I am going off script this week and putting my own stream of consciousness in my blog. It feels like I am double-tracking with this course; learning technology as a second language on the one track and rolling along the other track with all the different ways that I can use these things for students pinging at me. I have taken to jotting all of the new learning that could work for me down, so here it is for you...this is what it looks like when an old teacher finally sees the value of technology for her twenty-first century learners.
I am thinking about using blogs in my Year 10 English. I know that I am late to arrive at this, but I am getting my head around how this would enhance learning. I love Dorothy's suggestion this morning of using the share stuff as a hook to finish. This gives them a purpose for writing and I really see the potential motivation here with the Year 10s. Publishing will require a re-defining for students in class. How do I integrate the publishing share aspect of their writing into my "writing is never finished" credo that my students hear from me every day. Time to rethink my own definitions to make sure they are still relevant for my students.
I also take Dorothy's point of "don't stop" when DFI is over. At this point, this course is a safe place with some time to play with this stuff, but ultimately I go back to what I know works and what is familiar. I am sure that I am not alone in this. The challenge is to sift through all of the new bits that we have been exposed to here, decide what could be useful, become fluent with those elements, and move on to a new element that could work with my students.
I love the idea of the video making and was overwhelmed by all of the beautiful websites we looked at today, but again I am up against the too-much-work barrier and I immediately think of how long it took to make something like that. Was it worth the time (enough bang for my buck)? Can I put it into my resources or will it need to be refreshed every year? I am noticing some clip links are no longer live. Is there a way to permanently insert clips into websites so that great bits that fit well into your website do not go dead and become irreplaceable?
I also love the idea of creating a new site for your classes every year-- it contributes to your inquiry cycle to show where you were, where you are next and also archives old resources for my own use in the future. And finally, I am noticing that these websites seem to be made for each unit schemes, not a huge class subject websites--is that correct? Is there a way to link all of these unit plans into a subject site or are individual ones websites better?
Thank you, Ben, for patiently sitting next to me and helping me, and for sharing "Just Dance" and "Go Noodle" Youtube videos for class dancing--one never knows when these will come in handy!
Well Folks, that's the end of Day Four of DFI and my brain is quite full. I will be percolating all week as usual.
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
March 20 Creating!
Tuesday, 19 March 2019
DFI 13 March Workflow
What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
I was pleased to learn that Manaiakalani is a lot more intentional as a programme than we have been with it at our school. Our school was quite frankly dropped into the deep end with the Chrome Books initiative and staff were expected to integrate them into their teaching immediately with training that was only provided with volunteer teacher time. We were not consulted at all and therefore did not (and still do not) understand the scope of the work nor the theoretical underpinnings for this kaupapa. Learning today that the implementation of this initiative should reflect the special character of the school was a comfort, as thus far it feels completely random and desperate at our school.
For this to be authentically beneficial to our students, we as a staff need to agree on some fundamental elements that make up the character of our school. I am interested to know if we all have the same understanding about what is meant by “learning?” I also note that there is currently no evidence of “two tracks” being laid down in our school:
1. An intentional, focused, evidence-based programme (the Manaiakalani Programme) that will support your community of learning move from the analogue world to the digital world while
2. Increasing teacher effectiveness and accelerating learning outcomes in this digital environment.
The PLD that our school has participated in thus far does not reflect our experience in our school as secondary teachers nor does it carry us forward from where we began. Perhaps this is because we as a staff have not had an opportunity to share where we are in the “analogue world” so that we can authentically move forward.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
The pace of this course is breathless, and I am only just keeping up! In saying this, however, I see SO much potential for smarter work here. One example is some of the strategies we learned today around organising Gmail and the calendar. I can see the excellent potential here to streamline the hundreds of bits that come into my mailbox and I am committed to exploring this.
The tabs work went entirely too fast for me, with far too much information presented to me at once. I know this is my age and the fact that technology is my second language, not my native language. I do know my learning style, however (forest first, then trees), so I am confident that I will be able to integrate this learning in a helpful way eventually.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
At the redefinition level of the SAMR model, the concern I have is the learning methodology is rapidly moving away from the traditional external essay style assessment process. When will there be a seamless system that allows digitally fluent students to learn most effectively for themselves and be able to efficiently convey that learning in the form of a final, external assessment? Are we currently setting kids up and are we at this point having to choose engagement for students over assessment?
The key outcome of this second session for me is the question I must continue to ask myself as I work to integrate technology into my own pedagogy: What is working already in my classroom and how can I bring technology in to enhance this?
I was pleased to learn that Manaiakalani is a lot more intentional as a programme than we have been with it at our school. Our school was quite frankly dropped into the deep end with the Chrome Books initiative and staff were expected to integrate them into their teaching immediately with training that was only provided with volunteer teacher time. We were not consulted at all and therefore did not (and still do not) understand the scope of the work nor the theoretical underpinnings for this kaupapa. Learning today that the implementation of this initiative should reflect the special character of the school was a comfort, as thus far it feels completely random and desperate at our school.
For this to be authentically beneficial to our students, we as a staff need to agree on some fundamental elements that make up the character of our school. I am interested to know if we all have the same understanding about what is meant by “learning?” I also note that there is currently no evidence of “two tracks” being laid down in our school:
1. An intentional, focused, evidence-based programme (the Manaiakalani Programme) that will support your community of learning move from the analogue world to the digital world while
2. Increasing teacher effectiveness and accelerating learning outcomes in this digital environment.
The PLD that our school has participated in thus far does not reflect our experience in our school as secondary teachers nor does it carry us forward from where we began. Perhaps this is because we as a staff have not had an opportunity to share where we are in the “analogue world” so that we can authentically move forward.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
The pace of this course is breathless, and I am only just keeping up! In saying this, however, I see SO much potential for smarter work here. One example is some of the strategies we learned today around organising Gmail and the calendar. I can see the excellent potential here to streamline the hundreds of bits that come into my mailbox and I am committed to exploring this.
The tabs work went entirely too fast for me, with far too much information presented to me at once. I know this is my age and the fact that technology is my second language, not my native language. I do know my learning style, however (forest first, then trees), so I am confident that I will be able to integrate this learning in a helpful way eventually.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
At the redefinition level of the SAMR model, the concern I have is the learning methodology is rapidly moving away from the traditional external essay style assessment process. When will there be a seamless system that allows digitally fluent students to learn most effectively for themselves and be able to efficiently convey that learning in the form of a final, external assessment? Are we currently setting kids up and are we at this point having to choose engagement for students over assessment?
The key outcome of this second session for me is the question I must continue to ask myself as I work to integrate technology into my own pedagogy: What is working already in my classroom and how can I bring technology in to enhance this?
Tuesday, 12 March 2019
DFI Core Business--the Journey Begins!
What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
I was interested to hear about this organisation, since I must admit I had been suspicious of it. We had very little preparation or training at our school for the initial Chromebooks roll-out, and I believe I had a lot of misconceptions about the process and the scope of this resource. It was good to hear today that the expectation was not to plunk students in front of a screen and turn them loose. Earlier meetings that I attended presented data that appeared inconclusive, and it was good this week to see more of the achievement data unpacked for me in a meaningful way.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
The expectation up until now has been that I should spend my own time up-skilling myself on the Google suite of resources. This week I appreciated being able to begin navigating the simple processes of the Google products. Although I do not find technology challenging as a rule, I am not a native technology speaker as our students are now. Because I continue
to filter this new learning through my 60 year old brain, it takes a bit longer to find my intuitive sense with each new technological element. I cannot say that my confidence, capability and especially my workflow have improved substantially at this time, but I do see a pathway that will lead me there. The key for me has always been time: time to try things out, time to integrate new tools into my pedagogy, time to evaluate the outcomes of new strategies in lessons. This first session was a rare gift of time to explore the elements of this new technology with guidance and time given for free exploration.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
I am beginning to see ways to make my website more accessible and more importantly, more useful, to students. I am excited about the possibilities of the voice to text features, but concerned that this resource is not yet completely integrated into our current NCEA examination practice. I am looking forward to learning more about the possibilities for students.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?
I am not altogether sure what is meant by this question. Are you asking if what was learned today is applicable in my personal life or are you asking if this learning will allow me to have more of a personal life? Insofar as I am dependent on technology for communication with loved ones here and across the sea, my relationship with technology is adequate for my personal needs. In terms of this freeing up time for a personal life, I have found thus far that just the opposite has occurred. After decades of teaching, I find that some ways that I have delivered curriculum in the past is no longer possible and while some of the changes have been for the best, I still need to become a web-designer before I can be a teacher again. Although the two of them are now related, I now spend just as much or more of my time navigating the latest new format of creating a table or a document to publish as I do writing lesson plans and unit schemes for my students.
I was interested to hear about this organisation, since I must admit I had been suspicious of it. We had very little preparation or training at our school for the initial Chromebooks roll-out, and I believe I had a lot of misconceptions about the process and the scope of this resource. It was good to hear today that the expectation was not to plunk students in front of a screen and turn them loose. Earlier meetings that I attended presented data that appeared inconclusive, and it was good this week to see more of the achievement data unpacked for me in a meaningful way.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
The expectation up until now has been that I should spend my own time up-skilling myself on the Google suite of resources. This week I appreciated being able to begin navigating the simple processes of the Google products. Although I do not find technology challenging as a rule, I am not a native technology speaker as our students are now. Because I continue
to filter this new learning through my 60 year old brain, it takes a bit longer to find my intuitive sense with each new technological element. I cannot say that my confidence, capability and especially my workflow have improved substantially at this time, but I do see a pathway that will lead me there. The key for me has always been time: time to try things out, time to integrate new tools into my pedagogy, time to evaluate the outcomes of new strategies in lessons. This first session was a rare gift of time to explore the elements of this new technology with guidance and time given for free exploration.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
I am beginning to see ways to make my website more accessible and more importantly, more useful, to students. I am excited about the possibilities of the voice to text features, but concerned that this resource is not yet completely integrated into our current NCEA examination practice. I am looking forward to learning more about the possibilities for students.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?
I am not altogether sure what is meant by this question. Are you asking if what was learned today is applicable in my personal life or are you asking if this learning will allow me to have more of a personal life? Insofar as I am dependent on technology for communication with loved ones here and across the sea, my relationship with technology is adequate for my personal needs. In terms of this freeing up time for a personal life, I have found thus far that just the opposite has occurred. After decades of teaching, I find that some ways that I have delivered curriculum in the past is no longer possible and while some of the changes have been for the best, I still need to become a web-designer before I can be a teacher again. Although the two of them are now related, I now spend just as much or more of my time navigating the latest new format of creating a table or a document to publish as I do writing lesson plans and unit schemes for my students.
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