...through a glass, darkly.* Thing 5

Reflecting - what have I learned so far from cpd23?
In essence: be selective, there are not enough hours in the day!

Thing One, Two and Four

Through my earlier blogging experience I've learned that I am not an avid or consistent diary keeper/list maker/recorder of details unlike some who appear to be natural cataloguers/record managers.  I like to be more spontaneous and creative, although I do have a terrible memory so recording details may be a habit I should try to cultivate.  I seem to think there are many more hours in the day than I have the energy to make use of.  I have a butterfly mind and want to have a go at what I can see everyone else is doing, I am learning to be more selective! I have been tardy in applying my blogging skills to work, but I've never been able to make it a priority in a busy work week. I am observing how others are doing this successfully however, so there may be a change here in time. I've learned I can write reasonably well and try to have a creative approach to this so that readers hopefully find something of interest to read.  I've also learned that I know quite a bit about blogging and have enjoyed helping colleagues to get to grips with all the jargon.

I've been on Blogger since January 2006, when I joined the crafting blog community and posted there until April 2010 when I dipped out. I still follow other craft blogs but just don't have time to actually craft at any speed in order to have something fresh to write about regularly, to take decent photographs of each project, upload and edit them and write interesting blog posts about the projects and read others' blogs and leave comments on them, so I decided to let my craft blog go.  I'm now writing this blog and following other work related blogs instead, the balance has shifted.  I used to use bloglines and then switched to iGoogle to manage my RSS feeds.

I've been on Twitter since Feb 2009, firstly using it as a personal tool, now leaning more towards a professional approach for connecting with other librarians, lawyers and academic staff and students. As a result of the cpd23 programme I'm in the process of reviewing who I follow, to regain some quality control and focus. I still don't feel I'm using Twitter to best advantage, although this may be due more to my dislike of the cult of self-promotion and simply finding the time in hectic work days.

Other social media channels:

I've been on Facebook since 2010, but I've currently deactivated my account and am having a break from it, I've also made it just personal friends and family, in an effort to regain some privacy.

I'm not yet on Google+ my strategic approach to this is that I prefer others to investigate first, then I learn from their tips and tricks.

I've learned I have a serious love/hate relationship with all social media, I go through phases of communicating and then being quiet.

Thing Three

Still find this rather abhorrent, so probably the less said about it the better.

Since previous posts - I haven't had time to investigate Pushnote and I didn't need IS help to download and install Chrome at work - hurrah!

Photo credits: Dead Yankee

Reflective Practice Generally

It's a constant challenge to find the time to reflect on practice, but we've always been encouraged to do it as a natural part of a professional approach.  We have an internal newsletter where we are encouraged to reflect upon and write about cpd events, but it seems to have lost focus over the years and so this seems to be a chore now rather than being beneficial.  The newsletter has largely been superceded by email which is quicker to inform staff of changes to procedure etc and blogging which offers a more interesting and personal platform for reflection.  We also discuss cpd events at meetings and at appraisal too. An example of taking action following a cpd event is that I set up a 'Reflecting on Teaching' meeting for me and my colleagues following 'Librarians as Teachers' held at Warwick. Finally - I do try to ask myself this question at work  - how can we apply this here?

To do: follow some of the links to the reflective practice resources, would be interested to know how you make the time for RP?

*1 Corinthians 13:12 and many other works.