My Early Childhood Educational Philosophy

Hi!

Last semester, I had to complete on of the most difficult and thought provoking assignments to date: to put into words my early childhood educational philosophy.

It took a lot of thought and reflection, something which I continue to struggle with, but in the end, I managed to get it into words. I took some inspiration from my previous placement centres and looked online to see others and even took to academic literature.

This was my final piece of writing...

I believe that quality child care and education begins with the involvement and input of parents and families. Since you are your child’s first teacher, your experiences together and observations are crucial to structuring a program which caters to your child’s interests and developmental needs as they journey through childhood.

The continued observation, documentation of your child coupled with communication and continuity between the home and educational environment allows us as early childhood educators to build a program which meets individual needs, focuses on natural and authentic play spaces and fosters free choice and quality interactions. 
It is important to understand the level of diversity present in our current community and to past these views on to our future generation. To ensure this, all children are treated equally regardless of gender, race, ability, religion, socio economic status or family structure and it is expected that this is extended to their families. As a result of this, a non-gendered approach is taken by all educators when planning and programming environments and experiences.

Learning experiences are informed by the interests and needs of children in the room, observed through documentation. These aim to nurture curiosity, wonder, inquiry, as well as feeling of success, empowerment and confidence. Careful care and consideration is taken when setting these up to ensure the safety of the environment for the children it is designed for while still providing a setting for potential challenge and growth.

The social context of the environment is important to the experience of childhood and is reflected as such in the organisational structure of the rooms at the centre. Children are primarily placed based on their age, in order to provide age and developmentally appropriate experiences however the difference of ages allows for a range of interactions and a chance for cooperative and collaborative skills to emerge and be practiced.

These considerations applied to the environments and experiences designed are informed by the Early Years Learning Framework to ensure that children have the opportunity to:
·         Build a strong sense of identity
·         Connect with and contribute to their world
·         Develop a strong sense of well-being
·         Become confident and involved learners
·         Transition to effective communicators 

While the mark is important, for me this assignment was really setting me up to think about what I value, what I think was important to my approach and what informs my practice. It has set me up be a more reflective practitioner as I am continually told to change this statement and update when necessary.

I'm interested to see how many other teachers put these philosophies into writing, would you consider yourself on of them?

Miss Tracy xx 

The Staff Room

Hi again!

Now, as important as it is for providing for the children in early childhood is providing for the staff. When you have staff who truly work together as a team, support each other within and outside the centre, collaborate ideas and question methods, the quality of the program you are working to provide skyrockets! These sorts of staff relationships and behaviour have to be built and nurtured somewhere, and for most centres this place is the staff room.

At my first placement centre, the staff room was positively tiny however the space in there was set up in a way which allowed traffic to flow through and yet still allowed staff to have a place to come to where they could sit down, unwind and converse. 

In contrast, when I first arrived at my current centre, I noticed they had a significantly large staff room but it was crowded with ill placed furniture. When another director came in, she too noticed this problem and set out to fix it. The current set up has distinct spaces; a table for eating and talking, a small desk to read important updates, read the roster and update the timesheets, two couches for occasional napping and a large table specifically for heating and cooking appliances.

Another update was the staff discussion board. While they are common, they are often not used to their fullest potential, which was the case here until the educational leader rubbed it out completely and redrew. This was the final result…

Staff began writing positive messages on the board; the updates were regular and well communicated and included ways that the staff could improve their practice. The educational leadership update was posted every Wednesday as a result of visiting each room weekly and really looking at what they were doing well and what needed improvements. Sharing concrete and local examples of good practice was so much more meaningful then grabbing examples from online or other centres. If you can walk next door and see what a lovely portfolio looks like rather than having to go research, so much easier! The staff also had a more informal way of communication…

This little exercise book had little notes about how a child was sleeping that day, happy birthday notes and messages letting staff know who appreciated and special they were to the children and to the staff. Staff were very eager to check this book in the mornings and after breaks and loved the opportunity to write and read something in.

These were two changes that came from looking at how the staff room was organised and what the staff at the centre needed to take away from it were extremely effective. Take a look at your staff centres; what do you need, what do you have and how can things be changed?

Keep me updated!

Miss Tracy xx

Professional Learning in South East Melbourne

Hi all,

As most of you know, last year I attended a professional learning workshop set up by my local council, Glen Eira. Following that event, I have kept my eye open on what events have been coming up and was surprised to see the following list for 2014:

This year includes a lot of interesting and relevant workshops for parents and guardians and I have already attended the Austism Spectrum Disorder seminar held in last week. These are primarily marketed to parents but do have value for those working in the early childhood sector.

These workshops have proven extremely informative for me as a student and are an invaluable. The way that content is delivered is so direct and straightforward that it leaves no room for misinterpretation or confusion. If you do have questions, the presenters has shown themselves as willing and approachable, including staying back far beyond the finishing time to take individual questions and concerns.

From those I have experienced, the presenters are qualified and knowledgeable in their fields and in this environment, bring a lot more context and quality to their words than if I had heard it in a lecture hall. If you do have the luck to be in a seminar with other professionals, the dynamic of the presentation completely changes. The questions asked are more insightful and relevant to the early childhood workplace and are often focused towards the application of theory rather than its origin.

As a student I cannot recommend these sessions enough and for $6-7 a session, it is much more affordable than attending say a conference or an exhibition. Since they don't usually last more than 2 hours and are later at night, they are also easy to schedule around work and study commitments.

When I do fill in the feedback forms, the only suggestions I have had is that Power Points and notes be provided in a take home pack and that there be a period where parents and/or educators get a chance to speak with other and network before and/or after the workshop.  

Glen Eira Town Hall - where majority of the sessions take place 

While those listed and discussed are only those featured in the Glen Eira and Stonnington Council areas, I am sure if you look a little a little deeper into your council website, you will be able to find something similiar.

Miss Tracy xx

In Review - The Teacher's IpadoPedia

Hey readers,

Recently I decided to peruse the (free) shelves on the iTunes bookstore and was astounded by the number of free books available in the education section. I came across textbooks, guides and many other wonderful things and promptly downloaded all that I could see. The first book I decided to read was 'The Teacher's IpadoPedia, An A-Z of using iPads in the classroom' by Philip Johnston.

The Teacher's IpadoPedia

An A-Z of Using iPads in the Classroom

Philip Johnston

After my first placement and some of the material we have been covering in class, I have come to realise what an impact technology can have in the classroom, both good and bad, and how this comes into play when I eventually am in the classroom. For these reasons, I decided to go with this book first and was pleasantly surprised with what I had found.

This book blew my mind! Not only was it incredibly well written and set out, Johnston commented on a large range of topics including:

• attendance 
• managing homework
• archiving
• coaching
• photocopying
• quizzing
• creative writing
• taking notes

The book is divided into categories, with app listed which can either perform a task or help aid the process of the mentioned categories. Not only is there a wide range of apps, free and paid, to cover the categories but the book is cross references when apps have multiple functions. 

The actual layout of the book is clean with small chunks of information and plenty of pictures to accompany. The great thing about this being an eBook is that often the text is interactive! Beside the text, you will often find videos which demonstrate an app and how it works and text is often hyper-linked to show you exactly what app you should download and where to find them.

I have already downloaded some of the apps and can see their potential for use of them in the classroom. Other I have been able to integrate into my university life! Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it was not text heavy, it flowed well, you could jump chapters without feeling lost and the interactive nature made finding what Johnston what talking about incredibly easy.   

Philip Johnston has also step up a great website for the book which includes sample pages, links to download the book as well as a contact page if you would like to speak with the author. The website can be found here.

As Johnston said in the foreword, reading this book does not mean you have to apply everything that you read about but rather take what you like and make it work for your classroom. There are some great apps listed and the great thing is the discovery, while Johnston may list the app for one use, you could find a totally new use, either for the classroom or for your personal life!

For those of you who are still unsure, you have nothing to lose as this book is 100% free to download from the iBookstore!

Stay tuned as I discover more education eBooks from the iTunes bookstore!

Miss Tracy xx 

Placement Reflection

Hello readers,

So that's it; my placement is over, completely over! After 10 single Wednesdays and a two weeks block, my 0-2 years placement has come to the end and I think it's only fair that I reflect on this experience...and share this reflection with you! 

What impact did this experience have on my personal growth? 

I feel much more confident about creating professional relationships and being assertive in my communication.

What was my greatest accomplishment? 

My planning, implementation and documentation in relation to my focus child, C.

What did I find most challenging about that placement? 

The hours. It took an incredible strain on me, physically and mentally, having to start at 7.00 am one day, come home and plan and finish uni work and then get up the next day and be at the centre until 6.00 pm. The placement coupled with extra uni work was not the most favorable experience.

What skills did I learn? 

• parent communication skills
• how to plan effectively 
• creating successful environments 
• staff communication skills
• integrating my IT skills into planning and documenting 
• collaboration with staff and parents
• time management within the centre

How was I able to apply my current skills? 

My current skills helped me to interact with the children and parents and working effectively with other members of staff. 

What did I discover about myself? (Strengths, weaknesses, dislikes) 

• This is definitely the right profession for me; I enjoyed my time at the centre and am looking forward to getting back into the practical.
• I need to share my ideas with the staff more, I cannot continue to surprise the educators on the day I want to set up an activity 
• I also need to seek out the policies and rules before I let myself run wild with plans.
• I need to make more of an effort to communicate with parents and make sure that I communicate often and relatively.
• I can comfortably multitask and time manage, both within the workplace and during my time away.

What influence will that experience have on my future academic and career choices? 

As much as I enjoyed my time in the 0-2 room, I did find myself looking at my watch a lot and hanging out for my breaks, I also felt limited in how I could enrich the learning experience of the children in the room. 

In the one short day I spent with the 3-4 year olds, things were very different for me. The children were so much more independent and had developed much more social skills so things likes sharing and group play were not an issue. 

The fact that someone had to remind me to take a break during my time there confirms my feelings that I would much rather prefer working with toddlers or in a sessional kindergarten.  

What did I learn about office politics that will serve me in the future?

The best thing is to make friends and be polite. Do not take part in any office gossip, if you are present just smile and stay quiet. And most importantly, form your own opinion of someone, don't wait for someone else to tell you what they think of them.

What successes have I experienced? What did they mean to me? 

My experiences and planning were very well received by the staff and they made sure to compliment me about it. This was also apparent in my final report, which I was very happy with. The feedback I received have helped to shape ideas on what attributes and ideas I should be taking to my next placement.

What setbacks have I experienced? What did you learn from those? 

After planning and activity which used spaghetti an art material, I was unable to implement it as the centre's policy restricted the use of food in activities. Had I asked the staff  before hand and consulted their policies, this could all have been avoided. I will make sure to do just that in my future planning.

Were there people whose work ethics I would imitate?

There was one women at the centre, N, whom the children and staff loved. All her actions and behaviors towards were staff, children and parents were everything I want to embody with my work with children and I do consider her to one of my role-models for this profession.

What did I learn from people I admire in the organization?

That this job takes hard work, time and commitment and when you do your job right, the children reap the rewards and that is the most important part of the profession.

Miss Tracy xx

TeachMeet @ ACU Melbourne

Hello again,

Quite awhile ago I wrote about preparing to go to the TeachMeet PD being held at ACU. It was my first professional development and was the inspiration for my student business cards. I have finally got around to compiled around it!

Before the actual session, I was emailed by a lecturer about it being held and directed to a wiki page. This page had been especially set up for TeachMeets being held in Victoria, whether it be rural, regional or metropolitan. 

As you can see in the screen cap above, the page can be edited by any member. This allowed everyone, including myself, to sign their attendance and add information about their online profiles. It was also an opportunity for presenters to volunteer their time  to speak on a topic.

TeachMeet is unique in the way that it relies on teachers volunteering to speak in either 3 or 7 minute blocks on topics which cover a range of ways to approach education. Topics covered in this TeachMeet ranged from ways to use Google Chrome and how to use Doceri, to how to educate on and prevent suicide as well as promote well being and presentations on how to implement a genius hour program.

By having these presentations only go for such short periods of time, presenters could only involve the most critical details and those watching didn't have the chance to lose interest. During the intervals, those present are given a chance to talk to the people around them and network. The varied participants; students, teachers and past students who are now teachers, are so diverse that it wasn't hard to find something to discuss and chat about. The entire session went for roughly 2 hours with a short 20 min tea break.

One of the strangest things I noticed at this session was the opening line of the evening, 'Please feel free to connect to our wifi, we would like get #TMMelb to trend again!' 

WHAT!? These people are encouraging me to tweet during performances? Coming straight from school where if a mobile was visible, it was confiscated, this new found freedom to tweet was strange and almost uncomfortable for me. 

But I keep up. Watching the presentations was one experience but reading the tweets alongside amplified the effect. And after joining in myself the experience changed again! People were chatting about things they had done which were similiar, people asked questions about everything and those who replied offered advice and further questions. 

One thing I was concerned about the entire time was the size of the room. The session was held in a large room, in our new Daniel Mannix building, and while it was big, it wasn't big enough for everyone who attended. It was tight, the tables could have been set up differently and we definitely needed more chairs. But despite this, everyone managed to find some room and participate all the same.

Following the session, we were instructed to head to the same wiki page where we could see the slides from the session as well as additional information such as when the next one would be held and how to get involved.

All in all, my first TeachMeet was one to remember and I would definitely recommend it to both current and future teachers. The wiki page can be found HERE for those of you in Melbourne if you are interested in coming along to the next one!

Hope to see you there,

Miss Tracy xx

P.S. I apologise for the quality of the images in this post, my screen cap quality is not the best :( 

Student Business Cards

Hi everyone!

As I revealed on the LMST Tumblr, last week I ordered some business cards prior to the TeachMeet PD. This is final product:

I ordered them from Vistaprint, who had an offer for 250 Free cards (you just pay delivery) which you can find here. I chose the cheapest option, 21 day delivery for something like $7, but they came last Wednesday, only 10 days after I ordered them.

I'm really happy with how they look and feel, they look extremely professional for the amount of time and effort I had to put in to the thought and design. I was a little apprehensive at first, I didn't really see the need for a business card but I did do my research. There were plenty of articles! 

Many were general, aimed at recent grad students or did not specify a study area. Others were more focused on education, substitute teachers or grade teachers. And some were warnings on why students should not have such a thing. They were all worth the read and I considered every view point.   

But as you know, I ended up with this set of business cards!

In the future, I would like to add/change some of the details on here. I would like to include my babysitting and tutoring contacts, as well as my grad year and placement info but it seems to soon to for all that right now.

I have another professional learning workshop coming up in September, hosted by one of my tutors Katherine Bussey and the Glen Eira council. I will definitely be bringing these cards and trying to network as much as possible to build some solid professional connections. Again, If you live in the Melbourne, be sure to check it out!

Until next time,

Miss Tracy xx

My First PD!

Hi all!

I am so excited, as on Thursday I will be attending my first PD! 

TeachMeet

Known as TeachMeet, it consists of 2 or 7 minute presentations given by the teachers which attend. It’s being held at my uni so it will be super easy to get to.

Check out the video for how TeachMeet works and how teachers get involved in these innovative professional development sessions.

If you find yourself in or around the Melbourne CBD on Thursday, you should definitely check it out! Comment below or tweet me and I will be happy to pass on the details!

Keep checking back here as I will be blogging about this wonderful experience after Thursday. I cannot tell you all how excited I am to be going!

Miss Tracy xx