Personal Development Plan and Progress Diary

Strengths	Action	Review Date	Progress Diary
1. ICT Skills I feel I have a good knowledge of using Microsoft Office applications such as Word and Power Point. I am confident using word for writing up college assignments and I am also well experienced in creating Power Point presentations.	I plan to improve my ICT skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my Microsoft Excel skills, specifically in areas such as: performing calculations and using functions and formulas. Action Points: 1. I will speak with a spreadsheet modelling teacher and ask them for advice on performing calculations in Excel and ask them to give me a short demonstration on this topic. 2. I will research online to find out the various functions and formulas that are available in Excel and I will also find an online tutorial on how to use and apply these functions and formulas, such as this tutorial: http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelformulas/ss/formula_begin.htm. 3. I will also ask one of my classmates who has experience using Microsoft Excel to show me how to perform calculations and how to use functions and formulas in Microsoft Excel.	6  Months	22/01/2013 – I have completed action point 1 by attending a spreadsheet modelling class. In the class I taught how to carry out different calculations in Microsoft Excel including: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 22/01/2013 – I have completed action point 2 by visiting a tutorial website online which I have learned how to carry out formulas such as addition in Microsoft Excel. The website I visited was http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelformulas/ss/formula_begin.htm. This is a screenshot of the tutorial on addition: 22/01/2013 – I have completed action point 3. I spoke to one of my classmates who demonstrated how to carry out multiplications and division in Microsoft Excel.
2. Presentations Skills I am a confident public speaker and am skilled at presenting Power Point presentations to an audience.	I plan to improve my Presentation skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my presentation skills, in areas such as improving my body language while presenting and also engaging the audience more. Action Points: 1. I will speak with a teacher and ask for some advice on how to give a successful Power Point presentation. 2. I will look for an online course on how to improve my body language such as this course: http://www.openlearningworld.com/innerpages/Body%20Language.htm. 3. I will also go to the library and read a book on how to engage my audience more such as this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Talk-Your-Way-Top-ebook/dp/B000WLYO40/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1350515989&sr=8-2.	2 Months	05/02/2013 – I have completed action point 1 by speaking with my communications and employability teacher and asked for some advice on how to give a successful presentation. 05/02/2013 – I completed action point 2 by completing a course which I found online that would help me improve my body language. The course I chose to complete is in the link below: http://www.openlearningworld.com/innerpages/Body%20Language.htm. 05/02/2013 – I also went to the library and got a book on how to engage the audience better and improve my skills at this. The book I bought was called "A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling: How to Captivate and Engage Audiences across Multiple Platforms". ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creators-Guide-Transmedia-Storytelling-Captivate/dp/0071791523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367414369&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+engage+audience )
3. Microsoft FrontPage Skills I feel I have a good knowledge on how to carry out basic operations in Microsoft FrontPage.	I plan to improve my FrontPage skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my Microsoft FrontPage skills, specifically in areas such as using HTML and linking web pages together. Action Points: 1. I will speak to a web design lecturer and ask them to explain how to link web pages together and give me a short demonstration. 2. I will research for an online course on how to use HTML and a tutorial on using HTML in Microsoft FrontPage. 3. I will also ask one of my classmates who has experience using Microsoft FrontPage to show me how to use HTML and link web pages together in Microsoft FrontPage.	6 Months	25/04/2013 – I was unable to ask my web design teacher to explain to me how to link web pages together or to give me a short demonstration. 25/04/2013 – I was unable to complete the online course on how to use HTML that I found because I didn’t have enough time due to other work. The online course I found was at this link http://www.e-learningcenter.com/free_html_course.htm. 25/04/2013 – I was unable to speak with any of my classmates who have experience using Microsoft FrontPage to show me how to use HTML or link web pages together as I couldn’t find a good time to ask them.
Weaknesses	Action	Review Date	Progress Diary
4. Verbal Skills I feel I have poor verbal skills when it comes to reading out in class as I tend to rush through what I am reading.	I plan to improve my verbal skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my verbal skills in areas such as reading slowly, more clear and also using the right tone of voice. Action Points: 1. I will speak to an English teacher and ask them to give me some advice or a short demonstration on how to read out properly at a good pace. 2. I will research for an online test on verbal skills such as this one:  http://www.wiziq.com/tests/verbal-skills. I will complete some of these tests to help improve my verbal skills. 3. I will also speak to a friend who is good at reading out and get them to explain how to read out properly.	3 Months	15/03/2013 – I was unable to speak with my English teach as I didn’t have enough time. 15/03/2013 – I was not able to complete an online verbal test because I didn’t have the time. 15/03/2013 – I was unable to arrange a good time with a friend who I know is good at reading out.
5. Time Management Skills I feel I do not manage my time efficiently. I also feel I  have a habit of handing in assignments late. I need to arrange my time so that I have more time to work on assignments and have them completed for the deadlines.	I plan to improve my time management skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my time management skills, making sure assignments are done before the deadline and handed in on time. Action Points: 1. Spend time completing work in the college library on Fridays, as I have no classes. 2. Create a  timetable so I stick to it and get work done on time. 3. Make sure I do not plan any events on the weekend, if I know my assignment work is due the week after. Therefore giving me the right amount of time to complete it.	3 Months	01/05/2013 – I was able to spend time in the library on Fridays to get my assignments done. 01/05/2013 – I was able to create a timetable which I stuck with in order to make sure I had enough spare time to get my assignments finished. 01/05/2013 – I made sure not to plan any events on weekends I knew my assignment was due the week after to give myself extra time to complete the assignment.
6. Written Communication Skills I feel I have poor written communication skills in areas such as spelling and grammar. I rush my work sometimes and don't proofread thoroughly before handing it in. I have my GCSE English but I still have a hard time with punctuation.	I plan to improve my written communication skills by making an action plan as follows: My target/goal: I would like to improve my written communication skills in areas such as proofreading and using punctuation as I have a hard time understanding where commas and apostrophe's go. Action Points: 1. I will speak to an English teacher and ask them to give me some advice on how to use comma's and apostrophe's correctly. I will also ask for a worksheet on this topic that I can work through and have corrected. 2. I will ask a classmate to read over my work before I hand it to my teacher so I know the work is correctly proofread. 3. I will also research online for an educational website that can help me improve my written communication skills and use spelling and grammar properly such as this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/.	12 Months	23/04/2013 – I was unable to speak with an English teacher about advising me on my use of punctuation. 23/04/2013 – I was unable to ask a classmate to read over my work as they were too busy completing their own assignments. 23/04/2013 – I failed to find a good educational website to help me with my use of spelling and grammar.