Task 1a

So today I spent time looking at my professional CV as part of task 1a for this module. I realised that my CV is something that I haven’t put any time into for far too long, it hasn’t been update for a while and definitely needs a bit of TLC!

I have been working for the same company for a couple of years now and they have never asked for an updated version of my CV. Well why would they I guess?

This has made me realise that I should never get comfortable. I should continue to stay on top of my own development and my own profession, pushing myself because I want to, not because someone is telling me to. Striving to improve to ensure that I am always employable within my profession.

After evaluating my CV I realised that it is very basic with very few words. I have talked about my education & my work history in a brief factual way. There is nothing where I talk about myself as a person, my attributes and what I would bring to a job.  I think I definitely need to add a bit of personality to it so that it is more relatable and stands out.

Looking back on my CV I can see how I have grown over the years. I think I avoided going into personal details because I wasn’t sure of who I was and what I could even bring to my  profession. I am grateful of my education and my training as it has helped me to become the employable dancer that I believe I am today. But there are some things that school can’t teach us… we need to learn and figure things out for ourselves over time as we develop and gain real experience. 

I feel that I now know more about my profession and what it involves so I can get a better idea of what I can bring to my profession in order to be successful.

I also decided that setting up a LinkedIn account would be a great idea. It is something that I have never thought of doing, for the same reason that I haven’t updated my CV for a while. But I realise now the importance of networking and how having a professional social media profile could really help me in connecting with potential employers or other professionals. I plan to have this set up by the end of the week.

I have thought about my CV and written an about me section for my blogger account profile. Feel free to check it out!

Meg

My thoughts so far on Web 2.0…

I have now read through the Reader 1 pdf about Web 2.0. I am definitely no where near done with this section…reading it through has sparked a lot of questions and things that I want to look into. I have written down a lot of names and books and links that I want to spend  time browsing through and gathering more information about. 

My ship is currently in South America, I was in Guatemala yesterday and Nicaragua today…not the best places to go hunting for a quiet internet cafe. And then we have 3 days at sea coming up as we cross over to the Caribbean. I have been making the most of my journal to jot down the things that I want to spend time looking into when I finally get the chance to get online!

Being out of touch and not having the web constantly available at the touch of a button has  made me realise what an important and useful tool it really is. It is definitely something that our generation seems to take for granted, and its being without it that you start to understand what an asset it is…especially when you are looking at trying to develop yourself professionally. I can do without checking up on my Facebook newsfeed for a couple of days, I am sure I won’t miss out on anything life changing there! But when you are trying to push yourself, learn about new things, and develop thoughts and opinions on new and exciting topics… not being able to access the web and spend hours browsing through blogs & articles and search engines makes things really tough!

Web 2.0 is something that most of us use every single day. We browse through things & get lost following link after link as we find things that interest or excite us. Whether it be something personal like internet shopping or something more professionally related like browsing for upcoming auditions or reading articles relating to our practice. Either way, we go onto google or any other website of our choosing, just expecting to find answers for what we’re looking for, and rarely taking the time to appreciate what a remarkable tool it really is. 

For most of us the web is so easily accessible. But being on a cruise ship where this is not the case, I have realised that I don’t always make the most of the internet. There is so much out there, so easily available, that I should spend more time using this to my advantage to grow and gather as much helpful information as possible. Especially while trying to develop myself professionally.

(Shearlaw 2014) said that connectivity is a basic human right. Personally I agree. I think that we should be connecting with each other, making the most of communication and connecting in any way that we can. And for me this is the key thought…any way that we can. The web may not be so easily accessible to everyone (as I am experiencing myself right now) and there are so many other forms of communication & ways of connecting with each other that can be utilised too. The web is definitely one of the most time effective ways; it is quick and easy to connect with someone on the other side of the world which is a huge advantage, and there is so much information available if we make the most of Web 2.0. But what if we don’t have access to the internet…to blogs, Facebook, google? How can this affect our learning and development? I plan to spend some time looking into this to see if anything has been published or if anyone has similar ideas…looking into what other forms of communication are helpful when the big web is unavailable. Which ones work better than others and why. Also…is it necessarily a bad thing if we don’t always have access to the web?  Shearlaw’s thought about connectivity being a basic human right got me thinking. What if by interacting with people mostly online via blogs and comments and written discussions we hinder our ability to interact with people in the most basic way…talking face to face. We spend so much time connecting via written words, do we risk loosing our confidence to be able to approach people in person and debate about our thoughts and ideas in that way? Speaking with the people around us, asking their thoughts and opinions and having an exciting, passionate face to face discussion. I think that this can be very beneficial too, especially if you make an effort to meet and talk to people out of your usual group. People who have different interests, different backgrounds, from a different profession or a different generation maybe. Do we need to make more of an effort to balance the use of Web 2.0 with other forms of communication too? 

I am not doubting the abilities of Web 2.0, I appreciate every way that it helps us to learn and grown professionally and personally. But do we need to balance this out with other forms of communication to ensure that were not limiting ourselves to only one resource? I don’t know about you guys but if I want to know something my first thought is to google it. Is this a good thing, or something that has become a habit due to the web being such an ‘easy’ resource?

I would love to hear your opinions about this and whether you have come across any published work that may be helpful with my thoughts? Ill keep you posted if I find anything!

Meg

Monday 9th October - Online Skype Session

On Monday I attended an online Skype session for Module 1. I was at the later session of 5:00pm.

I almost didn’t make it, with the time difference and it being a sea day I thought I wouldn’t get connected! I was about 10 minutes late but I am so glad that I was able to attend as it was such a beneficial session!

Firstly it was so comforting to see that people were still figuring the course out for themselves too. I haven’t studied anything so academic in about 4 years and with this course having so much freedom for us to learn in our own way I was worried that I wasn’t necessarily doing it ‘right’. I realised that there is no right or wrong way, as long as we really make the most of all of the resources available to us & commit time to our studies. This thought led to a discussion of the idea of push & pull within learning. Most of us are used to being sat in a classroom and having information pushed at us. But this course has so much freedom for us to use all of the tools and information available to us and pull out as much (or as little) as we want. I find this a more mature way of learning and is a really good way of developing self-discipline.

We heard from everyone in the group and we all spoke about where we are at so far in the module. Most of us are looking at Web 2.0 at the moment. 

We spoke a lot about reflection and interestingly, the difference between reflection & criticism. I have found personally that when I reflect on myself or how I have done something I am usually critiquing myself and focusing on what I could have done better. As performers I feel that we are our biggest critics and so naturally we see the negative things first. Adesola asked me to think about teachers or directors that I have had in the past and whether this may have had an impact on why I am so harsh on myself in this way. I found that so interesting and it made me think back to many different teachers and situations. I also started thinking about ballet and how it is such a disciplined practice, maybe this has caused me to be so critical. 

It is easy for reflection to slide into criticism and this is something that I am really going to work on. If you’re struggling with this too there are a few things that we spoke about in the session that really helped me and the way I think about reflection…

• Firstly to critique ourselves in a more constructive way. Rather than focusing on negatives, think about how we fit and what we did right, not just what we would change.
• Looking at ourselves from a different perspective. Not just as another person but maybe as an object or an article of clothing. This will help us to step away from the situation & look in at ourselves, causing us to go further in and to reflect more deeply.
• To spend time questioning ourselves, looking at WHY we are making the choices we are making. Not just noticing what we are doing in our practice but asking why we are doing them.
• Not just looking at what we’re doing but looking at what we’re learning too and how this is helping (or hindering) our growth and development.
• Looking at our essence and what we bring to our practice, instead of focusing on how to improve.
• We also spoke about feedback. Not just giving it but receiving it too and how this can help with reflecting on our practice. 

We did speak about the importance of our blog too. How it is a great way to note everything and store evidence of our studies, creating an overview of how we’re growing and what we’re learning. Not only is it a good way to keep a track of our thoughts but its useful in sharing ideas and learning from each other which will help us to get the most from this course.

Over the next week I plan to complete all of the tasks in the first section and also spend time thinking about my practice and defining what it is.

If you’re struggling with reflection too and how to reflect constructively without focusing on negatives, and have found other ways to help please comment and let me know as this is something that I am finding very interesting & really trying to work on. 

Meg

Getting used to blogging...

I really need to get better at posting on my blog. I have so many things jotted down in notebooks and journals but I need to commit more time to getting comfortable with publishing these thoughts on here. 

A blog is something that I had never really considered having, I have friends that post blogs all of the time but the thought of a part of myself being out their on the big wide web seemed a bit daunting at first. I am much more used to the idea now and after spending time looking at Reader 1 from our first module I have realised that it can be a very useful tool in ways that I would have never even contemplated. 

The thought that a blog is an online network where you can post your own ideas, read other peoples thoughts, comment, learn and grow is so intriguing to me. I realise that I need to commit more time to really submerging myself in the blogging world so that I get the most out of it. I need to take more time to read through all of the interesting posts on other students blogs and see if this triggers any thoughts or ideas of my own. 

As I currently live on a cruise ship, an internet connection is a bit of a luxury that costs obscene amounts! Finding wifi in various ports is always an option but its hard to focus when your in a busy cafe or restaurant and reading through blogs always seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle of everything. 

However, the first thing that I always do is check my emails which is why I found the link on Adesola’s blog so exciting! Its a way to subscribe to receive an email every time that she posts something on there. This is such a useful tool and I just wanted to recommend it to you all. If alike me your not yet in the habit of checking the blogs as often as you should, receiving an email is an easy reminder to get you on the blogger site and reading through posts.

I just wanted to share that little bit of information as I have found it really helpful so far. And also to recommend that if your having doubts or concerns about having a blog to spend time looking at Reader 1 about Web 2.0, as this answered most of my questions.

Hopefully over time I will get more and more comfortable with posting blogs and it will become second nature, just like we all naturally scroll through our Facebook feed or Instagram posts. I feel excited to be pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying new things!

Let me know if any of you are still getting used to the blogging world too and what you think! 

Meg