New technologies!

So in a very weird turn of events I have been offered a place in the final for Miss Cambridgeshire and although this bares zero relevance to my degree, in taking part in this competition I have just set up a 'justgiving' account to help fundraise for their chosen charity 'beauty with a purpose' which helps disadvantaged children. So I have discovered a new form of technology which allows you to donate online and I thought, why not blog about it!

If any of you would be kind enough to donate I would be so grateful, All proceeds go towards the charity, as well as the amount I raise gaining me points in the competition!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=LAURENHOSKINS&pageUrl=3

LL x

My Inspirations

During a recent skype session I was asked who inspired me and I struggled to answer initially as I was still contemplating the idea of my professional practice being a 'thing'. This question appeared difficult because I am still finding my feet in this industry and therefore identifying my professional practice was not a simple question for me. I was reluctant to put myself into one box and therefore my inspirations didn't fit into a box either! Having slept on the information I was processing at the time, I can now answer a bit more confidently, who inspires me and why, in all genres.

Dance
Ginger Rodgers - Quite simply, I have always wanted to be the girl in the ostrich feathers. I love 'Top Hat', I love 'Swing Time'...I love them all! I adore the MGM era and Ginger Rodgers was the 'it' girl, I mean, she got to dance with Fred Astaire!
Ann Miller - Her routine from 'On The Town' or 'Small Town Girl' where she taps around the instruments that are being played out of the floor, or 'Too Darn Hot' from 'Kiss Me Kate' dancing on the table. She always wore amazing leotards with tassels and was the epitome of Hollywood glam.

Singing
Idina Menzel - I admire Idina Menzel's work ethic and have found her career interesting to follow as she went from Broadway star to house hold name, playing the voice of 'Elsa' in the Disney hit 'Frozen'. I think her honesty as a performer is admirable, particularly after her rather embarrassing NYE times square performance, where she didn't quite make the top note in 'Let It Go'. If Idina can crack - there is hope for all of us!
Bernadette Peters - I love Sondheim's work and Bernadette Peters has always been the go to interpreter when trying to understand Sondheim's complex pieces. I get lost in her voice and she uses a raw emotion every time she performs that gives me tingles.

Teaching
I really admire my current boss. She is amazing with kids and makes the sessions she takes look so easy. Whenever I get chance to observe I always learn something from her - I take a notepad and pen with me to observations!

2b:Journal Writing Experience

Having kept my diary a few weeks now and experimented with the different ways in which it is possible to write a journal, I have taken note of the ways of writing that I am happy using and also the ways I did not feel particularly comfortable using. Although some of the suggested ways to write worked for me more than others, I found it very useful to change up the way in which I keep my diary and experiment with different formats of writing.

Description and Initial Reflection
I feel that although these were listed separately in the reader, that when writing they go hand in hand. When you think of a diary you would assume it typically consists of the days events and then your thoughts and feelings in regards to them. I feel most at ease using this writing technique, and although there is minimal structure, the freedom to write with no 'rules' can be quite theraputic.

List
I LOVE LISTS! So although this was a new approach to journal writing for me, I absolutely loved it. I am an avid list maker at home anyway, there is always a to do list in the kitchen and I keep a notepad on the bed side table incase I think of anything I need to jot down to remember for the morning before I can sleep, so this style came quite naturally to me! When writing in this format I found it best to begin by listing an event followed by anything I saw or felt in regards to the event. I found this way of journalling quite fast paced, almost like a word association game, by highlighting key events rather than rambling on in my usual style!

Evaluation
Evaluating my day is something I would not normally do when keeping a diary but I found it very helpful as teaching has highs and lows and it felt very positive noting down what worked well in class and any break throughs I had had, as well as keeping track of things that didn't work so well. I have continued to write a short evaluation daily now to highlight the days learnings that I should remember.

Graphs, charts and diagrams
I didn't find this helpful in the slightest, and although having researched 'My life in graphs: a guided journal' and finding the ideal quite novel I couldn't use it effectively when keeping my own note of events.

What if?
To me this seemed like storytelling and therefore defeated the point of keeping a journal. There are plenty of things in life i'm sure we would all love to happen or dream of doing, but that isn't reality and therefore this style made little sense to me.

Another view
To be blunt, I disliked this way of writing, a lot. Writing from the view point of an object seemed...silly, and I felt silly writing in this style. I tried writing from the view of my handbag as this is the only item that seems to follow me where ever I go! But I really struggled with this and didn't feel that it benefitted me in any way. However, I did find looking at the day from someone else's point of view very helpful. Although I wouldn't chose to write the whole day in this style, reflecting on certain situations from another persons view point is extremely effective when trying to solve a conflict of disagreement in opinion.

In conclusion I find writing in a descriptive style with initial reflection most natural. I intend to continue with evaluation because as I previously mentioned, this has proven itself in being a helpful way of tracking the good and bad and therefore allowing me to reflect and learn. I will also be using the list format if I am ever in a rush to write one evening because it was a quick, snappy way of jotting down that days events and took considerably less time than my usual essays do! More than anything, this exercise has shown me the power of perspective and although this doesn't happen daily, if I do have a disagreement or feel strongly in opposition to someone elses opinion, I will use the technique of writing from their point of view to analyse the situation and hopefully learn from it.

Resources, networks and my professional practice...

After a very enlightening skype session earlier with Adesola, I have been left contemplating many new ideas and different approaches to the module. One of the topics the group discussed was our resources. The question was presented 'If you broke your leg tomorrow and could no longer dance, what would you do?' this type of question can be applied to anyones chosen practice and left me considering what my options actually were, not my fantasy job, but what would I do if life forced me in a different direction?

Throughout my training we were often told that if you had a plan B you would never reach your plan A and that in order to become strong competitors in the industry we had to focus purely on our goal, which for me has always been working in musical theatre. Having left college and begun, through this course, to consider my practice, I am beginning to understand that a plan B doesn't have to mean a complete career change, but that there are many branches to my 'practice' that I can explore.

Adesola asked us to name our current practice, not our life long goal or fantasy job, but what we were actively doing, and I struggled with this. It sounds ridiculous I know, but being relatively fresh out of dance school and having trained in all styles of dance as well as singing and acting, what did that make me? A tap dancer? actress? singer? The honest answer is, none of these things, as even though I consider myself a singer/dancer, I currently 'practice' singing teaching...teaching.  Though once I had landed on teaching, this led to many other questions. Is my current scenario of auditioning and teaching on the side a trajectory of graduating? As we are expected to get out there and audition and probably all teach some form of performing arts related subject on the side to earn a living. Do I want to teach? Do I want to audition? ......ARGH. Too many questions, so to make things easier I think it is really important for us all to know the answers to these three questions;

1. Where are you?
2. How did you get there?
3. Where do you want to go?

Thats it. There are no answers to many of the questions inside my head (another important lesson learnt during the skype session!) but giving yourself a sense of location is vital in understanding and articulating what you want to do within your practice.

Task 1c: Starting out on BAPP Arts

'Starting out on BAPP Arts' ...a simple enough starting point, however put me in front of a camera to briefly discuss this and I appear to lose the ability to construct sentences!

As a performer, I am used to singing, dancing and acting to an audience, but when talking to a camera as myself, rather than a character, I struggle. You are suddenly aware of how annoying your voice is, how unsymmetrical your face is and how badly you need to get your roots done. That being said, here's my quick introduction to the course, enjoy!

Task 2: Further reading...

Having started my diary a few weeks ago and shared my initial thoughts on Journal writing I have begun to do some extra reading. Other than the obvious use of 'reflection', I was struggling to break down the key benefits of keeping a Journal, however having read extracts of 'Uses and benefits of journal writing'  by Roger Hiemstra, I now feel more confident in the break down of uses and how to use these to examine my own writing.

Hiemstra lists the benefits as:

-personal growth and development
-intuition and self expression
-problem solving
-stress reduction and health benefits
-reflection and critical thinking

Personal growth and development
Hiemsta talks about journalling  'allowing for a freedom of expression that may be inhibited in a group setting' ,and this I completely relate to. As your diary is private you are free to do all the things you shouldn't do or feel reluctant to do in a formal setting; moan, ramble, be overly imaginative, dream, and swear! He also mentions 'planting seeds of ambition' and this is definitely something that features in my journal, having re-read a few days my ambition and want to succeed definitely shows.

Intuition and self expression
Hiemstra discusses the increase of self confidence and an ability to trust the inner voice in this section and I feel that this really applies to me. Looking beyond the journal, this module very much involves trusting your inner thoughts and being brave enough to blog about them, branching out into your own thought process and discovering new ideas along the way. The difference is that when blogging, you question yourself as to whether what you are writing is deemed 'correct', whereas in a diary there are no such boundaries. By being encouraged to write not only via blog but also keeping a journal I feel much more self confident in my academic abilities, for a start. After three years at dance school I felt my A level in English had been wasted and that I had forgotten everything I was taught at school, but I slowly feel that the academic part of my brain might slowly been warming up again! When writing my journal I really enjoy letting lose and truly expressing all of my feelings towards anything that has happened during the day (very Bridget Jones). The exclamation marks and cap lock text features heavily if my day has been stressful in anyway and it has been very interesting so far hearing my 'inner voice' back as I re-read my daily piece. Whereas my blog work, although relatively casual in approach, is still formally presented and thought out, my diary really sounds like, me.

Problem solving
 'I recommend to my students who are engaged in one of the journaling procedures that they allow adequate time in their reflecting processes for new perspectives to emerge.' Hiemstra.
I feel that I am too early in the journalling process to truly reflect on this but as the above quote states, allowing adequate time for new perspectives to emerge is key, so thats a blog for the future!

Stress reduction and health benefits
As I discussed in my last blog, I was already aware of the health benefits of journal keeping. (I won't go into it again!) But it really does work. When you are prone to over thinking and in my case struggled to sleep due to my thoughts, a diary works wonders, allowing you to move your thoughts from brain to paper and therefore helping you relax. I have had a few very stressful days at work recently and have found my journal to be, yet again, a huge help in de-stressing which stops me from dragging work issues home with me and taking them out on someone else! Ranting via pen and paper is just as good, although sometimes the pen struggles to keep up!

Reflection and critical thinking
...and this lead to the overall aim! In my diary I try to end each entry now with a little reflection if there is anything in or out of work that I would have done differently during the day. A few work related reflections have consisted of situations in the class that I might have handled differently and ideas that come into my head as i'm writing about things I can do in my next lessons to expand on that weeks learnings. I have also started to compare the ways in which my 'work reactions and responses' differ to the way 'normal me' reacts and responds. I often think as 'the teacher' as a role. Its a part to play, and although 'the teacher' has many similarities to me, and I try to be as down to earth with the kids as possible, the person I play in the classroom is obviously very different to what I am like at home. Having already reflected on these differences in my journal I am going to start trying to infiltrate some of my teacher attributes into every day life, as after exploring this I think many of these teacher qualities are a better alternative to my own. As a teacher you have to be understanding, you have to listen, you have to explain things rationally and I try as a teacher to not raise my voice unless seriously called for! Where as in real life, I don't always follow these traits, (at home I hate having to explain something more that once and I have a habit of holding very strong views that I struggle to see different sides of).

The irony of it all is that by blogging about the first stages of my journal, I have in essence reflected on reflection......AND ON THAT NOTE I AM GOING TO LAY DOWN.

LLx

Task 2a: Initial thoughts...

Journal writing. Any excuse to go to tkmaxx and browse rows upon rows of pretty diaries and pen sets (mild obsession with stationery!) But what to write? where do I begin?

When I was in my first year at college I suffered with depression quite badly and one of the techniques that helped me get my head around my emotions and everything I was feeling was keeping a diary. I read it back recently after graduating and although I couldn't bring myself to bin it, it will be a very long time before I read it again. Not only was a journal a massive help to me by clearing my head and allowing me to make sense of my thoughts, I could also use it to keep a note of good days and bad days. As I began 'treatment', I could clearly see my mood changes and any dips I had through what I had written down. As a reflective tool, my diary allowed me to see how far I had come and my progression on the road to feeling myself again, and whenever I had a 'down day' I would look back and remember what I had already got through as encouragement. 

To begin this section of the module I read extracts of  'new directions for adult and continuing education' by David Boud, in which chapter one is entitled 'Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice' I found the whole chapter extremely enlightening and was comforted as I read, as his words backed up my initial ideas on the subject of journal writing.

'Journal writing can be viewed through many different lenses: as a form of self expression, a record of events, or a form of therapy.' This quote instantly hit me as being highly significant in  my current understanding of the benefits of keeping a diary.

'This perspective views the various forms of journal writing as ways of making sense of the world and how we operate within it. Journal writing can be used to enhance what we do and how we do it.'  Reading this cleared a lot of confusion I had in regards to the purpose of writing a diary in regards to professional practice. By writing out my days events, for example an audition, I can look back on what I did and critique myself in order to do better next time, allowing me to develop as a practitioner though reflection.

Being able to reflect is a very powerful tool no matter what you are trying to achieve and having read other peoples blogs in which they talk about reading their teenage diary for this task and being mortified by their 16 year old thoughts, it is clear that journals are a great format to explore reflective practise, no matter what the end goal. I look forward to reading other peoples initial thoughts on diary writing, and as always and feedback is welcome!

LL x

Task 1b: Web 2.0 or face to face...

With web 2.0 technologies adapting and growing all the time, more and more day to day activities and responsibilities are now accomplishable without having to leave your home. I now frequently find myself, not only finding audition listings online, but also taking the first stages of applying for the job via web 2.0 technologies as well.

Before meeting face to face is even suggested, I have been required in the past to supply a CV, headshot, showreel, voice reel and portfolio all via email or links via youtube, and this doesn't just apply to the performing arts industry either. I recently applied for a part time 'proper job' and the first five rounds of interviews were done via computer...thats right, 5 ROUNDS. Having emailed my covering letter and cv, I was then asked to complete a questionnaire online which was a multiple choice style test, giving me certain situations for me to decide the professional response. Having past this test, I was then invited to fill out my personal details online, basically reinstating the information on my cv in more detail, before being asked to complete a second quiz style round with yet more employee and customer related situations. Having passed the second quiz I was then asked to login to their computer interviewing site, which I am told is becoming exceedingly popular with big name companies. This system recorded me from my computer devise, and questions appeared on the screen which I then had to reply to, speaking to the camera, as if it were the interviewer, first time, no retakes. One word, HORRIFIC. Finally, I was invited into the store for a face to face interview, just to be told that they liked me but they didn't hire performers because they tend to be unreliable.

Well thats at least three weeks of my life i'm not going to get back.

So in my eyes the simple answer is, no. Nothing beats a face to face first impression. You can tell so much about a personal from the way they talk, or present themselves in an interview situation, or behave with other dancers in an open audition. It can be incredibly difficult to read people via web 2.0 communications sometimes, personalities simply don't always translate, especially when you are trying to be professional.

I would love to hear others views on this topic so feel free to have a read and leave a comment!

LL x