DFI: Week 9

This is the last day for my DFI course. I am glad that I did the course in person and got to meet so many great people across our cluster. It also gave me the opportunity to ask many questions that I had about technology and get the one to one help that I needed. We have enjoyed 9 weeks together learning from each other and sharing our practices with technology in the classroom. I have learnt so much over our time together. I am looking forward to implementing more that I have learnt gradually into the classroom setting. I have developed my confidence in using technology. Today I heard about all the opportunities for teachers through Manaiakalani and completed a feedback form on the course. Then I sat the Google Educator Level 1 Exam. I got through the test and had time at the end to go back and revisit the multi choice questions. I enjoyed doing the scenario questions, especially the forms and sites which I feel most confident in. It was definitely challenging and I am glad that I gave it a go. I feel I am happier now to google and find how to videos etc to help me work out how to complete new skills online by myself. Through the Cybersmart programme I have been doing with Sharon and the children I have developed my confidence using ipads. In particular using Explain Everything. It has been great to be doing the Cybersmart programme and DFI at the same time as I can transfer skills that we have been using into the classroom setting. I want to say a big thank you to the DFI team. They have done a great job, I would recommend this course to everyone. Thank you for answering all my questions and making sure I had secure knowledge of the different google tools we were using.

Here is a picture of me working on the exam today. 

This is a picture of our DFI team this term. (T2 2021)

I earned my Manaiakalani badge today!

DFI: Day Eight

Googlemeet-Dorothy-Empowered

We have talked a lot about student agency in our school but I also liked the word empowered. It has many positive connotations associated with it. We discussed digital technology in particular that it is not just a tool. I liked the quotes associated with this: “When it transfers the way we learn, offers us new uncharted experiences/opportunities” and “assists the making of connections by enabling children to enter/explore new learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance/time.” Digital technology is a way to enhance what the children are doing in creative ways. 

I also liked the idea of 5+ a day in oral conversations with 5 responses. It can be shown through blogging responding to a 5+ thread conversation about the post. This was a great idea. 

We looked at equity in relation to the 3 P’s of the Treaty; Participation, Protection and Partnership. It made me think of the Lockdown and how we were connecting with the students online. We had to give out some chrome books to families that weren’t connected so they could participate. We need to make learning accessible and visible to all so students have the same opportunities for learning in and outside of the classroom. 

I liked the quote “the greatest joy comes from empowering students to discover the treasure that lies within them.” We need to support and provide the tools so the students can create with their learning. 

The puzzle pieces all support each other to provide the best for students learning; Connected, Ubiquitous, Empowered and Visible. 

Computational Thinking 

We completed a Trailblazers workshop today. Again it was stated how Lockdown helped to get communities online. It was funny to look at the Jetsons example and see how all the things that they thought they would have in the future have happened now. E.g home office, online classes, telemedicine, videocall. It was ahead of its time. Technology has exploded over the last few years. 

We took a look at advanced digital technologies creations around the world. It was interesting to see what has been created with technology, most I had heard of. The ethics questions came up and there are both positives and negatives for each I could think of. I also thought, just because we can, should we? Hard questions to answer (The Moral Machine).

I have a better understanding of the Digital Curriculum and the difference between a digitally fluent person and a digitally capable person. 

“A digitally fluent person can decide when and why to use specific digital technologies to achieve a specific task or solve problems.”

“A digitally capable person can create their own digital technologies solution.”

Cybersmart links to the digital technologies curriculum well. My children are also learning to become digitally fluent in the classroom through the Cybersmart programme at the moment. 

DFI has been a big part for me to support and help me develop my digital capabilities. I look forward to bringing more of what I have learnt into the classroom over time. I am grateful for my notes and the agenda slides that I can use as a rewindable resource in the future. 

I found out more about what Computational Thinking involves including: algorithms, robotics, scratch-coding, app development, unplugged activities, programming, understanding human behaviour, binary, sphero, makey makey and arduino lego. Design and developing digital outcomes involves: DLO, google slides, google drawings, animation, 3D modelling, movie making, game design and designing systems. This gives me a clearer picture of what each area of the curriculum involves. 

“Technology is becoming ubiquitous so we need to understand it.” The use of technology is everywhere you go these days and it is developing so quickly. It is easy to get left behind. It is now part of the school curriculum from 2020 which I think is a good thing especially rolling out the ‘Being Cybersmart’ programme. The children need to know how to make good decisions when they are online. 

I would like to look into the Computer Science Unplugged site (Computer Science without a computer). It looks like a good site that I could use with my juniors to get them engaged with computational thinking. 

I enjoyed using Twine, which I have never used before. We had a challenge to create an interactive story with our teams. I looked at how I would use it in the classroom with Emily and we decided it was a good oral language activity. The teacher would ask for ideas and type what the children come up with. Google slides was mentioned to me for a better way with juniors (as many can’t read the instructions). I will hopefully get a chance to look into this. Once you understood the way the pathways were created it was easier to form your paths in Twine. I hope to give Twine a go with my juniors as an oral language activity. 

I have really enjoyed my time on the DFI course. It has been challenging and empowering. I feel more confident with digital technology and are keen to use many things that I have learnt in the classroom. The teachers have been amazing answering all my techie questions during the sessions. It has been great to have this opportunity. It is also great to have the rewindable learning through the agenda slides on each topic. 

DFI: Day Seven

Ubiquitous

“Anytime, anywhere, any pace and from anyone.” 

This is a familiar term as we have covered this in staff meetings. Ubiquitous is all about access to learning to empower children and teachers. It removes the walls of the classroom, children can learn anywhere, anytime, any place. So it links well to accessible, visible learning for this to happen. 

Examples include: Toolkits for teachers which I enjoyed participating in, especially how I can make it rewindable by going back and looking at the slide shows and watching the videos. Our Distance Learning for the children to access at home when they could over Lockdown and now continued as rewindable learning on hub site. I am watching Jane Considine videos for Professional Development and use this as a rewindable resource that I can speed up or slow down for the parts I need to concentrate on. Our Google site gives the children the opportunity to connect if absent from school, on holiday during the term or before/after school at home. I really like the idea of rewindable learning as it is personalised to the child/person who can learn at their own pace. 

Summer Learning Journey

I have heard of the Summer Learning Journey to stop the Summer Drop off over the holidays. I had some children in the juniors who were keen to join but they weren’t in the age bracket. I wonder if there could be something for juniors to complete over the Summer too. 

Cybersmart Programme

I am currently doing the Cybersmart programme with Sharon on Mondays and Fridays in the classroom. We have completed the Kawa of care and are now working with Explain Everything. Today I learnt how to find the audio to record my voice for instructions and then lock it to the screen so the children can’t move it. I am looking forward to having a go with this in the classroom. I know how to take a photo, selfie, crop, lasso, type in a text box etc. So I enjoyed learning a few other things I could do with Explain Everything. It is very well suited to the juniors. My next step will be to create Explain Everythings for classroom lessons. My confidence has increased using ipads with the children. I thought about how important it is for the children to complete the Cybersmart curriculum before they go online. We want to “empower our learners as connected and confident decision makers.” I want to have a look at the Be Internet Awesome which supports the Cybersmart curriculum, sounds like a good resource.

The quotes that spoke to me were:

“Being Cybersmart empowers learners to connect when their learning is visible and ubiquitous.’’

“Whenever and wherever we share online...it’s personal!”

“Make kindness go viral.” 

“If it’s worth teaching, it’s worth capturing, if it’s worth learning, it’s worth capturing.” 

It shows how much rewindable learning is needed to make learning accessible to our learners. 

During Lockdown I used Explain Everything to make big book videos for the children to read along with me. These are now in the Independent Reading page on our site that the children can access. I learnt how to do Google meets and now we often have them for different meetings. I found it interesting to think of doing a drill for learning online like we do drills for earthquakes, fire drills etc so that the children are prepared and know how to access their learning online. We have the Learn, Create, Shares which we get the children to access sometimes for follow up activities already in the classroom. 

I thought about how I really like rewindable learning and need it for myself. I take notes to remind myself later how to complete the tasks and also like to see the task in action. Then I try myself to complete the task. If I get stuck I go back to the rewindable learning to help me (DFI notes and Day’s Agenda with information). I like the idea of getting the children to video themselves explaining how they completed their learning goals when they are confident. E.g how to complete a maths strategy. I hope to do this in my classroom. 

Chrome Book and ipads

I haven’t worked on a Chrome Book very much so it was good to see what the children are doing further up in the school. I learnt where all the main buttons are on the keyboard and how to take a screenshot. I am currently working with ipads in the junior hub and have Sharon helping me team teach Cybersmart with the children. We use Explain Everything on the ipads so I have already had experience with this. Today I learnt I about the video option where you can record what the children are doing on the screen and I am keen to give this a go next week. I found out how to use the clipart to add pictures and look for shapes and to airdrop. I now know to save as a project if the children are going to work with it. 

I decided to work on a task on the ipad for feedback for writing. I used the positive, thoughtful, helpful template from when we blog to feedback on writing. This gives a structure for the children to follow. This is a need in the classroom to give constructive feedback to others and receive feedback to enhance our work. 

Check out my ipad work! 

Day Six DFI

Google meet with Dorothy: Connected

I learnt about the close relationship between visibility and connection during the Googlemeet with Dorothy. “To embrace visibility it is essential to be connected.” If our learning is visible on our sites then we can connect with our learners and community. 

I thought about the powerful networks that I am connected to at the moment including my professional colleagues, the school community, Alpha Course (teachers and parish community) and our Manaiakalani cluster to name a few. I thought about how powerful the face to face connections are that I have especially for sharing professional conversations. I have enjoyed being on the DFI course and connecting with other people in our cluster. It is a great chance to build relationships, develop our digital technologies together and share our professional practise. 

I always take the opportunities to be connected and participate in Toolkits where teachers share their digital knowledge. I have made my professional blog public and are now working on making comments on other people’s blogs with the positive, thoughtful helpful framework. I want to check out the newsletters of the schools during Lockdown to see how they were connecting over this time.  

I learnt about the connections that Manaiakalani are making through their website, Blogger, RSS, Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu-’Write to me, write to others,’ Secondary Connects each term, Newsletters, Toolkits, Google Currents, Cluster Meetings and the full time Māori specialist who is available to help in schools. 

The four elements that need to be occurring in our classrooms are; Connected, Ubiquitous, Empowered and Visible learning and teaching. I feel I have a better understanding of all four of these elements through this course. When sharing our professional learning, blogs etc there are opportunities for us to provide feedback in a positive, thoughtful, helpful manner. 

Google Learning Sites

It was great to hear that accelerated learning happens from the Learn, Create, Share framework, digital learning (this turbocharges what we normally do in the classroom), visible learning/teaching, blogging, Google Sites and Manaiakalani support. Our school has all these things in place. 

The children did a great job with their blogs from the Lockdown in Kākano. The children sent their work to an email that was then uploaded to the site by a teacher. It would be great if we could see rewindable learning and engagement in the Learn, Create, Shares again on our hub blog. I wonder if we could teach the children how to upload their work to the blog and get a post from them each week. I enjoyed writing comments on their blog posts using the positive, thoughtful, helpful framework. The children were very proud of their work and it was great seeing the community commenting too. This would be a good connection with visible learning to promote again. 

I enjoyed looking at a range of Google Sites which gave me a good idea of what is engaging and examples of rich experiences. Through analysing other Google Sites through the Google Form I have a much better idea of what a Google Site needs to have to be successful. 

I liked working on my Google Site copy today. I learnt about the recipe for success with Google Sites including visual appeal and site functionality.  From looking at other sites I decided to include a Google Form that the children/community could Ask the Teacher a question on the home page. I also added Meet the Teacher links with their photo buttons. I looked at my Maths Learn, Create, Shares and decided to work on improving these to make them more child friendly and simplified. As I simplified a Learn, Create, Share I knew they were becoming very focused on the specific goals that I wanted the children to learn. I used images with clickable links. I set up a template to use again next time if I proceed with these plans. I liked the way it was more engaging for the children and clearly set out. 

I learnt how to go incognito to browse sites privately and how to make buttons for your sites. I also learnt how to hide pages on your site from navigation and how to link a Google form to my site. All skills which will be very useful going forward. We discussed how important it is to record your voice for young children to get instructions across on the Learn, Create, Shares as well as the text so everyone can participate independently. 

I learnt about the SAMR model today. “The SAMR Model is a framework created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura that categorises four different degrees of classroom technology integration. The letters "SAMR" stand for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.” We are aiming for transformation use of technology. I will be thinking about this as we use technology in the classroom. 

Day Five: DFI

 

Day Five DFI 

Connecting with Dorothy: Visible Learning

I liked the idea of the floorboards and how everything needs to be inplace for the whare to have a strong structure. One of these important foundations is Visible Learning. Dorothy talked about opening up the Learning Journey and making teaching and learning visible for all. I liked the quote “the learner is at the centre of the learning.” It made me think about the changes in our school that we have made to make learning visible. We have our Google Site that has all our learning/planning, visible to all (Learn, Create, Shares), the hub blog (during Lockdown children posted their work here) my professional blog/reflections and Hero with the children's goals in Literacy and Maths available to the parents. I think it is great that the parents have access to all the learning for their child/ren. It makes it rewindable and they know where their children are in their learning and what the next steps are. This makes them part of their child/ren’s learning journey. We had a pretty smooth transition to Lockdown Learning as we were already working on delivering our learning visibly through our site. The parents could already access their children’s lessons.

Multimodal 

I enjoyed learning about multimodal. I learnt that the hook is important. “Teachers need to sell a love of learning” This quote made me think about myself/teachers and how we are lifelong learners. “Do we inspire our children to go in?” This quote made me think about our lessons in the hub and how engaging they are. It made me think of my Learn, Create, Shares and if I am catering to different learner styles enough e.g text, images, videos, mote to record voice etc We thought about our learners that are in front of you, their needs, what the edges of the classroom are for your class?” (The children you need to bring in and engage, capture in the learning) Multimodal design is good for engagement, accessibility, empowerment/agency and cognitive complexity to improve understanding and outcomes, differentiation for presentation, Universal Design for learning (UDL). I think I will consider more multimodal design in my next learning tasks for the children. I learnt the difference between: Behavioural: engage, on task, attracted to work Cognitive: challenge them mentally, rich learning experiences, engage with learning. These both need to happen in our planning. 

Creating a Google Site 

I enjoyed learning how to set up a Google site as I haven’t done this before. We use our Hub Google Site for putting up all our planning (Learn, Create, Shares) so I am used to navigating around on a Google site. It was good to see how it was created from the beginning as a team member did this for us at the start of the year. I learnt more about T Shaped Literacy and it was great to actually complete a Google Site for it. Check out the Google Site I made. The interesting part was finding texts that fit with the main text. E.g Main text/theme that learning was designed around. Complimentary text: was another text that was similar to the main text in ideas. Scaffolding text: easy for the children to understand. Challenging: Extends the children’s thinking, challenging to complete. Followed by create tasks, then share ideas. 

My Map 

Last week I made a My Map of attractions that I had been to in London. Now I have learnt how to share it on my blog. Check it out!

Day Four: DFI

Connecting with Dorothy-Share

I really enjoyed listening to Dorothy today and learning all about Share. I agreed with the sharing explosion during lockdown. Our technology skills increased and everyone was sharing what they were doing online. We got the children in our hub to share their learning via the Kākano Hub Blog site. It was fantastic to see what they had been learning about and creating at home from our Learn, Create, Shares and Googlemeets.

I enjoyed commenting on the children’s blogs using the positive, thoughtful, helpful structure. We also included a question so the children would write another post back to us to answer it. Some children/adults commented on other children’s blog posts. 

I liked the quotes “connected learners share” and “sharing has been part of human nature since time began.” These quotes got me thinking of all the ways we share and how sharing online has evolved and exploded recently during Lockdown e.g via facebook, apps like tick tock etc. It made me also think about how we share in the classroom especially through our Learn, Create, Shares. Are we making the most of the sharing time and sharing activities in the classroom. Are they hooking the learner in?

I thought about how important purposeful and authentic audiences are. At the end of the term we are going to have a showcase about our Matariki learning for Project Based Learning. Our purpose and authentic audience relates back to our driving question: “How can we uplift and empower our Whānau to celebrate Matariki as part of our identity in the future?” Sharing in real time is very important, which will be happening for our PBL straight after all the learning done in the term. 

Dorothy also talked about the importance of feedback and feedforward. This made me think of my student who has received constant feedback/feedforward from me in her placement this term. I have also received feedback/feedforward from an observation in Structured Language last week. We also as a staff have been discussing this in regards to our Professional Teaching observations that are coming up. I’m happy to receive feedback, I reflect on my practice often and want to action any advice to develop as a teacher.

I really like the idea of changing from “I’m finished” which I hear often in the classroom to “I’m ready to share.” A different mindset to put emphasis on how important it is to share, learn from others, receive feedback/feedforward to reflect on and take action to be the best you can be. 

Google Forms

I really enjoyed making a Google Form, I have made one before. I learnt how to incorporate an image or video, change the theme and change the settings of the general form. I’m looking forward to making some in real life contexts at school.

Google My Maps

I haven’t been on Google My Maps before. I enjoyed experimenting and am starting to think of ways I could incorporate this into the classroom. I like the idea of seeing where the children have all been on holiday during term breaks for a start. 

Google Sheets 101

I have experience with Google Sheets for work, we use them for our Literacy and Maths groups and the childrens progressions for Maths and Literacy. I learnt some great tips like how to freeze and unfreeze a column, how to make basic calculations for sums and averages, how to automatically fill rows with things like days, months, translate into different languages, sort data from A to Z and make graphs from the data. I enjoyed entering data from our Kākano Hub blog posts to create different types of graphs. 

Added extras this week:

I learnt that Google Drawing is not always compatible with Blogger but I finally got my Matariki Google Drawing up on our Hub site/PBL: Matariki.

I put up my Creative Slide background with links to Storyline Online on our Hub site, Independent Reading.

I learnt to view the Hub site via the phone, tablet/ipad, chrome icon to see what the audience sees.

I finally found where to add a new playlist on my Youtube Channel through the studio which I couldn’t find. 

DFI Day Three

Online Learning

I enjoyed working online from home for our third session of DFI. I found it easy to join the Googlemeets and swap between them for whole class and bubble group meetings. When I had an issue that I needed help with I let Sharon know and presented my screen on the Googlemeet so she could see what I was doing. Sharon then talked me through the steps to fix my problem as she watched me manoeuvre my way around my site. I found this very helpful. Me and a couple of others troubleshooted our problems together on the Googlemeet as well which was great to be able to help others and get advice. I liked seeing everyones ideas when we took turns presenting our screens. It was a very positive experience. 

I experienced online learning for the first time during Lockdown and it was very different from being in the classroom. I thought I would be too isolated from everyone at work and find it hard to get help when I needed with the new technology skills we were learning. I also thought it was lots of new learning for technology and was pondering whether or not I would be able to put it all into practise over the next few days before seeing the children online. All my worries were put to rest as I made Googlemeets with technology experts from school who talked me through any problems online. We had Googlemeets with the staff, then syndicate ones and one to one meetings which I organised with teachers to discuss our planning online. Our community were also learning and upskilling with technology as we found out from our online connections. So it felt great to all be learning together! The more I did Googlemeets with my peers and the children the more I enjoyed it and embraced the new way to connect. Practice makes perfect!

Googlemeet with Dorothy

I enjoyed connecting with Dorothy for the Googlemeet on Create. There were so many quotes that I liked. Here are a few:

-we want a world full of playful creative people”

-“Creativity focuses on the process of forming original ideas through exploration and discovery”

-“Creativity empowers learners”

-“Get hooked into learning through creativity”

-“When it comes to learning if the hands are involved the head really gets going”  

-“We want to be creators of content, not merely consumers”  “

-“Creating is a real purpose for learning”

It really made me think about how important creativity is and what opportunities we are providing for the children. I thought it all related very well to our Learning Through Play philosophy and the environment that we want to create in our classrooms. 

“In the 6 C’s of Education Creativity is acknowledged as an important part of the curriculum.” We have been moving more and more towards this as we move away from templates and let the children have more voice and choice in their learning. PBL is a good example about how we are doing tasters to inform the children of the topics available and they choose which one they want to be involved with. The children also think about how they want to present their final product to show the learning they have achieved. Creativity comes into play here as well. 

Sisomo = sight, sound, motion. This is a name I haven’t heard before. 

“Creating emotional connections in the market” We looked at how clever some advertisements are on t.v that use sight, sound and motion to create emotional connections. These make us more likely to purchase the product as it builds a connection with the audience. 

Sisomo made me think of our five senses. We have been introducing these in the classroom to explain our experiences lately. E.g swimming lessons. This has allowed us to tap into some rich language (Jane Considine) and make a deeper connection with our audience through our writing. 

Youtube

I had a Youtube channel already set up but I hadn’t made any playlists. I enjoyed searching and creating a playlist for fun songs with lyrics from disney for the children.  I learnt how to save the videos if they were greyed out under the clips. I think this will be very useful in the future as I am always collecting links on topics and this will be a better way to store my information. 

Media Deep Dive

When we had the Media Deep Dive I was exposed to lots of different apps for people to be creative and make films. There were only a couple I have heard of. Looking forward to being able to pick a few and explore in the future. 

Google Drawing

I was impressed by all the things you could do on Google Draw. I enjoyed making a Matariki page that I hope to share with the children during Project Based Learning. I learnt how to link sites to the pictures. See below, click on the stars to find out information about Matariki!

I also made an All About Me Profile that sits to the side of my Professional Blog posts. Can you see it? 

Google Slides

I enjoyed creating interesting backgrounds that I could put information on for the children. They click on the pictures to access their learning. These were fun ways to present work to the children that would engage them in their learning. I found my bimoji that we created at the start of the year and could place the image into the backgrounds. I have recently added mote and I am looking forward to trying it out with my slides.