Reflective Tuesday10th Feb

Imagine, is it OK to imagine? is it healthy to imagine? Are we doing imaginary reflecting or are we just imagining, What?I know this does not make sense to me , doI mean it is good to imagine, are we too scared to imagine, mostly I imagine getting through my Masters, sometimes I have a hard time not understanding things, this is OK as i ask for help, I find it hard to link thing together perhaps there is a link to Mondays module as christine suggested I need to become a facilitator for the moment, will look back on Tom Inns facilitation notes..

reflecive journal with Jonathon and hazel, Tues 10th Feb 2009

We had a meeting to discuss the reflective journal, i think i am still a bit confused about the whole thing as i don't really know what i should be reflecting on, is it only Tuesdays, yes it is silly me, only to find a what to connect our journal to every module right?
Hazel reflected on this morning as she hates lateness and so does Sara Keith, i was glad i drove like Stirling Moss to get there on time, as i would have been really embarrassed, so it was good to get there on time, Sara was there just 2 minutes late, we were all there .
Jo's journal was used for the afternoons session i was glad it wasn't mine, i would have probably ran away or got really defensive. Well i am only human, maybe i should give my journal to someone, but who to trust, as it is a trust thing right? Sarah Kettley this morning also suggested that trust is a big issue in her work, as everyone has their own piece to complete on time, what if this didnot happen? So she would probably remember this and never work with that person or company again.
Hazel is going off to Split, don't know ifthis is spelled correctly,she is going to a seminar as they are interested in her work, she is going in the guise of a young scientist, she quipped imagine when i get off the plane and they see me! So i reflected when she said this maybe i could get her a white coat and put one of my drawings on it, stitch it on as it is quicker, what do you think?

Drop Science not Bombs

Chris had a great t shirt on today with a robot on it.
Talked today with Jo, who had a book called Guerrilla Art by Keri Smith,it looks a lot of fun, she also has another book Wreck thisJournal, brilliant idea, kinda like passing the folded paper game, when you draw something and pass it to someone else and they draw something else under the folded line.
Why do i like it?? Can you not guess? It has drawing in it.

Sarah Kettley 10th Feb 2009

This is Sarah Kettley, who is in our studio until Easter, she is interested in how jewellery is worn, her work is crafted into designing wearable computers.
Her work with Speck Net, what is Speck Net?? It is a new concept in information technology and has the potential to change the way we communicate and exchange communication, the specks are very tiny semiconductors that can sense and compute and communicate wirelessly., each speck has its own renewable source of energy.
Thousands of specks can be scattered or sprayed on the person or surface, these will collaborate as programmable computational networks called Specknets.
Does this sound reflective ? , i went and looked at her website as i wanted to reflect on what she was saying today,i was curious as to what she did, so now i know.

Sara Keith 10th Feb 2009

I would like to"Gift" Sara with a drawing what does anyone think??
Any opinions ? Does any one really care?
I liked this drawing they help me recall things, what they were saying , what thet were wearing etc, and perhaps to reflect on things, i tried to do a wordle, it worked but i could not get it on my blog, can anyone help??

Sara Keith 10th Feb 2009

Sara Keith, was professional but it would have been good to have seen some of her work, i will google it right now.....She did some collaborative work with the jeweller Roger Morris, her work is very crafty, she describes herself as a maker rather than an academic, her piece Silver wishes is based on Shibori technique, Japanese work of dyeing, she uses this to resist and mixes it with textiles and metal.
I think it would have been good if she brought her work, maybe she had made her beautiful coat she had on.

Sara Keith 10th Feb 2009

This drawing was done on Tues, Sara Keith came and gave us a chat or is it a lecture on funding, just as to where funding can be had, depending on age , that puts me out as i am a little older, Sara was really well dressed and i wonder whether she designed her own clothes, she graduated from Glasgow School of Art in costume design, then she got into television and film, i wonder what films?
She stressed professionalism, she certainly looked the part, she was stressing how important it is to get your funding forms in on time and that they are well presented.
She teaches at Dundee in the Textile Department, my old home, she is still using her textile practice in her PhD work with metal and fabric, do i still use mine? Probably not as much as i would like but that is OK, it is still a skill i have.
Yesterday Kate and i did a little collaborative work together on memory, we tried to come up with different things to help with memory just like Norman Alm and Dr Jayne Wallace, i think Kate had Jayne's paper so we kind of used that, i enjoyed it, it was good working with her perhaps we could do it again, we used a quick and dirty probe, Plasticine and whatever else we could find, to imagine what we could make and how it can help me.

Febuary 3rd 2009.

Drawing i did during our time with Kirsty, looked at this again it looked really unexciting, so i thought i will try and write a little more, i am becoming more scared about my critical writing we have to do for the 18th Feb, been reading The Guardian daily in the library, found some exciting stuff, some on parents not vaccinating their children against measles. Is this a ramble? I also have no links in my blog as it is supposed to have, Lauren did show me but i can't do it, i will have to ask her again.
I keep wondering about her bruise though, i hope she is ok.

Kirsty Miller 3rd February 2009

Kirsty, has a bruise on the back of her hand, i hope she will be ok, maybe i can make some pockets to keep things in.

C.V writing with Kirsty Miller

Kirsty Miller came in today, I was fascinated by her Cardi and Cords very tactile, think cord is a good fabric as it feels nice when you run your fingers along the nap and it makes that unique noise when you walk fabulous, i remember i had a pair of wrangler cords back then they were fashionable, tee hee, any way they were brown and had the sign on the back pocket it was on the right pocket, these were well worn, so the cords were too long so my mum took them up, so when you grew the cords were taken down and new afbric appeared at the bottom a dead give away, i don't know why i wrote this but it was the cords i just love them. I no longer have any cords.
Kirsty had sparkly buttons on her cardi and had pockets , what lives in there? Does she have a favourite thing in there??

3rd February 2009

This was a session today with jonathon and Hazel, they were asking whether we had been or have started using our reflective journals, our journal needs to have good links as Terry Irwin said everything is connected, so perhaps connections are needed between the modules or is it the way you link it al together??
Sometimes when i buy the Sunday papers it takes me until the next Sunday to read them, i bought the observer the time when learn to play guitar so i thought i would be slash in no time alas no, i can only manage chords, oh well i try in my head i am shredding....
Had a go on wordle today it looked good but don't know how to get it on my blog??? Mixed wards came up today whether men and women should be together on the same wards, why not?? this is the new millennium right!! Maybe the ladies snore too much or the men are a bit more flatulent ..Radio 4 was mentioned today, i like radio 2 and radio 1 but i will give it a go, I also googled Ralph Baker he is an American football player, so i did it again i think he is an author who compiled the M series, but i could be wrong!!
Remember no one does anything they don't enjoy, is this true? i am sure we all have, i know i have, but then do we follow or lead, do we want to fit in , or do we crave difference??.
This spell checker is great only a few mistakes today.
It has to be enjoyable.

Norman Alm 3rd February 2009

Norman had a great blue checked shirt on , I felt sad as his team have come up with a wonderful tool, that he is not allowed to use it, I mean outside his research? Does anyone feel the same?

Norman Alm 3rd February 2009

Dr Norman Alm, who is working on a programme with patients with dementia, his team came up with idea of a visual scrapbook which is an excellent idea. The first attempts of this was perhaps not so successful due to the photographs being too personal and the dementia sufferer not recognising family members, this was upsetting for the families , the patients and Norman, so they used generic photos etc to stimulate memory so as to get the patient to interact to share their stories, memories etc.
Many of the people with dementia spontaneously commented on how they enjoyed using the programme, this gave the carers respite also so that they were not in control of the conversation, the people themselves chose what they wanted to talk about. Short term memory sufferers live in the moment. Norman was told that his research could only be used with dementia sufferers of a less severity, does this make sense? So does this mean that those of a more severe case were not included?, this is a shame, are these people of lesser value, must frustrate him as his research is so valuable to health, Norman also said that you have to think of different ways to communicate as you lose language skills when the dementia gets worse.

How to read critically, Wednesday 29th January 2009

A critical reader.....determines how much weight to assign the article, weighs the effects of motives and biases, both his or her own and those of the author, is more concerned with finding the truth than being right, does not reject unpopular views without examining them first.
How to write a critical review? You learn to construct an argument, it is a focussed activity(in contrast with essay writing)
How to do it ? Describe the work and its topic, the author, the subject the relevance and who it is pitched at, be descpitive and short.
Explain "the craft" of the book , what the author brings to the field, the sources used and the approach, the arguments, the intention of the book, it is not a summary of contents, but an analysis of approach and intent.
Evaluate whether the goals are met.
Purpose, Why did the author write the work? What did the author hope to achieve?
Content, is there a central thesis or argument, what are the author's.
Author's style, hoe would you descibe the style, for example is it simple, logical,technical or wordy, is the writing style suitable for the general public or for a target audience of "experts".
My goodness what a lot to remember by the time i have thought about all this i will have forgotten what i am supposed to do!!!

How to read critically, Wednesday 29th January 2009

Preview , looking for background information, looking for information evidence you can use to support your own argument, seeing how a particular author develops.
Who is it written for? What is its purpose? what is its style? What is its general comment?
Scan the content, is it worth reading in detail? What does the introduction say? What conclusions are in the text. What details/data/further reading does it provide, we need to for this module we need to write a 1,500 word piece on an exhibition as long as it has a catalogue, a paper , or a book we have read. Exciting eh?? So i will give it my best shot and see how it goes, as long as i have all my points i need to remember handy i will do well!
Read, identify the author's most important points, recognise how they fit together, note how you respond to them either annotate the text if it is your own book or make detailed notes.
What is the purpose of notes? They focus your attention and make sense of the text, notes are a form of external memory, a symbol of progress, makes sense of your course and project.
A critical reader....follows evidence where it leads, considers all the possibilities, relies on reason rather than emotion, values exact thinking, considers the source material before deciding.

How to read critically, Wednesday 29th January 2009

Description, why do we do it? Structure , how it does what it does?
What are the topics discussed? What are the examples and evidence used? What conclusions are reached. How have they convinced you? What sources are used?
Interpretation, reading what a text means, why do we do it? we are looking for meaning, we examine what a text does to convey meaning, how patterns of content and language shape the portrayal of the topic and how it relates.
Text Image, what are the difference between them? What are the similarities? Do we read them in the same way? Do we consider the craft of their creativeness in the same way?
Critical Reading, is not simply close and careful reading. It has goals so that we are able to recognise and understand tone and persuasiveness, that we understand the author's purpose, recognise bias and analyse the use of evidence, examine how a text reaches a conclussion, make judgements about how a text is argued.

How to read critically, Wednesday 29th January 2009

These notes were taken during a
talk with Prof Mike Press.
How do we approach? how do we find? how do we evaluate, how it helps us to think?
Why do we read? We read so that we can understand ideas, not to remember facts, reading also helps us to develop and challenge our own thoughts and ideas, to know where relevant ideas and facts are located, it enables us to challenge ourselves, to construct a rigorous argument, to test what is familiar. Mike showed us "Mary had a little Lamb" and we were to explain this in our own words, mine went a bit awry and I ended up talking about some stalking lamb, oh well try again.
Restatement of "Mary had a little Lamb"
Description of "Mary had a little Lamb"
Interpetation of "Mary had a little Lamb"

Talks about Mary and her stalking lamb. RESTATEMENT what the text says.
Talks about the story within the nursery rhyme DESCRIPTION what a text does
Talks about meaning within the story INTERPRTATION what text means

context and cohesion 29th January 2009.

To end on a joke whets your appetite seemingly, what if you don't know any jokes, "what is big, red and eats rocks?" A big red rock eater, this makes me laugh , can you imagine a big red thing eating rocks, what kind of rocks would it eat, perhaps metamorphic ones, Why does it eat only rocks has it got a eating disorder.
Bring in appropriate but quite diverse extras, the mind boggles, Working backwards helps also i have been told and Steven Fry also loves design and also writes some design reviews.

context and cohesion 29th January 2009.

session on writing with Mike Press and Jonathon Baldwin on Wednesday, they were saying that to have a good style of writing is appropriate whether it is academic, reflective or journalistic. Everyone in Scotland could read and write, there was no social class structure to this, which i did not know, Why was this mainly due to the the church everyone was to read the bible and have a universal literacy , writing according to Mr Press is about a set of techniques i hope these techniques work for me as i am not that confident in writing, Jonathon said that to read is to write, you cannot write if you don't read, this makes sense, but sometimes perhaps my interpretation of something is entirely different to someone else. I guess that is what makes us all different, Jonathon suggests that if our writing is well written, saying one thing clearly and has a good argument, expose to understand the difference between the two, looking at a piece of writing and see how it is written.