Task 2b 'journal writing experience'

I have tried to make writing my journal become a part of my day. They say it takes 14 days to create a habit - i've only been keeping mine for 10 days so perhaps it will become easier still! I started off writing it by hand but have now moved to the laptop - my hand writing is appalling and i can write more and faster using the computer! This made me think again about the internet, the web, how so little is written by hand now.

LIST. I have tried a couple of the different journal writing styles suggested within the handbook. I have always been a huge fan of lists; i use them regularly, when i feel like my workload is getting too much i find writing it down and prioritizing tasks makes everything seem more manageable. Seeing it written calms me down, rather than having 20 plus thoughts running through my mind! However i found that just listing events during my day was not detailed enough to reflect upon it so i began writing a small paragraph under each list, expanding on the initial points i had made, adding description. Therefore making the transition to a different style of journal writing - DESCRIPTIVE

I found this far better for reflecting as with more detail i could better evaluate upon my day. I could expand upon each point on the list, leading me to other thoughts and ideas. This seemed to also tie in with EVALUATION, as the descriptive writing, evaluated my initial thoughts in the list. Evaluating my day was something i found i was doing initially when starting to write my journal so is a style i will continue to use.

WHAT IF. I often find myself thinking what if, if i've had to make a big work decision about who to enter for exams, or what music to use for show or competition numbers, i often dwell on what if. What if i chose a different piece of music, what if this child improves significantly over the next few weeks, what if a child is upset by my decision, what if work colleagues don't agree with my decision? I was surprised when using the what if style of writing how much i dwell on things; how many what ifs i found and actually do consider normally ona  daily basis. I was aware that i am an anxious person but really noticed how much i worry about certain areas of my work when writing down all the different what ifs i had thought and the possible outcomes - often negative. I found this very useful for reflecting upon my work and practice, and hope to become less anxious and take a more what will be will be approach. I will definitely continue using this writing style but in an attempt to think more positively about how i teach and the decisions i make.

  ANOTHER VIEW. As a teacher there are always other views - the students you teach and the parents. I attempted to write last Thursday from a childs point of view due to how the rehearsal ran but found this difficult. I attempted the view of objects such as my ipod dock but found it more like i was making up a story! Interesting experiment but i didn't find it that helpful in reflecting upon my day.

I have not yet tried GRAPHS or DIAGRAMS. I always hated math at school and have never been a logical person - as mentioned earlier i prefer to write lists, but feel i should give this style a go and see how i get on - after reading other blogs it seems many have found this style very useful and a good visual way to reflect.

I feel as i continue writing my journal i will continue using lists, and then expanding upon the main points that have affected my day, evaluating them and reflecting upon the decision's I've made as my main style, as well as keeping an eye on my what ifs.

Thoughts and feelings

A month or 2 ago the concept of blogging was completely random to me. I had never done it and didn't know many others who did either. I had absolutely no idea how to do it and was honestly a little afraid of having to learn this new skill before remembering this was the reason i had decided to undertake this course - to further my knowledge, learning and understanding!

So despite being so new to blogging i am now compelled to write my thoughts and feelings about the course so far and share with others! Having my blog and being able to read and comment on others has been a lovely experience; to know others have had similar experiences to you, to see their thoughts and views and how they compare to mine and to learn from their questions and ideas. It has also allowed me to feel connected to and be a part of a group - due to my hectic schedule i have been unable to make any of the campus or skype sessions so being able to read about them and comment through blogs has been so helpful.

I am currently struggling through task 2b - as i mentioned before i didn't find keeping a journal particularly easy but have found it interesting to learn now i record my thought and feelings and how i 'puzzle' my way through my day to day life.

I look forward to continue reading about how others are finding keeping a journal and further developing my learning and understanding.

Task 2a - Reflective Practice

After taking on the ROL module last term, looking back and reflecting on what i had learnt over my career so far was key and i found it incredible to compare myself to when i started out to what i do now. 'Experience' was something i kept referring too as that was the key theme, learning day to day through various different methods. I had learnt through my experience. Therefore reflecting was not something i was completely new too - however i had been reflecting on what had previously happened - my previous learning experiences and thoughts. Keeping the journal is reflecting on what is happening right now, and reflecting on the learning that continues.

 I have never kept a journal before and i am finding it difficult to 'remember' to write in it! I have found that it is on days where something out of the ordinary to my normal working day has happened that i remember to write, as i am still deep in thought about it when i get home/get into bed, or find myself discussing it with my husband/colleagues to get their points of view. I have always 'puzzled' my way through my thoughts when driving home from work or on a run. This has always been my main way of 'reflecting' by discussing with others and getting their perspective, or getting lost in my own thought. Writing it down has been interesting as a new form of looking back on my day - especially when reading back several days later and realizing how strongly i must have felt about it that day and how i feel about the situation after taking a little time to think about it. I have found that emptying my head onto paper a good way to vent out any stress and leads me to think about other questions, writing down how i could solve the issue and what i would do if it happened again - much like Gibbs reflective cycle:

I am hoping that keeping this journal will become easier to do each day, and i will continue to develop the different ways in how to write my journal and record events. I will be beginning this as i start task 2b - journal writing experience.

Task 1d - 2d images

I have posted a set of images to Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128781576@N07/

The images i have posted are a mix of professional dance/promo work and teaching jobs. I feel that images are very important in the dancing world. Dance is a very visual subject and for all casting jobs, candidates are expected to have a collection of images as well as their CV. I often use photos for advertising as i find this to be a very effective method and can portray an image of what to expect immediately. Images such as logos and photos you use to advertise your classes are one of the first things people will see and need to be positive and inviting, and encourage people to read on.


In todays social media images are every where; images are shared, leaked, posted, everything is visual and can be posted on every social media website. As a professional it is important to be aware of what images you choose to share and make public. As talked about in task 1b it is important to separate our professional and personal image. I have started the above flickr account purely for this task so will only post images relating to my professional self and is therefore available for public viewing.

I have a pinterest page where i post images both for personal and professional use so i ensure my privacy settings are high. I like to use and share images via these sites to provide positive images of the dance world and record and look back on jobs and work that i have done. Sites such as pinterest also inspire, showing powerful pictures and sharing ideas. I also enjoy posting images of inspiring or dance related quotes that i feel others will relate too. I have posted some of these to my Flickr account. Whilst being able to share images is wonderful, it's important to be careful how much you share.

Task 1b - reader 1, initial thoughts

I thought i would begin this task now as i feel there's going to be a lot to say and really looking forward to reading other posts and views on this.

Honestly, i had absolutely no idea what web 2.0 is. Forgive my lack of knowledge. Despite that fact that i use social media on a daily basis such as facebook, twitter, google (what on earth did we do before this?!) and youtube i genuinely had never heard of social networking being referred too as web 2.0. After discussing this with my peers i was relieved to know that they were also blissfully unaware of this title and so i was surprised to learn that it was such a highly debated subject. I feel i am lucky to understand it as much as i do! The internet is such a vast, incredible thing, the possibilities and opportunities it provides are endless.

Facebook for example is the place for our generation where social networking really seemed to take off. Millions of users including myself and i find that i'm getting all my information on whats going on in the world from my news feed. It allows people to come together as equals, mixing networks of people etc but this raised a question i have asked myself before; how many people who are my 'friend' on facebook are my friends? How many of my 'followers' on twitter had i met in real life, or even spoken to virtually?  I use both for personal and professional gain but i wonder how much of this is necessary or benefiting my professional or personal life. Facebook is great for advertising my classes and communicating with friends and family who are not local - hearing facebook talked about as an 'intelligent' was interesting as i had never considered this before.

I am someone who uses web 2.0 for learning. I had never considered that i was learning through 'communicating and sharing' with others until reading this. I am a member of several groups on facebook such as Dance Teacher Hub, dance teachers in need and ISTD dance teachers, where other teachers post questions about running of dance schools, problems they encounter through this line of work and sharing music choices and teaching techniques. i have often posted queries on these pages and commented on the posts of others, therefore learning and sharing with others. However an ethical consideration can be made here as how true is the information you receive from others?

Youtube is another thing that i use regularly to answer all kinds of questions if google doesn't have the answer! For example when learning how to start a blog and upload and embed links, i went to youtube and found my answer!

Whilst the possibilities of the internet are infinite, there many negatives. Issues such as cyber bullying are rife and its awful how easy it is for people to attack from behind a computer screen. Peer pressure can be felt due to all the images splayed on the internet as how we should look or dress causing further distress for young people. People do not understand the dangers of connecting with people they don't know via websites or how hurtful the comments they make can be. This is something that needs to be addressed further, i know much education about the dangers of this etc goes on within schools and is so important for this generation as they have been born into it.

The amount of information that is so easily accessed, or 'shared' by anyone is scary. Just yesterday a very young girl i teach came to me and said she'd been online and read something about the ebola virus and was she going to get it?

Web 2.0 is a wonderful thing but it is so important to use it for the right reasons and particularly safely in terms of young people.

Ethical considerations

There are many issues for professionals in terms of social media, such as confidentiality, image consent forms and information sharing, particularly when working with children. One of the most interesting statements i came across when reading further was 'teachers are probably the most vulnerable group, in danger from violations of boundary between ones personal and professional life.' I had never heard this statement made before but is some thing i have been constantly aware of since teaching. I make sure that my privacy settings are as high as they can be and that students would be unable to find ,me on any social networking sights so as not to cross that boundary. There can of course be 2 sides to ones life, their personal and professional image, it is how you wish to be portrayed.

very interesting read!

Great read, very interesting :)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/8554651/The-truth-about-life-as-a-background-dancer.html

Task 1a - Professional Profile

This is my first attempt at re-writing my CV as a professional profile, and hope i have been able to attach my CV at the end of this blog! I guess the first thing any professional needs is a great CV so what better way to start! I am not brilliant at this, and still new to blogging but here it goes...

My name is Lianne Cloot-Holt, i am a dance teacher and i have been working this profession for 6 years. I trained at the Margaret Howard Theater College where i gained my teaching qualifications under the ISTD and had training in performance. I have done a small amount of performance work including cruise ships, panto and promotional/charity events which i still do from time to time but my passion lies in teaching dance. I have worked for a number of different dance schools and companies over the past 6 years which has given me tremendous experience and has taught me a lot about what my strengths are and what i enjoy most. I now work for 3 different schools 6 days a week.

My thoughts on ROL

I completed the ROL module last term which was a fantastic experience both in terms of coming back to study again, and actually gaining a better understanding of what i do. It sounds ridiculous, of course i know what i do, it's my job! However looking back over my time teaching, what i have learnt, the experience i've gained and actually analyzing all the different areas of learning was extremely interesting and helped me understand how i have got to where i am and why.   

If this has worked the link below should allow you to view my CV :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2e4CosMVHCAelJWQm1ENWhoX0RISzNRanlKM3JPMVRVa1Jj/edit?usp=sharing

So having read other blogs and commented, i feel i need to expand 'about me'. As i have previously said writing about myself is not something i have ever been particularly good at it therefore this what i should improve on. I will be working on a second CV over the next few weeks which i will post, looking more at my work in performance rather than teaching, after reading several blogs about using a number of different CVS depending on the job being applied for. I had never thought of doing this, having got very comfortable in my teaching roles.

I am a firm believer that dance is for everyone, no matter your age, ability or background. I love teaching because i feel passionately about allowing everyone the opportunity to dance and run classes for adults focused very much on having a good time, building confidence and enjoyment. I love working on projects in the community where everyone can get involved and am choreographing for a panto this year which has allowed children from the dance school i work for to get involved. Eventually i would like to study dance therapy as i find the connection between brain and movement fascinating and know how dance can make you feel. I am feeling now that this may come across as a little cheesy! This is the part where normally i would get embarrassed and delete what I've just written but time to make a change! This is my passion and i hope that anyone else who has ever lost themselves in a dance or a piece of music can relate?