Day 9-DFI-Reflections.

 Today is our final Day of DFI. My Learning has increased with so much knowledge. These last few weeks have been really invaluable and I have enjoyed myself along the way. We have sat our DFI exams and although I do not have access to my results so cannot see if I passed or not-I would be happy either way.

I feel much more confident now if I had to work with any of the Google Platforms. I also feel that I have had the opportunity to connect with others all over NZ who have gone through this journey with me. Not only have we collaborated together on how best to use this technology/devices in our classrooms- but there have been some great friendships made.

I have really enjoyed working with my bubble group, I have found their ideas/suggestions, to be really helpful. I am so thankful to have been in a group of individuals who have offered their support and their own knowledge.

I had no suggestions to how the DFI could improve it's agenda, I thought that the organisation  of this event was all good. The only thing I would have liked is more time to revise things with our bubble coach.

In the future I can apply some of my new skills not only to my classroom but I can also apply these new skills to my own personal inquiry/portfolio.

Thank you to all the Coaches for all your hard work!!!!! and especially our Bubble Coach-Thank you Maria!

Day 8-DFI-Computational thinking

Our focus for DAY 8 was computational thinking. We talked about the empowerment of our children and how we are shifting from Passive consumers to be the creators of our stories, music and films. We do more than just interact with our devices we are actually involved in the process. We become the innovators, the designers and the creators. We also got to look at the different elements that made up Computational thinking

I actually found a lot of this language helpful for myself in regards to making sense of things I use or do sometimes everyday.

We want to get to a point where the Digitally Fluent student is working alongside of the Digitally Fluent Teacher. We got the opportunity to explore different coding apps that students could use.

I wanted to focus more on Scratch Junior as this is an app that my class tend to use on a weekly basis. I must admit I always say to my class if I have given them free choice that that does not mean they can go on Scratch Junior (as I do think to myself that its not productive and they are not learning anything.) Yet when I was given the opportunity to investigate various sites under Scratch Junior I was v impressed.

So the above is a screenshot of the different tools the user has available to them to help them create and code. But I have attached a link for you to look at that tells you all about this amazing app for children.

I actually love what MIT Media lab (Creators of this app) have to say about Scratch. They state how young children get to express and create with their computers. How being involved in the "process" helps them solve problems, design projects. It also exposes them at a young age to math and language that is meaningful. This idea or concept is very impressive and it has changed my whole outlook to scratch and how I will use it in the future.

T2 PENN Movie Room 26

Day 7-DFI-Devices

 Today Dorothy spoke about Ubiquitous learning. Removing Barriers: having young people expand opportunities. Back in the day school was between 9-3 but now thanks to rewindable learning and choice people can learn anytime, any pace and anywhere.

This learning worked well when covid hit us and everyone had to work from home. Today we focused on other children's devices with Ipads, Chromebooks,  Explain everything and Screencastify (Which I enjoyed) Although I use Ipads in my Year 2  class I did enjoy having the opportunity having a play with Chromebooks and I did enjoy the Digital Dig and keyboard shortcuts were really useful.

We also looked at Cybersmart. The importance of it in the classroom. Our brief for the afternoon was to CREATE a screen recording talking through a lesson. This was just a snapshot. I covered Smart relationships/ Quality blogging comments. As I was wanting my learners to become more engaged with this process.

I really enjoyed the session today as I got to try Screencastify- I chose not to turn my camera on, I just recorded my voice. Below is what I managed to record,

Day 6-DFI-Enabling Access, Sites Agenda

We had the opportunity to look at other teachers class sites from all different year levels and got to evaluate them with our Bubble groups. We got to look at the great things we could take away from these sites and notice the things that perhaps would not work with our year groups.

We learnt about 2 main criteria that make a google site successful-visual appeal and functionality. Thanks to Makaore who was quick to point out a few things that one needs to consider when building a site for your learners. He started the discussion by paying tribute to a wonderful quote by Stuart McNaughton who heads the Woolf fisher department and after analysing a lot of data, had the following to say........

Makaore points out that the purpose of a Google Learning Site is  to empower all learners in a digital environment. So when you are building a your class site you should keep in mind that learning is accessible anywhere, anytime, anyspace, it is rewindable (so you have the opportunity at anytime to view it) your planning and teaching is visible. There are weekly overviews and timetables. You can access your learning during lockdown. Your site should become a hub of information about events, groupings, and events and progressions for both learners and parents.

I am very happy with Team 2 site. This is a collaboration of 4 teachers (as we work in a ILE) Below are screenshots of our site for/our space

We have created big colourful buttons for these year 2's to access their work.

Then under every heading for reading, writing, and maths the children are in groups with group names, they push their group name and it will lead them to their activities for the day.

We have created a Home learning button where they can access videos, hangman, puzzles

The site is very compatible with the needs of our learners in this space and it is very easy to navigate. But this is T2 and any site is always a work in progress (as things are constantly changing) and as educators we are constantly evolving reflecting these changes in our sites.

DAY 5-DFI-Collaborative Teaching and Learning.

 

Click on the picture to see the google site I created today.

Dorothy reminded us how important it is to keep learning visible not only to us but to all whanau. This concept makes us fall in line with the Treaty of Waitangi, the participation component.

She stated that success had always been  measured upon the learners being able to jump into the teacher's head and be on "the same page" but she did counteract that "idea" further reinforcing "success" needing to be equitable and therefore accessible to everyone. 

Kerry Boyde-Preece mentioned that our class sites should be "Multi modal" for our learners. Multi modal learning is when teachers provide several different types of resources to enhance a lesson. By creating Multi modal google sites we basically  have the understanding that with learning it is not a 1 size fits all philosophy but  we are able to provide a number of different options to cater  for a range of abilities. 

This has other benefits as well, our learners are engaged, motivated and really excited about their learning.  The power that you have as a teacher in using this platform enables you to plant seeds to produce life long learners.

Kerry Boyde-Preece made a really cool analogy she stated that not only is your Class site an extension of your classroom but its very similar to a shop window-in the same way they are selling to the consumer -we too are selling what we have to our learners- it is our site that is our hook.