Sources of Information 3c

My 5 most important sources of information...

     1.    My students

2.    Apple

3.    Affiliations

4.    Facebook / utube

5.    Blogs

1.    My Students, they are right up there at the top of my list because without them I would have no job. It is there eagerness to return week after week that keeps me in work. Listening to what they want, how they want to learn and what interests them enables me along side my own skill set to prepare and plan lessons that are engaging and successful.

 

 Sarah Robinson writes in her blog, “In my role as dance Teacher I deal with people on a daily basis. My students aren’t quantities to be processed, or robots to be programmed, but are unique entities that come with there own agenda and that provide me with a wealth of knowledge.”

 

I couldn’t agree more, I’ve learnt more valuable lessons for my career through the children that I teach than I ever did when I was the classroom myself. Finding a balance is of course important because not always is what the children want necessarily what’s best for them and it can be easy to not always know where to draw the line. Knowledge most certainly does come with experience.

 

2.    Apple, My iphone, ipod and itunes, where would I be without them! My phone enables me instant communication through calls, texts and emails, access to so much stored information...song lyrics, scripts, information about my pupils, copies of my qualifications, certificates and insurance. My phone also provides constant access to the internet and tools provided by web 2.0. My ipad is just a back up and more user friendly version of my phone. I bring it into class with me sometimes using it with the children. But my favourite has to be itunes. As a dance teacher you can never have too much music. And there it is every piece you could ever want just one click away. It was nice to read in Melanie Browns Blog that I’m not the only one that relies on my phone, although it did get me thinking that what if this source was taken away how would I cope? Have I become too dependent on it?

3.    Affiliations, There are several groups of people that I rely upon for information.

 

Karen Stephenson say’s, “since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate of knowledge.”

 

The parents of my pupils are a very important source of knowledge for the children’s and my own safety and well being. The information they pass on to me can make or break a class and make a huge difference to how well there child and other children settle. As a teacher it is invaluable to learn about each pupil as individuals.

 

My Family and friends, poor them!!! I am forever running stuff by them for there Joe public reactions. As a dancer it is very easy to get carried away and go over the tip when putting numbers together for my class. I often sit my friends and families sit down a get them to be guinea pigs to my latest creative master piece. The odds are if they enjoy it an audience full of novice parents will gain the same appreciation and enjoyment.

 

It has been really reassuring reading Clare Orlandi blog post on this to see that I am not the only one that likes to involve the parents and use them as sources of information.

  

4.    Facebook and utube, Although mostly social many of my fellow dancers and teachers only hold the role as friends now as I work mostly by myself so face book is a great medium of staying in touch and being able to reach each other when we have ideas and opinions we want to share or need advice. Looking through all the Bapp blogs I can see it is a source of information a lot of us share in common. Utube I use mostly for research, so much about dance and performance is visual it is much better tool than reading a book. I often use it to show the children examples of particular styles and examples and ideas that run along side our own projects. I personally and I sure many others do need to be conscious of checking the validity of information sourced this way. One person’s idea of something can be very different to someone else’s. Likewise someone’s own interests could out weigh the help they may offer you. It’s a competitive world out there, let’s not forget that.

 

5.    Blogs, I think we are all in the same boat here. A very useful new source of information. I just need to learn to find the time to put more information in, in order to gain more back. Its tit for tat and its only fair we all do our own bit.

 

Whilst writing this I have realised that I have a great set of sources for information for my current professional life style. But I’m at a stage in my life where hopefully my career is moving on and developing, perhaps my sources should too.