Ulearn08 has come and gone....

...for another year. I have to say that the pre-conference workshop and Ulearn presentations that were put on by the early childhood sector were fantastic.
Check out the blogs from these kindergarten:
Geraldine Kindergarten
Greenwood Kindergarten
Manaia Kindergarten

Derek Wenmoth warned in his keynote (and the teachers from Manaia Kindergarten reinforced that idea as part of the closing keynote) that primary schools had better start looking over their shoulders, and he is right. We have children in NZ starting school with a web presence already (their own blogs and myspace/facebook/bebo pages), using skype, knowing about google, and expecting that they will be able to use cameras and ICT gear when they deem it appropriate to the task they are doing. If our concern is engagement, and children are starting school with these expectations, what do teachers need to be doing in order to engage, extend and challenge them? Perhaps the first step is to acknowledge these realities, and get beyond some of the barriers that we put in the way!

links and refs from my K12 online session....

References from Conference presentation:
NZ Ministry of Education - Early Childhood Education
here you will find information about the various types of service that operate in the early childhood education sector, and links to organisations.

Ministry of Education documents:
Te Whariki the Early Childhood Education Curriculum
The Self Review Guidelines
Foundations for Discovery
Kei tua o te Pae Early Childhood Education Assessment Exemplars

General references:
Concerns based adoption model (CBAM)

Jean McNiff Evaluating Information and Communications Technology: new ways of evaluating new ways of knowing
Jean McNiff REALISING THE POTENTIALS OF EDUCATIONAL ACTION RESEARCH FOR RENEWABLE CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

Thinking about thinking....

Jean Edward's blog 'On Thinking' has some really useful information about thinking.
Her list of skills and techniques reminds us that there are many different kinds of thinking. Furthermore she suggests that teaching thinking is best done through deliberate acts of teaching.
The centres in the Nelson/Canterbury ECE ICT PL cluster who are interested in children's thinking are also finding that thinking skills are very effectively integrated and understood by children if they are deliberately taught, modelled, practised, and part of the daily life of the child and teacher.

...from her blog....




She refers to a paper by Kathleen Cotton 'Teaching Thinking Skills' which is a useful summary of some of the thinking tools, and a synthesis of many of the current ideas around thinking - it is well worth a visit if you are interested in children's thinking.

K12 online - its all happening now!!

The K12 Online Conference is in full swing right now - why not go and have a look!

I've been a bit distracted,,,,

I have been a bit distracted from this blog by the one that we facilitators share on our closed site. However, the K12 online conference has kick-started me into action....so here we go!

I know I've tried this before....

Well here I am, starting another blog.

Having just read the post on Dean Shareski's Ideas and Thoughts Blog about how much reading of blogs we need to do before we start posting, I realised that my previous efforts have been driven by 'I should be doing this', rather than: I want/need to share this.

I have been thinking more and more about the inspirational people that I am coming into contact with in this work I am doing, and increasingly want to share their ideas and insights with others, so here goes....Blog Mark II.