reflections

Chanel Campbell

Initial thoughts... I believe young children will have access to many avenues that will assist in their growth and development. They may experience many opportunities that will open doors for many life skills. Eye-hand coordination, number and letter recognition, early literacy skills, math and much more are just a few ways in which young children can benefit from technology. Children of all ages should have access to computers. Parents can find that local libraries offer computers for the early learning developmental skills for their children. I also believe that each classroom, after school program, girls/boys clubs, recreation centers and other places where children spend most of their time should be computer accessible.

Multiple Intelligences... I believe that once we have understood Howard Gardner's Mulitple Intelligences, we will find the information to be very helpful working with our students and our very own children. It is imperative that we nurture all of the children's abilities as they pertain to various learning opportunities. Once we become good listeners and show appreciation for children's expressions, diversity and creativity, we will gain greater knowledge on how to better meet each child's individual learning styles. Teachers will be able to set up a classroom environment that is nurturing, full of age appropriate materials that provide growth, social skills and other learning opportunities. We must design an environment with a vast amount of activities that address a variety of intelligences. Playing games, exploring books, exploring the great outdoors, engaging in open discussions,engaging in hands-on activities, building, scaffolding and allowing children to be who they are all key when nurturing and teaching our young children.

Challenges..... I believe that my initial challenges are being faced now. I have never been computer savvy, and my hopes are that I gain a great amount of knowledge about computers. I am grateful for the opportunities to set up accounts that I had no prior knowledge about before. I also hope to learn the keyboard, so that I may become a faster typer. I believe that setting up a power point will be challenging, but I am willing to learn. This is all new for me, because I have never had to turn in all of my assignments on the computer. Blackboard has been a challenge lately, because I have not been sucessful in getting in.