Be prepared

Thoughts and Reflections from Week 2 Digital Fluency Intensive

This week we revisited the Girl Guide motto I learned many moons ago - Always be prepared. In this instance it was around making sure your face is presentable on the off chance your facilitators expect you to record a video to upload to your blog. Caught out big time. 

 

I was, however, prepared for the onslaught of information that I knew would be coming in thick and fast as we headed into Week 2. 

Dorothy again drove home the understanding that there is much room for schools to express their individual differences within the Manaiakalani pedagogy. She explained that the Manaiakalani cluster is an eclectic mix of schools, from state integrated, to private, to catholic, to some with numbers over 800 and others with under 100. Add to that a wide range in teaching experiences, from those beginning their teaching careers, to those nearing the end. The message I got from this was that it's accessible for everyone. All tamariki can benefit from this framework.  

The framework revolves around EFFECTIVE TEACHING and ACCELERATED LEARNING.

What then does this look like? 

Today we began with Ako (Learn).

We discussed the shift from the analogue to digital world and the need to make sure the tools and infrastructure are well set up and sound. I've worked in systems where this was not the case and it was extremely frustrating. We also discussed increasing teacher effectiveness ... which I'm developing right now by being on this intensive. I thought back to the 'on the bus' idea that I shared last week. I'm on the bus, I'm taking the steps necessary to grow my skill sets and thereby accelerate learning outcomes. 

Dorothy made a powerful comment at this point - If there's no pedagogy for learning, it's going to be a disaster. I'm fortunate to to be surrounded by effective practice at my kura. Play-based learning, PB4L, DMIC, Better Start Literacy, Numicon, incorporating HLP's, Teaching as Inquiry.... the list goes on.

Another interesting statement Dorothy made was that effective practise should be present regardless of where we are on our digital journey! I know this to be true, but all these wee reminders are important to revisit.

This quote and the equation underneath are so powerful for me, and a good reminder to check in now and then and reflect on practice and purpose. 

Today was once again very full on with tips and tricks. I've decided to list my favourites. One thing I've already learned is that my brain does not retain quite as much as it used to, even though I might like think otherwise. 

Google Meet

When sharing a screen - use Chrome tab when wanting to share videos or anything with sound.

Sound wont play if you're sharing a window or the whole screen. 

Google Keep

This was probably my favourite wow moment from the day.

When ripping text from a book/online source ~ On your phone, go into Keep, take a photo of text, add your title. This will go straight to your laptop. 

Click on the photo. Click on the 3 dots, select grab image text. Voila! 

Gmail

If you want to schedule emails to send later/another day (if you're writing late night emails) ~ Click the little arrow next to 'send'.

If you want to undo a sent email ~ (if you forget an attachment. Or send an email in the heat of the moment). Click on the cog, click on 'see all settings', click on 'undo send' drop down. The limit is only have 30 seconds! 

Taming your Tabs

Install the Toby Mini extension ~ Organise your browser tabs and access them quickly without having to open them up individually one by one.

Don't forget the right click function to sort/pin tabs!

After lunch we worked with a buddy and analysed a child's blog post. We talked about ~ What was behind the teaching post? What was the learner's response? Who responded to the post and how did this support the child's learning experience?

Here's my wee video analysing a post. Massive shout out to Kelsey for the warning to put some sort of face on, and brush my hair at the very least! Whai hoki, ngā mihi mahana ki a koe, Lily! He tamaiti koi koe, ki tāku nei whakaaro! Thank you Lily for your lovely blog post. 

Ngā mihi nui ki koutou e pānui ana i āku whakaaro. 

Hei ā tērā wiki! 

Diving straight into the deep end!

Thoughts and Reflections from Week 1 Digital Fluency Intensive

I've never been one for swimming. Water and I have never been friends outside of the obvious. When I was forced to learn to swim (at the tender age of 22 for an upcoming triathlon) I starting by dipping my toes in very tentatively, then sat on the edge for quite some time amping myself up for full entry. Painfully slow. If swimming could be used as an analogy for todays DFI session, I could say I dived straight into the deep end of an Olympic sized pool at 7.45am, and swam (Michael Whelps style) until 3pm, where-by my brain was completely fried and my brow-line hurt from being furrowed for 8 hours straight. 

I loved it!

One of the Manaiakalani philosophies that we've heard many times over, was shared again early on in the morning. We, as teachers, are harnessing the tools that put tamariki at the very centre of their learning. I thought about the first part of that statement and what it actually means. To 'harness' is to control and use the power of something in order to achieve something. Harnessing the tools... to me that means more than just 'using' the tools (digital devices). If I'm harnessing these digital tools, I need to be competent and confident in using them with my tamariki. I need to be educated in latest developments to help raise the academic achievement of my tamariki.  

I thought too about the second part of this statement and what it means to put tamariki at the centre of their learning. To me that means they are surrounded by the learning. Creating, directing, making sense of, innovating, and sharing the learning. It's all fluid. They're not just a cup waiting patiently to be filled. I think this aligns well with our school whakataukī (proverb), 'Ko te piko o te mahuri, tērā te tipu o te rākau'. This means the way in which a young sapling (child) is nurtured determines how the tree (child) will grow. This statement really resonates with me; I can empower a tamaiti to stand confidently as co-constructor of their learning,  I can guide them down a positive pathway towards adolescence and adulthood. Powerful stuff.

At the beginning of our small group session we were asked what our strengths and weaknesses are coming into this intensive. My strength would be being surrounded by some very competent, very tech-savvy professionals at Hornby Primary.  Although we all bring different strengths to the table, we're all prepared to sink in the time and the drive to make it work. We're all 'on the bus' as our Principal, Gary would say. It's easier to be excited and motivated to up-skill when those around you feel the same. If you're not feeling it, GET OFF THE BUS! My weakness can be summed up by that saying, "You don't know what you don't know" - and boy, did I realise today how much I don't (yet) know! 

Through out the day we had about 8 mini intensive sessions jam packed with tips and tricks. I learnt some brilliant Google Doc tricks using the Explore tool and for editing (I actually yelled with excitement when Dorothy Burt showed us how to colour code sub-headings at the touch of one button), and some tips to tidy up tabs and bookmarks. We Marie Kondo-ed our Drive folders, and played round using Docs to create a poster (my example below). There was so much new learning and great reminders that at this point it's still a bit of a jumbled up mess in my head. I needed a couple of hours at the end of the session to get some semblance of order in my head. However 3pm on a Friday is probably not the best time to expect that to happen! 

I'm really looking forward to getting back to kura and using some of the things we learned in Google Docs with my more confident learners, particularly around multi-modal reading activities.  It was encouraging to hear Dorothy say that 7 year olds could most certainly be using a lot of these skills in the classroom. 

Day 1 has certainly extended my own capabilities and I am really looking forward to seeing what Week 2 has to offer. 

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.