Placement - Planned Experiences Part 3

Me again!

Can you believe I am posting once a week now? The holidays have left me with a lot of spare time, much of which is dedicated to this blog. This will be the last installment for the Planned Experience series so here we go...

Heuristic Play Baskets

The EDCU 101 unit that I took in my first semester of uni was the first in a series of early childhood curriculum units. My tutor had some very firm beliefs on a variety of topics however one that stood out was heuristic play. Heuristic play refers to the type of play which involves discovering the properties of objects, such as the feel of aged leather or the sound of a whisk as it hits the floor.

We learnt about various types of  play but one task set for us was to set up  a heuristic play basket as present our collection to the class. I used the basket I had set up for this class as a planned activity during this placement. Some items I choose to include in my basket:

• small wooden spoon
• silicone baking tray
• leather samples
• wooden bangles 
• pine-cones
• shells
• stainless steel strainer

The children enjoyed the experience however some became very attached to particular items which did test the groups sharing abilities. I had split all the items into two felt basket from IKEA but ideally I would have liked to use round wicker baskets.

Story Time

C loves to read, both by herself and with an educator so to build on this love of books, I planned a one-on-one story time. I picked up these Beatrix Potter style board books from a local school fete and paid $2 for a set of 12. I also managed to find a squirrel/wombat puppet to complement this experience.

The one-on-one aspect of this experience worked extremely well, we were able to make our way through the book at a comfortable pace so that C should take her time appreciating the illustrations and the motions of reading a book. The puppet added to the interactive nature of reading a story and C even had a turn at managing the puppet.

Paint Stamping

If there is one thing that the children at my placement centre love to do, it is PAINTING! But there are only so many times that the educators can put out the paper and a paint brush. So to spice things up on the craft table, I found some Christmas themes paint stampers for the children and C to enjoy.

The end result was... amusing!

The children started using the stampers as you usually would, pressing them into the paint and then onto the paper. But then they ran out of space on the paper and decided to experiment. As you can see in the picture above, C experimented by sweeping the stamper through the paint on her paper, while others choose to paint with their hands as stampers and some even decided to paint on others bodies!

But all in all, all the children involved loved it! And thank god the paint is washable!

This ends the Planned Experiences series for this placement but never fear, I will be back sometime i March as I kick off my 3-5 year old placement in a sessional kindergarten.

Miss Tracy xx 

Placement - Planned Experiences Part 2

Hello there,

Here comes part 2 of the planned experiences I implemented whilst on placement. The experiences in this series focused on sensory play, primarily implemented for C.

Moon Sand

I had this idea locked up for some time and when staff told me how interested C was in play dough plus my observations on their play with sand, I knew I could use this resource. Moon Sand is this crazy dough that is basically sand which sticks to its self and has the properties of a liquid and a solid. The recipe is as follows:

4 parts sand

2 parts cornflour

1 part water

Mix all the ingredients together, adding cornflour and/or water until the desired consistency is reached.

The final product was amazing! When you held it gently, it flowed through your fingers but roll it like dough and suddenly, it becomes solid and resists! I added some cookie cutters for the children to experiment with and placed the mixture in a tray to minimise the mess. 

When the mixture dried out a little too much, a squirt of water on the hands of the children playing restores a more liquid consistency to the mixture.  The clean up was surprisingly easy; even though I lay down a mat the mixture still spread everywhere but since we were outside, the heat of the sun dried the water up and I just used a broom to sweep the excess back into the sandpit.

Ice Ice Baby

I implemented this activity for one simple reason; the expected temperature was 38 degrees Celsius and I knew the children were going to have a very hot, inside day. Materials are as follows:

Food colouring

Clean water

Ice cube trays

Freezer 

Large trough
Cups, scoops, water play equipment 

It's as simple as mixing the food colouring with the water, pouring it into the trays and freezing it, Transfer the final product to the trough you plan to use and add lukewarm water plus the play equipment.

I would recommend boiling the water before freezing and adding the colour. If you don't, the colour tends to pool in the usually cloudy spots of the ice cube however if boiled, the whole cube becomes a brilliantly coloured shape.

Due to the weather, this activity was very well received by the participants! Staff members were concerned about the water staying in the trough, which is understandable since we still have some unsteady walkers in the room, but other than that...no complaints what so ever.

Bubble Dough

On the third day, I implemented my last activity for the week; bubble dough. Again, this activity was found online during a study/procrastination session and it's contents took me by surprise:

2 parts cornflour/plain flour

1 part dishwashing liquid

2 table spoons baby/cooking oil

Combine all the ingredients, kneading until well combined. If too sticky, add more flour; if too dry, add more dish washing liquid and for more malleability, add more oil.

I set this experience up during a nappy change time, when children are moving in and out of the room. They were free to engage in it when it suited them. Some stayed for 5-10 mins but C and another child lingering for the entirety of the dough's life's span. 

It was a good alternative to play dough, offering different properties than usually with the dish washing liquid giving the material a pleasantly fresh smell that lingering around the room. I made the dough ahead of time and only needed to add oil and liquid on the day. At the time of writing this post, the dough was still usable after some oil, dish washing liquid and plenty of kneading. 

I had plenty of fun discovering and creating these experiences and am so glad that the children enjoyed themselves. I cannot wait to share part three with you all! 

Miss Tracy xx

Placement - Planned Experiences Part 1

Hello everyone!

As I am sure you all know by know, I have finished my first placement in the 0-2 setting at a local childcare centre. Part of my responsibilities during this included developing an introductory poster, keeping a reflective journal, dated entries on how I have meet the learning outcomes expected, observations on my focus child, planning experiences based in these observations, collecting resources and completing daily tasks.

For the first ten weeks I only came in on a Wednesday and my tasks were limited to observations, of staff and children, and making myself a presence in the centre. It wasn't until week eight that I had the opportunity to implement some planned experiences for C, my focus child.

Week Eight

This week, I collected natural items from my local park, such as pine cone buds and prickly things, and placed them in a large trough filled with dry sand. I placed some sifters in there and waited for C to show some interest. While the other children loved it, C didn't spend a lot of time at the experience. Unfortuntely, I did not capture a picture of this activity.

Week Nine

Using the same natural resources from the previous week, I designed an individual experience for C; a variation of marble painting. C could not get enough of it and spent almost half an hour rolling her tray around, asking for more and more paper. C also was excited about taking the buds out of the paint and plopping them in the paper, with her mouth making a little 'o' when the colours mixed and changed.

Week Ten 

This week, I moved away from the gross motor skill development and focused on the fine. I set up a threading activity for C, using wooden blocks from another activity. As there was no string attached to the activity, I had to use a wool. This ended up being a bad idea, since the wool began to fray, but C and I worked together to thread the beads on. Again, her and the other children enjoyed themselves and weren't to fazed by the little hiccough. During my time in the toddler room, I was able to locate another threading activity using cotton reels, so if i decide to replicate this one, I will definitely be using this set!

And at this time, I had a three week break until I began my block placement. Stay tuned for the experiences implemented during my block placement, to be featured later on LMST!

Miss Tracy xx

SNEAK PEEK: My First Planned Experience!

Hi everyone!

More info to come but a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to implement my planned experience for my focus child!

Here's a snapshot, with more to come soon!

My associate teacher on placement was incredibly supportive and C (my focus child) absolutely loved the activity I set up for her.

Miss Tracy xx

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

Welcome to Little Miss Student Teacher!

My name is Miss Tracy and I am currently in my first year of university studying education.

This year has been full of transition and change for me, with a very intense first semester of uni and then a whole 2 MONTHS break until semester 2 begins. Since I choose to go to uni straight after Year 12, this kind of holiday is unusual for me and I am struggling to find a way to fill my time. So I would like to introduce...

LITTLE MISS STUDENT TEACHER!

I started this blog as a way to document all what is taking place around me, including my learning experience at university, what studying education is like, my experience with placement as well my everyday uni life. Be prepared to see how I organised my work/notes, how I deal with assignments, how I will deal with placement as well as what I am wearing each day! I also hope to include useful documents/activities for school/childcare as they come to me.

Please feel free to comment on and share any of my posts.

I hope you will enjoy following this blog as much as I hope to enjoy writing it.

Miss Tracy xx