My day – studying with blended learning

Hello everyone, my name is James, and I am a third-year Primary Education student here at the University of Brighton. I have been super busy since September and thought I’d create this blog describing my typical day in Brighton.

9am – Run with my friend

To keep fit, I try and run twice a week as this helps support my mental health and general wellbeing. This morning I woke up at 8:15am to prepare for the run with my friend Michael.

We decided that we were going to run 12km to challenge ourselves and help us prepare for the half marathon, which we are hoping to run together in February. It was a beautiful, chilly morning which meant it was perfect conditions to be running in. We ran a total of 12.42km in just over an hour and 6 mins, as displayed in the picture. Go us!

The run left me feeling refreshed and ready for the busy day ahead. Now time for some studying.

11am – Education Studies Lecture

After a quick shower, I had an online lecture which started at 11am. This is my study setup in my room, I have about 12 hours of online learning a week. This is usually in the form of discussion-based seminars, although lectures also form a part of my learning.

The lecture this morning was all about the importance of pupil voice. We were looking at practical strategies that promote using the voice of children in the classroom.

After this session finished at 1pm, I had a quick bit of lunch and went to the Falmer campus for my first in-person face-to-face seminar!

2pm – Visit to Falmer campus for seminar and study in the library

I got to the Checkland Building on campus for 2pm and enjoyed my seminar which was based upon remote learning.

We had some fantastic discussion and it was lovely to catch up with some of my course mates.

After this, I booked a slot in the library from 4-6pm to print some readings in preparation for Friday’s virtual seminars. The picture below was taken as I left the library whilst the sun was setting. You can see the Checkland Building on the left, a very autumnal feel on the Falmer campus!

8pm – Cocktail Experience at Alcatraz

I live by the phrase ‘work hard, play hard’. I think it is super important to reward yourself for hard work and have something to look forward to. To say that I was excited for this experience during the day was an understatement. I arrived with Ewan (in the picture with me) at 7:45pm in anticipation for our experience in Alcatraz to begin. We were welcomed by the prison guards and given bright orange jumpsuits to wear!

We were taken to our cell and given a range of cocktails to enjoy throughout the evening. We had such a laugh and enjoyed the experience alongside the staff, who did a fantastic job! What a super end to the day!

(This blog was written before the current lockdown began)