DFI- The Data Deal

The Data Deal

The Manaiakalani ethos ...

 of connecting all to enable strength through collaboration is reflected in the power of blogging! A successful example of this is our DFI groups weekly reflections through our blogs ... this enables us to share our weekly creations. thinking ans skills for others to return to to deepen our thinking and skill!

Google Maps ...

 is an underutilised tool in our classrooms and one that can bring the world, our place and our country into the classroom.
This is the beginning of My Digital Pepeha supported by Google Maps.

Google forms ...

 are an easy and effective way to gather information for a class, school or community. Quick to make and information being easily gathered, aggregated and shared makes this a valuable tool for me as a teacher and leader in our school. Here is a quick sample of a Google Form I have made to gather student information for my class. 

Google Sheets ...

Google Sheets is an area that at this stage I have not used or had the need to use. I have however discovered Steve Dotto from dottotech on youtube. I have the confidence through DFI to know that if I was required to create a google sheet for a task that I would be able to locate the information I require. In fact ...  I have such confidence in Steve that with the skills I have learnt through DFI that I have made a youtube playlist of the relevant clips I require to make the learning more accessible!

This is all part of the Manaiakalani philosophy that supports learning being accessible to ...

... Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere!

I have been mindful of the rewindable learning for my students and their families through the use of our class Google Site! I ensure that I share the learning for all to revisit so that they can deepen their understanding, share their learning and show their families their thinking!

DFI- Collaborative Sites ... Collaborating Life!

Working Smarter / Living Smarter

Using digital technologies to smarten up the way I live and interact with teaching and learning will not only make my life smarter yet the learning more real and connected for the learners and their families.

The class web-page is the beginning of this for my new entrant room as it is a way of sharing the learning for home and school, making it visible for the families and rewindable for the learners. I have created for the first time an assembly page under Term 1 to make the running of the presentation to the school smoother yet sharing it with families earlier would mean the children can practice at home during the week so they are better prepared!

Multi-modal Literacy's - Design ... window dressing ... making the learning inviting ... with the support of Hapara you can give the children focused browsing time where their screens are locked for a selected amount of time so they can only work with the desired work.

 There are so many supports to keep our students safe and to make learning achievable and connectable. The focus on Ipads today introduced the many ways for new learners to record, review and share their thinking with others. 

Explain Everything is the next new skill for our classroom. I look forward to introducing this to our class as I feel it will add value to their thinking and learning and is very shareable for our families. 

We are currently accessing apps on our IPads to support us with letter formation, numeral recognition, subertising and now we will use the Makaiakalani philosophy of CREATE and SHARE.
It is a fabulous feeling to be at a place where technology is supporting me!!

DFI - The Final Frontier - Week Nine

Revision

Today was all about reviewing the distance traveled after Nine INTENSIVE weeks of ICT learning. The Manaiakalani kaupapa of making learning visible, rewindable and equitable has certainly been reflected for me in the past few weeks as I have built up to taking on an exam.

I was able to use the skills that this DFI has taught me to view youtube, rewind skills taught in prior focuses and to save information all in readiness to sit the Google Level One exam! While not achieving the exam this time I am certainly close enough to had a resit in 14 days time. The challenge was real and my efforts stellar!!

I have learnt that learning is never ending and with the support of GOOGLE and a network of colleagues every challenge is achievable ... if not at first most certainly soon after!!

I learnt that the struggle is where the learning takes place and it is through the struggle that we achieve. It has been too long since I was last challenged in the way that I expect my learners to be challenged and this was a good feeling and a timely reminder how good ... no great ... achieving feels after the struggle!!

The skills I have learnt in applying the different tools and apps to assist me in keeping order in a busy life have been invaluable. Thanks to a fantastic SMART phone support, advice, planning, assessment and lists is never far away. Sharing across many devices and with teaching colleagues life is certainly much SMARTER!
 These pictures are a reflection from last weeks learning where I introduced my class of 5 year olds to CODING UNPLUGGED! Such fun ... I could see so many curriculum skills being covered as well as collaboration and communication. The list of learning skills was endless!!

A HUGE thank you to our fabulously patient and knowledgeable facilitators Maria, Amie, Step and Herman. Meeting new faces and learning partners has also been a highlight of the DFI experience!!

Computational Thinking ... Where will it take ME?

My Digital Journey

Magic Moments at 

Gisborne Mindlab

Getting my head around the new 'Digital Technology Curriculum' for me is a NOW step. Fortunately we have supported PLD through Cognition. 

Listening to Dorothy share with us today of the challenges of equity across our communities is such an eye opener every time. The positives today is thanks to being able to connect digitally we are able to keep our communities connected no matter where they be!

Digital devices are so much more than a tool! They are windows to the world!! Keyboards to collaboration and connection!

The Mindlab

What a fabulous space The Mindlab is to work in. Great to revisit and reconnect. This time round I feel much more digitally proficient and the new learning shared made so much more sense!! I was able to listen to and learn new skills and then adapt them to suit my age group so look our Room 7 Makauri School ... we will be learning to code!!

Playing KAHOOT! was a real heart pounder ... not a good thought when the Google Level One exam is 3 hours of STRESS!!!

Practicing Coding with real live ROBOTS. To achieve this successfully with 5yr olds I would tape the grid on the floor, provide left and right arrows to assist with not knowing left and right while they are learning this. We will explore coding using our Duplo blocks too.

'Lightbot' is an app for the ipad to teach children the beginning of programming. Great for covering the Mathematical terms for left,  right, 1/4 turn and 1/2 turn.

Such fun collaborating with a friend ... risk taking and applying new skills is so much easier!!

My first steps to begin the learning of coding is introduce the concept through materials in our room. Creating a grid on the carpet and one on the wall are places I am going to start ... watch this space as I will post pictures of our progress!!

Booking times with The Mindlab for our class is the plan for Term 3 !!

A great step to wean me from Manaiakalani and to keep my skills rolling!!

Next Week ... Google Level One Certification time!!

DFI - Being View-able ... Enabling Access

Being View-able ... Enabling Access 

Why connect through 'Digital Devices'? 

Today through a Google Hangout session, I gained a deeper understanding about the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and pedagogy from Dorothy Burt that while Face to Face is always the preferred and BEST way to connect ... when there are barriers to this through time and distance, why miss out on the experience ... connect online and enjoy the experience! This way we are far from support and growth through the power of many!

What works on a Google Site? (For Me!!)

Clear, simple, bright ... colour coordinated, theme based, one click are all aspects of sites that I am attracted to. Exploring other web-pages today provided me with an opportunity to gain knowledge on the set up and presentation of a variety webpages to give me ideas of how to improve my page. A valuable tip was learning about incognito and ensuring that it is turned on is an important aspect so that I can be assured that when my students and their families go on to view, explore and enjoy my web-page they are able to to have access. This skill will ensure that as a professional I have confidence in my capability to build a high quality page! 

Consistency of Branding!

Developing a theme to run through all professional digital platforms is a fabulous way to ensure that people are following the right ME! I, alongside a colleague today learnt the skill of adding Favicons!! Such fun!

The Greedy Cat Favicon shown above takes you to my class-webpage. 

Web-Page Reflection and Review

My class web-page was peer reviewed today to give me feedback on its workability for students and whanau. We kept in mind the fact that it is for New Entrants and that I have not at this stage been a part of the Manaiakalani         'In-Class Facilitation' Programme. For my learners benefit I now know how to view my web-page from my laptop in Ipad view so that I can see how it will look for them on an Ipad. I have adapted the set up of my webpage to include the use of headings and subheadings so that there is a link provided to make connecting the page and our Facebook page smoother. Hermon and I discussed the possibility of teaching the children how to indicate how they are feeling each day. We have come up with the Minion theme of happy and sad icons that the children can put their names under. Over time as we explore feelings we can add onto our choices. This can be photocopied 

Personally Enhanced

The digital skills I am learning through the DFI are helping me to be more efficient across so many platforms. I feel that I am questioning what I do and ask myself is this the best way to do this? I use the beauty of google to explore the possibilities of what can add value and time to my life.