The end..or just the beginning...

The end or just the beginning?

Right! half an hour to unload on my blog then back for fun and games after the exam. I do not know my results as yet...My principal said I would find it intense and that proved to be the case. So not an awful lot of learning input today, more output...however

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Ubiquitous. The DFI course first introduced me to this word and I have loved it ever since. I have seen it since everywhere, haha! ' Masks are ubiquitous ' I read in the paper. So as well as sounding like an interesting word, what does it mean? Any time, any place, anywhere learning in terms of Manaiakalani. The point being stressed was that rewindable learning makes it possible. Dorothy revisited the Summer learning Journey and the benefits to learners of maintaining their blogs particularly with Writing. With Reading the scores did not accelerate as much but they certainly didn't drop off.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  
• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

I think I will bundle these questions altogether today as it has been a different session in terms of delivery, largely sitting the exam. I will try and give some reflection to my time overall being as this is the last session.

Considering I have come from 'ground zero' I think I have learnt a lot and gained in confidence. It has been timely learning with the COVID event to manage distance learning. Having a class of year 2s I don't foresee having a great need for some aspects of the programme and know there is more to learn with the ipads I have in my classroom (under the tutelage of Cheryl) Nonetheless it has been worthwhile to be introduced to the entire Google suite and valuable to have time to rewind the learning. I have found it stressful and intense along the way, but acknowledge that others could have found it easy! Just like in a class. In that sense it has been valuable as well...to be a learner and experience and feel what it is like.

Nga Mihi

Sarah

PS you can see I need to wind back and find how to get macrons for te reo...that was way back....

Coding and Empowerment

Coding and Empowerment

I do think this cat could be rather symbolic of me and DFI! The big black vortex of the unknown...teetering on the edge...going round in circles...hopefully not plummeting to the bottom next week in the exam! Still the cat is smiling so that's a good thing and no doubt has 9 lives...it could have learnt a few things along the way. This is my first attempt at Scratch, we had some problems sharing the embed code though.                      https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/390808365/

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Manaiakalani is NOT just a tool. It can transform the way we learn, overcome barriers of time, distance and circumstance. Dorothy spoke of the obstacles that are present in Point England area, money, housing, health, paucity of vocabulary. How we as educators play an important role in promoting conversation be that face to face or through blogs.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

It was timely to look at the curriculum. Following on from reflecting about what the future might look like. We need to empower our children to be part of the conversation when it comes to moral or ethical issues. To be digitally fluent and capable. To move beyond being soley users and consumers.Watching some of the Unplugged videos I could see what an introduction to coding might look like. I could recall having a staff meeting where we tried to code using a grid on the floor and large 'critters'.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

Having a play with the coding and seeing how captivating it is. I could see how this could be used with my learners. I enjoyed the minecraft introduction and how it introduced new code and more efficient ways of using it. Had a dabble with Scratch, though I understand there is a junior version.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

Well, nearing the end of the Manaikalani journey I think I have grown in confidence and capability. It doesn't stop here though as the learning will go on and 'use it or lose it' is a pertinent mantra for myself.

                                                                               

dddddddd....Devices

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

We want to empower our learners to be positive, connected and confident. ( though when I scrawled that last word down I thought I had written non violent...likely that is a good aspiration to have as well!) Globally there has been more of a focus on being positive. As teachers we want to elevate positive, thoughtful and helpful comments when we engage online. Counter the negative in the media. Being cybersmart also means being able to harness technology even when not at school. Learning is visible and ubiquitous.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

I had not delved into chromebooks or Hapara as a junior class teacher. I know that my learners will at some stage be utilising Explain everything. The importance of using the correct vocabulary was stressed, consistency in tool naming. Exploring the tool I succeeded in writing my name and taking a picture of myself but came unstuck when it came to using the shapes and colours to make the phone. Then tried recording myself, wanted to delete it but ended up deleting everything. So! Some practice needed there, no doubt Room 7 can teach me when the time comes.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners? 
I know that my learners will at some stage be utilising Explain everything. The importance of using the correct vocabulary was stressed, consistency in tool naming. Exploring the tool I succeeded in writing my name and taking a picture of myself but came unstuck when it came to using the shapes and colours to make the phone. Then tried recording myself, wanted to delete it but ended up deleting everything. So! Some practice needed there, no doubt Room 7 can teach me when the time comes.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

Screencastify definitely will help with my class site ( which is part of my personal life, it gets updated in my bedroom presently...can't get more personal than that!) I know that I can make a video, not highly professional perhaps but fine to deliver to a class of 6 year olds. See below...

https://meet.google.com/linkredirect?authuser=0&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fopen%3Fid%3D1c8djsS9nkx-y8zgKIRONndcjiWPU2LjJ

Then this is me attempting to screencastify for the second time..My first time attempting to cast my screen was to show a Mum of an ESOL student how to find and navigate our class site. Which was successful!
I can see the value of being able to cast my screen and make a recording . I believe I will appear in a wee square in the corner also?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ARvN79zODUKHiWj1GP3K5dTE6NYSqkre/view?usp=sharing

I

The lockdown low down

The lockdown low down

The world has changed much globally and for me professionally since our last DFI session. Jettisoned from level 3 into level 4, then ' holidays, then online learning. I left school in the last week of term with a class site that had been made for me by our deputy principal. Aside from my dablings at DFI I had little knowledge or know how of what and how to manage a site. Thanks to help from my family, tutors, sharing online and the simple need to 'just do it' I know a whole lot more now. I have gained in confidence and skill, but still learning. I also have more skills and confidence to manage meeting up with my class at our daily 9.45 Hangout. It has been a rewarding and precious time to connect with them all through the site and the Hangout...or is it a meet..I am still not really sure what you call it!

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

One of the four principles that Manaiakalani hangs it's goals on is to be connected. Face to face connection is very important nonetheless. Hence photos on sites get an instant hit.
What resonated with me was the example given of going to a BBQ and attempting to make small talk and getting little response back. The importance of sharing, you have to share of yourself to make a connection. Which in turn means making yourself vulnerable. To go on from this Dorothy spoke of schools that did not want to join the programme as they felt it would expose low attainment/poor spelling etc. Part of being able to connect is being able to share.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

It was more that I reflected on my site. How functional and appealing was it? How much did my site provide opportunities to be creative? I felt reasonably confident that my class site is appealing and functional but there is always room for improvement. I took note of Gerhards point regarding having the teacher visible as some families may not have the opportunity to come into school and personally meet up. I pondered how to archive old content...I was wondering what to do with yesterday's photos, yesterday's prayer. 

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my professional/personal life?

Having the time to practice and have a facilitator available was great. Right in time learning? Now that I know a bit more I know what to ask! How to do and add an audio and video...and what I can do with 'old stuff'.

At the end of a day distance learning the firewood has arrived...

Site Excitement!

Site excitement!

According to Dorothy we are halfway. It has certainly been good to be embarking on this online delivery in the term break. Today's session felt not so overwhelming so that's positive. It was a particularly relevant and timely topic of building a site. So...

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

The 4 elements of Manaiakalani are to be visible, ubiquitous, connected and empowered. It was the visibility that was talked to today. In the past the learning journey could be hidden, learner's success often depending on the cultural capital of a parent. WALT's and SC opened up learning. However it is not just the learning but the planning, process, outcomes and assessment that can be visible.

A few examples - don't want to be emailing work to children, limit the links. Don't make the learning invisible, unnecessary passwords. Feedback to be timely and appropriate.

Kerry spoke to the topic of multimodal learning ( engaging the hook) Aiming for behavioural and cognitive engagement. The content is king! As teachers we are competing with the likes of You Tube. We need to be asking What suits my learners? what differentiation is there? What opportunities to deepen and extend their thinking? Multi modal meaning writing, video, song, graph, animation...additionally we want our children to be exposed to multi textual reading, a piece they can read independently, then a scaffolding, complementary and challenging text.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

How to build a multi modal site, which I will need to practice with and add to this week. It was suggested that we create a new site each year for our own professional learning. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to keep up with the instructions the first time round for building a site. However along the way I did get lost navigating between 2 hangouts and 2 screens and thinking I was in the wrong email account. With Cheryl talking me through I managed to add a link to our group slides and then publish the site. Need to revisit though.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

I already have a class site that was set up by our DP before school finished last term. I could insert a page for each week to begin with perhaps or insert pages for my reading groups. I do need to be sure it is something I can sustain, is worthwhile and of course multi modal!

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

I think until I repeat the learning and do it for myself I can't really say I have learnt it!

• What did I take out of today that would help me connect with my learners?

A question that Dorothy posed at the conclusion. Reflecting on having this week posted a video of myself leading school prayer and the feedback I received. I am thinking it is important that I send a video to connect with my Room 7 children next term. If I can put that on my site as part of a weekly 'reaching out' it would be a good thing to do.

First online DFI session

What a week!
 Global pandemic and first online DFI ....
navigating between two google hangouts and finding where to put my name down to join a group. I found it really challenging. However! I did manage to keep up ( kind of ) and learnt along the way. I have to say I had to be quite brave!

Presently we have a brave piglet soft toy hanging in our front window and I guess I was that piglet!

So Dealing with data using the learn, create, share pedagogy...

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Sharing is part of human nature. ( something we have limited somewhat presently) With the advent in 2005 of You Tube etc replies could be instant, sharing more global. However what we need to think about is sharing with a purpose. The audience being the people who choose to listen. The people who hold the power of the mouse in their hands. An authentic audience as opposed to a compulsory audience, such as you might see on a Friday afternoon at school assembly.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

Just being here today and taking the plunge to do it online as opposed to face to face was huge for me. To elect to be in a group with others who I didn't know who were more advanced than me and then speak up and voice my questions rather than sit back. So a confidence builder in that I did it and had some success along the way. I succeeded in analyzing a blog archive, putting the data on a spreadsheet and then converting it into a graph.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QcFNMaD6OpDj848ZgiNzhS7XUr8h7f__QUXwW46F-4U/edit#gid=0

Ta Da!

I learnt how to use that greek symbol ( it's not Egyptian) ánd drag the corner to highlight. How to freeze the sheet cells. I put labels into my blog using the suggested ones but I am not sure that I have done that right...dumping them all in like that...

The map session I got a bit lost with the layers, however plan to rewind that and revisit about putting on markers etc. I will also have to revisit the sheets on speed

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

Well any improved digital competence and confidence on my part is helpful with my Year 2 learners. I could see them using my Maps, once I know what I am doing! Perhaps google sheets for Statistics.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

See above! I certainly have more time to practice and rewind now. Hey its the school holidays!

Media, Godzilla and a cinnamon scroll

Session 3 19/3/2020 Media

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

CREATE! Listened to Anne Sinclair from Pt England. Sowed the notion of how much autonomy do we give to our learners? Opportunities to discover and explore. Use of the 'whole body' in learning, all the senses. Many clips to revisit, particularly Elwyn Richardson who drew on the local environs to facilitate learning.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

I discovered I already had a youtube channel and playlist! Kent showed us how to add to our playlist. We can embed it on on class and collaborate and share it with other teachers. Note though that the children are not creating their own account they are watching.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners? 

Google slides - keep it clean, get rid of unnecessary backgrounds. Can insert a comment and only the editor can see it.

I endeavoured to create using Google drawings. Searching the web to find a picture of Godzilla and embedding a link to a web site. (* it is best to avoid Wikipedia. ) At the side the teacher can put instructions which the children can follow and ' colour in ' as they complete.

I tried creating an animation but found this challenging. Needed to ctrl d - duplicate the slide, then double click to advance the image using the arrow keys. I achieved an out of place bicycle on a streetscape that did move across the slide!

For lunch I enjoyed a cinnamon scroll...