Done

The end of course assessment for my current OU course is finished. It's written, typed, spellchecked, printed, has requisite paperwork attached, folded, inserted in appropriate envelope, address label affixed to envelope and I have been to the Post Office to post it and to get a Proof of Posting Certificate. It is now in the hands of the Royal Mail and whoever draws the short straw and has to mark my submission, and all I have to do is wait until just before Christmas when the results are due.

In a comment to my post the other day, Steph from the Biopsy Report suggested that when I had finished the assignment I should give myself a treat. Actually what she said was this:

Plan a little celebration for yourself when it's completed and make sure it's a real treat.

Having a celebration on your own is not much fun, but I have still made an effort. I've bought some wool to knit myself a few jumpers ready for the winter, and I have had my hair cut into a new style. I may even really put the boat out later and open a bottle of wine.

But first I am going to put away all the material from my now finished course and get all the books and other material for my new course together into the nice little bag that the OU sent me for my previous course, so that they are all in one place and I'm not searching for the various bits and pieces once I get into the course. And the next course starts now.

I'm quite a happy .

Essay Writing And Other OU Things

Three days on from my post about working in the library to try to complete my end of course assignment, it still isn't finished. I haven't been procrastinating (what an incredible word that is) it's just that other things have taken priority.

I did quite well on Monday. While I was in the library I managed to write the draft for the reflective part of the assignment, check the word count (I have a maximum of 200 words to look at three aspects of the learning experience on this course) and polish what I had written. I have managed to reflect on my learning skills and answer the three questions posed in a total of 185 words. Close enough to the word limit, I would think.

I also went through the course material and selected the information that I wanted to use for the main task of the assignment, a 1000-word essay about happiness coming from outside and within. Having selected my data, I wrote an essay plan and started selecting specific examples that I would be using as references in the essay.

One thousand words is not a lot to have to write, many of my posts on this blog are longer than that, but over the last year or so I have been finding it increasingly difficult to write essays, so this short course was really intended as something to provide me with a no-pressure opportunity to do a little essay writing. I was pleased with the amount of work that I managed while in the library on Monday and thought that I would do the same again on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, Tuesday was one of those days where I found it very difficult to drag myself out of bed, so the essay was forgotten. Yesterday was a no starter because I was going to have to disappear for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to go for a mammogram, and to do some shopping while I was at the large supermarket in whose car park the screening unit is situated. However, today I think I will attempt some time in the library again and with a bit of luck I will get the job done.

I want to get this assignment finished; while the course has been interesting it perhaps wasn't the brightest choice of courses for someone in my position. But, never mind, it has kept my mind active and added to my knowledge, and I don't think that I could have asked for more. But the real reason that I want to get this course finished is because I want to start my next one. This next OU course will really help me with my essay writing. There are seven tutor-marked assignments and an end of course assessment in lieu of an exam, and the essays seem to range from 500 words in length to 2000 words. This should exercise me much more because instead of there being only one course book as there is with my present course, the next one has four course books, two books of illustrations, four set books, audio CDs, DVD videos, and DVD-ROM. With such a multitude of material from which to draw for the essays, getting all the information into the word counts is going to be the problem that I face, rather than being able to drag out the argument to get close to the word limit.

Mind you, the real reason that I am looking forward to doing the next course is because it will be bring me closer to the final course for my second degree. What is the final course going to be? Creative writing, of course. I can't think of better preparation for it than writing this blog. I mean, this is creative writing for real.