Final Reflection DFI

Well, today I feel really disheartened as I signed up for the google assessment last week and I never received the 2nd email with all the information.  After sending 2 emails for support from google I have not received a response and now can't sit the exam.  I know this is no ones fault but still it makes me feel a bit frustrated and I can't see me getting 3 child free hours to do it at home and I don't have anymore CRT this term.

In general I have found this DFI course to be highly beneficial to my teaching, personal knowledge and as a parent I can work alongside my son as he is very much at the same stage as me.

My favourite parts about the course have been the 'Pick a Path' session, the Mymaps session and the workshop on how to use sheets.  These were very practical sessions that I could incorporate into my classroom programme straight away, they engaged my class, made me feel successful and allowed me to grow in confidence.

The most disappointing part about the DFI course was last weeks session.  I found this session to be rushed, the presenter wasn't  very tolerant of those who were not that skilled in the areas she was covering and the Hapara presentation did not meet my expectations.

I have really appreciated all the opportunities that this course have offered me.  I really appreciate all the time and effort Nicola and Madeline put in to help ensure we have the skills required to run a digital classroom.  And last but not least I will miss Nicola's baking each week!!!

DFI Reflection 7

I have to say I didn't love the presentation of todays course.  We were talked to far too much and didn't get hands on as much as we have in past courses.  It made me very aware that I must not talk too long to my kids, because if I found this hard the kids in my class definitely would!

Being Cybersmart:

Ensuring you have planned for what works for you school.  A major focus should be on 'Positive, Thoughtful, Helpful'.  I need to be using this language more in the classroom and do some deliberate teaching around this.  There should be a link in some way through your planning to make those connections.  Conversations need to happen to ensure parents are engaged and in turn engaging them in the children learning.

I really took this on board in relation to my own two children as my oldest is already starting to share and I don't really know how much he is sharing........I am going to check this out tonight!

Hapara: 

Show it to the children in a positive way, while also showing them that you can see what they are doing for example, as a class we are going to open our literacy bingo and I am going to time you.

It was great to  learn about guided sessions as I have heard so much about these but have never implemented it myself.

3 P's (Partnership, Participation and Protection):

The community needs to be involved family, student, school for example the Kawa of Care.  We also need to no that we need all those other parties are involved too like our BOT, developers, Toki trust etc.

The 3 P's are all about participation and this means that every learner and teacher is supported and encouraged to become digitally fluent, for example this DFI and Madaline coming into the classes.

Protection is a big one and it must happen not only at school but at home too.  This is one of the hard parts of the 3 P's for me.  I feel that we can education children and parents but it does come down to the children and parents to ensure our advice is followed up at home.  

Using a Chromebook:

This wasn't new for me as I have used a chromebook for the last 3 years so had good knowledge around this.  It was a good reminder especially some of the keyboard shortcuts as these will be helpful for the children in my class to use and having that digital dig template is a great tool I can use with the children, it is very practical.

Using an I-Pad:

If found this section not practical for my level.  I did not have EE on my I-pad so wasn't even able to explore during this time.

Screencasts:

It was great to get time to play with screen casts as the children in my class have used these a lot and I have no idea what they have been doing.  I now need to go away and practice so I can help problems solve when the children have some issues.

I am feeling ok about sitting the test but am worried about the 3 hour time frame.  I believe I can pass but I don't work too well in test situations.  I will be spending the next week reviewing all that we have covered over the last few week.

Reflection Wk 7

Using Youtube: 

Something I was completely unaware of is that if the children upload to Youtube we need to be monitoring the comments etc.  This is a total turn off for me as I don't like the thought that I would have to do this.  It is good to know that just sharing on our blogs is a nice safe place to do the share part of learn, create, share.

It was wonderful to get some one on one with Madeline around creating a Youtube account and setting up my playlist.  This is something I will use on a daily basis and it will help me to keep videos to use in a future setting rather than having to link everything like I have been.

New Vocab:

Channel - this is your account and if you upload things it goes against your channel

Playlist - where you can save other peoples videos that you like using.

Gimble - a camera that stays steady even when the handle or drone moves estimated cost $300

Using Google Drawing - 

As much as I have used this already it was great to learn all those little techniques for example you can change the page size.  My favourite thing I took from todays chalk and talk around drawings if the polyline and I was super excited to create the below in about 2 mins!  I can't wait to show this to the children.

Deep Dive with Kent - 

This scared me a little as I would not be comfortable live streaming but I do understand it is a skill that our students need.  I did love the examples Kent gave around the rugby game and olympic rings.  As a school we would not have the fund to purchase a drone but I could utilise Tim's one.  I am thinking on how I could include the use of the drone in the movie we are making for the West Coast film fest.

Slideshow 'Pick a path' - 

This part of the day was my favourite part!  This is a very practical and I know the children in Room 5 would love to do this as a writing task, it would also link into our fairytale theme really well too.   I also believe this would engage some of those hard to engage students.  I can't wait to update you and add in my finished 'Pick a Path' story on the 3 Little Pigs!

This is have a very productive day and I have really enjoyed it.

Reflection Week 6

Empowered = Agency

It is empower teachers, whanau and learners as well.  This was explained in a very good way especially relating it to what a lot of our families experience.

Google form are incredible!  I have created a google form for the senior children at Awahono to use to collect data around wellbeing.  I can't wait to see the results.  One thing I worked out was that if you don't change it from just Awahono emails being able to access it then those who are outside the school can't respond.

My Maps - this is fantastic!  As much as this was a deep dive I found Dave explained this very well and I can easily see how I will use this within the classroom.  I am even going to create one for our family holidays.

Sheets - Dave was great at showing me lots of little tips that help to make things quicker and in turn makes using slides much easier. 

I have found all the segments from today extremely useful and throughout the day I was able to relate to how I can use these within the classroom.

Reflection Week 5

A reflection from last week and a major gap I have found I have is around Hapara.  Madeline came into class yesterday and showed me a couple of things that have already made my life so much easier already!  I am now super keen to see what other wee tricks there are!

Visible - it is great to get clarification around this.  I do feel at times we may need to be more visible in our school.  I think this is in all areas staff sharing information, planning etc and students understanding about visibility.  Some staff need to ensure WALT's a visible and children know what is coming up.

Staff and students both need a drone view of the maze so they can see what the end goal is - a nice metaphor that Dorothy used.  The most effective practice means there will be no surprises. 

We also need to be aware that using devices at times can make learning harder to see if we don't make the conscious effort to make it visible.  Am I doing this?  I would say 50% of the time.  I need to improve on this.

New vocab today - technologist!

I have been blown away with the robot and AI examples that we have been shown today!  I can't wait to show this to my class but will definitely confirm that what AI means for my farming kids. 

Skinvision - this is incredible, affordable and is helping to save lives!  This would be a great teaching tool to show the children who we can save lives in the most unique ways.

We had a timely reminder of the power of YouTube and how if you are a hit on Youtube you can be seen by more people that our national news.  We must remember the power of this site.

Scratch:

This is a fantastic resource to have!  I feel like this lifted the fog on coding for me!  I can see that this resource will be wonderful use in the classroom and it is great timing because my own son came home last night and showed me he had done coding at his school.  

Next step: To complete the instructions the the OMG Tech team gave us in the workbook.  Watch this space on my next reflection to see how this goes.

I really enjoyed the discussion around 'What is the internet?'  this is a question I have thought about often but never found an answer and still didn't get one today.  It was good though that we think about challenging our thoughts around technology.

A major learning moment for me today was around binary.  I had no idea this is how computers work.  I still don't feel that I have a strong grasp on this but it is important to know if I am going to do my kids justice when teaching them about this.

I feel very over whelmed with the information we have received today but it was all beneficial and I hope I can fit some time in over the weekend to play some more with these new skills.  I understand the place of technology and the future of it within the classroom and I also understand that I need to do my best to keep up with the changes.

Reflection Week 4

First thing I must reflect on was how awesome it was to have some non-contact time to play with some of the new things we have been working on.  This is what lets me down during term time as I don't have enough time to do justice to what we are learning.

It is great to understand that sharing has been happening since the dawn of time but the mode has changed.  In 2005 the world really changed with the introduction of Facebook, Youtube, Bebo, Twitter etc.  Social networking really took of and specifically Youtube's birth in April 2005.  I was also exposed to why we use blogger as if a parent or colleague asked why we chose blogger I could not have answered it but after today I have a strong understanding around the reasons why: 

I am going to share this awesome song to the children in Room 5 about being cyber smart:

Being Cyber Smart - One Direction

It is great to get a recap on why google sites are so important to learning.  This has made me feel that I am not using my site to its full potential.  I also need further development around Hapara.  I need to stick to that 3 click rule as this will help with engagement.

It is great to go through the goole form/checklist to remind me what could go on my site.

Reviewing Websites - Some ideas I want to use on my own website:

Add a dictionary - http://dictionary.kids.net.au/

I really enjoyed having the time to play with the website and having the ladies right there to ask when I don't know what to do.  One major success I have is that I have been able to put my planning on the website.  This was a goal I set to do today and I achieved it!!!

Reflection Week 3

I love the discussion around creativity as I have noticed this over the last few years that when we do creative learning parents and other adults at time question the learning in it.  Within my class on a Friday I really ensure it is creative play based learning as this is so essential for the children to experience and I still feel that I have to justify what I am doing all the time rather than letting the play lead the learning.  It was a good reminder that the create is the whole person not just the brain.

The 6 C's are a fantastic tools!

Engagement - This is a topic that is close to my heart!  I feel that I put a lot of effort into engaging the children, getting them thinking and asking questions about what is happening or going to happen.  Some examples I have done recently was having the gorilla enclosure in the corner of the room as a part of 'The One and Only Ivan' novel study.  Next term I am going to have a coal mine set up in the corner of the room that the children can interact with.  This will set us up for out new topic around 'The Mines Afire'.  One barrier I find is all the ideas I come up with seem to cost money (but are effective).

It was great to be exposed to Multi-modal activities and looking at the comparison between how presentations can really hook and engage the learner or turn them off.  Just a big thing for me is allowing time to do more of this, so it was wonderful to get that great time in the afternoon to put all that we had learnt about the websites and multi-modal activities and then put it into practice in a way that is effective for my classroom and topic.  It does prove to me that you could spend hours on creating some of these multi-modal activities, so setting yourself a time limit will be required or I would whittle away all my time and forever have an excuse not to exercise!!