DFI Day 3

Another great day of learning. Once we got the technology working it was a lot easier and less tiring than I anticipated. Good to have the small groups online. 

I found the presentation by Dorothy about create food for further thought as we are in the process of refining our local curriculum. The following points are what stood out for me...

To create is to empower. I think empowered learners are engaged and will succeed. Creating often involves problem solving, effective communication and collaboration. These are essential skills for our students' future opportunities and employment. At primary school we sometimes lose sight of the fact that the NZC is not just about preparing our students for secondary school but to be active citizens of Aotearoa. 

Teacher mindset when planning needs to be providing opportunities for create through the learning regardless of the year level. Are our students truly being exposed to creative opportunities or just digital sharing activities? I understand that the digital world is new and so teachers may think they are being creative by allowing students to create a digital object or presentation. I believe there is a lot more to it. Teachers need to be thinking about the body, not just the mind.

The new addition of the digital technologies to the Technology curriculum is great to move us from not just being consumers but also creators. SISOMO is worth exploring.

I am going to visit the Exploring Create in Manaiakalani with my staff to see if we can be inspired by it and add to it.

I enjoyed learning about YouTube. I will use it more now that I have my own channel - it will make it easier to locate key presentations and videos. 

Am going to investigate live streaming. Our whare is a classroom at the moment as our school is a building site and so we have been having our hui a kura outside. The weather is becoming too cold to do so. During Covid Level 2 we used to have Google Meet assemblies but think they can be improved by going to live stream.

I enjoyed the learning around Google Draw - this is not something I had used very much before.

The learning is great and I am wondering how far behind my staff I am and if what I am learning are things my staff have been doing for years. I aim to find out so we are all paddling our waka together.

My animation creation

DFI Day 2

 Today was another valuable day - full on. DFI is aptly named - it is intensive.

The learning programme was developed for students and teachers. This is an area that is a great strength of the Manaiakalani kaupapa as it actually involves and empowers all stakeholders.

Delivery of effective teacher practice is an ongoing process in our school as we learn together. Our learning model is allowing us to experience ako with deliberate teaching and learning supported by explicit success criteria. I think that if students do not know what they are learning nor how to be successful in their learning then they are simply doing tasks. Building good relationships with culturally responsiveness is critical.  Relevance, pace, assumptions and expectations are somethings we continue to refine. 

For our learners rewindable learning is essential. This is highlighted to me as it is going to be key for me to continue to keep up with the learning in this DFI.

I enjoyed learning about pinning sites, One Tab and Toby, plus d,w,m for changing the calendar view is a handy tip. My gmail has had a nice revamp and am enjoying a bit of colour. I think it is important to recognise what is actually a useful tip or extension compared to what is good to know but not necessarily useful to me. 

The create activity was a good one as I have a lot more confidence to record and present on Google meet. 

My kete is filling up. 

DFI Workshop 2

Today we invited a colleague to a Google Meet, presented and recorded our meet.

DFI Day 1

I survived. The day was very interesting, informative, hands on, fast, enjoyable, challenging, positive, practical. Full on.

It was good to go over the back story of Manaiakalani as part of the learning part.

 A couple of points stood out for me ...

Firstly, our schools, staff, students and whanau have undertaken a lot of change being part of the Manaiakalani kaupapa and before making changes we need to gather evidence - our students are not guinea pigs. All students have the right to equity. We can’t do it on our own. We are in this for the long haul. How exciting! What a privilege to be part of this journey together. I am hooked!

Secondly, the Chromebook is the pencil not the book.

One thing I am wondering about as I went through the day is running a 'DFI' for parents. We could cover aspects such as:

• Background story

• Google Chrome

• Hapara (Learning visible)

• Site (Learning and teaching made visible)

• Blogs and commenting

• Being cyber smart

The Google doc 101 was very useful - especially the headings and titles, explore and remove.bg for images. What was covered was applicable to me as a leader - not just teachers. Much appreciated.

In the create part I made this 'fabulous' image for our local curriculum. This is my second attempt. It is a small improvement from my first attempt. Third time... I will employ a graphic designer! I will stick to my day job!

Attempt 1 (last year)                                                               

Attempt 2 (today)