Early Years Educator.

Evidence selected from Thing 4 -

On a personal level, it showed how inconsistent I am in my leadership. For example in the Collaborations and Influencing. I felt, prior to completing the questionnaire that I was good at collaborating as I feel that I spend time on the floor, with the team, however, the questions demonstrated that I only some times. It is clear that I do not challenge the team, I let things slide. A key example of this is an outdoor questionnaire I put out to all staff prior to Christmas. My Head of Centre stressed that it needed to be complete prior to Christmas holidays, however, when I logged into the forms it as clear that only 20% of the team actually took time to fill the questionnaire in, despite being very eager to do it. Initially I reflected on this statistic and collated the results and sent them to management, stating my disappointment in the uptake. However, I feel, after completing the feedback activity, I needed to be more vocal, so I have done just that. I was calm, polite and open, however I made it clear that it was unacceptable. I reiterated the importance of the questionnaire and the rationale behind it. At first, the team were unnerved by my stance, which made it uncomfortable to work alongside them, but within a couple of hours, I had all the replies so that my data was accurate and now we can take the improvement plan with the team at the front leading. There were some things which were not a surprise. I strongly believe that relationships are important and this was reflected in the feedback I received. What was surprising was the disparity between my answers and those of colleagues as I was stating “ sometimes” in my answers, however, they were pointing out that I was “ consistently”

I need to be more verbal and more proactive, taking risks, getting communication out to the wider ELC community about our improvement plans

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Across the six capabilities, what are your leadership strengths and areas for development? The exercises in Part 3 of the workbook can help you to identify how you evidence your leadership capability at all levels.

I completed the exercise in part 3 of the workbook in January 2022, and on reflection I have seen an improvement in my confidence when implementing changes within practice to improve the quality of service. An example of this is between March-June 2022 I ran a transition project using the QI methodology to measure impact and ran a Literacy project on the floor to improve quality, outcomes and the quality of observations . I led both projects from the front, modelling best practice, sharing results, discussing impact and significance. Although I was sharing my work and its importance, I was still shaking like a leaf in case someone took offence to what I was trying to do and when that happens, it escalates very quickly. This demonstrates that I am continuing to develop my leadership skills linked to motivating and inspiring

Empowering

Since November 2021, I have been working with the practitioners and management to develop a sense of agency within the team. Though my support and guidance we have successfully piloted “champion roles” and now, in this academic year we are encouraging all staff to take on a leadership role and be active within it. As mentioned in previous badge work , I have been running a narrative around evidence based practice , tracking and monitoring and quality improvement methodology. My narrative and modelling through practice is being embedded into the setting and the management are leading the changes. It was lovely to hear my words come out of the management mouths during the inservice day sessions. This has also demonstrated how through my creativity I have addressed the elephant in the room as my current setting is openly again data driven quality improvement.

What leadership skills would you most like to develop? What difference could this make to your work?

I am continuing to develop my skills within communication and building up my confidence in my Leadership skills. I feel that it will improve my ability to lead the team through the projects which my QIO sets for us to lead.

I am continuing to develop the resilience of our team and the narrative / dialogue. I am overseeing mental health / staff wellbeing. I am introducing mindfulness activities etc

What is your plan for continuing your leadership development?

Throughout the 23things process I feel that I have address this badge clearly. Through my role as Equity and Excellence lead I am positioned into Early Learning Centres / Family Centres to improve the quality of the service to improve outcomes for those children / families who are considered to be at the most disadvantaged and subsequently close the poverty related attainment gap. I work with the management team, practitioners and families to implement change and to embed Quality Improvement Methodology into the Early Years environment and practice.

EVIDENCE 1

I need to have a vision of what I wanted to achieve, how I was going to achieve it and how would I know I had been successful. Through my Health and Wellbeing Leadership I guided the process of improvement, I planned how we were going to achieve the desired outcomes and prioritised the tasks. Through a combination of management and leadership I coordinated the effort with all educators, delegated the tasks to all staff, however, I modelled what I wanted to see to reassure the other staff that it wasn’t out of their capabilities to complete.  I was required to monitor that the tasks were being complete and support staff when this was not happening. Once the data was collected, It was my responsibility to collate and analyse the data so I could report the results, evaluate and predict the outcomes and further change the approach so that the outcomes would be achieved. As part of the project design, I was required to state what resources I required and how mum they would going to be. This then had to go to senior management to approve. I had to ensure that all educators / groups had the correct resources to comfortable to the job required of them.

I saw my role in this project more as a leader than a manager and I had to support the other staff to become leaders in their own rights. After sharing my vision for the project, discussing opening with the team what we were doing, why we were doing it and who was doing what I provided a focus through the use of the Natural Health Award and RHET Tastie Tatties competition and using these links to develop areas of the setting, I modelled the HWB projects, providing a narrative to what I was doing and why I was going, when I saw a member of the team doing something good, I directly praised them and used their work as examples of best practice. Quickly I realised that implementing this change unlocked emotions in the team, so I went and trained as a Mental Health Champion and became a safe base for staff to open up and talk to me about their concerns about their work or working environment. Any promises I made about helping them I would ensure that  I would keep, this build relationships and trust which fed into our work and improvement methodology. I feel that I inspired and motivated my fellow educators because prior to me leaving the nursery, I spent time handing over my work to another educator who had volunteered to take the leadership forward, this particular educator was quite reserved and wouldn’t speak up in meeting, however I feel that I supported her to unleash her own potential and recently she has been intouch with me to ask for support in applying for a promoted role.

EVIDENCE 2

Having looked at the Bluebird Care video, which of the descriptors do you think are demonstrated in the story

I observed that the leadership are dedicated members of the team who have a passion for A* service for their clients but also to the team.

They have a very clear vision and USP“ best care matters” “ high quality” service and to support the clients to stay in their own home for aslong as possible

Clear learning and development programme open to all staff and actively encouraged. “ You can do it attitude”

CI – stated that the team are

” Proactive” “service motivated”, ”Aware of nation wide legislation”.

Staff motivated and confident, understood the important role that they played in the companies vision

Stepping into leadership “ feeling empowered”

Leadership all about passion, and the Management team demonstrate in the video that they are passionate to provide the best care possible. The team trust the Senior Management team,

 

Lolly pop moment = praise from customers which they feed back to the carers and vice versa- this builds up positive relationships between the team and the clients.

The carer stated that they “ Believes in you”, Insires “ We do have a voice”

 

 In what way do they express appreciation about the service, staff, quality of leadership practice and overall sense of direction (vision)?

They do this in a number of different way :

·         Having daily meetings so that there is a strong communication ethos in the company

·         Openly recognise those “ Lollypop” moments

·         “blue bird” to be placed near a staff member if they say something which the team feels it requires recognition.

·         Using “ Step into Leadership” as a tool in supervision so that the carers can work through the criteria and earn badges which that can wear on their uniforms

 

 

How do people respond?

The staff are motivated and happy in their work as they feel that they trust their management and want to come to work.

 

What difference does it make?

The team moulds together which means that, when change occurs, they are more like to trust the management to lead then through the change.

 

What are the outcomes?

The outcomes are as followed :

The staff are motivated to follow the vision that the directors have from the company

The staff are upskilled through the “ step into leadership”

The staff feel valued and willing to get the extra mile

Ultimately the quality of care for the clients will be second to none.

My vision for the future of my current setting is to provide a high quality service to our stakeholders ensuring both Equality and Equity in our approach and our environment.

The experiences which have informed my vision is working in a range of settings from both the Scottish and English Educational systems, I have seen some which work and some which require significant amount of input to improve the quality of the service. I keep up to date with a documents bother local and national, ensuring that I have a reference point from each document ie – Realising the Ambition and Vision 2030:Learning for sustainability . I have professional conversations with my peers within the Equity and Excellence team in my Local authority, sharing best practice, getting advice etc.

                                                                

I am using my vision in several different ways in my current setting they are as followed

·         Developed a Planning document which incorporates RTA, CofE and ITMP- this will ensure that we are following the child’s interest and being responsive in our planning.

·         I am working with the nursery team and stakeholders to develop our outdoor spaces. This includes developing both a parental and team steering groups, consultations processes with all stakeholder ( including the children). My vision is to develop a leadership role within the outdoor area to ensure that there is depth and breadth in provision.

·         I have developed home learning bags for the children to take home. These have themes ie- emotions/ heuristic play etc. The plan is to develop learning groups from the parents.

·         As I am part of the Equity and Excellence team, I am required to demonstrate improvement methodology to improve outcomes for children in the SIMD 1 &2. I am currently working with pre-schoolers talking and listening. I am doing this in a few different way; firstly, I have observed all pre-schoolers, spoken to the team as well as learning journals and tracked them according to benchmarks to talking and listening. This provides us with a statistical baseline for improvement, I share my finding with the team and make a plan on how to improve their outcomes ( looking at different interventions) this requires to team to invest in what I am doing and ultimately upskill them.

This will improve staff morale, as they can see the impact that they have on the children and families, the children will benefit because they quality of learning will improve, which, hopefully will contribute to closing the attainment gap, families feel supported and involved in the ELCC and feel that they have a voice.

 

Using the Logic model –

Im a new Equity and Excellence lead, therefore, I am being challenged. I understand that I require training and mentoring and I am confident to say to the team that I was an Early Years Practitioner only a couple of months ago, so I understand how hard it is. I am in the process of building relationships with the team. I am only 8weeks into my new role, so we are still forming and norming.  I spend as much time as possible on the floor with the team, providing support, modelling good practice and taking some of the work load off them so that they can enjoy doing their roles. I understand that we all have our own unique sets of skills and interests, and I am keen to utilise them to develop a forward thinking team.

 

My strengths are that I have a  clear vision, I can project plan and I can work as part of a team. Sometimes, this comes as a detriment because I sometimes forget that I am part of leadership, and, because I do show my vulnerability at times, when its tome to be assertive, or tell someone what to do  or the fact, they have done something wrong – which is something I had to do today infact, I find it challenging to find the words in case I upset them or knock their confidence – so its leadership communication is something I really need to work on

Okay reader, I have a confession I want to share with you.

Late last night I was paroozing my fabulous work on the 23 badges. 1....2....3...4...5......6.....7....8...9............( you get the idea).....22........WHAT 22? there should be 23! #23badges. The clue is in the title.

So, I took my time and looked through and realised that my witty, insightful blog on webinars and chat had gone....disappeared....wedi mynd, cabooshed.... so, please enjoy my Webinars and Chat blog - take 2.

I moved away from home and the lush green valleys when I was 17 ( I’m 40 now), I have lived all over the UK and now settled in Bonny Scotland, so as you can imagine, keeping InTouch with my family has always been important. I used to use SKYPE all the time. Every week I would log in 3 or 4 different times to skype my mum, dad, gran, grandparents, then when I had my children this became even more important because they wanted to see them grow. Now my children are pre-teens they communicate through text and video calls. We have what’s app, and I kid you not reader my children will FaceTime me either through facebook, video call me via WhatsApp or zoom call me from their rooms just to ask me what was planned for dinner....... We don’t live in a mansion, it’s not like you complete your step count for the day just moving between the east and west wing, we live in a humble semi-detach in a small village. So as you can imagine, I have had a wee bit of experience of video calling.

Now, bringing my blog back to the reason why I am writing it - evidence. So in March 20th 2020 one of my managers comes crashing into my room announcing that we have to pack all our personal stuff, book the leave, make sure that usernames and passwords are valid for systems x,y,and z and that the setting was closing because of COVID-19 ( or Corona). We had been expecting this but still, a shock. This meant that I was working from home, working in the education hub and having both children at home, working at different levels needing teaching and a husband who also is a key worker ( and a manager so he trumps me) AND I was still looking for a new job. OOOFFTT Meltdown Central!

Jumping forward 11 weeks and you will be pleased to say that I’ve not killed anyone. I am a little greyer and my waist has expanded but we are okay. We think that COVID-19 has sweeped through our house and we have recovered (this was before testing)....my apologies....I digress......

Since remote working we have utilised chat, video calling and webinars. We have been using Microsoft teams for work and school. VIdeo calls are always funny. These are the only times I put my makeup on and straighten my hair. Readers, you will be happy to know that I accepted a job which I had an interview through ZOOM.... Now this was funny as I was dressed tidily from the waist up, pj bottoms and fluffy slippers waist down ( I wanted to be comfortable). I have done a lot of professional learning and discussions and these have been through WEBINEX / ZOOM / Microsoft teams and Twitter. Having these tools at my fingertips have meant that I can still learn ( I am a visual learner, so being able to see something happening - like learning profiles and in the moment plannng in forest schools) which is developing my practice and engage with collegues and peers.

Aswell as using it for work, we have utilised it for our lives in lockdown. I dance twice a week ( I am no Darcy Bustle), this was a time which was my own. My fabulous dance teacher began doing classes via ZOOM. I swear, I have not laughed so much in my entire life. So good for your mental health. We also have ZOOM quizzes with family and a social organisation we are apart of. This is also good for your mental health and sustaining your social skills.

The evidence specification required me to discuss how I support others. I have actually done this a lot surprisingly. Some of my collegues have been sign posted to me to support them remotely, my fabulous in-laws are not very tech savvy, so I have had to talk them through how to use video calling and ZOOM so that they can still see us. Then lastly, my SCOUTING. Lockdown meant that scouts, cubs, beavers all stopped. Like us, our children need some normality so, working with my team we have succsssfully implemented weekly sessions. THe planning is a little different but the children love it! In fact, it’s Friday which means that its Scouts tonight (I’m not doing it this time). To get my leaders into this position took a lot of reassurance as for many of them it is the unknown. As lockdown doesn’t seem to be easing anytime soon, my next approach is to contact SCouting Scotland to see if they can do training for the adult leaders (I’m still working on my wood badge) via ZOom.... so watch this space.

I hope I have submitted enough evidence to be awarded the above badge, one last thing is GOoglehangout.... I had a look, we all had a look and agreed that we don’t need another platform ( it gets confusing) .

SSSC open digital badge #23thingsdigital. NUMBER 23!!!

Wow! What a journey. I started this badge because I was required to do a SSSC badge for work. I had already done loads of Early Years and mentoring ones so I started looking a little left field and found this beaut.

I thought I was okay with digital technology and my scores back in badge 3 suggested this ( I’m a little humble) I feel that I am far more confident negitoating the world of digital literacy. I sent an email yesterday and there were 4 recipients. Prior to this I would have just put them all in the top line and left it, but now I used the CC and bCC and even went back to the bCC and checked if they could see the other recipients!! I have learnt to blog. I wanted to do this for years and never had the ooommph to do it. My husband thinks I should set a dog blog up, so I think I shall be doing this. I learnt so much about my digital footprint and digital legacy now I am mindful about how I post and how, god for bide anything did happen to me, how to make sure that me digitally will be safe. I never heard of Coggle. What a revelation! This tool will help me formulate my ideas and essays when I go to university. I’m a but on the fence about Doodle and with respects the LinkedIn, I am most defiantly Linkedout.

SO what next? Through working through the activities in the badges I have come across a leadership badge which I am going to undertake. My collegues and friends have been struggling with remote learning and the constant rigmoral of online working. I have suggested these badges to them. ALthough there are 23 of them, they are so quick and easy to complete and you can talk away to your hearts content. Because it is a blog, it means that your writing doesn’t have to be bland and formal like normal reflective accounts are. THis is probably why I have loved working through them. At the moment is it 5:45 and I am “just finishing off” - I’m addicted!!

What’s next with respect to this badge?

I’m unsure. Obviously I will and am apply all my learning into my practice. I hope to develop the digital platforms for my setting, or look at my new setting. As a wise old owl, I already advise my students to be mindful about what they are posting on social media. I am thinking about making a directory of the badges that I have completed across the SSSC open badge platform for others to use as a reference. I am unsure who to develope a 23things resource for my organisation...... but.....watch this space. I like developing.

I may have mentioned previously that I work in a Local Authority Early Years Establishment and recently, because of COVID-19 lockdown we have all be working remotely apart from the time we get to spend in the hubs. I have no idea how we would have managed this Without the use of emails, mobile phones and the internet. We wouldn’t have been able to share information and knowledge, keep relationships between everyone going and communicating with management. The access to the internet meant that we could develop our skills remotely and work collaboratively on projects. FOr example, just this very week the preschool team I am in had to work together via Zoom to develop a virtual graduation, videos and comments about each of our children, who we may never see again ( I wont see any because I am leaving for a new job in August).... We couldn’t have done thing without the digital world. Similarly, the centre has been keeping InTouch with the families using mobiles phones, emails and Twitter. We have sustained connections where in a world with not technology may have become fractured. We are in unprescentede times and new information about how we should and will present in the next academic year is coming out from the government all the time. DIgital technology has allowed us to share and collaborate with the parents to ensure that the transition back into the nursery is as smooth as possible.

That’s the positives, maybe we need to think of the negatives. One thing I have noticed since working remotely and communicating with my team is that we are all working on different technology and the work we are doing doesn’t set out the same on different media types. Secondly, technology costs so are we expecting everyone to buy technology so that we can communicate. There is a poverty barrier and the risk of pushing parents into debt. I am a parent myself. In my house I have 2 children ( teenagers) and a husband who are all trying to work remotely and using the internet at the same time. THis doesn’t work. I feel that we are in the fortunate situation where we can afford for each of us to have technology which we can use to engage with the outside world and google classrooms, Microsoft Teams, Zoom..... all of them. WE have had to buy an adaptor to boost our internet because we are all trying to use it at the same time. Now imagine there 4 people in the house, all needing to work at the same time and only having 1 computer or a slow / dial up or 3G internet. Scottish execuative have stated that all children will have the access to a chrome book to access the remote learning which I think goes a little way to reduce the poverty barriers to this type of communication and work.

I was looking through the list of other apporaches and the only 2 that shot out as sort of suitable is that of the virtual reality and the wearable technology. The reason for my choices are as followed. I work children and these children need enhanced transitions into new rooms and schools. THe use of VR would support this in the current climate because it would give the child a platform to explore their new enviroment and what the new normal would look like. THis does not outweigh the importance of real life transitions. Secondly the wearable technology. I would love to get a glimpse of what the children are hearing and seeing and saying. This would give us practitioners an insight into their world and from there we would be able to adapt the enviroment. Recently I was listening to a webinar on SOcial language and communication in the Early Years SUmmit and one of the researchers said that she had attached go pro’s to the children and recorded to level of communication in different areas of the setting and then established which areas were language enriched. I would LOVE to do this. Wearable technology would show how active a person or a child has been which would be of benefit. I come from a cardiology background ( random, I know) and we use to attach wearable ECG machines and blood pressure machines to people to see what their circadian rhythms were thoughtout the day.

Digital Legacy : You are a legend !

I am a parent and wife and healthy. I pay into a pot for my pension ( only because I have visions of living like a nomad travelling the world in a VOlxwagon camper van teaching English to children and volunteering at schools, and watching the sun set and rise in hot climates. I have a will ( although there isn’t allot to share ) but I never considered my ‘digital legacy” and actually, I need to be honest.... I didn’t know what a digital legacy was. I have had a good look through all the information which was relevant to me: for example social media and banking. I am fortunate that I trust my husband explicitly so he knows my passwords and I know his and as for banking, its joint aswell as our savings. I’m a bit of a wannabe stevejobs but still technophobe so I always back my stuff up in case I do something and the whole lot crashes before my very eyes.

My mortality isn’t something I really think about, I don’t know what I would like to happen to my information when I die. I’m a person who thinks that it’s not up to me to decide what happens to my social media platforms etc because i wont be around to see it ( although, I will be haunting those from the after life who have hacked me off during the life). This badge has made me face it and I intend to explore the digital legacy association website to understand more. I work with very young children and although I support them through bereavement and I am sure that I will be supporting some of them with this once we return to the “ new normal” I don’t think they will be worried about the digital legacy aspect of death. I’m sure if I was working in adult services, I would be blogging at a completely different angle.

From this badge I am going to do a couple of things

1) research digital legacy a wee bit more....from a personal perspective

2) write down all the details for all my accounts, passwords etc and put them in a box and add it as an instruction in my will.

Now I think I is Gin o’clock after researching and writing this blog.

This blog is supportive evidence to go towards the above badge.

Well, number 20 out of 23....... getting there.

Collaboration. I have down loaded doodle and Padlet and have dipped my toes into both. I have to be honest I more of a survey Monkey type of gal , however, even that has its limitation especially when you are looking at getting a big cohort of results. Doodle was very easy to make a survey. 4 steps and you were there. The limitation of this was that there was no room to expand any of the questions or to make more questions. I am not sure whether it’s Doodle or me, so once this blog is finished, I shall be going back into it to have a play around ( I am currently in work mode, so playing with new technology / apps, albeit for a work based activity isn’t high on my agenda.... I can do this tonight when I am sitting mindlessly looking at the TV) I have noticed that doodle makes you change your settings so that a person can only vote once. I have never considered this before and i am not sure whether this is the same on SUrvey monkey, because if it is, then my data for my HNC project may or may not have been skewed.

There’s always a risk when you are collaborating with others, it’s the same as social media. There are those who will take your work and use it as their own ( been there and worn the T-shirt ) and there are those who may adapt the work creatively so that it can be misconstrued. A good example of this is WIkipedia. Anyone can go on and add to the information, so when one is using it as a source of knoweldge and information, one needs to be very mindful that they take due diligence and check their sources and ensure that the information you have read on one page is repeated on other platforms. One other problem with collaborating and collaborating through the medium of text is that they can be misinterpreted and that people feel braver to express their opinions and emotions #keyboardwarriors.

This is a rare occasion where. I feel that I have very little to comment on the COllaboration. I’m not sure why and this is something which I will need to take into consideration. In September I am embarking on my Masters in Education ( I may or may not have mentioned this like a million of times since I set this blog up) - most of it will be online and so there will be a lot of time for collaboration, so i think I will stop this blog here. Should any other gold nuggets arise, I shall either edited this post or add another. But for now, this is me signing off.

SSSC Open Badge work : Digital Leader badge #19 : Apps# 2

This blog is to act as evidence submission for the above badge.

I have said it before, and I have the evidence of 11 weeks worth of notes in my house. Paper everywhere !! I have moved on a wee bit, I now have iCloud, OneDrive and google photos and no longer search for my USB stick ( although I did catch myself using it in work recently because I didn’t have the time to log into my online storage).

When I realised that I was going to be off work for a long time due to being in lockdown ( which I am still quite enjoying) my gorgeous husband went out an bought me this goooochy iPad that I can write on, take notes with a pencil which costed more than my whole wardrobe of clothes. It’s very kind, but I cant retain the information when I am typing notes, I am a visual learner who benefits from writing. So one note ( or I use good notes if I’m honest) is there, and I do use them but not all the time. If I want to make a shopping list I either tell Alexa to keep on for me and then she sends me a list or a type it into Facebook messenger or in my notes on my phone.

So that’s the negative part of the badge evidence submitted, now the positive. I have heard about clouds, and often make word clouds, however I have never experienced Coggle before. What a fabulous app! It’s now downloaded onto my iPad and I am sure I will be using it in the future. I have attached my first attempt at a mind map ( again, I usually draw them ), to be put on the spot to make one, I found challenging, so I bare with me.....it will take time and practice.

Badge 18 : Social Media 2

I am a person who is now the wrong side of 40. I have said in previous blogs that I started out on social media using MySpace and Beebo then migrated with my old university friends onto the new platform called “ facebook”! Still use this today 13yrs on. Since then I have dipped my toe into Instagram and Twitter ( don’t get me started about Tiktok.... I really don’t see the point)

So I have a sound social media presence and this is how the majority of the population communicate with each other and find information. I feel that a strong move towards the use of this platform in the education sector would be useful ( excluding those children who are not allowed to be seen on it - GDPR) . This got me thinking about our ( ELCC) presence on social media. WE have Twitter but it’s not utilised aswel as I feel that it could. I have seen other centres use Twitter to share learning and have the key workers each with their own page so that they can share what their group has been doing so the families can get an instantaneous image and the centre can get feedback and communication. I feel that we could be doing this. I don’t feel that the centre would benefit from the use of any other social media platform, simply because we are not trying to sell our product, we have a catchment area, it’s more about parental involvement and celebrating what our children and practitioners are doing.

I had a good look at the SSSC on Social media, more importantly Twitter and this is because I had the platform open as I was working on it at the same time as doing this badge. I was really insightful. There was a lot about COVID-19 and adult care but also I noticed that there were discussions about different badges and the Leadership badge is one which I am going to take a look at once all 23 of the digital badges have been complete. I was drawn to the appreciative inquiry post. I almost fell down a rabbit hole, looking at this page, and I had to drag myself back to the real purpose was delving into the depths of the SSSC twitter page. I’m guessing this will be some light reading tonight.

This is me signing off

Urm.... okay.... OER? Open Educational Resources. This is something which I have not heard about until I opened the SSSC information on the subject. I have worked remotely for 11weeks ( give or take as I have also been in the hub working), I have done online work and courses all my adult life, I have even trained induviduals on a specific subject, but never realised that I could have used these type of resources. Until now, I have made my own PowerPoint presentations and referenced like a would when writing an essay. These OER’s can be used in so many different ways. I could / will from now on use them to support training ( should I ever be asked to do one again), I could use them to develope my centres website and conversations with parents.....although, now I am reflecting on our practice, I / we have inadvertently used OER’s with our parents and fellow educators to share ideas and information about specific areas of the curriculum and enviroment. I feel though...and I talk from experience from being a person who has been on the receiving end of an OER that sometimes, the materials are set up in such a way to support the cause and that could be a bit of a limitation from that aspect, but then, a good practioner, trainer, advisor would check the information before using it and then adapt or add to it so that it is more suitable for the reason it is being used.

It is material which I have used, adapted but I never realised that there was an actual name for it. Even though there is no copyright on the material ( something worth checking), it is still advisable to reference where the material has come from.

This blog is to provide the evidence required to achieve the above open badge.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw us all into a world of digital learning unknown. I have been asked to reflect on myself as a digital learner and the skills required

Self Confidence : I scored myself a 3. Just average. The way I would build my confidence up it to look at where I started and where I have got to in terms of digital learning. I can not negotiate most learning and interactive platforms with relative ease and the idea of a Zoom call or a teams call doesn’t put the fear of god into me.

Motivated : I love learning. Fullstop. SO to have an opportunity to study at my hearts content in subjects which I am motivated to learn more about AND get paid for it is amazing. I have scored myself a 4, however, I should have been a 5, but my self confidence put a stop to that score..........

Positive Attitude : Again, I scored myself a 4. I do what I need to do and maybe more. The waking up in the morning knowing that I am going to need to be tied to my laptop for another 7hrs learning / working doesn’t put the fear of dread into me. I didn’t score myself a full 5 simply because, there are days where I feel... less positive and this is due to environmental and mental health issues ( the pandemic does this to you) to get to a 5 I would need everything as an equilibrium which, during a pandemic where you are an Early Years officer, mentor, counsellor but also find yourself a primary school teacher, secondary school teacher, caretaker, cleaner and dinner lady all at once, it is not.

Good communication skills : I scored myself a 4. I am not perfect, hence not a 5. THere are times where ( probably through reading my blog, you will be able to understand this) I have an idea and try to put it down into words but get all muddles and I’m pretty bad at interrupting from time to time. All theses can be managed with time and precision which I something I have very little of at the present.

Good Collaborator : On the whole I feel that I work well in a team, even today I spent 2hrs on a teams, Team call collaborating with my collegues. There are times, I feel that my input is taken off me and someone else takes the credit....this really peeves me so I find myself keeping information / knowledge and only share is necessary. This would take me to a 5 instead of the 4 I put myself in.

Compentant ICT - 11 weeks back I would have put myself as a 5. 3 weeks back I would have put myself as a 2 but now I am a 3 or a 4. I can negotiate many different platforms and manoever through them.

Looking at these skills I don’t feel that they differ much from the skills needed for a traditional approach as you are required to use all theses skills, but in a slightly different way ( face to face t start with....)

This blog is to support my application for the above section of the SSSC open badge.

PING! “ You have mail”

Emails are something which I have used for years and years, but I don’t recall ever actually being taught, more learning as I went and asking questions to solve problems.

I have been that person who accidentally sent the wrong email to the wrong person and then had to frantically recall it, hoping I can get to it before the recipient. I have CC’d. BCC’d, added attachements, multiple recipients and even have my own signature. So when I saw that Emails were part of the course I thought “ this will be a quick one”

However, I was wrong. I learnt a lot! I never realised what the CC and BCC stood for, the reasons why they were there and how they were different, although, I have used them in the past and normally because I was sending the email to a number of different people. I also didn’t realise that you can sort your emails in order of urgency. I think that I am going back to my Scouting community to talk about Emails because I feel that we could address how they are being used.

This post is to provide supporting evidence for the SSSC23 badge work.

I have to say readers.... I am not convinced..... I have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email, WhatsApp, Messenger.. Teams, Zoom groups - do I really need another platform to share me? Sorry LinkedIn.... I’m Linkedout.... All my social media pages are customed for my audience. Nowhere will you find me in my PJ’s, makeup slid from my face half cut ( although my 40th birthday party pictures were a bit iffy from the end of the night, and I am eternally great full to my husband for not taking pictures of me the next day when I had to get up early for my daughters Basketball tournament....didn’t plan that one well...) or a post ranting about children or a school or a place or work. Never do you see the true trauma that can be my life. Life is hard and as a mum with a teenager who is autistic and has ADHD and now we are homeschooling and home working ( although I do get the go to the hub to work with other children from time to time) things can get tough, but you never see this on my pictures/ posts/ hashtags/ tweets. I share an image I want the world to see so do I need yet another social media page just for my professional usage?

However, I still need to explore the app. I have owned an account for a number of years, at times I dip in and out of it, but don’t seem to get much from it. I have requested to joint the SSSC open badge page ( approval pending) and I have followed the following groups: Scottish early years team, Care and Learning Alliance, Nurture Scotland, EY resources. So, I shall wait to see if this moulds my LinkedIn page so that I am more inclined to use it.

So, as part of the SSSC 23things digital badge, I have been asked to review the use of apps in my workplace and how it benefits our practice. I work in an Early Years setting, so electronics isn’t something we are particularly enthralled at encouraging within our room, many of our children have access to the internet / gaming/ YouTube at home and in terms of assisted technology, the children in our room use manual choice boards / pecs and Makaton / sign for communication. Other apps for example : Talking Mats will be used when the children are older.

As Early Years Educators we are required to look at how the children are learning, what they are learning and what the next steps would be. We have paper documents all through our setting which is nice to have ( as everything is moving digitally), but it is quite time consuming to look for a next step / bechmarks/ E’s and O’s through hundreds or pages of paper or squint at teeny weeny charts which has crammed all the information onto 1 A3 page.

When I became a mature student ( mature in the sense of age, but little else) I needed short cuts so that I could keep my thinking speedy. I downloaded the Curriculum for Excellence App for my Samsung Phone. First of all. It was only £1.99. So I was happy to spend that amount ( I never spend money on apps, but this I saw as an investment) . It is so easy to negotiate through. You select the level you want to look at, for me it was early level, then the specific curriculum area. After a couple of touches, you are in the space you need to find the E’s and O’s Which match the observation you are recording. As simple as that! Also with the app, it has Benchmark, these are the stages at which a child / person has to achieve before they can be recognised as achieved this E’s and O. WIth respects security. I do not need to log into the app or share my data so there is no information to be taken ( except the analytics of where it is being used and how often from my phone settings) AND it updates regularly to ensure that we have the most up to date information at our fingertips.

SO in conclusion : Review of the Curiculum for excellence app

Usefulness - invaluable on time and current thinking

Ease of use - a Couple of click and you are there.

Access = font large

Value for money - £1.99 isn’t going to break the bank and if you plan to stay in early years it will be worth it.

SO, my next challenge on the SSSC23 badge highway is Twitter....whoop whoop....simples......

Not simples. I have learnt 2 things about me on this process

A) I like things as they are.... I get confused when we talk about analytics and lists... if it works, then don’t fix it.

B) I just fumble my way through the Twittersphere and end up where I want to be - more of an educated guess than an informed journey. It’s not true what they say about the journey being more important than the destination. Especially when you consider my Twitter usage.

As part of the badge I have been asked to define the following terms....so here it goes.....

Tweet - this is what I post

Follow - These are the agencies / people who I want to see more post from and so by pressing the “ follow” button I will get to see the most recent tweets....

Feed : This is my wall. This is where I will see things from those I follow or from hashtags I have used in the past.

Direct message : This is a private messenger service on Twitter similar to Mesenger on Facebook

Hashtag : this helps categorize tweets

Mentions : If you are wanting a specific person to see a post then you add their HANDLE onto your Tweet with an @

Handle : Your Username on Twitter.

This blog is to support my submission of the SSSC 23 Digital badge : Podcasts

I have been using podcasts for years........ mainly when I am doing long journeys in the car or when I need to listen to something as I fall asleep. Normally I use TED talks and Infinite Monkey Cage ( other podcasts are available).

Where does the USB doofer go?

WHERE’s MY DONGLE! If I have lost it once, I have lost it a million of times. This USB stick contains my life’s work. This tiny flimsy bit of plastic and metal keeps me from time consuming searches and making of materials. I felt I was advanced with my saving of work - I use to save on a floppy disk!

I live in a household of 4 induviduals, all of who needs access to the internet and computers, all at the same time and all equally important. My darling husband felt my frustrations and bought me an iPad and keyboard so that I could do my work on. My first question was ( after I shrieked with excitement) “ where do I put my USB?

Now, reader, I consider myself a compentant computer user but at the start of lockdown I was opened to a whole new way of saving work..... I have a GMAIL ( googledrive) and Apple Account ( ICloud) but I also have a GLOW account which comes with a OneDrive. This is what I use to save all my work and I can now upload this work onto an email to sent to my manager at the end of each week! wowzers. Now the question I need to put to myself is “ why havnt I done this before?” This is because it’s different. FOr those of a certain age... can you remember the large proper floppy disks? Then they moved into the smaller “floppy disks” which you could right protect, then we had the SD drive, then the USB drive and now welcome to the 21st Centurary.... THe CLoud!