Exploring the Trains in Our Lives by Gabbi Suckling

The Plan! Three Activities based upon my Parallaxis Experience within the Community for ages 3-5 years

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-15 06:19:23 UTC

1) Sound Experience: based upon the exercise of Dadirri - Deep listening, and thinking about transport: By taking a small group of children as an excursion into the community and walking along the nearby train line and find a place to stop and connect in safety; encouraging the children to close their eyes, and listen to the sounds around them, letting them focus on the sounds of transport around them. What types of vehicles can they hear? How do they know what sound each vehicle makes?

2) Movement activity: based upon 'the train' artefact: Does a train sway or stay still when it travels down the track? Is it smooth or jerky when it starts to move? Standing in a line, and moving together like a train - stopping at the stations, moving and then speeding up, only to slow down again, on the way back to the Early Childhood Service.

3) Sound/Movement activity - once we are back at the Early Childhood Service: Let's pretend we are on a train - We have been on trains before? how did we experience the sensations? What do we hear when we are on a train?

Exploring the Community's Trains Through Sound

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-15 06:24:13 UTC

Our first part of our Trains Experience begins with listening to the above clip from the video "Trains at the Union Road, Surrey Hills Crossing" where the children were told to close their eyes and listen carefully. Afterwards I asked them what they could hear.

Feedback from the Room Educators - Thanks, guys!

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-15 06:24:51 UTC

When I was relaying the information about the activities the the Banksia Room's Education team (The Grove Children's Centre, Coburg), they became quite excited, as they then mentioned how they were discussing the flow of traffic in the community with the children in the Room, and the importance of being safe in the community.
Their Room Leader, Amru, was even surprised about how I had managed to involve the children in being part of what they experience, when they are out and about, and has even suggested I work on the learning stories about the engagement shown by the children during the Experience.

The Children's Voices - What They Heard

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-17 10:08:12 UTC

Listening to the children talking about what they could hear and have them express their own understanding about trains, just by the sounds they could hear, and letting they relate to what they have experienced during their adventures.

Time to be the Train! Part 1 - Going from Point A to Point B...

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 01:38:46 UTC

The children looked like they were having a lot of fun being the train itself, and stopping at the 'stations' within the Room. Even though we couldn't be out in the community, they still managed to start and stop at the points they were shown. We did have a de-rail moment or two.

Being the Train Part 2: From Point B to Point C!

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 01:45:41 UTC

During this part of our train game, we explored what needs to happen when our train arrives at the end of the line - what happens now? How does a train turn around? Do trains stop at every station?

Talking about Train Safety - What do we do, when we are ON the Train?

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 01:54:05 UTC

We finished our Train Game, and as a way to finish our Group Time, and Train Experience, we came back to the mat and thought about what we do, or how we behave, when we are on the train. We talked about how we might look out the windows - including what we might see, whether we need to sit down, or if it's safe to run around when we are on the train with the people we care about..

Credits and Shout-Outs

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 01:58:20 UTC

HUGE thanks go to The Grove Children's Centre - Educational Leader Ruwani, and the Banksia Room (3-4yrs) Educational Team - Stella and Amru, for letting me run this activity as part of my Assessment Task 03 - "Microteaching and Documenting", for the unit ECE2008 - Music, Movement and Dramatic Arts

Time to Reflect on the Music, Movement and Dramatic Arts Journey

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 03:18:40 UTC

Coming into this subject, I thought I was already aware of the importance of music and movement in the early childhood environment. I'm glad I can say I have learnt even more - being encouraged to challenge my awareness and push past my own limits and ideas actually gave me the opportunity to guide and explore in manners I didn't really consider as teaching previously. The Educational Leader I work with at The Grove helped me realise that I was already teaching this way, without conscious effort - as I always try to teach, or lead, by example; whether it be by giving them the space to move their bodies and letting them try for themselves.

The Concepts of the Parallaxis and Dadirri - both ideas I have understood, and in my own way actively practised - although not for a while before this unit - but not known the terms for; how music can have an affect on the human psyche, and why it does - whether it be a calming or exciting influence, or giving us the permission to feel as we need to without judgement... Music and Movement have been a reminder that it's not always easy to sit still when we learn.

When I was working through the unit, I found myself remembering a story I had read on Social Media - commonly circulating through Education Networking pages, as well as groups for Neurodiverse people - about a little girl who couldn't sit still, no matter how hard she tried. I researched her more, and found out about Dame Gillian Lynne, including part of an interview with the late Dame Gillian Lynne, which included parts from a TEDTalk by Sir Ken Robinson.

This whole unit has given me a head-start in understanding how important music and movement are, when relating to children,and helping them learn and understand the world around them - also making me reconnect into the ideas of theorist John Dewey, and getting the children involved in their own learning, so they have a context or two to understand the ideas they have been exposed to.

References

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 03:22:37 UTC

NPR 2014, 'Dancer Needed To Move To Think', online audio, accessed 19 June 2022,

Trains at the Union Rd Surrey Hills Crossing, online video YouTube, 'ThebusofdoomFSX', viewed 17 June 2022,

The Grove Children's Centre, n.d., The Grove Children's Centre logo, image, viewed 26 May 2022,

Ungunmerr-Baumann, MR 2002, Dadirri: inner deep listening and quiet still awareness, Emmaus Productions, pp. 1–4,

V/Line n.d., Regional Trains at Southern Cross Station Melbourne, image search on Google.com.au, viewed 15 June 2022,

Williams, MK 2017, 'John Dewy in the 21st Century', Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 91-102.

Thinking about How a Train might Move

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 03:28:47 UTC

As we get ready to play the Train Game, we think about how a train might move, or stop...

What Can We See, When We're on a Train?

gabbi_suckling — 2022-06-19 03:39:30 UTC