Task4

My initial thoughts on task 4 was that presentations are not my strongest skills, i will need to practice quite a bit at home or even infront of my parents.


Review: i believe that task4 went very well, i used short simple bullet points on each slide and then explained each point fully. I believe i spoke clearly and not monotone, so therefore i think that i enganged the audiences attention.

Memletics Test2

These are the results of your inventory. The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates you use that style often.
Style Scores
Visual
6
Social
10
Physical
8
Aural
7
Verbal
5
Solitary
7
Logical
10

These are the results i got from taking the memletics test again. As you can see it is fairly balanced, however logical/social stand out. I believe that the logical way of learning relates to me more though as i dont feel that i learn best in groups.

Week 6 test

I thought i did ok in the week 6 test, i achieved 60%. This was above average in the class. I feel that i scored less on earlier subjects from the start of the year due to not revising and forgetting a lot of information. however in this test i reviewed some information from the start of the year.

Development Needs Activity

What i learned from this activity is that people learn alot better when they use their learning style to their full advantage, for example if a visual learner was given a checklist for a task and was told to right a report, they would find it a lot easier to break down each point, and create a mind map for it.

Task 3

I personally think that i struggled with this task, due to a late start due to a late finish on task2. Task 3 was a report on barriers to communication, i explained most of the barriers that were on the checklist, and gave personal examples to where or how i have met and overcome them in an everyday life.

Appraisal and Tutorials

I had a one to one meeting with my tutor, to review how well the year is going for me. We set some SMART targets for me firstly they were to catch up with tasks in IT, to make sure all maths work is handed in on time, to turn up for group tutor sessions or email her. We planned to review these on the 23rd of november.

Word Processing help sheet.

In class i created a practice technical manual to use the font mask tool in Photoshop. I believe this task went well, as connor went through the guide and managed to use font mask tool efficiently.

Peer Monitoring

I will ask some of my friends in class to comment and update my blog, and i will respond to their messages.

Development to date

I believe that i am struggling to keep up with my goals, set back at the start of the year. My original goal was to achieve a distinction in Unit1, however if i carry on the way i am going, this is not going to happen. I need to manage my time better, and complete set homeworks at on time and to the best i can, not just in this class but in maths as well.

Today i found out about task4 and its a presentation task, i think i will need to improve on my communication skills in order to pass this task.

Written Communication

Proof reading - I found that it is quite hard to proof read your own work, but when proof reading somebody else's work it is quite easy to pick out points that need a little improvement

In class we were put into pairs, and we had to argue an alternative view point of a certain subject. I was put in a pair with becky and decided to argue about abortion. I think this is quite hard to do becuase your arguing over something you dont agree with.

General Communication Skills

I believe the meeting the audience needs presentation went quite well for me, however the skills i need to work on are, engaging the audience more , i could do this by, giving out hand-outs, or even practical demonstrations, where i could select people in the audience and use them for an example.

Learning styles and SWOT 2.

Learning Style -
As previously stated, i am a Kinesthetic learner. At some points during this term i think i have met my learning style, for example : In Task3 i broke down each of the barriers to communication, and produced mind maps for each of them. The mind maps showed all the positives, negatives and examples of the barrier. I believe this helped me a lot throughout the task.

SWOT -
I think i have discovered new weaknesses for myself during this year. Firstly my time-management skills, i believe i don't spend enough time on my work at home.

Interpersonal skills

Observation Task -
In class we were set an activity, we had to watch a trailer of the film "Surragate" then answer questions on it, and see how much we could remember from it. I think i did ok on this activity, however i think i could improve on this skill. To do better on this activity next time i think i would take notes from the video.

Listening Task -
I think i struggled on this task the most out of all 3, Dee read a chapter from a novel and we had to take notes and then ask questions on the chapter after.

Taking notes task -
I think i did the best on this task out of the 3. We had to take notes from a chapter from a novel, then rewrite the chapter in our own words.

My Goals 2

My short term Goal was to achieve a distinction in Unit 1. So far i believe i am progressing quite well. I handed in my Task2, received feedback for it and I'm going to hand in my final improvements tomorrow.

I think i am a little behind on updating my blog however i believe after half term i should have caught up with all my work.

My actions to be put in place is to spend an hour or two a day on my work, over half term.

My Goals

Short Goal-
To complete and earn a distinction is Unit 1. I plan to achieve this goal by handing work in early to know what to improve on, listen in class and take notes. This is a short term goal method however it could also be used in medium or long term goals, to make sure i achieve what i deserve.

Medium goal -
To recieve a Distinction/merit in BTEC Business and IT. As previously stated i should hand work in early to see what needs improving. I would also need to stay on top of work completing each task the best i can and also plan for future tasks to keep organised.

I plan to review these goals after half term, I will review how well the course is going for me, if any problems i will change and adapt my goals in order for me to improve.

My Learning Styles

Taking the BKSB test in the induction day last year at college, i remember finding out that i was a kinesthetic learner. Personally i took no notice of this until taking a similar test, in my first lesson of IT, the memletics test. This showed me, again, that i am a kinesthetic learner, this means that I learn best, using a hands on approach, for example; carrying out the task in a "trial and error" method. This could be an accurate assumption to my learning style, however i believe i am more of a mixed learner, and i adapt to what i am learning. For example a maths equation i could learn by trial and error method, or i could watch and listen to how the teacher does it. However what else the memletics task showed me is that, i learn least well in groups or social groups, this is believe is true, because even though i am good at contributing to the group and listening to new ideas, i believe that i get easily distracted (weakness).

Task 2

Task 2 was a report that we had to complete on Microsoft word. The report showed different employability skills and why they are useful. I believe this task went ok for me, at the first hand in date, i had an email problem, which delayed me a few more days for the feedback. However, when receiving my feedback i knew what i had to improve.

I plan to email my final improvements to Dee tomorrow.

Finding a Job

Taking the Suits me Quiz, i discovered that most of the jobs that i was suited for had something to do with IT. The one that most suited me was a "Web Developer".

A web developer is someone that set up and run websites on the internet.
The Key skills i need for this job is
- Advanced Dream weaver skills
- Creativity
- Communication skills
- Organised

Mock Interview

In class we were set an activity called the mock interview. Firstly we had to complete a quiz which showed us what jobs we are suited to. Mine was a web developer. We then had to interview our partners and ask questions related to the job, to see how well they researched for it and practiced the questions.

Technical Skills

Word -7/10
Excel -7/10
Powerpoint -6/10
Publisher - 5/10
Photoshop - 3/10

Goals: to improve my photoshop skills from 3 out of 10 to 7 out of 10

SMART specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, time based.

i plan to improve on my photoshop skills, by improving at home, reading tutorials, and listening in class.

UPDATE: I believe i have improved my photoshop skills quite a lot over this year, especially by designing a technical manual, and by reading others it has helped me to improve.

Personal Skills

In class Dee set us a small task to choose 10 adjective to describe ourselves,
So i chose :
Trustworthy
Respectful
Reliable
Punctual
Hard working
Kind
Honest
Committed
Inpatient
Quick thinking

Universal Skills

Confidence - 5/10
Organization - 7/10
Time Management - 7/10
Verbal/Written skills - 6/10
Numeracy - 8/10
Problem solving - 8/10
Team working - 7/10
Creativity - 6/10
As you can see, my confidence needs improving the most, in my opinion confidence will be improved with experience, such as the mock interview.

SWOT Analyse

In one of my first lessons in IT, we were set a task called SWOT Analysis, this is designed to show the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business or people. The Weaknesses i chose for myself are: Confidence, Unorganized, inpatient. It is a lot easier to point out your weaknesses rather than your strengths. After some thought i came up with some strengths for myself : Hardworking, consistent, Punctual.

Opportunities are things that will help me progress through education, or even life, in a successful way. These could be College or University, a full time job after them, and even supportive parents.

Lastly the threats, obviously this could be the recession, where it is hard to find a job.