Some of the aspects of Aviva's blog which have inspired me are similar to Lauren's blog, which I have shared in my previous post in detail. This is why, I will share them briefly here. From Aviva's blog, I learned how playing in snow can lead to valuable learning. Sledding, shoveling and making piles of snow are great activities for developing motor skills, as well as oral language. By comparing the height of piles, students can learn about quantity and measurement. Using sidewalk chalks, students can get creative and they may create a spontaneous and collaborative art work. This kind of activity will be useful for learning about visual arts (lines, patterns, textures, etc.). Active exploration and discovery learning are very beneficial for primary children. I learned in the course that kindergartners learn through discovery, play, inquiry, investigation, exploration, etc. Also according to Piaget, children learn best through doing and actively exploring. By exploring their environment, children are are able to develop mental schemas, which grow (through accommodation and assimilation) as they discover and learn more.
To conclude my blog posts on reflection of primary teacher blogs, these blogs themselves containing detailed observation, photos and videos of students' engaged in play and exploration demonstrate effective observation, assessment and teachers' reflective practice. Especially when there are no worksheets involved and the focus is more on the process of learning rather than the product of learning, blogging can really help teachers to document their teaching strategies and students' outcome and to reflect on what worked well and what did not, why it did not work and how they can change it in the future.
Another useful strategy which I learned from Aviva's blog is allowing students to do certain actions in class like sitting on chair instead of ground, eating their lunch at the beginning of the day, coloring, etc. to self-regulate or calm themselves down or to transition easily from one activity to another. As I learned in the course, kindergartners are learning to express their feelings with actions and words and they are also learning to distinguish between acceptable and non acceptable behavior. So I think, by giving students various opportunities of self regulation, they can learn to express their emotions and calm themselves down in an acceptable manner. Different self regulation techniques could be coloring, drawing what they are feeling, sitting in a quiet place, reading, breathing exercises,eating and other self regulatory techniques as shown in the figure below. This practice will.also help the students to realize what their needs are which might be impacting their learning. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it is important that their physiological needs (hunger, rest) are addressed so that they can get motivated to learn, solve problems and participate in class activities. As a primary teache in future, I will also allow my students to self regulate when needed in their desired way. But at the same time, I will ensure that the self regulation needs are genuine and these self regulation techniques do not cause chaos and do not interrupt the learning in the classroom.
Some of the self regulation techniques which will be allowed
in my future classroom
To conclude my blog posts on reflection of primary teacher blogs, these blogs themselves containing detailed observation, photos and videos of students' engaged in play and exploration demonstrate effective observation, assessment and teachers' reflective practice. Especially when there are no worksheets involved and the focus is more on the process of learning rather than the product of learning, blogging can really help teachers to document their teaching strategies and students' outcome and to reflect on what worked well and what did not, why it did not work and how they can change it in the future.
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