drbexl on the 'net

drbexl, dr bex lewis, moving from dreamweaver to wordpress

Sleep Download! November 25, 2009

Filed under: bex — drbexl @ 9:59 pm
Tags: ,

I need this software! Found via Twitpic (@Jas)

 

Bex: Crazy Timetable September 22, 2009

Filed under: bex,teaching,Time management — drbexl @ 9:51 am

2009 So Far
This year has been amazing so far. I returned from Oak Hall in November, just as the credit crunch hit, really unsure where/whether I’d be able to get work, but returned to Winchester, as I knew I had a good reputation there, and was sure I could pick up a few bits! Friends put me up in their spare room whilst I applied for work, but after about 3 months, I had enough bits and pieces coming in to rent a room closer to the University of Winchester, where I was picking up most of my work, with every small project leading to another one… and at one point having to turn down work!

Summer
In May, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through the summer, as teaching was coming to an end, but I picked up a couple of summer projects, went to France with Oak Hall, and in fact haven’t completed my own studies this summer, and teaching commences again next week! I then started conversations with a few others, and look what’s happening now…

2009-2010 Timetable
Semester 1 (Finishes 5th February)
I have quite a full timetable (all modules include preparation/marking):

  • Monday 3-6: Introduction to Media Studies
  • Tuesday 9-12: 20th Century British History
  • Wednesday 10-11: Landmark (The Internet as a Landmark in History)
  • Wednesday 1.30-5: STUDYING the PGCLTHE + associated 3 x 4,000 word projects
  • Thursday: 7.5 hours “Blended Learning Research Fellowship“, including Learning Website
  • 5 Final Year Project Students for Media Studies (Due 5th May 2010)
  • Media Studies Website (for March 2010)
  • History Website (for March 2010)
  • SkillsNet Website (Content, Staff/Student Evaluation)

To also fit in:

Christmas

  • Cooking at Lauterbrunnen for Christmas Week (may be JA2 instead?)
  • New Year, who knows yet…
  • Complete VD poster article. Start to think about Book Proposal (Thesis to Book)

Semester 2 (Finishes 18th June)
I have an extremely full timetable:

  • Monday 3-5: Introduction to Media Studies
  • Wednesday 9-12: Dreams and Nightmares
  • Thursday 9-11: Film History
  • Thursday 11-3 (2 hours of): Creating and Consuming History
  • Friday 9-12: Researching Media Studies
  • 2 hours for 6 weeks: Reflecting
  • History Independent Study Module, Dissertation/Second Marking
  • Tuesday or Friday: 7.5 hours “Blended Learning Research Fellowship“
  • 5 Final Year Project Students for Media Studies (Due 5th May 2010)
  • Media Studies Website (for March 2010)
  • History Website (for March 2010)
  • SkillsNet Website (Content completion – for May 2010)
  • Adding French content to ARCA website (awaiting translations).

To also fit in:

Easter

  • Unconfirmed as yet…

Summer
The summer is yet some time away, and the Blended Learning is permanent, so I guess if I’m sensible with my money… Although waiting for the dates of Oak Hall in Israel, and may go there next September… I know it’s quite tiring, but invigorating in other ways.

So if you’re wondering why I go quiet for long periods of time, this may kind of explain it, as there’s usually approximately 3 hours of preparation for each hour of teaching… and then the marking, well, we try not to think about the marking (e.g. Intro to Media, around 40 students, 2 assignments, about 1/2 hour + per assignment)! Some weeks there’s tutorials, and some courses run alternate weeks rather than all term, so manageable – with a few late nights, I suspect!

 

Damaris Culturewatch: My Sister’s Keeper (review) July 22, 2009

Filed under: bex,contemporary culture,creative writing,Damaris Culturewatch,God,inspirational,living in the now — drbexl @ 3:37 pm

In My Sister’s Keeper, Kate Fitzgerald (Sofia Vassilieva) is diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia when she is two years old, and the prognosis is not positive. Her parents, Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric), and her brother Jesse (Evan Ellingson) are not genetic matches. Sara, at least, will do anything to save Kate, and Dr Wayne (Jeffrey Markle) suggests, off the record, that producing another child in a test-tube would provide a perfectly matched donor. Anna (Abigail Breslin) is the result. The initial expectation is that only the blood from the umbilical cord will be used, but by the time Anna is 11, she’s undergone a number of medical procedures, including bone marrow transplants, and the latest call is for a kidney.

Read the rest of this article (be aware, it contains plot spoilers), which I wrote.
 

You Only Have One Life: Live It Well March 17, 2009

Filed under: bex,careers,finding work,life-coaching,living in the now,travel — drbexl @ 12:26 pm

It’s such a pain not having a functional (internet) computer at home, can take a little while to get around to these things, and fit them around the sheer volume of work that is currently coming in! Living by my mantra of if you’re going to do something, do it on time and do it well… keeps getting me more work! Just got to keep believing it’s going to keep coming, although am putting my best foot forward for a full-time post also!

One Life Live
A great event hosted over the weekend at Kensington Olympia! I’ve been looking forward to going to this for months, having pre-purchased my ticket via Psychologies magazine (and then getting special offers from several other RSS feeds I subscribe to – hey, you win some, you lose some!) ages ago!

The event was structured into a number of zones:

  • New careers & Learning
  • Free Time
  • Be Your Own Boss
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Travel & Career Breaks
  • Sustainable Living
  • Life Change
  • Volunteering & Fundraising

Hmmmm
I LOVE learning, so I checked out a bit of that, wandered around the ‘be your own boss’, but I’m aware (but haven’t quite read) most of that literature, and of course was checking out the ‘Life Change’ areas, but as always, I gravitate towards the travel and volunteering sections… very inspiring to see the ways in which you can combine travel with so many other things… I may return with specifics of companies, but right now I need to learn how to use WordPress!

Sponsorship
As I said, interested in the volunteering section, so put my actions where my feet were, and signed up to do The Big Sleep Out at Winchester Cathedral on 15th May: http://www.justgiving.com/drbexl

 

Bex’s Blog November 20, 2008

Filed under: bex,blogging,new stuff — drbexl @ 6:39 pm

Purpose of this blog
  • Familiarisation with what is ‘now’ on the ‘net
  • Experimentation with some of the new widgets/applications
  • Listings of useful websites, depending on my focus for that day
My Websites

See portfolio of websites: www.mydesigna.co.uk

 

 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.