Trust in the incredible capacities of children....ALL of them.

I came across this Story Workshop series on the PYP and the principles of Reggio Facebook group.  It is a series of videos that provoke viewers to think about possibilities for children with special needs/special rights. I am inspired by the time and effort teachers take to set up their environment and plan for possibilities.

I'm intrigued with the range of visual art learning engagements in the space and how teachers have taken the time to set these up. What are your thoughts on the videos?

This is me: Article 31 and Child's Right to Play

We are exploring and unpacking the notion of a play-based curriculum at my school. I have recently joined the group LEGO Idea Foundation conference on LinkedIn and have come across a fascinating discussion about 'play'. The notion of play resonates differently with different people. I remember facilitating a workshop some years ago at an early childhood conference and asking participants to share their early play memories. Almost all of the participants shared examples of play outside. I wonder how play has changed for the children of today?

My perception of play- real, true, authentic play for children is where they have full control over the rules, the activity, who they engage with and how they engage with them (of course within reason as all children should be safe). I don't see play as a place for adults to plan how or what they play with either. What do you think?

Today's learning for tomorrow's jobs

Awesome learning happens outside the classroom walls..

I value the role real-life hands on experiences have in forming connections for children. Each Wednesday I have a scheduled time to enjoy a class trip with my class. Even though we live in a compound in Saudi Arabia we are so fortunate to enjoy a range of places to visit. In our first month of school we have visited our local supermarket to buy fresh fruit for fruit salad, we have visited our old K1 teachers and looked at our tall we have grown over summer,  we have visited the local Fire Station and the local Golf Course. What learning could possible happen on these trips?

Well a whole lot more than we could ever create inside the classroom.

Professional Goals for the Year

It's that time of year again where I think about the direction I want to take as a professional, where I look at areas to develop what I want to focus on.

Last year my goals were to "Develop a deeper understanding of the IB Primary Years Program" and "Use digital technologies to explore the notion of 'international mindedness'". I reflected on this recently and hope to continue with the educational technologies piece this year.

We are a month into the new academic year here at TKS, over the summer break (well winter break as my family and I headed back to NZ) I pondered on the possibilities. Here are my goals for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Professional Goal Number One:

* Explore and engage in research based literacy practices.

Rationale: In my years of experience I have seen many teachers (including myself) default to their own experiences of education or their own 'it looks like good practice' practices in teaching. I want to know what the research says when it comes to literacy education and I want be abreast of the latest research.

Possible Actions

* I've enrolled in a Post Graduate Diploma of Literacy Education with Massey University. I'm excited about studying and am looking forward to the papers on offer (Foundations of Literacy Education, Teaching Writing in the Classroom and The Nature, Prevention and Remediation of Literacy Learning Difficulties).

* Read more texts around Literacy Education (or just read more texts in general).

Professional Goal Number Two:

* Support my K2 team with educational technologies

Rationale: We are a school attached to a Science and Technology University. In all my years as an ICT Facilitator I dreamed of the resources we currently have. I am looking forward to exploring ways that these can be used in meaningful ways in my classroom and beyond.

Possible Actions

* Naketa's Tech Times (dedicate time once a week for Tech Times), drop in session, a just in time learning model.

* Role model and share ICT being used to enhance learning.

* Work with other teachers in K2 then encourage these teachers to support others (ripple effect of learning).

Post-It Plus in the Early Years.

I've been on Twitter again, I love this place...I don't visit as often as I like but I always, always come away with a gem. Here is this week's gem

Post-it Plus

With this free app installed on your iPad you can snap a picture of a collection of physical sticky notes and have them quickly digitized. Once your notes are digitized you can re-arrange them, share them with collaborators, or send them to another application like Dropbox. If you have multiple sets of notes you can combine the best notes into one board through the Post-it Plus iPad app.

If you have read my post with my Reflection on Assessment in the Early Years workshop  you will have seen that I use post-its a lot for capturing children's stories. You can capture the Post-its in digital form and have these converted into an excel sheet. How cool is that?

Here's what I tried today, I captured the Post-It's using Post-it Plus, then I exported it to an excel using Dropbox - all of my notes are now in a digital format...

Looking forward to seeing how this can be used further in the classroom.

I am NOT an advocate for technology...

I am NOT an advocate for technology! I've done the research, I've read the case studies and opinion pieces. I am not an advocate for technology. I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR LEARNING...

It's the new academic year at TKS and I have taken it upon myself to support my team with technology. I have been an avid technology user in my personal life for years, an ICT facilitator in a previous job, a teacher who embraces technology in the classroom... but I am not a technology advocate.

I've had my fair share of giving the pro-technology speeches:

* Digital natives vs. Digital Immigrants
* Technology is the cultural tool of today - do not deny the cultural tools of our 21st century learners.
* Technology can transform learning
* Access to information, anytime, anywhere
* Children can self-regulate their learning.
* You can make learning visible for students. parents and families.

I believe all of this...but I am not a technology advocate.

Before coming to TKS I worked in a centre that were leading the way with Nature Kindergartens in NZ. The Director sent several teachers to Forest Schools in England to become certified Forest School educators. Several of my nieces and nephews still attend this early childhood centre, and the photo below shows the types of experiences my niece is engaged in during a typical week. I've read the research and the case studies, nature is vital for physical well-being, growth and creativity. I've given the pro-nature speeches and I believe and value everything about Nature Kindergarten.

I am not a technology advocate - I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR LEARNING!

I know technology can and will make a difference to learning. While I am a technology user I am not a fan of using technology for the sake of using technology. 

*I want to see technology being used to enhance learning, not to entertain children. I want to see technology transform learning and offer experiences that no other tool can offer, here are some examples of how technology is being used in my classroom to transform learning:

* Skype - Last year we Skyped classrooms from all over the world, we peeked inside classrooms and houses in NZ, Korea, Switzerland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, USA.

* I used QR codes and Aurasma to bring wall displays to life.

* We used Twitter to learn about a school in Calgary, Canada - they spoke French (Kindergarten around the world project).

* We created our very own Frozen movie (green screen and all)- children designed costumes and performances.

* QR codes are bringing learning stories to life.

* Children are taking their own photos and blogging straight from iPads

I am not an advocate for technology, I am an advocate for learning...in fact you'll see me with a pen and paper, in the mud kitchen or playing soccer most days of the week.