Observing Play and Creativity
Introduction
Play and creativity are essential to students while they are learning. It enables them to achieve various milestones in their education-related matters. It is suitable for the teacher to encourage the children to engage in various activities to build upon their skills. This document is a discussion about observing play and creativity in children and how to enable such an environment. The role of adults in ensuring children’s play and creativity will also be discussed in the document. I will always conduct myself with honesty and integrity, ensure not to violate anyone’s rights, and always take responsibility for my actions.
Observation to support learning
Observing children is very important for a teacher. A teacher may decide to use formative assessment strategies to observe the children in many ways. Formative assessment is when the teacher observes the children as they perform their classroom activities outside the classroom (Black & Wiliam, 2009). The teacher observes as the student learns strategies to carry out various tasks in the environment. The tutor gets credible information to advance their students’ skills from their interactions with the environment. One disadvantage of formative assessment is that it may take a longer time for the teacher to observe most students. Formative assessment differs from the summative assessment (Dixson & Worrell, 2016). Summative assessment is given to the students at the end of a unit. In contrast, formative assessment follows ongoing observations and feedback from the students.
Formative assessment is beneficial because the teacher can better understand the children when they observe them because they learn the children’s strategies and know-how they have understood lessons taught in class. Most importantly, the teacher needs to be able to discern the students’ behavior in any situation. While they observe the students, they become familiar with the child’s way of thinking, fears, and engagement with the environment. From that, the students’ behavior is well understood by the teacher, making it easier for the teacher to make predictions that are specific to the child. The connections with the environment tell the teacher a lot about their surroundings most probably feel safe about. Therefore, the teacher can create a conducive environment for their students and even plan the activities they would better appreciate.
Observation
For this study’s success, I observed the ‘play leaders’ video to learn more about children’s play and creativity. This video consisted of several play leaders responsible for coordinating other younger players’ actions in the game. Play leaders are children that stand-in in the position of the teachers during the game. They are allowed to give the others instructions regarding the game and even report children contrary to the set rules and the instructions issued. The play leaders demonstrated how play and creativity are useful to a child’s educational experiences.
There was so much to observe from the video. First was the responsibility that the play leaders had on the other students. I observed the play leaders ruling over the other younger children and ensuring they coordinate their activities. They led the gameplay and ensured that all the people enjoyed and played their part. The children were also working as a team. They were cooperating in their activities so that the ball does not fall off. The cooperations demonstrate team works that are enhanced as the children take part in activities in the game. The fun attached to the game made the students continue interacting and working as a team. The teacher was present amid the students but was not concerned with the students that much. The play leaders were incharge of the other younger students relieving the teacher of her duties.
Another observation I made was that the children were communicating with each other well. For the leaders to relay instructions to the subordinates, they had to share and ensure that the instruction recipient gets the information and acts accordingly. At some point, the game leaders had to clarify instruction so that the children get to understand them well. Further on communication was the smaller children’s ability to pass their ideas and opinions to the play leaders. I observed the children use respectful language while speaking with the play leaders. They were more cautious with the language than they were when communicating with their peers. Moreso, I observed the fun and creativity that the children had. They were happy and used various strategies to play the games appropriately.
Importance of play and creativity
Play and creativity can be termed as a crucial part of the learning curriculum. The students must get encouraged to play more and even engage in creative activities because of the benefits linked to such activities. Play is a way of making children learn (Ginsburg, 2007). As the children play, they practice different skills that they have learned in the classes. For instance, children practice how to communicate in different contexts. The children would have to interact while playing to pass instructions and even communicate other matters relating to the game. As they do so, they learn how to express their ideas and comprehend the concepts given to them by the others in the game (Ginsburg, 2007). All these communication skills are taught in the classroom by the teachers.
Play enhances the interaction of the students. The more they play, the better the friendships formed. This is because, during play, issues such as sharing are enhanced. Children need to share ideas when playing. They need to form teams that compete with each other. The teams created to display the interaction between the students and improve the relationships between them. Also, playing teaches the children interaction skills that they have learned from the lessons. They put them into practice and become more conversant with the skills in interactions. Conflicts arising from the interactions are also solved during the play (Bateson et al., 2013). This shows that the children learn to solve community interactions during play, making it essential for the children to play.
Creativity is enhanced in play (Bateson et al., 2013). As the children play, they interact with different materials in the environment. Interactions with songs in the games they are playing make the children develop a musical rhythm that is useful for the children who become artists in the future. They learn how to move with rhythm and become conversant with the right ways to sing and create their creative content. Also, for the games that the children interact with technology, such as the games in their assistive devices, they learn how to use the assistive devices better and even get used to interacting with them. As they interact with the materials, they become more creative in their endeavors.
Relating observations
From the play leaders video, I learned the importance of allowing children to play and be creative. The first observation was that of the play leaders. They were responsible for the other younger students. They passed orders that were to be followed by the others and coordinated the activities of the game. I watched as the leaders gave orders to the students. Play and creativity are a perfect way for the children to practice the things they have learned in the classroom (Bateson et al., 2013). Seeing the children communicate by passing instructions to the younger ones demonstrates that they are using their classroom skills. In the class, they learn how to speak, and during the playtimes, they get to practice what they have learned.
I also observed the cooperation of students. The students cooperated in the activity concerning the ball. The ball was not expected to fall; hence the children worked together to ensure that the ball did not fall. As they were doing so, they had to cooperate because each child was holding a cloth piece. One child’s action would have made the ball fall, and therefore, the children had to work together. This enables the students to learn how to work as a team. Working as a team is a skill that is taught in schools (Ginsburg, 2007). The students had a chance to practice working as teams by working together to achieve the game’s goal. This demonstrates that the students were applying the teamwork and cooperation techniques that they were being taught.
Students learn how to be responsible through play. The play leaders had a responsibility to ensure that the others do not break the game rules. They were also to ensure that the activities in the game are well-coordinated among the children. Also, they had a responsibility to solve conflicts that may arise from the interactions with the students. Finally, the students had the mandate of showing the younger students the path to follow by being their role models. All these present responsibilities that had been assigned to the game leaders. Taking up responsibilities is an issue that is taught in schools. Having the children know how to be responsible enhances their studies by reinforcing the need to be more responsible and the strategies to take at various situations.
Play is fun practice for the students. The younger children needed to communicate with the play leaders. To pass their complaints, opinions, or ideas, the children needed to include respect when they spoke to the superiors. They displayed more respect to the leaders, mainly because they were older than them or were given the mandate to manage the gameplay. These issues of talking to leaders with courtesy are taught in the classroom. During playtime, the students practice how to talk to peers and the best way of talking to the leaders. They also practice expressing themselves and clarifying the points that they are disseminating to the people. The environment, in this case, enables the student to practice what they have learned through play. This shows that there is a significant impact that the environment has on the studies of the child.
Play enhances the creativity of the students. The children needed acceptable levels of creativity to ensure that they maintain the ball correctly. The students used life skills such as decision-making to develop the various strategies that need to be taken to ensure that the ball does not fall off. With this, they demonstrated the ability to think and find solutions for the problems they were experiencing. Play enhances children’s thinking and makes them more creative on life-related matters and even other issues. They become used to getting solutions and end up being successful in the careers they are interested in doing. The advantages of allowing the children to play are more convincing.
Adults play a significant role in enhancing a child’s play nature (Weisberg e al., 2013). They either give the child the chance to play or inhibit the child’s growth through play. Adults need to understand the essence of giving children the time to play and enhance their creativity. This is because the students can learn through playing different games. Several people give children the time to enjoy their playful activities, and it is a commendable act because they enable the children to developmentally and physically. Some adults inhibit the children from performing such activities, and that is not good. For these students, more playful activities need to be encouraged so that they use more creativity to solve issues in the community. They also need to learn from the play leaders and ensure that they can easily communicate with others. Therefore, enabling the students’ environment to be conducive and supporting the plays would help them achieve more milestones in their studies.
Conclusion
I think it is suitable for children to be given ample time to play the games they wish to play. Talents grow through the children’s playful activities. They practice what they have learned in classes and even develop life skills. Giving them the freedom to play would enhance their skills on various matters and ensure that they are conversant with many life issues. For primary education, my personal view is that the children be given an excellent time to play and do creative activities because the benefits outweigh the problems.
Personal Reflection
Response
The use of peer feedback in an online learning environment offers several distinct advantages, including increasing the timeliness of feedback, providing new learning opportunities for both givers and receivers of feedback, humanizing the ground, and building community. By asking students to provide constructive feedback, instructors invite them to participate in each other’s learning and thus achieve greater understanding and appreciation for their peers’ experiences and perspectives. Moreover, by engaging students in the feedback process, meaningful interaction increases interaction with peers and interaction with the discussion postings’ content, promoting students’ satisfaction with the course and with the instructor. If used effectively, both instructor and peer feedback can increase the quality of discourse and the online environment’s quality of learning. In addition to the benefits of receiving adequate feedback, students may also benefit from giving peer feedback. It is evident that when asked to offer feedback to peers, students progress beyond the cognitive processes required for completing a given task, as they must now read, compare, or question ideas, suggest modifications or even reflect on how well one’s work is compared with others. Counterparts’ feedback has less impact than that provided by the course facilitator, which makes it easier for learning to occur. The students also have the chance to look at their counterparts’ work that might have performed better than them. This makes it easier for them to learn from their partners and have a good look at work correctly done. It is easier for students to learn from each other. This gives them the premise to improve their work as they get to know from others and use the information to better their position.
Feedback
By carrying out Activity 7.4, I learned that it is suitable for teachers to use feedback when teaching online. Feedback is essential to the students because it enables them to gain new learning opportunities and experiences. Also, the teacher can build a community by encouraging feedback from the students. As the instructors invite them to participate in each other’s learning, they form an organization to easily share ideas and opinions on various matters. The sharing of concepts helps the students understand what the teacher is relaying to them and even to have different perspectives regarding the discussion. The children can improve their work when the teacher gives them feedback. This sums up the need for teachers to encourage and provide feedback to the students.
Teachers can encourage students in feedback activities. It is possible and beneficial for better learning experiences. When the teacher decides to keep inspiring the students and engage closely with them, they will form a community and enhance their skills and understanding. Providing feedback on each other’s work is a good activity carried out by other teachers and students. This activity enables the children to learn how to criticize issues and have diverse knowledge in the study subject. By sharing the ideas, the teacher can achieve more by making the students understand the topic deeply.
Acting on feedback
One issue that the tutor highlighted was the use of the PEEP sentence structure. From the feedback, I have learned that the best way to write a paragraph is by starting with the point. The evidence supports the topic, followed by the explanation for the issue and relations to the evidence given, and finally is a link to the next paragraph of the document I am writing. This method has assisted me a lot in writing ad structuring the points in further documents. Another area observed is the formatting of paragraphs. I was having issues with formatting styles, and the tutor had to highlight and teach me ways that I could use to align my work nicely and format the document correctly. Such feedback has helped me improve on formatting, and I am working towards perfecting most formatting techniques.
Such feedback is essential and encouraged me to perform what I am expected to in society. The feedback would improve the quality of my assignments because the issues identified are related to writing. For instance, the need to learn formatting styles and techniques bring about improvements in future documents. The sentence structure is also essential because I will write better paragraphs as I continue with my future learning experiences.
TMA Self-Assessment Checklist
Tick one box which best reflects how you feel about each question:
1= fully confident
4= not at all sure
| Reflection | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| I have addressed the targets from my previous TMA | ü | |||
| I have included each element of the TMA according to TMA guidance and an ethical statement in line with BERA Guidance (see 5.3 of the Assessment Guide) Criterion 1 | ü | |||
| I have used the Right to ensure that in-text citations and reference lists are presented correctly. Criterion 1 | ü | |||
| I have kept to the required word count and included it at the end of each section of the assignment Criterion 1 | ü | |||
| I have discussed and evaluated the main points of the assignment Criterion 2 | ü | |||
| I have used essential vocabulary from the module to demonstrate my understanding Criterion 2 | ü | |||
| I have selected relevant information from the module materials to support my discussion Criterion 3 | ü | |||
| I have supported my discussion with examples of practice where appropriate Criterion 3 | ü | |||
| I have always cited the source when summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting from other people’s words. Criterion 3 | ü | |||
| I have maintained a formal written style throughout my assignment Criterion 4 | ü | |||
| I have presented my work in a series of coherent paragraphs Criterion 4 | ü | |||
| I have used a range of proof-reading strategies to ensure my assignment makes sense Criterion 4 | ü |
References
Bateson, P., Bateson, P. P. G., & Martin, P. (2013). Play, playfulness, creativity, and innovation. Cambridge University Press.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Accountability (formerly: Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education), 21(1), 5-31.
Dixson, D. D., & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Formative and summative assessment in the classroom. Theory into Practice, 55(2), 153-159.
Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191.
Weisberg, D. S., Zosh, J. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Talking it up: play, language development, and the role of adult support. American Journal of Play, 6(1), 39-54.