Task 2c: Critical Reflection on reflective practice

My initial reaction to reflective practice is that it is a highly valuable tool to me. As I have chosen this course to help with my transition of 'artist' to 'educator' (I hope to complete the BAPP course which will then lead me onto a PCGE). This route I felt would be best to support my as learning style visual and kinaesthetically. I can gain a wider range of knowledge and understanding of teaching by observing other teachers and by actively teaching. Being able to use my everyday experiences will play a big factor for my future knowledge and transition into primary education. This was the aim that I set at the beginning of the year but like most I got caught up in life and started going about day to day life without much thought. It wasn't until the introduction of reflective practice and bold idea of "turning experience into learning" (MDXb, 2017) that I have really started to expand my knowledge of my practice.

I feel Dewey's theory of "reflective thought"(MDXb, 2017has a big part to play in this. Having a 'higher level of engagement' with my practice has meant I am discovering ideas, finding areas of interest, deepening my understanding of my practice, finding ways to improve my practice, and is allowing me to think critically in turn making me have a better self awareness and open mind.

As I've transitioned from being a 'performer' to an 'educator' not only has my practice changed; my work and home environment has and I've started a new form of study. These are all new situations which are not familiar to me. On a daily basis I'm having doubts, uncertainty of a situation, unsure of my skills and knowledge, and its these times of 'doubt and perplexity' that Dewey believes reflection begins (MDXb, 2017).

Having the use of journal has helped articulate my thinking. This being said my journal has highlighted there are times when I have struggled to reflect. Days in which I have not been engaged with my practice due to other things on my mind, or tiredness. I have not been able to reflect or draw as much understanding or knowledge. Another reason I believe is down to where I enter Kolbs learning cycle. When I enter at the 'concrete experience' (MDXb, 2017) I have found it harder to engage with reflection but times when I have entered at either 'abstract conceptualisation' or 'reflective observation' (MDXb, 2017) I have found the reflective process easier. I often use 'observation' (MDXb, 2017) for situations that are new to me like creating a blog, reflecting on this process is easier than say that of teaching a jazz class which is 'a concrete experience' (MDXb, 2017). When I enter learning at the 'concrete experience' stage I will often reflect-in-action, an idea suggested by Schon 1987 (MDXb, 2017) and use my tactic knowledge so when it comes to 'reflecting on action' I struggle to find meaning or gain learning from this. This is an area I need to articulate on, like Osterman and Moon said 'because they have understanding and meaning in them which are important to access' (MDXb, 2017). Going forward my awareness of this is the first stage of 'reflective thought' and hope that through the use of a journal my understanding and learning will deepen.

Another reason I have to believe that reflective practice is a vital tool is that not only improves my learning but also that of my pupils. This became apparent a few weeks ago when I had a meeting at work to discuss a pupils learning and to set new targets. Those involved in the meeting were the class teacher; the teaching assistants (myself being one of them) and the schools pastoral manager led the meeting. Using Schon's idea we 'reflected-on-action' (MDXb, 2017). The pastoral manager had made two observations of the pupil in class the results of which she then shared her with us. Through discussion we then set new targets for the pupil looking at how these best needed to be met by the staff. I can apply this process with Lewin's theory of plan/action/observe and reflect. We reflected on her observations, discussing what isnt working as well and what is working. We planned how we can move forwards, set targets and actions to be put in place. We are now in action phase and have another observation planned for a few weeks time. Through this reflective process not only has the knowledge and understanding of the teachers been developed it will then impact the learning of the pupil. Reflection-on-action was a rather intimating process for myself. Working with peers who have more experience in this field I felt nervous to share my ideas; as I am unsure of what they have tried and not tried (due to starting half through a school year); I doubted my lack of knowledge of the child's disability; and worried i may struggle to verbalise ideas clearly. Although I felt this initial intimidation I feel that I contributed well to reflection, recalling things which have worked well. Also I reviewed the current targets and helped set new targets and discussed ideas on how best to meet these.

Alongside working in an SEN school I am also teaching dance at a local dance school. The annual dance school show is fast approaching where each class performs a number. Although the principal choreographs most numbers she has asked me to do two numbers. Choreography is not something I particularly enjoy I struggle to come up with ideas or let my imagination be free. I planned to start started the choreography process a few weeks a go but continually put it of (this was highlighted in my journal). I felt I could no longer put it off and I decided to look at Kolbs learning cycle to help with this process. Knowing I prefer to 'observe' (MDXb) as a way to initiate my thinking I started the cycle at the 'reflective observation' stage looking at ideas of choreography on YouTube and from my repertoire of shows. This allowed me to gain ideas for choreography. I noted down movements I liked, what I wanted to include, ideas for music 'abstract conceptualise' (MDXb, 2017). With theses ideas I experimented with some choreography 'active experimentation' I then taught this choreography to the pupils in lesson having a 'concrete experience'. The use of theory really helped me to actively think of new choreography and start the process. After the choreographing process has finished I intend to use the cycle again to review my piece and develop my understanding and knowledge to help with future choreographing projects.

One principal I am particularly interested in is that of the interplay of the conscious and unconscious mind. This is something I am becoming more aware of allowing the unconscious mind to be free and allowing myself access to this as a form of expanding my understanding to allow me to be as Dewy suggest 'active, persistent and carefully consider any belief or supposed knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends' (MDXb, 2017). I have found exercise and meditation are strong components in allowing this to happen for me. In doing so my articulation and communication of the expanding understanding has been more engaged, enjoyable and has flowed with ease. Due to the nature of the course and work commitments it is hard to make time for this, but i feel it is something I need to do, to allow myself to have access to this and to develop it further.
Although my practice is not that of a teacher just yet, it was reassuring to have it confirmed by reader 2 that  'reflection is used in and by a number of professions, particularly those whose job it is to be involved in a process of change, example- teachers in the process of education' (MDXb, 2017)

Having put reflective practice into use I can see it as a highly useful tool not only for now but for
the future. I will continue to use this tool and hope to develop my articulation of tacit knowledge, my verbal communication required for reflection-on-action and allowing the unconsciousness to aide.

Why choose Arts for a child?

What else does dance teach you? This is a question I have asked myself a lot over the past few months as I have been applying for other jobs outside of the Arts sector. 

I just came across this post from Module 3 student Megan Louch blog and had to share it... I think it pretty much sums up the other attributes gained from dance lessons. 

WRITTEN BY A DANCE PARENT:

One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money and spend so much time running around for your daughter to dance ?" Well I have a confession to make: I don't pay for my daughter's dance lessons. Or her pointe, Jazz & tap shoes. Or her hundreds of costumes.

So, if I am not paying for dance , what am I paying for?

- I pay for those moments when my girl  becomes so tired she feels like quitting  but doesn't..

- I pay for the opportunity that my girl can have and will have to make life-long friendships.

- I pay for the chance that she may have amazing instructors that will teach her  that dance is not just about movement but about life.

- I pay for my child to learn to be disciplined.

- I pay for my girl to learn to take care of her body.

- I pay for my daughter to learn to work with others and to be a proud , supportive, kind and respectful team member.

- I pay for my child to learn to deal with disappointment, when she doesn't  get that score she hoped for or fell during a move she has practiced a thousand times, but still gets up and is determined to do her BEST next time...

- I pay for my girl to learn to make and accomplish goals.

- I pay for my daughter to learn that it takes hours and hours and hours and hours of hard work and practice to create a champion, and that success does not happen overnight.

- I pay so that my daughter can be in the studio instead of in front of a screen...

I could go on but, to be short, I don't pay for dance; I pay for the opportunities that dance provides my child to develop attributes that will serve her well throughout her life and give her the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen for many, many years, I think it is a great investment!

https://www.facebook.com/DanceFactoryStudios/

Peeling back the layers

In the reader it asks us to have a look at an idea that we are interested in as a way of practicing critical reflection. I really like the analogy of 'unpicking the layers'. For me to understand this I envisage an onion. The centre is the idea but in oder to get to this you must peel back the layers (the opinions, thoughts, experiences).

An idea of what I like is something I have really struggled to come to terms with and I couldn't think of anything. So I started to look at the things I do daily that I wouldn't usually question as these are the things that I must value or have a an option or belief about. For me this is exercise and eating a healthy balanced diet.

One idea that I particularly like about these topics is that a healthy diet and daily exercise helps towards a more positive well being. Why do I like this idea? and why am I so quick to think this true? Part of the reason is because I advocate this lifestyle. I find days when I exercise and eat well I have more energy, have a positive attitude, feel healthier, happier, more productive and engaged in what I am doing.  It led me to question what is wellbeing? 'the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy'. Having thought about it these are the things that contribute to me having a healthy well being. For someone else they may feel this in a different way and be made up by different factors. This makes me realise that this idea of exercise and diet contributes to a healthy well being may not work for everyone. As this is more about my feelings and values of well being and what works for mine. I had assumed that everyone must do this in order to have a healthy well being.

Sources- https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/well-being

Task 2b: Journal writing experience

My studies the past few weeks has been all over the place, due to my organisation, time, not being able to access Unihub, find the reader etc. Ive not really known what I am supposed to be doing for the tasks for section 2 but I did know start to my journal which I did about 2 weeks ago. Writing a journal was not a strange concept to me, its something I started last year whilst on a contract for personal learning and self development. I also have one of the five year reflection books.
Without really knowing/understanding, following a format or thinking how or what style I was writing in I started my journal.

Today I have got things back on track and referred back to the handbook. I looked at task 2b: reflective writing and saw the different techniques to try out. Having looked back across my journal entries it was apparent I have actually used majority of the techniques listed in the handbook. Below is my brief analysis on the different techniques for reflective journal writing-

Description- I asked myself questions who? what? where? what worked? what didn't work? what could I have done differently? I found these all very good starting points but it didn't expand my thinking. It is a good way to remember the key events and but for me doesn't distinctly provide deep critical reflection.

Initial reflection- I have found this technique highly useful and provided more in depth reflection. But for this to happen I have to record my initial thoughts and feelings (as I have found these are the things that you forget very easily) and then expand when I have time. It allowed me to explore my ideas, create new ideas, and come up ethical considerations.  I feel most at ease using this technique it gives me the freedom to write with 'no rules' and found it therapeutic.

List- Writing a list is something I am a big fan of. I tend to write lists for everything from my shopping list; to things to do today, this week, next week, this year, in my lifetime. As a reflective tool I find they are effective for me and do help to expand my ideas but it didn't deepen my writing extensively. My writing was clear, fast paced and stopped me rambling.

Evaluation- In some situations I found evaluating useful and effective but on some days not so useful. Now it comes to reflecting about why I think this is. The events I have found difficult to evaluate are the ones that I am most familiar with/happen on a regular basis as I am not used thinking in depth about the things I do regularly. I am going to try out evaluation as a way of writing again and in more depth.

Graphs, charts, and diagrams- 
Considering I am a visual learner. I have find it hard to explore reflectively in a visual format. Unless I have a solid understanding I find this technique difficult. One time I experimented with a mind map was after attending helping out at dance competition. Reflecting on the day highlighted the importance of the 'Arts' as an extra curricular activity for young child and I choose to explore how through a mind map-

Reflecting on this I think the use of mind maps as a journal technique is good. I like the visual aspect and it helped expand my ideas and thoughts of the topic.

What if? I feel using this question is a good way to critically reflect and helped raise ethical considerations. I think this would be a good question to combine with evaluation.

Another view: I have yet to try this from the perspective of an object, something that I am going to try do but I have tried it from the perspective of 'a pupil' in my class. I asked the questions- If I was a pupil in the class would I have enjoyed it? What do I think they have gained? I found this quite a useful technique

What have I learnt from this exercise? 

I have found that working with children with SEN, having two jobs, and generally a busy lifestyle my days are very fast paced and interchangeable. I find writing list of things events, thoughts, ideas, be this on my phone, scrap piece of paper, in my journal, whatever is handy at the time is a good thing for me to do. At night I can then look back at this list and expanded further.

So far I have found the most effective way to deepen the way I write reflectively is through looking at my initial reflection of thoughts, feelings, moods. I think I will continue to use this technique but
now I am consciously aware of the different techniques I am going to try some of them again in more depth and see which I find to be most effective in deepening the way I write.

I am interested in hearing what ways people have found most effective for their journal writing so please comment and blog.

 My journals (this is just a small selction of the notebooks I own and use!)

The Empty Nesters' club

I have never really seen a straight acting play before, especially not one with only 3 characters. One of the reasons I stopped the travelling was to be able to do recreational activities like this. With mothers day close by I choose to see what was on at our local theatre and take my mum.

I live in the beautiful seaside town of Scarborough, which is home to the famous Alan Acyborn theatre in the round at the 'Stephen Joesph Theatre'.  We went to see the 'The Empty Nesters' Club' by John Godber.

I have chosen this experience to reflect upon and try it out on a blog rather than my journal. I would be interested to see if anyone could have any input to how I could expand my reflection.

What did it make me feel?
Well I cried and laughed the whole way through. I felt like they had written a script on my family life.
It was so socially relevant. It made me feel normal to know that lots of other families have and are going through very similar situations and we are not the only ones.
I walked away to feel I was very grateful to live in a beautiful town with fantastic arts facilities to offer good theatre.
Grateful to have supportive parents.

How can it be related to my practice?
Highlighted some areas of the education system- fast track system of education are just marketing tools.
The importance of arts to connect and educate people.
Highlighted the pressures on younger children today due to social media sites.
Relevance to my BAPP studies and some ideas that where highlighted from reader 1 - we are living in an ever increasing digital world, our desire for direct human communication will become a much sought after commodity.
Is enough being done in education to explain to students about university and life after it.
How the voice can express a range of emotions/feelings/characters. Something I am realising as I am teaching is the range of tones and variety in my voice to engage children and the wide range of ages I teach.


If anyone is interested here is the trailer for the play -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjP69Da2K0Q

Skype session: Reflective Practice

Last night I had a Skype session with tutor Paula, Jess Dinmore and Jessica Stokes.

It was a big contrast to the last Skype conversation with 12 participants to just 4 of us this time.

We first tackled the problem of finding reader 2. which has been a problem for a few people, turns out it is very easy when you know how. Here is how to find it-
1. Log into my uni hub
2. Click on 'My Courses'
3. Select 2nd drop down '2016/17  WBS3730 (WBA)'
4. Scroll down over half way down the page you will see the readers.

Our main topics discussed was that of reflective practice.

We each said what our reflective journals looked like. For most of us an A5 size notebook. For me I used it as the perfect excuse to spend way much longer than necessary looking in the stationary aisle in Sainsbury's and the opportunity to buy a new diary. I went for a slimline leather journal. I like to write and I am going to try to get in the habit of reflecting when I get into bed at night. (I am desperately trying not to use my phone when I get into bed at night as I feel effects my sleep!) so hopefully having something else to do will help with this.

Paula suggested the use of a laptop or phone which is something I hadn't even thought about. But will consider to do when I am out and feel the need to write something privately I will make a note on my phone. She also suggested the use of visuals and diagrams to reflect. Straight after our Skype conversation session I saw both of these visuals which relate to reflection-

I think is a great way to apply reflection not only to apply reflection to your practice but to your whole life. 

I think this image is a great simple way 

of putting reflection and how I feel the use of reflection is going to help me. 

Ways that Paula suggested 'how to analyses reflection'-
How it fits in with other parts of society/communities
Making sense of what you have reflected on.

Now I finally have the reader I am looking forward to going more in depth with the ideas of  reflective practice.

Reflecting vs Analysing

On Tuesday night I attended the first coffee shop chat hosted by Adesola, this involved not only Module 1 students but Module 3 students.

As there was a large group we each had to state what we wanted to gain more understanding on. As it was the first time with students from other modules 1 I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ask for their advice on the course, what they learnt, gained and wished they had done more of.
Most of them emphasised to 'KEEP UP WITH THE REFLECTIVE JOURNAL!!'

Adesola also reinforced for me the importance of 'Analysis' during module 1 and stated that analysing helps identify what you are interested in and helps with the process of coming up with lines of inquiry.

I feel I did not input as much as I like to into the conversation and was holding back, I think i was intimidated by large number of people.  Learning from this I need to express ideas no matter what in order to progress. With an idea there is no such thing as right or wrong!

It was interesting to take a step back and listen to what stage module 3 students are at and what I will be working towards and took away some interesting pointers to consider when I am at the interviewing stage of my inquiry.

• Think about location- is the candidate comfortable? is there any distractions (traffic, people walking past etc.) 
• Important to build a repertoire with the candidate so they feel comfortable 
• Take into consideration peoples personality, learning styles, they are human (might have had a bad day and not be responsive or be ill or not have much time)

When constructing my questions- 

• Should questions be leading or not?
• Should you adapt the questions or be strict with times
• semi -structured questions?
• Highlight the important questions and prioritise them 

One question I came away with was is the difference between analysing and reflecting?
I have done some reading into this and below is my idea of the difference-

Descriptive writing: Sets the scene. Descriptions should be organised and detailed and sets the scene. Description is called for when you are asked to state, list or describe.

Analysing: Shows the thought process used to arrive at your conclusions about a topic, situation event. Shouldn't be writing a story of what you did, its analysing what you did. Analysing of module 1 will be to state the significance of my findings from the tasks to my practice.

Reflecting: The thought process that occurs after analysing the evidence of a situation or event. This is when you think deeply about what did and did not occur during the experience described, then make decisions about how you would approach these similar situations in the future. Reflective writing must show how the learning you gained from your teaching experiences was used to inform and improve your future practice.
Amanda's blog from the chat highlighted some good questions that could be used to apply when reflecting. Why did I do it? how did i feel? would i do it again? and if I did would I do it differently?

Source:http://www.waproteach.org/rsc/pdf/WAProTeachWritingGuidlines.pdf

I have started writing my reflective journal and enjoying the process and looking forward to seeing how it will progress. Now time to read reader 2 :-)

Reader 1 idea: Visitor/Resident

Whilst looking at other peoples blogs I came across this idea posted by Paula of visitor/resident as a way of describing individuals behaviour for engaging on the web. This idea has been proposed to replace 'Prenskys' idea of digital natives and immigrants. I strongly agree with both ideas as a typology to describe our online presence. I particularly like how White suggest that his theory is a 'continuum' and you can be anyway along the spectrum and it can change depending on an individuals 'motivation and context'.

Through much reading on both theories I don't think the visitor/resident theory can wipe out that of Prensky's, although it is more ethical in terms of metaphors suggested age and language. 

I do think this idea of visitor and resident is much more relevant to current day as the 'immigrant' era is slowly disappearing. 

Below are the links to sources I have used to explore these ideas- 

http://daveowhite.com/vandr/

http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IMObcyKbo

Task 1d

The use of Images and audio visual is becoming more and more prevalent in todays social media. In the past year we have seen a big increase in audio visual aspects on various sites. 


Instagram- added an audio visual aspect where you can create a story
Snapchat
Facebook live
Facebook- videos automatically play on your news feed. 
YouTube- big increase in 'vlogging'. 

There are numerous reasons why I think images and audio-visual are important aspect of social media today- 

1. Time- Taking a picture or videoing something as your doing it is less time consuming than writing what you are conveying.

2. Draws attention- Having an image on a post makes it stand out and more memorable.

3. Direct

4. Language- There are no language barriers. I like the quote Amanda used in her blog 'Photos are a universal language'. 

5. Clarity- Writing can be misleading. The writer knows the type of mood and tone but it could come across differently to the receiver. Audio visual allows both sides to observe facial expressions and gestures. Hear tones and inflections in the voice. 

6. Engaging

7. Creates ideas

8. Retention- when audio visual are combined it increases message retention. I found these stats quite interesting- 
10% is retaninted- from oral communication 
35% is retained- from visual communication
65% retained- from audio and visual combinded. 

Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/audiovisual-media-considered-powerful-tool-means-communication-33541.html 

9. Creates stronger relationships- Being able to put a face to a name helps create a better image and eases communication.  

As with anything in life; there are implications of the use of audio-visual 

1. Cost- Technology comes at a price. Having a phone with a camera is going to cost more than a phone without one. 

2. Ethical considerations- when taking the picture have you asked all of the people in the picture or video shot for their consent for you to post it on social media?

3. Ownership- Although you 'own' the photographs you grant the social media sites a licences to use your photograph. I found this  a very interesting read-

http://www.nyccounsel.com/business-blogs-websites/who-owns-photos-and-videos-posted-on-facebook-or-twitter/

4. False advertising- as there are so many photo editing applications out there are you getting the 'real image' or is it something that has been recreated. 

As you will see from my other blogs I have used images frequently. For me they help convey what I mean as I feel sometimes my words aren't strong enough to display my thought pattern. But after reading about copyright right and laws I feel I should not be doing this without asking permission. This is something I will have to take into consideration as I continue my practice and progress into inquiry stages if I would like to use images in my work. 

One image bank I have used extensively over the past few years is Instagram. I started using instagram as a social tool to keep in touch with friends and family as I was travelling. But over the past few years it has progressed and I started to use it more as a professional tool. 

Instagram has played a big part of my life and become more apparent as a professional tool when I started suffering with anxiety; depression; hyper gymnasia; and no idea of how to have a balanced diet, exercise regime or lifestyle. It became apparent to me I wasn't living a healthy lifestyle and the mind games I was suffering with each day weren't healthy and that I didn't have to go through with it. I choose to use this technology to educate myself and begun following other people that posted about health, food, fitness and wellness and in turn feel I have educated myself and managed to become one of those educators and now enjoy a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle. Below is the link to my Instagram page if you would like to get more of an idea of me and one of my passions. 

https://www.instagram.com/harpers_healthy_habits/?hl=en 

As I am unfamiliar with Flickr I have decided to become acquaint and utilise the time to learn a new technology tool. Below is the link to my first album where I have chosen to display some images from my time as a performer in the Arts industry. 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/152689824@N04/Gae26h


As Amanda and myself have discussed through blogs and comments that our 'level of knowledge about the other person effects interaction'. Because of the nature of the BAPP course I hope allowing other peers to have an insight into my life through my social media profiles will allow more interaction to further our studies. 

What does professionalism mean to you?

One of the discussion points that Paula raised in our Skype session was 'What does being professional mean to you?'

This is something that I have never really thought about but for the past few years I have openly said I am a 'professional dancer'. I decided to actually see what the definition of professional is- 

I feel this is quite a board definition. You may have the qualifications and skills to be able to engage in an activity as a paid occupation but I feel that many other skills are appropriate in stating you are a professional. To explore these ideas I have chosen to explore a new web 2.0 based technology that I have not used before called 'Prezi'. I came across this from a blog by a primary school teacher, Ashley Azzopardi (2012) who gives a list of web 2.0 tools that can be used for effective learning within the classroom. 

As my career plan is to go into primary teaching I feel now is the appropriate time in becoming equipped with the use of new technology tools. I have found it quite stressful but have a real sense of achievement as I pursued through and completed my first presentation. Please use the link below to check it out (caution: it is rather rough around the edges, but it is my first attempt!) 

http://prezi.com/apfk4e_obt0n/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

I think is a fantastic web 2.0 tool that I think I will continue to develop through out my practice. 

Communication:

Factors that effect my communication?

• Audience
• Effectiveness
• Time 
• Cost

Taking into consideration what professionalism means to me I think my communication is greatly effected by who my audience is . Is it a fellow professional/peer, parent, or pupil?

I always want to keep a professional relationship and as there is a blurred line with social media (as discussed in other blogs) of professional/personal use. I would personally choose not to use a web 2.0 professional communication technology to communicate with pupils. 

In terms of my practice I am using the web 2.0 a lot for communication with peers and tutors because of the nature of the course but I will always consider my use of language to keep things professional. 

So far I have already been opened up to the world of web 2.0. I have created a blog, used Skype, developed my skills further with YouTube, and Prezi. I am discovering there is a whole other world out there beyond Facebook, twitter and Instagram and I am interested to see what other tools i discover and how I can effectively use these communication technologies in my practice. 

Task 1b in practice

It is strange how when you read or see something or explore and idea it then becomes so apparent in your day to day life. After reading reader 1 I have noted the use/concerns/ and ideas regarding web 2.0 in my workplace, on the news, with friends, family and in articles. Is it by coincidence or is that I am just paying more attention?

I am currently working as TA in a school in a class with 3 other professionals who are older than me. Each morning the class teachers have brief and then pass on relevant notes to us. This morning's notes related to that of web 2.0 devices such as YouTube and that we need to be more aware of pupils using them as not all our banned on the computer system. Often the case is that the internet is sending links to things that are recommends for you, which can then lead them on to things that are not suitable for their age group. We discussed the matter and after discussion they said they don't even really know how to work these sort of sites. Having read about it and seeing it relevant in practice made me think even more how important it is to be update with these technologies and understood the security risks of them. I like Prensky's theory we are either a 'digital immigrant' or 'digital native'. Although I have been brought up with many of these technologies they are rapidly developing and I don't want to become lost and become an 'immigrant' within the technology world. As I am learning web 2.0 technologies are a vital tool not only as for communication but as a learning device.

Back to reality

The above picture sums up how I am feeling right now....

As I work in the education sector I am fortunate enough to benefit from school holidays. I strategically planned to dedicate two working days to my BAPP studies but then had a few days away in London to visit friends and family. I have not had a holiday in a long time and I consciously decided to not allow myself to think about work, studies, other life stresses (for me this is very hard). Whilst I really enjoyed my time away, (and think it was very beneficial for me) upon returning I feel like a fish out of water and so much to catch up on.  I have scheduled for this evening to look through the slides that Paula posted on her blogs from our first Skype session to get my head back in the game; stimulate the brain again and to then review other peers blogs that I have missed whilst being away.

Wish me luck.