Jazz things up with some natural bling!
Join me as I design and create my preschool classroom for 2023. Hi! I'm GiGi and I'll be teaching in a preschool classroom in 2023. I get to design the space and the curriculum, and I cannot wait to see what amazing things we can learn this year.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Reflections: Before & After
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER!!!
I
took photos. I can’t share them. I’m sorry. BUT I can tell you how much of a
difference I can see. It’s important to take photos I think ... how else do you
know how far you’ve come? Your mind will quickly forget what things looked like before
...
I
have shared them with my team and it really brought home to them just how far
we have come in a couple of months. I put them into a PDF document with before
at the top, and then after at the bottom showing the same spaces, with 3 or so
photos of each space ... I started with the office and the foyer ... and
when I am happy with the children’s rooms, then I will do the same and shock
them! Zaaaaaaaaaaaaap!
I wanted to tidy things up in the office and the foyer ... those spaces are after all the face and the "brain" of the business ... people will judge your service based upon what they initially see. And if what they see doesn't represent "business" and "professional" then you might lose them ...
I somewhat have a vision of where I want this service to go ... and I am limited by time (at least at this point I am) ... So, I am under pressure to be a manager and a mentor and an educational leader as well as an innovator! So many things! I feel though, that I am starting to get somewhere with it, which is great ... and the photos help me to remember where I started, remind me of where I'd like to see this "show" go, and give me inspiration to keep going, to keep moving forward!
We've been getting awesome feedback from families and its been really encouraging!
Do
you take before and afters?
It
really helps you to reflect on what was before, what you’ve got going on now,
and where you might like to go ...
That
is afterall what they are promoting in the EYLF isn’t it? The distance
travelled? I think that we need to show our distance, not just the childrens’
... I've written about this before - how its important to save copies of your written work ... I am constantly amazed as I look back at my work from 2009 and compare it to what I am doing now ... There is an obvious distance travelled there! And through reflection, I've been able to grow and evolve and demonstrate to my team as well - which makes me more human and accessible rather than just the "manager" or "educational leader" who is telling them what to do ...
So...
go take some photos!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Starting From Scratch ...
I'm starting from scratch ... and I'm ruffling feathers ... I might write about this for publishing at a later date ... But I will focus on my work as a teacher and educational leader for this blog!
What I have been working on is a planning cycle ... The NQS says (and correct me if I'm wrong, or something somewhere says, but I'm too tired and weary to look it up, so just pretend we both know what I'm talking about, and that I'm right!) we need to have a cycle ... so I'm drawing up a cycle ... and in that cycle I have arrows that indicate link from one aspect to another ... A cycle that is clear to understand and can be easily seen on a bulletin board ... I won't put up a "program" so to speak, but I can have a cycle with a link to possibilities!
I'm working in supporting staff to link the daily reflections to the children's portfolios (or journals) ... and then I'm trying to support staff in writing the links from yesterday's events with today's events and then think about where we might go for tomorrow. I'm also encouraging instead of saying LOC 1.2.3 or some such secret code, that we use the words and terminology of the EYLF without being arrogant and elitist about it ... We need to be understood by parents and the community!
I mean it's well and good to know in my head how everything will look ... but how will it look to others?
Being an educational leader is challenging especially when you are trying to not only lead a preschool team, but a whole service as well! What was I thinking??!?!?! I know the challenges will pay off eventually ... its just so exhausting!
Speaking of exhausting, I have a new awesome padded mattress overlay that I really must go and reaquaint myself with quicksmart!
Been lovely seeing you again!
XoXo
What I have been working on is a planning cycle ... The NQS says (and correct me if I'm wrong, or something somewhere says, but I'm too tired and weary to look it up, so just pretend we both know what I'm talking about, and that I'm right!) we need to have a cycle ... so I'm drawing up a cycle ... and in that cycle I have arrows that indicate link from one aspect to another ... A cycle that is clear to understand and can be easily seen on a bulletin board ... I won't put up a "program" so to speak, but I can have a cycle with a link to possibilities!
I'm working in supporting staff to link the daily reflections to the children's portfolios (or journals) ... and then I'm trying to support staff in writing the links from yesterday's events with today's events and then think about where we might go for tomorrow. I'm also encouraging instead of saying LOC 1.2.3 or some such secret code, that we use the words and terminology of the EYLF without being arrogant and elitist about it ... We need to be understood by parents and the community!
I mean it's well and good to know in my head how everything will look ... but how will it look to others?
Being an educational leader is challenging especially when you are trying to not only lead a preschool team, but a whole service as well! What was I thinking??!?!?! I know the challenges will pay off eventually ... its just so exhausting!
Speaking of exhausting, I have a new awesome padded mattress overlay that I really must go and reaquaint myself with quicksmart!
Been lovely seeing you again!
XoXo
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Taking A Pause ...
New Camera
+
New Job
=
Crazy Hectic Busy Time!
I've got a new job which is going to draw my atteniton away for a wee while ... I have so much on my plate with this new position and I have to focus on this in order to get the ball rolling in the direction I want it to go! On the Bright-Side I'm doing heaps of reflecting and practice honing!
I also have a shiny new awesome camera and I am totally going to be using it to create stuff for this blog!
So MANY ideas! I just lack time right now ...
I will be hovering and pondering and I shall return!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Portfolio Ponderings ...
I was flipping through some portfolios at a service I was
working in and I made some observations:
Firstly, the portfolios looked the same. There were a few
differences, but for the most part, they were copies of group observations all
put into the children’s individual books. And by differences I mean, there
might have been one or two entries that I could see that were individual – and they
were something that the family did, not the services. The other aspects that I
noticed were individual were the art works – but they themselves were novelty
art (splatter painting etc) which are fun, but really not, in my opinion, a
truly artistic practice. There were no
detailed paintings like what my old kids used to create, as the children only
had those short fat brushes with only 2 or 3 colour choices.
I read parts of a few of the observations, but they were
describing what all the children had done, and there was little or no focus on
the individual. I remember years ago working at a service and that was one of
the criticisms of some of the educator’s portfolios – little focus on the child/ren,
more focus on the larger group or the experience. I believe in a happy medium.
I didn’t bother reading what was written because it was just
a narrative. I didn’t even see the educational point of the observation in the
first place. Don’t get me wrong, the staff put a great deal of energy and
thought into what they were writing, I just didn’t enjoy reading it.
The photos were not very inspiring either – they were
photocopies of a print out or the child from a distance. I think that the
photos should be really thoughtful – there should be intent behind the image
chosen and the child should feature, or the child’s work. Also, there were so many different boarders
themed to whatever the observation was about. It was so visually busy and
really detracted from the work of the children.
I know I’m being critical. I’m not questioning their motives
or their dedication, merely their focus. It’s easy to make judgements as an
outsider, I know this. But I like reflecting upon my own work, as well as
others as it encourages me to think and be creative and evolve as a
professional. I have also seen some awesome things that have made me feel at a
professional loss! I’ve seen some wonderful observations! But this experience
of sitting down with the has really led me to think about what I am going to be
including in portfolios in the future. I see value in some old practices that I
was pushed into doing at a previous service. I can utilise these ideas and
weave in more of the EYLF into them...
What do parents and children want to see in the portfolios?
The children and their engagement and their relationships!
The children should be a prominent feature in their own
portfolio/journal/learning story ...
T.ink
(c) Teacher's Ink. 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
De-Clutter-Bugging
I’m not working today and I thought I would take advantage
of the off-time at home. You see, I moved rather suddenly about 9 months ago
during a time of personal turmoil. While it took me 7 or so weeks to pack ...
it’s taken me a great deal longer to unpack! I had a huge commute to work plus
work drama plus work at home plus my responsibilities at home and I didn’t have
enough life left in me to tackle the rest of the unpacking. It was much easier just putting things in the spare room to deal with later.
I’m a bit of a hoarder. I have so many teaching things and
papers with ideas on them, or magazine articles or photocopies of sections of
books that would have been great for teaching, university papers (most of them
are gone now, but some still remain) blah blah blah ... lots of crap!
I’ve always been a bit of a clutter-bug ... but I found that
through my years of tertiary education they were telling me to save this and save that
for this and for that and ... yeah ...I need to change my thinking on the matter: Use it or lose it!
So, papers I want to keep are going into reorganised
binders/folders with labels on the sides so I know what’s in them – I’ve given
myself a shelf or two for those things ... then some shelves for books ... and
then that’s it. If I’m not using it – it’s got to go! I want clearly defined spaces.
I want life to be easier! I want more space to create! And
right now, with clutter, I simply can’t do it!
Besides, it’s nice finding some treasures! I'm also finding alot of my portfolio ideas! See - something to inspire my writing!
Once there is organization, I can then play around with some creative projects - like the dolls! I found my patterns! Yay! And portfolio stuff!
T.ink!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Puppet Adventures
I have a case of finger puppets that live inside my teaching bag. I use these puppets to make stories - either typical fairy tales or ones that I make up as I go along. Anyway, I sometimes let the children use them under supervision. This has often led to a spontaneous experience of making our own finger puppets.
I have done this a couple of different ways.
1. I have cut out a template outline of a finger and then cut them out for the children to draw on. Then we've stuck two of the shapes together using sticky tape for the children to have their own finger puppets.
2. I have photocopied my finger puppets in b&w and the children have cut them out on their own (with varying degrees of success) and then we have just used sticky tape to attach them to a popcicle stick.
3. I have used felt cut outs that are used for craft as well as foam cut outs to glue to sticks which then create a puppet character.
4. I have made a puppet theatre using a cardboard box, with coloured paper just sticky taped to it.
5. I have made a puppet theatre using a cardboard box with paper mache.
6. Let the children use your puppets under supervision! There is nothing more "special" than getting to use the teacher's things.
I like these quick and easy experiences because they are somewhat 'instant' and can be made quite quickly and used til they collapse or fall apart. It shows the children how to recycle and reuse materials. It shows creativity on your part (when we are always expecting it from children). It fosters creativity and story telling! The children can tell the traditional stories, variations of the traditional, or they can make their own stories up. I even did a 'group' where the children came up in pairs and shared a story with their peers (this was semi-successful as some of the children really werent intersted).
Here are what the puppets looked like photocopied
So all I did was cut them out, and then use some sticky tape and attach some paddle pop sticks for 'instant' puppety goodness ... The children used these for a couple of weeks but their interest did taper off a bit.
I have also colour copied them, and laminated them and attached velcro hook spots on the backs and used them as felt stories with and for the children. I often do this with my felt story resources as this way my personal property is protected, but it gives children another resource that fits within a tight budget.
A basket of random characters next to a felt board stand has been also a popular experience for the children - especially those who are creatively inclined! It helps to children to share, fosters negotiation skills, memory and story telling, imagination and language and literacy skills. I have also put felt characters into a basket at a table with four small felt boards for quiet time experiences. These lived on our manipulatives shelves and the children were free to select them as they wished.
While the photos are my copyright - the images of the puppets are the property of Rainbow Educational. I highly recommend their puppet set as it has been a worthwhile purchase and has had much use over the past 3 years!
The link for the puppets if you're interested in purchasing them is here:
http://www.rainboweducational.com.au/cloth-books-bags/34-fairytale-finger-puppets-cloth-book.html
(c) Teacher's Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved
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