Do we have criteria to prioritize?

Nowadays we live in a society characterised by multitasking. Many people do a lot of activities per day. We are all the time busy, even some people are used to feel bad when they do nothing.

It is very common to have more than one activity at the same time. In these cases, we have to decide what to do. These decisions are not easy when we are committed to these activities, to someone or to a group. In this situation, it is important that we reflect about our final decision. As I said before, it is not easy because we should prioritize one activity, meeting or whatever, but just one. 

To prioritize we need to have some criteria. 

Do we have it? 

Do we decide depending on our interest in that moment? 

Before commit ourselves to one activity or project, do we really think about the meaning of commitment? 

When we have two different scheduled activities on the same day and we have to decide which to attend, do we consider our commitments? 

This is an important ability to develop. 

How can we develop it? 

Just by practicing in our lives thanks to the trial and error? 

Why is this ability not considered in our formal education?

What does "continued assessment" mean?

Does it mean that the teacher take notes about our behaviour each day?

Does it mean that there is an exam every day?

Last semester we had a subject in which we learnt how to write an academic essay. We wrote a lot of essays and I believe this is necessary to improve writing skills. We did one essay per week, more or less. These are my marks.

 

The final mark is the weighted average point. Is this the meaning of “continued assessment”? What is the goal? I got a 3 over 10 the first time I wrote an academic essay; does it have any sense now? What is the worth of the final product? What is the value of the learning process? What is the meaning of a qualification?

 

Laura Sanz

 

 

 

Just a Maths exam or something more?

Today we have done the Maths exam, it was three hours. We have had a break of 10 minutes in the middle.

There were 14 exercises. They were not the kind of exercises that I was used to do last years. I liked Maths some years ago because it was easy for me. We learned some rules in class and I was used to do as many exercises as possible. Then, the exam was actually very similar to these exercises. For me, the exams were a formal way to show to the teacher that I was able to do the exercises. My Maths qualifications were an important motivation for me. I remember a concrete exam because in an exercise I confused a 6 and I wrote 9, so the final solution was wrong. At the end I had a 9 instead of a 10. For this reason I felt failed in that moment.

Today is quite different. I have had to reflect and use my abilities on the exam!! I also have learned during it. I was conscious of my feelings; I was feeling myself useful during the exam because the activities were not just Maths operations that a calculator of a computer can compute them. They were problems that needed a brain to be solved; my brain was working. We also have had to explain our reasoning, not just put the process and the final solution. It made me think further.

I really have had enjoy it because the activities were my motivation to continue. They were little challenges. I was not conscious at all of the time. I was actually immersed on the activities. They filled me. This is an example of one of the activities.

 

 

It is a completely different way of thinking. For me it is difficult, but this makes it more interesting. I do not mind my mark. It means nothing for me now. I might have done mistakes, it is normal and necessary. Maybe I also have confused numbers, but who cares?

As the song says: “Que me quiten lo bailao”

Laura Sanz

 

 

 

Not yet

I have to do two final essays for two different subjects and another one for the Practicum 1. At the beginning of the holidays I did a “homework-plan”. I decided to do these final essays after doing the rest of works, essays, activities and reflections. I thought:

“I want to go deeper and reflect some topics to realise my activities and works. And then, I will be able to write the three final essays successfully”

 

My perspective now is quite different. I have finished all my works, however I feel I am not as prepare as I wanted to write the essays. I believe that the first essay, I write, will be worse than the third one. I feel I am aware of my learning process.

I also wanted to write a post but I thought:

 

“I will do it better after holidays because I will have reflected more about it”

If I think in this way, I will never do anything because I am going to say all the time -NOT YET-. I have realised that to compare works of different moments or levels of my learning process is also interesting.

 

Laura