Day 186: 10/3/2018
It was the first class of Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning today.
It was the first session of an actual class I attended since becoming a PhD student here at York. The class started pretty on time at 11 and it went, as Jan mentioned a couple of times during our meetings, as pretty light-going. The main topic of the class was observation and it was taught by Jan. Most of the class time was spent on discussions, pair work, and group work with some explanation and whole-class discussion at times. What surprised me most was that there was a 10-minute break once the class went half way through the 2-hour time slot. It never really happened when I was at TC unless the class was over 2.5 or 3 hours longs.
Interesting enough, where I sat at the back table of the classroom was the spot that all four PhD students sat together. I did not if it was intentionally or not but it turned out that way.
Another point, it was relatively obvious that there is was a gap between our understanding (as PhD students) and that of MA students. There were times during the discussions that we were surprised by their thinking. I could not help thinking back my days as an MA or an EdM student anyway. It was, however, fascinating to be able to see that gap and learn that I am getting better at what I am doing now (which is studying). I believe all those courses and experiences have shaped and helped me to have better understandings.
The lunchtime today was very interesting. I went to the office at ReCSS and sat down for lunch with my PhD office mates, Julio, Elena, and Mustafa. It was such an incredibly interesting conversation for me a the first year PhD student listening to them talking about their path, struggles, experiences, food, fire alarm stories, and many more. Altogether, it made me realize again that I am never alone on this path. There are and will always be friends along this way who have been through thicks and thins during this memorable journey of PhD.
Let me add one more point for this entry. I have been really sick for the past two days. My nose is runny and my eyes teary all the time. It has been hard for me to live my daily life like this. I have taken way too many allergies pills and they did not seem to help. So, I’d better go to bed now.
10/4/2018 1.09 am.
