How Can Technology Support an Emergent Approach? Quality Child Care Initiative and County of Wellington Child Care Services December 12, 2014

Quality is a journey not a destination…

Areas of Focus for Today Resources and Links Research Pedagogical Documentation Photos Communication with Families, Staff and others Program Enhancements

Resources and Links Ministry of Education Website http://www.edu. gov.on.ca/eng/

Video: Dr. Jean Clinton Reflection for Staff Meeting How did the video make you feel? What resonated with you? Thinking of your current practices, what evidence is there that a view of the child as capable, competent and curious is central to all that you do? Given your discussion, what is one existing policy, or practice in your program that you could rethink and why?

Resources and Links College of Early Childhood Educators http://www.coll ege- ece.ca/en/Pages /Home.aspx

Resources and Links Quality Child Care Initiative http://www.qcci gw.ca/about-us/

Resources and Links - Reflection What other resources or links do you use? What other ways could you utilize these resources within your program?

Communication Supports-Using the tablet to Support Reflective Practice Communication with Families How could you communicate with families using your tablet? Staff Meetings – using the tablet as a way to encourage reflection and deeper thinking about observations (photos or video clips)

Observational Scenario for Staff Meeting Reflection What do you see? What is happening? What interests you as you look at this picture? What do you wonder about? How could you respond?

Research Supporting Pedagogical Documentation Scaffolding children’s ideas and theories (not to google activities for children) Susan Stacey’s Coffee Bean Story Pedagogical Documentation Documentation vs. Display Leadership Institute and Reflective Practice Day-January 2015 Learning Stories Photos

How Pedagogical Documentation supports our programs: Educators need to learn new habits in order to document-1. we need to make it a daily habit Learning what to document because we see potention in learning arising from children requires practice, judgement and reflection (Wien, 2013) Secondly, our willingness to share what we have noted our curiosities with others…”educators going public” and being interested in other’s responses to it. Documentation for children could be highly focused with child friendly text For parents and visitors, documentation could be at adult height, with expanded text

Learning to Create Pedagogical Documentation Documentation offers insight into children’s thinking, feeling and worldview. When we make our theories visible about children’s learnings we welcome other perspectives to our dialogue. (see the 4 perspectives p. 221)in the “Art of Awareness” book from our book study this year. “this process of group study of educators’ attempts to make children’s thinking and feeling visible is what makes documentation pedagogical It allows us to deepen empathy and build ethical relationships. ( Rinaldi, 2006)

How Technology Can Support You with Observation and Documentation The tablet will be a powerful tool to support your work as teacher-researcher in documentation Videos and still photos along with your written our audio notes will support documentation Audio recordings will help capture conversations (you don’t have to transcribe everything, but it will give you a back-up for your documentation process Comparing audio from your notes and memory can help you to identify items you may have missed

PHOTOS Photos are a great way to support your documentation and a tablet will allow you to do more things with your photos Keep in mind that putting a camera between you and children might interfere with what actually is unfolding and they be tempted to stop and pose for you…take photos of children engaged in exploration Study children’s perspectives by cropping photos and enlarging photos of activities. The tablet will be a great tool for this activity The tablet will allow you to zoom in to focus on the children in relationship with each other and with materials Begin by taking a photo of the child in the larger context of the situation and then zoom in on the child’s hand, face and body language. When you look at the photo you can crop out the background and enlarge elements you want to focus on

Display vs Documentation Please look at the next two slides to see the difference between using photos to describe a photo versus using photos in a more reflective way

Today we went to the pumpkin patch. The children had fun looking for their own pumpkin.

The Exploration of a Pumpkin Today we went to the pumpkin patch. The children burst from the bus looking eagerly for their favourite pumpkin. Laura collected 3 pumpkins and lined them up side by side . She intently examined each pumpkin. She turned each pumpkin over and gently touched it from top to bottom. I wonder what she is thinking about as she gently explores the curves of each pumpkin? Is she feeling their different textures or is she comparing other characteristics? Laura stays with the pumpkins for some time continuing her exploration. Finally she picks up the pumpkin in the middle and exclaims, “My pumpkin!” She had made her decision. I am always amazed by the ways that children see and investigate materials. They have such a capacity for noticing and exploring the details.

Program Enhancements A tool to support not to replace our relationships or interactions with children or each other! Downloading resource books for educators Itunes for sleeptime/gross motor activity or background music (should not replace singing with the children!) Voicenote app (to help take observational notes) Apps can be useful but consider reflective practice (don’t forget the “magic in the middle”)

Quality Child Care Initiative We look forward to continue this conversation with you in the new year. Please check our website for all the exciting events in 2015 www.qccigw.ca Happy Holidays to all, Cheryl and Paola