DFI Day 9 - Hamilton F2F Cohort

Today is the day we sat our Google Level 1 Exam!  Crikey!!

I have loved having the opportunity for this PLD, I have learnt many things about the Google world and the awesomeness that is Manaiakalani.  The Manaiakalani initiative is so great, helping so many tamariki and proving itself with it's many years going and positive track record.  Thank you to all the Manaiakalani staff and Manaiakalani Education Trust for making this possible for me and so many.

Our kura is a little different as we had all staff on the DFI.  I am the office manager, so support staff, and not in front of the tamariki teaching. I have been at this kura for over 17 years so know the ins and outs of the kura and like to know what the kaiako are are up to with their learning and teaching.  So being able to take part too has been invaluable.  Even though I am not using all these great tools for teaching I can see how I can use them in my mahi to make things easier and also how the kaiako can use them in their akomanga.  It has been great being able to join this journey with them and learn along side them.

The feedback survey for MET asked about what highlights we have learnt that may have impacted upon us, for me this was organising My Drive.  It may seem simple but cleaning up my drive and relating to it (and use folders) as I would on my computer C drive has been great.  Before this I did not relate to it at all like that but now that I see it works like that my drive is a lot tidier and a lot easier to navigate and find what I need.  Tip - when making a new doc/sheet/slide etc open it through the folder you want it saved to straight away, that way it's done, you aren't having to move it later and you know where it is.

The DFI sessions and help that we have been given through has been wonderful.  The facilitators that we have meet along the way have all been awesome and very helpful.  Thank you for the mahi you do!  Big shout out to Dave - he has been a real benefit to us all here, spending time at the kura and helping out lots!!  Ngā mihi nui!

Whoop whoop!!

DFI Day 8 - Hamilton F2F Cohort

Computational Thinking
Today was our last DFI, Computational Thinking, before our exam tomorrow.  We looked at Empowerment today, had a look at the new Digital Technologies Curriculum and the future of technologies.  We looked into Coding and trying out different sites for this.  I used Scratch to create something for the first time.  It is going to take a lot of playing and getting used to but I'm happy with my first creation.  

DFI Day 7 - Hamilton F2F Cohort

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

Being Cybersmart isn't only for the kids, but for the kaiako, parents/whānau too. The Cybersmart Challenges that that Matt has created look like a fun way to learn all about it.

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

Being able to have a look and work on both the Chromebook and iPapa was worth while.  Not only to see what the tamariki have to use every day, but to get an understanding myself of shortcuts, especially for the chromebook, to help when they are having some trouble.

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

We had a go at using Show Me on the iPapa, and I also had a try and Explain Everything.

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

The more I use these tools I am learning about through the DFIs the more confident I become.  

Below are the examples of my Show Me and Explain Everything creations.

Show me:

Explain Everything:

DFI Day 6 - Hamilton F2F Cohort

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

There is a whole community of us out there that can help us learn, create and share. Manaiakalani has grown a lot since first starting and is willing and excited to get a lot of schools and kura involved so we can all share together.

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

Having to set some goals and tick them off in the evaluating sites doc made me get 3 things finished, where as before I felt I was flailing around from bit to bit. But actually setting those small goals I got them finished and feel much more confident about my work in sites now - not saying that I'm an expert by any means but it has definitely boosted my confidence.

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

Being able to make buttons and link them to things for my site will be great for sharing on different things with parents and the school community on my site.

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

Everything I learnt today!! I am looking forward to going home and showing my whānau what I have created today.

Below are before and after of my website from when I first started and had only a rough idea of what I was going to do, to the end of today when I had a more clear idea... although still a lot more to do.

Before:

After:

DFI Day 5 - Hamilton F2F Cohort

 

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

It's important to make learning visible, not only for tamariki but for sharing amongst kaiako.

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

At first I found the concept of making a site difficult, it was hard to compute in my head. The site in the picture below is my one for our kura, and I was having difficulty with what to put in it. After our break we started working on ones for a Multi Modal site, each kaiako and kaimahi doing our own page for our manu amorangi here at kura. For this I started planning first on a piece of paper and soon had a good idea with lots of notes jotted down for where I was going to go with this. Taking the time to writing out a plan for this site made me feel a lot more confident in creating it.

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

I am looking forward to creating my site for the tari, so that I can get info out to the parents and interact with them in a new way. Have forms, procedures etc on there that they will have easy access to and know where to go for them. I will now take the time to plan this out in writing, jotting down notes, so I can get the process sorted out in my head first.

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

Everything we went over today, but like with anything, the more you use it the more I will get used to it and be able to create new things. Writing out a plan will help me a lot, I found once I started writing out one, it led to more and more content I could put in my site.

DFI Day 4 - Hamilton F2F Cohort - Papakura Central School

Our DFI today was at Papakura Central School.  It was good to go somewhere else and meet others on the same learning journey as us. 

In the afternoon session we had to look at student's blogs and analysed the data through sheets to see what we could gather from how many blog posts the student had done over time.  Below is the graph I created with the data used through sheets and a small analysis on what I can see from the data.  I created this with Google Drawings.

DFI Day 4 - Hamilton F2F Cohort - Papakura Central School

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

Where sharing came about e.g. 2005 and all the sharing platforms came about. I also found it interesting why Blogger was used, as I did think why is it this platform being used? But the analogy of the car made it make sense and was understandable.

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

My first time creating a form so I'm sure I can bring that into my office work. There so much I could do in Sheets if I know now so looking forward to learning how to do more.

What did I learn that could be used with my learners, how could they use?

I have learnt how to use data from one sheet in another sheet which will be very helpful for Tohu Angitu sheets to get the daily data into the results sheet. Super happy about this as I won't have to copy and past each days totals across, it will be done automatically now. And also the simple thing like inserting a check box, that will be very helpful for permission slips etc.

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

If I want to learn to do somethings that might be a bit more difficult in sheets, there is most likely a youtube video to show me how.

Below is the map I created of Places of Interest in the area where our kura is and where I live.