People, Places, Things & Events
Date: 06/09/11 Blog reflection 3: Technology: Using the Dishwasher
Teacher: Hayley
Child: C
Today I was cleaning up after Morning tea time. I cleaned up the dining room area and collected all the dishes from the dining room area and cleaned up the kitchen. When I was doing this a child came into the kitchen, he stood there observing me and what I was doing. I asked the child ” would you like to help me clean up some of the dishes”?. He didn’t say anything but he came over when I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher and I passed him some plates to put in the dishwasher. He enjoyed helping me with this. He also observed me putting the cups in the top rack. After all the dishes were put in the dishwasher. I then opened up the detergent holder and poured in the detergent powder. I showed him how to do this and then closed the detergent powder holder compartment. I then modelled to him how to turn the dishwasher on. He observed me setting it for what type of wash that was required, which was a heavy wash and then pressed the start button.
I found it interesting that C was so interested in observing me cleaning up and stacking the dishes in the dishwasher. I think it’s just as important that boy’s are interested at a young age in using technology to do with cleaning as this sets them up for life skills in the future. I think by modelling and scaffolding children’s learning in using technology to clean up at a young age is greatly important and they will feel more confident and competent as older children to help mum or dad out in the house. It will also be good for them to learn this stuff so they can then teach another younger less skilled child how to use these appliances to. When children learn about using dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines etc… they will feel good about themselves and it will help in other areas of them feeling confident in using wider technology when they reach school and high school eg: Laminators, printers, computers, camera’s, power point to present their work and projects etc… I think by letting children have opportunities to observe and help in everyday jobs to do with household appliances will also teach them to respect the use of these tools as well as teaching them about keeping safe when using them.As Vygotsky believes by adults scaffolding children’s learning and offering guidance in certain areas of development we are able to support children to try out new ideas and this will lead them to greater understanding. By scaffolding to children this could be a range of things eg: providing cues and prompts verbally that will be helping children go through the steps of getting something done or accomplished ( Arthur, L., Beecher., ( 2008), p. 95 & 96).
When children are learning about using different materials of technology it helps them realise that different technologies can be used in many ways and different settings or places ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 95).
Children also learn to use a variety of technology that are meant for different purposes when exploring the world around them ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 98).
By letting children learn through their interaction with toy’s, materials, and equipment this helps children to explore, problem solve, experiment, interact and this leads to them constructing knowledge ( Gonzalez- Mena, (2008), p. 399).
References:
And planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.).
CENGAGE Learning.
Gonzalez- Mena, J. (2008). Foundations of early childhood education:
Teaching children in a diverse society (4th ed.).
McGraw Hill.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki, he whaariki matauranga mo
nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum.
Pictures From Google Images
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ReplyDeleteI think it is important for teachers to support the children’s interests to actively explore the use of “ICT as part of their learning journey” (Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 19). You did this by encouraging C to get involved in learning how the dishwasher is used in a "purposeful activity" that met the needs of the centre and the interest of the child (Smorti, 1999, p. 6). I agree that this would have been a beneficial learning experience to learn the process of using the dishwasher. However, I also think at his age that it was more “the ‘doing’ that... was ...important, rather than the ‘product’” of C learning how to clean up in future that really shone through for me in this learning experience (Smorti, 1999, p. 6). It was great that C became interested in observing and helping you to put things into the dishwasher. Doing this would have supported his learning that developed “the confidence to choose and experiment with materials, to play around with ideas, and to explore actively with” his senses of sight, sound and touch (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 88). Awesome! As a result, C would have developed his own working theories about how this new interesting technological device functioned (Ministry of Education, 1996).
ReplyDeleteThis was a good example of a child in your centre that had a curiosity about technology. It was great that you were able to offer the child the opportunity to participate in helping you stack the dishwasher. I was great that you used strategies such as scaffolding and modeling to show the child how to stack the dishwasher, put the detergent powder in and how to turn the dishwasher in. It may have been a good idea to model how to do these things to the child and give the child the opportunity to put the detergent powder in and turn the dishwasher on, this would have also made the child feel competent and enable the child to feel a sense of accomplishment. The child was obviously curious and would have maybe benefited more if there was the opportunity to freely explore the dishwasher, with adult supervision obviously. I do agree that experiences such as these do provide children with learning about responsibility and learning everyday life skills. What a great experience Hayley and great job for noticing the child’s curiosity and interest and responding and making it a great learning experience for the child!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome Hayley! I really liked the way you involved the little boy while doing the cleaning up in the dining room and the kitchen. Cleaning up after each meal can be hectic and sometimes we as teachers often tried so hard to get the job done which can cause us to have a lot of stress just because we were trying to catch up with the normal routines within the centre. However reading through this reflection shows me how very relaxed you were whilst doing the cleaning, and most of all, I really admire how you grabbed a teachable moment to extend his curiosity in the technology of dishwasher and allowing him to explore by observing freely. Giving him the opportunity to observe how the dishwasher is being stacked and turned on could be an eye opener for the little boy. This is what every teacher should have, to be able to give children as many chances or opportunities to learn as much as possible. As Gonzalez-Mena (2008) has mentioned that we help children to explore and to do problem solve when we give them opportunities to learn through interacting with such equipments because it led them to construct knowledge (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008).
ReplyDeleteThis child has noticed you going about your general cleaning duties and has decided that this is very interesting. This type of activity e.g washing dishes and cleaning are tasks associated with home and the wider world. I liked how you offered the opportunity for this child to explore this, in general many teachers may say to the child don't come into the kitchen because it is dangerous and disregard this area as a learning environment. However you have shown that learning can occur anywhere in the centre and that we should encourage this.
ReplyDeleteThe child is forming the ideas that appliances and technologies are used by adults to make their lives easier and that they can also be fun. You recognised that to allow this experience you had to teach the child to respect this technology and that safety in the kitchen is very important. These dangers should not prevent teachers from encouraging children to explore technology that fascinates them, with correct supervision children are able to learn that the interest they display is going to be taken seriously and will find joy in knowing they belong. Children then develop, "strategies for actively exploring and making sense of the world by using their bodies, including active exploration with all the senses, and the use of tools, materials, and equipment to extend skills" ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p.86).