Feedback Review

Today I have re-read my feedback from module WBS 3630 in order to clarify in my mind where I am and which areas need to be focussed on.
The working title of my inquiry is 'An exploration into the importance of Dance and Drama within education'. The overall intention of my inquiry was to evaluate whether subjects such as Dance and Drama have a place in today's educational system. I initially had grand ideas of putting my arguement across to the Principal of the secondary school I work in as a Teaching Assistant, and somehow re-molding the curriculum to incorporate more time to the creative subjects. Although I whole heartedly believe that this would be a massive leap in the right direction for the British education system, Paula's feedback made me realise that with the time frame I have and to be quite honest, the lack of authority I pocess, it would be too difficult to 'prove' that a creative curriculum should be adopted in my school. This could be regarded with a certain dispondency, but what Paula also highlighted to me was that although I can not necessarily change the teaching methods that the government have set in place, I can certainly use the valuable, creative teaching methods I have explored to improve my own teaching performance.
The literature I had read during Module WBS 3630 was appropriate to my inquiry and so the next step for me will be to find further resources which may also include educational policies and curriculum information.
Having realised that the initial question to my inquiry is too wide a topic area, I may benefit by concentrating on the sub-questions I had proposed in my Inquiry Plan. 1. Are creative subjects considered as important as academic subjects and why? 2. Should Dance and Drama be taught independently of governmnent run schools? Choosing just one of these avenues will allow my inquiry to be more specific and ultimately executed with more precision.
My feedback also encouraged me to take on some voluntary activities that could aid my inquiry. I recently directed the Shakespeare's school festival production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', which has enabled me to witness first hand, the growth in terms of confidence and ability, pupils' learn when taking part in creative projects. This has been as invaluable addition to my inquiry.

Time management....Failed?

At last it is half term and I have dedicated this week to uni work. At the beginning of every module, I try to stick to the weekly guides given to us in the handbook so as to stay on track but due to the fact that I work full time and have a second job, it is virtually impossible. This has upset me in the past but due to the nature of the course (work based), I have realised that although it is not ideal, it is possible for me to work in heavy doses when time allows rather than evenly spread out, as I would prefer. As the course is specifically created to teach us how to cope in a professional world, I have also realised that in Education, this is how the profession exists - during term time, there is virtually no room for extracurricular activities. The job is far too demanding. Anything 'extra' can really only be done during school holidays, which can often take away any connotations of 'holiday' ie. fun, lie-ins, lazy days!
A week of unpaid work that I sincerely hope will one day 'pay off', here I come!

Shakespeare schools festival

Well the performance went really well! I'm astonished because I was pulling my hair out just the day before the show. I'm so proud of the pupils. The time and effort they put in was amazing.
I found directing to be a very strange experience. I've only ever been on stage myself before which obviously involves being involved right up until the appaulse at the end. It was odd having to hand that over to other people and not being able to participate in the very final moments. All I could do was watch and hope things went smoothly. We had a few 'moments'  - lines being forgotten, one pupil vomiting backstage and one of the teacher's sons having to go on instead and me having to whisk my top off to provide a 'shawl' as a prop that went walkies!
The experience has defintiely left me wanting more in terms of producing and directing and it has also made me realise how much I miss being on stage myself.

My first professional directorial role!

Tomorrow will be my first ever performance that I have directed and been paid for! A cast of 20 secondary school pupils will be at the Greenwich theatre, London in the Shakespeare school festival, performing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. It has been a very difficult experience, mostly due to such a lack of support from the school, but here we are...on with the show! I will blog my experiences in due course!

As usual, no support when it comes to Drama lessons

Today I experienced a classic example of how unimportant drama is considered in my place of work (secondary school). On Thursday this week, my pupils will be performing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at the Greenwich Shakespeare school's festival. We were having a rehearsal in an allocated room when a pupil who is not involved with the performance came in to the room. I explained that there was a rehearsal taking place, to which she informed me that she was feeling ill and had been told by one of the senior staff to leave her lesson and sit in the drama room. I can only imagine how a teacher would complain if I had sent one of my pupils, feeling ill, to sit in on one of their lessons! Obviously this member of staff, and unfortunately many like her, don't see that a rehearsal taking place two days before the performance, does not welcome random 'ill' people to sit in on! This is something I experience on a daily basis. Earlier this morning I had the father of one cast member call me to say that his daughter would be dropping out...with two days notice. He said that we would have to find someone else. Easy as that. Unbelievable.

Module 3, campus session 1

For those of you who could not make the campus session today, here is a summary of what was discussed.

First of all Paula spoke to us about the importance of stress management. Knowing in advance that this is going to be an intence period for us, means that we can prepare ourselves. She suggested that we all make ourselves an artificial deadline so that we have further time should an event cause our schedule to be interuppted.

Ways to beat stress: Breathe
                               Exercise
                               Make a plan of action
                               Make time to socialise
                               Get with nature (a walk in the woods/ spend time with your pet)
                               Do the action plan

Don't be caught out by technology....SAVE YOUR WORK! Technology will, at some point inevitibly let you down. Use multiple USB sticks and paper coppies.

We then started looking at the criteria of module 3:
                                                                              Part 1 - Critical Review
                                                                              Part 2 - Professional Artefact
                                                                              Part 3 - Oral Presentation

Part 1 & 2 will be marked before we do part 3. The deadline for parts 1 & 2 is 7th January 2013. The preliminary date of the Oral Presentation is 24th Janurary 2013.

The following information can be found in the handbook.
 We then looked at the 5 stages of work that will take us through module 3. Paula asked us to take the time to see which stage we are currently at and what needs to be done next.

Stage 1
Write and post to Paula a written review of your feedback from your inquiry plan. Do you understand what you have done so far? Is it understandable? What does your feedback tell you you need to do to improve?

Stage 2
carry out your literature review. You can use up to 20 sources of literature. Whose previous work/literature has influenced you? Find some really good sources.

Stage 3
Carry out your inquiry. Make sure you do the things you have said you are going to do. Explain why, if there is a reason that you cannot include something you have said you are going to do in your inquiry plan.

Stage 4
Analyse your findings to show that your understanding

Stage 5
Complete the assessment using part 1, part 2 and part 3 (See above). Although this will be hard work, it should ultimately be something you are very proud of! :-)

Use your academic advisor. Email questions, skype, text and call.
Keep your subject/topic alive on daily basis. Talk to other people about what you are doing.

Next we discussed the Critical Review in more detail. Paula reminded us that it must be written formally. Peter Thomas will be holding an academic writing session on 23rd October 10am-2pm for extra help. (See home page on libguide). Explain how you have used it to improve your learning. What have you learnt? How? Why? Make sure you explain the outcome of your inquiry at the beginnning. Say any significant outcomes straight away. Don't leave it till the end.

During the session, we were given two exercises to do. The first was to answer a series of questions which will help you to start module 3 and recognise which stage you are at. This was fairly hard to do when put on the spot and with no prompts to help you to remember!

1. What research have you done so far?
2. What is you working title?
3. What are the ethical issues of your inquiry?
4. What are your literature research sources?
5. What data have you gathered?

The second exercise was to write down your action plans. Mine are:
* To schedule my interviews
* To leave a month for analyisis
* To create a university timetable using the suggested weekly feedback guides found in the handbook
* To arrange dates and time to do the interviews
* To read my literature
* To do the interviews
* To collect a portfolio of literature sources and quotes

Lastly, Paula encouraged us to continue blogging and communicating within our SIGS. All of us agreed that one of the biggest challenges is finding the time to blog as well as keep on top of the work to be assessed. We all thought that shorter but more regular blogs and also making your blog page a 'favourites tab' (up by the tool bar - easy access) can contribute to an increase in blogging. 

I hope this summary gives a brief idea of what was discussed today. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Sarah

Time management - Stage 1

Throughout the last two modules, I have definitely had timing issues. Even though my intentions have been good, I have realised that I have left things far too late resulting in very hectic deadlines! I have promised myself that this will not happen the third time round. Easily said! I am so very busy at work it is becomming increasingly difficult to find any spare time and with week one drawing to a close, I have already found myself falling behind the schedule. Tomorrow is the first campus session and I am relieved that I have been given permission by work to attend it. In preperation, I am trying to read the handbook and criteria for module 3. Unfortunately, I will not be able to write my review of module 2 in time for tomorrow. I have however found the information in the handbook about the five stages of the Professional Inquiry very useful. I agree that by modifying the task into 5 stages, it becomes much more manageable. This is something that I often suggest to GCSE pupils when tackling coursework.
So at the moment I am in the process of getting through stage 1, which will now merge in to week 2!
Does anybody else find one of the most challenging aspects of the course is simply managing time? How do you overcome these difficuties when trying to juggle full time (or in my case, two) jobs?
Looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it, tomorrow.

Module 3

I can't believe that I'm already on my final module. It feels good but very scary. Although I am very pleased that I have done well in the previous modules, I feel that I am rather out of my depth! I have never worked to such a high academic level before and am sometimes surpised at my own ability. This work doesn't come easily to me at all, so the next 12 weeks feel somewhat daunting. I am very goal orientated though, and am determined to achieve!

Since the end of module 2, I have undergone a massive upheaval at work. My school has been completely re-built as part of a multi million pound project. It has been in the process for two years but this summer, we actually moved out of the old building and in to the new one. Coming back in September was extremely stressful with both staff and pupils having no idea where anything or anywhere was and having to spend over a week merely unpacking. Due to these circumstances, it has been impossible for me to conduct any of the interviews needed for module 3 which means that I already feel that I am behind shcedule.

 On top of this, due to financial reasons, I have also had to take on a second job in the evenings for 3 days a week which means I am very pushed for time. Before starting this course, I'm pretty certain I would have caved in and would not have managed with so much on my plate. However, I have learnt that it is possible to time-manage effectively and have therefore set myself a timetable to follow in order to fit in my two jobs, university time and be able to still clean my house!

I'm looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it to the first campus session on Wednesday and also commenting on each other's blogs and SIG boards.

Sarah