DFI: Computational Thinking

 

I think that supporting learners from diverse backgrounds is so important in order to empower students with their learning. I have several students in my classroom that use a Chromebook supplied by the school as their family is unable to afford one. If we didn't supply these Chromebooks then they would be at huge disadvantage.

I've also had feedback from my students about what they enjoy doing on their Chromebooks in the classroom and what they don't enjoy. I now have the challenge to use certain programmes that they like using in order to try and hook reluctant learners!

Computational thinking:
I have now realised that my students aren't as digitally fluent as I thought. They may be quite competent in using one aspect of google but not in others. Students have recently made goals in order to become more fluent in other areas.

After DFI I feel so much more confident in my abilities to be able to show students how to use various google aspects and how to move to the next level of learning.

It was really interesting having time to explore the Digital Curriculum. I need to look deeper into this and will also share it with other teachers at school.

DFI: Devices

 

Listening to Dorothy this morning helped me to realise that regularly practicing learning via a google meet with students during class time is something that I hadn't thought to do. It's a great way to identify students that have barriers and to help them so that all students are confident and ready to learn digitally from home if need be.

Rewindable learning is so valuable for children that are absent as they can do their learning from home. This is something that I am yet to implement. At the moment students that I know will be absent I send paper based work home for them to complete. I love the idea of children making recordings of the teacher explaining how to do something and then sharing that with others.

I have not spent much time on a Chromebook and when students have issues I try and wing it to find remedies. Spending a decent amount of time using one today was great. I now feel confident in finding my way round and I'm sure I learnt some tips and tricks that most of my students don't already know! 

Getting the chance to practice with Screen Castify was fun! I created a slideshow along with videos explaining the learning for each slide during our 'create' time today. I'll be using this in the classroom tomorrow and I'm sure many kids will benefit from the video support.

DFI: Enabling Access Sites

 

The discussion around connectivity this morning was inspiring in that we are based in a relatively small school on the West Coast but we can readily connect with any Manaiakalani school in New Zealand. We share the same learning pedagogy (learn, create, share) and learning platforms which creates a real sense of community.

This learning community is helpful especially where schools use visible learning. It has helped me in my digital teaching journey as I can access many suitable learning sites and get ideas on what is visually appealing and easy to use in our classroom learning site. 

Having a decent amount of time to look at other learning sites has helped me realise how important it is to use a site that is both visually appealing and easy to find your way around. Sharing our sites with our bubble group also helped me to really think about what we already use and how it can be improved.

I learnt that there is a student dashboard which was something that I was unaware of! I'll have a better look at this with students tomorrow and see if it would be beneficial to regularly use in the classroom.

Day 4 of DFI - Dealing with Data

 

Listening to Dorothy discuss the importance of students having an authentic audience is something that I completely resonate with. I often think of how to put value in what students are creating as I see how it increases a student's mana when somebody recognises their learning. We haven't started using individual blogs in our classroom but when we do I think it will help to promote the importance of producing work of a high standard.

I have a few students that don't seem to complete all of their mahi. I need to be mindful of ensuring that they have enough time to finish.  Also with having the expectation of sharing their work I feel that students will definitely take greater ownership of completing their mahi.

Learning different ways of using google sheets was great. This is definitely something that I will use in my professional practice. It makes collating and analysing data some much easier when you have some tricks up your sleeve!

Here's some charts that I created using blog post data from Manvi S's blog.

I hadn't used google forms until today. I enjoyed the process and will definitely use this in my teaching. I have signed up with Jeremy's toolkit to see how I could use this with testing in the classroom.

We used Mymaps in the classroom earlier this year. I had kind of bluffed my way through showing the kids how to use it to show different countries that were involved in WW1 + a bit of added information. We will use maps again next week linked to our inquiry of Jean Batten but now we'll also link it to Maths using measurement.

Day three of DFI

 

Dorothy's message today was a great reminder in that creativity empowers learners. It is very easy to get swamped by the demands of the curriculum and to miss planning opportunities for student led creative activities. I see how much my students enjoy any opportunity to create and I need to be more mindful of providing enough time to off open ended creative tasks.

Learning how to create an image, save it as .png and link it to my sidebar on my blog as helped me feel more confident with adding other information.

I enjoyed learning about Google Draw. I especially liked the demonstration that Kerry showed us about creating a portrait. I will introduce this tool to my students but do as she suggested and start with using straighter lines before encouraging more complex images.

I also liked the pick a path idea that Vicky showed us using Google Slides. I have linked the draft copy of mine (still a work in progress...). I wanted to see if I could link it to our current focus of persuasive writing.

Reflection from Day 2 DFI

 

Dorothy's presentation had many points that made me think about how I use digital learning to enhance my teaching practice.

In my classroom we regularly use a digital platform to Learn and Create but we don't often Share work digitally. I now understand the benefits of digitally sharing student's work as I appreciate that collaborative feedback is empowering for all students.

Having the opportunity to practice using Google Meet helped me to deepen my understanding and confidence with using this tool. Linking this practice to studying student's blog was great as I also saw how powerful feedback is for student's when they share their learning. Next week I will work with student's to update their class blogs in order to regularly share their leaning using this platform. This has also inspired me to find out more about buddy schools.

Here's a video of me practicing with the Record option in Google Meet:

I enjoyed learning about Google Keep and have now downloaded it onto my phone and pc. I will definitely use this in both my personal and professional life. I particularly like the image to text option for using in the classroom.

DFI Reflection from Day 1

 

The Manaiakalani story shared with us by Dorothy this morning showed that so much has been achieved since Manaiakalani begun. With the understanding that only a few schools were originally on board with the idea that digital learning could enhance student achievement, then to fast forward to today in that the statistics clearly show the progress that this pedagogy has achieved I feel lucky to be a part of this kaupapa.

I have been a teacher for 6 years now and have never Marie Kondo'd my Google Drive. Today I felt like the penny dropped and I wondered why I have been fumbling my way through all of my folders and loose documents all this time?! Needles to say I am now filing documents into year folders, colour coding and culling unnecessary stuff.

I regularly use Google Docs but when it comes to creating something that needs a bit of a wow factor I tend to use Google Draw or Slides. I learnt different ways to create cool and efficient looking documents today and I am going to share this new knowledge with my students tomorrow. We have been working on using persuasive language in advertising and for publishing tomorrow I will demonstrate how to create an effective advertisement using Google Docs (we generally use Slides or Google Draw).

Here's a draft of what I created using Docs during our DFI session today:

Another aspect that I will incorporate in my teaching programme is the read to text tool in Docs. I was unaware of this tool and I'm excited to implement it as I can see how beneficial this will be in building fluency and reading mileage with several students.