Reflective Blog Post on Personal Blog

The feedback that I have received from other students in the class has shown me that the activities that I am doing with the children are good and I was congratulated by one person for following the interests of the children. This is something that I always try to do in my centre so that I do not miss any important teachable moments. Several people agreed with my comment in the concrete volcano post that using trial and error and making mistakes is okay and it is a valuable idea for children to learn. This made me realise that even though projects and activities do not always go to plan, there are still things that the children will learn from these unplanned occurrences. I have not received any feedback on further comments I could have made or further links to literature that I could have made, but myself I feel that there was probably more I could have added. However with the word limit this was not always possible. From the people, places and things class I have learnt how important outside influences can be for the learning of a child. There are many events and people that can influence children as well as different environments. This is why I feel that as teachers it is our job to ensure that these influences have positive outcomes on the learning of children in our care. I also think that it is important for teachers to continue professional development and improve their skills so that they can help young children to learn about technology. Porter (2003) stated that teachers are already good at teaching children and therefore do not need to gain any further skills. This is a statement that I do not agree with, because children can only learn what they are shown and taught and if staff do not continue to improve their skills as our world becomes more technological, there will be a negative affect on the learning of our children. I have also learnt through this course that although it is important that children learn how to use today's technology, it is also paramount that they are taught how to keep themselves safe while using it. Te Whāriki states under goal one of the well-being strand that "Children develop increasing knowledge about how to keep themselves safe from harm" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 52). This means being safe in all areas of their life and their learning, including when using computers, the internet, digital cameras and other aspects of technology. I found our class with netsafe very valuable hearing about the Hector initiative which helps to keep children safe from harmful images that they may accidentally see on the internet. Overall this topic has been very enlightening and has made me realise how important it is that children are exposed to technology and learn how to use it confidently, competently and safely. I have begun to advocate for the children in my centre to have access to the internet for educational purposes and also for a digital camera that is just for the children to use. Fingers crossed!! :)