I am writing this blog towards the end of the month; it seems incredible that the first month of the new year is already just about behind us! As ever, it has been a busy month, after the festive break it was straight back into a very hectic period. A key point in the month was a whole Faculty teaching and learning event that I was instrumental in organising; a great deal of planning and preparation has to be put in to ensure the success of just a few hours of presentation and discussion. Anecdotally, though, it did seem as though the event was well received. Through the month I have also been very active in moving forward the recruitment process for the SCOTs project , this has largely been about responding to potential applicants and co-ordinating people’s diaries to arrange interviews and to plan for the induction training in early February. I am really excited about this small pilot which seems as though, at last, it is going to come to fruition. Another exciting project that has moved forward considerably this month is the CPD framework development project for the institution. I have been working closely with the newly appointed project manager and we now have a realistic developing action plan. January has been a busy month marking student assessment work, teaching and preparing teaching materials for modules that I am responsible for over the coming weeks. I also had a one-day trip to London to attend the Practice: Social Work in Action editorial board meeting where I am involved in work to plan for a symposium, supported by the journal, to be held in Hong Kong in April. My doctoral thesis has moved forward a little over the month as I am now working simultaneously on three chapters, writing across the themes, rather than ‘down’ the chapters, if that makes sense! I am also attending, right at the end of the month, two days of training on ‘surviving your viva’ which seems a little premature when I haven’t finished writing, but I want to be as prepared as possible!
At home, it was quite good to put the christmas decorations away as the kittens were perpetually interested in the baubles and ribbons! Early in the month we treated ourselves to a spa-weekend away; a couple of days of sort of ‘detox’ with lots of swimming and relaxation, the perfect start to 2009!
I am writing this blog, just as we are coming towards the festive break and I really am looking forward to a few days of quiet time with my family; December has been another busy month. At the very beginning of the month, the 1st, I participated, with colleagues from the REACH network in a one-day colloquim at Northumbria University. This was an event organised by ‘Escalate’ the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Education and its focus was on credit-bearing CPD in academia. It was a very interesting event with lots of opportunities for networking. Then later in the month I travelled to Liverpool to participate in the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) annual conference. This was a very large event with a wide range of papers and workshops presented. There were some good social events too, including a reception with the ‘Cheatles’ , a Beatles tribute band – well, what else would you see in Liverpool? 
As well as being at conferences, I have been doing alot of preparation for teaching in January and February, when I will be working with employment-based part-time students on a number of undergraduate modules. Consequently, my thesis has not progress greatly during the past couple of weeks, although I have been doing some more reading and planning in preparation for a good ‘onslaught’ in the New Year – ever optimistic! I am also aware, as noted in last month’s blog, I still haven’t done more work on this website….the ‘to do’ list continues to be a ‘live document’, as they say!
At home, any spare time has been geared towards planning for the festive break. We had a lovely weekend in Manchester, looking around the German Christmas market and enjoying a Tapas meal out. So the focus has been on shopping for presents, planning meals, thinking about decorations – and wondering how we will manage the challenge of putting up a Christmas Tree with baubles and decorations, with two lively 6-month old kittens charging about….
This is the first blog that I have written for this website. Previously I have been blogging on my doctoral research web pages as a means of keeping participant case study institutions, individuals and interested parties up-to-date with progress on the research process. I now intend to use this blog page to provide regular comments and up-dates on my professional work, perhaps monthly, or as often as I can or deem appropriate.
So, the key thing for October has been publishing this website, with the help of colleagues at the University of Lincoln and my husband, Dai – there is lots more to do, but this will always be ‘work in progress’. I have also been spending as much time as possible writing on my doctoral thesis, with a particular focus on chapters 1, 2 and 3. My teaching focus this month has been on supporting part-time students with the final dissertations and progress towards practice learning experiences as part of their undergraduate studies. I had an excellent day at the NVivo Masterclass in London in the middle of the month and now feel confident to improve and progress my analysis of the doctoral project on the qualitative data analysis software. Also, on 7th October at Derby University, I facilitated, with colleagues from the REACH network, a one-day workshop event, in partnership with the Centre for Recording Achievement titled ‘Implementing Professional Development in Complex Roles within Higher Education; using research findings’. This went very well, with over 20 participants, although we are yet to properly reflect on all of the outcomes and the evaluations from the day.
At home, my son had his 21st birthday (where do the years go?); my daughter and son-in-law came over to spend a weekend with us; I had a weekend away at a spa-retreat with some ‘old’ girlfriends from school; and the kittens have been growing at great speed!
The diary is full for November, so we shall see what progress can be made…..
