Using Visual Narrative For Reflection

I was exposed to a complete range of early childhood studies, all of which solidified my ardent interest in the field. I also had the opportunity to study a handful of art and humanities subjects, which have given me a fresh perspective on the world we reside in. By the same token, I will be able to apply the knowledge gained from my ICT and Multimedia subject in creating a state-of-the-art medium apt for young children in this era of

In the 2011 article “Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing”, educators Linda Fernsten and Mary Reda offer innovative self-reflective writing exercises that post-secondary instructors can employ to help students improve writer self-image and academic writing. The authors’ rationale for reflective and practical writing strategies were developed from direct classroom experience, and are based on four (4) assumptions. Their claim that self-reflective writing can aid student writers in overcoming conflict (due to dominant culture, upbringing, former writing experiences, gender, and other marginalizing factors) to improve writer self-identity is plausible. However, their argument that cross-curriculum academic writing can be improved through self-directed, self-reflective writing requires further investigation.

To enable the children’s voices to be heard, I explored various tools to engage the children from the Mosaic approach (Clark & Moss 2001). I disregarded using questionnaires as the children were unable to read and write so this would have been inappropriate. I disregarded role play as I didn’t feel I would get the responses I needed as directly, and I decided not to use tours as not all the children were confident communicators and they may have found this difficult. I wanted to be as inclusive as possible and ensure the technique was age and development appropriate. Therefore I chose to gather documentation by enabling the children to use cameras to take photos outdoors of what they liked and didn’t like. To ensure confidentiality of the photos taken I kept them in my private locked filing cabinet that only myself and my manager had access to. As my research required the children’s perceptions this technique ensured it was child led as were the later discussion where we came together in a quiet area to talk about why they took their particular images. This discussion enabled me to interpret what they were trying to say to me through the photos. As we looked at the photos it prompted their memory of why they had taken the picture. It was an interactive way to engage the children, and by the children taking their own photos helped lead the

[ ] In order to build on the children’s understanding and content knowledge, lesson one’s purpose is to engage the children through making a prediction based on the text, pictures, and title. Lesson two builds on the language and literacy by continuing with using the mentor text, “Fancy Nancy” and using the rich academic language associated with the central focus of predictions. For example, each lesson has a distinct objective in which the activities are built on but all three lessons build on each other by incorporating similar academic language and literacy. The children start out in a whole group setting and are actively engaged through discussions and sharing activities. The children are then scaffolded into independent reading and activities to assess their understanding of the content objectives. They then use their prior knowledge and rich vocabulary to successfully complete the objective of each lesson through verbal discussions, independent work, and physical movement. In lesson one, the children are actively engaged through participating in a gallery walk. This gallery walk is done with the children’s table groups and encourages community and social interactions. During this activity, the children will work together to activate their prior knowledge of predictions and record through writing what they

E: I think using a picture to spark creativity is a good idea for all children. During my experience hours, the teacher that I was aired with gave her student a picture of a woman pulling her hair out and two other children below her arguing, and the students had to write what each person was thinking and saying. Her students came up with really interesting answers, and it was a great activity.

This movie, The Classroom, which was very interesting to watch, discusses all that goes on in the school system, the good and the bad. But it also shows how things at home can affect the way the student acts during the school day. This movie definitely makes you look at students that act out differently, instead of punishing them maybe we should all look deeper into the issue and find a way for the student to thrive and use school as an outlet.

The notable framework that I have chosen to use is the Mosaic approach (Farrell, Tayler, Tennent, and Gahan, 2002), introduced by Clark and Moss (2001). The framework was established as part of a project that was investigating ways to increase methods on listening to young children who are under 8 years of age. The foundation for the framework is the use of multiple techniques that support all children with diverse abilities. The Mosaic approach (Clark and Moss, 2001) uses a range of techniques and methods that are aimed to provide choice to young children to how they wish to express their experiences. Some of the methods include the use of child friendly cameras, where the children take photos to signify their view and experiences, map-making, where children represent their experiences through drawing and leading a tour of their surroundings, role play, and ‘child conferencing’ (Clark and moss, 2001, p.26) where children have the freedom to voice their opinions alone or in groups.

Both essays focus on children's ability to blend visual drawings and writing and how they interact with one another. In some classrooms young children are being urged to see drawing and writing separately rather than as a unified system of meaning making. Thomas Newkirk makes us think about how pictures relate to language in written texts, and Alexie Sherman explains how he had the help from comic books (graphic novels) and watching his dad's passion for reading help (sponsor) him want to learn how to read. They both believe that visual images communicate meaning. Its not just about the design and creativity but also about how culture and meaning are reflected, communicated and altered by images. This is visual literacy, it involves all the

Sharing Writing in the Early Childhood Classroom The article “Please Let Us Write!” by Mary Ann Cahill and Anne E. Gregory, emphasizes the importance of letting children write in an early childhood classroom. The first part of the article narrates the importance of allowing the children to express their thoughts through writing. Also, the first part of the article explains some of the strategies that a teacher named Kristin uses in her kindergarten classroom.

Reflection may be ‘on action’ by looking back to a memory and recording it, or ‘in action’ which occurs while engaged in planning, teaching or assessing (Churchill et, al., 2013). Reflective teaching is important within the teaching profession as everyday teaching practice helps teachers take informed actions. The Early Learning Years Framework is a kept component helping support critical reflection in children’s learning from birth to five years, as the framework is not a syllabus, curriculum or assessment tool of what a child should or will learn. It is a framework of principles, practice, and outcomes to help build children’s sense of belonging, being and becoming before entering school. Thus, why it is important to understand children building partnerships, establishing reliable learning environments and exploring what children learn are all key components in the critical reflection that help to teach practices to contribute to effective

making Practice-Based Learning work Reflection on PRACTICE A resource commissioned by the Making Practice Based Learning Work project, an educational development project funded through FDTL Phase 4 Project Number 174/02 and produced by staff from the University of Ulster. www.practicebasedlearning.org Author Patricia McClure School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster www.practicebasedlearning.org contents Reflection on Practice 02

The video “Interactive Writing” was much longer and extra detailed that the other ones previously and that Susan McCloskey demonstrated precisely the concepts associated with interactive writing. The teacher made it easy to follow along with her as she took her students through the various steps of the process: reviewing the story, negotiating a sentence, counting words, providing the resources, starting with the first word in a sentence, scaffolding, making expectations clear, moving to the second word in the sentence, and rereading together after each word in writing. As a future teacher, I comprehend the importance of using modeling as a learning tool and that comes from watching Susan McCloskey demonstrate her support for the students

Creating a literacy-rich environment is one of the key elements of supporting children’s literacy development. Literacy-rich classrooms tend to look quite different than the traditional classroom, covered in pre-made posters and arranged with individual desks in rows, and instead, allow for teachers to design their classrooms with their students’ needs in mind. According to an article on the Sadlier School’s blog, all elements in a classroom must be meaningful, intentional, purposeful, and engaging when creating a literacy-rich classroom. This means that classroom design is created in a way that it provides frequent opportunities to be exposed to text via environmental print, instruction, and hands-on learning as well as encouraging communication and collaboration (Sadlier School, 2017).

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?

Reflection is considered as a vital element of professional practice as it precedes to insight and then subsequent change in practice. The hypothesis of reflection is not new as it can be tracked as far back in the 5th century by the influential Greek philosopher, Socrates and to the 1930s primarily focusing on John Dewey’s work. Dewey is one of the founders of learning from experience. He theorised reflection as ‘active, persistent and careful consideration’ (Dewey, 1933) initiated by a specific situation which was opposing, perplexing or uncertain. One of its most common use today is coming up with a thought, an idea, or opinion made or an observation made as a result of concentration, suggesting in essence a way of thinking in which one looks back and meditate upon (Agnes, 2004).