Reflection
– 2/8/12.
I
brought a dead weta into the centre to put under the dolphin microscope; thinking
to follow a particular child’s(R) interest in insects. Previously we had been going on snail, worm
and slug hunts around the centre garden. When R, arrived at the he was
reluctant at first, there was a fascination but ‘I don’t want to touch yet’
approach, other children came to see what we had, to look, touch. With
prompting and reassurance from me R looked and also touched the leg spikes. One
of the more confident children put the weta on the slide, adjusting the lens,
and moving it around. R looked through the lens too, moving the lens in and out
of focus, later returning to show off
the weta to other children.
It shows me, while one child is following his interest, it drew in the
curiosity of others; including others, doing things together (Ministry of
Education, 1996) some with more knowledge by using the microscope. In this way
contributed to each other’s learning
opportunity.
The
microscope has the ability to take photos of the item on the slide, and one
child took a photo, which came up on the computer screen. When R showed other
staff the weta, one member went to the centre library and found a book about
weta, for the children to read. Read more about Weta http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/invertebrates/weta/
As I
handed the weta over to the children’s control, I noticed my thoughts; the
thought that they would be rough with the weta and it would begin to break up.
Moving the microscope out of focus made the image blurry to see, the challenge
to allow the experimentation and draw on the knowledge of the whole group. I know I believe we should take care of the
living and the dead however children should also have experiences to learn.. The
weta travelled from my place to centre to the microscope slide, was
photographed, travelled around the inside of the centre on a piece of paper in
one piece, until later, as it was doing the’ tour’ outside, it was in pieces.
My comment was on the tip of my tongue, “try to remember gentle handling “ I’m thinking take
care of the weta,... but it’s dead already!, maybe the broken bits can be
looked under the microscope individually any way the children want to.
Technology,
what is it, how to incorporate aspects into the learning setting? Although similar
to science, technology answers the how can we do this question, and becomes
part of creativity therefore helping to solve a problem, (Smoti, 1999). A much
wider definition helps to demystify technology by allowing us to think of the
help that technology has in our everyday lives, from the simple such as
scissors to the complexity of computers and software.
How is the microscope beneficial for children?
The children were in control of the microscope, I noticed that I moved in to
adjust the focus several times. Was this
my protectiveness over the dead weta? Or, was it control over the situation? Occasionally, if there was a comment, I can’t see! I moved into adjust the focus, but
there were times when I moved in anyway; telling the children the dial is for
getting the image to be clear, in focus.
The microscope became a tool for further study
of the weta, the enlargement of various body parts enabling the children to see
a clearer picture of the weta. There were opportunities for children to
socialise as they discussed the weta size, asked questions, and overcame their
fearful emotions to be curious and explore the weta further. Sometimes we can
be so focused on the result that we overlook the learning which is happening
during the process. Today there were lots of social connections being made with
one another and the environment. Taking turns, observing one another are the
opportunities of peer interactive learning and teaching experiences (Eklind,
1999). The learning of the inexperienced person from the more experienced, has
the principle of ako where the core value is love and care for one another ,
and known as tuakana teina (Whaiti, McCarthy,
& Durie, 1997).
Reference List
Elkind,
D. (1999). Educating Young Children in Math, Science, and
Technology. Retrieved on 3 August, 2012. From,
Ministry of
Education. (1996).Te Whāriki; He whāriki mātauranga
mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa; Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand:
Learning Media.
Murphy, K., De
Pasquale, R. & Mac Namara, E. (2003). Meaningful Connections, using
technology in primary classrooms. In, Beyond the Journal, young children on
the web. November 2003. Retrieved 3 August, 2012. From, http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200311/TechInPrimaryClassrooms.pdf
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in
Early Childhood. Early Education, 19,
5-10.
Tangaere, A. R. (1997). Maori
human development theory. In T. P. Whaiti, M. McCarthy, & A. Durie. (Eds.).
Mai i rangiatea, Maori wellbeing and
development. (pp.46-59). Auckland,
New Zealand: Auckland University Press with Bridget Williams Books.
What a great learning experience for the children with the use of technology. This experience had so many learning outcomes. The children in your centre are very lucky to have such a great device at their fingertips. Allowing the children to take photos from the microscope took the learning one step further as that child then used the photo to find out more about the weta from your library. This shows how children take their learning into their own hands with the help of our guidance where required. This is exactly what I believe teaching is about, fostering children to think for themselves and make discoveries about what interests them not what we may think they might want to know.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your concern about how they treated the weta as we encourage children to respect nature and the environment but once again this was a learning opportunity for them to discover how things work. I wonder if the weta had been alive whether this would have made a difference to how they treated it. Maybe that is something you can try with them with another type of insect and see if the results of investigation change?
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ReplyDeleteWow Marilyn what an awesome learning that was going on and the personal experience that you have incorporated within this reflection. "Implicit in the concept of the child as explorer is the importance of respect for the environment" (Ministry of Education 1996,p.82). In this reflection respect for the environment is seen, but not just respect but the knowledge of technology, the use of technology and what use this technology has in the increasing of knowledge about the weta.
DeleteIt would be great to use this teachnology in other areas of the curriculum to seet he excitiement and wonder the children will have because of the experience they have already gone through.
Kia Ora Marilyn,
ReplyDeleteWhat a meaningful, thoughtful experience this must have been for children. I myself used to be obsessed with microscopes and magnifying glass. You must introduce them to Galileo Galilei take them through the journey, he was the first to build a telescope and use it to look at the Universe. Is in it amazing we have opportunities like this now, how technology is helping us as teachers to extend children’s knowledge in every aspect of our life, where just a few hundred years ago people like Galileo got punished for discovering such a thing. I really enjoyed reading you reflection, we have a microscope at my centre too, we also use it to look at the plants we grow in our garden, slugs, butterflies, rocks, children also like looking at their hand through it etc. ). I believe chosen interests, developed through ‘projects’ or ‘investigations’ related fun and interesting, hands-on learning experiences in which the children and adults work together to further explore the interest and express their own theories and understandings through a variety of representative mediums, in this case technology. The earth is full of natural recourses, so children can use and explore, investigate, spark their interest into examining them, categorising, classifying as well as developing familiarity with recourses of earth materials (Bosse, Jacobs, & Anderson, 2009). Well done :)
It is an interesting reflection Marilyn through your reflection I can see how we project our fears into our practice. I was reflecting back on my own philosophy, which is, “children learn from hands on experiences” and still I did not allow them to use the camera until learning about technology. Although we are becoming mindful of many aspects of our ways of doing things we need to keep up with reflective work. Likewise, Liou (2001, as cited in Yang, 2009) suggests that, “critical reflection raises teachers’ awareness about their own teaching and triggers positive changes” (p. 11).
ReplyDeleteThe microscope is a good example of the use of technology as children in every centre are interested in insects and bugs. It is a good opportunity to work in a group situation where socio-cultural ways of learning can be fostered to get multicultural perspectives. I think it was a good practice when you later allowed children to learn independently and make their own discoveries. According to Ministry of Education (1996) children are empowered when they can take responsibility towards their own learning.