Reflective Practice

Okay - so reflective practice has always come naturally to me but usually for reflecting on negative consequences.  I used to find that I would think something like "I should have done it this way" or "I should have thought of that BEFORE I did that".  However, my reflective practice evolved to more positive experiences as a consequence of teaching Information Literacy workshops.  It would appear that reflection and teaching complement each other very well and naturally lend themselves to each other.  Reflective practice before, during and after teaching enables me to determine:

• what went well
• what went badly
• what could be improved
• what content could be added or removed
• what teaching styles are best
• differences in learning styles
• never to assume knowledge
• how to approach students with different levels of academic ability

Despite recommendations that keeping a reflective diary is good practice I still haven't managed to do so.  Even the electronic versions still haven't tempted me.  However, on reflection, perhaps this would be a good idea!

New to Twitter

I can't help but feel that now I've finally signed up to Twitter the next big thing in technology will come along and I'll be behind the times again!  I've resisted tweeting purely because I don't want to know what people have had for breakfast or who they are having a public feud with. 

The main reason is because I haven't been able to use Twitter for work purposes, due to the fact that I've been working in Further Education (F.E.) Colleges for a while.  It appears that social networking is considered a 'bad' influence in F.E. rather than a positive tool.  Alas, this means that Facebook, Twitter and Blogger are all considered nefarious distractions and blocked by the well intentioned but frustrating firewall. 

If you want to follow me on Twitter - I'm under: #originalsearche  (it won't accept the rest!)

Harry Potter - the End?

I've just been for a run and I saw one of the latest posters advertising the last Harry Potter movie.  It seems hard to believe that it was 2007 when the last book was released.  I remember booking an advance copy, so excited was I to read it.  I kept a vigil next to the front door, however I went upstairs for a split second and missed the postman.  I ended up running down the street after him, barefoot, in the pouring rain.  He told me I wasn't the first person to chase him for the book that day!

It's hard to comprehend how a book (or a series of books) can have such a powerful effect on so many people.  It seems silly but I can remember how devastated I felt reading the Deathly Hallows, knowing it was the last book.  A friend of mine even likened it to having a bereavement in the family.  I certainly didn't feel the same level of emotion before, during or after watching the films in the series (although I found them entertaining).

I just can't wait to find the next book to capture my interest in such an all consuming way!

Stepping out of my comfort zone

The College I work for has bi-annual staff conferences and part of the remit for the most recent was to produce a presentation on how we perceive the College we work for.  A member of the team suggested a song that they'd recently heard on the radio, sung by Frank Sinatra called High Hopes.  The team were initially 'underwhelmed' by the idea but due to a lack of alternative ideas and a shortness of time we agreed to the suggestion.

Cue singing, dancing and playing up for the camera.  It was the most gruesome thing I've done in a long time and it made me and the majority of the team continually step out of our comfort zone.  However, we laughed so much doing it and so united were we in our embarrassment that it was a great team bonding exercise.  I aim to post the finished product as soon as I get the consent from the rest of my team.

And guess what the best thing is?  Our presentation won first prize at the staff conference! 

Getting into the habit of blogging

My second blog.  Why has it taken me so long? Firstly I was worried that I didn't have anything of great interest to say and secondly, would anyone bother to 'listen' to what thoughts I had.  After doing Thing 2 on cpd23 I found that I enjoyed the pure nosiness of reading other peoples thoughts and ideas! 

Hhmmm.  So what have I realised so far?  That I seriously need to get into the habit of blogging regularly

My first post

I'm really interested in following the cpd23 programme as there are lots of things I've wanted to do but I never seem to find the time.  Luckily for me a lot of these 'thing's' are on the cpd23 list.  Although I've created and administered blogs as part of my job I'm new to personal blogging - so here goes...