Today I was sitting down at the table gluing into the children’s portfolios and they wanted to look at them so we sat down and they were looking through their books and having flashbacks to all the activities they did. The children were talking about the books and saying
- · Jodie that’s my book
- · There’s j planting some flowers
- · This is my painting
- · Look there’s you the donkey
I thought wow these children have such amazing memories. Then it dawned on me these children do not have access to their books and I did not know if their parents had ever showed it to them so they had no input into their own books. I showed them some silly pictures I had taken of them trying to eat the puff paint out of their books and pick off the artwork.
They thought it was funny and I had to upload them to the computer they came and we were watching all the photos of the instances they were showing my in their books and photos of them in general. We were on the computer and looking at more photos and the children were saying how they really liked the photos so I asked them if they would like a copy they said yes and I showed them how to print them. Then we went to the office and they each saw their pictures on the paper.
It was so much fun and really made me excited about the children’s learning. I loved how the children were so excited and that they wanted to do it all themselves and be a part of their own portfolios. It surprised me how I had never thought of having the portfolios be about the children and have them write their own stories. Again the routine of non contact is a rush against time and I see the fact that I have limited time to do all of my learning stories but the centre is open for 11 hours a day and non contact takes up only 2 hours a day so I actually have 9 hours a day where I can have access to the computer and bring it into the room for the children to have many different experiences.
This experience really got me excited about technology and I felt amazed at how much the children really understood and how capable they are if we give them the opportunities. I felt that this experience should be common for all children and they should all be given the chance to create things for themselves using computers. (MacNaughton and Williams, 2004, p76) this chapter talks about helping, encouraging and praising children, I feel that in order to “inspire someone with the courage or confidence to do something”, we need to give children a chance to go out and explore and give them opportunities to to use technology and become familiar with it as it will be a part of their everyday life for a very long time.
It is a shame that we do not have a computer available specifically for the children but we do not, so giving the children opportunities to explore technology on our computer will be just as good as we can add programs for them do; design art and play educational games, explore programs and develop their technology skills. According to Te Whāriki the children should be able to “learn that trying things out, exploration, and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning” (Ministry of Education, 1996,p84). I will definitely do more activities like this, just seeing the sense of accomplishment as they grabbed their own pictures from the printer knowing that they had done it all themselves.
References
MacNaughton, G and Williams, G. (2004). Techneques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice. New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Hey Jodie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and I am so glad to hear that you recognised how important it is for children to contribute to their own portfolios, revisit their experiences and play an active role. When you realised this, you responded immediately and by using technology you were able to engage and excite the children in the process. In doing this, you are really showing the children that you acknowledge their contribution, value and celebrate it which will give them such confidence in their own learning and support their self esteem and emotional well-being. You must share this experience with your colleagues and your manager at the centre as it is really important that your practice in including childrens voices and contributions to their portfolios are a natural occurrence within your setting and technology can assist them to do this. Perhaps you can do this by using a pen to write their words down, or letting them glue their work into their own portfolios or how about exploring powerpoint with them? This way they could choose what photos they want to display and then present it at a mat time to their friends? It would be great to have an old computer in your room that they could really explore in depth to extend their interests. Have you thought about talking with the parents? Some parents could work in an industry that could provide you with an old computer or even have contacts that could put you in touch with organisations that donate?