Size is Everything

It's probably fair to say that many people are consumed with size.  Society tells us some things are better if they are bigger: houses, cars, diamonds.  Other things are better smaller: waistlines, debts and gadgets.  There's plenty of debate from size zero to plus size and everything in between.

I'm 5'10" and love being tall.  My height is something I've always enjoyed and as my children get older I'm excited about the day either of them will be taller than me.  It hasn't happened yet!

Recently, the size of my PhD has begun to overwhelm me.  It's massive.  I don't recall being told, when I began this process, that the size of it would be one of the biggest challenges to overcome.  I'm sure they must have done.

Do you ever look back at photos of yourself and think, "I don't know what I was worried about back then"?  I thought I was fat/spotty/ugly.  I should have enjoyed and taken pride in my youth much more.  After all, now I have wrinkles to add to the list.

Similarly, I used to think writing an essay was hard; lots of articles to read, trying to summarise, making sense of arguments and adding criticism. Now I've got my PhD to write and wonder what I was worried about back then.  Knowing all the literature so well that my argument is clear and progresses logically makes my brain ache.


So what's the moral of the story? Stop being so hard on yourself.  We're all doing the best we can at the time.  Keep going and congratulate yourself on your progression.  Give yourself more positive messages.  We should work on encouraging ourselves as much as we do other people.  Challenges are good things because they push us to grow and become our best selves.  There's nothing wrong with looking at ourselves and saying, "I'm okay and I'm doing well".

No More Excuses

So now I've stopped teaching I find myself in the disconcerting position of having no excuses left for not getting on with work on my PhD.  Easter holidays over, husband at work, children at school.  It's just me, my Labrador and lots of empty pages.



"Are you really just going to read that book?"

Procrastination comes in many forms and it is so easy to find other things to do.  I always know how much I am putting off work when I am suddenly filled with a compulsive desire to make cakes, or worse, to clean the house.

We can make all the excuses we like, but to achieve something, there is nothing else for it, but to just get on with it. It's easy to become an expert in avoidance tactics.

Walking to clear the head or to avoid the empty page?

A PhD is all about independent learning and self-discipline.  As a result, in my experience, there are many temptations.  Often these may even come disguised as worthy, useful activities such as attending training courses, gaining teaching experiences, accepting public speaking invitations and networking.  More mundane distractions including repeatedly checking email, organising filing systems, going to the library, tidying the desk, answering the phone, err - writing a blog.  Each of these can be useful or important but any or all of them can be a time stealer. 

OBU Library - make your visit time-effective

Perhaps the online researcher has even more temptation than most as it's hard when you're using Facebook or Twitter for research, not to get pulled into your friend's latest post.

My husband has a sign over his desk at home that says, "do the work".  Simple as that.  Sometimes the most straight-forward phrases are the best. 

A blank page can be very scary but the only way to get over it, is to just get on with it.  After all, the satisfaction that comes from a completed piece of work is a fantastic feeling.  Perhaps I'll try focusing on that.  Methodology, here I come!

A Break From Teaching

I am about to take a break from teaching in order to concentrate on getting my PhD finished.  It wasn't an easy decision because I love my job as a Lecturer.

Recently I've been contemplating the experience I have gained in teaching and exactly what it means to be a good teacher.  I don't profess to have all the answers yet and I know I still have a great deal to learn but for my own benefit and in order that I don't forget what I've discovered so far I thought it would be wise to write myself a summary.  I'm sure you will have your own ideas about what good teaching means but for me I believe the following to be good principles:

1. It's really important to care about your students.  Knowing all my students names, a few things about them, even really small details, such as where they're from or remembering comments they've made about what's going on in their lives makes a huge difference and helps to make the professional relationship friendly.  Even when badgering them for not being prepared for tutorials or not appearing to listen in a lecture can be done much more positively when they believe you actually care about theirs and others' learning experience.

2. I believe students are customers and that I have a duty to make their experience as good as possible. I know this is controversial and many academics disagree.

3. You need to be passionate about the subject you are teaching.  However, even if you are teaching something which isn't you're own specialist subject, you can (and should) become passionate about it.

4. You can't compare your own teaching style with anyone else.  For the first year I tried to copy others who were successful.  I was much happier and more confident when I found my own style and as Frank Sinatra says, I did it my way.

5. You can't teach something you don't understand completely.  If you can't explain it simply you don't understand it well enough.  I tried to get away with this in my first year but students can tell if you don't know your stuff.  This means that the first time you teach a course or module is the most time-consuming it will ever be but every subsequent time you teach the same material, the better and more efficient you will become in delivery.

6. Participation (and lots of it) is vital in all teaching experiences including lectures.  People get bored very easily.

7. Admin staff are the lifeblood of any organisation and are hugely under-rated.  They have been a fantastic support to me in every teaching encounter I've had.

8. You need to keep learning new material to stay fresh.

9. The more experience of teaching you have, the better you will be, but it does not follow that everyone who has lots of experience is a good teacher.

10. Did I mention that it's really important to care about your students?  I'm really going to miss mine.  They're such lovely people and they've taught me so much about teaching and about myself, for which I am hugely grateful.

Special thanks to the students who agreed to being photographed for this blog.

Why Complain?

If you don't receive the service you expected, if the product you receive isn't what you ordered, if the experience you encountered was disappointing, I wonder if you do anything about it?

Some people believe it is their civic duty to complain.  For altruistic reasons they feel that by providing feedback to a company that's performed poorly, suggesting improvements will improve experiences for future customers.  This might be through completing a customer satisfaction survey, comment card or writing a lengthy letter of complaint.

Others do nothing at all; either because they can't be bothered or believing that it will not make any difference: time wasted.

There are those whose behaviour varies depending on what they are buying, how much they are spending and how important the purchase was for them.

Some people dislike confrontation or fear appearing fussy or difficult to please.

Social media can provide anonymity and a much wider circle of "friends" with whom to engage in word of mouth.

Sometimes, complaining can result in you feeling more pleased with how a company responds to you than if nothing had gone wrong in the first place.

I wonder what you do when dissatisfied?  Does social media play any part in your behaviour? Have you complained online via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or simply left a review on TripAdvisor?  Were you encouraged by the response you received or left feeling despondent and feeling service is depressingly bad? 

Do you think complaining is worth the effort?

Does Bicester Village De-Value Luxury?