Discussion Post #2

As I watched the video with Margaret Kiernan of Drew University, and considered this week's readings, I found myself contemplating the ways in which all design elements impact the learning experience.  When I began my graduate work at Rutgers years ago, I was introduced to the approach used in early childhood environments in Reggio Emilia, Italy.  I have since taken professional development classes and visited exhibits which have allowed a closer look at the role design plays in this approach.

Teachers in the Reggio schools consider the environments to be the "third teacher" in a learning space.  Careful consideration is given to the physical environment, as well as the materials and how they are displayed.  A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Wonder of Learning exhibit that was on display in New York City.  You can learn more about the exhibit here:

New York City Wonder of Learning Exhibit

The experience itself is formulated in much the same way the approach presents learning.  When considering the flow of the exhibition space, one is presented with this description from the website:

The various projects are communicated using different media: three-dimensional objects, videos, booklets, audio recordings, and so on, which can be associated with the same project to enable different levels of reading and study, and to afford visitors a personal approach according to their level of interest and competency.

This week's readings brought my understanding of the Reggio approach to a whole new level.  In the article, Reggio Emilia as Culture and Theory in Practice, the author suggests, "Teachers want the children to learn to notice and appreciate colors, textures, and design. They also want them to make friends, they want parents to feel welcome, and they want an environment that supports their own relational, aesthetic, and intellectual needs as well"(p.8).   In the past I have always considered the Reggio approach important because of the way in which it embraces a sense of community, construction of knowledge, interpretation of ideas, and creativity through use of various modalities.  Now I see the ways in which the young children who experience learning in these schools develop and appreciate these design elements from a very young age.  

As part of my reflection, I revisited the Wonder of Learning website, and looked again at the projects that were a part of the exhibit.  This project is entitled, "Painting, between materials and nature"

A description of the project from website is as follows:

A transformational journey in which natural materials reveal quantity, qualities, density and variations in colour and hue to become paint.

The transformation of materials is continued in the atelier using hands, sieves and rocks to crumble, crush, sift and powder – capturing the material’s essence, colour and perfume.

The palette of materials prepared in this way is then used by children to make compositions bearing the traces of very different individual journeys of research.

The elements of design presented by Golombisky and Hagen (2010) are incorporated directly into the environment and experiences in which children engage.  Here one can see the ways in which space, shape, texture, color, movement, and unity play a particular role in creating the space for children to engage in learning.  This reflection has helped me to consider the ways in which the classroom environment I have created is impacting how children are interpreting their environment.  Furthermore, how can I incorporate these graphic design principals into digital documentation of experiences?  

As I consider my multimedia project focused on use of digital portfolios in the classroom, I am thinking about ways that I can support teachers in creating visual documentation that matches their audience of parents and students.  How can we support children to develop these aesthetic skills, and how can we as teachers, communicate effectively with parents through multimedia in digital portfolios?

Sources:

Golombisky, K., & Hagen, R. (2010). White space is not your enemy: A beginner’s guide to communicating visually through graphic, web and multimedia design. Amsterdam: Focal Press/Elsevier.

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2017, from http://www.newyorkcitywol.org/

New, R. S. (2007). Reggio Emilia As Cultural Activity Theory in Practice. Theory Into Practice, 46(1), 5-13. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4601_2

[Painting, materials, and nature]. (2009). Retrieved January 29, 2017, from http://www.thewonderoflearning.com/exhibition/materia/?lang=en_GB

Blog Entry #3 Rules of Design

As I began to consider the rules of design presented in this week's readings and video posts, I immediately began to consider the visual exposure within our classroom each day.  Instead of thinking about digital exposure, this time I simplified a bit and began to think about the children's books that we work with in the classroom. I began to wonder how the visual design in children's books impacts the experience of emergent readers?

One of the best examples I can think of when it comes to design of children's books is the work of Eric Carle.  Before becoming a children's author and illustrator, Carle was trained in graphic design at art school in Germany.   For this assignment, I decided to look closer at his work, and truly consider the ways in which he translated his design background into picture books. In addition to considering the ways in which he is successful from a design perspective, I took into account the ways in which the design supports emergent reading behaviors for young children.

Audience:

Carle shows his awareness of his readership as he uses simple images to evoke feelings of familiarity and safety.  In the illustration here, he conjures up connections to healthy foods and basic needs being met. Carle supports emergent readers as they try to make meaning from text by connecting to background knowledge.

Space:

The eye is drawn directly to the fruit images in the picture. There are no additional surrounding images, thus the young reader can focus solely on the main idea of this page. Young readers can begin to "read the picture" as the meaning is visually direct and clear.

Shape:

The image presents a balance of inorganic shape (circles) and organic shape (fruit). The precisely geometric circle in the center of the pear appeals to the young child's development of knowledge as they shape identification is a task often presented to young children. The familiar shapes of the fruit provide connection to experience. The clear circle in the middle again supports the young reader to recognize that a part of the fruit is missing. Reading the picture is again supported.

Pattern:

The pattern in the picture creates a sense of visual order. It also creates a sequence for young children. Retelling of stories is a critical emergent reader concept. The clear pattern in the picture supports visual retelling.

Texture:

All of Carle's books are created by using a variety of materials to provide texture. Collage techniques are those that can be mimicked by young children. For example, the familiar paint strokes that can be seen when looking closely at the pear help the young child to relate to his/her art experience. This creates a sense of importance for the young child as they see their own work reflected in the illustration.

Color:

In order to look closely at the color value, I used the Aviary app to convert the picture to black and white. The color value is clear as the picture remains crisp and communicates the message even without color. Even young children without the ability to see color can clearly make meaning from the visual images.

Focal Point

Carle places the tallest fruit in the middle with the leaf of the plum reaching the highest. In order to see the particular importance of this choice, one may consider the text that goes along with the images. Each fruit is correlated to a day of the week when the caterpillar eats that particular fruit. The plum represents Wednesday, or the middle of the school/work week for young children. This visual cue helps them make a subtle connection to the way in which they experience time.

Balance:

The five fruits on the page provide clear visual balance with the plum in the middle, and two fruits on either side.  Here the young reader is given the subtle cue that the world is made up of things that balance, helping to provide order and structure to developing schema.

Movement:

The horizontal movement of the picture allows the readers eye to move from left to right.  This is a particularly important skill that is developing for young readers.  Training the eye to move from left to right when looking at print is an emergent reader concept.

Unity:

The cohesive design of the page allows young children to process the meaning behind the text. Through this one pictures children are reminded of: healthy foods, order of events, days of the week, and shapes.

After completing this task, I realized the underlying complexities of Eric Carle's work. Through use of graphic design technique he has created deceptively simple books that convey many messages to his young readership.

Sources:

Carle, E. (1979). The very hungry caterpillar. Cleveland: Collins Publishers.

Golombisky, K., & Hagen, R. (2010). White space is not your enemy: A beginner’s guide to communicating visually through graphic, web and multimedia design. Amsterdam: Focal Press/Elsevier.

Discussion Post #1

As I explore the world of technology with young children, I am faced with a situation somewhat different than educators who are working with older students.  Whereas older students have been exposed to, and participated in media forms over the span of many years, younger students are just beginning to develop the understanding of the world around them.  They have been exposed to media through observation and participation, however, for most the experience has been more of a consumer than a creator.  They have watched adults engage in use of technology to communicate, share ideas, participate in online activities.  Yet, much of their experience has been passive as they use iPads or mobile devices to keep them busy while waiting for meals at restaurants or at the doctors office. What once would have been a Highlights Magazine keeping them busy, is now a digital experience.  As Daley shares, "Technology is simply enabling these alternative ways of communicating to penetrate our lives more directly and in more powerful ways" (p.40).

I am fortunate to have administrative support in taking risks as I navigate the road of incorporating digital technology into our Kindergarten classroom.  My philosophy is based on the idea that our classroom should be a safe place which reflects the surrounding world.  It is a place in which children can explore, role play, create, and communicate.  To discourage use of technology would be to create a false experience for the children living in today's world.

As an educator, it is my responsibility to ensure that experiences are both developmentally appropriate and safe.  According the position statement created by the NAEYC and The Fred Rogers Institute (2012),

Teachers must take the time to evaluate and select technology and media for the classroom, carefully observe children’s use of the materials to identify opportunities and problems, and then make appropriate adaptations. They must be willing to learn about and become familiar with new technologies as they are introduced and be intentional in the choices they make, including ensuring that content is developmentally appropriate and that it communicates anti-bias messages (p.6).

According to this statement, as an educator, not only do I need to evaluate media presented, but I am responsible for keeping up to date on the advancements in technology.  This means evaluating and participating in my own learning experiences that support development of my knowledge.  When I learn about a new media tool, I always play with it first to make sure it meets the needs of young children, and supports or elevates learning experiences rather than replacing them.  I often find that when I introduce a new creation app on the iPad, children quickly figure out ways to use it that I had not considered.  This speaks to the importance of keeping up with the surrounding world.  If they can learn to problem-solve, communicate respectfully, and express ideas using multimedia formats when they are five, this could limit many of the challenges that we are seeing with older children as they are beginning to navigate technology at a later age.

One great example of this is the use of Kidblog in Kindergarten.  My 5 and 6 year olds love to blog! Kidblog is a web-based platform which allows teachers to create class blogs which have different levels of sharing.  Posts can be made public, kept private for classmates only, or can be extended to approved invited guests.  All posts and comments are approved by the teacher first.  At first, it began as a way for us to safely publish and share stories we were creating as part of our writing workshop process.  I quickly found that children wanted to use this as their own type of "show and tell" type tool.  Children and families began creating posts and comments at home.  Checking the blog quickly became part of our daily morning meeting.  The children in this group were not only developing literacy skills, they were learning how to participate in a simulated online community.  They learned that when responding online, they are communicating with an actual person.  They developed connections, empathy, and creativity.  Digital citizenship was embedded into daily life in Kindergarten.  To learn more about our blogging experience, you can visit last year's archived public posts Mrs. Twomey's Kindergarten Kidblog.

6 year old end of the year reflection on blogging

By introducing multimedia in safe ways, young children can develop the skills and background knowledge needed to participate successfully in the complex and changing world.

Sources:

Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. EDUCAUSE (March/April), 33-40.

NAEYC-FRC Position Statement. (2012). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/initiatives/digital-media-learning/resources/

Blog Entry #2:

Background:

As a Kindergarten teacher, I am always looking for ways to help children experience, elevate, and document the learning process. As they develop their schema about the world, and make connections in their learning, I am interested in finding ways to capture, assess, and develop their thinking.

Upon entering Kindergarten, there is a vast range of development and experience among children. As a teacher, one cannot assume that children have the same prior knowledge or are ready to take on the same academic tasks. There are children that do not yet know their letters mixed in with those who are beginning to read chapter books. The question then becomes, how do I make learning accessible to all students so that they can share ideas, work collaboratively and independently, and develop their knowledge in a way that is just right for each of them?

The Kindergarten environment is filled with a variety of learning materials. Children are surrounded by materials that allow them to manipulate, contemplate, explore, and experience. As the Kindergarten curriculum and expectations have become more demanding, many teachers are struggling to find a balance between academics and play.  The question is how do we allow Kindergarten to be the safe, social, hands-on experience it originated as, while providing appropriate academic challenge and rigor for 21st century expectations?

Proposal:

Rather than looking back into the days of Kindergarten past, I propose that this is where technology can support the transition in thinking and learning.  The right tools can make the difference between letting go of what we believe and resorting to paper/pencil tasks, and elevating learning to a new 21st century experience.  This new experience is one in which children are able to engage learning and play while documenting the process in order to make meaning and adjust learning according to their developmental and academic needs. It is a process that allows for more interactive, collaborative, and personalized learning.

As part of Multimedia Montage Project, I will be creating a resource for teachers which allows them to see the ways in which Digital Learning Portfolios can have a profound impact on the learning experience for young children. In exploring the creative process through the lens of Kindergarten learning, Mitchel Resnick (2007) shares this observation

 reflection is a critical part of the creative process, but all too often overlooked in the classroom. In recent years, schools have adopted more “hands-on” design activities, but the focus is usually on the creation of an artifact rather than critical reflection on the ideas that guided the design, or strategies for refining and improving the design, or connections to underlying scientific concepts and related real-world phenomena (p.5).

Resnick (2007) suggests that instead of giving into the pressures of changing Kindergarten to be like the rest of the school, we should actually be taking a look at the kind of learning that happens in Kindergarten, and making other classrooms based on that model.  By introducing digital portfolios into the experience, we can create a format for learning that not only works in Kindergarten, but can be transferred to learning experiences in subsequent grades as well.

In Elizabeth Daley's article Expanding the Concept of Literacy (2003) she highlights the advantages of working with media forms.  Among these advantages she notes "media forms are usually meant for public distribution and presentation.  They are intended to be seen in environments beyond that of their creation" (p.36).  When using digital portfolios to document work, students are not only given creative freedom o demonstrate and document their learning, they are also creating for a wider audience.  Children move away from the mindset of creating to share with the teacher when using digital portfolios.  Alternately, they now work with the knowledge that they will be sharing their learning experience with the teacher, family members, peers, and perhaps even a global audience.

Although there are a variety of digital portfolio platforms, I will be focusing on the use of Seesaw Digital Learning Portfolios in my project.  The following share some examples of the ways in which I have used Seesaw as a format for documenting the process of learning and play.

Documentation of the pictorial process of mathematical development.

Making connections between art and math experiences, demonstrating learning, opportunity to practice at home with families.

Formative assessment on 1-1 correspondence for words.



Documentation and development of oral language through the process of play.

Educational Communities:

As Hodell (2011) explains, the ADDIE Model proposes that the first key to the success of an instructional design process, is the analysis stage.  According to Holdell (2011), "instructional designers assemble all the information they can possibly gather about the project before they consider anything else" (p. 24).

 As part of my data gathering, I have joined several communities to support background and data collection.  The first is the Seesaw Ambassador Google Plus
Group. This is a private group in which Ambassadors from Seesaw from all over the world collaborate to share ideas and approaches for supporting other educators.  Through my collaboration with this group I am able to gain insight into the experiences of other educators, not just in their classrooms, but in their work with colleagues as well.  This information will support me as I put together a multimedia resource to be used by teachers in our district and beyond.

The second is GEG New Jersey . The community description includes this goal:

Google Education Groups (GEGs) are independently run communities of educators who inspire and empower each other to meet the needs of students through technology both in the classroom and beyond. 

 I use both iPads and Chromebooks in the classroom, therefore I am always looking for resources that encourage support for both Apple and Google platforms.  As Seesaw is compatible with any number of devices, it is critical that I understand both platforms.  I have been a member of this group for several months now, and have been introduced to great resources as I follow the journey of other teachers who value 21st century learning approaches.  In addition to these two Google Plus groups, I also participate in a Professional Learning Network through Twitter.  I have learned so much from bi-monthly Twitter Chats hosted by Christine Pinto through #GAFE4littles.  For anyone that has not participated in a teacher Twitter chat, they are organized collaborations that run over the course of an hour using a specific hashtag to connect teachers.  In the case of this chat, the moderator sends out a Google Sheet ahead of time, with the questions and topics that will be discussed during the chat.  Participants can consider, research, and prepare their contributions.  At the time of the chat, members are have the opportunity to introduce themselves, and then respond as questions are posted.  The leader of the GAFE4littles PLN and Twitter chats has shared lots of exciting ways that she is using Chromebooks with her Kindergartners.  Information on joining the PLN can be found at her site http://christinepinto.com/

Over the past year or so I have been working on developing connections to educators through social media communities.  I have done some of my best learning, problem solving, and sharing by finding like-minded educators around the world.  I am excited to continue on my journey by utilizing these communities to support development of my plan to implement a training program for teachers using digital portfolios in the classroom.

Sources:

Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. EDUCAUSE (March/April), 33-40.

Hodell, Chuck. (2011). Chapter 3: Instructional systems development and the ADDIE model. In ISD From the Ground Up: A No-Nonsense Approach to Instructional Design (3^rd ed.). American Society for Training and Development: Alexandria, VA.

Resnick, M. (2007, June). All I really need to know (about creative thinking) I learned (by studying how children learn) in kindergarten. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & cognition (pp. 1-6). ACM.

Blog Entry #1

Vintage Palmolive Commercial


Analysis:
The purpose of this commercial was to convince the buyer to purchase this dish soap by promoting the idea that it could both soften hands and clean dishes effectively.   It is selling the version of reality that allows women to both stay beautiful to please their husbands, keep a clean house, and possibly participate in the work force in some way.  The assumption is that a woman's happiness comes from her ability to have it all.  She can maintain her beauty, care for and clean her home, and potentially have a career (as per the discussion about being a manicurist vs. being a nurse).  Interestingly, I looked up the year that Madge's character first appeared as a spokesperson for Palmolive and discovered that these commercials ran from 1967 through the early 1990s.  I thought it would be interesting to look at a later version of one of the commercial to compare.  This commercial appeared in 1987, twenty years after the commercial that we are focusing on in this post.



In this later version of the commercial, Madge is still helping women to keep their hands soft by using Palmolive, but this time we see that the woman is rushing in to make her hands look good for a big job interview.  Instead of seeing the soap washing dishes, we see the woman actually soaking her hands in the Palmolive for the manicure itself.  The focus seems to have shifted from pleasing her husband, to impressing the interviewer for a new corporate job.  There is no longer a male voice in the commercial, it is only the voice of Madge, now a trusted cultural icon twenty years after she first appeared advocating the Palmolive product.

Audience:
The target audience seems to be women who have the responsibility of caring for a home and family. The story is told through the eyes of two women, one seems to be a bit older as she is passing on her wisdom on "having it all."  The audience is given an inside view into the secrets being shared among these two women.  Interestingly, most of the commercial is told through the woman's point of view. However, when the voice of authority speaks about the product, it is a strong male voice that is used. This voice seems to validate the discussion between the two women.

Representation:
The people in this video are portrayed as those who seem to know the secrets to being able to stay both beautiful and efficient in their work at home.  The assumption is that cleaning is meant to be the job of women, as there are no male figures portrayed in the actual commercial.  Interestingly, there are also no children present.  The view seems to be that the task of cleaning the dishes falls solely on the woman in the family.

Design
When creating this add, the video producer had to consider ways in which one could feel as though they are eavesdropping on a conversation between two women.  Madge had to be played by a woman who has some experience, and appears trustworthy to the audience.  The character receiving the information about the dish soap had to be someone that the audience not only connects with, but wants to emulate. The setting of the commercial also took place in two spaces.  The first is inside the beauty shop while the woman is receiving her manicure.  The second is outside the salon while she is carrying a bag of groceries.  The chosen settings represents the goal of the commercial, to show that a woman can have both beauty (as represented by the woman receiving the manicure) and efficiency in her work at home (as represented by the same woman carrying a bag of groceries).  The visual media used to share the conversations of the two women allows the audience to feel as though this is a representation of real life.  The scene in the middle of the commercial seems to give authority and validation through the male voice as the woman's hands are shown washing the dishes.  The text showing "two weeks later" to introduce the last scene is meant to help the audience understand that this is a quick fix to both the problem of dirty dishes and maintaining soft hands.

References:


[sideshowcarny]. (2006, Sept 5). Palmolive Commercial. [Video File]. 
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bEkq7JCbik&feature=related.

[Media Memories]. (2015, June 9). Madge the Manicurist 1987 Commercial. [Video File]. 
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlP6AaCGkGA.

All About Me

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to be returning to Rutgers after graduating from the GSE with my Masters in Early Childhood in Elementary Education back in 1999!  When I completed my prior graduate work at Rutgers, email was brand new and the internet was just in its beginning stages.  What a journey it has been that has brought me back to Rutgers in order to continue graduate studies in the area of Education and Technology.

I have been a teacher in a variety of early childhood settings over the past 17 years.  I have taught preschool through first grade.  I am currently working in a public school district as a full-day Kindergarten teacher.  Over the past several years I have begun to explore ways in which technology can be used in early childhood settings to support learning and development.  I am particularly interested in finding ways that we can utilize technology to create connections between home and school in order to support development of the child as a whole.  In our classroom, iPads and Chromebooks are utilized daily as part of social and academic learning experiences.  I am also interested in ways that we can use technology to support play-based learning.  An early childhood space at heart should be one that mirrors the larger world, and should allow children to safely explore elements of that surrounding world.  If the world in which the children live each day has changed, then how can we create classroom spaces that nurture development and support understanding of their everyday experiences?

As a Kindergarten teacher, I am always looking for meaningful ways to facilitate the transition of young learners into a public school setting.  I thought it might be fun to share an example here of how I used our summer welcome letter to create an interactive experience for children and families.  Included in the letter was a QR code link to this video:



Children and families were able to view the video as many times as needed during the month prior to school.  When they came to meet me the first time, they were welcomed into a space that had already become familiar to them.  Using technology in ways such as this has allowed me to create safe emotional and social experiences which enable successful learning and independence.

Over the past couple of years I worked to complete a Certificate in Digital Technology and the Early Childhood Environment through Bank Street College in New York City.  Through that program I met and collaborated with amazing teachers of young children from around the world.  I am also currently a Book Creator Ambassador working with teachers to support the use the Book Creator App as a creation tool for learners and teachers.  The following is a link to a blog post I recently wrote for their blog.

Learning Through Windows and Mirrors: The Role of Book Creator in Early Childhood

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to take this course, and continue the journey of learning and growing as a 21st century educator in the Kindergarten world!

To hear a little bit more about the experiences I share on this post, check out the screencast below.