Naketa’s Blog

EC Girlz in Auckland

The ECE ICT PL facilitators (and Lynne and Nick) met in Auckland several weeks ago, for a good old catch up and lots of hard work. The opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the country is great for keeping up the momentum and putting our (sometimes isolating) job into perspective.

The photos give a brief look into what we got up to over 3 days. Crazily, enough there were many highlights! Linda’s ‘on top of the hill wine and cheese’. Gotta love the view… A visit to Ministry of Education Centre of Innovation – Botany Downs Kindergarten. A pleasant visit to St. Andrews Kindergarten who do amazing artwork with children, Ann and Michaels amazing hospitality (dinner was yummy!) and hanging out with the team!

The role of an ECE ICT PL facilitator can be quite demanding (most of the time) responding to calls, emails and queries, sitting at a desk and computer (not what I envisioned doing several years ago) and lots of traffic jams (especially in Auckland). However, the opportunities I get to catch up with the other facilitators is truly inspiring and worthwhile. Not afraid to say … but we have an awesome team! I enjoy working with teachers and children on this project but I do miss the hustle and bustle of the early childhood setting. It is great to be within a team that are so supportive and an organisation who have your best interests at heart.

Kia kaha wahine toa! (oh and Nick)…Keep up the fab work

Total Eclipse of the … Moon!

Got a call from Dad very late the other night. “Quick, quick…look outside or you’ll miss it!”. Prompting me to look out the window he was making sure I didn’t miss out on the ‘eclipse’. When I looked out, the moon was covered about half way … I tried to take a picture (as shown) but it was tragically unsuccessful. Luckily, Bev from Manaia Kindergarten got some awesome shots from Whangarei…check out her blog to see her blog post and pictures.

Gotta say seeing the eclipse was pretty cool!

Lead Teachers & Crazy Hats

On 9 August lead teachers from the early childhood centres in the two Auckland clusters came together for a day of learning and celebration??
ECE Hui Crazy Hats ECE Hui Crazy Hats

Centres are all undertaking an evidence-informed action research investigation, so refining skills of data collection and analysis was high on the day???s agenda. Naketa Ferguson and Linda Flavell turned what would otherwise be a fairly dry topic into an interactive and humorous session by asking participants to wear ???a crazy hat??? to the hui. By categorising the hats ??? functional, flowery, cowgirl – participants experienced first-hand some of the complexities they can expect when they come to make sense of their data for their research.

Teachers from both Greenhithe and Manaia Kindergartens presented their stories of change as a result of the ICT programme.

* Greenhithe shared examples of 4-year olds??? growing competence in taking their own photos of events important to them and publishing these using Word or Comic Life.
* Manaia highlighted the impact that the acquisition of a digital microscope has had on their programme fostering motivation, interest and new knowledge for the children. They also told their story of developing a centre blog as a means of strengthening relationships between the kindergarten, the families and beyond. These presentations once again showed the power of teachers??? stories to inspire other teachers.

In the afternoon, Naketa led a session exploring Web 2.0. Teachers explored the impact Web 2.0 tools such as, blogs, wiki???s and podcasting have on teaching and learning, and ways in which these tools can support young children in becoming global citizens. The energy, enthusiasm and commitment the early childhood teachers displayed was truly inspiring.

The ECE ICT Professional Learning Programme is a Ministry of Education funded initiative aimed at increasing ICT use and capability within approximately 60 centres throughout New Zealand. The Lead Teacher Hui are just one component of the programme which also includes tailored facilitator visits, workshops, and mini-conferences.

(Thanks Ann for the write up!!!!)

Reasons to Disseminate…

We remember 10% of what we read.
We remember 20% of what we hear.
We remember 30% of what we see.
We remember 50% of what we hear and see.
We remember 70% of what we say.
We remember 90% of what we say as we do a thing.
We remember 100% of what we present.

Found this randomly in my blog rolls one morning, I know I have tagged and delicioused it (seriously thats a word!) But I cant seem to find the source. If anyone can help me with the actual source that would be very much appreciated.

As the centres within the ECE ICT PL programme move into other components of their action research, we eagerly await the dissemination of their work. The Auckland 2 Cluster have had a few teachers presenting in one way , shape or form. The quote above provokes us to think of ways in which presenting has benefits to the learning of teachers. I look forward to seeing all of the ‘AK2 stars’ spreading the word!

Gumboot Tea

Taihape gumboot on Flickr

Have you heard of Gumboot Tea? The EC Girlz are in Auckland at Ann’s this week…(other posts to come). As we settled for lunch yesterday our wonderful host Ann offered coffee and tea. Amanda requested ‘Gumboot Tea’…Shaza and I were miffed at what kind of tea that was…apparently ‘Gumboot Tea’ is ‘normal, everyday tea’. Go figure!@ Anyone know the reason for this strange name?

Centre visit to Manaia Kindergarten…

Flew to Whangarei this morning for a centre visit with Manaia Kindergarten. I left Rainy Auckland with a few bumps along the way and shortly after landed in Sunny Whangarei. Nice reward for working on a Saturday! Bev and I got a heap of work done (poor Tarnz was sick at home). We finished the day with great food and a fantastic view outside the local tavern. Not too bad for a day’s work.

ECE Bloggers join the Blogosphere…

Throughout the week I held a Blogging workshop for a group of budding bloggers…other than great food and fantastic hospitality from the Next Generation whanau we had several new ECE Bloggers join the blogosphere…Awesome stuff guys! I watch your blogs with interest. Thanks Bev for joining us via Skype!