Monday, May 2, 2011

Turn taking

W, X and Y are became friends really quickly during the morning session. For some reason all at once they wanted a turn at the computer game Pacman. X knew how to play it as he had played the game at home with his cousin. They started a discussion, with raised voices, of who was going to go first. X was keen to show them all how to play. Y had his fingers on the keyboard first. W sat on the chair first. I noticed what was happening. I interrupted their discussion. “Wait a minute let’s stop and think. How can we make this fair?

“Take turns,” said Y.

“You are right. How about you all get a chair each. Now X , do you know how to play this game? “ I asked

“Yes my cousin has it at his house,“ replied X

“ X can you show W how to play. Y you watch and listen. When pacman dies it’s Y turn. Then when Y turn, then the same for you. Your turn is finished when Pacman dies, and then it’s X turn.

I it’s W turn. When it’s not your turn you have to keep your hands off the keys. You can point to the screen, but don’t touch the keys or the mouse.” watched for a time from a distance to make sure they understood the “rules”. I suggested if it wasn’t their turn they were to fold their arms or sit on their hands. This quickly seemed to work quite well. They did very well and sustained fair turn taking for approximately 45 minutes when it was time to finish for lunch.

Collaborative learning and scaffolding that took place between the boys was a pleasure to watch. They did work together respecting and listening to each other. A good example of equal opportunities and a sense of belonging. Here the children are experiencing an environment where there are equitable opportunities for varying abilities and encouragement to learn with and alongside others. (Ministry 1996 p.64)

The computer often attracts groups of children, which gives opportunity for children to learn alongside others. While they are playing these games on the computer they are learning how to use the “tool for inquiry that will be practical for other explorations.” (Ministry, 2009 p.5)

The turn taking “rules” came from a seminar I attended at a Ulearn Conference in 2008. Jill Hammond used powerpoint presentation of how to manage computers junior classes. It was a model of the teacher the doer and the observer. It seems to work quite well. One of the issues is when it’ not your turn don’t touch the mouse or the keys. You give verbal instructions and point on the screen. I fund it so hard not to take over the mouse. It is the same when helping children with puzzles. I just want to put the puzzle piece in place for them. If they are to learn they must do it themselves.

http://juniorclasses.wikispaces.com/Workshop+Presentations

References:

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki, he whaariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington,New Zealand: Learning Media

Ministry of Education. (2009). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars: Information and communication technology.

4 comments:

  1. that's another lesson. I can't download the image as it is in the wrong format. Will try again tomorrow.

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  2. Problem solved - I had the photo in a powerpoint with lots of other photos on the slide. So I copied the photo I wanted and put it into a new slide. I selected the full screen, then took a photo of it. I then copied it onto the desktop. Then uploaded it into my blog. Well, it wasn't great quality - but at least it will enhance the story.
    Hmmm - I feel like I am talking to myself.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Hi Hester thanks for following I have the same problem as you. I am still not able to paste photo's on my blog as you have read my blog there is no photo. I have lost some of the photo's and hope not to loss them all. I got some help from others as they did also had proble but were successful and I might be too. Relax....

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