Reflections on Observing & Programming

I have been pondering a great many things ... It’s part of my job you see. BUT in this pondering I have had some conscious ideas about my practice as an educator. 

Many people are in this cycle: 

1. We see the child doing something.
2. We (the all-knowing-educator) then decide that the child will do something else that we choose based upon all our knowledge (which we can’t admit might be limited!) and our perspective (which again, isn’t necessarily a balanced one!)...
3. We then observe and make judgements based upon whether the child has achieved what we have set out for them to do.
4. We then document our findings based upon this one moment where the child may or may not have done what we wanted them to do...

Does anyone else see what might be wrong with this cycle?

This is many people’s planning cycle! This was my planning cycle ... We see, we make choices, then we act, then we evaluate and go again ...

Why don’t we plan for many different possibilities rather than just the one? Why don’t we problem solve and think about how many other ways we can support children in their learning and growing and being and becoming? 

I think the problem is the new is being overlapped with the old ... You know the old school way of doing things where we just essentially programmed in the boxes ... I always hated doing this and I was and am a day book programmer ... But even now I’m thinking of other ways I can do the same thing without the day book ... The day book requires (for me at least) a computer and time to write ... and not everyone will have that. I've started playing around with other ways and am starting to ponder using documentations and mind-maps and webs, even notations!

I’m not providing you with any concrete answers here ... I might even be leaving you with more questions! But what I’m thinking is ... what happens if we provide really excellent learning environments for children that are well thought out (because we write reflections) and have so much content that will support children over time ... 

Time to learn and grow being the key here ... 

What if, when we are writing our observations or reflections on particular children’s learning and growing, we make suggestions about:

1. Different experiences within the learning environment that might already suit the needs of the child or the group as a whole?
2. Different teaching strategies that might support that child achieve that outcome or milestone or satisfy their need?
3. (Here’s some novelty) Act NOW! What can you do NOW to support that child? Is it asking a question or providing a resource to extend their engagement? Could it be role modelling by their side? Or could it possibly be helping them hand over hand? Could it be as simple as a smile of encouragement!? Write THAT down!

So that is what I have been wondering ... how much of what we already do in regards to our teaching practice is left unsaid and undocumented? How much of what we might be able to do, but feel we can’t do because it has to be something that we “follow-up” or do later is left undone, or done so far in the future that it no longer serves a purpose for that child?!?!

Signing off,

G @ Teacher’s Ink.

© Teacher’s Ink. 2013

Sustainable Resources from the Op Shop!

What you see here, is $11 worth of wooden bowls from The Salvation Army op shop. I love op-shops. I love op-shop shopping. I seriously do! Aside from rehoming items that would otherwise be trash and supporting organizations that support others in need ... I love the style, the originality, the funkiness of what you can find! Even the table underneath the bowls was op-shop fodder! It was $40 from St Vincents and in reasonable pristine condition (until one of my exes put something stupid on it and made a great big gounge - which annoys the stuffing out of me (depsite using a wood crayon!)).

I am using these bowls in my photo shoots and I have used others at my last job to display items like insect and animal figurines as well as natural embellishments: seed pods, leaves, twigs, stones etc.

I now have a box full of wooden bowls - some from garage sales, most from St. Vinnies or Salvos - most of which were between $1-5 each ... In this photo, the large bowl was $5, the double was $3 and the others were all $1 ... and this was one trip to one store.

They also have lots of baskets available in all shapes and sizes, but I'm not buying them! I'm running out of room at home to store these things!

Why are we displaying items in plastic containers when we can use, re-use, recycle items that are so rich and warm in colour, and support a more sustainable life? They just look lovely!!!

PLUS as a bonus, you can link your provisions to sustainable practices which ties in to the NQS and the EYLF ... See? See what I did there?

Op-Shop Wooden bowls = NQSEYLF friendly!

In fact op-shop anything is good for us and our world and our practice!

So there you have it!

Peace Out!

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012

Repurposing: Art Tray

 

 

I'm a BIG fan of recycling and repurposing and re-using if you havent already picked up on that notion ...

The tray is from my uncle. He won it at a tournament a great many moons ago. It's an engraved trophy. The tin cans, well, you all know where they came from and I've posted about making cans safe before in my post:  Sustainable Recycled Repurposed Home Corner Resources. The materials are simply what you might have at an art table or possibly even in a writing or drawing area. This was so simple and easy to put together. You could also have materials for a playdough table. Hmmm that gives my my next idea!

If you don't have the materials to "recycle" you can easily buy metal trays from any number of discount stores if you want to head down this specific path. Weekend market stalls where they sell homewares have them in many different sizes. I've also seen them many times at opportunity shops (Salvation Army or St. Vincents or Anglicare Op shops).  Or if you want a wooden look -  wooden trays are readily available from Ikea or Kmart or any other number of stores.

 

 

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved

Using Real Resources in Home Corner

 

I also make “food bottles” ... I have found at Kmart for $2 for a set of 3 small screw top jars. They are made from BPA-free plastic and they are affordable and small enough for little hands. AND you can glue them closed! I used to make them out of different sorts of bottles from the $2/Discount stores, but they are not the safest plastics to use. I much prefer the Kmart ones now!

 

Basically, fill your containers with different sorts of dried food products: pasta, lentils, rice, beans, oats, flour, etc and then glue the lid on tightly. The end! You could add labels to the front if you wanted to add a literacy component to it, but I haven’t done this as yet. It’s on the list for later!

barley

 

polenta



rice 

spaghetti



red lentils in action!

red lentils

 

One might argue that it’s irresponsible and disrespectful to use food as a “toy” ... I say that you can justify in any number of ways:

a)      Firstly, you can use products that are out of date and would otherwise be discarded.

b)      You can explain that we are using the food, in small amounts, to educate children to the importance of healthy eating.

c)      We are showing the children respect by providing something “real” that they can relate to and to hopefully dispel any apprehension they might have about eating different sorts of foods.

d)      It is something that will last years rather than moments, so the food is not being wasted, it is simply just not being eaten - and you are only using a small amount.

PLEASE NOTE:

1.       It’s important that you are aware of any allergies in your learning space. For example, you wouldn’t use peanuts or a product that contains peanuts inside the jars.

2.        Make sure that you use low-allergy foods and make sure they are closed tightly and I suggest using a hot glue gun, or possibly a very strong construction adhesive. Just be wary of fumes, the hot glue etc and do not do this part with the children. You can fill the containers with them, and talk about the contents and what types of foods are healthy.

3.       Also please label the containers on the bottom with permanent marker with the date.

4.       You might also want to freeze the contents for a couple of weeks to make sure you kill any possible insect eggs so that you don’t have to throw away the jars post filling due to infestation! It happens to the cleanest of kitchens!

(c) Teacher's Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved

Sustainable Recycled Repurposed Home Corner Resources

We all know the buzz buzz buzz about being sustainable and environmental in the EYLF and the NQS ... Well, I know I've mentioned this before, but I thought I would do a whole post on it! I've been slowly saving up some more cans ... and I have a few more that are still at work!

1) Collect your cans! Try and have a variety, that is colourful, has a balance of image and text.

2)  Wash your cans out... be careful as most of the lift top lids leave a sharp edge.

3) Have your "smooth edge" can opener ready - remove the inner lip of the can and discard.

4) Run your finger carefully along the inner edge and make sure its smooth - again, be careful!

5) Re-attach your label if you removed it from can (I did this as I didnt eat all that food in one go - and I used pet food tins which I use daily as the base). You can do this with sticky tape. Just make sure it lines up evenly.

6) Cut a piece of clear contact adhesive slightly longer than your can so that it sits on the bottom of the can and over laps the top.

7) Remove the cover of the contact adhesive and carefully smooth over the label of the can.

8) When the can is fully covered, make a few small cuts at the top over lapping adhesive cover and then fold them into the can and smooth them out. This gives extra protection from the rim (which should be smooth anyway!). If you are particular about the safety of these cans, use some silver duct/gaffa tape to line the top of the can.

9) Ta! Da! You now have some unique, made by yourself, economical, resourceful, creative, recycled resources that can be used to support children's creative and imaginative play!

10) Sit back and watch the magic ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(c) Teacher's Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved

The Caterpillar and The Spider

Today my gardening colleague and I took a few of our 'left over' children into our car-parking area (its fully gated and locked with only our two cars - don't panic!).
 
We were pruning our Geraniums and our African Daisy and our Hibiscus and whatever else we happened to have ...
 

We found a teeny tiny caterpillar!

 

 

And we also found a St. Andrew's Cross Spider but the photo wasnt the best and then my colleague accidentally pruned where the web was! We will go back and look to see if she builds again.

 

My student said to me "We found two natures" ... and we did ... the caterpillar and the spider.

 

I love, LOVE, gardening with children. I love helping to connect them with nature and life. And this afternoon was truly special. Watching Miss Five and her sister Miss Two using scissors to prune - snip at leaves in helping us ... discovering little creatures, admiring the flowers, learning about their names Echivera, African Daisy, Geranium etc ...

 

 
I loved watching Miss Two concentrate so much on snipping the leaves. While it wasn't the best outcome for the hibiscus - I was pruning it anyway! - she concentrated so hard! She was so proud of herself as she asked me to look at her work! She was developing her fine motor skills, her concentration, her hand eye coordination ... she was learning to care for plants and "give them a haircut" so that they will grow stronger, greener, healthier ...
 

 

I loved watching Miss Five pick flowers for Miss Apprehensive who didn't want to garden, but loved sitting on the safe sidelines where she could collect and guard the flower collection. She could pick the African Daisies off the plants we'd pulled up ... Miss Five was supporting Miss Apprehensive's choice to sit to the side. Miss Five was showing she has strong empathy for her younger peers, a skill she's developed as a big sister and a member of a strong cultural family.

 

 

Where to next? Well, I'm thinking we'll bring a few out in small groups to do some observational drawings of the plants we have. I'm also pondering letting them use our camera to take some photos. As we only have one camera for now - we have to guard it well!
 
We don't have many plants in our playground - but we do have a garden area which we have started working on. We are adding organic matter to the soil to prepare it for planting - its just too dry and won't hold moisture. We've got grand plans!
 
We are going to use some of the Geranium cuttings to grow new plants which the children can take home themselves and care for should they choose. This way we can share with the children how we can grow some plants from cuttings, some from leaves, some from seeds etc.
 
I'm going to strongly encourage the staff to take the children to our garden area more often ... It's been sadly neglected and once our line is fixed, we can hang out our laundry, start our compost, develop more garden beds etc ...
 
All on our journey to being more sustainable! I would love to see this be a daily occurrence!
 

 
This my friends is the EYLF in action ... it's relationships, it's community, it's purposeful activity, its learning through doing, spontaneous actions, caring for nature, plants, animals, creatures ... its part of being a team with adults and children ...

I had such a good afternoon. I just feel at peace with myself and the world, and I wonder if the children are at home feeling the same glow? They certainly seemed to have a glow about them as we worked.
 

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012  All Rights Reserved

 
 

Creative & Innovative Resource Design!

Home Corner BLING!

I like creating things for work. I really like being innovative and creative. Something that I have done for years and years – is make stuffed food boxes. I stuff them with shredded paper and then tape them securely shut. You can then use adhesive contact to wrap them in. This way they last even longer and are less likely to be opened by curious fingers and minds. I often stuff them =with= the children because this way – they know what’s inside and are less likely to investigate.

I have also made food bottles for years ... I have found at Kmart – a set of 3 small twist top jars which are BPA free plastic for $2 ... so a bargain I think! I’ve filled them with some food items (labelled on the bottom with the date) and then glued them closed with my small hot glue gun (put the glue around the inside of the lid and a little up the thread – then carefully twist on – wait til they dry and presto! Real food items! I am still toying with creating name labels with the bottles. I might, but then again, I might not!

Also I have been making food cans ... this is a =new= idea of mine! I had made them years ago using papier-mâché cans – but it was toooooooo much work ... I’m  lazy and need ease and convenience these days ... buy a smooth edge can-opener ($5 from Coles) which cuts the lid off a can but leaves a, yes you guessed it, smooth edge! Run your finger along it carefully to make sure it is smooth! Then I just put on a food label – then contact the label and then fold the overlap into the inside of the can just for extra protection. I leave the cans open - why not? They can then use them to feed people (I had a little not quite 2 year old feed me some cat food the other day, YUM!). Or they can fill them with spare parts (like bottle lids etc).

Some of these items are either “free” or easily affordable. They are made using items that might otherwise make it into the rubbish/recycle cycle with only one use under their belt ... this way, you can re-use and re-purpose items, then when they have lived out their second life with you, you can then recycle them! (minus the plastic of course).

The food bottles will quite possibly last for YEARS ... I have had some last for 10 years before I left them at a job ... It was time to start new. And I’m really impressed with the Kmart jars. Perfect size for little hands. And they really aid in imagination, are real items that they might be able to relate to – and it helps them connect food with food in different states of being (i.e. dried rice, dried beans, etc).

Also, something that we need to all consider - especially in light of the NQS - and their emphasis on sustainability and environmental awareness and the environment - this is the perfect thing for your service to do! If you do it with the children - you are also empowering them, discussing it with them, and helping them to be capable and competent contributors to their own learning space and materials.

So that is my newest sharing with you ... Go forth and create and innovate! AND feel free to share your ideas!

T.ink.

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012    All rights reserved.