Emily Richards BAPP Blog

'R eflection  involves taking the  unprocessed, raw material of experience and engaging with it as a way to make sense of what has  occurred. It involves exploring often messy and  confused events and focussing on the thoughts and emotions that accompany them.' Boud - Using Journal Writing to Enhance Reflective Practice. Task 2B suggests that we use different ways of writing in our journals. I has a look through the list of 9 suggestions to select one. I felt that the first suggestion - Description is something that I do in every entry in my journal and also the second suggestion - Initial reflection. The next suggestion was the use of lists.  As you can see, the above image of my journal doesn't include a list. However I had underlined in a different colour the emotions I was feeling at the time - including; shocked, not surprised, accepting, sad, upset, worried and positive. I will give a little back story as to why I was feel...

'Writing is a means puzzling through what is happening in our work and personal lives.' Boud (2001) Writing in a journal or diary is not something I haven't ever regularly done. I have tried to start a diary on a number of different occasions and maybe lasted a few days. I bought a 5 year diary last year where you are meant to write a line every day for 5 years - I think I lasted a month! Despite not being very good at doing this in the past, I was excited to start, especially as this serves a purpose and I feel that as there is more motivation for keeping up the journal writing this time that I should stick to it, and hopefully I will get into the habit of writing and keep this up even after the course has finished. When having a one to one with Paula around 6 weeks ago, she suggested I start writing my reflective journal. I started by keeping my journal on my tablet in a word document, however, I quickly realised that this wasn't the best format for me. I am qui...

Before blogging about reader two I wanted to summarise the course up until now and what I feel I have learned and what I need to improve on moving forward. Overall I have found module 1 so far, insightful, intriguing and also a little overwhelming. The topics covered so far have been completely new to me, as I am sure they are for most new starters.  I found the group Skype see ion very helpful and also my one to one session with Paula. I spoke to Paula about how I was worried about my progress and how well I am doing. I felt like as the course is so open it is difficult to gain that reassurance that you are on the right path. I like how using blogs allows others to comment, and this sometimes can provide you with the reassurance needed and also helps with looking at other people's view and opinions. I feel as though my understanding of Web 2.0 has improved and I also have a new way of looking at it from a professional point of view. Moving onto reader 2, I am disappointed I ...

I came across an article shared my one of my Facebook friends a few days ago and it really caught my attention,  so I clicked on the post and read on. The headline of the article that was taken from the Independent was - 'Social media is full of sad, lonely people pretending they're OK and perfectly fine attention-seekers pretending to be sad' http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/facebook-instagram-twitter-social-media-makes-sad-lonely-attention-seekers-a7614396.html After reading the article I thought to myself how sad it is of how true this article is. No more do we need to engage in conversation with strangers on a bus, in a coffee shop or in a pub to discuss the days news, exciting news we may have or to talk about our week, because you can constantly do this via social media. Mothers and Fathers day, birthdays and Christmas has become less about giving cards or calling someone up to wish them a happy birthday,  because you can do this all from the comfort of y...

I am a very visual person. Even when posting on Facebook all my posts are usually accompanied with an image. The only image sharing site I use is instagram,  so I decided to use this as my platform to share my blog. However, my Instagram is private, so this means only the people that follow me will be able to see it. I still used hash tags such as; 'blogger' 'blog' etc. The use of hash tags would determine the type of audience I would draw in for the post if the post were not private. This is the post I shared to my Instagram.  The use of images in today's social media is very important, especially if you are using it in a professional way. I feel that images catch the eye and draw attention more than just the written word when using social media. As a very visual person, I feel that you can tell a story through images, and I know myself I am more likely to click on a post if it has an eye catching or thought provoking image attached. 

'Google yourself' After our group Skype chat with Paula on Tuesday the first thing I went away and did was Google myself! We were talking mainly about ethical considerations and Paula asked if we had ever Googled ourself and suggested we go away and do this. After all a potential employer could easily do this,  so it would be interesting to see what they would see. So I typed my name into Google and wasn't surprised to see that not a lot came up! There was a link to my Facebook profile, which, when I clicked on without being logged in was very private (I have always tried to keep my profile as private as possible) And apart from this there was nothing else the came up under my name on Google. I do have an Instagram, twitter and YouTube, but I think because I have these under a different user name rather than my own name this is why they did not come up on Google. We also spoke in depth about about social media and whether our social media profiles perceive us in a way ...

Discovering Web 2.0 Before starting on this course I had never even heard of Web 2.0, so this was a completely new concept to me. I think I am lucky to be part of a generation that can remember life before the Internet became almost a necessity of everyday life. This allows me to compare the differences between before and after the introduction of Web 2.0. Architectures of participation This is something I could really relate to whilst reading reader 1. At the time of reading this I was in the process of setting up my own ballet classes up in a local village hall. 10-15 years ago my advertising for this would probably have consisted of putting posters up in local shops and putting letter through doors. This would have been , as quoted from reader 1 a 'traditional one-to-one basis' way of getting in touch with people. However, with the evolution of the Web and the introduction on Facebook, this has enabled people to advertise and communicate with many people with out even...