Elklan Training

[Fredbear]

Hi you knowledgeable fantastic bunch, i am part of a Elklan training programme starting in Jan 2011, i have been given a digital camcorder and have to film myself with a child interacting in any situation within the setting, or routine of the day. We will then take them back to our next training session for evaluation and discussion.

Any useful tips on filming, recording as i have never done this before would be greatfully received.

Edited November 13, 2010 by bridger

[Guest]

Sorry I don't have a tips on the filming - I didn't have to do that thanks goodness! But I just wanted to say I've found the Elklan training some of the very best I've been on in the last year or two. It's been really interesting, I've actually learnt something new as opposed to having my thinking reinforced, and it is so practical to apply. I would recommend it to anyone and I hope you enjoy it.

[Steve]

Thanks for that both - for anyone like me who hadn't heard of Elklan before, you can find more information here.

[mundia]

Hi bridger, I agree with holly, this will be fantastic for your staff development. Although I'm not familiar with the Elklan training as such, we do use a lot of videoing in our settings now to film interactions and support self reflection, and language development. Once people get over their nerves of being filmed and then having to talk about it, almost everyone feeds back very positively about the experience and where it has led their practice.

 

In terms of the actual filming, Id just spend some time getting used to how the camera works. Try it out in your setting first, then get whoever is going to film you to do the same. I find snack or meal times are a great 'first' part of the day to film but that's a personal favourite. It really can be anything that is natural to what you do (not contrived just for the camera)

 

Im sure we will look forward to hearing how you are getting on.

[finleysmaid]

sorry no tips on filming ( that's not much help is it! ) Bridger could you give me a rough estimate on cost for this course...i can see the website suggest a variety of prices but a ball park figure would be great

p.s. which level are you doing

[Fredbear]

Firstly sorry for the spelling error well it is early "greatfully" "gratefully" whoops.

Thank you for your comments. I am really looking forward to it, if not a little apprenhensive mainly about the filming part. I am really keen to bring parent/carers on board in the process especially as we have a receptive group at the moment.

I am going to give it a go next week which should be fun after getting written permission from parents.

Thank you for your comments and look forward to receiving anymore.

Also thanks Steve for posting the website for anyone else that maybe interested.

[Fredbear]

Hi finsleymaid our local authority in partnership with the Speech and Language Team are putting this course on for us for free.

Groups were invited to come along to an introduction session to see if we would like to be involved. The idea is for one person from each group that are represented to do the training for ten weeks and hopefully become a champion with a recognised accreditation, and from that to share amongst others, ie parents, staff and other professionals.So quite an exciting project will keep you posted on how its going.

[finleysmaid]

ooh you are lucky our LEA seem to be slighlty lacking when it comes to exciting training at the moment. ..i find we are increasingly having to source our own ( our lea charge us for most of theirs anyway now) perhaps that's an idea for a new thread ...might save me a bit of research time! Have a great time and tell us how it goes...if you cascade all your info on here does that fulfill some of your criteria

[nickylear]

Ohhh, I'd not heard of Elklan before, seems very interesting. I'm on the ECaT programme as an early lead language practitioner, I've been carrying out observations in my setting using a whole host of ICT to record.

 

We have two micro-phones that the children use to record themselves & I've accidentally recorded myself for a whole hour. (I was dreading listening to it, however even when I was having a grumble, it was fine, more importantly my reluctant talkers will tend to use the mirco phones)

 

We use child friendly camcorder, (both children & adults) & I use my own camera to take photos & video. As well as actively recording I leave the camera switch on record on the shelf & see what it picks up. I then transfer the files asap into files on my pc. (cross reference to childs profile)

 

I'm not sure if my approach fits in with the Elkan approach but I like the idea of leaving the recorders turn on without actively making observations as pupils & staff often act differently when being observed (Hawthorn effect I think???) I'm also trying to use parts of the mosaic approach in my observations, I think it's really important to see your setting from the child’s view.

 

Not sure if all of that's of any use, he he hope your course goes well.

[Fredbear]

Yes everybodies ideas, comments and suggestions are always great to have and thank you.

[Hello Kitty]

I did the training in 2006 and we had to record speech but thankfully not on video

I would position it so it captures what you want then leave it running and try to forget about it if you can.

I found the training so good I sent another member of staff who was an excellent practitioner but very quiet and lacking in confidence. It really brought her out of herself as she had the assignments to complete in the setting so had to speak up and say what she needed Did the trick though and she is now a very competent deputy! So it has other uses apart from the obvious supporting children aspect.