Ours is heavier.

Blog Number: Three

11th April 2011

Today when we went outside the children ran to out feijoa tree and were excited to see so many ‘massive’ feijoas had fallen off the tree over the week end, I unlocked the shed and got out four buckets for them to share and collect all the feijoas. As we were collecting them I heard the children discussing how heavy their buckets were and who had the heaviest bucket.

This got me thinking, so I ran inside to get the bathroom scales. I took them back out to the children and we got ready to see whose bucket was the heaviest, but as we all know with technology it can be unreliable at the best of times and the batteries were flat, so to compromise. I decided to get the bucket scales the children were eager to put their buckets on the scales to see whose was heaviest. This quick thinking was reflection in action where teachers think on their feet to provide children with beneficial learning experiences. (O’Connor & Diggins,  2002).

Through discussion and observation we came to an exclusive decision about whose bucket was the heaviest but then children started tipping more feijoas into the opposing bucket which made the scales tip the other way. This then became more of an experiment as the children worked together to balance the scales making them even. The children revisited the scales many time during the day, and used a range of different mediums. This is supported by Te whāriki as it states that “children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 88).

Smorti (1999) Stated “the simplest definition of technology I found was that technology is about helping people and solving problems” there for although the bucket scales are not electronic I have come to appreciate them as technology as they were helping the children to figure out who had the heaviest bucket. This is also furthering the children’s problem solving skills.

To extend on the children’s interest in scales and weight, I asked for a colleague to get some batteries in the groceries which she happily got, and at our four year old mat time I brought out the bathroom scales. We found a range of materials to weigh, and then children suggested weighing themselves. The children then documented their finding and wrote their name and their weight on a piece of paper.

 

 

Through providing opportunities such as using the scales I am demonstrating to children that there are a variety of different technologies for different purposes (Ministry of Education, 1996). It is also furthering their understanding of weight, and helping them with their early mathematical concepts and language. Through getting the children to document their findings i am also encouraging literacy skills. During this experience i also witnessed great turn taking and sharing skills from all children.

The children found it interesting that the younger children weighed less while older bigger children weighed more. We all so have twins who weighed themselves and found it highly amusing that they weighed the exact same.

During this activity the children were learning skills that helped extend their knowledge of technology for everyday use. Arthur, Beecher, Death, Docket & Farmer (2008) explain that with the ever changing technologies it has resulted in children now experiencing a range of technologies as part of their everyday life. They were also able to make links between home and the community as they mentioned that they have used bathroom scales similar to ours at home and at the doctors.

References,

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings. (4^th ed.). Victoria: Thompson.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he Whāriki mātauranga mo ngā    mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: learning media.

O’Connor, A., & Diggins, K. (2002). On reflection: Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Lower Hutt: Open Mind Publishing

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, 19, Autumn

Taking Photos.

Blog Number: Two

4th April 2011

This week our centre purchased some new trucks and diggers for the sand pit. This has created a large interest in the sand pit, the children had been playing road workers so when I turned up to work today I was excited to see that they were re sealing the road right outside out centre.

I decided to take the children out to the back garden to go and watch the road workers. Because we have a lot of trees around the perimeter I found it hard to see but the boys quickly found a gap and stood in there to observe what was going on. I passed a comment that I wasn’t able to see and I couldn’t get any photos for them. D replied with “here I’ll take some”. We then had a discussion of our rules with the cameras how they must have the strap around their neck just in case they accidently dropped it.

D started taking photos of the road workers, and the trucks he could see. Then he said to me that we had to move as he could not get ‘good’ pictures, we moved around the fence line to another side of our centre where he could get better photos. With D’s excitement of taking photos the other children wanted a turn. They all took turns, from taking photos of the road works this extended to the children taking photos of each other where they would pose for photos. They also took photos of plants and various other things.

Te Whāriki discusses the benefits of children using technology, one of these being that through using technology children are able to be expressive. Though letting children take control of what they take photos of gives them a chance to express themselves creatively (Ministry of Education, 1996).  

Through being given the opportunity to use the camera the children are also recognising that they can represent their discoveries through different technologies being used in different settings and places. they are also learning that there are a varity of technologies that can be used for different purposes to further explore their world. (Ministry of Education, 1996).  Blagojevic & Thomes (2008) agree and states that using photography in the early childhood class room isn’t just about taking photos it involves using the camera to make ideas visible to communicate and collaborate with each other and help children explore and understand their world.

 Later on this day we took a group of children over to the high school to have a look at the art work on their walls. I was taking photos of the work when A asked if she could take some photos to. I handed over the cameras reminding her of the rules. It was great that A was able to take photos while out on our walk. As Ching, Wang, Shih, & Kedem (2006) discuss the portability of the digital camera has made it possible to take technology into the children’s physical and social spaces of learning. When we got back to the centre the children could pick which photos they wanted to keep and what ones to delete. Through doing this the children are reviewing their work. When doing this, teachers can help children think about the photos in different ways and consider new perspectives (Blagojevic & Thomes, 2008).

 Reference Page:

Blagojevic, B., & Thomes, K. (2008). Young Photographers. Young children. (8) 66-70.

Ching, C.C, Wang, C., Shih, M., & Kedem, Y. (2006). Digital photography and journals in a kindergarten- first grade classroom: toward meaningful technology integration in early childhood education. Early education and development. 17 (3) 347-371.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he Whāriki mātauranga mo ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: learning media.

Researching using the internet.

Blog Number: One.

28th March 2011

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a large interest in insects, this particular day one of the children brought in some crickets in a container. We talked about what we though the crickets would eat and how they would live in the wild. We went to our library and got books about insects to find answers to our questions. ‘G’ then suggested “why don’t we look on the computer like last time Niria”. We went over to the computer and started it up the children were excited about this. First i explained to them what to click and how to search, we got into goggle and then i wrote the words down on a piece of paper so the children could type them into the search box. Through doing this i am supporting their early literacy skills and letter recognition we found out a lot of information, which i read back out to them,we discussed our finding and documented them to display in our science area. Through documenting our finding we were able to recall what we had learnt on the Internet, and bring it all together from the children’s different viewpoints.

 

After a while one child said to me can we go to the pictures one. I knew what they were referring to goggle images as this is a site that we have used previously. I took them to goggle images and we typed in crickets again. We scrolled though the images of all the different crickets and various other insects, and the children discussed their experiences with crickets. From here they started talking about what sound they make. I then decided to go on you tube so they could hear a recording of what they sound like, the children thought this was great. Through this the children are gaining an appreciation of playing with ideas and materials with no specific objective in mind can be an enjoyable and valid approach to learning (Ministry of Education, 1996)

While we were doing this one child saw on the side bar a picture of a coyote and clicked on that, a recording of their call started playing.  I had to leave the children for a few minutes (but was still able to see what they were doing) and when I came back I heard G and Q discussing how they get the video to play, I heard G say that they need to press the triangle, while Q said that they needed to press the pictures, between the two of them they were able to get the video playing. This example demonstrates co construction were the two of them were building knowledge together (MacNaughton & Williams, 2004). The process of going through different insect and animal sounds went on for quite some time before the children had to get ready for mat time.

I felt this was a great learning experience for the children as they are learning more about the Internet and how to use it. This was through me scaffolding their learning and them co construction their learning together, Te Whāriki supports the use of technology and states that “children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.98).

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Through this experience children are learning new skills to research using current technology to further their knowledge for later learning. As Rosen & Jaruszewicz (2009) states that “acquaintance and experience with digital technology can afford young children the opportunities to develop technology skills and fluency that will be required in their further” (p, 126).

Reference list:

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he Whāriki mātauranga mo ngā mokopuna o
            Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: learning media.

 

MacNaugton, G., & Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children:  Choices for theory and Practice. New South Wales, Australia. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Rosen, D, B., & Jaruszewicz, C. (2009). Developmentally appropriate technology use and Early childhood teacher education. Journal of early childhood teachers education.30 162-171. doi:10.1080/10901020902886511