Hello
So I have started to build up my SIG. I only have about 5 people within there so far, but I don't believe that we need to have too many.
I have already begun discussing questions within my SIG, and one which has been the most beneficial so far is my question: 5. Is verbal use just as important as the visual in teaching steps, styles and technique?
Megan Lewis asked pretty much the same question, with a bit more depth. I asked her opinion on this question, and her response was; "It is particularly beneficial for young children who do not have the
technical, rhythmical or emotional knowledge to produce what you are
verbally asking for. I think it also gains you the respect of your
older students....I definitely do not dance with my seniors ANYWHERE near as much as I
dance with my juniors - and there are some things that I can just no
longer demonstrate. In this instance I use another student - which I
find often works well at any level."
This response gave answers to two other questions, or are related to them somehow. Respect. I asked the question, 4. How do you gain a high respect from the students other than just good discipline? This was a question based on teaching in general. So from Megan' experience in Dance teaching, it's by showing your expertise which can get you respect. Which then asks a new question; How can you show your expertise in a classroom to gain the student' respect?
She also gave an answer to the question that Chiara Vainella came up with, of which and I have just started to discuss with her on being able to teach dance without physically being able to dance. Megan answered this, obliviously by saying that she uses another student to demonstrate if they have the right idea. Which then made me alter the question to be more thorough; Can you teach dance with having an absolute disability? Not being able to dance AT ALL.
A good start to Module 2.
'Keeeeeeep blogging'
Monday, 17 February 2014
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Task 4A Questions
I have definitely referred to my competences and capabilities,
mentioned in the Reader, when thinking about my questions. The things
that I do know, with added knowledge needed and what new knowledge I am
capable of doing.
I must admit that I have struggled to get myself going on this task, but this was the same with the last module, so I'll get there.
I have only done a very minor course in teaching, but plan to do my PGCE next year, so a lot of my questions are related to teaching. Perhaps stuff that I would learn about during my PGCE course anyway, but this would be a great head start!
Any adaptations of the questions to make them more thorough would be greatly appreciate, and of course any answers.
Teaching related questions:
'Keeeeeeep blogging'
I must admit that I have struggled to get myself going on this task, but this was the same with the last module, so I'll get there.
I have only done a very minor course in teaching, but plan to do my PGCE next year, so a lot of my questions are related to teaching. Perhaps stuff that I would learn about during my PGCE course anyway, but this would be a great head start!
Any adaptations of the questions to make them more thorough would be greatly appreciate, and of course any answers.
Teaching related questions:
- What similarities are there in teaching within a school and in a dance school?
- What other methods of disciplinary are there? For example; for autistic children.
- How long should you give yourself for Lesson Planning?
- How do you gain a high respect from the students other than from good discipline?
- Is there a way in teaching that can help students to be as honest a person as they can possibly be?
- How do you encourage students without making them overly confident?
- How do you handle a situation where the children think that it's okay to hug the teacher?
- What are the best methods to praise children, for them to learn to do things well without always expecting praise or a reward?
- How many warnings should you give children/students before disciplinary action?
- Should the phrase; 'Spare the rod, spoil the child' become more literally speaking in teaching?
- When did the rod stop being used?
- Do children have more rights than teachers?
- Can lowering your voice be just as effective as raising your voice?
- How can I get enthusiastic about choreography without music being my inspiration?
- How could I make a deeply emotional piece of choreography to absolutely no music?
- What exercises can I do in dance for children aged 4 to 6 without any basic training?
- Where can I found out about illusions? I want to use illusion like effects in choreography for solo and troupe work.
- Is verbal use just as important as the visual in teaching steps, styles and technique?
- What strategies or methods are there to boost a students confidence in performing?
- Is repetition in teaching a dance routine the best method to get the students to learn it quickly?
- Can you run a dance school successfully without employing a dance syllabus or examinations?
'Keeeeeeep blogging'
Task 4A review on Reader 4
Reader 4 has reminded me of a lot of things that I learned about in the first module, for example; "Working with the aspect of inquiry is vital to self-reflective practice" [Judi Marshall, 2001] Reflection!! At particular points in the last module, we simply had to use inquiry. I believe that it's an important part of moving forward from reflecting upon our own actions.
"..an issue, event, theme, dilemma or whatever is an inquiry for me. This is a deliberate means to keep my questioning open and to help it develop.....It gives me a frame for noting my ever-provisional sense-making as I proceed, articulating it - to self and others - as part of the process of inquiry" [Marshall, 2001] This has made me reflect back to my last couple of dance classes. I have a few unruly four year old's, and they seem to think that they can walk all over me. This made me question my approach to difficult behaviour. I want to develop and I want to know how to be a great teacher and gain respect. This brings me to 'sense-making'. I try to look at myself from anothers' perspective. Surely I am seen as a very soft teacher. That would make a lot of sense. I asked my mother if this could be the reason and she said that it could very well be the reason. Therefore, I tried out raising my voice more often. This has really worked a treat. In just a few weeks I have gained a lot more respect from them.This also relates to the professional expertise's three different types of knowledge in the Reader, propositional, personal and process [Eraut]. This involved all the types of knowledge; personal knowledge as I used my initiative and reflected on my self and the class as a whole, propositional knowledge from simply trying out a method of which I've learned about, and process knowledge for the way I chose to discipline.
'For Peter Senge, real learning gets to the heart of what it is to be human. We become able to re-create ourselves. This applies to both individuals and organizations. Thus, for a ‘learning organization it is not enough to survive. ‘”Survival learning” or what is more often termed “adaptive learning” is important – indeed it is necessary. But for a learning organization, “adaptive learning” must be joined by “generative learning”, learning that enhances our capacity to create" [Senge 1990:14 http://infed.org/mobi/peter-senge-and-the-learning-organization/] This is an inspiration for me, as I for one, struggle to accept change in myself and not always accept the changes around me, even if I know deep down that it's for the best in a lot of cases. Being flexible and adaptable is important when learning and making oneself a better professional practitioner. It makes me relate back to trying out the different ideas in 'Journal writing'. I was stubborn at first and was quite sure of myself to not try something new. I learned how most of the time it's a must to try out new things, and now to adapt one's working to hopefully gain a better outcome. This next statement relates to this somehow; "If our actions are driven by moving away from something then our actions are controlled and defined by whatever it is we are moving away from, not by us and what we would like to be moving towards. Therefore our potential for growth and learning is seriously impaired."[Anderson 1997 http://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/ ] This is related to double-loop learning and it makes me doubt my actions now and in the past. I believe that a lot of us work by going away from something rather than working towards something. It makes me question my use of Kolb's learning cycle. When I use this as a template, I use it for when ideas don't work as well as when they do work. So when ideas don't work, what do I aim for afterwards? Do I focus on what I actually want to achieve? Or do I focus on staying clear of something that wasn't achieved? Even though this phrase has made me doubt my actions, I do believe that I carry on focusing on what I want to achieve. Naturally I want to continue to grow and learn, so it's something I will be more aware of in the future.
Sector-based knowledge really stood out to me in the Reader. Seeing as one day I would like to have my own dance school, the 'inter-disciplinary' knowledge is incredibly important for me. I do know the discipline of dance, extremely well, but what about management skills? and dance teaching skills? There are other disciplines that I will need to learn about and gain enough knowledge and skills in to have a successful school.
Saying this though, I do believe that transdisciplinary is within any type of job, including teaching, as typical disciplinary actions may not work for some children as they may, for example, have an undiagnosed type of autism. Seeing as there are many types of autism, a regular approach to discipline will be tested, particularly if you don't know that they have the condition. You would have to work around your own approaches to be able to discipline that particular child effectively.
So, what is research? "..a process of determining knowledge that is valuable to individual learners and their networks."[Alan Durrant] This term in itself is valuable to me, as puts it in a very straight forward way.
Reading 'The Good Research Guide' by Martyn Denscombe, has given me a few different types of strategies that can be used for researching:
I'm struggling to decide whether or not to inquire about my issues in dance teaching or just general teaching.
I am currently updating my questions, so will put these in another post!
Good Luck everyone!
'Keeeeep blogging'
"..an issue, event, theme, dilemma or whatever is an inquiry for me. This is a deliberate means to keep my questioning open and to help it develop.....It gives me a frame for noting my ever-provisional sense-making as I proceed, articulating it - to self and others - as part of the process of inquiry" [Marshall, 2001] This has made me reflect back to my last couple of dance classes. I have a few unruly four year old's, and they seem to think that they can walk all over me. This made me question my approach to difficult behaviour. I want to develop and I want to know how to be a great teacher and gain respect. This brings me to 'sense-making'. I try to look at myself from anothers' perspective. Surely I am seen as a very soft teacher. That would make a lot of sense. I asked my mother if this could be the reason and she said that it could very well be the reason. Therefore, I tried out raising my voice more often. This has really worked a treat. In just a few weeks I have gained a lot more respect from them.This also relates to the professional expertise's three different types of knowledge in the Reader, propositional, personal and process [Eraut]. This involved all the types of knowledge; personal knowledge as I used my initiative and reflected on my self and the class as a whole, propositional knowledge from simply trying out a method of which I've learned about, and process knowledge for the way I chose to discipline.
'For Peter Senge, real learning gets to the heart of what it is to be human. We become able to re-create ourselves. This applies to both individuals and organizations. Thus, for a ‘learning organization it is not enough to survive. ‘”Survival learning” or what is more often termed “adaptive learning” is important – indeed it is necessary. But for a learning organization, “adaptive learning” must be joined by “generative learning”, learning that enhances our capacity to create" [Senge 1990:14 http://infed.org/mobi/peter-senge-and-the-learning-organization/] This is an inspiration for me, as I for one, struggle to accept change in myself and not always accept the changes around me, even if I know deep down that it's for the best in a lot of cases. Being flexible and adaptable is important when learning and making oneself a better professional practitioner. It makes me relate back to trying out the different ideas in 'Journal writing'. I was stubborn at first and was quite sure of myself to not try something new. I learned how most of the time it's a must to try out new things, and now to adapt one's working to hopefully gain a better outcome. This next statement relates to this somehow; "If our actions are driven by moving away from something then our actions are controlled and defined by whatever it is we are moving away from, not by us and what we would like to be moving towards. Therefore our potential for growth and learning is seriously impaired."[Anderson 1997 http://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/ ] This is related to double-loop learning and it makes me doubt my actions now and in the past. I believe that a lot of us work by going away from something rather than working towards something. It makes me question my use of Kolb's learning cycle. When I use this as a template, I use it for when ideas don't work as well as when they do work. So when ideas don't work, what do I aim for afterwards? Do I focus on what I actually want to achieve? Or do I focus on staying clear of something that wasn't achieved? Even though this phrase has made me doubt my actions, I do believe that I carry on focusing on what I want to achieve. Naturally I want to continue to grow and learn, so it's something I will be more aware of in the future.
Sector-based knowledge really stood out to me in the Reader. Seeing as one day I would like to have my own dance school, the 'inter-disciplinary' knowledge is incredibly important for me. I do know the discipline of dance, extremely well, but what about management skills? and dance teaching skills? There are other disciplines that I will need to learn about and gain enough knowledge and skills in to have a successful school.
Saying this though, I do believe that transdisciplinary is within any type of job, including teaching, as typical disciplinary actions may not work for some children as they may, for example, have an undiagnosed type of autism. Seeing as there are many types of autism, a regular approach to discipline will be tested, particularly if you don't know that they have the condition. You would have to work around your own approaches to be able to discipline that particular child effectively.
So, what is research? "..a process of determining knowledge that is valuable to individual learners and their networks."[Alan Durrant] This term in itself is valuable to me, as puts it in a very straight forward way.
Reading 'The Good Research Guide' by Martyn Denscombe, has given me a few different types of strategies that can be used for researching:
- Surveys; [Interviews, questionaires, observation]
- Case studies; [Practical considerations, no real choice]
- Experiments (a model of good practice); [Cause and effect, the use of controls, observation and measurement.]
I'm struggling to decide whether or not to inquire about my issues in dance teaching or just general teaching.
I am currently updating my questions, so will put these in another post!
Good Luck everyone!
'Keeeeep blogging'
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
So far....
Hello everyone. Well a new year and a new module. Exciting and scary stuff!
Time for inquiry!
I've started to read the Reader, and I must admit that I am struggling to understand a lot of it. I hope I'm not the only one?? I will need to have a lot of coffee I think. (I did try this today, but what I didn't realize was that the coffee was decaffeinated...)
I am looking forward to seeing what people write about in their blogs, and I wish all the best to you all.
'Keeeeep blogging'
Time for inquiry!
I've started to read the Reader, and I must admit that I am struggling to understand a lot of it. I hope I'm not the only one?? I will need to have a lot of coffee I think. (I did try this today, but what I didn't realize was that the coffee was decaffeinated...)
I am looking forward to seeing what people write about in their blogs, and I wish all the best to you all.
'Keeeeep blogging'
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Task 3D Critical questions and issues that emerge
Bethany Bullman 3B
Bethany Bullman 3A
Emma Price 3C
Laura-May Houghton 3B
Natalie Martin 3A (Beth's question)
Natalie Martin 3A
Carla L Mason 3C
Anna Timms 3C
Melanie Brown 3C
Megan Lewis 3B
Above are all the blogs that have inspired some of my ideas or have made me question my own practice. I have commented on each of these providing my reasons for their inspiration and any critical thinking.
Below is a spider diagram from my journal (of which I got the idea from Natalie Martin's blog above) to help me to reflect and raise any critical questions:
I do apologize for the scribbly-ness and blurry-ness of it, but I was lacking a bit of room, and I couldn't keep my hand steady.
The first question that emerged was about my job sites. Most people have written about 'The stage' and 'agents' etc being some of their important resources. Like I've commented on Natalie Martin's blog, referring to a question by Bethany Bullman, (see above Beth's question) The Stage for me is TES or Indeed.com. But the question that I ask myself is; do I check up on my automated emails that offer new job opportunities from TES and Indeed.com? Well actually I don't. I hardly ever open these emails. Why? Because one, I haven't updated the line of work that I wish to receive opportunities for. Right now, both of these sites are sending me 'Assistant teacher' and 'Retail assistant' positions. Because of this, two, I struggle to find the time to change them. Which raises the next question; are my priorities in the right place? I believe that I do have most of my priorities straight and correct, but one that isn't is within my job. I work as a dance/performing arts teacher at the weekends, but as a retail assistant within the week. I do not wish to work in retail any more, but I am very bad at helping myself. So this is a big realization. I must organize my day and to prioritize my job searching, heading in the direction that I wish to be going.
What is Twinkl? To begin with, I thought this site would be right up my alley, from Bethany Bullman's task 3A. So I went on to google and had a check. It would be a wonderful site if I were focused on teaching in Primary schools. My aim is to teach in Junior and Senior schools. Saying this, I do not know what the future holds. I cannot be small minded and just brush this new resource out of the window. I can either keep it at hand, as if it were part of a network; it could be very valuable some day, or I can sweep it out of the door and forget about it. This is a knowledge that I probably never would have received without participating in the BAPP course. It also proves what sources are out there from just keeping in the know of other people.
My next question is; have I been fully engaged on part 3 in the BAPP course? I have been extremely engaged on this part. I have made extra effort in finding other potentially useful blogs, because I have come to realize how vital this can be, and I have printed out the Reading list extracts and have highlighted what I believe to be the most important. It has been a really intriguing part of Module 1, particularly task 3B which includes cultural differences within the concept of Affiliation. I'm gradually starting to use my professional networks in a more profound way to help myself. Some of this is proven in the comments on blogs, and the ideas that I've gotten from them. My cooperation skills with my teaching colleague has improved greatly, just by being more aware of how we cooperate.
I thought I'd use the question provided in the handbook, outright, for my next part; Are your ideas, position or concerns shared by others within and/or beyond your professional area of work?
As you can just about see in my spider diagram, I asked the question of whether or not I should ask my best friend about her work with younger children. I should, as we share a similar position within my area of work. We both work with children. So, I actually do not know the answer to whether we share the same ideas or concerns, which is something I will work towards, but I know that we share a similar position.
In Bethany Bullman's task 3B, she spoke about status' within a school, and how it depends on that status as to whom you cooperate with. I commented on this as I share similar views on this. I find it a real shame that the system works this way, because everybody can learn a thing or two on anything, of which can be either practical for you or really not that useful at all, but there is always the possibilities. My boss does the same job as everybody else at the centre that I work at, but she obviously has those important things on top of that which makes her job more superior. It's very hard to ask her for advice, especially as she hired me, and I would assume that she would expect me to learn and grow as a teacher by myself from experience. But what I've learned from this course, is that you learn from experience, of course, but we also learn from others' experiences. Some people choose not to, and end up learning from their own experience, but sometimes it's easier to bypass any mistakes that you may make, and learn from others instead. Why don't we? Because we don't believe it would happen to us right? This is something the BAPP course has taught me very efficiently. Learn from others as well as yourself.
Of course my family, (as I've revealed before, are all teachers) is mentioned in the spider diagram. Do they share the same ideas and concerns? Absolutely. I share with my mother all the time about issues and concerns in my teaching. I give her my ideas, and she gives me advice on how to improve them. This then raised the question; should I contact my other family members more? I know that I don't contact my brother and sister enough. Unlike my mother, they both have experience in performing arts as well as music and teaching. Seeing as it's performing arts that I am teaching, why haven't I contacted them more? Affiliating with my family is hard living so far away from each other, but like in the previous tasks, we now have resources and other methods of communication other than just meeting up and sending letters in the post. Referring to Melanie Browns' task 3C (see above), she does share similar views on mobile phones. They are so vital in any career, for keeping up with the times, keeping in touch with important networks and receiving new job positions etc. Mobile phones are a great way to affiliate nowadays, even though I feel it can prevent people from actually affiliating properly by meeting up, which I think being face to face is far more uplifting and beneficial. So, to add to my learning, whenever I feel the need for help within my teaching, I will now make the effort to contact my brother or sister about it, as well as my mother.
Also referring to Melanie Brown's task 3C, it made me bring up the idea about how useful online resources is for the much older generation. Elderly people are so vulnerable and the internet gives the benefits of grocery shopping online. This may have adapted so much by the time we are at that very fragile age, and these sources may be even easier in the future. I have been very negative about technology, especially as I believe it makes people lazy, but this sharing and communicating with others has shifted my thinking which makes me less ignorant and makes me think on a wider scale. Sure it can make the younger generation lazy, but it's less effort for the elderly which I haven't thought into much at all. We see all younger generations on smartphones and tablets etc, everywhere, but what you don't see are the elder generations using their laptops and ipads behind their closed doors. Ipads, tablets and smartphones are pretty useless for the very young generation, and I think it's a real shame that some parents buy them for their three year olds. This also shifts my thinking just by sharing to you now. Experience. Children don't experience things anymore because they are glued to their tablets playing games. Objects and day outs I believe are vital as they offer a better knowledge and gives them experience, as most children learn by doing and seeing.
As I go along with this, and sharing these ideas with you, it also now makes me want to put these ideas in to my professional practice in some way. Seeing as I work with the younger generation, and keeping in mind that they learn from doing and seeing, I need to adapt some sort of learning activities into my dance and music classes with them. I also must exaggerate every dance move and rhythm game. Just from sharing, I have come up with ideas.
Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and the actions to take? Absolutely! Just from reflecting on my Affiliation in the past, particularly in my working relationships in Israel, I know the reasons why I was so lonely. (See my Task 3B) here I said; "I'm definitely more extrovert on a more personal level, but introvert on a not so personal level". This proves to me why I didn't feel the need to affiliate with my fellow performers, but the downside to this was that I did become lonely and very homesick as my extrovert self missed the people who I felt close to. I also said; "on a professional level, being that bit more extrovert deliberately, would prove to be very useful in any career." I'm now not only thinking how useful it can be on a professional level, like I've mentioned in this post, but also on an emotional level. Hence, from my critical reflection and new knowledge on affiliation I do make more of an effort to be more extrovert even if it doesn't feel comfortable to begin with.
Another way in which critical reflection helps me to decide what actions to take is from Cooperation. Looking back at particular situations where cooperation was involved and competing when working together and not, competing only seemed to work well in competitions when you were to perform a solo. Pretty obvious really. But, cooperating when competing in a duet, trio or troupe performance was vital. If you constantly competed within a dance troupe against your fellow performers it would look messy. I always use to try and kick my leg the highest in a dance duet, trio or troupe. When I critically reflect on this, I ask myself; why did I do this? Because I wasn't cooperating. I was thinking of myself and was competing. (I'm sure many of us have similar experiences of trying to look better than the other dancers). By doing this, the dance trio, duet or troupe wouldn't look very neat and would never get a gold medal. Saying this, even in a solo performance, I had to cooperate with my teacher. She knows best. (again my Task 3B gives my understanding on cooperation) This doesn't mean to say that cooperation doesn't have competition. You cooperate to be a great competitor.
Relating to all of the last few paragraphs, affiliation assists my thinking on my professional networks the most. Second to this is cooperation. One thing that I haven't mentioned is Communities of practice. Thinking about Twinkl, of which I mentioned earlier, this is a community, and it can be a source for practice. Wenger identifies a community of practice as a "mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity." (Reader 3, p9) It's a community to share ideas and debate. Even though I don't feel that Twinkl is for me, this concept has got me thinking and I've asked myself is there a community that I can join that would suit my professional networking? There must be. This is something I can find out through people that I work with or have similar interests with, also, through research on our Web 2.0. With affiliation and cooperation, they have given me a challenge. I am now in the notion of working with the ideas involved in both, such as; affiliating with the use of the Social affiliation model, of which I have mentioned in my task 3B as being believable with the exception of emotions. But, giving this much thought, I think at times we must be able to keep our emotions under control, therefore I will be concentrating on seeing if the social affiliation model can work for me within the workplace and at home when affiliating online or via my phone. With cooperation, I have been very aware of my cooperating skills within my networks. It assists my thinking in a Reflection IN action way. Same goes for the Social affiliation model. I consider these concepts will benefit me somehow, particularly in being more organized and thinking in action within my networks. I believe that they will helpme to grow as a professional.
Are you left thinking differently prior to this part of the module? Everything that I have written above is mostly different to how my mind worked prior to Part 3. There isn't much to say, as I've written it all above. All I can say is that I am definitely thinking in a more professional manner and that I feel more proficient in my knowledge of such things within psychology and why we do things, certain aspects of teamwork and what teamwork actually means, and what profits they have and how I can actually help myself rather than letting people help me. I've also realized what subjects glue me to the screen or paper, and how I can use this in a very beneficial way.
Something that I'd like to add is something Laura-May Houghton wrote in her task 3B [see link at the top]. She said; "how long will it take before we start paying monthly for these valuable resources?" I have commented twice on this blog but for some reason they keep disappearing, so I will write here what I had written;
Hi Laura
This has been a great read.
The thing that stood out was the question about how long before we start paying for our resources.
It truly is a scary thought. It made me think about how useless I am at using these valuable resources, and how I really don't give them enough thought. I would regret it if they start adding charges. Even though it shouldn't be a reason to neglect these resources, but it shows how much I and many others take these resources for granted. There are a few job sites that I am signed up on but hardly ever look through them, I would be kicking myself if they start charging monthly payments.
It's a great realization and it's something for us all to think about.
Thanks for that.
Kim x
This has definitely left me thinking differently prior to this part of the module. I am guilty for taking stuff for granted, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So, use and abuse while you still can.
Good luck to everyone on their Critical Reflection Essay!!
'Keeeeeep blogging'
Bethany Bullman 3A
Emma Price 3C
Laura-May Houghton 3B
Natalie Martin 3A (Beth's question)
Natalie Martin 3A
Carla L Mason 3C
Anna Timms 3C
Melanie Brown 3C
Megan Lewis 3B
Above are all the blogs that have inspired some of my ideas or have made me question my own practice. I have commented on each of these providing my reasons for their inspiration and any critical thinking.
Below is a spider diagram from my journal (of which I got the idea from Natalie Martin's blog above) to help me to reflect and raise any critical questions:
The first question that emerged was about my job sites. Most people have written about 'The stage' and 'agents' etc being some of their important resources. Like I've commented on Natalie Martin's blog, referring to a question by Bethany Bullman, (see above Beth's question) The Stage for me is TES or Indeed.com. But the question that I ask myself is; do I check up on my automated emails that offer new job opportunities from TES and Indeed.com? Well actually I don't. I hardly ever open these emails. Why? Because one, I haven't updated the line of work that I wish to receive opportunities for. Right now, both of these sites are sending me 'Assistant teacher' and 'Retail assistant' positions. Because of this, two, I struggle to find the time to change them. Which raises the next question; are my priorities in the right place? I believe that I do have most of my priorities straight and correct, but one that isn't is within my job. I work as a dance/performing arts teacher at the weekends, but as a retail assistant within the week. I do not wish to work in retail any more, but I am very bad at helping myself. So this is a big realization. I must organize my day and to prioritize my job searching, heading in the direction that I wish to be going.
What is Twinkl? To begin with, I thought this site would be right up my alley, from Bethany Bullman's task 3A. So I went on to google and had a check. It would be a wonderful site if I were focused on teaching in Primary schools. My aim is to teach in Junior and Senior schools. Saying this, I do not know what the future holds. I cannot be small minded and just brush this new resource out of the window. I can either keep it at hand, as if it were part of a network; it could be very valuable some day, or I can sweep it out of the door and forget about it. This is a knowledge that I probably never would have received without participating in the BAPP course. It also proves what sources are out there from just keeping in the know of other people.
My next question is; have I been fully engaged on part 3 in the BAPP course? I have been extremely engaged on this part. I have made extra effort in finding other potentially useful blogs, because I have come to realize how vital this can be, and I have printed out the Reading list extracts and have highlighted what I believe to be the most important. It has been a really intriguing part of Module 1, particularly task 3B which includes cultural differences within the concept of Affiliation. I'm gradually starting to use my professional networks in a more profound way to help myself. Some of this is proven in the comments on blogs, and the ideas that I've gotten from them. My cooperation skills with my teaching colleague has improved greatly, just by being more aware of how we cooperate.
I thought I'd use the question provided in the handbook, outright, for my next part; Are your ideas, position or concerns shared by others within and/or beyond your professional area of work?
As you can just about see in my spider diagram, I asked the question of whether or not I should ask my best friend about her work with younger children. I should, as we share a similar position within my area of work. We both work with children. So, I actually do not know the answer to whether we share the same ideas or concerns, which is something I will work towards, but I know that we share a similar position.
In Bethany Bullman's task 3B, she spoke about status' within a school, and how it depends on that status as to whom you cooperate with. I commented on this as I share similar views on this. I find it a real shame that the system works this way, because everybody can learn a thing or two on anything, of which can be either practical for you or really not that useful at all, but there is always the possibilities. My boss does the same job as everybody else at the centre that I work at, but she obviously has those important things on top of that which makes her job more superior. It's very hard to ask her for advice, especially as she hired me, and I would assume that she would expect me to learn and grow as a teacher by myself from experience. But what I've learned from this course, is that you learn from experience, of course, but we also learn from others' experiences. Some people choose not to, and end up learning from their own experience, but sometimes it's easier to bypass any mistakes that you may make, and learn from others instead. Why don't we? Because we don't believe it would happen to us right? This is something the BAPP course has taught me very efficiently. Learn from others as well as yourself.
Of course my family, (as I've revealed before, are all teachers) is mentioned in the spider diagram. Do they share the same ideas and concerns? Absolutely. I share with my mother all the time about issues and concerns in my teaching. I give her my ideas, and she gives me advice on how to improve them. This then raised the question; should I contact my other family members more? I know that I don't contact my brother and sister enough. Unlike my mother, they both have experience in performing arts as well as music and teaching. Seeing as it's performing arts that I am teaching, why haven't I contacted them more? Affiliating with my family is hard living so far away from each other, but like in the previous tasks, we now have resources and other methods of communication other than just meeting up and sending letters in the post. Referring to Melanie Browns' task 3C (see above), she does share similar views on mobile phones. They are so vital in any career, for keeping up with the times, keeping in touch with important networks and receiving new job positions etc. Mobile phones are a great way to affiliate nowadays, even though I feel it can prevent people from actually affiliating properly by meeting up, which I think being face to face is far more uplifting and beneficial. So, to add to my learning, whenever I feel the need for help within my teaching, I will now make the effort to contact my brother or sister about it, as well as my mother.
Also referring to Melanie Brown's task 3C, it made me bring up the idea about how useful online resources is for the much older generation. Elderly people are so vulnerable and the internet gives the benefits of grocery shopping online. This may have adapted so much by the time we are at that very fragile age, and these sources may be even easier in the future. I have been very negative about technology, especially as I believe it makes people lazy, but this sharing and communicating with others has shifted my thinking which makes me less ignorant and makes me think on a wider scale. Sure it can make the younger generation lazy, but it's less effort for the elderly which I haven't thought into much at all. We see all younger generations on smartphones and tablets etc, everywhere, but what you don't see are the elder generations using their laptops and ipads behind their closed doors. Ipads, tablets and smartphones are pretty useless for the very young generation, and I think it's a real shame that some parents buy them for their three year olds. This also shifts my thinking just by sharing to you now. Experience. Children don't experience things anymore because they are glued to their tablets playing games. Objects and day outs I believe are vital as they offer a better knowledge and gives them experience, as most children learn by doing and seeing.
As I go along with this, and sharing these ideas with you, it also now makes me want to put these ideas in to my professional practice in some way. Seeing as I work with the younger generation, and keeping in mind that they learn from doing and seeing, I need to adapt some sort of learning activities into my dance and music classes with them. I also must exaggerate every dance move and rhythm game. Just from sharing, I have come up with ideas.
Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and the actions to take? Absolutely! Just from reflecting on my Affiliation in the past, particularly in my working relationships in Israel, I know the reasons why I was so lonely. (See my Task 3B) here I said; "I'm definitely more extrovert on a more personal level, but introvert on a not so personal level". This proves to me why I didn't feel the need to affiliate with my fellow performers, but the downside to this was that I did become lonely and very homesick as my extrovert self missed the people who I felt close to. I also said; "on a professional level, being that bit more extrovert deliberately, would prove to be very useful in any career." I'm now not only thinking how useful it can be on a professional level, like I've mentioned in this post, but also on an emotional level. Hence, from my critical reflection and new knowledge on affiliation I do make more of an effort to be more extrovert even if it doesn't feel comfortable to begin with.
Another way in which critical reflection helps me to decide what actions to take is from Cooperation. Looking back at particular situations where cooperation was involved and competing when working together and not, competing only seemed to work well in competitions when you were to perform a solo. Pretty obvious really. But, cooperating when competing in a duet, trio or troupe performance was vital. If you constantly competed within a dance troupe against your fellow performers it would look messy. I always use to try and kick my leg the highest in a dance duet, trio or troupe. When I critically reflect on this, I ask myself; why did I do this? Because I wasn't cooperating. I was thinking of myself and was competing. (I'm sure many of us have similar experiences of trying to look better than the other dancers). By doing this, the dance trio, duet or troupe wouldn't look very neat and would never get a gold medal. Saying this, even in a solo performance, I had to cooperate with my teacher. She knows best. (again my Task 3B gives my understanding on cooperation) This doesn't mean to say that cooperation doesn't have competition. You cooperate to be a great competitor.
Relating to all of the last few paragraphs, affiliation assists my thinking on my professional networks the most. Second to this is cooperation. One thing that I haven't mentioned is Communities of practice. Thinking about Twinkl, of which I mentioned earlier, this is a community, and it can be a source for practice. Wenger identifies a community of practice as a "mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity." (Reader 3, p9) It's a community to share ideas and debate. Even though I don't feel that Twinkl is for me, this concept has got me thinking and I've asked myself is there a community that I can join that would suit my professional networking? There must be. This is something I can find out through people that I work with or have similar interests with, also, through research on our Web 2.0. With affiliation and cooperation, they have given me a challenge. I am now in the notion of working with the ideas involved in both, such as; affiliating with the use of the Social affiliation model, of which I have mentioned in my task 3B as being believable with the exception of emotions. But, giving this much thought, I think at times we must be able to keep our emotions under control, therefore I will be concentrating on seeing if the social affiliation model can work for me within the workplace and at home when affiliating online or via my phone. With cooperation, I have been very aware of my cooperating skills within my networks. It assists my thinking in a Reflection IN action way. Same goes for the Social affiliation model. I consider these concepts will benefit me somehow, particularly in being more organized and thinking in action within my networks. I believe that they will helpme to grow as a professional.
Are you left thinking differently prior to this part of the module? Everything that I have written above is mostly different to how my mind worked prior to Part 3. There isn't much to say, as I've written it all above. All I can say is that I am definitely thinking in a more professional manner and that I feel more proficient in my knowledge of such things within psychology and why we do things, certain aspects of teamwork and what teamwork actually means, and what profits they have and how I can actually help myself rather than letting people help me. I've also realized what subjects glue me to the screen or paper, and how I can use this in a very beneficial way.
Something that I'd like to add is something Laura-May Houghton wrote in her task 3B [see link at the top]. She said; "how long will it take before we start paying monthly for these valuable resources?" I have commented twice on this blog but for some reason they keep disappearing, so I will write here what I had written;
Hi Laura
This has been a great read.
The thing that stood out was the question about how long before we start paying for our resources.
It truly is a scary thought. It made me think about how useless I am at using these valuable resources, and how I really don't give them enough thought. I would regret it if they start adding charges. Even though it shouldn't be a reason to neglect these resources, but it shows how much I and many others take these resources for granted. There are a few job sites that I am signed up on but hardly ever look through them, I would be kicking myself if they start charging monthly payments.
It's a great realization and it's something for us all to think about.
Thanks for that.
Kim x
This has definitely left me thinking differently prior to this part of the module. I am guilty for taking stuff for granted, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So, use and abuse while you still can.
Good luck to everyone on their Critical Reflection Essay!!
'Keeeeeep blogging'
Monday, 16 December 2013
Task 3C Sources of information
http://melaniebrown10.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/3c-5-most-important-sources-of.html
http://annatimms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/task-3c-my-5-most-important-sources-of.html
I've decided on my approach to this task by the influence of the two blogs above; Melanie Brown and Anna Timms. They have both put their sources of information into a list of top sources of information.
1. SHAZAM via the internet.
http://teachingcarla.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/my-sources-of-information.html
In Carla Mason's blog [see link] she mentions about the ever changing styles of music and how she has to keep up with the times, especially being a teacher (like myself). The Internet is so very important for this as, like I've mentioned before, unlike Carla's method on just remembering the words and googling them up later, I use the fantastic Shazam application on my smartphone to grasp a song that I've heard in a shop or at work, of which I can then use for my teaching and choreography. I can know the name of the song right there and then.
It's become a very important source of information for me, and naturally my smartphone and the internet are equally as important, as without them, I can't use Shazam. I do think that it's vital to find out different methods to make your life easier in any profession. I only found out about Shazam when I heard a song that I've heard before come on in a shop and I was absolutely kicking myself because nobody I was with knew what it was. Fortunately, one of them knew about Shazam, and TA DAA! Meeting with people has been mentioned in the Module 1 Handbook as a good source of technology to use to get information, and the information I have received from doing this is another source of information. It just proves that if you make that effort to affiliate with others, which in turn can be an information-network, other sources of information can emerge.
2. TEACHERS/EMPLOYERS
I haven't been long in the teaching profession, therefore, I have a lot to learn about the profession. Fellow teachers who are more experienced and well qualified are extremely useful sources of information for me. They are like my support. I am wanting to boost my qualifications to be able to teach in more established environments with a more secure wage, hence I value any information that I receive from them, relating to qualifications that will suit my desired career path. They are also useful in getting a variety of different methods to use in teaching that may be worth my trying, to improve my teaching skills.
I think the more teachers I get to know the more profound the knowledge will be. You can't just trust in one teacher as they may have errors in their knowledge, even if they've been teaching for many years. It is like the Web 2.0 which we've worked on in the beginning. The more research you do, the more specific the outcome will be. I think to help make truth of what other teachers have said, it's best to do a bit of research via the internet for confirmation. Employers and fellow teachers are in my top sources of information also because they keep me in the know and may know of new job opportunities which is always a bonus.
3. FAMILY/FRIENDS/FRIENDS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS
I am extremely fortunate to have a family of teachers. Like I've mentioned before, my mum, dad, brother sister, auntie, uncle and nan are/were all teachers. It's not even that it's been pushed upon me to do it, it's just something I've always wanted to do ever since I was about ten years old. Runs in the blood. We are all also musical with the exception of my nan. They are my most reliable source of information as we are all very close and will benefit from any information on teaching skills. I must admit that I very rarely ask for their help and advice. Being related, our qualities in teaching are similar and with that in mind, I can feed off their ideas greatly. They each have their strong points. My sister is very organized and knows a lot of useful job websites which is, naturally, very vital. My brother knows his musical tools (Cubase of which I've mentioned before). He was the one who gave me that forever handy information. My mum teaches a variety of age groups, therefore, she is full of convenient knowledge on how she deals with each age group and how she portrays herself. I don't copy every single approach that she advises, but I work with them to suit my ways.
There are of course friends and friends of family and friends. Most of the people my family socializes with have similar interests, or are teachers, and some of my friends are looking into the same profession as me and friends of theirs. Like with my fellow teachers, these people are all great for keeping me in the know, having news of possible job positions and wonderful for support. Giving each other ideas and being sympathetic makes friends a more personal supportive network. They keep me sane.
4. NEWSPAPER/JOB SITES
So, again the internet plays a vital role when it comes to job sites and new information. Indeed.com and TES are great sites with some wonderful dance teaching opportunities. As you can see the internet plays such an important role in most of my information sources, and for most individuals. It is one of my main sources of information. Newspapers also keep me in the know and advertises many teaching jobs. I used to get The Stage for performance opportunities. I always found that it had more adverts that The Stage website, which shows that the internet isn't always the most useful source, but in most cases it's very important.
5. BAPP BLOGS
Blogging has of course been a new and very useful source of information. I have found out about different ways that others communicate, different views and ideas, how they deal with certain things, what things they benefit from etc. But, blogging has been the source of information that helps me adapt my own thinking and ideas. Going through other students' blogs, who are further into the course, is interesting as they communicate in a different way with their fellow students and some of their layouts and ideas are much different. It's given more variety towards my thinking and has given me even more beneficial information.
Conclusion
I honestly wouldn't know what I'd do without my phone, laptop and internet. How did they cope a hundred years ago? Well I guess the answer is; that they would have had to walk or cycle down to the shop to buy the latest newspapers with job opportunities and they would send letters to friends and family via the post to keep in the know when they live so far. They would have to remember the lyrics to the songs to try to find out what it is and who it's by and go to their local record store for information. We still have these options today, but technology has come so far that we don't have to do all of that walking, cycling, posting and noting down.
Meeting with family and friends hasn't changed much. We still find it the most beneficial when we meet up rather than talking over the phone or on the internet. It's a shame how facebook, twitter or texting can take over peoples' lives and they become lazy and don't make the effort to go out and actually physically be amongst their friends and family. Talking of affiliation in the previous task, if there is a lack of close affiliation, you can become lonely or are less able to cope with stress. (Gunnar, 2000) But in the subject of sources of information, I believe that communicating by phone, internet or in person are all just as constructive, depending on the subject
Other source of information.
Carla Mason, [see link in Shazam] spoke about Television being a useful source of information for her.
I think this is a great source, and I don't know why I don't use this to my advantage enough. I don't watch as much television as whence I used to, which is a very reasonable explanation. She said; 'Films have a lot of great soundtracks'. I agree entirely. I know of the film 'August Rush' having a great soundtrack, also I remember a 1992 movie called 'Wuthering heights' which also has a great theme tune. Very emotional.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srg_R-NoXGg Listen from 1:10.
I disagree that the television only plays popular music. I don't believe this is true at all. There are so many adverts that play music that I've never heard and of course soundtracks in movies that have been composed specifically for that particular movie.
Television will be used as a source of information (music or the news) for me in future. I will start making the effort to doing this as I know it will serve me very well.
'Keeeep blogging'
x
http://annatimms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/task-3c-my-5-most-important-sources-of.html
I've decided on my approach to this task by the influence of the two blogs above; Melanie Brown and Anna Timms. They have both put their sources of information into a list of top sources of information.
1. SHAZAM via the internet.
http://teachingcarla.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/my-sources-of-information.html
In Carla Mason's blog [see link] she mentions about the ever changing styles of music and how she has to keep up with the times, especially being a teacher (like myself). The Internet is so very important for this as, like I've mentioned before, unlike Carla's method on just remembering the words and googling them up later, I use the fantastic Shazam application on my smartphone to grasp a song that I've heard in a shop or at work, of which I can then use for my teaching and choreography. I can know the name of the song right there and then.
It's become a very important source of information for me, and naturally my smartphone and the internet are equally as important, as without them, I can't use Shazam. I do think that it's vital to find out different methods to make your life easier in any profession. I only found out about Shazam when I heard a song that I've heard before come on in a shop and I was absolutely kicking myself because nobody I was with knew what it was. Fortunately, one of them knew about Shazam, and TA DAA! Meeting with people has been mentioned in the Module 1 Handbook as a good source of technology to use to get information, and the information I have received from doing this is another source of information. It just proves that if you make that effort to affiliate with others, which in turn can be an information-network, other sources of information can emerge.
2. TEACHERS/EMPLOYERS
I haven't been long in the teaching profession, therefore, I have a lot to learn about the profession. Fellow teachers who are more experienced and well qualified are extremely useful sources of information for me. They are like my support. I am wanting to boost my qualifications to be able to teach in more established environments with a more secure wage, hence I value any information that I receive from them, relating to qualifications that will suit my desired career path. They are also useful in getting a variety of different methods to use in teaching that may be worth my trying, to improve my teaching skills.
I think the more teachers I get to know the more profound the knowledge will be. You can't just trust in one teacher as they may have errors in their knowledge, even if they've been teaching for many years. It is like the Web 2.0 which we've worked on in the beginning. The more research you do, the more specific the outcome will be. I think to help make truth of what other teachers have said, it's best to do a bit of research via the internet for confirmation. Employers and fellow teachers are in my top sources of information also because they keep me in the know and may know of new job opportunities which is always a bonus.
3. FAMILY/FRIENDS/FRIENDS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS
I am extremely fortunate to have a family of teachers. Like I've mentioned before, my mum, dad, brother sister, auntie, uncle and nan are/were all teachers. It's not even that it's been pushed upon me to do it, it's just something I've always wanted to do ever since I was about ten years old. Runs in the blood. We are all also musical with the exception of my nan. They are my most reliable source of information as we are all very close and will benefit from any information on teaching skills. I must admit that I very rarely ask for their help and advice. Being related, our qualities in teaching are similar and with that in mind, I can feed off their ideas greatly. They each have their strong points. My sister is very organized and knows a lot of useful job websites which is, naturally, very vital. My brother knows his musical tools (Cubase of which I've mentioned before). He was the one who gave me that forever handy information. My mum teaches a variety of age groups, therefore, she is full of convenient knowledge on how she deals with each age group and how she portrays herself. I don't copy every single approach that she advises, but I work with them to suit my ways.
There are of course friends and friends of family and friends. Most of the people my family socializes with have similar interests, or are teachers, and some of my friends are looking into the same profession as me and friends of theirs. Like with my fellow teachers, these people are all great for keeping me in the know, having news of possible job positions and wonderful for support. Giving each other ideas and being sympathetic makes friends a more personal supportive network. They keep me sane.
4. NEWSPAPER/JOB SITES
So, again the internet plays a vital role when it comes to job sites and new information. Indeed.com and TES are great sites with some wonderful dance teaching opportunities. As you can see the internet plays such an important role in most of my information sources, and for most individuals. It is one of my main sources of information. Newspapers also keep me in the know and advertises many teaching jobs. I used to get The Stage for performance opportunities. I always found that it had more adverts that The Stage website, which shows that the internet isn't always the most useful source, but in most cases it's very important.
5. BAPP BLOGS
Blogging has of course been a new and very useful source of information. I have found out about different ways that others communicate, different views and ideas, how they deal with certain things, what things they benefit from etc. But, blogging has been the source of information that helps me adapt my own thinking and ideas. Going through other students' blogs, who are further into the course, is interesting as they communicate in a different way with their fellow students and some of their layouts and ideas are much different. It's given more variety towards my thinking and has given me even more beneficial information.
Conclusion
I honestly wouldn't know what I'd do without my phone, laptop and internet. How did they cope a hundred years ago? Well I guess the answer is; that they would have had to walk or cycle down to the shop to buy the latest newspapers with job opportunities and they would send letters to friends and family via the post to keep in the know when they live so far. They would have to remember the lyrics to the songs to try to find out what it is and who it's by and go to their local record store for information. We still have these options today, but technology has come so far that we don't have to do all of that walking, cycling, posting and noting down.
Meeting with family and friends hasn't changed much. We still find it the most beneficial when we meet up rather than talking over the phone or on the internet. It's a shame how facebook, twitter or texting can take over peoples' lives and they become lazy and don't make the effort to go out and actually physically be amongst their friends and family. Talking of affiliation in the previous task, if there is a lack of close affiliation, you can become lonely or are less able to cope with stress. (Gunnar, 2000) But in the subject of sources of information, I believe that communicating by phone, internet or in person are all just as constructive, depending on the subject
Other source of information.
Carla Mason, [see link in Shazam] spoke about Television being a useful source of information for her.
I think this is a great source, and I don't know why I don't use this to my advantage enough. I don't watch as much television as whence I used to, which is a very reasonable explanation. She said; 'Films have a lot of great soundtracks'. I agree entirely. I know of the film 'August Rush' having a great soundtrack, also I remember a 1992 movie called 'Wuthering heights' which also has a great theme tune. Very emotional.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srg_R-NoXGg Listen from 1:10.
I disagree that the television only plays popular music. I don't believe this is true at all. There are so many adverts that play music that I've never heard and of course soundtracks in movies that have been composed specifically for that particular movie.
Television will be used as a source of information (music or the news) for me in future. I will start making the effort to doing this as I know it will serve me very well.
'Keeeep blogging'
x
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