the final count down...

so i have completed all the tasks set in module one, i feel i have completed them to a standard i am happy with though there are some sections i would like to keep on revisiting through out the course as i feel they can be constantly worked on and improved.
     Now all that is left to do is to begin the final piece of work, and i can still say it feels a daughnting task! after having so much information, help and support given for each task, i still feel i am hitting a brick wall at knowing where to start with this task! i am sure once i get my head down and get to stuck in a flow will begin and i wont be able to stop, as has been the case with many other of the tasks.I have decided to set a full day aside to begin work on this and give it my full concentration.
      i was wanting to know if anyone is feeling the same or has anyy helpful work techniques to get focused and start? Also another question i had was that it says our paper piece has to be spiral bound that is another thing i have no idea how to do or where to get it done. Any help would be much appreacated.

thanks steph.

Task 3B

i had been putting off doing this one but once i got started i realised it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be and i enjoyed reading up on networking from a marketing point of view on the blog provided in my reference.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pK9ErtKD9N4yr4erIQKaAblPYJ9hI752Ubk4hpKQWMg/edit

Task 3D. Critical Questions

with this task before i started commenting on other peoples blogs to do with the networking side of the modual i wanted to make sure i had fully answered the questions myself.

Do some very specific ideas emerge about your networking and sources.- After looking at all the types of networking there is out there and looking at my uses of it, I feel personally I am not using it to its full advantage, a lot of the networking I do is unplanned and just as something to do and to see what ore is out there. I feel I need to plan a more focused networking strategy where I actually set time aside to network in the variety of ways I have found I am neglecting.

Are your ideas shared by others within your professional area of work? – yes I think my ideas are shared as at the moment with my transition into teaching a lot of things are new for me so at the moment I feel I am more learning from my different networks than sharing, until I become comfortable enough within the field to share my own thoughts and ideas.

Does sharing ideas and communicating with others shift your thinking, planning or practice? – yes I feel it does shift the way I think as within this profession I understand that know one is right, what someone may think is a great way to do something someone else may disagree. Understanding and sharing all these different kinds of ideas I feel opens you up more to a wider scope of your profession offering you more knowledge on the subject you may not have thought about.

Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and the actions to take? Critical reflection is a new tool to me that I feel I still have not come to grips with properly, it still does not come naturally to sit and critically reflect on something. However from the times that I have started to do it I can see the benefits and feel it is something that I need to adapt more into my lifestyle.

To what extent do concepts and theories assist you in thinking about your professional networking in different ways? – having read the course reader about the different concepts of networking it has made me look at it in a different way, because before I would just do it subconsciously knowing I was networking but not really actively doing it with a purpose. Now having read up on networking and the different ways of using it to your advantage it is now something I want to actively do and set time aside for to actually network with a purpose.

Are you left thinking differently prior to this part of the module? – yes I am left thinking differently after really looking at networking and what it can offer me, I feel it is an area within my profession that I have not really tapped into and it has many advantages I have been neglecting into improving my carrer. So from now on I intend to take a more active approach to networking to see what knowledge I can learn from it and what I can share with others.

Task 3C Sources of information.

My top five current most important sources of information I would say are as follows.

            GOOGLE- This has to be my number one as it is something that I access for anything and everything. It is a search engine I use daily to gain access to various sources of information. It is constantly updated and a great way to work your way through the world wide web.

            FRIENDS- I have my friends as my second as I feel they give me a variety of information to help with my professional life, they bring different aspects to the table as they do various jobs, hobbies ect so have different view points to me.

            FACEBOOK- I am counting facebook as one of my current sources of information, as recently I have updated and changed my account making it more of a professional one, allowing me access to various pages gaining information to do with my practice.

            YOUTUBE- is a source of information that I use but not one that I feel I use enough to my advantage yet, I look at it occasionally, to look up different styles of dance and workshops ect, but I feel I could use it more to my advantage to find out more about my profession and different styles ect.

            WIKIPEDIA- Again this source is something I have only started to use recently, as it is an online encyclopedia and has a lot of uses, however with it being accessed and updated by anyone you can not be sure how reliable to information is.

After having looked at my top five sources of information, I have realized just how much I rely on the internet to gain information for my profession! Which I can see is a good thing and that I am using it to my full advantage though afew areas I could use more. However I feel I am neglecting the more older approaches to gaining information on my topics, word of mouth, books, magazines, classes. These are the sources of information that I feel I lack the use of and something that I need to access and use more.