Wednesday 18th November Module1 Task3 Breeze Session.

This was another very successful and informative discussion, unfortunately my mic was not working so I was unable to participate as much as I would have wished.  I also lost all sound for about 10minutes whilst I rebooted my laptop.

We discussed methods available to hand in the final Critical Reflection and I was also made aware that because my previous qualification is over 5 years old I have to also write 500 words about how my qualification is still relevant and how I am using it daily.  Paula assured us it did not need to be an academic essay just a personal explanation of how we are applying our qualification to work now.

PROFESSIONAL NETWORK = MACHINE

Cassie started us off as we began discussing Part 3 The Network Professional and reader 3.  Cassie mentioned Affiliation and how she saw that as relationships we build in professional networks. She went on to comparing a professional network to a machine, in the way it works.  I really liked that imagery. We have to put in what we take out for it to be a successful network.

 

HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF CONTACTS MADE?

 

As professionals we are meeting new people all the time through new jobs or projects. How are we meant to keep in touch with all these people?  How do we decide who is worth keeping in contact with?  I have always found it hard keeping connections with people, this stems from being a shy person, I would admit Id prefer to simply not speak to someone if there was a chance I may look stupid. I realise this is not the best way to think because what have I got to lose, I might as well just speak up.  We also came to more questions, 'what is classed as keeping in contact?' does a simple 'Happy Birthday' on Facebook mean you are part of the network related to the person you are wishing it to? Is that enough? 

Connections are established through common interests, how many interests you have in common will affect what kind of network connection you will have with a person.  It is defiantly harder to keep in contact with someone you have only one common interest with. This will determine whether the network is professional or personal. 

I discovered that since the age of eighteen I have shifted through many networks, in college, at work, at home.  I have only kept in contact with a handful of people, these are the people that I have common interests with that are not only work related.

We all have to make decision on who we give our time to as we all know there are not enough hours in the day.  

 

 

NO NEED TO TALK, I CAN SEE YOUR LIFE ONLINE!

 

This was another great point made.  We are a generation who shares our lives online, so we have less reason to contact each other to ask what have been up to.  How do we know if people are genuine when they comment on your photos or thoughts.  Is wishing someone Happy Birthday on Facebook lazy?

 

PROFESSIONAL CONTACT -> PERSONAL CONTACT

 

PERSONAL CONTACT -> PROFESSIONAL CONTACT

 

We spoke about how contacts can merge from professional to personal and visa versa.  I could relate this to a situation I am currently experiencing.  The principal of the school I teach for has recently merged into a personal contact. We have discovered we have more than the love of dance in common. Which has in turn allowed us to connect on a deeper level.  I would now consider her as a friend rather than a boss to a certain extent. We are now more open with discussing pupils and teaching methods, which is helping us both as well as the school.

 

6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION

 

Sophie brought up 6 Degrees of Separation.  She explained as the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.  This is a scary thought, if we cut just one person off from our network we could potentially be cutting off hundred of useful contacts. This proves how careful we need to be online with the way we portray ourselves as well as who we keep in contact with.

I look forward to finding out more about this research.

 

ITS OK TO BE A NOVICE

 

All professionals must of been a novice at something in their careers.  Discussing how we all feel like an outsider at some point when joining a new network whether it be professional or personal made me feel more at ease.  I have recently started a new teaching job, once a week I have to sit and share an hour an a half lunch break with a very experienced drama teacher, singing teacher and principal.  At first it was so awkward, I found myself sat just soaking in all the knowledge they were unaware they were sharing. I am slowing becoming part of the network, its now week twelve and I am feeling more confident within my job role so I am able to be more confident within the network.  I look forward to exploring this new network and making new connections.
We need to remember that everyone knows what it feels like to be on the outside of a cycle. 

Answers were not what I was looking for. (Skpye Session 16.10.15)

Hi everyone,
I am back to share an experience that I just shared with a few other BAPP students.
It was great to meet and chat to people in the same position as me but scattered around the world. Unfortunately our breeze session was unsuccessful but we had a good old chat on Skype.

This has been the first time I have spoke with other people on the same course and now I wonder why I have not contacted them before now.  I was so nervous but Paula asked us all to introduce our selves and that really broke the ice and made me feel more at ease with speaking to complete strangers.

It is just helpful knowing that I am not the only one who is struggling with things and feeling a bit lost.  One of the questions I had jotted down to ask Paula was:

'how will I know if I am heading in the right direction as some times I feel as if I'm waffling and drifting away from the point I'm trying to make.' 

I learnt that there is no right or wrong way to go about what we are trying to achieve as all of us are individuals and will see and explore topics and tasks in very different ways.  We are on a journey trying to find what way works for us personally.  I think I felt I was waffling because I was so excited about this new way of sharing my thoughts and feelings, it was hard finding a way to start.  There are so many current topics that are affecting me in the work place that I want to share and discuss with others in the profession which leads to the next question I had for Paula:

"can we use our blogs to speak about other topics that are not tasks?"

I now know I can discuss anything at all as it will all add as experience and hopefully generate a wider audience and allow me to debate and discus matters that are affecting me as a professional. 
Relating back to Reader 1 - Remixable data and transformations, In my previous blog I struggled with what to write for this topic as I felt I had nothing that related to it.  I know understand more about this and it obviously relates to me in so many ways.  I think it was Lucy Calvert who asked "can you delete and edit your posts?"  Paula made it very clear that this is what we should be doing. Writing blogs, reading them back then editing and improving them. We also discussed how it would be useful to screen shot the blog before you edit it, as you will be able use these to document on your learning process through out this Degree.
So yes I do remix my personal information constantly, the blog is only one example. I pretty much edit every post I put on social media for one reason or another.

We also touched on the subject of our personal information being out on the web for everyone to see and how important it is to be careful with the way we are portraying ourselves as professionals. Also an interesting subject to look further into is, if someone else has published information about your self can you then delete that?

 

These are a few words Paula said that really stuck with me. It made me realise that I have been only looking out in my research and blogs. Relating topics to other people in other circumstances and not to my own personal self. Although its important to relate to other peoples situations it is equally as important to look back at your self and your own experiences.  This is how I will learn and improve what works best for me.

I hope this blog has been helpful for anyone that couldn't make the session today. Look forward to meeting you all in the future.

Thanks again to Paula, Cassie, Bethany and Lucy for making my first session so enjoyable and informative.