TECHNOLOGY IN THE CURRICULUM

The use of technology in the curriculum is based on the needs of the children, the focus of the curriculum and wheter the technology will add to children's education opportunities and experiences. 

The age of the child and his or her developmental stage, must be taken into account when considering computer use. 

Three to five years or Preschool.

Children's activities and experiences with computer will evolved over time as they grow and develop. Very young children ofter use computers with help from an adult or older child. Has they mature children use computers more independently, and the teachers role move from guidance towards monitoring and active facilitation. 

Young children learn through exploration and discovery. If computers are use for children in kindergarden, preschool or child-care settings, the computer computer should be one of many activity choices they can explore. 

Children frequently use computers for short periods, then become interested in another activity. Three to five years old generally spend about the same amount of the time at a computer as they do in other activities, such as playing with blocks or drawing. 

Fo this age, the value of the computer is in its open-ended use, not in creating a product. The teacher's role is to create an eviroment in which children become aware and explote, and then act to support their exploration and inquiry in many different ways. Software programs for this age group should be limitated in number and appropiate for children's skills level, and the intended use. 

18 COMMON WORK E-MAIL MISTAKES

Most of the times in the business enviroment, the email is one of the most important sources of communication between our co-workers and us. As a business, it has a high importance to keep a good standing in terms of trust,  reliability and responsability.

For that reason is very important to know how to do an appropiatte use of that tool. 

In most of the cases, the email is use to send very important files, metrics and data of a business development in for that reason we must have the acknowledgement of what we are sending in who is the recipient. Also, at the time of sending emails we do not have to expect any instant response from the recipients since we are working in a business enviroment, everybody has something to do, as well, based on the fact that is an email, we are supposed to know that the recipient should have it on his inbox instantly.

Also, as we mentioned before we need to know what information we are sharing. At the time of sending an email with attached files, before clicking on "send" it would be better to make sure that we are adding the appropiatte information, since it would be embarrasing to send something that is non work related, specially if we are sending that specific information to our boss. As well, we need to make sure that we are not including third party recipients on the email.

That way, we are ensuring our trust and responsability which has a lot to do of our reputation.

We must have to know all the previous points that we talked about the email, and for that reason it has a highly importance to be in a good mood or neutral at least. That will prevent any lack of concetration at the time of sending emails. Due that we can send confidencial information to non related people or in some of the cases, we are able to express our bad mood with the recipients. So take note: Never send an email when you are angry, sad or stressed. If you don't believe in this, if there's a situation when you get mad or bad mood, just save the email and when you get happy again, take a look once again to the email and you will get noticed about the reason.

AT ONE SCHOOL, A PUSH FOR MORE PLAY TIME

Some schools are looking for more free time for their students. Some others are looking to leave more homework because they think that represents a high performance practice in educational terms. 

For some of the parents this represents a problem, because they think that the children need more free time for the outside development. Instead, they are sit inside a room doing a lot of homework that, in the opinion of their parents, it's innapropiatte for the children of their ages. 

However, the other half of the parents think this kind of practices are appropiatte for the children's development. Their rather having their children doing homework instead plopped down to watch television cartoons.

In both of the cases, parents have sort of the reason, however it is very necessary to get a balance of the two ideas. To reach the students integrity is very important to know and to practice both ideologies.

HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED EDUCATION

As we know, technology, as in many other areas is changing the education in a whole way. Technology is being made to improve and increase the levels and quality of the education, but also it can represent a negative impact of cheating, disort or corrupt the different learning methods.

In cases like this it must have to get a way to use the technology in an appropiate way, before teaching how to use the software, it would be rather to learn how to setup a computing station and the functions of the hardware itself.

As this summary said before, as technology evolves the processes change as well. However what once was before, now is old, but it is better to respect the "old school" processes, since everything was made focusing on those basics. 

USING FLASHCARDS WITH YOUNG LEARNERS

Flash cards are a simple, versatile, yet often underexploited resource. I would like to offer some reasons for using flash cards and a selection of activities for use in the Young Learner classroom, although some of the activities could also be used with fun-loving, lower level adult classes.

Why use flash cards?

Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory reminds teachers that there are many types of learners within any one class. Gardner's research indicates that teachers should aim to appeal to all the different learner types at some point during the course. It is particularly important to appeal to visual learners, as a very high proportion of learners have this type of intelligence. Flash cards can be bright and colourful and make a real impact on visual learners. Many of the activities outlined below will also appeal to kinaesthetic learners.

For children at reading age, flash cards can be used in conjunction with word cards. These are simply cards that display the written word. Word cards should be introduced well after the pictorial cards so as not to interfere with correct pronunciation.

Flash cards are a really handy resource to have and can be useful at every stage of the class. They are a great way to present, practise and recycle vocabulary and when students become familiar with the activities used in class, they can be given out to early-finishers to use in small groups. I sometimes get the students to make their own sets of mini flash cards that can be taken home for them to play with, with parents and siblings. 

Where to get flash cards?

Buy them - Some course books provide a supplementary pack of flash cards or they can be bought in sets.

Make them yourself - If you don't have access to professionally produced flash cards, don't worry, it's really easy to make your own even if you're not very artistic. You can use pictures from magazines, draw simple pictures or copy from the internet or clip art. The most important thing is to make sure they are all of the same size, on card (different colours for different sets) so you can't see through them. If possible you can laminate the sets as you make them and they will last for years. The advantage of making your own, apart from the fact that they're cheap and yours to keep, is that you can make sets for your specific needs. You may like to make a set to use in conjunction with a story book or graded reader, or even to accompany project work.

Students make them - I have recently begun to incorporate the production of flash cards into the classroom. After introducing a new lexical set, using realia or the course book, ask students to produce the flash cards for you. Give each one an item to draw. They can be mounted on card to make the set.

Activities for using flash cards

I have divided the activities into the following categories: Memory, drilling, identification and TPR activities.

Memory Activities

Memory Tester

Place a selection of flash cards on the floor in a circle.

Students have one minute to memorise the cards.

In groups, they have two minutes to write as many of the names as they can remember.

Drilling Activities 

Invisible Flash cards

Stick 9 flash cards on the board and draw a grid around them.

Use a pen or a pointer to drill the 9 words. Always point to the flash card you are drilling.

Gradually remove the flash cards but continue to drill and point to the grid where the flash card was.

When the first card is removed and you point to the blank space, nod your head to encourage children to say the word of the removed flash card.

Students should remember and continue as if the flash cards were still there. They seem to be amazed that they can remember the pictures.

Depending on the age group I then put the flash cards back in the right place on the grid, asking the children where they go, or I ask students to come up and write the word in the correct place on the grid.

This activity highlights the impact of visual aids. It really proves that the images 'stick' in students' minds.

Identification Activities 

Reveal the word

Cover the flash card or word card with a piece of card and slowly reveal it.

Students guess which one it is.

Once the card is shown, chorally drill the word with the group using different intonation and silly voices to keep it fun. Vary the volume too, whisper and shout the words. Children will automatically copy your voice.

Alternatively, flip the card over very quickly so the children just get a quick glimpse.

Repeat until they have guessed the word.

TPR activities 

Point or race to the flash cards

Stick flash cards around the class.

Say one of them and students point or race to it.

Students can then give the instructions to classmates.

You can extend this by saying "hop to the cat" or even "if you have blonde hair, swim to the fish" etc.

You can also incorporate flash cards into a game of Simon Says. "Simon says, jump to the T-shirt" etc.

AREAS OF THE MONTESSORI CLASSROOM

Practical Life

In this area of the classroom the children are exposed to a wide-variety of materials that deal with everyday life such as serving their own snack, washing dishes, window washing, sweeping, and many other fun activities that teach children to respect and care for their environment. These experiences that the children take part in, teach them independence, consideration, order, and coordination. They also help to develop skills needed to live as members of society.

Sensorial

In this area the children are encouraged to focus more carefully on their senses. They focus their attention on the physical world, exploring the special Montessori materials. The children work with height, weight, depth, sound, geometric figures, and other hands-on activities. Through their work with the Sensorial materials, children develop the ability to observe and compare with precision.

Language

The phonetic approach to learning how to read and write is used in the classroom. The hands-on activities include sand paper letters, matching objects/pictures with their appropriate sound, sequencing, manipulation of the moveable alphabet, and many more activities give the children a great foundation for reading and writing. We also use parts of the Handwriting Without Tears series for teaching handwriting skills. The phonics readers and language workbooks we use are MCP (Modern Curriculum Press).

Math

Specially designed materials influence the learner to have a meaningful hands-on approach to learning abstract concepts clearly and concretely. The concrete materials give children a solid understanding of basic math principles and helps develop problem solving skills. Common materials used in the classroom include the ten/teen boards, sandpaper numbers, addition strip board, and bead chains.

Geography 

The children are taught the concepts of Land and Water forms. They are introduced to the continents of the world through the use of special color coded globes and map puzzles. The students will travel from the continents to specific countries learning about the people, animals, and much more through many hands-on activities.

Science

The children are taught the concepts of Living/Non-Living, Plants/Animals, Vertebrae / Invertebrate, Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, and much more through hands-on exploration of materials. The children also experience and participate in experiments such as sink/float, magnetic & non-magnetic, solids, liquids, and gases (properties) & many more.

Art

In this area of the classroom the children are encouraged to express themselves through a wide variety of art supplies. The children will be introduced to various artists and composers throughout the school year. Finger plays, songs, and various instruments will be incorporated into the study of Art also.

Spanish 

Spanish will be included in the everyday classroom curriculum. The children will be taught basic Spanish words and phrases.

IS A PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IMPORTANT?

Parents are sometimes concerned about whether their child will be ready for kindergarten following a preschool education. In fact, early child care experts are noting an increased pressure by parents to teach preschool children how to count, name letters, make letter sounds, and even learn to read. 

The Children's Courtyard, a preschool and afterschool childcare program, provides parents with information suggesting that those preschool education skills, while sometimes impressive, are not the most important skills needed for kindergarten. Instead, the center suggests that children will learn numbers and letters easily in kindergarten or first grade. 

So, what is important to learn in preschool education? 

The Courtyard emphasizes that during the preschool education years, children should learn important items that will help them develop a strong knowledge basis needed for academic success. They cite these Essential Cognitive Foundations, adapted from the Essential Cognitive SKills for School Readiness: 

* A strong knowledge bse sufficient to support comprehension, drawing inferences, and making predictions. 

* Problem-solving skills. 

* An ability to "inter-translate" between language and mental images so that knowledge and thoughts can be expressed through language (productive language) and knowledge can be formed from incoming information (receptive language). 

* A set of attitudinal and self-management skills that include: attention management, comprehension monitoring and persistence.

With these cognitive foundations in preschool education, children will be more prepared to conquer the demands placed on them by school. Children will also think of themselves as capable and and independent learners. Teachers find it easier to teach a child who possesses a strong preschool education background in language skills, listening comprehension, attention mangement skills, and a positive attitude toward learning.