. I'm so glad I have had the opportunity to study for a degree and eventually get to my goal of being a teacher.

That's all for now. I'll update you on my second week of the holidays next week!

Lazy at uni?

So many of my friends and I have been talking about how LAZY we've become since moving into halls, this doesn't really apply if you're a commuter, but we often sit in bed all day because we either haven't got the money to go out and do something, or everyone's gone home for the weekend and we have absolutely nothing to do.

I admit that before I moved into my new flat I was guilty of most of these things, mainly because I didn't want to socialise with my old flat mates, so I'd sit in my room watching tv on my laptop, on social networking sites, speaking to family and friends from back home or when my other friends weren't at home I'd try and spend most of my time with them...although they did go home a lot.
I think it's hard to get motivated and go out when you're at university because it's just so easy and you've got everything on your doorstep, well we have here in Bedford.

But since moving into my new flat after Christmas I have been so much happier, because I'm a sociable person I hate being by myself as I just get bored so quickly, so now being able to sit in the communal area of the flat and just being able to talk to nice people is so much better, I don't think I would have many nice things to say about university life at all if I hadn't moved flats.

Saying that I would always want to be out and with people is a lie because uni gives you the best of both worlds, you can have a cosy night in by yourself which I'm sure everyone needs once in a while, or there's always someone about wanting to do something.

I'm definitely not as lazy now though, but tips to get out of that lazy, room hermit mode are;

1. Join the nearest gym, I was a member at a gym for a long time before starting university and I had every intention of joining the gym on campus however I never got round to it, which is silly because it was only £35 for the whole year!
2. Bag yourself a job! This has been a godsend to me for so many reasons; I'm not bored on weekends when uni's shut. I have met some wicked friends in my colleagues. I enjoy the job I do which is working at weddings and big events for a local hotel which helps. It gives me that extra cash to be able to go out on student nights and enjoy the fresher experience, and it means I can keep running my car whilst I'm at uni which I know I'm lucky to be able to do because most of my friends have either sold or sorn their cars while they are away. 
3. Invite friends or family from home to come and stay with you. 
4. Leave food shopping and other weekly errands until the weekend so you have something to do with your time if you're bored and your flat mates have gone home. 

I think this is a picture of the gym in my accommodation or if not it's very similar I was struggling to find it online.

University living is what you make it so try hard and you'll have an amazing experience. Everyone's in the same boat remember! 

A little more about the course..

Education Studies is a great all round teaching course and for people like me, who know they want to go into teaching but don't know whether they want to teach young children or older children, it opens up brilliant opportunities to figure out and decide what career it is you want to go into.
Personally, I always thought I wanted to teach young children, of the reception/year one age, however, after being on Education Studies for the past seven months I have changed my mind and now want to go into year 6 or year 7 teaching as I feel this would be more suited to me.

Some people will be wondering if we get to go on placements, and then answer is YES, but not in your first year. Which I was quite disappointed about but I am excited to go into my second year this September knowing I get the chance to go into settings and get a real feel for what it is exactly that I want to do.

Education Studies in your first year is a broad range of subjects, with early years, understanding education, social constructions of childhood and inclusion through professional practice as your four subjects. However, these are not carried on throughout the three years of the course, for your second year you get to choose two of your own subjects and you have two core subjects, so as you can see this is where you begin to shape your own career in teaching and education.

I am so happy I chose to do education studies as I was still so unsure of what I wanted to do as a career, I didn't even know if teaching was the way to go but I've always loved teaching and thought "why not!".

Can't decide on a course?

For those of you wondering what the course actually entails, I am going to describe as best as I can the main points:
1. Understanding Education and Schooling is a subject that covers a wide range of education as a whole. The first assignment I did was to make a timeline about someone who went to school between a certain period of time, which was so interesting and allowed me to learn more about education in that particular period of time.
2. Social Constructions of Childhood covers mainly the history of education. This is also a very interesting subject as it teaches us about where education comes from and how it has evolved over time.

These first two subjects are the only two subjects we have exams for in our first year.

3. The Young Child in Education is a as it sounds really, it is only focused on early years education which is not exactly suited to me but allowed me to make a decision about where I wanted to focus my teaching career in.
4. Inclusion Through Professional Practice is the most difficult to get your head around at first. It looks at all different educational policies and also focuses on disability studies at points. I really enjoy this subject as a whole and the assessments are really suited to me. We had to do a poster presentation and an annotated bibliography to accompany this, and I have just handed in my critical essay for this module(which is not as suited to me as the presentation).

Good luck in whatever you decide!

So there's a quick insight into Education Studies as a whole. I know from experience, that looking at all for the education and teaching courses is a bit daunting and can confuse people(it did me!). I hope this blog post gives you a good idea into the course and helps you to make a decision about your university career!