Monday, 28 March 2016

Linking children's book as a way of collecting materials

How can I as a teacher link children’s book as a way of collecting materials?

The bowerbird workshop consisted of finding a children’s story book that would be able to connect to the idea of collecting materials.  The book chosen was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. As a pre-service teacher I was wondering how I can use this book in the classroom as an idea of getting children to collect items.


As the Hungry Caterpillar’s environment is in the outdoor setting, I began to cumulate ideas of getting children to explore natural materials through the outdoor environment. The caterpillar lives outside amongst leaves, trees, bark, food scraps and sticks so therefore children can really explore and expand on their knowledge of the outdoor. Children are able to categorise items through colour and shape, texture, size and smell. ‘Collecting can help children learn how to sort, classify, match and organize their world’ (MacNaughton & Williams 2009, p.19). As a pre-service teacher I am constantly questioning the idea of children feeling a sense of belonging in their environment, I feel that children should be taught through many different learning arrangements that allow different learning experiences. Natural materials are a great way to let children investigate the earth and their environment. As a pre-service teacher I believe it is essential for children to share their thoughts and experiences as a class discussion. Through using storybooks and the collecting of materials children are able to hear different perceptions and perspectives on ideas that children will all be complete different too. Listening is a key tool in the classroom and I believe children can listen to the ideas of others through being respectful. According to MacNaughton and Williams (2009) it’s vital that as a teacher welcoming the thoughts of what children have to say to us in all its diversity is very important as all children’s ideas are correct as there is no wrong in your thinking.

References:
MacNaughton, G & Williams, G 2009, Techniques for Teaching Young Children; Choices for Theory and Practice, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, NSW.

Friday, 18 March 2016

Importance of cultural diversity

The importance of cultural diversity and how as a pre-service teacher I will be able to use my knowledge to utilise this in a classroom?

As a multi-cultural society I feel as though as a pre-service teacher allowing children to bring their sense of identity into the classroom is essential to their learning experiences as all children should feel welcomed, appreciated and accepted for their diversity and similarity.  From my recent learning experience about collecting, I have come to understand that ‘collecting becomes an enjoyable and worthwhile learning experience when children are encourage to explore, sort and classify the objects they or the staff have collected’ (MacNaughton & Williams 2009, p.21).

The use of collection can be utilised in order to target culture diversity by allowing the children to bring photographs, ornaments or anything in order to represent their identity and background. By creating an experience for children like this you are allowing children to feel apart of their learning environment and the teacher can use this as a way of decorating the classroom to provide an engaging room. From recent learning I have been exposed to the challenges teacher face when using collecting with cultural diversity as an issue of being racist, sexist or not being respectful, however I feel as a teacher I will be able to demonstrate my cultural background to the children in order to model how to be accepting of others and what their identities are.


I truly believe that as a pre-service teacher children should feel a sense of belonging and I feel that their culture background is a great tool to use in order to create a room that is accepting, inviting and respectful to those around us. As an upcoming teacher I feel it is my duty to demonstrate the right values of cultural diversity.

References:
MacNaughton, G & Williams, G 2009, Techniques for Teaching Young Children; Choices for Theory and Practice, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, NSW.

Monday, 7 March 2016

Equipment and materials defines me as a teacher

How does positioning equipment and materials define me as a teacher?

From my pastpresent experiences throughout my schooling journey, I never really noticed how the teacher might have set up equipment in order to frame the best learning experiences for the classroom. From engaging in MacNaughton and Williams book ‘Techniques for Teaching Young Children’: Chapter 1 Positioning equipment and materials I have been alerted about the importance of creating a classroom that is effective and efficient for everyone among us. As an upcoming teacher I feel as my duty I will be obliged to keep my classroom engaging in order to spark children’s curiosity and stimulate interests by including materials that the children have interest in.

This chapter has made me wonder how the environment of the classroom needs to evolve over time, through reflecting on past accomplishments, however, introducing new changes over time that will develop through changes in the children. This has made me question why is it so important for children to be transitioned into change? I feel that as I am growing and learning as a pre service teacher I am really starting to develop ideas about the importance of the classroom environment and how the classroom layout and structure in many ways can help in children’s learning development. I am now wondering what I can do as a teacher to promote a nurturing, inviting, engaging and interesting environment for my classroom that also captures the children’s interests in order to make the children feel comfortable and important.


This chapter also allows me to reflect upon my past experiences in schooling and how many of the classrooms I have been in have not always been engaging; however, many of them consisted of displaying our artwork around the room. Now knowing what I know, I have been able to understand why the teacher always used to want us to display our artwork in the classroom as this would be one of the aspects that relates to positioning materials in a way that can stimulate appeal and comfort.

Sunday, 6 March 2016