Student parents support thread

[Lenni]

I used to come on this topic a year or so ago and post on the general hand holding support thread but it seems to have gone so I'm hoping there might be enough of us to start a new one.

I'm in my final leg of a M.Ed in Education and am currently writing my thesis which is going very slowly okay but am struggling to find time, motivation or energy to study. It would be nice to know others are in the same boat and have a place to handhold, moan, swap tips and motivate each other.

oh, now you've got me all nostalgic for public transport lol. i used to do all my reading on the train i have to drive everywhere now, and try to compose stuff in my head - usually have forgotten it by the time i get to write it down.

hopefully the brilliance will pop back into your head when you least expect it, mixedmama! so do you organise your study on a week by week basis then? on a wednesday for the following week?

so do you all timetable fairly strictly, and keep to it? i think i need to schedule a couple of days where i don't plan to do any actual work, just sort my time out so that i know when i'm fitting everything in. and get off here, obv.

Only in terms of priorities, so I know I must read X chapters from X book, if I get time read X chapters and so on so that no matter what I have done at least the bare minimum.

I normally have Monday from 9.30-2.30 free and Sundays from about 12-4/5 when DH goes to ILs. I allocate one module for each of the days and just work my way through my reading priorities that I organise on Wedn.

I also read on the bus, in my lunch break etc. but these options mean I cant write notes as I read and I find I do thrive in complete silence.

To be fair my workload is probably lots lighter than most of yours.

But of course things do happen and get in the way.... and if that happens I just have to accept I havent managed it that week.

I just find it impossible to study when it is dark.... which I hope wont be a problem when I am actually taking modules in the evening.

I also find studying in the evening difficult: morning is my most productive time. I do almost all of my reading in bed though

lol mama - the evenings will be lighter by then

.. hadn't thought of reading in bed! that's actually worth pondering over... this is really my opportunity ot get myself organised, because we moved and have a totally new routine, i haven't worked out how to fit studying into it yet. which is daft, because it's going to take up about 40% of my waking hours i think.

right, thanks ladies. mn time definitely up for now - but lots to consider!

I can't write in bed or anywhere other than my desk but reading and planning quite often happens under the duvet. I find it restful even though I'm not sleeping and have bought DH a TV for Christmas so that he can watch TV in bed with me so at least we feel like we have spent time together. I am quite good at zoning out any distractions/noise though. I can put myself in my own little bubble - I think that comes from my years of teaching high school kids, there were many times when I needed that bubble to avoid shouting obscenities!

I have now got a deadline for my thesis. Have booked a holiday for 5th April so will have to submit before then as final deadline is 30th April and we get back on the 15th - don't want to come back relaxed from a holiday and then have to finish writing so 5th it is. I have about 13,000 words left to write so that is 224 words a day every day for the next 58 days.

I like the sound of pomodoros, I think I would also struggle to achieve anything tangible in 25 minutes, but I can't see why I couldn't adapt it to 45 minutes of study time. I also get in the flow and work until I can't stay awake any longer. I find that a productive approach on things I am especially passionate about but when I'm churning out word counts I end up with a load of junk that needs editing out and it isn't so efficient.

Must go and read.

Welcome Ewe and madwomanintheattic - sorry, has been a couple of days since I have posted but have been lurking so you had already become part of the fabric.

I have set up CiteULike with an RSS feed to Outlook - am finding it an excellent way to track references from journal articles.

Lenni, are you using nvivo or anything to organise your interview transcripts/ journal references?

i started using it last year, and once you've got the hang of it, it looks like a fairly useful tool lol. i haven't quite got to grips with it, but am trying to get it set up again for current dissertation. a friend used it really successfully last year - it made the whole writing up thing so much less problematic as you could organise all the way along. i found it a bit scary (am a bit of a technophobe) and tend to have lots of quotes and random bits of paper/ stickies hanging out of files and primary texts (a bit of a royal horlicks if i'm honest, but it seems to work) but i was really tempted to try a slightly slicker way of doing things!

i'd love to hear a bit more about your thesis (dead nosy) how many interviews did you do? (and who with - see , told you i was nosy )

Not at the moment but will go and have a look now - thanks for the suggestion.

I have 6 interviews - all centred around a school. 2 are with school staff and 4 from the multi-agency team. I have basically asked them to describe the community they are working in and define it's needs and resources. Have then asked them how they would prioritise the needs of the community, has made for some interesting data but is so small scale that can't really draw any conclusions without further research. I am also finding what I want to find, which is a bit of a problem.

lol. i hate it when that happens .

did you think of interviewing parents? that may have given a slightly different perspective? (that sounds really egg-sucky, didn't mean it like that - i just like to try and include a few who might set the hares running...)

i quite like having lots of future research to suggest though. if all else fails, i can start with that bit of the write -up and go backwards...

sounds interesting though, what flavour profs did you use?

i think my version is nvivo8 if that helps - no idea if they have churned out a new version since...

Morning ladies,

Veyr interested in the online tracking systems... I have a project book and one section is devoted to notes for essay for each respective topic so i write things down as i see them but clearly an organised online system would be much better. Thank you very much.

Lenni - good luck with the thesis, it sounds great and it always helps to have a deadline in mind. Where are you off on holiday????

Madwoman - your dissertation title sounds brilliant, was it good fun (perhaps not the right word). Sometimes I do wonder if I should have picked English but so tight a decision between the two.

Thanks for the tip about CiteULike, Lenni - I've signed up.

I use Zotero for citation management (can't afford EndNote) and Delicious for bookmarks.

It must've been a hard life being a student before the advent of the internet!

Molesworth, you can buy a student license for endnote - think I paid about £30 for mine but it was a while ago. It syncs with word so you just add refs in parantheses and endnote picks them up, converts them and adds to your bibliography. I couldn't live without it now.

Hi Lenni, I've looked into the student licence, but it's still too pricey for me (around the £60 mark last time I looked): Zotero is free and seems to do everything I want it to do (Word integration etc). I daresay EndNote or RefWorks are more sophisticated, but, hey, I'm only an undergrad

am i the only one still working in the dark ages? i still do all mine without the benefit of technology! (except nvivo for coding transcripts etc)

mama - i had a ball i even managed to squeeze in a bit of contemporary film alongside the ancient greek lol. my favourite part of the whole thing was using demi moore's 'suck my dick' from gi jane. it sat rather nicely amongst the dust lol. still fascinated by notions of masculinity years later, and so pleased i started with lit. i've ended up wandering between departments lol (history, english, sociology) and am fascinated that i might end up in a human geog/ politics number for phd... i didn't see that one coming when i dropped o level geography.

what are the major differences between endnote and zotero then? (still can't believe i do this myself when everyone else in the world uses a computer to do it for them...)

Morning all....

Is everyone ready for the week ahead?

I am semi prepped this week... once again not enough time.

Have just found out that my kitchen and bathroom will be getting replaced the week I have booked off work to do my essays so now will be working with workmen everywhere... best laid plans and all that!

No, I'm not remotely prepped and ready

DS is off school and my mum arrives for a visit tomorrow so I think this week is a bit of a write-off, study-wise!

Bad news about the workmen being in just when you need some peace and quiet to get on with your essays. Can you escape to a coffee shop or library or is that impractical?

At least you know it is a write off, I am much more prepared gong into the workmen week as I know it is coming.

The letter says they prefer you to be in but there s no reason why I cant pop out to the library it is only across the road, although public librariesthese days seem to have no real space to work we'll see how it goes, I will manage.

I'm having a dire week. Am in the midst of job hunting having had 2.5years off with the DCs as a 'career break' I now need to find something preferably 2/3 days a week and am getting nowhere. I'm not even applying for similar grade posts to what I left and I have practically completed my Masters now which I obviously hadn't got before. It is very depressing and is taking up so much of my time. I spent a whole day doing an application last Wednesday and haven't got an interview. Have applied for 3 posts now, got one interview which was a total disaster and was short-listed for another but culled after a telephone assessment. I have had feedback after the telephone one where they said I was too honest!! I assume that means too honest about my time off being to have children - grrr! Anyway, I digress!

Not sure of differences between Endnote and Zotero having only ever used Endnote. My version must be about 5 years out of date by now too.

In good news, I've been asked to teach some undergrads next week. Yay! Feel very honoured to be asked, is unpaid but great experience.

We are going to Morocco on holiday - can't wait.

Molesworth/MMMB - Sorry you are both having/about to have write off weeks. I feel similar about this week. And then next week is half term so no childcare for DD - ack.

lenni, are you on the cawks thread? i haven't seen it for a while, but they might be of some use - although i think they moved off-board to yahoo or something so that they could come out of the closet (as it were)?

how frustrating... have you not got any contacts you can start nudging now that you are in a position to burst back onto the scene? friendly tutor from a while ago who might know something coming up? (although i'm guessing that's how you got your undergread gig - just be a total star with that and persude them you need a contract....)

i'm at work this week (work week on/ week off pt, which is ok) but is just filler job whilst i get myself (location and experience-wise) into the right place.

i'm managing to do a bit more reading, so that's a big improvement (although i get a bit george eliot about reading and never get to the point where i think i've read enough...) - all i need to do now is start writing!

we're off to the mountains next week for half term, so i'm going to take one assignment with me, and have it completely wrapped by the time i get back. so a bit of work and play lol. that's my current target - this week i'm going through everything i need to take with me to get it done lol. nothing too taxing to ease me back into it. last time i sent everyone else out and sat on the floor with my laptop 'borrowing' wifi from the coffee shop over the road but it was very fruitful... it seems quite fitting that we're going back to the same place and i can get more of the same done! (although i'm in big trouble if i find out i can only work there and not at home...)

Have done some 'contact nudging' (great term that!) tonight and might be able to get some work as a research assistant and poss a funded place on a Masters to (potential) PhD route if I do bits of unpaid research donkey work. Not sure whether to woop with delight at the mere possibility or have a meltdown at the thought of all the required childcare. Not heard of CAWKS thread - where would I find it?

Yes - I do need to do well with the undergrad stuff, no pressure at all. (Am already shaking)

Mountains for work - sounds amazing. Can I come? Borrowed wifi a good plan - could you borrow a mobile dongle from someone in case it doesn't work this time?

but i'm a technophobe! the very mention of the word dongle brings me out in a sweat. i must get a grip of this stuff!

um, it was called 'crap academics with kids' - i think kathy (of the 6incheshigh) started it... i'll try and find it, but still haven't worked out how to do links... (that doesn't really surprise you, i'm sure.)

that ra post sounds like a fantastic opportunity - i'm grinning at your good fortune here (although can understand the terror lol). def go for whooping!

i just bumped cawks for you... it's called 'is anyone else an academic that hasn't produced enough research...' or something similar

< at not being able to do links>

I find your technophobe nature endearing in a quirky sense if that doesn't come off as horribly patronising, which it wasn't intended to be. You know how these things crash and burn on MN sometimes.

Thanks for the bump, having a look now. Yes, it was a bit of fortune, obviously nothing in stone but supervisor said she thinks I would walk it, which is nice esp as no one has said anything that complimentary to me on the job front in er, 2.5 years

Mobile dongles are a USB thing that just plugs into your laptop and uses mobile phone network to get broadband. Only works though if got reliable signal and best with 3G signal which might not be so good in mountains you see, technology not all that it's cracked up to be. And you can work NVivo, which is one better than me.

Just popping on to wave.

Jealous of the impending holidays but you have all been working hard so I guess you deserve it

Not much to report here other than I have identified some beyod the reading list sources for my essays and will be off to uni in a bit for my pm lesson so will get them out and get cracking.

Missed my lesson this morning as I needed to take DS2 for his 2 yr check... and then accompanied DS1 on a library trip.

Thats all folks.

P.S Moles - any news on the BBK front