Reflection of Learning

I have found this assessment challenging but enjoyable. I think that because it has been a new and exciting experience for many of us we have forgotten to provide critical feedback. I know that I haven't received critical feedback, but I have enjoyed sharing some of our challenges. It was good to know that others were learning by trial and error and having to ask for help. Experiencing the process of trial and error for myself has made me realise that, while children need instruction to use new technology, it is the exploration of its uses that provides the opportunity to realise the potential of these tools.

I also got lots of ideas and knowledge from reading the blogs of other students. This shows how useful these types of electronic 'chat rooms' can be for professional development of teachers. They can be used to generate discussions, invite critique and share knowledge and information.

In relation to the learning outcomes for this course I have gained an understanding of the significance of technology to children's development. These are the cultural tools of this generation. They are a part of all of the environments that influence their lives. This poses new challenges and fears for parents, educators and society as children gain access to broader communities in ways that were not available to them in the past. However technology is not only here to stay it is also rapidly advancing into children's worlds. It was really valuable to learn about the services and information that Netsafe provides that can help us address our fears and overcome challenges.

Several students added posts to our course blog that referred to the reluctance of teachers and managers to use technology themselves, let alone allow children to use technology in their centres. I can understand how they feel. Until I did this course I didn't really understand the significance or benefits of much of today's technologies and was daunted by safety issues and lack of skills. I have found that it doesn't take as much effort as I first thought to use and reap the benefits of this type of technology. For example, I can see great benefits for the revival of whakawhanaungatanga amongst communities. For example facebook has allowed me to make connections to my extended whanau and iwi all over the world. I know that it won't be easy but I am excited about implementing my new understandings and technology skills in my practice.

Expanding Systems of Influence

This reflection was inspired by our conversation in class today about how people, places and things become reference points for children to gain new understandings of concepts, knowledge, and interactions.

H was in the process of transitioning to school and had just spent the morning in her new classroom. She arrived at our centre in her new uniform and with her new school bag. We asked her to share her experience at mat time. I am in the preschool room so I knew that this would be beneficial for all of the children in my room. Among other things she was excited to tell us that she knew the songs that they sing at school. Then she opened teh floor for children to ask hr questions. The children know that there are six different questions that are asked at sharing times to prompt good discussion. They used these to get some pertinent information from H.
Where do you put your school bag?  "In my locker like the one I have here."
What did you do there? "I sat on the mat."
When did you go? "I went in the morning with my brother and my sister."
How did you go there? "My mum took me."
Who are your friends there? "I have a reading buddy. Her name is E."
Why did you go there? "Because I am going to school when I turn five on my birthday."
 After mat time the children gathered around her to look at her new lunch box and books.

Research has identified that successful transition to school is crucial for children's emotional well-being, social confidence and future learning. By sharing pre-visits with her peers at pre-school H gets to practice  "border crossing" into ever extending environmenal systems (Hartley, Rogers et al, cited Meade, 2010). These "borders" are illustrated in Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory of  Development which holds that children's development reflects the influence of several environmental systems (Santrock, 2008). Te Whariki acknowledges this by requiring that "The wider world of family and community is an integral part of the early childhood curriculum" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.42).

H was able to discover some points of reference for processing her new school experience. She found similarities in pre-school and school culture such as mat times, lockers for her bag and familiar songs. According to Fabian and Dunlop (2006) it is important for children to have strong connections between school and early childhood settings. By allowing H to share these experiences with our preschoolers, she also becomes a connection to the' world of school' for them.

This clarified my understanding of how the interaction of people, places and things becomes a significant aspect of a child's holistic development and has prompted me to put more effort into implementing and developing our transition to school procedures.

Mobile Phone Maths

 Writing the numbers on my phone, and calling home to say 'Hi' to mum

Every morning we have a numeracy mat time and activity as part of our programme. I noticed that G had been bringing her toy mobile phone in to play with, and many of the children were interested in playing with it as well. For the rest of the week I used the idea of mobile phones for our numeracy activities.  As our programme is structured and follows themes that have been decided upon by teaching staff I look for every opportunity to extend children's interests. This makes teaching more effective because it allows children to learn through activities that are meaningful to them (Arthur, Beecher et al, 2005).
Having homeschooled my own children for ten years and been a remedial reading teacher aide, I am absolutely passionate about teaching children in meaningful contexts. My own personal experiences match those of Margaret Brennan (Brennan, 2000, p.177) who has based some research on the recognition of the place of cultural tools in achieving intersubjectivity in her work with children. This simply means recognising the importance of understanding or sharing children's perception of the cultural tools that they use, such as language and technical artifacts (Vygotsky, 1978; 1986 cited Brennan, 2001). Brennan's research was focused on representational play that developed out of children's television watching,  but is equally applicable to any technical media/communication tool.  She found that these types of tools provide home learning experiences that can be represented and recreated, extending their thinking in the same way that other representational play does. Rogoff ((1998) found that each generation modifies the tools of past generations, so the important finding of Brennan's research is that unless teachers are able to accept, value and appreciate the diverse ways children will appropriate cultural tools. If we don't we will fail to recognise the opportunities that today's tools offer children to create shared learning moments with their peers and with adults.

Blog Bog number 4 - adding photos to my posts

Okay, I have manouvered my way through the first blog bogs. I created my page, I linked up with others, posted something on my page and other pages.
Now I have noticed that some of you have already done this so obviously I am a bit slow to catch on but I will get there. I am experiencing a few glitches but I am determined to slay the monster that lurks within Blog Bog number 4 "Photobia."

I Made Some Holes!

It was one of those awful rainy days when there was no chance of outside play, even for a short time. I decided to bring the carpentry table inside to provide an outlet for our full room of energised children. It took less than five minutes of loud banging for me to realise that I needed to replace the hammers with some different tools. So got out the drills and glue guns and quickly put the hammers out of reach! I piled a table full of recycled objects next to the carpentry table and let them loose.

I noticed one of the boys (H) drilling holes in different objects; yoghurt containers, a milo tin, plastic lids, a milo box and he even tried a piece of leather. Mustering all of the skills and knowledge I had learned in our Creative Project assessment, I tried to find out if he had any ideas that he would like to express using these materials, to no avail.
I asked him "What are you making?"
He replied quite simply and without looking up "A hole."
Well that put me in my place. According to Loris Malaguzzi (cited Gandini, Etheridge and Hill, 2008) our line of work is to learn and relearn with our children by looking into their learning processes to support them. He believes that one of the ways to do this is to enter into an activity and develop their strategies of thought and action.
I sat beside him and started drilling objects too. I found that their was great stisfaction in working my way through a material until the drill emerged on the other side. It became a challenge to me to find different objects to drill, and finder thicker tougher objects. I began to offer some to H, supporting him by holding some the objects and materials while he drilled and encouraging him when he wanted to give up. I learned that there is great pleasure in exploring the use of tools just to see what they can do. Apart from the obvious physical skills that can be developed using a hand drill (Smorti, 1999), I also discovered that it is actually a very soothing activity. How interesting!
When he had finished I placed all of his drilled objects into a small box to take home. I also asked him if I could take some photos for our create book. This is the folder I used to present my Creative Project, which we have just kept adding to. When mum came to pick him up she looked at the box and asked "What did you make?"
"I made some drills" he replied.
"You used the drill, didn't you?" I gently corrected.
"Oh yeah" he said "And I made some holes."
His pictures are amongst other pictures of children who made planes, a laser gun, a house, a fire extinguisher and a handbag. Revisitng this activity provides lots of social interactions as the children lie on the floor with each other, looking through the photos and talking about the things that they made. By documenting these stories and images children are able to revisit their experiences and share their ideas and learning with each other.

H also appears to have a real sense of belonging to this group of technology users and appears to be proud of his ability to use the drill. He seems to have gained a greater sense of himself as a competent and capable learner as he proudly shares with the other children "I made some holes."
In reading about semiotics (Abramson cited Gandindi, Etheridge & Hill, 2008) I wondered if H was trying to comunicate more than the fact that he had made a hole. Semiotics refers to the use of symbols in communication and Abramson likens it to Malaguzzi's assertion of the hundred languages of children.
I pondered whether these holes that H was so proud of were actually symbols of all of the effort, explorations, understandings and pleasures that he gained in creating them? If they are, then they succintly express everything that I have just written about - amazing!!!!!

B is a four year old Pacific Island boy. English is not his parents first language, however they tell us that they speak English to him, at home. F does not appear to understand what we are saying to him. He stares blankly at us when we ask him something. He rarely speaks to us and if he does it is very difficult to understand what he is saying. He doesn't engage in any other activities apart from playing with cars, trains and bikes. I have also found that he isn't interested in books or pictures of any of these. We have considered beginning observations with the view of suggesting a referral to Special Eduction Services.


One day he indicated to one of the teachers, by gesturing, an interest in an interactive video game. When she asked him about the game she was stunned at how clearly he was able to tell her about the game. She said “It was as if I was having a conversation with an adult!” When she spoke to the boy's father he told her that he plays these games all of the time, even before he comes to childcare. It is the first thing he wants to do when he gets up. When she told me about this I found that thoughts of disapproval started stirring through my mind. How could they let him play this type of game so much? They should be reading to him, doing other activities with him. How is he going to manage at school?


According to Maney (2005) many authors are challenging the belief that books are automatically better than video games. For example Steve Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter proposes that a lot of positive learning takes place when children are engaged in video games. They have to think about patterns in the game, long-term goals, resources, decisions, feedback and adjusting decisions which are all valuable cognitive processes (Maney, n.d.). Howeve research of violent and non-violent video games reveals some negative behaviour including aggressive feelings, thoughts and behaviour, and some desensitisation. Some non-violent games have been related to some positive learning effects, so it appears that there is some benefits depending on the types of games played.

 Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett and Farmer (2005) suggest that educational settings tend to validate the main stream practices such as the book based literacy practices in English. This is seen as the norm and more valuable than experiences with television, video game and computer texts (Kavanagh, 1997, Makin et., 1999 cited Arthur, Beecher et., 2005).  This, they say, marginalises children who don't have book based literacy experiences. With technology playing a greater role in children's literacy experiences I realise that I will have to shift my practice towards their daily realities. I found my thinking beginning to change. I am excited about developing more of a relationship with B and his family in order to build on this strength that he has.