Today I started a new journey along with 30 or so educators around New Zealand. Traditionally the DFI course is run in regional clusters around New Zealand, however, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we are diving straight into the digital side of things by starting the course online. Starting something new does come with a couple of speed bumps, the first being communication, as I experienced first hand. But! we have networks for a reason, after emailing a few people I was connected with the correct people who had the information I required. In this case, Dorothy was able to catch me up and point me in the right direction.
Phew, what a start!
Being my 2nd year in the Ako Hiko cluster, part of Manaiakalani, I am gaining a better understanding of how things work and the massive support network created through Manaiakalani. For me, the best way of making sense of it all was through a graphic organiser shown during my Ako Hiko induction in 2019. I see Manaiakalani as the overarching big 'umbrella' under this big umbrella there are lots of little umbrellas, Ako Hiko being one of them.
My take away from the Manaiakalani origin story was how Jenny She used her limited digital access to LCS 10 years ago. That was a real eye-opener to see how even with limitations the final product can be such a reward.
Being a 1:1 iPad class, when physically in class we used the iPad more as a resource, rather than a tool. I've realised during all our distance learning there is so much more to it. I can see myself creating and sharing more through the medium of our class site. Moving over into student agency learning.
Even though I have been using Google Drive for many years, there are so many tricks and tips that have fall through the gaps. In particular, I liked how the voice typing feature was used for the Eyes on Text: Reading Mileage. With a bit more practice I'm sure I will gain enough confidence to start rolling it out in my program as I can see it fitting in quite nicely.
Making meaning of content:
I recreated a current system I have been using for distance learning in my class. I can see this being used in a classroom setting as well, covering multiple aspects of the literacy curriculum.
Initially, these 3 steps were bullet pointed down as 1, 2 & 3. How boring was I!
Using some skills learnt in today's DFI I created an organiser which I will use as a template. Children will have this available on our class site for student agency.
I would love to hear your thoughts and any feedback you have. Thank you in advance.
Kia ora Neelam, I am so pleased you chose to join us and had the connections to work through our miscommunication. I have enjoyed seeing what you created and hearing about how your class programme is working. I do recommend you check out a couple of our class onair teachers, Charlotte in Year 2 and Clarelle in Year 3 to see what they have been doing in their 1:1 iPad classes. I think you would enjoy their work.
ReplyDeleteDorothy
Thank you Dorothy.
DeleteIn the first week of lockdown (and during the holidays) I actually referred to the class onair teachers class sites quite a bit to help me prepare my class site for distance learning. So that helped quite a bit. And having a variety of year groups was nice.
Kia ora Neelam,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you around the learnings that we’ve had in the online learning space over the last six weeks and I am encouraged to see you reflecting on how you can modify your program to include aspects of this teaching in your classroom practice when we are back in class.
With your iPad classes do you utilise Explain Everything? This app is probably one of the most powerful ones on an iPad and has built-in Speech to text capability as well as recording video and screens. It also follows our mantra of limiting the links. One app that is so powerful and does so many things.
As Dorothy states Manaiakalani is blessed with some wonderful educators in years 1 to 3 and well worth looking at their learning sites and teaching.
I look forward to following your journey,
Nga mihi,
Mark
Yes I have been introduced to Explain Everything. Last year I had the opportunity to have Gerhard in once a week to run cybersmart lessons with my kids. He was very helpful in showing me the ins and outs of Explain Everything. However because it's a new, unfamiliar app to me I haven't gained enough confidence to use many of its features. I will continue to give it a go.
DeleteHi Neelam, sounds like you had a fantastic start to the DFI course. I remember being inspired by the idea of using voice typing as a way of increasing reading mileage. I'd love to see any lessons or resources you develop around this. I also like how visible the learn, create, share progression is on your DOC.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a bit carried away with the voice typing tool now, I've created a Sight Words Records document which enables us and the learner to track all the words they can recognise. Although it’s aimed at junior years I like the document will stay with them throughout their time at HPS. They can continue to add to it throughout their time here.
ReplyDeleteUsing a template found online, I have incorporated voice typing into a Journaling style document. This came about after children coming back to school quite anxious after lockdown. I hope they are able to use it to express their emotions and again this is something they can keep and look back at in later years at HPS.