Questions to ask yourself when writing a journal

I was unsure what to actually write about when starting my journal.  After reading 'Reflection on Practice' by Patricia Mclare it became a lot clearer. When taking time out to reflect on events I will ask myself:

1. What was I aiming for?
2. What exactly did I do?
3. Why did I choose this action?
4. What was I trying to achieve?
5. How successful was it?
6. Could I have dealt with the situation better?
7. How would I do it differently?
8. Did the Kids/Adults enjoy it?
9. How do I know that?
10. Will I now change future classes?

I think this has shown me how detailed my reflection is to be if I want it to help me learn and improve future experiences.  I may not answer all these question every time but this is a good framework to work with.  

Reader 2 Skype Session 26th October

Last nights Skype session was a really great chance to hear other peoples opinions on Reflective Practice and has led me to a lot of great research this morning!

We all realised that in this industry we engage in different forms of learning for different tasks.  For example,  when learning a dance routine we are engaging in Bodily-Kinaesthetic and Spatial Intelligences, where as if we are learning a song to sing, we are engaging our musical intelligence.

I read through David Boud 'Using Journal Writing to enhance Reflective Practice' and found it useful when he talked about 'focusing our thoughts'.  Often I come out of a class I have been teaching or an audition and have a million thoughts in my head of how I could improve for next time or what I should be practising, but then when I arrive home I have forgotten completely about it.  I am hoping that by starting a journal and taking fifteen minutes out of my day to write comments I will focus my thoughts and make sense of my experiences.

Paula put a link to Ken Robinson on her blog and I have watched a few of his videos and ideas and I have to say it has really clicked with me.  I think I agree with his thoughts so much because I can relate it back to myself.  He emphasises the need to teach children into creativity and not teach them out of it.  I remember when I suddenly wanted to change my career path from Physiotherapy to Dance.  I can still see my teachers faces when I told them.  It was sort of confused and bewildered that I would take up this 'unstable' career as I'd worked so hard to get the grades I needed.  But now, I have jobs that I love and been given so many opportunities that a university would not have given me.

He says:

'Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent.'

This is so true.  We should be encouraging young people to study their passions.  Not just something that will get you a job.

Another quote that I had to write down:

Everyday, everywhere, our children spread their dreams beneath our feet and we should tread softly.'

All teachers should have this up on their walls in my opinion.

Heres the link to his talk if you haven't seen it!

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to keep Ken Robinson's ideas in my mind when I teach and reflect to make sure no one I teach feels like I did when I decided to do what I love.

Reader 2 - Initial thoughts

The past two weeks have been very busy for me with work and last minute auditions, so I've been challenged with time-keeping and making sure I'm up to date with the course. I am currently on a bus home from Edinburgh and writing my blog on my Blogger app. If you don't have it I'd recommend you get it for blogging on the go!

Having read over Reader 2 a few times I have realised that reflecting on my practice is something I have done a lot maybe without realising.  As a dance teacher and children's party entertainer I am constantly looking for new ideas, class structures and age appropriate exercises to improve my classes.

After reading Kolbs learning cycle I decided I am mainly a concrete learner. I need to be totally involved in something to fully understand. For example, when I had exams the best way for me to learn was to sit my parents down and take on the role of the teacher and teach them the subjects for me to fully understand them too. Therefore, I have an experience of that subject that I can relate to. 

I really understood the terms 'reflection in action' and 'reflection on action'. As a children's party entertainer I found that I  could plan a party in full detail but when I got there I had to respond to the children in that situation and possibly change what I was doing.

For example, I have arrived at a venue and the hall is far too small for any of the games I have planned. This required me to respond 'on-line' and alter my plan.  This may have been stressful at the time but that experience is now so valuable as I am now prepared for future situations similar to that.

When Kottcamp says 'reflection in action' is harder, this may be so, however I think it is more valuable to you for future learning and experiences.

Further to 'on-line' and 'off-line' engagement, the reader asks you to think about an idea you really like and why this may be. What instantly came into my mind was the book 'The Secret'. I took so much from that book because I already believed it's ideas to be true. I have always believed in positive thought and visualisation. Before I auditioned for college I used to visualise myself there all the time and I think this really made me determined to get in. Therefore, I already had an emotional attachment to the ideas in 'The Secret' which makes me believe it more.

I look forward to starting a journal of reflective practice. I plan to use it to reflect on classes that I teach and also auditions I attend.

To round off this blog, I saw this link today that a 16 year old has written about what makes a great teacher and thought it may be interesting reading for all the arts teachers out there :)

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/oct/11/show-care-students-view-what-makes-perfect-teacher

Interesting Reading from Reader 1 - Building Participation in the Arts

I read this article and took a lot from it.  This is probably because I am currently working for a few Arts Organisations at the moment that are constantly trying to encourage new participants.

The article talks about what may stop people from participating in the Arts and cost was a contributing factor.  I found this interesting:

'We surveyed 102 arts organisations during the course of our research.  When asked to name the single greatest challenge to their participation-building efforts, these organisations consistently cited the difficulty of balancing competing demands against their available resources.  When asked to name the three biggest challenges his organisation faced, one respondent said, 'First, dollars: second, dollars: and third, dollars.'

I am sure everyone in the Arts can relate to this quote.  I do find it highly unfair that some people with the biggest talent and interest in the arts may be held back due to financial reasons.

They have also developed a 'Participation Model' which aims to show the different stages we go through when making the decision to participate in the arts.

The Background Stage - Looks at a persons background eg Education, income, age, gender, prior experience to the arts, an individuals personality etc.  Where I live, there is a lack of Arts teachers and therefore it limits experiences to the arts.

Perpetual Stage - Participants must develop an inclination to start.  They look at the benefits/ how much it will cost. It also looks at social norms.  This reminds me of Billy Elliot.  Billy almost stopped participating in ballet classes because his family did not encourage it.  I think a lot of people may have never thought about taking part in dance classes because their family never encouraged it or knew enough about it.

Practical Stage - People are ready to make an informed decision on whether or not to take part in the arts.  As I said before, cost often comes into play.  Classes and shows can often be expensive and limits what you can take part in.  I know that I would love to take part in classes a few times a week but sometimes cost can affect my overall decision.

Experience Stage - You can have good and bad experiences of the arts and this can really affect whether you continue to take part.  Personally, injuring my back gave me a negative experience and has stopped me participating properly recently.  As a teacher, I never want to give a child a bad experience of Dance or Gymnastics.

I would like to read more on this subject so if anyone reads up on anything please let me know

First Group Skype Session - October 6th

I had my first group Skype Session hosted by Adesola yesterday which  was a great chance to talk through ideas and queries we had.

We all took different things from the chat and what I found most useful was the chance to actually voice opinions and worries that we all had.  For me, I sometimes need reassurance that what I am doing is actually the right thing, so this was really important for me that we all connected and my thoughts were clarified.

We discussed that it is really crucial that we all connect, as this is different from a university where you see all your classmates everyday and talk through tasks, ideas etc in person.  This links back to my point in my previous blog about connection being a human right.  Well, in this case I think we need to connect and share if we want to gain from this degree!

We also briefly spoke about the length of our blog posts and if they should be formal or informal.  We came to the conclusion that its better to be varied and mix it up.  I feel my blog posts have been quite long so I will keep in mind doing shorter less formal blogposts in future.

Task 1b - Initial Thoughts

Web 2.0 - A highly valuable resource for Professional Practice when used correctly

Earlier this week, I left my laptop charger at work and as the saying goes I felt like I had 'lost a limb'.  I hate to say that but it did.  I realised that I need my laptop to work, to do my degree and I need it to keep connected with the world.  Before this incident and before reading Mark Zuckerbergs 'Is connectivity a human right' I would have said no, connectivity is a want not a need.  However, now I think being connected is actually a way of life for most people in the world, with over a third of the worlds population on Facebook.  In his article he says:

'If you know something, that doesn't stop me from knowing it too.  In fact, the more things we all know, the better ideas, products, and services we can all offer and the better all our lives will be.'

This is the beauty of sharing.  I can relate this back to myself.  I have a network of professionals on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter always sharing new ideas and inspiration.  A group Facebook page called 'The Hustle' shares job and audition information everyday, making it so easy for me to keep up to date with the performing industry.  Another example is 'Dancers Pro'.  On this site you can create an online profile of yourself and they send you auditions that are tailored to your profile.  Most of these auditions I would not know about unless I had this account.  More locally to me, is a page which connects hundred of mums from Inverness, this is a fantastic, easy-to-use, free tool to advertise my Dance and Tricks classes.

Saying this, I know that being connected on the internet opens you up to a world of dangers.  One personal example I can give is of my friend in college who was caught out whilst on a night out for her 21st.  An anonymous person had sent over Instagram and Facebook pictures to our college and they were told she was no representing the college appropriately.  Needless to say, she made everything private and no longer posts any photos which could possibly be used against her.

As a dance teacher, I know the way you come across on Social networking is so important. I found it very interesting to read 'Getting into trouble on Facebook' by Larry Kuehn.  It tells an example of an American teacher who gets fired after making comments about her children on Facebook.  She may not have been friends with any of the parents but that is not to say that the information cannot be passed on.  After reading this, I decided to look for some more examples and found this link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/17-people-who-were-fired-for-using-facebook-2014-7?op=1&IR=T

Some of these examples may not seem particularly fair but it shows you that as a professional, you need to be extremely careful with what you choose to post on Social Media.

Kuehn also talks about befriending students on Social media and says:

'Most high school students think it is okay to be Facebook friends with their teachers' Toronto Star

Since I have started teaching my Dance and Tricks classes I've had many new follow requests from students.  To accept them, would be to take away the professional relationship I have developed with them.

This brings me to a quote I saw shared on Facebook a few days ago:

I find this quote important as it shows that in this industry you are your own business, and you should think about this before posting.

I've made it a rule for myself to only post positively and to share positive experiences with everyone.

Lisa Horn has a blog called 'The Publicity Gal' which I found whilst researching.  She says:

'Everything you post on Social Media impacts your personal brand.  How do you want be known?'

And I will think about this quote every time I post something new to my Social Media.