Task 2d Inquiry (Part 1)



Looking back on my journal and finding questions I had asked myself in the process of reflection made me aware of my thought process. Some of the questions I had asked myself I had answered in detail and some of the questions I had not answered and feel there is no answer to them questions yet, although these may be answered when I gain more knowledge and understanding throughout my professional practice.

What new experiences and skills am I gaining from teaching?

-          Maturity

-          Confidence

-          Knowledge

-          Learning more about myself

-          Precision

-          Developing a deeper thought process

-          A deeper Understanding of reflection

-           Development of Communication skills with all ages

What strategies can I come up with to help with continuous improvement of the students?

Coming closer to the end of term I am beginning to think about the progress and improvement of my students I have been teaching. From my point of view it is very uplifting to see how far the students have came because more than often it is not noticed by the students themselves so I believe in making them aware of the improvements and developments they have made. However I have been thinking of different strategies and methods I could use for further development and continuous improvements:

-          Encourage my students to explore new techniques in dance performance.

-          Explore new styles and background of dance.

-          Encourage critical self-reflection to give students an insight of realistic career- development planning.

-          Emphasise the need for learners to consider audience needs and tastes in dance.

-          Explore options with students for presenting creative ideas through performance.

-          Encourage students to learn and develop mastery while they develop positive self-esteem and remain passionate about dancing.

How can I identify styles of teaching and learning that will optimize both skill acquisition and the development of high self-esteem and personal growth in dancers?

We all have varied strengths, abilities, values, personalities and constraints that influence us and how we choose to teach.  Noticing that students also differ in ability, talent, personality and learning styles has made me question are there methods for planning  and delivering dance classes that can simultaneously enhance mastery of skills whilst promoting self- esteem and positive self - image?     

The ability of a dancer to master a particular skill or technique depends on many factors: Physical ability, motor and kinesthetic feedback and learning processes, physical practice, mental practice for skill enhancement, sufficient physiologic rest, motor memory consolidation, appropriate breakdown and acquisition of complex skills, growth and development, knowledge of results through appropriate external feedback mechanisms, and an environment that facilitates learning and a sense of joy and purpose. One of the most comprehensive and prominent theories of how humans acquire mastery, learn values, regulate themselves, and are motivated is Social Cognitive Theory. A social-cognitive perspective emphasizes the interaction between a person’s thinking and behaviour and her or his social environment. Its main tenets state that people learn by observing others; learning is an internal process that may, or may not, change behaviour; people behave in ways to attain goals; behaviour is self-directed; and reinforcement effects behaviour and learning.  Self- esteem is a dancer’s feelings of worth or value whilst self-efficacy is a person’s belief that he or she can perform a specific task successfully. Teachers can enhance the learning environment for skill acquisition with the enhancement of self-esteem and self-efficacy by:

1)      Clarifying the process and goals of the class

2)      Discussing various influences that effect that dancers progress

3)      Clearly defying the class structure and content

Expanding and enhancing the class content through a better understanding of related fields such as: Dance science, including anatomy, biomechanics, motor learning and dance psychology would also help the personal growths and developments of the students.

The teacher can provide information that allows students to understand and embrace individual differences in both anatomical physique and dynamic movement qualities. As dancers learn about their unique qualities and potential, both physical and artistic, they can direct their energy toward optimal development. For example, the highly flexible dancer who lacks strength and core support can understand that investing time in enhancing those attributes, rather than stretching all the time, will result in far more progress. Such open discussion of individual differences also encourages students to appreciate each other’s qualities and learn from each other through observation and discussion. As dancers become more self-reliant and peer-reliant, they are less likely to become overly dependent on teacher approval and more appreciative of peer feedback.

I recently came across this status on facebook:

‘There are so many dance schools, institutions and tutors that do more harm than good. Being weighed, being too fat, being put down, being fed the wrong information about the training you need. Setting young dancers up in the wrong way, killing their confidence’

Dancers need encouragement to nurture self-esteem and to instil self belief. When students are struggling to achieve the material, teacher confidence in student abilities can provide the encouragement and motivation needed for continued effort. Verbal communication, body language, and tone of voice all convey the teacher’s attitude. The teacher can provide praise when improvement is demonstrated and constructive criticism when changes and corrections are needed. Positive reinforcement can both inspire and motivate the dancer in class.

I have highlighted the words verbal communication, body language and tone of voice in the above statement as I believe these are very important factors to consider when teaching. The student is more likely to be receptive when the teacher’s body language and tone of voice indicate openness and encouragement whilst teachers who listen attentively to their students’ questions and complaints are better equipped to meet individual needs and adjust lessons were necessary.

 Children are injuring themselves and by the time they get into university or higher training they have to ‘fix’ their bodies and re-train themselves in a correct and safe way. I believe this comes from teachers who don’t have the right training and understanding to pass it on correctly.

Optimal development of a young mind and body occurs with healthy experiences, both inside and outside the classroom, and the dance class offers a particularly enriching environment and experience for the development of skill mastery and of the whole person. Students come to class with a desire to develop dance skills; the training will be enhanced if the teacher provides a larger conceptual context and a thorough understanding of movement principles. For example, taking time in class to explore principles of good alignment is more beneficial than simply adjusting a student’s pelvis during a particular exercise.
In each aspect of dance training, the teacher needs to identify the basic foundation, and then build upon that knowledge base. Whether a dance class is founded in ballet, modern, jazz, African, or urban dance, certain fundamental movement skills will be explored. These skills include aspects such as alignment, balancing mechanisms, spatial awareness, musicality, motor control, and coordination. This foundation must be in place before more complex and sophisticated vocabulary and skills can be absorbed.

Task 2c - Reflective Theory



Everything I have taken from reflection in the last 4 weeks has drawn me to my personal conclusion that reflective practice is key to improvement.

If I don’t think about, analyse and evaluate my own professional practice I cannot improve. It makes me wonder why I have never done this before. Basically because I didn’t have the correct knowledge or understanding of reflective thinking.

The fact that reflection has been primarily for me and my own development and learning has been a positive learning curve for me. My past education and past events I have taken part in have always been presented to someone. My school work was always presented to the teacher, my tests were marked by examiners, I was carefully examined and graded when doing dance exams, my athletic events were viewed and my dance shows and performances were presented to an audience and now in the present and future as I attend auditions I will be presenting myself to the panel. Everything I have studied, practised or worked on has always ended up being showcased or carefully observed whereas learning to reflect on myself and know what I am achieving or what I need to work on is proving to become really refreshing for me.

To become a reflective practioner will be a challenge. It is something I have not always been familiar with but I know it will benefit me in my chosen career path and my general life. To think that I am reflecting for myself and my own personal developments feels good, I won’t be presenting it to anyone or I won’t have to showcase myself at the end of it. I will keep evaluating my own practice and continue my professional developments and hopefully see improvements as I become more familiar with my own beneficial ways to reflect.

I can see why using reflection in my teaching will be an important aspect of learning and developing. ‘The most distinctive of these very good teachers is that their practice is the result of careful reflection...They themselves learn lessons each time they teach, evaluating what they do and using self-critical evaluations to adjust what they do next time’ (Why colleges succeed, Ofsted 2004, para.19)

Over the last 4 weeks I have reflected thoroughly after each lesson I have taught, evaluating the students, my own teaching methods, the structure of the lesson, what seemed to work and what didn’t work quite as well. I have taken positives and negatives from each lesson enabling me to look in and focus on what I can change to better the lesson and how the students can also gain benefits. By doing this has had a positive change on me and my lessons. Each week I have tried to do things different, I am not to say everything has worked, it has been a trial and error process each lesson but I am now starting to see developments in certain areas of my teaching. An example being developing my structured warm up so the students could gain and develop technique and fitness levels ensuring there bodies were ready for class. Not only were the students gaining benefits of improving fitness, technique and muscle memory but the warm up became more structured and relevant to what we were working on allowing the lesson to move on in the right direction.

Reflecting is helping me notice why certain things are happening. Identifying critical incidents which to me have been significant and important. My critical incidents have been positive and negative realising a problem, a solution to my problem or realising that I need a particular development in a certain area and noticing strengths I have never picked up on. These incidents are leading me to ideas and solutions.

What I have noticed most and I have read on a few other people’s blogs too is that the most inadequate reflections are those who just describe what is happening. I started my journal this way and didn’t see any value in it, I needed more than just description and that’s why exercise 2b – Using different techniques to reflect helped me to reflect in more depth.

Driscoll and Teh (2001), Working in nursing and clinical practice, provide a simple but very useful framework for reflection based on three questions:

-          WHAT? – Description of the events

-          SO WHAT? – Analysis of the event

-          NOW WHAT? Proposed actions following the event.

What?

-          What happened?

-          What did I see/do?

So what?

-          How did I feel at the time?

-          What were the effects of what I did (or did not do)?

Now what?

-          What are the implications of what I have described and analysed?

-          How can I modify my practice?

Finding this gave me insight on how I should be reflecting until a few weeks later I found a more descriptive model of reflection provided by Gibbs (1988) which made me take my reflective thinking to another level.

Description – What happened? Don’t make judgements yet or try to draw conclusions; simply describe.

Feelings – What were your reactions and feelings? Again, don’t move on to analysing these yet.

Evaluation - What was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgements.

Analysis – What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. What was really going on? Were different people’s experiences similar or different in an important way?

Conclusions – What can be concluded, in a general sense, from the analysis you have undertaken? What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or way of working? What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time? What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt?

Using this model provided me with guidance for my own reflective process. I noticed my reflection became more in depth, thorough and meaningful which meant I gained more understanding of my events that took place.

‘Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience’ (David A. Kolb. 1984).                                                                                                                                       

Kolb’s developed idea ‘The idea of cycle’ – A learning cycle talks about the different ways of learning: Do something, think about what you did, come to conclusions about what you did and plan to try again." (Kolb, 1984)

‘Some people start to learn when they are involved in a CONCRETE EXPERIENCE’ (Doing something).

Looking back through my journal I have learnt from Kolb’s cycle that I do learn when in a concrete experience. When teaching I am in the present moment and have to think there and then to help the children develop and gain skills and knowledge. By demonstrating movements to my students and seeing them repeat it back to me looking completely different to my expectations makes me realise in the moment I have obviously been unclear on what I want from them. I then go into more detail of the precision I want to see by slowly breaking down the movements and demonstrating in detail exactly how I want them to perform the movements. Whenever I take dance class, attend and audition or practice yoga I learn when involved in the concrete experience. If Receive a correction from a teacher or tutor, I will implement this immediately in the present moment and this is what I have trained my mind and body to do in all my years of education. It becomes second nature and almost a habit; I do it without thinking about it.

‘Some people can do something but start to learn about it when they are watching the people around them doing it: REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION (Watching).                                                                                       

Learning from reflective observation has become more useful for me within the last few weeks. I never considered myself as someone who would pay attention in a lecture or absorb all the knowledge and information by watching a video/audio presentation or a demonstration. I have always been the girl keen to get stuck in and just give it a go without much background information, knowledge or instruction. However I have noticed if I take step back, watch, listen and learn it can really expand my knowledge and depth of learning in a different way to just doing it. I watched and observed the teacher I was shadowing teach her lesson one week instead of me doing it so I could notice and learn from reflective observation. It was very interesting for me to watch. I observed and took notes on the way she taught and the way the students reacted to her teaching. I noticed what to avoid when teaching but also gained a lot of knowledge on different, positive methods of teaching. By the end of this lesson I had learnt as much as I would of by taking the class but also a deeper insight to teaching skills that I could implement into my own practice. I also started to learn more about the students different styles of learning by observing there reactions and approach to the direction given which helped me work with these student in particular in more depth during my next lesson. As well as watching and observing someone else and reflecting on how they work and learning from it, I also know that ‘reflective observation ‘within my own practice is key to improving my practice. Since I have started reflecting thoroughly on my events I have learnt that reflection is an image- a mirror image, we can see ourselves and other things around us. Whilst I have been learning by ‘doing’ I have actually started to learn more by thinking about what I have done, how I done it, what my experience was like and how I can do it differently next time. Looking back on a previous post on my blog: Task2a – reflective practice. I talked about how I wanted to make a conscious effort to use the learning styles I feel I don’t use regularly, reflective observation being one. I am a good observer but I have never reflected back on my observations. Reflecting on my observations is proving to provide more meaning and learning developments.

‘Some people need to work it out in their head first: ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION (Thinking).    

We have to be motivated to discover the relevancy of the ‘how’ of a situation. Application and usefulness of information is increased by understanding detailed information about the system’s operation. Abstract conceptualisation allows us to draw conclusions about our practice. I feel I struggle with this way of learning using an example being my driving lessons. I find it difficult to understand the theory behind driving and never seem to have a clear grasp of the driving concept. When my driving instructor gives me instructions and direction I just do it, remember it and try not to think about the science of theory behind the certain manoeuvres. I tried to think this way one lessons to see if it helped me grasp certain things quicker but my brain did not function this way and I found it a lot more difficult thinking than just doing.                                                                                            

Some people start to learn when they start trying out ideas ACTIVE EXPERIMENTAION (doing).            

I feel as though I gain most knowledge and understanding in my practical work life but also my general life using active experimentation alongside concrete experience. I believe this is down to my individual character and how I have developed learning skills growing up has became a habit, however I realise I have developed new conceptions of learning provided by new experiences throughout my years studying and working, For example Kolb’s states that ‘ Different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style. Various factors influence a person’s preferred style, For example, social environment, educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual’. When I first began teaching I was given a class and told to warm them up to start a performance piece, although I wasn’t familiar with the students and what there bodies could achieve, I got stuck in using ‘active experimentation’ , getting to know them throughout the lessons and approaching new ideas in order to make my lesson successful. However if I would of observed the lesson first to gain insight to the students, there ways of learning and the teachers methods of teaching I feel I wouldn’t have gained as much as I did by giving it a go and learning throughout the process.

Learning only occurs when a learner is able to execute all four stages of the model. Therefore, no one stage of the cycle is as effective as a learning procedure on its own. Effective learning is seen when a person progresses through all 4 stages of the cycle:

1)      Having a concrete experience. 2)Observation of and reflection on that experience which leads to 3) The formation of abstract concepts (analysis)and generalizations(conclusions) which are then (4) used to test hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new experiences. Kolb propose that experimental learning has six main characteristics:

-          Learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes.

-          Learning is a continuous process grounded in experience.

-          Learning requires the resolution of conflicts between dialectically opposed modes of adaptation to the world ( learning is by its very nature full of tension)

-          Learning is a holistic process of adaptation to the world.

-          Learning is the process of creating knowledge that is the result of the transaction between social knowledge and personal knowledge.

Here is an example of me using Kolb’s four stages of the learning cycle for my driving lessons:

REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION – I think about driving and when in a car with another person I watch and observe them driving.

ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION – I try to understand the theory and science behind driving to realise the background knowledge of why I am doing certain things.

CONCRETE EXPERIENCE – Receive practical tips and techniques from my instructor and other drivers.

ACTIVE EXPERIMENTAION – I get in the car and have a go at driving.

Kolb states that ’learning only occurs when a learner is able to execute all four stage of the cycles’ which my example shows that using all four stages of the cycle gives a more in depth way of learning.

‘Sometimes we probably don’t event know we are having an experience at the time of an event’. Dewey used the term ‘reflective thought’ to talk about ways for us to be aware that we are having an experience, ways to find links to other experiences and ways to find meaning for ourselves. Dewey see’s reflective thought as a more scientific approach as he believes we need solid proof to support our belief. What supports our knowledge? He saw reflective though and: ‘Active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the ground that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends’ Michael Polanyi supports Dewey’s statement where he wrote ‘ I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell’ Polanyi’s statement raises two important points: The importance of articulation of reflective practice and the importance to have a variety of ways to support reflection.

As Kimberley Gallagher states in her blog: ‘being a beginner in teaching, reflective practice is necessary to building up my skills through mistakes and successes’.  “The successive portions of the reflective thought grow out of one another and support one another...each phase is a step from something to something.” (John Dewey, What is thought? 1910) Dewey sees reflective thought as a stream or flow. This also applies to all of my reflective thinking and practice in my career.  She also wrote “I experience a mistake; I correct it. I experience a success; I build on it. I build onto the success too far of which turns into a mistake; I correct it. I see a mistake; I correct it. It goes on and on”. "Until the artist is satisfied in perception with what he is doing, he continues shaping and reshaping" (Dewey, Art as experience, 1934 p51) Everything Kimberley talks about in this statement I can relate to as being a beginner in teaching also I go through this process quite often.

The most familiar approach to reflection was developed by the late Donald Schon. Schon argues that a vital attribute of all effective practioners, no matter in what area they operate, is that they are able to reflect on their ongoing experience and learn from it. Reflecting on what you do as you go about your everyday practice, he calls this approach ‘reflection in action’. Just as important as this approach, however, is the considered reflection that takes place away from the press of immediate action. This is called ‘reflection on action’. Robert Kottcamp puts forward that reflection in action is harder to achieve but more powerful for improvement of practice. As dancers we are so used to reflecting in action, it becomes second nature. We are told to correct a movement, posture, alignment or change the quality of our movement whilst in action; automatically our brains will react to correct ourselves in the given moment. ‘Reflection in action is often fostered in artists who respond to what is happening as is happens’ (if you are dancing across the floor and something is not working you change the steps as you are moving) it tends to be a ‘hands on’ way of working. ‘Reflection on action is often fostered in academics who respond to what is happening by going away to conceptualise it and look back on it’. Coming from a dance background I am used to adapting in the present moments, however since I have began teaching I have became more aware of  the ‘reflection in action’ approach . They both have very positive impacts on learning and gaining a variety of knowledge.

Tharp explains the idea of muscle memory when demonstrating a dance, a tacit knowledge: ‘Muscle memory, Automatic, Precise, A little scary. The second time though, however, or trying to explain the steps and patterns to the dancers, she will hesitate, second guess herself, question her muscles, and forget that’s because she’s thinking about it, using language to interpret something she knows non verbally. Her memory of movement doesn’t need to be accessed through conscious effort’ (Tharp and Reiter, 2006). Tharp describes how she makes sure she is in touch with her non-verbal self, her muscle memory and how this contributes her reflective practice as a professional choreographer. Tacit knowledge is knowledge you cannot express with words. Karen oysterman (Osterman and Kottkamp, 2004), Jennifer Moon (Moon, 1999) and others have argued the importance of finding ways to articulate tacit knowledge and experiences, not because they are only ‘real’ when they are put into words but because they have understanding and meaning in them that are important to access. Artists have argued the importance of accessing innate, tacit, gut feelings that many use in the arts. Although many artists do not expect to give voice to their tacit knowledge through words, they do see accessing and communication with it as part of the professional creative process.

Tufnell, Tharp, Moon and others show that reflection does not have to happen as a written process, but they also stress the importance of being able to articulate and communicate the reflective process so that you can recall ideas, plan or link.

Reflection - Looking back on my journal



I have been reading back through my Journal and I can see from my very first piece of writing that my reflection was inadequate, only describing what happened throughout the day. Looking and reading back I can now see this has no value to me, alls I take from it is a memory from my day whereas I should be learning and finding things out from my journal entries. The further I read on into my journal I can see I am starting to develop a more in depth way of reflection and I am now using these reflections from my journal to continue to improve.

Finding a complete model of reflection online provided by Gibbs (1988) a week after starting my journal gave me an insight on how I should be thoroughly reflecting on my practices.

Description – What happened? Don’t make judgements yet or try to draw conclusions; simply describe.

Feelings - What were your reactions and feelings? Again, don’t move on to analysing these yet.

Evaluation – What was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgements.

Analysis – What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. What was really going on? Were different people’s experiences similar or different in important ways?

Conclusions – What can be concluded?  In a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses you have undertaken. What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or way of working? What are you going to do differently in this type of situation or way of working? What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt?

Using this model as a template helped me to start reflecting with true meaning and purpose. I can now look back at certain entries in my journal and use them for my future learning. An example being before I taught this week I read my journal from my previous lesson and it reminded me of what I wanted to change or do differently, things to avoid and my aims and objectives for the lesson.

All my entries are completely different ways of writing; I am yet to find a preferred way as I have had positive and negative experiences with all. I want to continue to reflect in different ways until I find my personal most beneficial way of reflection.

Task 2b - Journal Writing experience

This week I have tried out different ways to write my journal, some have been really challenging and some I have felt at ease with.

Using description and initial reflection has came naturally for me and personally I feel this is the easiest and simplest form of reflection. Recalling my events at the end of the day and describing what has happened, how I felt about it and my mood throughout the events was easy for me but I also didn't find much value in a simple description of my day. Here is a section from my journal where I used description and initial reflection;

Monday22ndOctober

I made it to the 7am Bikram yoga class this morning! On my way I was thinking why the hell am I doing this? It's so early and so dark but I knew I would feel great afterwards and it would set me up for the day as I had lots to do throughout the day. I felt really tired and lethargic but I was hoping it would wake me up. When I arrived at the class my mood was instantly uplifted as I started chatting to the other girls. I realised I really do enjoy being around people as much as I love 'me time'

At the start of the class I was determined to push myself and work as hard as I could because after all I had made the decision to wake up at 5.30am to make the class. I had made the choice and didn't want to waste any time. Throughout the class my thoughts changed especially on certain postures I struggled with, I was not pushing myself as much as I could on the difficult postures and my initial thought was I should be pushing myself on the things I find hard in life and not trying to avoid them or find an easy escape out (which is what I have realised I tend to do). I should be challenging myself more? I was then reflecting in the moment without realising it (reflection in action) which distracted me and then my mind was wondering! One thought made me start to think about life in general and why do most people focus on what they are good at and blank out their weaknesses? I quickly switched out of thinking mode and turned my focus back onto the class.

My thoughts and emotions throughout the class changed from :

-Focused

-frustrated

-Tired

-Determined

-Switched off

-Happy

The class was for 1 hour 30 minutes and my emotions changed throughtout. After writing down my emotions on the opposite page it made me ask myself why I was experiencing different emotions and feeling? What made them change within 1 hour and 30 minutes? How did I deal with these emotions?

                    Why I experienced different emotions throughout the class

Sometimes I just don't know why I am experiencing different emotions because I let them be and don't question how I feel much.

On the postures I found easy I felt alive and awake, it wasn't a challenge and I comfortably got through them feeling focused and determined, the main reason being I could do it! As I said above I enjoy what I am good at doing. My mood started to change when my body started to struggle with certain postures, I wasn't pushing myself, I got frustrated at myself and thought  'I am never going to improve if I dont push myself on the challenging postures' From reflecting back on this I learnt when I am struggling with something, be patient and keep working on it, whatever it may be as that will be the only way I will improve,grow and develop my practise. As humans we become so immune to certain habits without even realising they are habits. I have learnt I am not very patient with things, I always want it to happen straight away instead of enjoying the journey and the developments.

At the end of the class I fell asleep for 1 hour on the mat! This is the first time I have ever done this. I felt really tired and exhausted and there's me thinking it was going to wake me up. This made me think maybe I need a rest as I try and make the class most days as well as fitting everything else in! But I really enjoy going so why should I miss class? Maybe it is my body's way of telling me to slow down.

However I got showered and changed and walked home to tackle through the rest of my day. I had to be home quick in time for my driving lesson! wishing I hadn't fell asleep for that hour after class.

Evaluation

I really enjoyed using 'evaluation' as a way to write. This was when I felt most the benefits of reflection and felt a real meaning as to why I was reflecting and evaluating, learning things about myself and my practises. I questioned myself a lot as I evaluated, which I didn't really do when I used 'description and initial reflection' Description and initial reflection as I said was easy, it was just like keeping a diary whereas I feel I will gain a lot more from using evaluation as I learnt what went well for me, what worked, I discovered things about my practise and thought about the things I could avoid.

I felt like there was a true meaning behind why I was evaluating, I didn't just go through the emotions of my day listing; -What happened - Where it happened - Why it happened. To me it seemed like a more deep,thorough way of reflecting.

Evaluation of teaching - Tuesday 23rd October

Todays lesson went well in many ways. I spent the lesson cleaning a choreography GCSE peice with 20 students. I hadn't worked with all of these students before so it was a lesson for me to get to know these students and what level they were up to.

What went well?

- Although the students seemed very shy they were focused and enthusiastic about the class which made it more exciting for me to get stuck in. They listened carefully to my instructions and took on board my feedback.

( I learnt in this lesson to give more positive feedback as much as constructive critism as I came to the conclusion that the students gave me a lot more energy,effort and determinination when I talked to them about what they were doing well and what looked good on them.)

- The feedback I gave the students sunk in, by the end of the class when they performed the piece in front of myself and another teacher, they had took on board everything I had said throughout the class and it looked like a different group of dancers performing the piece. I felt lifted by this as it made the whole two hours worthwhile by seeing the huge improvement in the dancers.

( I as the teacher has to give as much energy and commitment as the students, even more if I want to see good results. I learnt that dancing the piece full out with the students when practising helps a lot as they have a real insight of what it should look like picking up on the energy and dynamics of the piece. I have had teachers in the past who will just mark through the material but I feel commiting 100% with the students helps the final result.)

- The students opened up and became less tense and more confident to speak up and ask questions. They were quite a shy, timid group to start with and I worried it would be hard to get anything out of them. By the end of the first hour I was starting to see individual personalities and this made me want to keep going to learn more about who they are.

(I learnt that although being strict and wanting the class to move rapidly, sometimes I need to stop for a moment and laugh with the students to take the tension of the class away. I noticed if something didn't quite work and I could sense the students feeling silly, it's not the end of the world to have a little laugh and joke with them instead of being so serious and uptight - I really relaxed these students in particular and I felt they were getting to know me more as much as I was learning about each and every one of them and I believe that is why they had opened up by the end because I showed them my personality as well as finding out who they were.)

After the class the word BALANCE came to my mind. For me my next challenge was to find a healthy balance in the teaching enviroment. I felt that in this class I'd found a really nice balance but I know I am not always consistent in finding the balance in every class and that is what I want to achieve in the next few weeks.

Noticing and discovering

There was one student who didn't have a clue what she was doing. She stood right at the back of the class hiding behind another student. The only way she was going to learn was if she came to the front to see what was going on, that was my thought at the time. I asked the student her name and she muttered it and I instantly got the impression that she was very shy and underconfident. I told her to stop hiding and to come to the front row so she could learn and pick up on what she was missing. She put her head down and looked as though she was about to cry. I didnt know whether I had done the right thing or not? I let her stay at the back but told her to stop hiding. Had I done the right thing to leave her to her own device and not push her?

This was honestly something I could not answer, time would only tell. I watched her throughout the lesson and half way through I noticed she was still struggling, I couldn't leave her to just struggle at the back. I told the class to mark and go through the counts together so I could go to the back and help. When it was just me and her she instantly opened up and seemed like a different girl asking me questions and was really willing for me to help. I noticed I had done the right thing by leaving her at the back and not embarrassing her in front of her class mates but then I questioned will she ever develop and grow confidence?

With that situation I felt it was a challenge for me to know what would work best. The more I teach and the more I learn I feel it will become easier  and I will gain and accquire knowledge of how to deal with different sitautions, mastering my own methods and techniques of teaching. My instinct told me I had done the right thing to not push the student. It was the first time I had taught her and I would rather ease her into it slowly and let her open up in her own time.

To me there is no right or wrong way, it is just finding my own personal, most appropraite way which I hope to do so in the future.

Graphs and diagrams

It took me a little while to get into this way of writing. I played around with this one the most thinking how am I going to gain everything I can from this style? I took a look at other peoples blogs to see how they had approached it and then I became aware of how I was going to embark on it. Personally this was my hardest way of writing to get started with but I feel it worked really well and overall it was probably my 2nd best way of writing. When it was complete it was the easiest, simplest form of writing to look back on and reflect quickly and efficiently. This is what I came up with:

Driving Lesson - Wednesday 24th October

This photograph is not very clear but this is how I reflected on my driving lesson:

Positives -  What did I achieve and why? - How did I feel about the achievement? - How can I maintain this?

Negatives - Why did the negatives happen? - What can I do to prevent the negatives? - What did I learn from the negatives?

Using this form of writing for my driving lesson in particular was a success and I am going to now continue doing this after each lesson so I can reflect before my next lesson. It really helped me on this week's lesson as I looked over this piece of writing before I had the lesson and my mind was fresh with what I wanted to focus on and achieve this time round.

Lists

-I work well with others around me, I should start to try and learn more when being alone.

-Patience - Have more patience when completing a task or waiting for something. Take time if it doesn't work then go back and work out why it isn't working.

-Don't get frustrated at myself if my day doesn't go exactly how I intended it to.

- I want to watch more programmes/films/documentaries and read more to be inspired and grow my knowledge in different areas.

-Finish things before I start something else.

-Glad I met up with a friend I haven't seen in a year. It lifted my mood and made me realise I need to find time to do this more often.

- 'Mellow' I got called this today. I didn't consider myself a mellow person but I was obviously giving this vibe off in that moment in time.

- Others sometimes get a different vibe than how I actually feel.

Using list's as a way of writing did not benefit me as much as other ways. It was quick,simple and efficient but very vague. I used this form of writing on a general day off, being out and about, getting jobs done, making phone calls, sending emails, doing bits of teaching planning and meeting up with a friend.

At the end of my day I wrote down things that came to my head throughout the day. It was very random as my day changed so much. I feel a list will be good to look back on to quickly remind myself of my feeling and emotions throughout that day and the stuff I want to continue doing and what I would like to change.

It was a very different way of writing for me and although I felt it was really bland, I would like to look into list writing in more detail so I can experiment with it and find out unique ways of reflecting and learning from lists as I have a feeling there is a lot more to this form of writing and I haven't quite grasped it yet.

I make lists daily, weekly and monthly for my own sake to help me remember what I need to do, what I need to buy and to generally keep organised but I hadn't ever thought of writing lists as a way of reflection at the end of the day and I generally think the majority of people think of 'lists' as organisation and a way to remind yourself of things you need to complete.

I will definitely not rule this way of writing out as I am intrigued to see what more I can do with reflection lists and how they could help me to expand and enlarge my knowledge.

I attended an audition recently and used the writing style 'evaluation' to reflect back on every aspect of the audition. This was really beneficial for me as it made me question a lot about how I feel I am doing but what others see can be totally different. I also chose to use the 'what if' technique as well as evaluating my performance.

What if?

What would have happened if I would have got the job? How would if affect or change what I am doing now?

I would have loved to have got it!

I am really missing performing and went to the audition thinking it would have been a great opportunity for me, the show toured in a few places in the UK and even came to Liverpool. I would have been so grateful to have the opportunity to perform in my city as I haven't performed at home since before I moved to London.

If I would have got the job:

- Would I have to stop teaching on the two days I teach?

- Where would I have stayed when rehearsals start in a different city?

- Where would I stay when the contract toured?

- How would I get time off from my waitressing job when it is getting really busy coming up to christmas? Would I be able to keep the job for after christmas?

When I thought about all the "what if's?" All of these questions came into my head whereas I didn't ask myself these questions before attending the audition. It was interesting to use the 'what if' technique because it made me think about consequences which I don't often reflect on. I never in my life ponder about 'what if I do this differently?' 'How will it benefit me?'  'what are the negatives?' 'What are the positives'?

I think this way of reflecting could have an advantage in my life. If I thought more often about 'what if' I feel it could help me make right decisions for myself as I am quite an indecisive person.

I am going to use this style of writing in the next couple of weeks very briefly to help me identify if I do things the opposite way I am used to, how it will benefit me or have a positive impact on me. 

As I have thought about 'what if' in different situations I have faced within the last week I have learnt I can become very dreamy and really imaginative. I really enjoyed this way of reflection althought I felt it was more thought and less writing, I will need to get used to writing down all of my thoughts instead of collecting them in my head throughout the day.

Another view

This was my most difficult way of writing. I didn't know where to start with it or how to go about it. How can I be aware of someone's perspective of me throughout my day?

I went online and searched 'ways to reflect from another persons point of view' I found this article which I read through and had a good think about:

It is common, and commendable, to be curious about how others see you in general, or in specific situations. The more insight you have in this area, the less time you are apt to lie awake at night, wondering. And even when you may have acted differently in a specific situation, upon review, this insight generally provides the best answer for moving forward.

It is quite possible to see yourself exactly as other people see you; however, this takes courage, and the development of some insight. So, if you dare, have a peek in the mirror...

1)

Understand that other people are your mirror. A simple concept, yet one that many people are either unwilling, or unable, to grasp. Summed up, it is simply that other people reflect you. Your emotions, your traits, and your feelings are reflected back at you from other people either through in-kind responses or through predictable reactions to the emotions or feelings that you're issuing.

Perhaps even more surprising is the reality that the reflection is perfect, even if the "reflector" is almost invariably not. For example, you might feel condescension, irritability, or dismissiveness toward another person, which lowers your estimation of them and causes you to treat them less seriously; yet in doing so, you ignore the fact that they reflect your negative appraisal of them.

·         Intellectually challenged people can provide the highest quality reflections for others' behavior, while being personally oblivious that a "mirror" exists; this has to do with their lack of inhibition and their inability to dissemble. Such people more innately reflect the signals and body language you are sending them.

·         "Normal" people usually reflect, also, until they have learned to mask (these go on to wonder why they can't feel anything, have no passion); so you are looking for a more subtle signal. Usually (at least in the U.S.) they are clearly sending it, and you have just seen it for so long (every time a certain situation arises, and you respond that certain way), that you either are (unconsciously) ignoring the correct interpretation, and/or have most likely developed your own, not-wholly-correct one.

·         It is quite easy to go through your entire life, in many Western cultures at least, and never develop the innate skill of spotting yourself being reflected in other people; any development in this area will improve your self-insight and your relations with others.

·         This mirror-gazing skill is more developed of necessity in people of diminished means who need to learn quickly how to read people well in order to survive; however, just because you have never been hungry, left alone, or impoverished, does not mean you have to be clueless about yourself.

·         See that a big part of seeing yourself is recognizing that some little behavior of someone else, witnessed by you, is in fact exactly what you look like when exhibiting that same behavior, and that your rationalization of it as "different from yourself" is what is incorrect about your interpretation.

2)

Recognize that people say things to you, or about you, for a reason. While it can be easy (in fact it's human nature) to dismiss anything not felt to be relevant, or not seen to be complimentary, and to see it rather as a reflection of the person saying or commenting about things you're not comfortable with (to an extent it's about them but that's not the whole story), for the most part it probably has a grain of truth in it for you. Even if it is painful and your ego tempts you to reject it out of hand, be alert to this probability. It is less important that you identify with what may have been actually said here; rather, what matters is connecting it with the times that you say the same thing to another. It is perilously easy to con yourself into believing that "those times were different." They invariably aren't, or weren't.

·         Given enough development in identifying the source of comments about you, you will begin to see when someone is sniping at you simply because they are envious, or jealous and you can then react accordingly, instead of adopting the normal knee-jerk reaction you had most likely planned (and they, quite possibly, hoped to incite, to show you up).

3)

Recognize that this person-to-person mirror is a two-way mirror. Just as people say things to or about you for various, possibly obscure but knowable reasons, recognize when you do the same thing. Examine why you may have said a certain thing; usually, this self-examination will occur after the fact.

Don't be afraid to ask someone you trust to help you work through the reasoning; for example, if your best friend heard you, they almost surely already know why you said something and what personal motivations, quirks, and needs lie behind it. Asking your friend with open honesty and a willingness to reflect together can take a friendship to a whole new level. Asking another how our words and demeanor come across to another is not something we stop and do much, but it can get you started in more effective self examination.

·         People who are unwilling to reflect on how their words and actions appear to others can end up not caring about how they are viewed and in turn, this shows up as not caring about others either. This can make them seem selfish, aloof, and perhaps even vacant and after an initial enthusiastic encounter with such a character, you may have initially felt they were attractive, or interesting, only to quickly realize that they are blinded to their effect on others and have little to share because they hide within themselves.

·         Contrast this, narcissism, with a healthy respect and consideration of others and your place in things, how you fit, while still being willing to go your own way.

 4)

Consider that a person whom you detest is invariably your perfect mirror – they are just like you. While this may seem strange or even offensive to you, experience often bears it out. The reason is that we invariably overlook behaviors in ourselves that we can't tolerate in another. By allowing the other person to carry the burden of our own disliked inner quirks or weaknesses, we shield ourselves from having to meet our less likable aspects head on and choose instead to view the unlikable traits as the fault of the other person. Often we see this as insurmountable because we choose to believe that the other person is the one generating the unwanted behavior. However, this blinds us to realizing that we're just locking horns with traits we haven't yet learned to deal with well inside of ourselves.

·         It is generally not even necessary to get as far as the "observation of behaviors" stage; people who are very much alike often detest each other on sight, because behavior patterns are ingrained, and similar, if not universal - meaning that behavioral twins can sense each other in the merest gesture.

·         Most of us have experienced the trip home, with a friend or relative, from some gathering, with the friend or relative sniping about someone they just met who has essentially exhibited no untoward behaviors; when pressed, the friend or relative is hard-pressed to explain exactly what they mean; in this case, it's most probable that they have just encountered a perfect mirror.

·         As humans, even though we tend to assume that two of our very similar friends, unknown to each other, would really like each other, experience will show you that this is very often not the case.

5)

Recognize the opportunities in a relationship challenged by your intense dislike of one another. While you may never learn to like each other, opportunities exist here for personal behavioral modification. Indeed, often the most rewarding of outcomes can result when you push yourself to cope with people whom you find challenge you in this respect because you ultimately learn to manage, if not learn to tolerate, a part of yourself that you didn't even want to face before.

Experience dictates that even if you initially do not communicate any of your intentions to modify your own behavior to your mirror, being that they invariably feel the same about you as you do about them, they will eventually (usually, pretty quickly) notice that they aren't able to push your buttons.

If you are using this experience for self-improvement (instead of what you've been using it for?), it will be clear that you aren't taking advantage of opportunities to push theirs. This is going to be noticed (and not just by your mirror), and credited to you as maturity; bonus points for having the courage to come clean with your mirror, and tell them about your insight into this matter, leading to future mutual progression. And even more kudos to you if you do this personal development in the public sphere; as it's no easy task, it impresses people to see such maturity and rest assured that anyone within earshot will be enthralled.

6)

Continue seeing yourself as others see you throughout life. This isn't a one-off exercise. It's something that will benefit you and your relationships for all time, and as such, it's essential that you continue to remain alert and willing to see yourself reflected in others around you. Once you have refined seeing yourself, exactly as others see you, by witnessing the reflections in and from others, you will find yourself more forgiving of others, more willing to reach out and pull people through awkward moments and difficult times because you see not only your own struggles but theirs too, all intertwined as one. And all this takes is constant self-examination, self-honesty, and a willingness to step outside yourself regularly.

·         Seek balance rather than control. Controlling behavior is negative behavior and can lead to perfectionism, unreal expectations, and can easily transfer to wanting to control others to make them stop reflecting the part of ourselves we're not liking. Instead, try to balance your negative self with your strengths and positive self. We cannot be whole until we embrace the parts of ourselves we don't always like and we do best when we acknowledge our shortcomings and learn to treat them with humor and openness rather than attempting to stifle them or blame their existence on someone or something else.

·         This can be a powerful tool for expression; who among us hasn't expressed something expecting a certain response, and then got a somewhat different response, maybe only communicated by facial expression, that we tend to just kind of ignore, while plowing ahead--when the facial expression should be telling you that you haven't communicated your opening idea fully (for instance).



I found this quite intriguing to read. Although most of us know we give of impressions to people, sometimes we don't realise what impression we are giving off or how we are coming across to people. After reading this I thought about how often when in a conversation I think about the person and what vibes they are giving off to me. I reflect an awful lot on other people and I question why they are speaking in that tone? what is the purpose of what they are saying? what they are trying to get across to me? However I don't think much about what I am giving off to a person, people are constantly reflecting on me also. I believe using this technique of writing could have a powerful impact on my practise and to help me learn more about me and why I say and do certain things. I am yet to write in this style as I wanted to choose a day where I am working with someone closely or around someone for the majority of the day to really think about it and absorb the benefits of this type of reflection. I am most excited about this way of reflection although it will be the most challenging technique for me.

Overall this task has been 100% beneficial in general. I have learnt different ways to reflect on myself and my practices and also learnt about me, my feelings and my emotions. There has been a lot of purpose and meaning behind the reflection and although it has taken me a while, I didn't want to evaluate each day as it comes as I don't believe that would benefit me in the slightest. There have been positives and negatives in every style of writing. I have struggled with some more than others and enjoyed experimenting with the unfamiliar ways of reflection. I will continue to reflect and try different methods of reflection as I conclude that all 7 styles of reflection will continue to help me grow and develop my practices. Although I have not reflected on 'Another view' yet, I am waiting to learn and read more about this method of reflection. I will come back to this style when I have experimented more.