Te Kau

 

Iwa

 Final day of DFI,  we have just finished the 3 hours exam and a delicious shared lunch, and Mark wants us to be reflective! 

I have enjoyed learning about the pedagogy of Manaiakalani.  I feel like a kid who has been given one of those gifts that is layer upon layer of wrapping paper, and each layer brings more excitement as we get closer to to the end. Although in this case there is no end.  I am hoping to take all the slide shows back and somehow keep looking at them.  I am wondering how I get the pedagogy embedded into my team along with regular blog posts. There is nothing like .........I have completely forgotten what I was going to say in that sentence or where it was going.  Is this age, tiredness or the distractions taking over.  Mark made the comment about Jen's blog and how good it was to read as it identifies her learning style. I would have to say I have learnt that I need a quiet space with little or no talking around me. The table next to me during this journey, has been noisy and at times I have found it difficult to work due to this.  Maybe that is why I have presently forgotten what I was typing!

It takes 14 days for the results of the exam to come back - that's funny in today's world of instant responses!  I am now just waffling so should stop as this may impact my profession! 

Waru

 DFI - second last session! For the first time ever, I have butterflies when I think of the exam which I know is more about reading the question correctly!

I am once again shattered today and finding coming up with something to reflex on difficult! Feel the bullet point side of my personality starting to take over!

Empowering - I am wanting to write something amazing and intelligent in regards to this but can't remember enough about it to make that comment! That is because I am tired not because it was boring, I assure you.  I will need to go back. The one thing that won't leave the front of my mind is economic inequality and how this is so prevalent in our country. Growing up in the peaceful Waitaki valley as a farmer's daughter who never wanted for anything then starting my teaching life in South Auckland reminds me of the economic injustice that is everywhere.  I loved South Auckland, I miss the joy and love for life those kids had. I have often holidayed in Auckland with my own children just to let them see how lucky they are, and how other kiwi's live while making the most of all they have. To be involved in something that is empowering children and their families is a pretty cool feeling! 

I completed the moral and ethic challenge in regards to the cars and the thoughts and discussion around that was great.  The balance of all this great technology and the essence of human life and the environment will always be a massive challenge to balance out.  In an ideal world, making money wouldn't be the underlying reason for doing anything. 

Enjoyed the coding - Especially the Minecraft one, we use Scratch a lot at the moment in our class and would like to look into Minecraft also!  So I made this comment as a reminder before I went on to the Create part of our agenda and discovered the website Code in an Hour with all of its amazing resources. So I have been lost in the world of The Grinch, Minecraft and Mini Mihi.  I like the idea of setting a coding challenge up for the kids on a Friday afternoon, reminded me of Stem challenges.  Something for our team to look into.

Oh this is short!  I am tired and ready to go get my beautiful daughter!  As said before, I have throughly enjoyed this PD and will somehow continue my learning process!  Here's till next week and the exam!  Can't wait!!

Whitu - DFI

 I can't believe we are up to our 7th lesson for DFI, the time has gone so fast and to be honest I am not looking forward to the time ending!  Wonder how I can get involved in DFI level 2?! 

The Cybersmart Session we great, I have only just started to beware of these amazing lessons, resources and ideas. Thank you to all involved in creating the concepts, lessons and resources! Talk about making my life easier!  The idea of elevating the positive and empowering the children to be smart online from a positive angle is refreshing, and yet something that has been around for a long time.  As someone who always sees the positive before anything else, which at times can be detrimental, it was great to see such a positive approach!  The approach of do instead of don't. I love the saying " The idea that everything is private was interesting too as I had never thought of sharing in that way, and presenting all information as personal, whether you choose to share it or not clarifies the concept of what is private so quickly while empowering those who chooses to share.

Hapara sounds amazing especially the visibility to the learners and the ease in which it seems to work and am looking forward to using that in the future! 

Explain Everything

Explain Everything    - So Marvellous Mark has been teaching myself and the class all about Explain Everything for the last three weeks.  Have to say I am a bit of a fan, of EE that is! Ok, and Mark! The children have embraced and run with Explain Everything, and we loved all the Toy videos that they have created. I have used them as modelling books in maths and the children quickly explain how they have solved problems - something I have struggled to get them to do using paper! To now see the potential I may embark on becoming an EE expert! The ideas are beginning to develop and I am excited about how this app can and will enhance my learning and the childrens! I will endeavour to add some of my EE videos! 

PS Managed to attach my class blog to the blog list Go the Gadgets!!

Ono

 Enabling Access

Wow what a day today was!  Loved every bit of it and wish it wasn't ending!  I have really enjoyed exploring the sites,  I think consolidating some of the earlier information that has been given to us, has been fantastic!  I can see the fog lifting and the embracing paying off!  Still way at the bottom of this amazing mountain but certainly enjoying the climb.  I am looking forward to next year when a bank of resources and knowledge behind me, has grown!  As I now explore the online tool kits, resources, weekly newsletter the MK have given us, I certainly have a better understanding of what they are about and how I can use them!  Makes me smile when I think of our DP coming back into a staff meeting a good 18 months ago and trying to tell us we would all be creating a site today to be used in class, most of us had very little idea of what she was talking about and why we would need a site, let alone spend time trying to use a programme very foreign to us, especially as we didn't have devices in our class. Boy how things have changed! I get it now, and the importance of laying a foundation for all learnings! 

My site is very basic and simple, it was good to get feedback from fellow colleagues and I have made a number of changes.  I am also asking myself a lot more about what it is I want the children to get from the activities on the site, the learning isn't as meaningful as I would like it so will keep making the changes! I have mastered the addition of audio on a number of slide shows which will be the weekend job!  I am hoping the lower children in class will thrive on this - although we don't have headphones we do have large plastic boxes they can stick their heads in for privacy!

Thank you Mark, Emily, Dorothy and Sharon for all the professional learning you have given and continue to give!!

I am a leader in PB4L at our school, and will now be putting all our resources onto a site so it is easier for the staff to find and again give them the experience of working with a site. Short post this time - access enabled and I am off to get my daughter - all about the balance of time!

Please explore my ever changing sites and give feedback if you feel the need!

Class Site

https://sites.google.com/nbc.school.nz/ohiaclasssite/home

Sight Words Site

https://sites.google.com/nbc.school.nz/sight-words/home

E noho rā

Libby!

Rima - DFI

Sitting listening to the WWW where everyone is talking about what they are doing and think, I am feeling I  am not doing near enough homework or is that home learning! To hear what some are doing and how they are using things was great I need a system where I am going back and using the rewindable learning so I don't forget anything.  This element, WWW, has made a number of lights go back on, can't believe I had forgotten so much in a week - is forgotten the right word I then ask? For me I have to go over things once or twice to make them stick, I guess I am lucky it is only once or twice and not 10 times as there is so much to remember. I had a moment with Mark today when creating a new site for my sight words when our wires and ideas were crossed and I had to start again. In reflection it was my desire to find the shortcut that landed us there.  I often find myself thinking there must be a quicker way to do this and then spending time searching when the first concept would of worked. Tech is always changing so much and so quickly, I do wonder if I am not equipped for the everyday updates!  And yes that massive clock at the front of my brain keeps appearing reminding me to keep looking up and keep the time and balance where it needs to be.  I feel like I have wasted this session a bit as I have drifted off into my own activity. I want to learn more about learning pathways and how I can use this with my literacy and maths planning, I will need to go back and explore the web sites in my own time!

The discussion on Collaboration this morning with Dorothy once again underlined one of the most powerful tools in teaching - sharing ideas, resources, experience etc has always been the biggest learning resource for me.  It is funny how things have changed, I can say that as I'm an old timer, when we were at university training all those years ago, we use to film ourselves so we could gain a better idea about how we were teaching. We would then sit and criticize each other of all the things we had done or not done. The thought of sharing that then, so openly was terrifying and yet now I have very different feelings towards filming myself and putting it out there for the world to see.  To be so open and confident that you are sharing your teaching to teach and help others puts such a different spin of things.  I haven't yet managed to video myself and put it up on my site, looking forward to that! 

Mark's comment "tired from teaching instead of tired from behaviour management' hit a chord with me. I often find myself asking 'why are they behaving in that way, what have I not done? 

I have enjoyed the journey of learning how to effectively use a class site. Prior to shutdown a few months ago I had never really send or even heard of a class site so to have created one and be using it everyday now it great fun.  My head now filled with what else can I use on for - sight words, inquiry, planning,  etc. I loved the idea shared of getting the kids to create the buttons for the class site to add more idendenty in it for the children.

I need to look more into multimodal to get more of that into my class.  "That" what is that!? I don't really know what multimodal is but am sure I will work it out.  I think that is one thing that I have really begun to take on during the DFI, a huge amount of information is presented to us, information that is incapulating, by thinking and remembering that all this information has a starting point and small steps are all that is needed to master all the learning makes it much easier to wonder through.

Here is the link to my DFI speed challenge - took me 5 min and 33 sec! 

https://sites.google.com/nbc.school.nz/dfi-speed-challenge/home

This is the sight words site I created for my class site! Need to complete all the audio, maybe a child could contribute to that! 

https://sites.google.com/nbc.school.nz/sight-words/home

Here's till next week!!

Wha - DFI

 I am exhausted today, not sure why so it is a short blog post with possibly little depth.  I am loving this journey, DFI has always been a interest and something I enjoy learning about, 20 odd years ago I use to help design web sites as a fun thing to do, wish I had followed the passion back then,life leads us round and round.  Which brings me back to the fact that I want to make sure I am using my time wisely and ensure the planning and  teaching I am doing with the children is something they and I can grow on therefore allowing ourselves to have a solid foundation for future years (and I get to spend time with my children). 

To have Share broken down to the simplistic concept of something that we have been doing since Adam and Eve and the happy feeling sharing brings us all has continued to brighten the light, and understanding of how sharing works within the pedagogy.  It has made me want to increase the amount of time I comment on present and past students blogs more.  To reflect on how I am sharing the children achievements now it is very limited to in the four walls of the classroom. I need to work on how I can increase the audience that sees how wonderful the children are.

I had my eyes opened to the My Maps element of Google, as I didn't even know this app was there. Once again my mind is swirling. I have planned my next road trip, actually it's a road trip I have been wanting to do for ages with my own children(one day), and I will challenge myself and my team to organise a treasure hunt around our school backyard for the school kids. Oh that reminds me I still haven't looked into Google Keep! 

I enjoyed having another look at Google Forms and changing how I use them. I use them a lot for reading comprehension but loved seeing how Sharon was using them in a much more sophisticated way! Have revisited my daily journal and changed that around for next week. This is something my kids loved during lockdown so we have continued it, I had been using the data as a maths focus during lockdown and haven't continued that but will now look at how we can get that going now too. 

At our team meetings we always begin by sharing whether we have Cares or Concerns, a way to share our professional experiences, opinion and worries - I will add to that a Slam Dunk segment so we can share what DFI success we have all had that week! Thanks Emily!

Toru - DFI

We start today on the reflection and realisation, that I had said I would learn to use Google Keeps last week ....... and haven't even looked at it!  Should of set myself a reminder! 

Connecting with Manaiakalani:

I sit listening and thinking about all that Dorothy shares and my own children always come to mind - I want my children to have experienced this style of learning and teaching! I can't help but think how different it may have been for them, especially for my daughter! Yes when I say own children I'm not only thinking of my class but my babies, who are teenagers and at the end of their schooling life! I wonder if it's not too late to start again!  I do get excited about all I can share with them, and can see them looking at me with those eyes that say "really mum, do I have to listen?'  It was good to see the create element again and to increase my understanding of it and the power creativity gives. Now to work out how to get it into my daily programme and teams outlook! I am excited about create, it looks fun, beneficial and empowering.  The words "problem solvers, communicators and collaborators' have stuck with me and to think I can contribute to creating children along those lines fills me with joy. To imagine the world fill of 'playfully creative people' makes me want to change the way I run our team meetings (as a starting point) - how can I get Learn, Create and Share into the agenda?  

Questions I have got from listening to Dorothy.

Am I looking at the whole person and the sensory elements? 

Am I remembering that creativity needs to be hands on and there needs to be lots of creating before the learning is cemented?

How do they create and not just watch it?

How do I see create differently, include it in my daily programme for my class and my team?

What stuck with me from the morning google meet, and I really want to follow up was the idea of school tv, chn sitting and watching that - in today's classroom where covid and rebuilds dictate space, instead of our assembly, school tv has an opportunity to begin!  Secondly, would be the The film festival idea - getting that in my class, then maybe the school sounds like a challenge I could enjoy.

Luckily, my colleagues has just pointed out that I, at the age I am, have 40,000 hours left of teaching - lets hope I use them wisely!

Google Slide:

I embarked on the google slides exercise which was great and something I can see being used for me, and the kids. I use google draw a lot and yes there was a number of things I didn't know about. Love the little tricks I now know.  I am thinking that doing that small exercise often will help me remember. 

 Then I discovered 'pick a path', was instantly taken back to my childhood and those books we all read were you could pick what happened next by turning to a different page! We are looking at narratives in class at the moment and I  like the idea of doing slideshows with that where there is different options for the children's own stories. Our class also spends time with problem solving on Fridays so using the concept of pick a path in this area lead me to beginning to make the below slide show - yet to be finished as of today's date, but will work on it.  There is a bit of the old 'poke and hope' feeling I often get with maths apps, will see how we go.  Finished and tested on my 18 year old boy - he got it and I think enjoyed it! His comment was 'It's very good!"

Am enjoying the pace and level of learning I am doing!  Here's to the next week, keeping this going and using the knowledge! Might go back and look at google .....what was it....google keeps!!

Rua - DFI

The ability to say to myself that there is so much more learning to do and feel excited about it, is empowering.  To have been teaching for so long and be able to join dots with the old and new, get clarification on concepts, and continue to take knowledge on reflectively makes me feel grateful and in a wonderfully lucky place. To hear Dorothy talking about the pedagogy this morning has give more clarification on Learn, Create, Share in regards to Recognise, Amplify and Turbocharge which has added another layer to the understanding of the pedagogy. I have often thought about turbocharging with little thought towards Recognise and Amplify, looking forward to reading and exploring that some more.

I appreciate the time given after each teaching segment which enables me to put into practice what Mark have been teaching us. The timing is near perfect, as I haven't begun to wiggle and I am still focused then I get to put the bits that interest me into practise therefore making it stick into my brain a little bit more. The notes I take on paper - something I haven't done for a very long time - also reinforce the learning. This makes me wonder about the children that sit in front of me and beside me each day,  am I allowing them to put into practice the teachings enough to master them. This in turns makes me wonder if I allow enough chooses for the children to explore and acquire knowledge - suddenly I feel like an old traditional teacher who needs to wake up!

Google Meets recording and reflection.
This was Fun with Angela - the first time she did her recording I forgot to turn on my mic which we hadn't notice as we were sitting close so could hear each other without the mic, then it came to my turn and even though I recorded the majority of the google meets during lock down, nerves took over and I too had to do take two! Anyway here is the video....







My aim this coming week is to master Google Meets which I have heard of but never really looked into. I am hoping it will be the organisation tool I need so my life runs smoothly!  

PS. Managed to insert a profile photo on my blog today!

Tahi - The Beginning DFI.

This term I start the adventure of DFI through Manaiakalani and here goes my first ever professional post, 
What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
       To see Manaiakalani as more that the use of digital tools in the classroom. 
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional
I learnt that I know stuff already which is good, and I have a lot of learning to do which is exciting. 
I had never heard of Google Groups and am keen to use that with the junior team and parent groups. 
It was great to have the addons shared with us. Discovering the talk to type feature and 
how this can be used with my focus children in class is exciting.  Learning about the contents page on Doc, which I hardly ever use has made me want to go back to Docs again!

😃