Terra - My mum says I am...

The teachers talked to the parents about a word they would use to describe their child and these were the words that were shared. On the display there is a large photograph of each child below the word. These are the words that these parents use to describe their child and the aspirations they hold for them.

This is a great opportunity to include these aspirations and visualisations in the documentation to 'speak into that space'. 

It is powerful to affirm these aspirations and parent observations by paying attention to them with the child for planning, observations and assessment.

There are lots of opportunities to notice, recognise and respond to what we observe with children and use that information to innovate and be creative with our teaching

Bringing these aspirations from parents, their voice being heard to inform the teaching and included in the documentation

 I thought this was a great way to make visible the image of the child each parent holds for their child and include this in planning and assessment - making these things visible alongside all the other valued learning outcomes.

Planning in the Intercultural Centre

This is how the teachers plan for children's learning. 

 I like the way multiculturalism is always in the frame for discussion for planning. The children and teachers represent a diverse migrant population where the differences between countries come into the life of the centre. People from countries at war attend the centre side by side. Imagine what this must be like as an influence on the social relationships at the centre.

Planning is about domains or subjects for the most part as a framework for organising teachers thoughts.

See here how the teachers make note that new year happens at different times for different children. Evaluation is a tricky part of the planning process, inviting us to reflect on our own reflections about the quality of the teaching decisions. It takes a bit of practice to link evaluation and reflection to the activities and experiences - thinking about how good those ideas were to support children's learning.

Preparing for teaching and learning

Conversations with children

Recording the children's predictions about the egg hatching

Hopeful thinking from the children - asking them for their opinions about colour - I am with Olivia Elizabeth - pink for sure.

Gotta love this one below - check out the biggest thing Quynn has ever seen :O)

Environment - University and Community Early Learning Centre

Neutral tones and baskets to present order in the space

Using light 

Funky frames with the child and their family around the classroom

Looking back down the classroom - quite like the green paint on the walls - catches the natural light really well

Of course I am drawn to this...weaving...felting...hmmmm...missing my studio right now

How amazing are these children and their teachers??

University and Community Early Learning Centre - Professional development Kiwi style

On Friday I spent the day with the teaching team at University and Community Early Learning Centre. Louise is the Centre Director and had contacted me before I left NZ to see if I could spend some time with their team to talk about curriculum, assessment, learning stories and planning. I thought that the material I had prepared for other presentations would be suitable, however as the time came closer I realised I had some new thinking to share and some reflections to make visible. I wanted to take the teachers into our world in NZ through photography and stories. 
The day started well with a coffee from Starbucks....perfect beginning to a fun filled day and a message from their Board Chairperson that was stirring and empowering. How motivating is it when your chairperson sends an email to be read out at the beginning of the professional development day reminding the teachers of how important they are and how the committee see them as being the way to be the best early childhood service in Alberta? Have to confess I was moved by the tone of the email and support for the teachers. We started in the library and moved to the classroom - that is what many early childhood spaces are called - 'classroom' - there is something in this as the space is recognised as a place where learning happens just because it is called the same thing a space is a school is called....food for thought.We demonstrated our resourcefulness by making good use of a display board in the classroom for the projector.The teachers are interested in how learning stories and narrative assessment can strengthen their documentation and assessment. The teachers are very excited about some of the stories I was able to share with them from what we are doing in NZ. They like the Vortex too - seeing things as a connected system is helpful.

Town of Beaumont ELCC - Fairyland

I really liked this too - tucked away on the floor against the wall...

 Another micro environment - this one for the fairies...

 I like the thought that has gone into this space for the fairies....seats, tables, stairs and flowers

Town of Beaumont ELCC - Micro Environments

I love these micro habitats and could think of many of you back home that will be making these as soon as you see them. The teachers are inspired by the ideas on Pinterest and construct these to respond to the children interests and learning. These photos are taken from three of the rooms at the centre - while each room is unique, there are some threads that are evident through the spaces. Access to natural materials is being increasingly introduced and the majority of materials are natural.

 Gotta love this perspective below - seems life size and this is the view of the 4-5 year olds in this room - how inviting is this???

 Multi level apartment living for the creatures that inhabit this space

 Platforms for adventures - opportunities for social encounters

  How cool is this below? - I looked at Mary Lynne and said "I want one of these" - I am building one when I get home.

 Took lots of angle shots so you (and I) can see how it was constructed. I really really want one of these in our office. I might even be able to cope if it is not pink!!!

 These rocks below are painted with characters and features to support the play and presented to the children in this tray....the teacher called them 'Story rocks'

The props represent the various cultural experiences children encounter and provide materials to support oral story telling...camp fire, bus, grapes and many others. I love this idea of the rocks being painted to enable the children to play out their working theories and social worlds. 

 But wait....there's more!!! A teacher or teachers were responsible for making these character and props....A snowboarder....totally relevant for Canada!!! I so want my own sets of these too!!!

 Action superheroes...

 Star Wars!!!...and there were lots more too. Rocks painted as 'Rock Monsters' and 'bugs'. The bugs idea links to one of my next posts. I have to spread these cool environments out across a few posts.

Professional Development - Kiwi Style with Team Grant MacEwan Child Care

The team at Grant MacEwan Child Care asked to have a professional development session about some of the things we started to talk about on Friday. We have had a dialogue about learning stories, narrative assessment and planning - were keen to keep the conversation going especially now I have spent some time in the centre.

Link here for Grant MacEwan Child Care team presentation

These are our notes and thinking from the discussion about the VORTEX. This thinking maps so well on to the processes in the centre and I was so excited to share our VORTEX concept from NZ with the teachers. The team were getting tired and they hung in there for the discussion. I have introduced the teachers to Google Drive and shared some photos of our beautiful centres back home.
Please send me 3 photos from your centre that I can share with this centre to show them the diversity of ECE in Aotearoa NZ.