Well I am not sure what happened to February, it went past in a blur and suddenly it is March and I haven’t put an update in for last month! So I will try and summarise the last two months of blur, in this blog! This term is a busy teaching term for me and whilst much of the direct teaching is now done, students are still needing support to complete written work and the marking process has begun. I actually quite like marking as I see this as one of the few opportunities to interact on a 1:1 basis with students and hopefully honest, supportive feedback will be prove meaningful and developmental.
The SCOTs project has also begun to be fully implemented in that last couple of months. I participated in the facilitation of a two-day training induction programme and whilst this was initially postponed by heavy snow in our area, the two-days were really enjoyable and got the project off to a sound start. Now the co-ordinator is overseeing the day-to-day running of the project, which gives me some relief. With three students from the SCOTs project I attended a Higher Education Academy subject centre conference The Festival of Learning in Wolverhampton. We presented a workshop on the project and were overwhelmed with the interest and enthusiasm with which this was received. Here is a small photo of us all taken at the end of the conference.
The CPD framework project that I am involved in is also moving apace now with a structured project plan in place through the hard work of the newly appointed project co-ordinator. Again, a project close to my heart that was instigated as a direct result of my early local research, so it is particularly pleasing to see such progress.
Another reason for the blurring of time over recent weeks has been my self-imposed schedule of writing the final chapters of my thesis. Sometimes this feels like walking backwards through treacle with flippers on (whatever that might be like) and at other times I really feel I can see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. At the time of writing this blog, I have four out of six chapters in good draft form, with another part-way there and the final chapter also roughly planned. I hope to have a first full very rough draft together by the end of next month – I am ever optimistic!
As ever, I don’t like to forget to mention that I still have another life, despite the busy times…and last month managed a long weekend away from it all in the bright lights of London. Dai and I went to see The Lion King at The Lyceum Theatre, which was a spectacular performance; we also saw Carmen at The Royal Albert Hall, this time a spectacular venue, but also a wonderful performance that was only being shown for 12 nights. Whilst in London I was treated to an ipod classic and have had great fun since ‘playing’ with my new toy – I love new technology! We also enjoyed a more local show recently, when my son, Rob, solo’d at the ‘The Burn’, a local acoustic club – whilst I might be accused of being biased, I thought he was fab! Hopefully I will be able to put a link to his new CD or DVD on these webpages soon. The cats are fine; I cannot call them kittens anymore – if you want to see up-to-date photos of them, click here to see a new slideshow on youtube 
ENJOY!
