Campus session- 19/10/10

I just got home from the campus session so I thought I would write a post about what we did and everything we discussed for everyone who wasn't there. Adesola was meant to be taking the session but unfortunately she couldn't be there so Paula and Rosemary took it instead. After a short introduction, our first task was to get into pairs with someone who has a different job to that of our own. We then had to tell the other person what our job was and they wrote a list of everything they thought that might involve. I was with Emma who is a dance teacher so I wrote that her job may involve; Communicating with children, dancing, rehearsing, choreographing, listening to music, interacting with others, taking charge and maintaining authority. We then came back in to a group and discussed what we had found out. When we were comparing our jobs (dance teacher and cheerleader) we found similarities and differences. When presenting to the group what we had discussed we decided to focus on the point that although our jobs may seem similar from a physical point of view, as they both involve dancing, rehearsing and choreographing, there are many differences on a mental level. We found that with the position of a teacher one of the main focuses is for you to take charge and keep your authority throughout the class, in other words you are the one giving direction. However, with my job as a cheerleader I am the one taking the direction and learning from the choreographer. We decided that with my job there was more emphasis on teamwork and being part of a squad rather than being in charge.

We also heard what everyone else had found out about their partner and reflected and discussed how every ones jobs involve such different skills. We discovered that when talking to someone who has a job you don't know anything about, you can usually relate or link it to a friend or someone you know who has a similar sort of job. This helps you to understand more about it as you are usually able to link it to something you know about. We also discussed that many jobs involving performing can be so dependant on who you are performing to and whether it was your responsibility as a performer to bring it up to the maximum level no matter who the audience are and what reaction they give you.

After this, we went on to the second task. This involved us once again getting in to pairs but this time with someone different. We then had to invent a scary story by one person starting and then the other interjecting with the next sentence and so on. This meant the story was completely spontaneous and involved us having to think on the spot without prior planning or preparation. We then found another partner and repeated the same exercise but obviously making up a different story. After we had finished we came back together as a group to discuss what we found out and learnt from the task. Some of the points brought up in the discussion were the following:

• You had to constantly re assess the situation as you didn't know what the other person was going to say
• The story kept changing direction as the other person would say something you would never have said
• It can almost become a competition to see how scary/horrific you can make it
• The constant change of perspective made the story much less predictable
• It was a good opportunity to use your imagination
• Shows that sometimes it's good to be spontaneous and not plan everything

We then did an activity with rulers. We got in to groups of three and held the rulers in a triangle. We then moved around, twisted and turned while all the time holding on to the rulers. We got tangled and then untangled ourselves so we were back in our original positions. We then joined with another group and repeated the exercise with more people so it was more challenging to untangle ourselves. We then all joined together where it was virtually impossible to untangle! After this we reflected that it was a good symbol for working something out. We had to get ourselves in to the state of tangle/confusion in order to untangle ourselves so it was a clear circle.

After a short break, we moved on to the last task which was to create our own 'silent tour'. This involved finding objects which we wanted to show people and explaining them on a card. We could draw, cut or write words on the card without writing what the object actually was. Most people also had a theme to their tour. For example my first object was the light switch, the second one was the fire sign and I drew a picture of flames on my card and my third one was the fire doors. Others focused around rocks, trees, stairs etc. When we came back as a group to discuss the task, these are a few of the points that were made:

• The task forced you to look at something in a different way finding alternative ways of portraying it to others e.g. look, smell, texture etc
• It made you reflect on what the object actually was and it's use rather than simply it's name
• The theme of someones tour often didn't become clear until the last object, this made it interesting and made you want to keep concentrating
• When you can't speak you are forced to use other methods of communication e.g. drawing which you wouldn't normally use
• Some things were much clearer after looking at a picture
• It made you use your imagination
• It gave a sense of authority to the tour leader- a clear change in role when the leader changed.

Overall, I found the morning very productive and helpful and it was a good insight in to studying reflection and how to approach it. One of the main things I took away from the day was that it can be beneficial to reflect on an activity after having completed it and what you learnt rather than just moving straight on to the next thing without giving it another thought. Only after we reflect on something can the purpose of it become clear and we can learn from what we have done. I am now looking forward to looking more closely at the reader and studying this part of the module.