DFI Day 9

What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
Learning is ubiquitous - anytime, anywhere, any pace (from anyone - we can bring in experts etc). 

It empowers our learners as their learning is not restricted to being in a classroom. Having had three students take extended overseas holidays during term time, I have seen them access my class site to keep up with their learning.

Summer Learning Journey's have proven that those who did 3 or more blogs a week during the summer holidays improved the most. Tasks did not need Learning Intentions or require surface features yet students improved in this area.

Rewindable learning is something that I am very keen on implementing more and more. It means it's not just the ones who can remember what to do who can then help others. The ones who are using rewindable learning are able to help as well; they have the opportunity to review the lesson as many times as they need, and can then go and help others. That's very empowering for them.

And on that note, here's some ideas to help me:

(+video notes on YouTube)

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
Yesterday I received a tattoo (temporary) during staff prayer time. I applied it to my wrist - unfortunately upside down!! It says "Head up, wings out." Every time I look at it, it makes me smile for the simple fact that it's upside down! The timing was perfect as it resonated with me all day - to me it says, "Keep going, take flight, you can do it!" And I am. My confidence blooms, then takes a hammering. My capability improves then I find I can't do something digitally, but google saves me. My workflow gets better and then I want to do something different so the new learning slows me down. This is all part of me as a learner AND a professional.


What did I learn that could be used with my learners? 
Rewindable learning is an important idea I need to keep at the forefront when planning. Getting experts in (via hangout, YouTube clips etc) will engage student learning further.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?
Head up, wings out - I've got this!

DFI Day 8

What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?
'Empowered'

Firstly, let's use the word 'empower' instead of 'agency'. The word 'agency' often has different connotations that we don't want attached to digital technology. After all, what comes to mind when you hear the word 'agency''??
Unfortuntely I missed the first 10 minutes of today's google hangout with Dorothy Burt due to my internet dropping in and out, but she reiterated the fact that the use of digital technology should redefine the way we learn and give experiences to children that they wouldn't otherwise receive. Digital technology has the power to transform children and the communities they live in. 
Dorothy took us on a tour around the community she worked in. It reminded me of my early teaching days in Waipukurau. It was the same situation she showed but for different reasons: transient students, low income families, decile 1 school.  Studies have shown these decile 1 school children hear 32 million words less than decile 10 students by the time they start school. The idea of 5+ a day takes on new meaning; if we can create a learning environment that allows students to engage in conversations that have at least 5 iterations, it will improve oral language, reading and writing skills. How can we do this? Sit in a circle and have a table tennis conversation with a minimum of 5 interactions between students. Blogs also give the students the opportunity to do exactly the same. Blogs are not just about posting and sharing - they're also about the discourse through commenting that connects our students to the art of conversing. This has shown to accelerate learning.

"Hand in glove", "salt and pepper", "fish 'n chips" - these just go together:

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

I created a google hangout (no way would I have ever had the confidence to do this two months ago!) with two teachers from Auckland, Chantal from Panmure Bridge School and Susan from Glen Taylor School. It's always so lovely to connect with others and hear their learning journey.
Going through the Digital Technology progress outcomes and leveling them with e-learning/ICT capabilities showed that you can’t equate the progress outcomes with year levels. Like anything, it depends how much the activity is scaffolded as to which progress outcome it falls under.

What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  
Tasks need to include problem solving, debugging, perseverance and resilience.

Algorithms are a step by step process in which students need to create, test and revise. Peseverance (through debugging) builds resilience in our students.  As Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
Our session on computational thinking at Mindlab was great fun. The programmer, tester, robot activity we did is something I have done with my class but it was hilarious being the student again. I loved the creative and smart thinking I heard ("First, take your blindfold off," was a classic). This activity was scaffolded:

• first, just let them do it!
• next time “How much talking did you do? Remember only the tester can talk!" Try again and swap roles. Tell them to think about the programme - set parameters at the start e.g. all turns will be right hand ¼ turns. For littlies just use arrow cards.
• then 3rd time switch programmes with another group and trial theirs. You can't change the langugae they used e.g. 1/4 right turn to 90 degrees right hand turn.

Students can co-construct the perimeters.

Lightbot - free app (for iPads. I using a chromebook - tweak your flash). Note to self - this was rather addictive!

Co-spaces - coding programme for students. Students can create their own story. Great to set a quick task e.g. create two characters, name them within specified time limit, then move onto someone elses creation. Set next task then move to someone elses masterpiece etc. This means the students aren't getting too attached to their own story and are also getting ideas from others. Try not to show too many of the elements co-spaces can do - let them explore and discover for themseves then teach each other.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

In all apsects of my life, tasks include problem solving, debugging, perseverance and resilience! Just go with it and enjoy the ride!

Writing - Janet Craigie

 How beginning writing was scaffolded in the 1960s and 1970s.
The writing in that time was creative in the sense that it stemmed from the child's own dictated sentences - a precursor to composing.
Steps followed:

• Trace letters and words
• Copy letters and words
• Order or sequence letters in words (left to right direction)

When tracing or copying their own dictated sentences, children were supported to:

• Order or sequence words in sentences
• Visually scan and analyse letters in words
• Say and analyse words into sounds
• Say and analyse sentences into words. (When the re-read as the write.)

At the same time, there was explicit handwriting instruction. This instruction and the intensive practice of letter formation supported children's acquisition of letter knowledge that could relate what they were doing in writing to what they were doing in reading - RECIPROCITY between reading and writing.

When using this method, it helps if beginning writers work in a blank book. This allows them to draw before writing - the older writer's "mind map".

The drawing gives a physical representation of the theme for dictation.

A simple instruction, "Tell me about your picture," gives the child the opportunity to make a statement about the picture, which the teacher can then scribe onto the facing page. In large, clear, well-proportioned script. In pencil. The teacher is the demonstrator of the act of linking something said to something written. The child and teacher then read the script together, the teacher helping the child to word match as the reading happens.

The child is then required to trace over the pencilled script with a strong coloured felt pen. At the very beginning, this process needs to be closely supervised for:

• Pencil grip
• Starting point and direction
• Letter formation

A read back on completion allows the dictated text to become more secure and may elicit additional dictation as the child becomes more confident.

The task is complete when the child writes his/her name under the writing.

This process needs to continue until the child shows that he/she is tracing confidently, pen strokes are firm, letter starting points are consistent and the tracing is done with ease.

The child can then move to copying under the teacher's script, written in pen, and from there to copying from a child dictated script on a separate piece of paper.

At the end of this process, a firm foundation has been laid for learning to write for oneself, and beginning to take more responsibility for problem solving - the "haring and recording sounds" method of teaching writing.

How long does this take?
There is no time limit on any of the ways of working.

Observations of how the child performs in each way of working determine moving on.

As written above, the child must be confident, the production must be secure, and the child must be working with ease.

It is critical that opportunities for writing in the handwriting sense as well as the dictating sense happen daily.

The child needs to know specifically what you are valuing and needs to be praised for appropriate endeavours. (Not excessively - words like "awesome" and "wonderful" are overused,) Praise can be, "Your tall letters are really tall today."

(Thanks to Janet for these notes.)

DFI Day 7

What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Enabling Access

Through a google hangout with Dorothy Burt, we were reminded of and learnt many new things about the importance of connecting with our students.

• Connecting with Manaiakalani provides a powerful network for teachers and students;
• Connectivity is a way of life for our students. Take it from them and they will check out.

While face to face will always be a major component for students to interact with people in their daily lives, it's a big world out there with fabulous digital learning opportunities for our tamariki to learn and grow from.
One thing that really stood out for me is that making learning visible for our students is crucial. Having had four students this term take extensive overseas holidays, when asked today at DFI, "Can they see it from Starship?" I was mortified that some parts of my class site weren't. An easy fix but something I need to be more aware of.

Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu (write to me, write to others) is a fantastic way for students to connect with others across the world. Using a shared language ensures everyone understands the kaupapa.

The pedagogy programme is designed around the learn, create, share model. In Term 1, the students focus is on learn, Term 2 is create, Term 3 share and in Term 4 they are doing are all 3.

And of course...

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

My class site is about to be turbo-charged with all the fantastic ideas we were shown today. I really enjoyed viewing other class sites to see what worked for me. [Herman Fourie's, Room 6 Wesley Primary School and Miss Ferguson's are very inspiring - one day mine will look like that! (apparently not a SMART goal for me at the moment!) Hehe!]
I like bright colour, simple to use, theme based, and with as few clicks as possible (ideally two but I seem to need 3). But what do my students like? This is something I'm going to follow up and ask them, then act upon.
We were given the opportunity to give our sites another kick start - once you start, it's rather addictive. I didn't use my snipping tool to take a 'before' shot but's here's the current look which will be further amplified over the weekend.

My snipping tool didn't let me show the whole page but you can see where I'm heading. Once all the pages behind the buttons are finished over the weekend, I'll publish it ready for next week.

What did I learn that could be used with my learners?

• Making my site more user friendly with as few clicks as possible to get to today's learning;
• Remove the Term 1, 2, 3, 4 buttons (I actually archived this on the toolbar). Replacing them with group buttons means it's one less click;
• Scaffold the ways students can get to where they need. I know some of my class like the toolbar at the top, but others who are more visual learners prefer buttons on the homepage;
• I need to make my tasks more multimodal - this has been an ongoing focus for me throughout the year;
• Check my site through an incognito tab. I have asked our administrator to turn it on for our school domain.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

I find I am continuosly adding to my digital kete and gaining more confidence in what I do. Occasionally, I even feel confident to show another adult what to do! Working more within my class site means I don't need to be at school to plan etc. This makes it far more flexible for me in my personal life.