Friday 30/3/2012.
This week I have started my teacher registration blog. The reason I chose to do a blog after it was suggested to me is that I was intrigued and a bit excited about all of the things I would be able to do with it. I could use photographic slide shows and videos to evaluate and improve my practice. Plus many other things that I'm sure I will discover along the way! "There is an increasing awareness of the technological world that we live in: a world that people have created and changed through technology" (Smorti, 1999, p. 5). This awareness creates a new found need for technology in early childhood education and requires staff to up skill themselves in order to help children discover and master technology. I consider myself quite a technological person and I would love to pass my skills onto the children. By doing a blog I am upskilling myself and may even be able to make a further contribution to the centre by adding to our centre blog. I recently read an article called 'Examining some common myths about computer use in the early years' by Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle (2003). This article talked about how important it is for teachers to keep up with different kinds of technology so that they can help children to reflect on their own learning when using things such as computers, cameras, i-pads etc. It also discusses benefits for children when using technology such as improved peer interactions and an opportunity to use imagination and social skills. The imagination and social skills required when using technology are on the same scale as those needed for dramatic play, so technology can help children develop in other areas of their learning too. The idea of socialisation through technology was not something I had really considered, but on reflection it does make sense. Peer scaffolding can be involved as well as lengthy discussions about what they are doing with the equipment, how they are doing it and what they plan to do next. The article by Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle (2003), drew me to the thought of getting the children involved with my blog. Whether it be showing them any stories about themselves that I add to it and asking for their feedback, or getting them to help me download photos and upload pictures of their work. There are many possibilities and I think the children would gain great benefit from being involved. I also think it would help me to build stronger relationships with the children by spending that one on one time with them discussing their interests, thoughts and opinions.
On Wednesday I met with Tania Coutts for a professional development session about blogs and teacher registration. I had already created my blog, so Tania showed me how to make new tabs, hyperlinks to websites and heaps of other cool things. This meeting got me quite excited about all the possibilities and I have been looking forward to getting my blog started. I am pleased that Clare and Becky (two of my colleagues), are also creating blogs to work toward their own teacher registration. This means that we will be able to help each other out with any technical issues that may arise and offer feedback to each other to help improve the quality of our practice and written work. After this meeting with Tania I feel very confident about completing my blog and I am willing to offer assistance to my colleagues with theirs if needed. It would give us a chance to further build on our professional relationships, especially with Becky as she has only just started working with us. It would also be a chance to work on building our friendships too. I feel that this is important because if you get along with the people you work with it will make for a much calmer environment for the children and also make things a lot more fun for everyone. The calmer and happier the teachers are, the more relaxed the children will be and therefore they will get a much better experience out of the learning environment.
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