authentic ways to embrace technology

There has been a great deal of talk about what is appropriate tech use for young children in the classroom. Hot topics around who has access (economic), how to address fairness (gender, timing, ability) and what is quality technology (software, resources, support). NAEYC addressed technology content and issues around classroom use in their 2012 Statement this year. Check out NAEYC's presentation via Erikson Institute's Webcast of Tech + Media as Tools  

The Statement is a rich tool to use at your own school to discuss and debate what and how you can address technology and media usage for your own students.

Simple machines such as a pencil sharpener have the "how does this work" concept just like technology

Over the years, I have been lucky to be able to incorporate technology in diverse ways. I have never felt pressure to 'teach' technology.  None of the constructivist values that I believe in have been compromised by the integration of technology. The blending in of another exploration area (technology) in developmentally appropriate ways is an educator responsibility I take seriously to ensure children are always active agents of their learning.

3 important realizations regarding technology: 

ONE - I have been able to OFFER it as a CHOICE

TWO - I have been able to INCORPORATE it as a TOOL

THREE - I have been able to USE it for REFLECTION and COMMUNICATION.

Here are some examples of how technology might BE in the classroom:

One child describes with his hands how something just Flipped in an art program.

1.  Computers can be used as a social tool. Software that is open-ended and creative allows for children to work together and test out ideas.

holding a camera, looking thru the viewfineder and Clicking!

2.  Children have Hands-On use of cameras or other tech items such as keyboards. You can have "play versions" as well, yet allowing children to authentically use cameras gives them a relationship with technology that is much more intentional and authentic.

Leaning atop of a keyboard, this child copies letters!

3. Children use photos as reflection tools or memories from a field experience. This child had come back from a visit to an independent theatre where we got to see how the projectors made the movie get to the screen. The child represented the complexity of the machine in her pen drawing and described the action, as well. (read in photo). (This was a long-term project on Movie Theatres  - many children made photo-reflections from our field experience which we made into a book).

Pen drawing of a film projector with a photo being the memory from the field experience to the local theatre.

Light table materials have endless possibilities.

4. Light is technology.  Examine how the relationship and usage of these materials change when the child uses them on the light table. Tech and media let children think in ways that are unique for materials and in turn allow children to think differently about color, shape, layering and space.

This boy decides on an area of his canvas that he wants us to photograph.

Visitors marvel in our Art Gallery of canvas masterpieces and I SPY frames.

5. Technology can allow something that is small to become The Focus. 

Children were involved in a long-term art project with a professional artist/parent in our class.

When each child completed their large canvas (see below), they use their smaller "frame" as an I SPY within their own art project.

We took photos of their special interest areas, printed them out, and then the children described these smaller art pieces below their original large piece.

The Art Gallery of their work allowed visitors to see the process, art, and photo close ups of the children's favorite parts of their work.

Doing this kind of "layering" to understand children's thinking about their work is perfect for technology to be used. The photos allowed breadth and depth for children to truly own and give voice to their work.

Painting was the children's choice - computers are right behind them!

6.  Technology is seamlessly embedded in the design of the classroom. 

Children, at right, paint at the large easels while the computer area is available right next to them behind the doors that area always ajar and the computers are always ON for them to choose to use.

Printed examples of children's work is displayed on the folding doors.

Communication at the entry for slide shows and field experience video.

7. Classroom communication at the entry.

Here, children were working on a spring project while the monitor and media equipment are seen behind them. The monitor was used for parent communication of photo slide shows, educational evenings, video review for children when we returned from a field experience, and photo reviews or studies. Right below the monitor are the children's "mailboxes" for communication, art and mail in hard copy. There is also a large wipe board easel that was used for written communication for parents, easily living next to the technology option.

What word would YOU choose for your artsy message?

Do you know the musical, hilarious story Big Pumpkin?

8. Technology as a literacy tool.
In the left photo, we use the nuts/bolts drawers from a hardware store to hold words or names that have value to the children. We have this Word Bank in our Writing Area and children love to find their name or favorite words in the different drawers then tape or glue the papers onto art or messages.







In the Book Area, we have a NO HEADPHONES listening center so that children can have a social, dynamic reading/listening experience with whomever joins into hearing the story. The tape recorder  - and the books and cassettes - have symbols so the children can 'read' Start, Stop, Pause, Rewind. Children have full use of the listening center and require virtually no help from educators.

Documentation is a rich integration of technology and observation by educators during a project.

9. Technology as a teaching tool makes learning visible. Teachers using documentation as an archival tool to display children's discoveries on a topic is a rich communication tool for visitors, parents, and the children themselves. Teachers use documentation as a significant reflective tool for understanding learning and respecting children's ideas.

This was a Birthday Project where we studied children from birth to age 5 to understand how we - as Young Fives students - had grown since being babies, then ages one through four. It was one of the most fascinating projects I ever did with a group of students.

There are so many ways to USE technology or to CHOOSE technology without having it take over or be overwhelming.
How do YOU embrace technology? What are your challenges?

window on learning: teacher field trip!

One of the best best best ways to invigorate my own teaching is by visiting other preschool classrooms. I had the privilege of observing a full morning at my colleague Laura's site [the site name and location remains confidential as per the director's request] which is in the San Francisco Bay Area in the beautiful state of California.

Peek through my 'window on learning':

One student glues the bones of her invented dinosaur to her paper - maybe a long neck? a t-rex? Students had "discovered" bones the day before in their sensory table and this day each child formed their own dinosaur with their findings!

Laura works with one dinosaur designer to name and explain his prehistoric discovery.

Collaboration at its best when many many hands are in on the formation of this flat block design.

Color, shapes, order, sequence, tall, low, and oh-so-organized.

This kind of math exploration is complex and intentional. Do YOU think these children have done this before?

This kind of work is no accident. Dedicated focus to stack stack stack turn turn turn.

Outside writing space under tree, slanted roof, fence-posted mirror and trays of accessible marking tools.

This is an over-sized garden planter box that is a dirt-filled construction site today!

Nature and more nature, crevices for play, large spaces for play, over, under, far and near. Makes you want to Go Play!

The teachers took apart a 'plastic play house' and attached the walls to the fence for dramatic play in the sand box - the red door swings open and the oven on the left pulls forward for all your baking needs! I've never seen this idea before!

Planters, huge trees, and of course children working with dirt and more dirt!

This huge tree is a favorite for climbing, I was told, and check out the swing attached to the pole through the tree! Love it!

Laura has a little meeting with a group in the tire building area - maybe planning a party? solving a debate? talking about their dinosaur inventions?

This girl was fascinated with these small gem of fruit from the tree above her. Laura and the girl figured out they were small "white" plums!

Approaching these tubes is quite a challenge to balance just right, to lean this way, and have your arms that way - then Let Go!  Impressive!

This Peg Board worker explained to me how the orange was "going around and around and around" the red stick.

When I came back to the Peg Board worker, she had started another "around and around" with blue pegs - and this time with a friend helping!

When is the last time YOU laid on your stomach on the carpet, grabbed a sunflower pen and started writing Right There with three pages ready for marking?!!

It is wondrous to visit another school and live the daily routine as the children navigate their way through what they know is School. Seeing my colleague Laura in action with her students was a gift for myself as she is such a talented, kind and patient educator.

Have YOU visited another school lately? It is such a rich professional development - and professional support - experience that allows you a window on learning that would be impossible via blog, article, or video.
BEING THERE amid the life of a school day is priceless.

the window owns the view

Perspective taking.
Looking closer.
Looking lower, higher, across, under, over.

the window does own the view...with 5 different pair of eyes seeing what they choose to see.

*

"What you see depends on

where you are standing

when you look." (anon)

For our students, it can mean offering ways to LITERALLY look around using tools that CHANGE THEIR VIEW:

CAMERA to zoom in on friends and classroom.

tube BINOCULARS to see the world differently.

friends change colors with COLOR PADDLES!

MAGNIFIER on a light table w/ shells & jewels.

HOW you see something changes WHAT you see.

Do you offer your students different ways to view the world? Make it smaller or bigger, higher or lower, sideways and upside-down?

the parent/art expert introduces the idea of a mini-frame lens.

2 children test out the mini-frame to find THEIR own interesting spot in the art.

In this ART EXPLORATION:

children used mini-frames to look closer at their own abstract art ... and then they described what they saw! For a full read on this Abstract Art project, click here.

this boy discovers a section on the abstract art that he especially likes.

Teacher Reflection... 3 ideas that helped ME see differently:

1. Ironically, I realized in my classroom that while I did/do offer students ways to experience the school day from different perspectives I REMAINED IN A ROUTINE WHERE MY OWN PERSPECTIVE WAS THE SAME!
I always sat in the same "teacher spot" for meetings/circle - sure I might sit on the floor OR a chair, yet I kept my same spot because I wanted to be near the books/games/music for easy access. I realized that this also only let me experience meeting time with one lens. When I - finally - sat in a different place around the circle, I literally felt different and viewed the experience differently. After that day, I was more deliberate to switch up where I joined the meeting. Have you had this experience, as well?

2. Something I DID do that helped perspective taking as a model for students was NOT be the leader on a walk or if we needed to be in a line of some sort (going up/down stairs, etc.). I would elect to be in the middle or end or partner with a student somewhere IN the line or group. (Of course, for safety, there would be another teacher at the lead if required). The non-leader role helped me be a member of the group experience, instead of needing to lead or protect the experience.

3. A tip as we head into A NEW SCHOOL YEAR and PREPPING OUR CLASSROOMS: as you prepare your environment, squat low and/or sit on the floor to see how children will be seeing the room. What barriers present themselves at their level? What materials and experiences are available at their eye level? What is above their eye level that might be too overwhelming, high or distracting? Examine your color choices on the walls and the quantity of materials: Neutrals, natural materials, clean and defined choices in baskets or trays, a flow and non-clutter - the layout should inspire YOU to want to touch, discover, play.

2 MAGNIFIERS to examine the Dinosaur That Might Be Dead.

Taking new perspectives is exciting.

It allows for new ideas, opinions, and understandings of our world.

It allows for the joy of teaching to present itself daily.

the dinosaur that might be dead

It was a surprise - this "dinosaur that might be dead" - a big surprise.
It was a gift on many levels.
The exploration that occurred on this day literally changed my teaching.

"we need to figure out what happened to this skull...!"

It changed how I understood, introduced and valued materials.
It changed how I understood children's engagement with materials as the children seamlessly integrated rich role playing within an exciting scenario that lasted for many days and included many other children.

Also, it became the spin off point for my masters thesis in graduate school (no worries, won't share that whole thing here! :)

Here's the Very True Story of "The Dinosaur That Might Be Dead" :

It was bigger than an Aha! moment that comes along in teaching. I stood frozen for just a few seconds until I realized that this event that was just beginning to unfold in front of me was going to be special. Sometimes you just know. There was energy present among these 4-year-olds that I knew would bring something beyond unique or amusing as they began to engage with the science materials.

Without saying a word, their actions were telling me "Look at this! Look at us! We are teaching you right now. We are giving you a gift." (and they were!).

Starting to examine the skull with shells and magnifiers.

In the science area in our 4s/5s classroom, all the exploration tools and equipment are available for the children to use as they wish. 

I usually have introduced the different materials in large group so that children have some sense as to how they might engage with them, yet they can discover new ways on their own.

One particular day, I introduced a deer skull - teeth, bones, cracks and all. I shared with the children how a family had given this skull to our Room 5 classroom many years ago. The family had found it at their grandparents farm as they went on a walk way back behind their barn. They thought we might like to use it to further our then-study of fossils and bones.

I offered to the children, "It seems that bones are pretty interesting for children to investigate. If you would like to plan to work in Science today, perhaps you'll be able to make some new discoveries about the skull."

Three children - Cara, Lucas and Nolan - all planned to work in the Science Area.
"We want to use the deer skull," they each said to me.

The three children took the deer skull to an open table...
then the children turned around and proceeded to take out everything else from the Science shelves, as well, and bring it all to the table. 
They had kaleidoscopes, magnets, shells, pinecones and magnifiers.
"Oh, yes," Lucas says to me, "we need everything so we can figure out what happened to this skull!" Claire and Nolan agreed quickly and spread all their equipment out. I sat nearby to listen to their discussion as the 'examination' of the deer skull began. 


The children used

• shells to tap into small gaps of the skull.
• magnifiers for all areas of the skull, especially to examine the cracks which they quickly pronounced as quite important to whatever happened to the skull
• magnets were slipped into the eye holes
• kaleidoscopes were used for looking at teeth

While all three children used the equipment in unique ways to examine the skull, the dialogue between the children was lively, creative and quite dramatic.

The children turned themselves into Doctors of various kinds - "I am the Doctor Wizard,", "I am the Doctor Princess" and "I am the Doctor of Bones." 

The children agreed that they were not dealing with just a deer skull, but actually
 A DINOSAUR THAT MIGHT BE DEAD!

More friends examine the "dinosaur that might be dead" with kaleidoscopes, magnifiers, water/oil blocks, and shells

Cara: We are going to make him back alive!

Lucas: I am checking the eye and the nose...

C: It is getting worse!

Nolan:  I think we should check his head! There might be a rock in there or something!

C: His brain is not thinking - that is wrong!

N: It is getting worse!

C, N, L: We must check his eyes and his nose again!

N: There is an infection on his horns!

C: We have to wash his eyes to make him alive! Or he might have to stay in heaven forever...

L: I think he needs some medicine!

C: We have to help him die, that is the only way!

N: We need kaleidoscopes to help him!

L: Yes!

N: Uh-oh, he is getting power in his nose, there must be a lizard nearby! Maybe he swallowed a snake or a lizard!

N: Come on, we got to do this fast, no time to talk, he is getting worse fast!

C: He is going to die!

L: Inside is really bloody now...

N: Uh-oh, he is cracking more...

L: I need to wash his teeth...

N: Yes, that will take away the cracks.

C: No, no, no, something else was happening. I think the snake killed him with his teeth...

N: ...with his tongue!

C: He has killers in his teeth, that means he is really dangerous!

N: Like a boa constrictor!

L: No, a rattle snake, no a rattle scorpion, or a dinosaur!

N: It was a rattle snake because they are dangerous, very dangerous. They live in the desert. This is very serious. Hey, both the scorpion and the snake live in the desert, maybe they both killed him...!

N: This is a big discussion we are having!

L: We need to kill him or else he will kill the whole world!

N: This is serious, way serious. Maybe he got shot by an arrow, or maybe he got burned by fire...

Testing and examining continues with shells inserted through holes and cracks of the "dinosaur that might be dead."

The dialogue was rich with theories about life and death. There was diverse tool use, inventive role play, and engagement with peers.
There was depth of interest in the investigation and quick, open thinking to participate in this conversation together.

Light Bulb: This experience with Cara, Lucas and Nolan is more than creativity, more than role playing, more than exploring with materials. What this experience brought to light for me was that the materials that are seemingly separate on science shelves are actually not separate at all. The children were driven by an inquiry about this skull that opened up the possibilities of how to use materials. In turn, I found that the children were driven to come back to Science to follow up their own work with the dinosaur from previous days.
Aha!: It was the first time that such a complex scenario was invented in an area of the classroom that is not known for role play to be meshed with inquiry.

For a combination of reasons on this day The Dinosaur That Might Be Dead the children looked at the materials in a new way. Cara, Lucas and Nolan didn't give a second thought to having all the equipment all over the table.
After all, you never know what you may need to bring a dinosaur back to life:  "Come on we got to do this fast, no time to talk, he is getting worse fast!"

be that teacher

What IF... children could DO what they wanted with whatever materials they chose?
What IF...children could THINK of an idea then try it out with whatever materials they chose?
What IF... children could INVENT anything they wanted with whatever materials they chose?

Mix mix mix all the colors on the palette...creating just the color she wants, needs, wants, needs.

What IF...teachers loved teaching BECAUSE the children invented and thought and created in their own ways? 
What IF?

Make it happen.

Be that teacher.

The joy is endless. The joy is endless. The joy is endless.

Bugs, bears, GEO boards upside-down, dominoes, 1-10 blocks, pattern rods designed exactly just so by 2 children.

KAPLA wood blocks in star shapes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and working on #9...

Bears, red and yellow counters, rods, and geometric shaped pieces to work together to cover this flannel board!

Using a ruler and black pen to make lines over a large water colored art piece.

Magna tiles, cardboard tunnels, cube blocks, cones and one traffic orange-white striped cone on top!

THINK ABOUT the amazing creations that would not have been created if children needed (needed?) to do things like adults expect traditionally?
   
   What kind of learning environment is that?
   What kind of day is that for the child AND the teacher?

I have always wanted to have a joyful, surprising, wonderful day at school...just like children want.

Be that teacher. 

Make it happen for the children and for yourself.

This block structure is NO ACCIDENT - different sized rectangles and slanted ramp blocks to exactly create this.

Magnet balls inside of shells lined up in a lovely curvy line with one closed at the end.

Hat created with tape and specially cut papers, then curved and attached just so, with bits flaring out the side.

Using their marble ramp design skills to use variety of recycled wood balls to roll simultaneously.

"There is a big difference between
having many choices

and making a choice." 
(bender)

Skills in CHOICE MAKING:

• sense of self as meaning maker
• creativity
• small motor
• hand-eye coordination
• opinions and knowledge about colors, sizes, quantities (qualities & attributes)
• design ideas
• self help skills
• problem solving
• determining what I do need or want vs. what I don't need or want
• surprise and joy in the exploration