Takeaways: ECE499 Symposium
Hui Zhen has graciously submitted a reflection from her time there, making visible the connection between research and our time in the classroom. Thank you, Hui Zhen!
I was inspired to try basic teacher research on top of being a practitioner. I used to think that a teacher research must be rigorous and thorough but it was purely our day-to-day observations written down in action. As teachers, we do Google searches to find out intervention strategies to solve a problem within the classroom. Likewise, teacher research is a reflection of what we have consistently been doing.
With that said, I was inspired to bring teacher research into my classroom once again to record my findings and find assurance that what I’m doing in class is working.
Using Calm Down Corners to Support Children with Additional Needs
It was quite an eye opener for me to see that some common resources used did not come in handy for the child dealing with additional needs. For instance, I previously believed that the slinky and slime would be useful in helping the child to calm down. However, based on the sharer’s observations and assessment, she noticed that the child did not like using the slime due to its texture and the slinky made the child even more excited than intended, leading to more stimming actions. The small investigation and observation allowed her to gain clarity that the calm down corner was useful in reducing stimming actions statistically, i.e. almost 50% of stimming actions was reduced when the child utilised the calm down corners.
I would like to reintroduce calm down corners into my classroom to support children with needs. Moreover, I’d like to observe the response of the children and adjust the calm down kit accordingly to suit their needs.
Presentation: Supporting Creativity Through Dramatization in K2 Children
I like how the sharer intentionally included dramatisation into his lesson plans to make learning more engaging and meaningful. For instance, he integrated a story about Grandma Fox who asked more about recycling habits while children shared more about efforts to support recycling. Even though these strategies were not new to me, it was an inspiration to see that his actions were useful, encouraging me to try it in my classroom again.
Reconnecting with the student teachers again once again rekindled my joy in teaching and researching within my classroom. It was no longer mundane but it gave me new hope and interest in trying out something new again. I’m thankful for the experience that the ECE499 Symposium provided.
