Second campus session- 30/10/12

Really looking forward to the second campus session tomorrow. The first one really helped me understand things in more depth and I felt I absorbed so much from you all. Hoping for the same tomorrow :)!

Will add more after the session to give those who couldn't make it an idea of what was discussed. Wouldn't want you feeling left out now!

See you guys tomorrow! :) x

So yesterdays campus session was taken by Adesola. It was great to finally meet her and put a face to a name :). I will give a brief summary of some of the important topics I felt stood out for me. I will also give you links to other peoples blogs as some people were asked by Adesola to blog about certain things we discussed in more detail.

We started off the session by each introducing ourselves to one another. We then got in to partners and had to each write a word down that we felt summed us up. For example I wrote down 'performer' and my partner Sarah Robinson wrote 'teacher'. We then wrote a list of things we felt related to our partners word. I found this really interesting because at first I found myself writing down the obvious things I felt related to being a teacher, but then as time went on I started to think outside the box a bit. As I myself have not had much experience in teaching, I found that what worked for me, was relating Sarah to a teacher I have had myself. This helped me create a clearer picture. This task was also useful in making you realise what it is you actually do. Sometimes we actually forget because we are too busy rushing about our days and don't give ourselves time to think!

We spoke about Kolb's learning cycle and if we feel it works for us or not. We did an exercise using sticks and in pairs had to keep the sticks afloat by using just ore finger tips. This for me showed a great example of 'Concrete Experience' as I was actually doing it. I then found myself watching others to see what worked for them which was 'Reflective Observation'. Second time around once we changed partners, I would say I entered the cycle at a different point. In my head I had evaluated what I had learnt from doing it the first time 'Abstract Conceptualisation' and so I now was trying out the new ideas with my new partner 'Active Experimentation'. The exercise with the sticks really helped me break down each of the stages and I feel Kolb's learning cycle is a great tool for me when using reflection.

An Important Point!!
An important thing that stood out for me was when Adesola said about the theories being someone else's view and that it doesn't necessarily have to be true in your mind as you may feel it doesn't work for you. You should take out who you are and take things from other people you feel relate to you.

For example. I was finding keeping a written journal very time consuming but found that recording Facetime and Skype conversations of me explaining my day to others was a quicker and more effective method for me. After a day of shows, vocalising experiences allows me to open up and be very honest with my experiences and feelings. (Tharp and Reiter, 2006)
More in depth links to follow :)

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