Sharing

 Sharing

As far as we know it, mankind has always had the desire to share, weather it be sharing food, resources, skills, or knowledge, it is become hard wired in our DNA to share. Not only has sharing helped us to survive but it has become a fundamental tool in consolidating and passing on learnings. My students LOVE to share. Its safe to assume almost every teacher has heard stories from their students lives in the weekend. Whether it be that they went duck shooting, to a friends birthday party, or that they had a playdate. The sharing pedagogy is one of the final steps that engages students in this hook of sharing what they have learnt online. This online audience is not only a powerful tool that gives students a voice, but it requires the students to properly reflect, and think about what exactly they have learned, before sharing it to their online platform.

 Much like I am doing right now! 🤔

Powerful stuff! 

Google Forms  & Google My Map

Google forms was something that I had seen on occasion here and there but I never really knew the first step in understanding how they work and operate. Having this time in the day during my DFI i've really been able to explore and follow that curious part of myself that wonders what this button does, or what happens if I click this. Admitientely, I would often categorise google forms into the "I don't have time" section of my brain, as I would not really have the time to have a play around to understand it better. But, as most of the things I have learned during DFI, it's a lot easier than I think. And if I set aside this time to have a proper look and play around, its going to save me a lot more time in the future.

Below is a My Map of a road trip I did in Australia in 2019 in a campervan, just before the cursed COVID19. We travelled all along the east coast of Australia. Making our way to every major city aside from Perth. Amongst our travels we drove through the vast outback, and then along busy motorways, we managed to get caught it a flash flood, and accidentally parked up at a nudist beach in south Melbourne! 😳

It was a great chance to have a play with My Map, and to also reminisce about a time where international travel was easily possible. I'm going to use this tool to plan my next trip in the South island!

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Google Spreadsheets 

Our create task for today was around the use of google spreadsheet. With only a limited amount of experience with spreadsheets it was a great opportunity for me to learn not just the basics, but how to create graphs and concisely look at data results. I found this create exercise really powerful because I was able to use this alongside another google tool. Using both google spreadsheet and google draw really has taken my digital fluency knowledge to that next level. I am beginning to find myself becoming more fluent with the tools that I am using, and therefore my confidence is also improving as well. The more fluent and confident I am in my understandings, the more fluent my learners will be also.

I loved been able to be creative with my graph, choosing a colour scheme, deciding what the text bubbles will look, even changing fonts was a really nice little chance for me to add a hint of creativity into my learning. Below is a graph of data I collected from a student blog, reflecting on how many blog posts they have made per month in 2020. 

Using spreadsheets will definitely be my next point of reference for my students to create their graphs. I think this is more efficient than making them do it by hand. Plus, with google spreadsheet they can be creative, and then of course share their learning, rather it sit in their maths book untouched for months or even years after its complete.  

Creativity & Google

Unlocking creative minds in the classroom

Through early learning children are engaged in so many creative exercises to motivate and stimulate young minds. They are painting, moulding, shaping, discovering, re designing, and so much more. But somehow, as we grow into our personalities as adults a lot of us have lost touch with our creative side. Like any other muscles in our body, in order for us to improve our creativity we need to use the creative side of our brain more often. I've found that the 9am - 5pm work lifestyle that many families and adults live by, simply does not allow for time to exercise this muscle. Unless our work calls for it, we may not engage our brains in creative thinking for many days.  In some cases you could argue that this can also be said for the classroom. It is SO important for our students to express their creative side on many, many, many occasions. We need to explicitly implement moments in our teaching that allow students to be creative as not only a way to express themselves, but to also help students become better problem solvers, communicators, and collaborators. In my classroom I try my best to implement lessons or occasions where students can be creative. It is through the lens of manaiakalani that I can try implement my students to be creators of content not merely consumers across any new or old area of learning. And that is something I believe to be really powerful. 

This brings me to google drawing.

Google Drawing

Some days I can't help but shake my head and giggle to myself about the number of times that I have sat in frustration trying to get my google docs or slides image to align and look how I want it to. On more occasions than I would like to admit, I would be so determined to get the background how I wanted it to look, I would google a picture, copy and paste the image, and then send this to the back. 😑

But.... google draw?! 

Mind blown. 

In a matter of 10mins I was able to create and insert an image, easily change the background, and even crop images to a shape. Its times like this that make me feel like a BT again. Why have I not used this sooner!?

An added bonus is the use of remove.bg to remove background images... game changer!

Im imaging my students creating a piece of digital art, using the functions of google draw at their advantage. Perhaps a picture of a beach? Or maybe a self portrait? Definitely something for me to have a think about. 

Google Slides

One of the creative tasks that I chose to look into was adding audio into google slides (originally I would have loved to look at animation, but that workshop was booked up lucky there is some slides I can look at instead)!

For my task, I decided to input some audio on a collection of slides I created a few weeks back for a friends quiz night. I thought it would be an easy and effective task that would take my quiz to that next level...

Using websites such as online-voice-recorder made this process so quick and easy. I was able to record my audio, save it to my drive, and then insert it into my slides very quickly and easily. 

While I was working through adding in my audio, in the back of my mind was my learners. I couldn't help but think how cool it would be for them to research about a natural disaster (our inquiry topic this term) and then get them to create their own quiz filled with their own questions. It will take a fair amount of time for students to research about their chosen disaster, and to then learn how to create it digitally... but I'm willing to give it a try. This could hopefully engage that creative side of their brain as well as those all important literacy and digital skills as well. 

Below is the slide deck of questions that I have made for my personal quiz night, with the now added in audio. Feel free to quiz yourself on your houseplant/garden knowledge! 😉

GOOGLE MEET

 DFI - Day 2 

GOOGLE MEET

Today's learning required me to leave my comfort zone a little, and although this at first was a tad uncomfortable and awkward, it allowed me to really utilize the benefits of google meet, and understanding the purpose of blog posts for my learners and how they can be utilized in the classroom. 

Looking deeper into the pedagogy of manaiakalani  (recognise, amplify, and finally turbocharge learning) resonated with me because its not simply a method for digital learning, but for the many other areas of learning within the walls of my classroom as well. Like we do with writing, inquiry, and maths, unlocking children's prior knowledge, creating a safe learning environment, and engaging students in effective reflective practise all ties into digital learning as well. I'm simply practising what I already do, but through the digital lense. 

One of the most useful tips I learnt to day was the management of my tabs. I, like many others, are very guilty of keeping all of my tabs open until I have finished what I need to do. Meaning then, I have so many tabs open its hard to manage and maintain. Using tools such as one tab, and Toby has made my many tab life so much easier to manage. Having pinned tabs with my planning, emails, and calendar has also been a great tool in perfecting the 'work smarter, not harder" motto. Now these things will always be there, and don't take up so much room. 

Below is a video that I have made with a fellow teacher from my digital bubble. It is here where you will find my awkward clumsy self discussing a students blog post. This exercise was difficult for me because I had to listen to my own voice back, which is always shocking no matter how often you do it! However, even though it was confronting, it really is a great tool. Outside of the recording I was able to show my buddy how to present and record at the same time. Because I was able to show her through my screen, helping her was a lot more easier. This also is allowing me to practice and therefore understand the in's and out's of google meet a little bit better than before.

My mind cant help but wonder about the benefits of knowing this in preparation for (hopefully not) another lockdown. If I ever had to teach lessons through google meet, I know feel confident enough to invite, present, and now record all though google meet. Yay!

Upon reflection, I will also try and not say "um" as frequently as I have below. 😳😂

DFI - Day 1 Reflection

DFI - Day 1

Coming into my very first day on DFI, I brought with me a small, yet adequate amount of digital knowledge in my kiti. Most of the tools and information that I have gained is from observing systems in a range of schools through relief teaching experience, or my own personal experience of teaching and learning. 

 Today I have been able to not only refresh and update this knowledge but I have also added more tips and tricks into my kiti. 

For me, the biggest impact that I see with digital learning in the classroom is the engagement. My students LOVE their chromebooks. It is never a struggle to engage them. They are hungry for knowledge around how to use them, and are always so excited to create and share their digital experiences and learnings.

The manaiakalani pedagogy of learn, create, share is a beautiful and simple way for us, as teachers to grab a hold of the students' interest for digital devices and use it to our advantage to progress, engage, and even accelerate learning. A chrome book is like a pencil. It is a tool in our classroom to help us learn. When I engage with whanau about concerns around digital devices in the classroom, this simple metaphor shows and allows whanau to understand how digital devices are a tool. Like a pencil is a tool. 

We are all living in a world filled with smartphones, smart TV, smart vehicles, and even smart fridges.  Giving our tamariki the technological skills and fluency not only helps to set them up for success later into the future, but it also is giving them a foundation of knowledge and skills needed in our modern world and workplace. 

Amongst the many new things that I have learned today, one thing that stood out to me, was the use of voice to text. 

This beautiful little piece of technology records your voice as you speak, and types for you into a google doc. I'm kicking myself for not discovering this sooner! 

There are many benefits to this tool, one being for me personally. I am much more articulate and fluent in answers and in my thinking while talking. It is my method of learning and for me, I LOVE how I can now cater tasks to how I best work. 

For my learners…whether it be a tool helping an ESOL student to write, or perhaps building fluency in reading, or even publishing students writing, this speak to text tool is something that I believe can make a great impact on students learning. And I cannot wait to use it in my classroom, and in my own life a lot more.

Today has been a great little stepping stone into the wonderful world of digital learning. I am so excited to not only further my own knowledge, but to take this back to the classroom. 

Thank you!