Maureen Perkins' ECE Blog

New Zealand Playcenter DVD 2011

2011-08-14T21:38:00.000+12:00

ECE Task Force - Implications for Playcentre

2011-07-18T20:15:00.002+12:00

Here is a link to a new Blog I set up to share information about the potential impact on Playcentres of the recommendations of the Task Force.

ECE Task force report

2011-06-06T21:54:00.001+12:00

Here is a link to information from ChildForum on the taskforce report

It is an in-depth report with a range of potential consequences for the sector, depending on how the Minister uses the findings.

The Third Update from the ECE Taskforce

2011-03-21T15:34:00.002+13:00

Here is the latest report from the taskforce. The final report is due to go to the Ministry of Education at the end of this month.

ECE funding cuts

2011-02-02T13:30:00.000+13:00

Find more videos like this on ECE Together

Outcomes of Quality ECE

2011-02-01T11:32:00.000+13:00

Here is a really useful collection of links to research on benefits of ECE.

Margaret May and the value of ECE

2011-02-01T11:22:00.000+13:00

I have just watched Margaret's EDTalk and decided to share it. Other relevant links are included in ICT Fun and Learning for ECE">

Margaret is a Kindergarten teacher at Greenhithe Kindergarten in Auckland, NZ and was, until recently, a part of the ECE ICT professional learning programme run by Core Education. This programme ceased last year as one of the many ECE casualties in a Budget re-shuffle under the new government.

Self-Evaluation

2011-01-10T15:50:00.001+13:00

In catching up on some blog reading I came across this comment from a child at a Kindergarten here in NZ.Follow the link back to the Mangere Bridge Kindergarten Blog.

When asked how she made such intricate artwork Naomi answered "Because I knowed how to do it and I know how to learn

ECE Cuts on Cambell Live

2010-10-13T18:01:00.000+13:00

Here is the link

ECE Budget Task Force

2010-10-07T17:34:00.000+13:00

I just heard on the news that Ann Tolley has set up a task force to examine the way the ECE budget is used. I dont often rave in public but I cannot help myself today!

I have also posted this at the ECE Together website.

Warning! Long Rant ahead!

Although we have no real details as yet I think the fact that there is only one ECE person on the team and that Tolley has admitted that she consulted only herself about setting this up, is worrying.

Reading the Stuff news item critically makes for concern I believe.

"Mrs Tolley said that under Labour, ECE costs had "blown out" to treble within five years to $1.3b a year.

There is no mention here about how ECE had grown, the demands on costs due to actually having some qualified staff and the impact of the 20 hours. And maybe that teachers were now actually being paid a reasonable salary - for the most part.

"It's vital this money is well spent to ensure the greatest number of children gain access to ECE and fully benefit from it," Mrs Tolley said.

[...]

Mrs Tolley said the review was "absolutely not about cost- cutting".

"We are determined to reach those children and families who need it most and to give every single child the best possible start in life," she said.

This is suggesting that the money is not now well spent. It ignores the fact that a lot of money has just been spent on contracts to increase participation but that these have only just begun.

The taskforce would:

* Do a full review of the value for Government investment in early childhood education.

That wont take long! There is no shortage of international and local research to show that money spent on quality ECE is money well spent.

* Look at the efficiency and effectiveness of current ECE expenditure and possible improvements for Maori, Pasifika, and children from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Does this suggest that efficient and effective use of money is to target ECE funding at specific groups and maybe remove or reduce funding for others?

* Develop innovative and cost effective ways to support children's learning in early childhood and the first years of compulsory schooling.

Innovative and cost effective to me DOES mean cost cutting as well as redistribution. If I am innovative and cost effective about my supermarket budget it is going to mean cutting the cost!! Using these words together means being innovative in order to cut costs! Otherwise we might go back to being innovative to increase quality - like before MOE funded PD was cut.

* Make recommendations to Government about proposed changes to funding and policy settings for early childhood education."

Changes in funding and policy are the most definitive. I believe this will mean some major changes including not going for the 80% registered teachers and staying at 50% (at best), targeted funding and probably targeting of the 20 hours. In the current economic climate it is not going to mean any increase in costs!

Rant over! I can go make dinner now

Maureen Perkins

Why didn’t I study Philosophy?

2010-08-14T13:24:00.002+12:00

As I continue with my exploratory reading for my thesis work I am struck by my own ignorance. None of my previous study has done more than touch on philosophical theories and all the books I am reading are assuming that I spent my formative years soaking up the wisdom of Nietzsche, Marx, Heidegger and the rest. But basically all I can do is hear the Monty Python song going through my head –

Interesting that this information just has not come into my education study and yet I need that background so badly now. I don't have time for a Philosophy degree so will just have to do my best!

P.S. You may have noticed a more personal slant to this Blog. That's because it is not part of any particular work but I can still see a need for it. Feel free to ignore posts and use this as a portal to other sites.

My research

2010-07-20T14:25:00.001+12:00

I have now met with both of my supervisors and am inspired and excited and only need another day or two a week to be added to my calendar!

I am going to be exploring Kei Tua o te Pae and other documents relevant to ECE in NZ and will be identifying areas of ambiguity, contradictions and gaps. I have been enjoying reading 2 books in particular:

"Deconstructing Early Childhood education" by Gaile Cannella
and "Doing Foucault in Early Childhood Education" by Glenda MacNaughton.

Great for getting your head into a critical space!

I thoroughly recommend these books to anyone exploring ECE issues. You may not agree with some of the stances taken by the autors but you will certainly be challenged!

Getting busy

2010-06-18T12:49:00.000+12:00

I am just launching into work for my thesis so may well be posting even less here. On the other hand I am focusing on socio-cultural approaches to assessment and may well end up posting more! Lets see what happens.

Using photography to increase democracy

2010-05-10T13:34:00.002+12:00

I love this article. A new one I just had to share ( with anyone with access to online databases anyway)

Carpet-Time Democracy: Digital Photography and Social
Consciousness in the Early Childhood Classroom
STEPHANIE C. SERRIERE
Curriculum and Instruction, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract:

Although much energy has been spent designing children’s books and curriculum to bring issues of diversity and acceptance into
classrooms, perhaps the most meaningful and relevant curricular materials only require a digital camera and a space for students to
talk about photos of their own classroom community, creating an organic and everyday curriculum. From over three years of research
in a preschool classroom, the researcher-author tells how she uses digital photography to allow students to examine and reimagine
their own social community. She revives the pedagogies of seminal social educators like Vivian Paley and Fannie Shaftel while offering
a photo methodology for researchers of children who are interested in better understanding children’s peer culture. As play is perhaps
the most important vehicle of social education, carving out a time and space in the school day for a reflective component with digital
photography can be an interesting and empowering way for children to examine social dilemmas and confront inequities.

Keywords: digital photography, democracy, early childhood, play, social consciousness

The Social Studies (2010) 101, 60–68
Copyright C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0037-7996 print
DOI: 10.1080/00377990903285481

Transitions from ECE to School

2010-03-22T10:15:00.003+13:00

Mangere Bridge Kindergarten is continuing their amazing work in this area in spite of the funding for the Centres of Innovation work being stopped.

Their findings are now being published in a number of places. To find this work please go to their Blog ( Link is below and to the right.

They are also continuing to disseminate information through their popular information sessions. Details of these are also on their Blog.

Teachers from the Kindergarten spoke at several sessions on Transition in 2008 and 2009 at Kei Tua o te Pae PD Seminars in Auckland and their work was truly inspiring for both participants and the facilitation team. They share simple practical ideas as well as larger philosophical discussions.

It is great to know we can start acccesing their findings in the literature.

Thanks Mangere Bridge.

(Dont forget to also follow the stories about the rather mobile guines pigs!)

New Assessment Journal

2010-02-03T09:14:00.004+13:00

It is great to see a new peer reviewed journal out from NZCER - New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

It is simply named Assessment Matters and looks like a 'must have' for anyone interested in assessment and education.

Along with some other great articles about school assessment there is one from Margaret Carr on the early childhood exemplars-

Kei tua o te pae: Assessing learning that reaches beyond the self and beyond the horizon
Margaret Carr

"This paper outlines the development and the conceptual design of an assessment for learning resource of 177 exemplars from early childhood contexts. Two metaphors provide the foundation for the resource: Te Whäriki and Kei Tua o te Pae. These metaphors underpin a discussion about assessment of learner outcomes that reach “beyond the self” and “beyond the horizon”, using the resource as an example. The resource that is built on these two metaphors includes three themes: principles that frame up the assessment; practices that are based on narrative; and a view of progression that aligns with the principles. The assessment practice exemplified is sited in stories and portfolios, and the paper concludes with an argument for the consequential validity of narrative assessments."

Interest in assessment

2010-01-19T21:40:00.002+13:00

WOW! So you are still coming here for information! I feel a little bad that I haven't been more active here. I am pleased to see so many visitors and it is interesting to see the websites you choose from here. Please be patient. I will still have plenty to add here.

I will be teaching aspects of this topic to ECE student teachers and with a change in employer and responsibilities will be able to be more critically reflective than before.

I am still suffering a touch of new jobitis along with trying to sort out my own study and research options for this year.

I promise to be back by February checking links and adding information.

A new direction

2009-12-17T22:56:00.002+13:00

I am now officially no longer employed by the University and the Kei Tua o te Pae contract and will gradually be re-structuring this blog. For those of you interested in assessment and planning in the early years, there will still be useful material here for you. Hopefully in time there will also be a wider range of material.

I intend this to be more of a personal reflective journal but the links to other web sites and blogs will remain.

I will be on leave for a bit now and then start a new position as an early childhood lecturer at a private teacher education provider in Auckland.

I am considering a focus on assessment for my thesis but I will be maintaining a strong interest in online environments for teaching and professional development of adults. My own experimentation and discoveries will become a part of the ICT fun and learning blog ( see link on this Blog).

Back again

2009-11-18T15:33:00.002+13:00

Well I didnt expect the pause to be quite so long!

It has been a very busy time for everyone, as is usual at this time of the year.
As you may all know the Kei Tua o te Pae PD contract is ending, as is hte Te Whaariki contract.

The Team here at the University of Auckland have put together a proposal for 2010 which has been well supported and approved by the Faculty of Education and Uniservices.

Auckand ECE Services will recieve this information shortly so keep your eyes peeled for that. There is some initial information in our Bulletin Board which went out this week.

A pause

2009-10-02T12:01:00.003+13:00

There is likely to be a pause in postings this month as we work on completing our contract ( always a busy time of year anyway) and also develop some ideas to support centres and services as they move into a very different world where for many, external Professional Development is likely to be user-pays rather than Ministry funded, now that the Government focus is on participation.

The MOE website contains some information on how centres can support their own professional learning.

Did You know.....?

2009-09-18T16:05:00.001+12:00

U Learn Conference 09

2009-09-02T13:20:00.003+12:00

This is the one to get to this year!

Go to the conference page to see all the keynote and workshop information. Book now before all the places are gone!

You can follow them on Twitter, Facebook asd their blog.

The 3 keynotes will be live - blogged and some of the work will be filmed and made available online after the conference.

Click on 'Media and Web 2.0' on the sidebar of the Conference web page.

ULearn 09 Twitter Page

2009-09-02T13:18:00.002+12:00

You can follow new information about the Core Education ULearn 09 Conference on Twitter by going to their page here.

The first years journal is online

2009-08-28T14:09:00.002+12:00

The First Years Journal is now available online. What a great resource this has been for our team as professional development facilitators. Along with Early Education this is the most often referred to Journal in our work.

Although specifically targeting those who are interested in the education and care of Infants and Toddlers, many of the articles are alsorelevant across all ages.

We often refer to articles on planning that were published here, written by such luminaries as Diti Hill, Kingston and Wright, Robyn Lawrence and Ann Hatherly amongst others.

Central Auckland Cross Sector Seminar

2009-08-24T12:16:00.006+12:00

We had a great day on Saturday with a roomful of teachers all buzzing with questions, ideas, challenges and solutions. We began with a look at what they are currently doing in terms of transition between ECE and School environments.

Two teachers from Mangere Bridge Kindergarten ( see blog list) who shared their continuing journey with Mangere Bridge and Waterlea Schools. A very inspiring set of stories and ideas. Thanks Pat and Gemma.

Then Tracey Towner from Forrest Hill School shared her exciting learning journey since her involvement in our Cross Sector programme last year. Thank you Tracey.If you want to contact her we have her email address so get in touch with us first.

A final discussion got you thinking about what you could do with the information shared today. This will be sent out to centres who participated and a summary will be posted here at the end of all three seminars.

We look forward to the next two seminars for teachers in other parts of Auckland and apologies again to those who applied but had to be turned down. We originally had only 40 places and have tripled this by running extra days but still refused places to nearly 200 teachers!

How exciting that transition is of such interest to so many teachers in both sectors.

Down the back of the chair

2009-08-24T12:11:00.002+12:00

This website for Ministry resources is now included in the links on the right hand side of this blog.

DOWN THE BACK OF THE CHAIR

A video about changing communities

2009-08-17T12:30:00.004+12:00

Naketa from Core Education showed this (or something similar ) to our team a while back.

It is a really interesting video about changing communities and what that might mean for teaching and learning.

Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.

Still here!

2009-08-17T12:18:00.002+12:00

Yes there has been a huge gap with no posts but we are all still here for now . Our contract with the Ministry continues until the end of this year.

This blog has been a bit schizoid as we explored what it might become, what its purpose might be. With the knowledge now that it will end along with the contract in a few short months we may try some new ideas.

So far it seems to have worked well as a portal for people with an interest in NZ ECE Assessment. Lots of our visitors are accessing other websites through us - centres of innovation, ICT PL Centres, NEtsafe, and the Ministry of Education pages.

What we have not done is put up a lot of information about assessment or the Kei Tua o te Pae resource itself. This is not a part of our contract and so blogging hours are not funded but are seen instead as a part of our personal professional development and even as a bit of collaboration at times.

We may continue to use this space to share interesting sites and discussions.With no responses to a recent survey, or comments to posts, it is hard to knoppw what people are looking for and what visitors would like to see here. (Hint hint).

A really good video about creativity and education

2009-08-16T10:53:00.002+12:00

It looks long but is one of my favourites. Interesting, informative, insightful and even funny

Watch creativity.. in How to Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Education Show Information

2009-06-23T09:08:00.018+12:00

I went along to an Education Expo at the Showgrounds in Auckland last Friday, Rather disappointingly this was quite small with few exhibitors. It would be good to see this grow and be better advertised next year.

I did however find a few nifty things that I can share.

My favourite was a company called Pukeko Productions. They dont have a website so I have scanned and uploaded 3 pages of their catalogue here (with permission). Click on the pictures to see them full screen.

You can email them at izzitrina@gmail.com for a brochure and price list. They produce a range of beautiful, handmade Maori resources. I bought a lovely set of Whakatauki (proverbs). They also have a great Pa set that would be a delightful(?essential) set for block and story play in a centre. I can see this enabling a great deal of learning and exploration in response to shared readings of Maori legends, trips to the Museum or a Marae.

The next thing I found was really cool.

Mad Science are now offering programmes aimed at 3-6 year olds as well as for older children. As a bit of a science geek I was really excited to see this. I know that this is a curriculum area that often makes teachers a bit nervous and perhaps this organisation can support you.

I have not attended any of their sessions so would be interested in your feedback if you do. I love their idea of themed birthday parties and goody bags. I wonder if they do parties for 50 year olds!

For those centres with a focus on sustainability and recycling there is a good resource out there in the form of a bi-lingual journal called He ao iti noa - Small World published by the global education centre
I got a copy of Issue 1 which includes web links, ideas for positive action and lots of information. This is aimed at Primary schools but is fine for ECE. Perhaps if you contact them they will realise a demand for ECE level information.

Barnardos were there with a range of booklets, dvds and other products supporting children's safety. A very useful and timely handout was available listing 21 alternatives to smacking.

I did buy some puzzles for my own family. One of them I thought was broken until my 17 year old came up and did it in about 4 minutes!!! The target time is 15 minutes and Id been going about 20 minutes. One of the bonuses of her dyslexia is this ability to think in three dimensions. Definitely not one of my strengths!

Infants and Toddlers

2009-06-23T08:36:00.004+12:00

Having spent a fair bit of time lately in centres with babies and toddlers I thought it might be timely to include a post with some links to useful information for teachers and parents of this age group.

I have been reminded once again of the incredibly priviledged position held by teachers of this age group as I spent some time in a centre with children present. (usually we are with teachers only after the children have gone home).

The MOE website has some of the ECD information leaflets available online

The Kei Tua o te Pae Infant and toddler book is also available online.

I highly recommend a subscription to the New Zealand First Years Journal At only $25-$30 per year this is incredible value. The Journal contains articles by local and international teachers and researchers which are often just as relevant to teachers of children 3-6 years.

If you are interested in ideas for your centre environment send for the video from Margie Carter and Deb Curtis (Their book is also fantastic for inspiration)

Their books are also available from Fishpond.co.nz

Zero to three is a website full of information you may find useful and stimulating.

Contact us with your favourite links for Infant and Toddler info and we will add it here.

We are in the top 200!

2009-06-06T17:47:00.004+12:00

Yay. We are in the top 200 NZ Blogs.

See who else is there by going to the Open Parachute Blog.

great to see so many edublogs and ece blogs. I am sure that has a lot to do with the Core Ed, Centre of Innovation and other Professional Learning work that has been going on in the ECE community.

I am ignoring the system used to create the rankings as it as worked ok for us although people who are not as high as they would like to be have said the process is flawed. I can cope with flawed in this case

Tuakana-Teina DVD

2009-05-19T12:02:00.004+12:00

There is a DVD available that looks at the concept of Tuakana-Teina relationships in early childhood education settings. It was created by Massey University and Wycliffe Nga Tamariki Kindergarten as a part of the Centre of Innovation work.

The DVD is reviewed by Bev Clark in Early Education journal V44 Spring/Summer pp. 30-31

The Dvd discusses Tuakana Teina as a concept and compares this to the idea of scaffolding, looking at the differences between these ideas which come up so often in discussions with Centres.

The image of a waka is woven through discussion, looking at the importance of recognising roles and responsibilities of every member of the teaching and learning community.

The DVD contains a number of case study video clips from the Kindergarten which illustrate the ideas being discussed.

This is a great resource that would be a 'must see' for all early childhood teachers and educators and at $15 is incredibly affordable.

You can order the DVD by writing to School of Educational Studies
Massey College of Education
Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North

or email T.D.Beattie@massey.ac.nz

Dispositions

2009-05-09T20:51:00.003+12:00

Here is a handout promised at today's seminar.

If you use this or share it, please acknowledge the Professional Development teams at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education.

Video cameras monitoring in ece centres

2009-05-09T20:10:00.002+12:00

At our Seminar today a centre mentioned that they are using Tiny Telly to inform families about their child's day in the centre.

Lots of interesting questions arise about this.

Visits to Mangere Bridge Kindergarten

2009-05-09T19:55:00.003+12:00

I noticed tonight that Mangere Bridge Kindergarten are advertising an evening visit opportunity on Monday 22nd June 2009.This is great for those teachers who find it hard to attend their daytime sessions. You have to book a place and these will fill quickly'

Having been to one of their visits I can thoroughly reccommend this.

Mangere Bridge are a centre of Innovation looking at Transition to school and their story is really inspiring and peppered with practical ideas.

For more information, go to their website. A permanent link to their site is on the right of this blog page.

Seminar thank yous

2009-05-09T19:47:00.003+12:00

Thanks to all those teachers who came to our Seminar today. We hope that today came up to your expectations and that you have left with at least one practical idea each that you can use to create better learning opportunities for children.

Thank you for sharing your portfolios and ideas with us all.

Thanks must also go to the teaching team from Whangaparoa Baptist Kindergarten who so generously shared the work they did with Barbara last year as part of a Kei Tua o te Pae Professional Learning programme. What an inspiring group you are!

The final set of booklets - Kei Tua o te Pae

2009-04-15T08:40:00.008+12:00

Now that we have the final set of the booklets we are as a team trying to get our heads around what the resource says as a whole.

The booklets are not yet available online at the MOE website as PDFs although the other books are.

New Zealand Licensed ECE centres are entitled to three sets from Learning Media for each license.

Printed copies of Kei Tua o te Pae and other Ministry of Education publications can be ordered from:
Ministry of Education Customer Services
Phone 0800 660 662
Fax 0800 660 663

Book 16 is the introduction to the new set - Symbol Systems and Technologies for Meaning Making.

This book reminds us of/introduces three lenses for analysing narrative assessments;

- a lens focused on assessment practices
- a Te Whaariki Lens
- A lens focused on the symbol systems and technologies for making meaning - literacy, mathematics, the arts, ICT ( these are discussed but others could be included such as scientific literacy)

An analysis of a learning story using the lens of assessment practices might examine a range of concepts around assessment as discussed in books 1-9. PDFs of these exemplars are available on the MOE website

Learning through Blogging

2009-03-26T10:18:00.004+13:00

It has been really interesting lately to see the work going on in other centres through their Blogs.

The work for me is on two levels. Firstly there is the work they do around curriculum and assessment and building relationships with children and in their communities.

On another level is the impact and exploration of ICT both in the centre with the children and in the development of their Blogs.

Being able to have a working Blog and then take time building its complexity and usefulness has been great for my own learning in ICT.

Being able to see something on another blog and knowing that I can contact the author and ask "How did you do that!?" is being part of a real community of learners. I know I am just scratching the surface but there are lots of others out there doing the same and proudly, generously sharing their discoveries.

Using what is in my kete and your kete, together we are mighty.

Maureen

Yayy. They are here!!

2009-03-12T12:27:00.002+13:00

Finally the new books are here. Now we just have to find time to read them and answer the questions "So What?" and "Now What?"

Bulletin Board

2009-03-06T10:29:00.003+13:00

The Bulletin Board newsletter you receive from the ECE professional Development teams here at the University of Auckland is also available on our Web site at

http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/education/about/centres/ecps/ecps_home.cfm

Welcome Gail

2009-03-05T16:15:00.003+13:00

A belated Welcome to our newest team member, Gail Donald.

Gail has worked for the Ministry of Education as a PD facilitator and previously worked for ECD. We are very excited to have her on board as our Northland facilitator.

Schema

2009-03-05T16:09:00.006+13:00

I have just been notified that a new book is being released this weekend by Playcentre Publications. It is from one of the parents working on the Wilton Playcentre Centre of Innovation programme.

Once I get a chance I will write a short review here.

To order it go to www.playcentre.org.nz and click on the publications page.

regards

Maureen

Welcome to our readers from the Montessori Cluster

2009-02-27T12:03:00.004+13:00

It has been very exciting to begin a cluster programme that has an ICT component where centres are blogging as a part of developing a community of learners.

Some initial teething problems have been frustrating but we are all learning from these. I have found that as I learn more about this WEB 2.0 stuff I find more I want to be able to do so I have to research more and make more mistakes and hit more block walls.

But Oh! the satisfaction when I can make something work!!!

I have even been known to do a little dance in the privacy of my office

Maureen

Some new reading...

2009-02-20T20:02:00.006+13:00

The next and final installment of the Kei Tua o te Pae series of booklets should be out by the end of this month or early March. Keep an eye out for them.

ERO has reviewed the sector implementation of the Self Review Guidelines and this report will soon be available on their Publications page

Māori Children in Early Childhood: Pilot Study is available from the ERO site as well.

2009 PD begins

2009-01-27T13:51:00.005+13:00

So here we are again.

Some of you will already have had a phone call or even a visit from your KtotP facilitator for this year.

Our team this year comprises
Barbara Watson- .9 on our contract and .1 on the Te Whaariki PD contract
Tanya Brand - .5 on KtotP and .4 on Te Whaariki
Maureen Perkins- .5 Ktotp , .1 regional director and .2 national director
and our newest member in Northland will be introduced just as soon as she has signed her contract!

EDtalks

2009-01-20T14:46:00.002+13:00

forwarded from an email sent to Maureen today from

http://edtalks.org/

As the new year begins we are planning the next few months here at EDtalks. We are endeavouring to ensure that the video clips are relevant to teachers and schools; issues, innovations, research and talks that can be used to start group discussions, or maybe just provide you with new ideas or perhaps contact people. We welcome your suggestions for interviews or conversations that meet your needs. As well as the two or three clips regularly uploaded each week we will be at the New Zealand ICTPD conference, Learning@School (http://learningatschool.org.nz/) in February, where we intend to record a large number of participants and presenters in EDTalks conversations. These will appear over the first half of 2009. A note about quality - the EDtalks video clips are recorded in HD and are then converted automatically to flash when uploaded to the website. You are free to download them as MP4 files onto your hard drive, or subscribe through iTunes and view them that way. In both cases the video quality will be better than using the player on the website. All the best for 2009 from the EDTalks team.

a funny to start the new year

2009-01-13T20:02:00.003+13:00

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/certainty.png

Happy Christmas

2008-12-19T12:03:00.003+13:00

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and hope you get the break you need and deserve at this time of the year.

PD for for 2009

2008-12-19T11:45:00.003+13:00

Letters have been sent to all centres and organisations who applied to the University of Auckland for Kei Tua o te Pae Professional Learning programmes for 2009.

As usual we recieved far more applications than we had places for. This has meant that some of you will have been disappointed. We regret that even prioritising centres without prior Ktotp Professional Development did not mean that everyone who needed this was able to find a place.

We will be advertising in Term 1 for our one day seminar which is always a popular option.

Although 2009 is the last year for the Kei Tua o te Pae professional Development contract, we are certain that some form of support around assessment and planning will still exist in 2010 and beyond.

We look forward to another year of challenge and innovation as we all continue on our assessment journeys. (There's that 'J' word again!)

from

Maureen

ECE Update

2008-12-19T11:37:00.004+13:00

The ECE update is now published in the Education Gazette.

The latest online copy has a number of questions and answers about the delay of the new licensing criteria as well as several other interesting articles and links and is at

http://203.96.53.45/articles.php?action=view&id=7747

Kei Tua o te Pae "new" books

2008-12-10T11:07:00.003+13:00

The next set of booklets in the Kei Tua o te Pae series will be available probably from February 2009.

These will look at assessment through the lenses of literacy, mathematics, ICT and art.

National government changes to Regulations

2008-12-07T22:24:00.006+13:00

Here is the link to the press release.

The new criteria, as previously promised, are to be delayed for six months.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new+early+childhood+regulations+be+delayed

Changes

2008-12-07T19:43:00.005+13:00

I have set up links to other blogs that belong to our team.

There is now a separate place to put info relating to ICT.
That should make this blog more specifically about our Assessment PD work.

I have my own which I will play with but you will notice it has been a lower priority as it is hardly begun yet Barbara has begun a blog where she will be documenting her Dec/Jan trip to India with her husband. A link will go up soon.

I was so excited when I found out how to add a counter to the blog so i can see how many visitors I have had..until my children said how unimpressed they were by the total so far.

from MAureen

Street View

2008-12-04T11:32:00.006+13:00

Another cool application from Google!

I wonder how many uses we can come up with...

-Virtual tours of scenic spots
-virtual trips to the airport or zoo before the real trip
- preview a walk with children beforehand
- get more visual instructions on how to get to those well hidden ece centres
- look up and wander the street or neighbourhood where you are thinking of buying a house

What else?

A link has been added to the links list.

tag galaxy

2008-11-27T08:11:00.005+13:00

This is one of the coolest things ever!!!

Especially if you have used Flikr for your photos.

You dont need to sign up, just go the the web and follow the prompts. When hte planets show up, click on them or the sun and watch what happens!

Applications - gee I dont know. But the children will love it as much as I do. Its magical. I dont have any photos on Flikr but am working at home today so will put some up via my home computer, making sure to add tags that this site could find.

http://taggalaxy.de/

I tried Auckland, education, (assessment and Kei tua o te Pae dont work as tags) and Whedon (being a Joss Whedon fan).

Shame my allotted breakfast playtime is over. Cant wait to get back to this maybe tonight!
Have fun

Maureen

A good explanation of blogs

2008-11-24T11:26:00.001+13:00

The interactive table

2008-11-24T10:26:00.003+13:00

For those who I know were really excited about the table we saw a video of

inspiration

2008-11-23T14:26:00.005+13:00

I got inspired yesterday to get back to trying to understand better how to manage the blog I was playing with a few months ago.

Thanks to Core ED team for their PD day. Really great day.