Week 1
Based on my pedagogical commitment, I offered a combination of fabric and clay to the children. However, when the activity started, almost all of them chose the clay. They showed no interest in the fabric.
The children quickly became engaged with the clay. They squeezed, rolled, pressed, and mixed different colours together. Their creations kept changing. One child did not begin with a clear plan. When I asked, “What are you making?” he said, “I don’t know.”
He seemed to discover his ideas through touching the clay and changing its shape again and again. As he continued working, his creation kept transforming. First, he said it was a “cookie.” He pretended to be a chef and “cut” the cookie to share it with me. Later, he turned the clay into a “flying bug” and lifted it into the air to make it fly. During the activity, the clay moved from material to object to role-play. This showed me that children’s creations are never fixed. They are fluid and always changing. It also made me wonder: when children say “I don’t know,” how should we understand that? Do they truly not know, or are they staying open to possibilities?
Even though the clay activity was meaningful and full of creativity, I kept thinking about the beginning of the activity: Why did no one touch the fabric? Maybe the fabric was unfamiliar to them. I should offer simpler or more direct materials first. Or maybe I should provide only one material instead of a combination. After discussing this with my classmates in the seminar, I realized that fabric may require some modelling. Since it is a material they do not often use, perhaps I need to show them how to explore the fabric. I also thought about the relationship with the children. I noticed that children often move quickly from one activity to another. Their attention can be short. So I wondered: What helps a deeper and longer conversation with children? Maybe if I build a stronger, more trusting relationship with them, they will be more willing to listen to my ideas, and our conversations can become more meaningful.
Finally, I thought about the limits of materials. Educators choose the materials, and children choose from what we give them. Even though they had many creative ideas with the clay, it might not mean they were interested in clay itself. In this activity, they loved mixing colours and were excited to see the changes. So maybe what they were truly interested in was the process of mixing and transforming, not the clay.
Week 2
Based on the children’s “cooking” play indoors and outdoors, I guessed that they might be interested in temperature. So I prepared five paper cups with different temperatures and dyed them in different colors. I also put some small toys nearby to attract their attention. After the activity started, the children explored the cups, but they were more interested in mixing the different colors of water and watching how the colors changed. Their excitement was about the mixing and changing of colors, not the temperature itself. This activity made me wonder if the children are more interested in how things form and change.
However, after rethinking the meaning of materials and drawing, I realized that I used to treat materials as tools to “find” children’s interests. But this takes a lot of time and does not always help me understand their real interests. Drawing is an important way for children to express themselves. It might be better to first invite children to draw their ideas, and then prepare materials based on what they express. This is challenging for me, and I started to think about a few questions. When I invite children to draw, some of them feel bored or say no, how can I interest them? When a child only draws a few lines or abstract shapes, how can I understand the ideas behind those drawing?
After thinking about this, I believe conversation is very important. Using a curious and friendly tone while drawing together can help me understand their expressions and the meaning of their lines. Drawing is a relationship building process. Talking while drawing can strengthen my relationship with the children and support deeper exploration. To make the drawing invitation more natural, maybe I can bring an eye-catching pencil case or create some small habits (for example, taking out the pencil case means “it’s drawing time”).
Week 3
In the past few indoor activities, I noticed that children often played with cars and ramps. During one ramp game, a child rolled a toy car down the ramp. I said, “You went faster this time,” and took out my notebook to record the activity. The child ran over, took my pen, and said, “I want to draw.” He drew a straight line and said “fast,” then drew a wavy line and said “slow.” I asked him why he thought some lines were fast and some were slow. He pointed to the straight line and said “fast.” I recorded how he expressed the concept of speed. In another indoor activity, I noticed a child who really liked toy cars and often played alone. I sat next to him and asked, “Do you like this?” He said, “It’s blue.” then I drew a small car, and he saw me take out the pencil case, he also picked a pencil, and drew a big car around my car. He said, “Bigger, faster.” Then he drew several wheels and said, “More wheels, faster.” I recorded the whole conversation. Through these observations, I realized that children were interested in speed, not just the cars themselves. So I designed a speed exploration activity: I prepared three ramps with different angles and provided cars of different sizes. Children started experimenting by themselves, adjusting the slopes, choosing the fastest car, and competing with themselves. They actively explored how speed changes and expressed their understanding in their own ways.
From this activity, I realized that giving many materials before could spark interest, but it might also distract children and make it hard to see their main interests. Focusing on one key concept: speed, and exploring it with different materials multiple times helps children understand it more deeply. This is why I wanted to “revisit” the activity. During the activity, I found that talking and listening are very important. All my ideas came from conversations and drawing with the children. I not only asked questions but also explored together with them through drawing, discussion, and experiments. I wanted children to be active participants in building knowledge. This also made me understand that teaching is not only about giving materials, but about creating interaction and extending activities so that children can think and express independently. I also reflected on whether I affected the child’s independence when I drew a car first. I realized that drawing together was part of the exploration. The child drew another car spontaneously, not because I asked him to. So it is part of co-exploration. Besides, through observation and dialogue, I also found more ways to extend the exploration. For example, during outdoor activities, children noticed that cars stuck on stones but moved faster on snow. This inspired me to try different ramp materials and extend their thinking. It also reminded me again that observing and communicating can bring more possibilities to our explorations. Through discussion, I think repeating and extending activities helps keep learning connected. I also think the key to deciding if an activity is worth revisiting is still observing children’s interests and listening to their expressions.
My pedagogical commitment is based on children’s curiosity and interests to introduce new and interesting experiences to help children stay curious and explore the world around them. In this activity, I observed children’s interest in speed and provided opportunities for them to explore, express, and extend their understanding. I also thought of new ways to introduce materials and experiences. I think this also connects with BC ELF: Providing time, space, and materials rich with possibilities for experimenting, imagining, and transforming allows children to create and explore in diverse ways based on their interests. This activity also reflects the pedagogy of listening in BC ELF. I listened and observed children’s many forms of expression, such as drawing, playing, and talking, and gave meaning to their expressions. I co-constructed knowledge with the children through interaction and experiments, making learning a two-way, collaborative process. I kept the learning process “alive” by not giving fixed answers. For example, when children said bigger cars are faster or more wheels are faster, I did not correct them. Instead, I planned to extend the activity and change materials so children could discover the rules themselves. I actively engage in critical reflection, thinking about my teaching choices and adjusting strategies to better support children’s interests and understanding. I practiced pedagogical narration by recording children’s behaviors, words, and drawings to reflect on the learning process and make it visible. I understand that one of the keys in early childhood education is collaboration, I discussed my observations and questions with my classmates, and I also shared these records with my mentor to get different perspectives and ideas.
Week 4
Pedagogical Journey
Across the four weeks of my practicum, I see my documentation as a process that gradually deepened, rather than a series of separate activities. My pedagogical focus shifted from paying attention mainly to materials, to understanding children’s interests and ideas through observation, drawing, dialogue, and revisiting experiences.
At the beginning, I used different materials, such as clay, fabric, and water with different colours and temperatures, to try to understand children’s interests. Later, I began to question whether I was relying too much on materials to judge children’s interests, and whether this caused me to miss the thinking processes children were already engaged in. This led me to rethink the meaning of materials and drawing.
By drawing together with the children, I noticed that they were interested in speed. Instead of quickly planning new activities, I chose to stay with this idea and explore speed through conversation and drawing with the children. I used their ideas to decide what materials to offer next. Through multiple revisits, I continued to deepen the exploration of speed by changing materials (such as stones and boards), bringing in outdoor observations, adjusting ramps and flat surfaces, and inviting children to use drawing to express their ideas about “fast.”
Children expressed their thinking through different kinds of lines and slopes. Their expressions continued to influence my teaching decisions. Overall, this process shows my shift from “providing activities” to “responding to children,” from focusing on outcomes to focusing on processes. Through observing, listening, drawing, and revisiting, I gradually developed a deeper understanding of how children think, express ideas, and construct learning.
Growth in Practicum
During this practicum, I experienced growth in several practical skills and became more aware of my role as an educator. As I became more familiar with the environment and the children, I moved beyond a support role and began to take on more teaching responsibilities, such as leading daily routines, helping manage the learning environment, and supporting children’s interactions.
I also worked on improving my guiding skills during transitions, such as washing hands before meals or moving from one activity to another. I used clear, short, step-by-step language to help children understand what to do, which made transitions smoother and more organized.
In terms of listening and observation, I learned to slow down and not rush to respond or solve problems. Instead, I focused on observing, documenting, and revisiting moments to better understand what children were exploring.
My teaching practice also changed in an important way. At first, I relied mostly on materials to observe children’s interests. Over time, I began to invite children to express their ideas through drawing. By drawing and talking with children, I was able to gain new ideas from their expressions and extend explorations through multiple revisits. I continued to reflect on my teaching practice, and as my reflections grew, my understanding of drawing deepened. This helped me adjust my teaching strategies in more thoughtful ways.
In addition, I strengthened my ability to engage in collaborative dialogue. Through discussions with classmates in seminars and ongoing communication with my mentor during practicum, I learned to listen to others’ perspectives and use feedback to improve my teaching practice.
Pedagogical Skills
Before my practicum, I practiced drawing as a form of storytelling with classmates in class, and I thought it was an interesting and relational process. At the beginning of my practicum, I tried to use this approach, but I found it different from what I expected. Children’s drawings were sometimes very abstract, made of symbols or lines, and I could not always understand what they were trying to express. Because of this, I paused drawing for a period of time.
Instead, I returned to using materials to try to discover children’s interests. After reflecting, I realized that even when I offered many materials, I still could not fully understand what children were interested in or what they wanted to express. This led me to return to drawing with children.
Gradually, I began to understand that drawing is not a final product meant to explain something to adults, but a language children use to think and express ideas. I slowed down, and while drawing with children, I noticed that they talked as they drew. Drawing became part of their thinking process rather than something finished at the end.
I began to listen carefully and take notes while talking with children. Through dialogue, I started to understand what they were expressing. For example, when children drew cars, straight lines, or curved lines, I began to see how they were expressing their understanding of speed. Drawing helped me see children’s thinking and exploration processes.
This experience helped me see drawing as a relational practice, not just an art activity. In Moon Bear and the Night Butterfly, drawing is described as a language that happens with others, not just on one’s own. In my practice, drawing became a way for children and me to think together. By drawing, discussing, and revisiting experiences, drawing created space for ongoing exploration and shared thinking.
Image of the Child
I see children as capable meaning-makers who have ideas and theories about the world. Children express their understanding through drawing, language, movement, and materials. In my practice, I followed children’s expressions and used their ideas to create conditions for learning. This connects with the BC Early Learning Framework, which views children as capable, active learners who participate in learning and meaning-making in many ways.
Image of the Educator
I see the educator as a listener, collaborator, and creator of conditions. At the beginning of my practicum, I saw myself mainly as a provider of materials, using materials to observe children’s interests. Over time, I focused more on drawing together with children. When children drew and talked, I was a listener. During discussions, I was a collaborator. When planning revisits and extending ideas, I became a creator of conditions.
Educators observe, document, and engage in dialogue with children, and create conditions that support ongoing exploration. This connects with Wasps Live Here, where educators do not rush to give answers but think with children and build relationships with children and the environment through sustained attention and response.
Image of Learning
I understand learning as a relational and ongoing process. Learning is not linear or one-time. It develops through drawing, dialogue, and exploration over time. Drawing helped me build relationships with children and slow down my teaching practice. Instead of giving quick answers, I focused on listening and communicating. Through these relationships, children and I were able to explore ideas more deeply and over longer periods of time.
Preparing for ECED 2200
Through this semester of learning and practicum, I have begun to think about my preparation for ECED 2200.
I want to continue developing my teaching practice by using observation, documentation, and revisiting to support children’s thinking. I also hope to find a teaching rhythm that feels natural for both myself and the children, and to design activities that create meaningful conditions for children’s exploration.
In addition, I want to strengthen my professional responsibility and awareness. This includes taking on more daily responsibilities and participating in everyday decision-making. I also want to improve my leadership skills and continue working collaboratively with colleagues, using communication and feedback to adjust and improve my practice.
