A Week in Nursery

The nursery pre-visit week which was undertaken recently was very interesting and enjoyable for me. I found the the worries of placing theory and practical issues together were not so apparent in practice. I found that, on discussion with other students and through my own experience, the more important factors of the week were settling into the nursery team and interacting with the children. I found that I was able to do this and still use theory to compare with observations I made of how the nursery was run. I found myself more interested in how the nursery works, sitting in on a meeting helped me really see how to team gelled and how I could learn from their own reflective approach. I feel that I have been very fortunate to be placed in the nursery I am in as there are very strong bonds between the staff however they are welcoming and helpful to me as well. As I continue to research and experience life in the nursery I feel I will learn a lot about using theory to support practice.

When I was in the nursery I kept an eye out for the different ICT tools used. There were the obvious such as computers and televisions (also a digital microscope which was unused as far as I could see) but there were also resources such as toy cash registers, telephones and calculators.
At first I would not have considered these to fall under the category of ICT, rather number as Brenda has mentioned, however Hall (2010) states in The ICT Handbook for Primary Teachers that as, 'play is the means by which young children make sense of their world,' it is then the teachers role to,'raise children's awareness of technology in the world around them and create safe settings which model a range of real world scenarios.' p.99.

According to Hall, using everyday items such as the battery operated toys in nurseries helps the children with the following;

• develop and interest in ICT equipment and apparatus
• identify and explore everyday uses of information technology in a meaningful context
• talk about uses for ICT in their own lives and represent experiences through role-play
• understand how to operate simple equipment and perform simple functions independently
• turn to appropriate equipment in their play in order to communicate information
• be aware of the dangers associated with some equipment, such as electrical switches, and of the need to work within simple safety guidelines
• use correct technical vocabulary

 P.99

This list points out how through playing, the children are already picking up essential ICT skills and knowledge.

Using my Blog across B.Ed

I have found that during the course of reflection in this blog that it is very beneficial for my professional development so I feel that this space could be utilized for reflecting across my other modules as well.
I feel our input on Friday 18th February is worth reflecting on as I found it very helpful and exciting. During this input we set up our context area in groups which we decided was 'People Who Help Us' as it is a prominent topic for nursery and early years education.
We were then joined by a nursery class who were free to explore every area set up by our entire year. This gave us all the opportunity to interact and observe the children and learn more about nursery. I have had lots of nursery experience as the bulk of my work experience before university was in nurseries rather than higher up in the primary school however I had been observing and interacting without having it backed up by theory. Because if this I was comfortable around the children and could easily interact and have fun but I could now add to that by taking into account the aspects Erika and Brenda have been talking to us about. I found this helped me with respect to observation as I was thinking about what to watch and what I could note if I had planned an observation however I was unsure how much we were expected to get involved as we were being told to interact but are often told in lectures that we should let the children play on their own and not dictate to them what to do. I feel that I managed to strike a balance between the two but until I have had more experience applying theory I cannot be 100% sure.
I learned a lot about what attracts children to a certain area. I think our area was great but the position was wrong as we were right next to the door in the corner and our tables were out of reach for the children. The areas which were colourful and had objects at the children's height were very popular plus colourful and crafty things were a favourite! Also, leftover balloons from the 1CM1 World Cafe were more popular than any area which goes to show the point that Erika and Brenda make all the time that you can create a fantastic context area but it still may not interest the children.
Overall the input has made me even more excited about my nursery placement!