Denise's Blogg

Monday, 8 April 2013

FINAL REFLECTION

As I have been, doing reflections and reading other group members reflections, I have noticed that all the group member's thought that technology was digital items. I also thought this but , we have all learnt this is not so, as we have been doing our People,Places, Things and Events Course. From reading different literature we have found that technology can also be creative, problem solving, using the environment. man made tools are technology. " Technology is about helping people and solving problems" (Smorti, 1999, p.5).

In my reflections of non digital technology the children where using the environment and made made tools to create their own designs by problem solving with their knowledge and skills."Environment where children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore the world" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.98). I think this is a very good question that is in one of my comments they said to ask the children, is there anything they would change, and why? This challenges the children to recognize the final product does not have to be the finished product.

I did my digital technology reflection on the children using a digital camera taking photos and extended their learning by supporting the children as we made a learning story together, with their photos on the computer. The children and I have been working together learning the different technology skills we have been using, as the children today know how to find their way around cameras and computers.
Teacher's need to introduce digital technology as a resource in the centre and use it more often with the children.

In Technology the children are using their listening skills, language skills problem solving, working together with others, sharing their ideas and taking risks
All the group members have the same option that teachers need to keep their knowledge skills for technology up to date so they can scaffold and support children in their learning of Technology.

Reference List:
Ministry of Education.(1996). Te Whariki: He whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna
o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education,1, 5-10.

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Hyperlinks to Comments

Shin:

Monday, 1 April 2013

Reflection

Music

On Friday 22^nd, March I noticed D and L both three years old on the side of the mat and they were singing and doing the actions to the song Mrs. Bunny looks funny when she twitches her nose, Mrs. Bunny looks funny when she wriggles her toes, two floppy ears and two big feet. I love Mrs. Bunny ‘cause She’s so neat. Mrs. Bunny stretches, Mrs. Bunny flops, Mrs. Bunny hops and hops and Mrs. Bunny hops and stops. By Janet Channong.

They were both singing this song but not keeping in time and having a lot of fun doing the actions. The music to the song was not playing and they were recalling the song from their memory. At mat time in the centre we have been singing the song over the last couple of weeks. ”By making, sharing and responding to music, students contribute to the cultural life of their school, whānau, peer groups, and communities” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.21).

D and L are cooperating and helping each other,” Children experience an environment where they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.64). They are also learning language skills and physical development while they sing the song and do the actions. “Children develop an ability to express themselves through movement and gesture” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.97).

The teaching I used was to observe, listen “Staff can learn a great deal about preschool children’s social, emotional and cognitive development interests and needs by listening to what they say” (MacNaugton & Williams, 2009, p.121). Then I joined in with the children singing their song which gave them encouragement and they gained more confidence and sang louder. I then suggested to the children that we can get out our musical instruments to make some music while we sing songs. The children loved making their own music as we sang. “As children engage with and develop knowledge and deeper understandings of music, they draw on cultural practices and on histories, theories, structures, technologies and personal experiences” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.21).ā

I feel D and L listened and recalled different songs we have been singing in the preschool. They cooperated, worked together have responded to the encouragement I gave them and were enthusiastic when they played their instruments. “In music education, students work individually and collaboratively to explore the potential of sounds and technologies for creating, interpreting, and representing music ideas” (Ministry of Education, 2007. p.21).

D and L are listening, observing is very important as the children are expressing their ideas and knowledge on different songs and how to play the music instruments. They are communicating, sharing and working together which is social interaction.

When I was a child I did not have the confidence to get up and sing a song as well as play an instrument like D and L did together. I would sing at mat time with a group of people, very quietly.

Letting children develop their own ideas and knowledge through communication and listening is very important for their social development and relationship with their teachers and peers. “Te Whāraki states that in order to participate in this world our children will need the confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills” ( Smorti,1999, p.5).

To extend on the children’s interest and learning in music and dance I would get the children involved in performing a small music production. I would get the children to sing five of their favorite songs while they are playing instruments or doing actions with the songs. After we had repeated the performance in the centre a few times we would invite their parents, family and whānau to come and watch the children perform.

Reference List

MacNaughton. G., & Willams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices
in theory and practice (3^rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o
Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum.Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand:
Learning Media.

Smorti, s. (1999) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 1, 5-10.

Sunday, 31 March 2013

Reflection Two:

Technology with Blocks

I was in the block area and I noticed C designing a building with the big blocks and he informed me that he was making a house with a garage for the cars. C then said now he can put the cars in the garage, but D said there is no door. C then went and got the blocks in the shape of a ramp and put them on the side of the garage and lined the cars up and one by one drove them up the ramp into the garage he made.

C is” using a process approach to technology (similar to our current approach to the creative arts in early childhood), it is the ‘doing’ that is important, rather than the product”. Children will be encouraged to design, make appraise (DMA) their work”. (Smorti, 1999, p.6).C is taking risks by using problem solving skills and his recalling skills from out in the community to design how the house with a garage looks and how he can get the cars inside the garage. “As students express and interpret ideas within creative, aesthetic, and technological frameworks, their confidence to take risks is increased” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.20).

I feel C was very confident in designing his project and gave it get thought when it came to getting the cars inside the garage. “Knowledge, skills and resources are combined to find solutions; and there may be more than one solution to the problem. Technology is influenced by the culture of the society in which it occurs” (Smorti, 1999, p.6). C listened to D advice about there being no door and solved the problem. C was proud of his building and shared it with other children and communicated to them how the ramps where to be used. “Children develop familiarity with the properties and character of the materials and technology used in the creative and expressive arts” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.80).

As I observed and listened to C, I feel he had a lot of fun making his house and garage and he achieved what he had planned to make in his mind by problem solving. Listening and observing C make his building was very important as C was exploring and expressing his own ideas of how the house and garage should be constructed. “Encourage children to share a thought or an experience. It is important for staff to listen so the children learn that what they say is important to others. They need to know that their thoughts and comments on the world matter” (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009, p.75).

When I was young I didn’t think of a child building with blocks was using technology, it was a child putting blocks on top of each other and making a pattern. I thought technology was a computer,

camera , phone digital items. My view on building with blocks has now changed, and relies that all manmade tools are technology. Teachers need to learn more about technology so they can teach and pass on their knowledge to the children.”Technology is about helping people and solving problems” (Smorti, 1999, p.5).

Letting the children problem solve by using their recalling skills from their community helps them to be creative when using tools.”Technology is also a creative and purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products, systems or environments” (Smorti, 1999, p.5).

To extend on children’s creativity learning in technology I would add in more accessories to the block area. This will let the children develop further in construction and take photos so the children can look back on what they have made. This will help the children to re-construct and improve on what they have made.

Reference List

MacNaughton & Williams, G. (2009).Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and
practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aoteraroa:
Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.

Smorti,s. (1999). Technology in early childhood.Early Education, 1, 5-10.

Group Blog. Part one

Reflection One:

Monday 7^th March, 2012

I observed C and T deep in conversation, walking around exploring in the centre’s garden. Then T said this one, pointing to pansy flowers in the garden, and C held up the centre’s digital camera and took a photo of the pansy flowers. Then they both kept on walking until they reached the vegetable garden, where C took photos of the lettuce and tomato plants.

I asked C and T, why they were taking photos of the plants in the Garden? They both replied” they wanted to keep the plants, inside”. I asked C and T, how are we going to keep the plants? According to Leekeenan and Nimmo (1994),” found that involving the children in taking the photographs was important to gain a sense of the children’s perspective on the world” as citied in (MacNaugton & Williams, 2009, p303). C said by putting the photos on the computer. We went inside and C and T looked at the photos they took on the camera and they choose which photos they wanted to save on the computer. (This is recording C and T own learning). T said can we print them out and I said yes, but first I asked them if they could tell me about their photos, and together we can write a story about their pictures off the different plants. We then printed out the photos and hang them up on the wall in the science area. “Children develop, the ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.88).

C and T are using their, imaginations, and are using their communications skills recalling skills, problem solving skills, science and technology skills.” There are many learning outcomes that focus on problem solving and social science areas that are part of the process of technology” ( Smorti, 1999, p8). C and T are also using their communication skills and been able to work with others. “As children’s abilities to communicate develop, they are able to form good relationships with others and participate constructively in a range of social and cultural settings” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.97).

The teaching I used was to listen, observe, encourage the children, ask the children open ended questions and gave them the opportunity to use technology. I was scaffolding the children in the direction of technology as we made a learning story on the computer with the children’s photos and their voice.” Information and communication technology (ICT) has a major impact on the world in which young people live”

(Ministry of Education, 2007. p.36).

C and T where very pleased with the photos they took with the digital camera of the plants. I extended on their learning and development on what they could do with the photos they took of the plants. I let C and T think independently, as they told their own story of their photos which gave them more confidence in writing their learning story on the computer.

“As part of a world revolution in communication, technology, work and leisure, children will need to develop confidence in themselves and be able to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills” (Smorti, 1999, p.8).

When I was a child we did not have digital cameras and computers that we could use in the classroom or in our everyday life. I feel that having this technology, the children are learning more hands on with their visual learning. The children are able to extend on their own learning with the support of their teacher. I feel I need to extend my own learning on technology, especially computers as I find them challenging sometimes. This will help me to scaffold and support children in their learning. When I was a child the teacher would instruct the children on the direction of the learning.

I would give the children more opportunities to extend on their learning in the use of the computer and digital cameras. I would get the children to take photos of what interests them in the centre. Encouraging the children to tell their own story of the photos, then put their learning g story into their portfolios. The learning stories can also be e mailed to the children’s parents. This allows the children, parents of the children; family and teachers re visit the children’s work.

Reference List:

MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children:
Choices in theory and practice (3^rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia: Pearson
Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o
Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007).The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand:
Learning Media:

Smort, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early education, 1, 5-10).