Final reflection.

In response to the sharing the journey entry, a number of comments are made about limiting children’s screen time which I found interesting. I am not sure how this would work as I have not seen it but I would anticipate resistance. Perhaps if if all about how the rules or limits are discussed with the children.  The children’s perceptions of computers would also be shaped by their home experiences of computer use.  I really appreciate Emma’s comment about taking a balanced approach and thoughtful planning around ICT implementation.  With the ultimate responsibility lying at the feet of the teachers it is vital that we have learning opportunities such as these to gain the knowledge necessary to keep our children safe and enhance their learning.   

Through reflecting on the gardening entry comments I have realised that our centre garden may partly service the children’s meal needs while at the centre but it really would be great to grow plenty and have extra produce to share with the centre whānau.  This could possibly even lead into sharing recipes to use with the new produce. I love the idea of children taking something that they have cared for and grown home to share with their families. This conveys great value for the effort & work that they have put into the garden too.

I really enjoyed thinking about the simple tools that are in the centre and that the children use in their daily lives. This course has really highlighted the importance of providing plenty of opportunities for children to use simple tools.  I have become much more aware of the benefits of their use and how hard it would be to live without them.

I feel it is important to provide these opportunities as lots of people have not had the benefit of this exposure and have not developed the skills to use them, this is particularly important at such a young age.  Recently I wanted to make up a wooden trolley to use in the centre. I gathered together the materials and necessary tools and took them into the centre. The children were very curious and wanted to give everything a try. Many of the adults were unfamiliar with an old fashioned manual drill, a mitre box and things I thought were quite common tools. On reflection I realised that I am quite a practical person who has always been involved with craft & construction activitis where as others may not have had any exposure to these tools before. This seems a bit sad really as using  these simple tools to follow through a process and achieve a finished piece of construction was a very satisfying experience.  For the children involved it was an opportunity to focus their energy and concentration and follow through a construction that they felt very proud of on completion.

Overall I have grown in my understanding of the broad arrange of technology in our centre environment and immediate neighbourhood. Through the experience of creating and using our blogs I have grown in confidence and awareness of the potential for sharing our learning that a blog provides.  I can see that blogs could be a great tool to share the learning that goes on in a school or early childhood environment. However there are certain cybersafety issues that come along with this and teachers carry the responsibility to collaborate with parents and centre whānau to help teach children how to keep themselves safe. We also have a great responsibility to scaffold and enhance children’s experiences with technology in order the enhance their learning.  However I feel that this responsibility is full of possibility and potential for a wonderful journey which we can share with the children and their whānau.