External Recognition #9

 Looking back on the past 9 weeks, I am pleased and proud of how far I have come. I feel far more capable and confident when using Google tools and delivering using the Learn, Create and Share Manaiakalani pedagogy. After listening to Dorothy it was made clear that all of the whare model foundations must be woven together, to make it work. 

I am looking forward to the holidays and restructuring and designing my classroom site. With our Planet Earth and Beyond focus, 'where in the universe do we belong?'. I will also look at how I can share my learning with my students, and walk them through the slideshow rewindable lessons we completed as a group.

I was also very nervous today, worried I was not prepared for the exam. I really did not need to stress, I just worked my way through it, at my own pace and had time to spare at the end. The shared kai was a perfect way to finish off, particularly on such a freezing day.

Ensuring connections are maintained particularly with the Alumni DFI group Dorothy has created, in terms of keeping up with the latest, sharing and collaborating with other teachers on a wider scale. 

Digital Fluency Intensive - 2021 - Kanohi Ki Te Kanohi - 4 Haratua #1

 Te Rā Tuatahi

Mauri ora koutou te whānau whānui o tēnei wahi DFI Wāhanga Tuarua! Wow what a day! My head is full. The things I learnt about today that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy were...

My confidence, capability or workflow as a professional has been improved by getting my head around what I need to learn using Google tools to improve the visibility of my programme via my site. This is still not 100% clear. Hopefully it will become more apparent as I further my knowledge.

I learnt that I can be more creative in my design for learning with my learners. Looking forward to getting more efficient with my class site as this is the way our kura is heading in terms of having learning made visible.

To improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life I need to allow more time to create exciting and engaging tasks. I'm looking to create a number of sites based around big concepts and once created these can be reused with students. Also adding more content along the way.

Computational Thinking #8

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

Today Dorothy introduced us to the kaupapa layer of "Empowered". When Manaiakalani first started out the jargon or term used was Agency. For whānau in lower socio-economic areas this word had reminded whānau of negative experiences with outside agencies, eg. Oranga Tamariki. This for me made me think about the negative experiences lots of our whānau have had with their own schooling pathways. Hence the lack of engagement with whānau in terms of partnership with the school. The struggle is still very much real in today's world. This has made me look at my setting and work place and question how equitable we are operating at. I feel there are constraints to empowering students at my school such as students not being able to take their devices home unless they are self-owned. Along with wireless access points within our community.

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

Unfortunately we did not really have a deep dive into some of the OMG Tech coding, scratch, minecraft, co-space options. I have signed up and will work my way through these. The beauty of rewindable learning. I have a number of students who are highly engaged using these platforms and would love to incorporate these into my akomanga.

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

Today we looked at Computational Thinking and an activity that could be used with a class to explain how an algorithm works. This tied in nicely with the pick a path interactive storytelling site Twine in terms of understanding how these pathways work through coding. It helped me to understand the terminology associated with the new curriculum such as loops, logics and conditional statements, eg. if, then, and then. I also signed up to the OMG Tech group to access the free resources and self-directed courses they provide. When I return back to school I want to work with my learners and look at the concept of morals and ethics in the world of technology. I really enjoyed the create session today and the interactive storytelling. Click here for a link to my pick a path story.

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

The reviatlisation of te reo Māori is an important goal I have set myself for the tamariki I teach and my own. I really enjoyed hearing from Viv and the various awards / grants/ trusts who offer a variety of pathways for Māori in the digital coding world. This caught my attention and is something I want to highlight for my reo rua students. I am now a firm believer of the importance of digital technologies and educating students on how it effects our lives.

Devices #7

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

Today Vicki shared with us the importance of the Ubiquitous - 'anytime, anywhere, anypace, anyone' floorboard of the Manaiakalani whare. It is where learning is not constricted by time, and can take place outside the hours of 9 to 3. It allows the students I teach access to a greater pool of experts without the constraint of time and place. The realisation that a decile 1 child has heard 30,000,000 less words than that of a decile 10 shocked me. This is where 'Ubiquitous' framework of rewindable learning can support these students to accelerate and catch up.

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

Today I learnt about Hapara workspaces and how I could use these with students in my akomanga. My workspace is aimed to increase the te reo Māori students are using when commenting on others' blogs. Click on the picture below for the link to my workspace.

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

I was introduced to an app called Explain Everything and the benefits this has for younger users, as well as students who have low Literacy skills and abilities. I can see the potential for this in terms of helping students to explain their writing when illegible and in Maths to explain their thinking and process. I can see that exporting may be an issue. I got to have a tutu using this app and below is my completed task.

Today we also had a go at using the chrome books and ipads. At times I found the tools, particularly the chrome book quite slow and chunky. I learnt a number of the shortcuts which many of my students know and use, and some of the latest updates being rolled out for chrome books. Below is a link to my digital dig and the tasks I completed.

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

I learnt a number of shortcuts that can improve the speed I work at while on my Mac book. I also found the tip on splitting screens really helpful. This will help me when working on 2 documents at the same time, or going between the 2.

Enabling Access #6

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

Today Dorothy uncovered the importance of being "connected". This like the other floorboards is integral for the house to remain standing. This is difficult if we do not embrace the "visible". The beauty of the Manaiakalani community is that it is a diverse group of kura, ranging from kura kaupapa, primary, secondary and special character schools across the country. From the top of the North to the South Island. It gives kaiako the ability to connect as educators, kura and with other classrooms around the rohe. It has a shared language across all kura being 'Ako, Hanga, Tohatoha'. Each term focus on key 1 component, with the last term embracing them all. Connecting is only as powerful as its audience. Implementing this kaupapa requires all 4 elements. 

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

I feel connecting with other educators as a vital part of my practice. Whereby resources, ideas and effective practises can be shared. There are a number of ideas I have taken on board, while exploring other teacher's sites. Below is a link to my site where I had a tutu.

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

Today I worked on a number of goals in terms of what I could do to improve my site for my learners. I created a site button folder and made and added buttons to my site. I also after exploring other's sites I have added a number of tools that may assist students in pānui. I will work on adding other tools to pāngarau, kaupapa matua, reo a waha also.

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

To improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life I really need to take the time to plan rework and relook at my site. Does it tick all the boxes in terms of what it needs to include and how accessible is it. Looking at other's who are on this course also would be beneficial. Perhaps including a parental / whanau portal page may be helpful also.

Classroom Sites #5

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

Today I learnt through working my way through the speaker notes about Manaiakalani's pedagogy of making learning visible. This certainly was a big focus for me last year during lockdown, but also turned out to be 'foggy, hazy and muggy' for the learners and whānau I was trying to reach. Baring in mind it was my first time using a classroom site to deliver learning to my students from home. I think the one thing that did work for me during lockdown was having karakia with my students to start and finish the week, and the other Google Meet sessions we had together. It certainly was a big learning curve for me. I truely believe in this pedagogy and working in the environment I do with 4 other kaiako, I see the benefits it has for all the learners in my setting from Year 0-8. It makes planning collaboratively so much easier and my students can access their learn, create, share from anywhere. A question Dorothy raised for me, with it being Samoan Language Week, was what would our students cultural experience of the week be like? What could I as a kaiako be providing for them digitally? I also need to consider and align with my kura and their policies around what information needs to be included in the making learning visible and what should be kept private?

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

I would really like to take a deep dive and look further into the "Teaching as Inquiry", in particular Angela Moala's work around using multi-modal, T-shaped literacy to improve the achievement of her students in reading. I also learnt how to share sites I have created properly without giving editing rights to learners. I feel much more confident in creating sites for my learners to access their learning in particular their multi-modal reading sites.

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

Today I created my first multi-modal site which focussed on the theme of 'Stories of Origins' from around the world. It includes a learn section with a variety of texts, a create section where students make comparisons between North and South Island iwi versions of the creation story. Students are also given the opportunity to retell one of the myths they read about in a creative way. Check out my link below.

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

Today I learnt that I am far more capable at working online from home than I realised. Particularly after the past 5 weeks of D.F.I. Even with sick children at home. Learning can really happen anywhere and anytime. I am a prime example of this after today. My confidence in using the google tools has grown and I have so many ideas I want to try with my learners, I'm getting quite excited at what that might look like. I wonder how I might be able to gather and share information via a google site with my whānau and wider whānau, in terms of recording whakapapa, stories from my tupuna, marae, rohe and iwi. This could be an awesome opportunity to collaborate and share on a large scale, particularly with my extremely large whānau.