Task 3c

Thinking about the most important sources of information I use in my professional practice, I have found I use a variety of Web 2.0 and face to face interaction.

Twinkl, as a teaching assistant I am very lucky in my school that we have a twinkl account. To those not in the education sector this is a most wondrous website with an endless stash of resources to use. You simply click on the year group you require and there are level appropriate worksheets, lesson plans, fun activities and much more. There are a lot of time saving resources as well such as: display headings; visual timetables; lined paper with borders - this may sound trivial but cast your mind back to school and remember receiving the special paper to do an important piece of work on. For children with Special Educational Needs there is a whole section on developing the understanding of emotions and social interactions.

I use this source day to day mainly for back up exercises for those children who have completed the set tasks and need a challenge or for those children who are struggling I can give them an easier format to master first.

Pintrest, I use this source for many aspects in my life not just for my professional practice. This is a network that relies heavily on cooperation as there needs to be many people supplying information to keep it running. As I run the Breakfast Club at school I am always looking for interesting ways to start the day, there are lot of unique ideas on this Web 2.0 site to spark inspiration. The easy format of the mobile app helps me to increase my resource stash and idea bank whilst on the move.

Working in a school, the main way of interacting is face to face, I very rarely receive emails unless it is something important and official that needs to be kept in writing. I value this source of information tremendously as I feel I can delve as deep as I need to with requiring further explanations to gain a full understanding. I can also get feedback to see if I am utilising their advice effectively, which is something I would not get from any Web 2.0 source. I could ask for further advice via forums and comments but I would not got the feedback I need to develop my practice.

Youtube has been a valuable source for me for many years: I have learnt to cook; learnt the piano; listened to talks; watched trailers; been inspired for choreography; used it as a self-promoting tool. My most recent jobs as a performer were achieved by my showreel being posted on youtube, the ability to send a link to employers around the world is fantastic. Now, in my new practice as an educator, I use it to find educational clips to support their learning and for useful exercises in mindfulness and children's yoga and meditation.

One person I feel has helped me immensely, not only on this course but in helping me develop my practice is Lauren Harper. After every skype session, we have had our own skype session to help each other understand anything we weren't brave enough to query and to share our sparks of inspiration derived from the group chat. Reading through Lauren's blog I have had many a lightbulb moment where a concept has clicked and I have then been able to go and look for more information and inspiration elsewhere. As you can see, I have stolen her format of this task by adding icons to indicate each different source! Even though TED is new to Lauren from this course she is the one who enlightened me to its uses, from which I have then noticed when other people have posted links for videos which I have then gone on to watch and develop further. Thank you, lovely!