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. 

Day Two DFI

Day Two: DFI

Topics: Googlemeet, Effective Teaching: Learn/Amplify/Turbocharge, Google Keep, Gmail, Google Calendar, Taming tabs, Embedding videos into your blog post 

Googlemeet: 

We started using Googlemeet when we began Distance Learning teaching online during the Lockdown. In a very short amount of time we had to learn quickly how to use it. I enjoyed meeting the children online and started explaining the Learn, Create Shares for our planning with them. These included mainly Literacy and Maths. We made our Google Site visible to the public and I got used to changing my share settings to anyone on the internet with this link can view. It was scary at first doing Googlemeets from your home and inviting everyone in but we soon got used to it. Today was a revision session for me. I was happy that I could join the googlemeet and share my interesting place and favourite song from youtube by presenting my screen. I have joined Googlemeets for staff meetings during Lockdown, one on one technology advice with teachers, teaching Learn, Create, Shares with the children and Toolkits online. It was new to me to record the Googlemeet so I enjoyed practising. Below is a recording I did with Michelle talking about a child’s blog post from another school. I learnt that you can only record if you are the creator of the Googlemeet.

Googlemeet about a Children's Blog Post

Effective Teaching: Learn/Amplify/Turbocharge:

It was good revision for me to look at Learn, Amplify and Turbocharge lessons for Effective Practice. We have staff meetings that have covered these ideas. I started thinking about the Effective Practice we do in our school e.g Learning Through Play based on Longworth Education, Gold Standard Project Based Learning, Manaiakalani:Learn, Create, Share planning- all backed by research (evidence based). We are currently looking at Muhammad Ali as one of the World’s Greatest Athletes for us to be ‘The World’s Greatest Teachers.’ We are looking at effective practice from the Teachers Professional Standards. Each week we have a standard that we focus on and put into practice in the classroom. Our Performance Growth Cycle is based on these standards too. Our inquiry is looking at High Level Practices and how we can implement effective teaching of these in Critical Thinking. So we as a school team and individually are constantly working on and reflecting on our practice. Some quotes that stuck with me: 

“Effective teacher implementing effective practice.” -Dorothy Burt

“Worth teaching/learning = worth capturing = rewindable learning!”

“Every child, every day should learn in engaging ways.”

Google Keep:

I have used Google Keep before on my phone for mainly creating lists. Today I made sure I have a school and personal account that I can use. I learnt how to easily swap between accounts. I have always enjoyed using Google Keep but now I am exposed to so much more that the app can do. I can see it will be very useful in the future. 

Gmail:

I learnt how to undo send with emails and reset for 30 seconds which is very helpful. I find that my emails can add up very quickly in my inbox. Sharon has worked with me before and we have set up three choices: Primary, Social and Promotions. I learnt how to teach the computer to put the emails into the right tabs by doing it yourself the first time and then the computer automatically remembers. 

Calendar:

I have the calendar for school on my computer and phone. I use it more on my phone for quick, easy access. It is great to see the month at a glance. I know how to create an event and add a googlemeet but it is always good for revision. We had to learn during lockdown so we could book in times for googlemeets via the calendar. A positive from the whole Lockdown experience was my upskilling with technology, as I keep mentioning in what I have learnt already in my blog posts. It was a good opportunity to explore and practise with technology. 

Taming Tabs: 

I love to pin the documents I am working on during the day for work for quick easy access between them all. I like the shortcut keys you can use to swap between them I will just have to remember them. I like the idea of pinning a set/topic together and will try creating some of these. 

Embedding videos into your blog post: 

I have my hub blog and my professional blog. I am used to embedding pictures and powerpoints of pictures into my blog posts but not videos. Go to the Kākano Hub Blog and check out some posts by Miss Bailey!  At the moment I am working on this,  I created a recording video from a Googlemeet and am trying to put it into this post. I have it in my drive in Meet Recordings. So if you see it above I’ve succeeded otherwise first question on Tuesday! 

4th May 2021 DFI Course

Day One: DFI

Topics: Chrome, Google Drive, Google Docs

It was very interesting finding out more about how The Manaiakalani Programme started and evolved over the years. I never knew the meaning of the word Manaiakalani but I have heard of the story of Māui pulling up the islands from the sea just didn’t make the link. Stars were used for navigation by sailors, so we are navigating our way towards the future with technology. 

“Mānaiakalani is a constellation in Polynesian culture which translates to "The Chief's Fishline". It refers to the fishhook of demi-god Māui. Polynesian mythology tells of Māui pulling large fish from the ocean, representing or discovery of new islands. It is primarily made of Scorpius and the Navigator's Triangle.”

Evidence based is a big part of our school and why we do things, so it linked well with how Manaiakalani has always gathered evidence to base it’s big decisions on. Ubiquitous has been a common word used lately in our staff meetings, visible learning available anytime, anyplace. We have recently put all our planning online for the community to see and therefore have rewindable learning. These have been common words throughout the day today that have stayed with me. 

Today I learnt: 

Official name for URL bar, “The Mighty Omnibox”

How to switch between pinned tabs, using command, then tab number

How to change to a profile picture

How to create a personal profile for my personal tasks e.g facebook, internet banking

Adding a theme background to google page

How to screenshot command shift 4, drag and size

How to see what Google groups I am in (groups.google.com) and make changes

To add a shortcut to access folder from a different place without moving it

How to do a table of contents on a document

How to use the voice typing tool

How to use the camera on the computer to take a photo

How to assign a person to the comment box

How to create a footnote

How to remove a background on a photo: remove.bg

How to use explore

Some shortcuts e.g command control z = undo

I also learnt how to edit my youtube safety links that are not available anymore online to find the youtube clips I have spent time researching. This will greatly benefit my team. I have been able to ask many questions during this session and am grateful for the 1 on 1 time to solidify my knowledge of the new concepts as well as time to explore and practise. I have learnt so many things in one day and feel much more confident already in my technology abilities. 

Old link: Edit by deleting safeutube.link and replace with video.link instead

I have started editing my pinned sites to just have the known icon visible which is helping me create more space on my favourites bar. I created my own personal google account that I have been using to do the things I need to outside of school.

Skill Transferred to the Classroom:

I learnt how to remove a background from a photo from remove.bg. I took this skill into the classroom and created Mother’s Day cards with the children this week. I took photos of the children pretending to hold something and then removed the backgrounds. The children then made flowers and we cut out the pictures of the children and put them beside the flowers so it looks like they are holding them. Other teachers in the hub thought the cards were a great idea and I felt happy that I could achieve something that I had seen others complete and always wondered how they did it. The children were very excited to see the finished product. 

Structured Language Approach to Literacy

In Term One we had an introduction to the Structured Language Approach to Literacy. We will be eventually all teaching reading in a different way. Some of the keys points I took out of the introduction from Maire were:
-this was once a programme for people with dyslexia but it benefits all
-taught step by step
-20 minute lessons
-phonics will lead into reading
-you can only go as fast as your group can cope
-sound/letter formation solid before moving on
-explicit teaching of handwriting
-follow up very specific
-teacher aid available for extra practise
-concepts about print will need to be taught in Big Book time

The key ideas in the teaching lessons are:
-creating sound correctly
-writing sound correctly
-write the sound without seeing it
-be able to recognise, hear, write it
-explicit teaching of handwriting

I also got to observe a lesson taken by Miss Clark with her New Entrant children. Then we went through the introductory test. I later got to test some of the children in our hub. I started to change up my planning for the older children in my literacy groups based on some of the ideas from the Structured Language Approach. This seemed to work well. I think this will be a good way to teach the children. It is very structured and the lessons incorporate handwriting, phonics, reading altogether. This will save us alot of time in the school day. I look forward to implementing it more in the future.

First Aid Course

On the 23rd March I attended a First Aid Course at school. Unfortunately it was cut short due to Covid 19 announcements of lockdown. We will rebook the second part of the course at a later date. I have always been very interested in learning about the human body. I enjoyed doing this course and updating my knowledge about CPR practices. At school we are usually called to investigate minor cuts and bruises. It was good to be aware of what to do if any serious accidents happen. It was also good to go over using an epipen as we have children at school who are highly allergic. I found the Doctor's ABC's a good way to remember the primary survey of a scene.

Student Teacher Term One

My student started on the 17th of February and finished early on the 23rd March. This was due to Covid-19 and the teachers moving towards online teaching. It was great to have her in the hub with three other students. It is a great opportunity for us as well as them as we can learn from each other. This was my student's first posting. I was excited to share the way we do things and get her involved in the daily operation of the hub. I found through informing my student I reflected on my own practices. My student had only been at college for a short amount of time before coming on her first posting. I've had a few students now and enjoy giving back and passing on my teaching knowledge. I am always interested in new practices and teachings that the students can share with us. 

Learning Through Play-Suzi Gould

I attended a GoogleMeet about Learning Through Play run by Suzi Gould. She had us remember a Learning Through Play experience that we cherished when we were a child. She talked about the joy of play that children have and how this is a powerful mode of learning. Through listening to Suzi it confirmed for us the value of play and why we are doing it at St Francis of Assisi School. I particularly liked how she said teacher's superpower was observing. This has been a challenge at the start as we wanted to intervene and fix the children's problems in Learning Through Play but we have learnt that is not always the best learning opportunity for the child. I was interested in her 7 principles that she taught the older children in game-like learning:1 Everyone participate 2 Failure is reframed as iteration 3 Learning feels like play 4 Learning happens by doing 5 Feedback immediate/on going
6 Challenge is constant 7 Everything is interconnected. Number two I would word differently without including the word failure. I also liked how the children came and filled out a sheet for what they would like help with. The teachers didn't go around the children and interupt their play to find this out. I liked her approach to Learning Through Play: Pause=Describe what you see.... Notice=what are the child's interests (acknowledge), Sensemaking=Trial and error, wonder, questioning, reflection. Sometimes we forget to stand back and pause, observe the children, they don't always need us to intervene in their play. I will continue to extend my knowledge in Learning Through Play.

New Digital Curriculum 2020

I am grateful to have the opportunity to complete the Digital Passport Online. This has helped me prepare for the new Technologies Curriculum for 2020. I am excited about the opportunities this opens up in the classroom. I enjoy the Techie Sessions provided by the team at school and the opportunities we have through Toolkits to upskill. We have currently been providing Distance Learning which has provided an opportunity for us all to be able to learn online. I have upskilled my knowledge in a short amount of time to be able to teach online. I have enjoyed the challenge and will build on the new skills I have acquired over this time. It has been a vital way to keep connected with our community and in doing so upskilled our community in technology processes as well. I look forward to being back at school and incorporating what I have learnt into the daily routines of school. Some of our children attend Code Club on Fridays, it would be good to get a larger group interested in this opportunity. My next focus is to include technology in interesting, challenging ways realting to the new objectives in the curriculum.

Project Based Learning: Critical Friends Protocol

Every term we come together as a team to make a Project Based Learning plan. We take many things into account to come up with a relevant, engaging plan. Some of these things include: our children's needs, curriculum gaps, ideas that would engage curiosity, current world issues etc We then bring our plan to a Critical Friends Protocol Meeting. We meet another team in the school and share our ideas. The other team critically analyse our plan and give us feedback. We have done this a few times now and I find it to be a very valuable tool. It is a great idea as another team confirms our ideas so we know it is a good way to procede, they question our ideas which makes us think deeper about our reasoning behind it and they give us new ideas which we haven't thought of. The feedback is very beneficial. We go away as a team and take on board what the other team has said. We enhance our work through the feedback and in doing the same to the other teams PBL we have contributed and enhanced theirs. This process makes us all accountable in striving for the Gold Standard Project Based Learning which we want to deliever to our children. 

Longworth Course

31st May The main thing this course got me thinking about was changes we could make to our daily programme? I was excited about how we could deliver it differently and more effectively. Questions I put forth to the team: -What about starting earlier (Katie?) and factoring in spending some more time with the students in the learning through play room? -Could we have rolling bread snack? -Could children go to what prayers they like? eg. singing, child’s intentions, prayer,or bible story, all in different places, shorter all up (10 mins). Teachers take an option each week -Can children opt in to fitness options, each teacher doing an activity? (news options?) -Exploration activity in learning through play then moves to provocation question? -Do we need to tidy the learning through play area in the morning? Once at end of day? (Katie’s children going back to room throughout day) -Coaching video reflections: could we share once a week in team meetings, each teacher takes turns? We have taken actions on most of these things. The children have times when the bread snack song is on if they want to eat on the lino. We have tried out prayer choices. We would cast the choices on the t.v. Most went to singing so we changed this to Friday prayers as a group. We changed the Gospel to have it as Monday prayer time instead of later in the day to free up some afternoon time. I have looked at exploration in the Learning Through Play room with musical instruments. Then moved to learning songs on the glockenspiels. This has gone very well some children will be sharing in our Space Expo. The coaching videos were great, they helped us identify when we need to step into play and when we need to observe. Our aim is to take videos and share at our syndicate meetings. We also decided during this time that we would change the Provocation room to the Challenge room which is more child friendly speak. We decided on sign in photos in the mornings that the children would put in their homebase houses on the wall. This would cut down roll time in the mornings. We learnt about identifying and understanding our emotions, that they are the beginnings of empathy for children. If you can recognise your own, you can recognise it in others. Linking colours with emotions (movie - Inside Out). This relates well to our Term 4 P.B.L on emotions. We discussed childrens interactions in Learning Through Play/conflict resolution/building resilience and decided this is what the children need to work on. We discussed observations and data collection. We were told to only collect data that will inform your next steps. This is how Maire's template came about for the coach. We fill in our observations of urges, 6 C's, literacy/maths progressions, general observations. I think we need to be more careful of the activities we choose so they can be ticked off for the literacy/maths progressions. This course was very beneficial it made us reflect on our practices and decide to try some changes in our hub. It gave me a deeper understanding of Learning Through Play.

Research

Research Article 5: 25 Quotes about the importance of play -Teachers with apps “Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought” Summary of reading: -Imaginative free play has been getting the short end of the stick for some time -Play is the essence of learning, we have research to back it up -Play is the highest form of learning Googled quotes of play and learning that are my favourite: -Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity -It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them -Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning -Almost all creativity involves purposeful play -Play is so integral to childhood that a child who does not have the opportunities to play is cut off from a major portion of childhood -Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold -Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning -Whoever wants to understand much must play much -The true object of all human life is play -The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct -Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn -Play should be spontaneous and chosen by the child My Thoughts: I really enjoyed reading the many quotes about the importance of play, they really get the message across. I thought we could choose a quote and add it to our blog posts with pictures of the children in Learning Through Play? There are so many great ways to say how important play is, not only in the classroom for children, but in the world for adults. I think my favourite two quotes are: “play is our brain’s favourite way of learning” and “children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” I think the first one would be great to share with the children!

Research

Research Article 4: Self-Directed Play inspires rich learning - Education Gazette Children are in the driver’s seat at St Paul’s Junior School in Nelson, where student agency through self-directed, open-ended inquiry play is given full rein. Summary of reading: -Everything they see is an invitation to play -Open ended play nurtures so much more of a child’s holistic learning than instructional, teacher driven activity at this age -3 to 7 years you want to create confident, inquiring, open thinkers with high level thinking skills -Child led play engages complex thinking, expression, exploration, supports their transition to school -Engaging in a combination of self directed and intentional teaching using invitation to play, children develop skills in persevering, concentrating, problem solving, qualities which are considered strong predictors of academic success. All areas of the curriculum are woven through play in a cross-curricular, integrated approach -We learn by doing -Provide an environment where everyone is responsive to the children’s creativity, interests and passions -We coach, guide, comment rather than instruct in play, alongside discreet intentional teaching and build on the learning experiences the child brings with them -We teach daily, small group literacy/maths but not at the expense of creative inquiry play -Children have phenomenal learning abilities at this age and we need them to believe that -Narrative assessment/learning stories track learning in relation to National Curriculum -Seesaw used to share achievement with parents -St Paul’s Junior School approach is guided by international literature on the importance of learning/teaching through play, constructivist education theory, developmentally appropriate practices, understanding the role of anxiety in limiting learning (Nathan Wallis’ research), working with Sarah Aiono: Longworth Education Tips for teachers: -Value play-based learning for ages 3-7years, it nurtures strong academic success in later years -Utilise natural resources to support children’s play experiences -Look at international research, provides evidence for this approach/good ideas -Implement changes in teaching approaches/environment gradually, in order to sustain the changes over time. -Communicate/share evidence for why play is important with parent community, educate whanau on benefits for children in learning through play My Thoughts: I really like the idea/language of an invitation of play. I am excited about the invitations to play I can now create as we can add to the new planning sheets any activity that we wish, the possibilities are endless. I am always thinking about the things the children could explore in the Learning Through Play room and how I can then move these to activities in the Challenge room. I now feel I am asking myself is this activity open ended? Is Linc Ed evidence that I am collecting open ended, are we showing all what the child knows and has learnt in this area? How can they prove what they have learnt? How would they like to showcase their learning? I am thinking of how the children can have more ownership of their learning. I am also thinking of my role as a coach and how I can get the children to think deeper about their learning, specific questions/comments that inspire the children on. I know myself, I learn better by doing and so do the children. Learning stories might be a next step for us in Learning Through Play. We have been on a Longworth course and been to a talk by Nathan Wallis who both have great ideas that we are following along with. I think we are on the right track ticking off most of the teachers tips. Could we share a reading (research) each week in the newsletter on Learning Through Play? Or put one up on our blog? Another next step for us I think is to incorporate more natural resources.

Research

Research Article 2: Learning Through Play - What's it all about? New Zealand Curriculum Summary of reading: Learning Through Play: -Forms the pedagogical foundation of Te Whāriki: Early Childhood Curriculum -Pedagogical approach: Play: valued mode of learning, more common in classrooms -Children can explore, experiment, discover, solve problems in imaginative/playful ways -Learning is fundamental to Learning Through Play -Enables children to engage in self directed play, internally motivated -Teachers support by providing enabling environment, sensitive interaction -Role of teacher: discuss, embed, extend learning Benefits: -Help schools realise vision of NZ Curriculum to develop confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners -Almost all values/key competencies can be developed through Learning Through Play -Range of learning areas can be explored, connections made across learning areas, home practices and the wider world. Growing evidence to suggest benefits to students learning/development: -Thinking Skills: engage in flexible/higher level thinking processes. (e.g inquiry: problem solving, analysing, evaluating, applying knowledge, innovation, creativity). -Interpersonal Skills: Interaction with others: Practice language development, cooperation, negotiation, leadership, empathy, active listening, compromise. -Intrapersonal Skills: Child’s sense of well-being: self esteem, motivation, resilience, concentration, persistence, time management. -Student Agency/Engagement: Encourage student agency, deeper levels of student engagement in learning. Smooth Transitions to School: New Entrant students settle to school quickly because of improved continuity between school and early childhood education. Role of the Teacher: -Critical for success -Creating a classroom environment with diverse interest areas/offer rich play opportunities -Drawing on curriculum knowledge to recognise the learning within play -Building play opportunities around students prior knowledge/interests -Providing sufficient opportunities for students to engage in play -Participating in meaningful learning conversations with children that stretch their thinking -Understanding/supporting the development of specific skills/knowledge that students need -Facilitating social interactions “Playful learning is the magic that takes place when we meld a child’s sense of joy and wonder with thoughtfully planned learning experiences.” My Thoughts: I can’t stop thinking about the quote above. Play is the vehicle of learning, comes to mind from another quote I have read. The child’s interests/passions/curiosity/sense of fun are all included in Learning Through Play if we as teachers create an environment where it can flourish. Our role is very important to inspire, ignite and extend the children’s interests/passions/learning experiences through play. Our knowledge of the learner comes into play here. We have been learning more about the role of the teacher as a coach. The list above ticks all the boxes for what we are developing in our Learning Through Play environment. Providing rich play opportunities and getting the children to think deeper through our questioning as a coach are areas we are developing. We are recognising the learning in play through our observation sheets and identifying the children’s urges. We have noticed the smooth transitions to school from our Cohort entries this year. The older children are showing the new children how we operate. They are picking up the routines quickly and interacting with others in the Learning Through Play environment. The children are developing 21st Century skills. Internally motivated jumps out to me from the reading. The children in our hub want to learn, they are excited to come to school and join in the activities/share what they have been doing. (Learning Through Play/Challenge Room). If we can ignite a love of learning that will continue as they grow we will have succeeded.

Research

Research Article 1 : Learning Through Play -Education Central Summary of reading: Tara started a Learning Through Play classroom in 2014. "Haeata's (Haeata Community Campus) curriculum is designed around students' personal needs and interests with teachers supporting akonga to achieve learning outcomes through learning opportunities that reflect their own passions." Positives: -accelerated learning -focuses on child directed learning -inquiry based on interests/passions -focus equally on academics/well-being -works hand in hand achieving N.Z Curriculum standards -success in developing foundational skills through play before academic learning -Learning Through Play Facebook group created "Play is really inquiry learning for kids." -sets children up for success -provides a context for child initiated learning (most effective type of learning) -authentic opportunities for self management, building relationships -teacher set up for Learning Through Play is crucial, purpose to support learning, teacher involvement a skill -Literacy lab: traditional reading/writing, children wanting to learn (increase of culture) My Thoughts: Providing for childrens personal needs, interests and passions is important. We can include these in a Learning Through Play environment. It is about getting to know the learner so you can incorporate exploration and challenge activities that will build on the children's knowledge, skills and ignite/extend their passions/interests. I think the accelerated learning is happening in classrooms. We have taken on a collaborative approach with Learning Through Play. The children are learning from each other as well as teachers. They have more freedom to be creative and explore/learn together along the way building 21st century skills. We have incorporated our Project Based Learning about space into our Learning Through Play and Challenge Room. The children have learnt many fascinating things about space. It is great to provide authentic opportunities for the children. Our children are learning to self manage, build relationships and develop their 21st century skills. We have learnt more about the teacher's role in Learning Through Play. We now can observe the play and know when it is beneficial for us to enter the play and provide scaffolding. We have learnt more about the set up of Play and how to observe the children's urges and plan for these. I have been on the Learning Through Play Facebook page and find it is a good resource to use, it is interesting to see how it began.