Something I wrote for BAPP but thought might be useful to read here to…

Thinking about feedback….

I am getting lots of drafts and so busy working my way through things. I don’t read fast so it takes time because I don’t skim read; I need to read each word in order to really understand and analyze what is being said, because I want my comments to be meaningful and helpful.

But feedback is not sending a draft for my approval. The approval has to come from you – you making something (writing something) you feel ‘proud’ of or at lease feel you’ve tried your best at. Its about being honest with yourself on one hand and not leaving bits untouched because you don’t want to shake your own story by fixing them at this point. It is also about being diligent finding out the procedure for writing in this way, noticing the books you have read how things lay out and how they are presenting such as how people have used citations and then thinking about why it is done in that way and what it says about what you are trying to make.

Feedback you ask for from me is to get another eye looking at the work you are doing. If you send something and feel you cannot move forward before I get back to you

1)   Then feedback in that form does not seem the best form for the purpose you have. I would say you need to book a quick Skype call in order to discuss the specific points you feel you need input into before you can go on.

2)   Or your use of my feedback is not really ‘feedback’ it is ‘passing the buck’ asking me to edit your work for you!!! So you can use me to decide what should be in or out of your final piece _ I can’t do this for you!! You know what you want to create.

So please feel free to contact me in different forms according to what you need from your feedback. If it’s a quick block you need to talk out – email or skype (set up a time via email or call if you see me on-line). Then also have specific questions – ask what you want to know. Be direct about what you want me to look at that is because I am another eye so you can direct where I look.

I think it is really important in the performing arts to be clear and to have thought about the role of feedback. A few years ago I realised that when I choreographed something I would ask for feedback from a dance agency for instance. Then I realised I would get quite down when it wasn’t ‘can we book this piece’!!! what they would say was things to ‘improve’ the choreography or general comments. But that response is not feedback. I realised what I wanted was to bring my work to their attention NOT feedback and that by asking fro feedback I was putting my work in the light of something that was unfinished or something I was unsure about. That made me think that you have to  be really careful, direct and really want to hear the response when engaging with feedback. It is not there to reassure you, you are o.k.!!

What do you think?

Adesola

Conversations today…

Today’s morning SKYPE:

We talked about the ‘bigness of ideas’ and how you grapple with writing about them without going off on tangents that leave you with no time or to big a word count! We talked about the ‘I’ in your research and learning and that you can only write from you perspective so rather than thinking you are creating definitive documents on a subject, write openly about where you are with ideas and how and why they are meaningful within the context of what you are doing now. This can include suggesting some ideas ‘feel’ important but you are not sure how they fit at the moment. Or you are aware that some ideas are much more complex than you present them as but you do not want to go down that tangent right now. Rose is going to post on her blog about this.  http://rosepaye3012.blogspot.co.uk

We talked about the ‘evidence’ (or illustration) for Module One and how this is just the same as having figures you refer to (illustrations) in a piece of writing. Sarah is going to post about citations particularly for different types of material to illustrate in writing. http://sarahsulemanji.blogspot.co.uk

We talked about enjoying the learning process and making the most of the task of making the AOLs Maria and Tamzin will write more on this. Aggy is going to write about being reminded that it is a creative process not a ‘court case’ about the value of your work!!

 http://mariaranden.blogspot.no

 http://tamzinhoward.blogspot.co.uk

Mary is going to post in response to a part of the conversation that was about literature and literature reviews. http://www.marymapp.blogspot.co.uk

Jamie is going to post thoughts about the Professional Artefact, after we talked about its role in as a documentation of your inquiry. http://jamiewarburton.blogspot.co.uk

In this evening SKYPE session we talked about important dates

Dec 9^th – to have written a draft by this date

Dec 19^th – last day of classes at Middlesex Uni (Break for winter holidays)

Jan 2^nd – Middlesex starts back

Jan 5^th – Work must handed in on or before this date

Jan 19^th – Module Three Oral presentations – whole MAPP community is invited.

We talked about getting feedback on drafts after Dec19th and how you need to talk to your adviser about this.

During both conversations we talked about Turnitin and the submission of work process. Helen has written a comprehensive blog post about this in response to the conversations today. http://www.helenkindred.blogspot.co.uk

One tip Ainsley talked about was trying out submitting work before the due date to make sure you know how to do it.

We also talked about the practicality of putting the things together that you will be handing-in. Regardless of the module you are on make sure what you hand in makes sense out side of the familiarity you have with it. It was suggested that you give work to a trusted person (who may not be in your profession) and ask them if it makes sense and ‘can they follow it?’. This way you get someone looking at it who has fresh eyes.

Great conversations to be a part of, Thanks
Adesola

Just a quick reminder – Group skype sessions on Sunday December 7th.

Just a quick reminder – Group skype sessions on Sunday December 7^th.

Morning one – 11am (in London time!)

Afternoon one – 5;30 (in London time!)

Please comment below which one you intend to join. If you want to join and don’t get a call feel free to skype me during the session and I can add you to the conversation.

Talk to you Sunday

Adesola