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Saturday thoughts

 Taking today to try to pin down some thoughts and understanding about module 3. Doing my usual overthinking and then going round in circles! Re-reading the module handbook is definitely helping along with my journal notes - using a highlighter to pull together the main points. Have made some bullet points of what I want to achieve over the weekend to bring some order to my chaotic brain! The concept of not answering the research question and instead allowing more questions to form still feels a little alien, but I think it is starting to make more sense the more I read around the subject. Trying not to second guess the outcome of my research is also difficult . I need to allow things to happen and take shape in order to inform the next stage of my inquiry, rather than allowing my thoughts to move ahead to what 'might' be. When time is at a premium it is a challenge to allow things to simply unfold in front of me and wait to be guided! Being more selective with my research read...
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Student Voice representative

 Hi, I am acting as the Student Voice representative for Module 3 students on the course. If you have any comments -positive and/or negative that you would like to be raised at the Programme Voice Group, I would need you to contact me by 3rd March on my MDX Uni email  -  ME697@live.mdx.ac.uk  These can then be shared at the pre - PVG when items are discussed and an agenda can be set. This feedback will help the University to monitor, evaluate and improve the student experience of the course - being on the course itself and the wider university systems. Below are the suggested areas for feedback; Course Content /Delivery / Pedagogy / Structure Administrative/Financial Issues Communication with Programme Team Communication with the university Technology / IT/ UniHub Library Resources/Access Support / Individual / SET Student Union Special Issues Thanks and hope to hear from you soon! Melody
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Time flies!!

 I have no idea where the last month has gone!! Feeling a sense of relief today that I have submitted 2 of my 4 AOL essays to turnitin - this was after a number of frustrating hours trying to copy and paste my illustrations into a word document! Eventually one of my students came to my rescue (they are well aware of my limited IT skills) and showed me how to use google docs to save in different formats. An absolute game changer!  The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur - so busy at the moment - show rehearsals at the studio where I teach have now begun on Sundays, and a job application a couple of weeks ago took me a while to put together and plan and caused me to fall a little behind with where I wanted to be with my studies. I've been on catch up ever since!  This week I'm giving my undivided attention (aside from work) to the module 1 reflective essay draft. Looking back over my notes since the start of the course, I realise just how much ground I've covered and t...
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Academic writing

 This has been a really fascinating week in terms of the zoom sessions. The one with Ruth Bonazza looking at free writing was a revelation! I've never journalled or done anything like this before and felt unsure that I'd be able to write continuously for 8 minutes on the given topic. Seems I was wrong! After getting over the initial worries/thoughts about writing 'properly' I really enjoyed the process, and will definitely use it as a tool to start off my ideas for reflective writing.  Ruth also gave a suggestion of looking at the Royal Literary Fund website which provides information and guidance for writing academic essays - I've only had a quick look so far but aim to take some time to look at this in more depth before I start to draft my first AOL essay. This morning's session with Peter Thomas answered a number of questions that I'd had regarding reading for research, and really put my mind at rest. Looking at methods of reading and finding information ...
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Starting to read.....

 I spent a chunk of the weekend getting to grips with 'A handbook of reflective and experiential learning - theory and practice' by Jennifer Moon. My preferred method is to highlight anything that springs out to me as relevant/helpful/thought provoking (I've ordered 2nd hand books so I'm not worried about putting my mark on them!)  to then come back to and reflect on in more depth. As I've started to get to grips with my AOL essay titles I was aware that I was reading with these in mind, and so probably being more drawn to elements that could relate to these.  The notion of reflection being linked to an emotional process is something that I definitely relate to, and am not sure that I can separate myself from. Maybe this is because I feel that as a teacher everything I do has some element of emotional input?  This could be an idea/thought to follow at some point as in the book it states that some theories suggest it's possible to reflect without emotion. I enjoy...
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Understanding the RPL claim

 So after the zoom session this morning on the RPL process, some of the fog has started to lift! Was good to see other faces on a Monday morning doing something that we wouldn't normally be doing- I definitely see Mondays as a bit of a challenge sometimes - always a busy day at the college and then followed by an evening of teaching in the studio. Starting the day off with a fresh focus felt great! One thing that I am relieved about is the fact that we don't have to get all the areas of learning essays in at the same time. The fact that we can spread them out over the 2nd term is reassuring, as I must admit that it feels quite daunting at the moment to think that they would all need to be done by the 21st March deadline. Maybe once I get going with the process and have had my supervision meeting, it may seem more achievable - I will wait and see. The fact that we can also write a longer essay and then claim for a greater weighting of the credits was something I hadn't reali...
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Hello from Melody!

 Hi everyone, I'm Melody and this is my first ever blog!  I have danced all my life and after a career as a professional performer I have taught in a variety of settings both in the public and private sector. My current full-time role since 2008 has been as course leader and teacher on a Level 3 Extended Diploma course in Performing Arts in Stoke on Trent. My main subjects are ballet and jazz, but my role also includes teaching contextual studies, leading a team of 8 teachers in the delivery of the course, planning and assessment and pastoral care of our students (something which has grown considerably in the last few years). I also teach at a private studio one night a week teaching ages 12 - 24 years in ballet and jazz, although over the years I have taught ages 2 - 75 in a variety of styles. For 4 years I was head of dance at a high school teaching KS3/4 and GCSE Dance. I've also been an assessor and mentor for the British Ballet Organisation (bbodance) for their teaching q...
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Location: Stoke-on-Trent, UK
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