Description:
 In the entrance way, each child's picture and full name is displayed. These pictures were taken with the digital camera on the first day of school.  Taking these photos is a good way for me to become familiar with a new group of children.  The children love to see themselves on the display screen of the camera, and conversation is immediately initiated between the child and myself.  Also, the children are able to immediately become acquainted with a technological tool (digital camera) we will be using together throughout the school year.  Pictures of the staff and practicum students are added to the board as the year progresses.
     While entering the classroom, parents and children can often be found lingering in front of this board.  The children are very proud to see their pictures displayed in the classroom.  The printed names underneath each photo have helped some children develop name recognition skills.  Recognizing and writing names is an important skill for kindergarten children to have.  Some  children used the board to learn the names of their peers.  Parents have found the board useful in learning the names of the adults who work with their children and to become familiar with their child's friends.

Description:
     Seeing ones self as a competent reader is a crucial factor for success in reading throughout the school experience.  Thus, we work on ways to build confidence in this area right at the beginning of the school year.  This activity was planned to assist children in this process. 
     During our daily reading and writing times, the children repeatedly select Yuck Soup by Joy Cowley.  I can confidently say it is a classroom favorite.  Thus, I asked them to make a Yuck Soup book following Cowley's format.  To start, each child drew a picture of the ingredient they would like to add to the pot.  These drawings were scanned and inserted on to individual slides in Power Point.  Each child was then able to record his or herself reading their page.  The individual wave files were then inserted with the child's slide.  The sound files were set to play automatically as each child's scanned drawing and typed words appeared on screen. For example, "In go some socks."  A new slide appeared on the screen approximately every 7 seconds.  The last slide is a scanned image of the last page from Joy Cowley's book.  The voice recording was a simultaneous chant of the children saying "Yuck!" 

     Initially, the children are shown completed presentations during whole group instruction periods.  However, the children often gather around the computer during self-initiated times of the day to hear themselves and their classmates.  The above photo shows the children viewing a Power Point Presentation they made (with adult assistance) to introduce themselves to their peers at the beginning of the school year.  I did not include this presentation in my exhibits since the children recorded both their first and last names. 

Description:
     Learning how to write your name is an important skill for kindergarten children.  They write it on their work, art, and pictures to each other.  The children used Kid Pix for this lesson, and they enjoyed trying the different fonts and writing tools available for use.  Some of the children really liked adjusting the size of their print as well.  For some of the children, writing their names seems like a chore.  Using technology to write names utilized a different media than just paper and pencil.  For a few children, this new tool was a great motivator. 

Description:
     To help children further their self-concepts and develop fine motor abilities, we asked them to make portraits of themselves.  They were able to make their portraits both with and without the use of technological tools.

     For some children, the use of technology enabled them to make a more detailed representation of themselves.  For them, manipulating the mouse was easier than grasping and maneuvering a traditional writing utensil.  (See the example below). 

     For other children, the "paper and pencil" drawing was a more accurate representation.  The child who did the work below can often be found in the art or writing areas of the classroom during self-initiated time periods.  As a result, she is confident in her abilities to draw a self-portrait with markers.  Using the computer to do the portrait was much more challenging.

Description:
 Typically, children are limited to using "generic" people while playing in the block area or using the doll houses.  The figures selected for use are determined by roles (Ex.:  "I need a mom.") rather than meaningful relationships or connections.  Since we've been striving to develop children's self-images and esteem, we wanted them to be able to use replicas of themselves in these classroom areas.  Children's photographs were glued to cardboard rolls then covered with contact paper to make them more durable. 
     The children loved these cardboard people!  They made schools with the blocks and reenacted classroom events.  They also made houses and were able to pretend their friends were visiting their homes.  Surprisingly, children did not limit their use of the cardboard people to their favorite group of friends (as I predicted).  They tended to include each person in their play, even children whom they don't normally play with. 

Description:
     Because the University of Michigan-Dearborn's Child Development Center is open to children of faculty, staff, students, and community members, the children often do not live close to one another like you'd find in a neighborhood public school.  Children this age are acquiring knowledge of their street addresses and phone numbers, but for many this is still a challenging skill.  Thus, I often overhear the children talking about the name of the city in which they live.  Some of the children live in the Dearborn area, however others are coming from Canton, Saline, Northville, etc....  As a result, we looked up these cities using Yahoo Maps.  The children were able to find their city and compare distances traveled to school each day with their classmates.  Some children looked up distances between themselves and their friends houses using the Driving Directions tool.  We printed some of these directions for children to take home and share with their families with the hope that this would enable some families to make connections with each other.