What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
Making learning visible.
After last nights marae noho with 111 excited 7-10 year olds, I will admit some key points may have slipped past me today! Thank goodness for rewindable learning. That's my weekend task!Often we hide the learning journey from our children, and for them it's like wandering aimlessly through a maze. When their journey is hidden, the successful students are the ones who have read the teachers mind and understood what the teacher meant.
Learning needs to be accessible, available and advanced for our students (students can advance themselves). There should be no surprises.
The most effective teachers use the learn-create-share pedagogy, and design challenging, relevant, thought-provoking, and open-ended tasks to promote students choice and collaboration. They use the affordances of the digital environment to prepare a range of learning resources and opportunities to stimulate learning which is connected across the curriculum. Using their class site makes learning and teaching visible and is supported by student agency. It also frees up teacher time to engage with individuals and groups.
For students who make their learning visible (via their blog), the gains from sharing are that it:
- informs others about their learning
- enlists others to their point of view
- gets others to think about things they'd never 'thunk'
- makes a difference
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
Dorothy Burt's hangout about providing multi-modal opportunities for students is very timely. I have been working on this exact concept through A.L.L. (Accelerated Learning in Literacy) and in particular with my group of reluctant readers.
'Multi-modal' is an inclusive, differentiated approach to teaching in a digital learning environment. Her hangout has inspired me to keep changing my 'shop-window' to keep engaging my reluctant readers.
We were given the chance to view some incredible Google Sites - I want mine to look like theirs!
I also got the opportunity to work collaboratively on a google site- something I haven't had the chance to do for a while. I love it! Sharing ideas is always fantastic.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
Spending time creating quality google sites is time well spent. My class site needs to be turbo-charged. I have seen how engaged students are in my own class when multi-modal opportunities are given. I just haven't put them on my class site as when you see the exemplars, it's a little embarrassing to go back and view your own!
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?
Today has reinforced my belief in the huge advantages in providing multi-modal opportunities for our learners. I just need the confidence to put everything on my class site.
