Adieu

Today (or yesterday, rather) marks the end of my journey of my Bachelor's Degree of Early Childhood Education. It has been a bittersweet journey and I have indeed learnt so much during this course. I am grateful for my classmates that they are always there for me, sharing experiences, encouraging me, pushing me and making me stressing me out to give in my best for my assignments. Segi and USQ lecturers and mentors, you have always been kind and understanding to me. Thank you for making this journey a memorable one.  

ICT has taught me a great deal of things that I never knew of and I come to realize the importance of these skills to enhance young children's learning. Though many schools, may not be able to afford to have ICT in their schools, if given the opportunity, I would try to integrate ICT into lesson plans whenever I could because I can!

This is not goodbye..

Image is sourced from Google Image

Professional Experience

So for EDC3100, one of the requirements that is required of us to pass this subject is to do Professional Experience. The Professional Experience or practicum is going great so far. The school I am currently doing my practicum is based in Kuala Lumpur. What I love about the school is that it is Montessori and play based. The teachers there are welcoming and friendly, they are ever willing to help and even offered some interesting lesson plans.

The children are very friendly and are very eager learners. They are not afraid to speak up their mind and they all work well together. This is because the school system allows the children to mingle with each other regardless of the age group. They are also independent and are able to do things with minimal guidance from adults.

I will be integrating ICTs into my lesson plans. I cant wait to conduct the lessons but at the same time, I am a little scared that some of the lessons may not work out as plan. But let's be positive about this :) 

It is too bad that one of the policies of the school is that pictures of students are not allowed to be taken. I love the school environment though! So.. Montessori! I see that I am going to enjoy myself here! :)

Images are sourced from Google Image

Being CyberSmart

I have just completed a 4 module online course by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). This module is about being cyber smart. The modules are interactive and easy to understand. It also has videos, some stimulation games and quizzes to be answered during the module.

Images are from Google Images

This module has taught me some things that I never knew of to be safe when going online. It makes me wonder that if I do not know about this, what more innocent children who are so exposure to the world of technology and media now?

Being cyber safe is to be able to identify students who are/is at risk of unsafe behaviours online and to come up with solutions to help prevent unsafe online behaviour amongst the student body together with the stake holders- parents, school and government.

I myself have seen some videos and pictures with elements of cyber bullying. Some of them has become so viral, until it became a police investigation case and of course, the video/ picture were asked to be taken down. So as an educator, friend or parent, what would you do to stop cyber bullying? Educate yourself today! Just go to this link 

Images are from Google Images

Food, Glorious Food!

I was reading through my peer’s blogs and Vivien’s post gave me a little inspiration and I can relate to her post.

I am not much of a cook. Really, I think I can burn down the whole house if I could. After starting work and not being able to go back to Grandma’s for dinner now. I have been eating out pretty often. I realise that it is getting expensive to dine out, it is not that hygienic and it is not that healthy. There is where I decided to start cooking.

Image is sourced from Google Images

My family is on a gluten free diet (me included), so I have to search for recipes that are gluten free (and simple to prepare, of course).  With the help of search engines, you can find many kinds of recipes and ideas that are oh-so-mouth-watering-and-yummy!

Image is sourced from Google Images

The recipes can be range for easy-hard to prepare depends on the person. Reading the reviews and feedbacks from other people can be interesting as they give you new ideas/ modification for the recipes.  I find myself being able to improvise some recipes and to find cooking is not bad after all.   

Here are some websites that I mostly look for in searching for gluten free and non gluten free recipes;

·         http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/gluten-free-recipes.html

·         http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/gluten-free

·         http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/healthy_gluten_free_dinner_recipes

·         http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy/packages/healthy-every-week.html

What is the weather like from where you are?

Hello everyone, it has been a while.

I was looking through my ICT StudyDesk when came about this activity. I know I am a little late, but I found this Learning Journal activity so fun and interesting. This activity requires you / and a friend from another part of the world to take a picture of the current weather from where we are and to post it up on Flickr. I WhatsApp -ed my brother and some friends who are staying abroad to send me pictures of their current weather. They found it funny that I asked them randomly for a picture of the currently weather and to write a little description to it. :p

So, without further a due, let us take a look at the weather around the world (GMT+8 approx 1100-1200 hours, 15 May 2014)

Singapore

Weather report from friend, 'It is a bright and shiny day to be out in the sun!'

Tasmania, Australia

Weather report from the brother, 'Cold, wet, miserable.. A good day to sleep in.'

Chengdu, China

Weather report from friend, 'Dreary weather everyday.'

Subang Jaya, Malaysia   

Weather report from me, 'A cloudy day, it looks like it is going to pour soon.' (and it did!)

Thanks to our advanced technology, sharing and sending media over are made so much easier! All you have to do is to look for the attachment icon, search for the image/ video/ contact number/ location you are at, and send! J

Social Media and Children

I was looking through YouTube when I came across this video. In this video, the interviewer was asking children what they know about social media . Their answers were really cute and funny.  

What I realize about this video is that children create their own understanding of the world and interpret their own ideas/ understandings. What I gather from the video too, is that some of the children are not introduced to social media by parents or teachers. Why?

I believe as educators, we should introduce our young explorers to social media and explain to how to use these social media wisely such as using privacy settings and the dos and don’ts. This is so that children becomes aware and to use social media appropriately. It also lowers the risk of cyber bullying and exposure of vulnerability of adult predators. 

References:

Markmalkoff. (2013). What Kids REALLY Think of Social Media. YouTube. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nceDhoXKLKk 

Instagram Junkie Alert!

I realised during most of young people’s free time, they will be either playing games or will be on social media.  One of the social media most people use is Instagram. I am a self proclaimed Instagram junkie. I have 534 photos and counting (wait, maybe, I am not THAT bad). I have taken way too many pictures of my meals, coffees and people I love. What can I say? Every picture tells a story.

Image is sourced from Google Images

Little do the viewers know how much trouble it takes to get that ‘picture perfect’ moment and the amount of time editing and choosing which filter to make it look pretty.  I am not saying it is a bad thing. We just want to make our life look pretty and perfect on social media. #justsaying

It does have some benefits too, aside from sharing photos and videos; it can help people to meet new people and build relationships and enhance self esteem. You can meet people who share the same interest with you and to expand your network. I must admit that I do get inspiration from viewing other people’s Instagram profile.

Children can use this application to share snippets of their daily activities in school instead of saying ‘I don’t know’, when parents ask how is their day at school.