Design Thinking

For the first part of our Manaiakalani Hui, we engaged in a team-building exercise.

The first fun activity was to play a variation of rock, paper, scissors called Ninja, Tiger, Granny.  Played like rock, paper, scissors; whoever wins goes ahead to the next person, and the losing person becomes the support person and creates a chain. A great ice-breaker.

The focus of the day was around design thinking. Design thinking has a human-centred core. The important message here was not to get stuck on your own ideas, to be critical and accept feedback. You need to be willing to let go of ideas that perhaps didn't meet the requirements of the customer.

To prepare ourselves for design thinking, we were asked to draw a buddy in a short space of time. This was to promote the idea that you shouldn't apologise for our ideas and designs, instead take on feedback instead.

Learning about the design thinking process, we worked in groups and completed practical, hands-on activities.  The first stage of design thinking is to empathise with the consumer/customer. We were asked to go into a cafe, order a coffee, and empathise with a customer around their cafe experience.  From that, we came back with some issues that may arise for our customer. This is the "define" in the process.

In our group, we made up our own customer, based on our own experiences and anxieties we face when going to a cafe. We came up with Danvery. Brilliant drawing, thanks Anne.

Ideate is the next step in the process, and we thought about so many different ways that we could solve the issues our customer faced/faces. We had so many ideas, some doable, others were very out there. We marked our ideas using the following scale.

The fun had only just begun! We had to prototype our solution. I think we were a bit ambitious with our solution. We designed edible coffee cups, and you could choose out of five cups - sweet, bitter, salty, sour and umami.

Our idea:  A garden wall, ambience music, hologram at each table which can state where all the ingredient came from, and edible coffee cups. So fun to act out and test our prototype with a customer. 

Umpire Course

So this year, I have decided to take on two netball teams, Year 3&4 and Year 5&6. However, I have little understanding of the game myself, but want to support my teams to the best of my ability.

The girls in my Year 5&6 team are all in my class, so it is great for team building, relationship building with them. Every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch time, we hit the school courts to warm up, learn new drills and play a game.

Our first game was a disaster as I didn't really know any of the rules, so my umpiring skills we shocking and missed many incidents of contact, obstruction and stepping.

I wanted to improve, so I signed up for the umpire course. We got sent a link to our online theory test, and I failed the first one with only 51% - passing score being 85%.  I went back to the rule book, and tried again a second time, this time passing with 87%.

Today, I went to the umpire course, learnt that many of the others are just as nervous as me, and that some players who have played their whole lives, still didn't know all the rules.  This made me feel so much better about my own skills.

I resat that test at the end of the course, and was very disappointed to get 1 question wrong. I'm keen now to try umpiring at the Year 5&6 level, and eventually moving up the grades.  I'm confident that this knowledge will also help me with my game play on Thursday nights.

Reflection of DFI to date

DFI Session 1

During our first DFI session, we had Dorothy come to deliver the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and share some of the founding research behind this great initiative. Although I have heard the korero before, it was lovely to listen to it again, and just remind myself about the importance of the teacher within a digital classroom.

It was a shame that I couldn't share my section of our agenda that day, as I didn't have an adapter for my computer. Straight after our session, I ensured  I went down to the nearest Noel Leeming to pick up my adapter, in preparation for the following week.

The delivery of the content went really well, with the participants all keen to give their new learning a  go during the 'create' session of our day. What made it hard, was that many people has their blogs set up differently, were saving things in different places and naming documents differently.  It emphasised the importance of teaching students structure and routine at the start of every year to make life easier. 

DFI Session 2

The session started well. We covered the Manaiakalani Kaupapa, and then got into our deep dive with Kerry. I ran the 'chalk and talk' sessions about Gmail and Calendars, but realised that I spoke way to fast. I think nerves got the better of me, and then I rambled. I lost a few of the participants, and had to cover some ground again when they were all having a tutu.  Goal for next week; slow down, deep breathe, make sure everyone understands.

Then in the afternoon we had a few technical issues. Hangouts kept disconnecting our participants, so we weren't able to show them how to successful participate in a hangout. We tried many different work arounds, but with no success. They were all very patient, and were happy enough to schedule their own Google Hangout during the week within a small group. It was very clear that both the coaches and the teachers were getting a bit frustrated with the issues, showing just how behavioural issues can happen within a classroom if things do go the way they were planned. It's always a good idea to have a back up plan, just in case everything turns to custard. 

Reflection

The first two weeks of school has gone extremely fast. We have already packed in so much learning.  

What worked well?

Our Ahoy Waitangi day experience in Paihia was a hit with all the students, and was a great opportunity for me to build positive relationships with my students. 

Our getting to know each other activity, where we wrote down three things about ourselves on a paper, scrunched it up and through it at each other, was a great hit. The kids loved going around to each other and seeing if they had their paper. 

What needs changing?

After some assessments, I have noticed that there is a huge gap in the achievement of my students, some achieving 3 years below the expectation, to those achieving at 2 years above the expectation. This had me thinking about how I can continue to challenge the high achievers, and at the same time support the low achievers in progressing quicker to their expected level. 

Acceleration and not remediation. This is something a work colleague has always told me, and something I will focus on this year. 

So how can I support acceleration for these students?

Where to next?

I need to ensure that my class site is always up to date, with relevant learning and resources, so that learning is always rewindable for my students. I have already noticed in the two weeks at school, that students love going back through their work, and using our class site.

I need to record some of my teaching to make that available for my students to view at a later date.  As well as recording myself, I need to record my students explaining their learning, which will support other students understanding.

Preparing for 2019

After a lovely summer break, I'm ready to embark on yet another teaching adventure.  This year I have the senior students at Paparore School, and look forward to challenging them and learning alongside them.

This year I have also been asked to work for Manaiakalani one day a week, support teachers on their path of becoming 'digitally fluent.'

I look forward to strengthening my understand of the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and using their framework of "Learn, Create, Share" to support the learning of my students. My class site is ready for the start of the year and will continue to develop this with my students in mind.

My professional goals for the year include:

• Building positive relationships with students that foster the love of learning;
• Raising the achievement of my target students (more than one year's progress), using the Learn, Create, Share framework in numeracy and literacy;
• Further develop my te reo and including this in my everyday routine;
• Providing my students with an up to date site, which ensure all learning is rewindable at all times. 

These goals may change or evolve as the year progresses.

Manaiakalani Facilitation

Day three of Manaiakalani facilitation, done and dusted.

It impresses me how much students already know regarding technology, and how quickly they pick up the new skills taught.

What went well?

All the students in each of the classes that I have been in to this week have been focused and engaged. I have expected that students that don't have posts of their blogs, post one before my session was finished - most of them achieved this.

In classes where students were well on their way with blogging, we focused on creating positive, helpful, thoughtful comments to leave other students on their blogs.  This was a very positive session with the two classes at Pompallier Catholic School.  The students enjoyed looking at other school blogs, and finding people they may already know outside of school.  The comments they were leaving other students showed depth and thought, and fit within the Manaiakalani kaupapa. 

What needs modification?

As this is my first week, some things have been less organised than what I would have liked it to be. For example, not having access to class sites to be able to upload work I would like the students to have access too.  This is now sorted at Pompallier School and some of the teachers at Ahipara School. Allowing me this access will make life easier when sharing documents to students. 

I'm also very used to have my own projector and being able to display the activity I would like the students to complete. This allows me to show them exactly what I would like them to do.  This has been a little bit more challenging as the different schools have different systems in their class for projecting student work. 

Next goals/steps:

I would like to get all the students in the Far North cluster collaborating via their blogs.  This has started successfully already with some students from Pompallier commenting on Paparore School Blogs and on Ahipara School blogs. I would like to match all the 'like-aged' classes together to increase their audience they already have on their blogs.

I would also like to comment on every student's blog that is in the Far North cluster Pilot classes. So far, Ahipara school blogs have been commented on - as long as the students had a post.

I look forward to extending my knowledge of Manaiakalani and building relationships with all the students I have met and will be meeting.  This is a great opportunity, one that I will embrace while I can.

Last DFI Session - Google level 2

Yay, It's done.  The most challenging part was creating a pivot table, lucky it's an open book test and google jumped to the rescue.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 9 weeks of learning. I have made new connections, building on professional relationships, with whom I could share my learning. Reading their blogs, and listening to them sharing their learning journeys have been interesting.  So many ideas and resources to take away.

Thank you Donna and Kerry for your help over the last 9 weeks. I have especially enjoyed hearing from all the different facilitators, because each of them had different ideas and ways of doing things.

DFI Session 5

DFI Session 5

Code.org

Using code.org, students can learn coding basics. I have been using this with my class during our STEAM sessions. Students work at their own pace through the tutorials.  When students are ready, they can have a go with the projects available on the site.  Each requires students to think creatively, problem solve and use algebraic thinking. When using this in my sessions, students made connections to the algebra learning we have been covering. Each time, they had to find the 'rule' to move their sprite.  Below is my attempt at making a 'Flappy Bird' game using code.org.

I'm glad I learnt have to add this to my blog as this is what my students are hoping to do.

Hour of Code - Original Maze

Hour of Code - Flappy Bird Edition

Scratch and Makey Makey

Using Makey Makey, Anna and I created our own musical performance. Students can share learning with whanau, by creating interactive displays using Makey Makey. Possibilities could include sharing their pepeha, creating stories, set of instructions, each one linking to a previously recorded voice sharing the matching information. 

Scratch

Using scratch, I have created the following animation. Students will be able to create animations, linked to our current learning. At the moment we can learning about the procedure of a powhiri. Students could create a short animation showing the order of proceedings of a powhiri.

Some of my other creations include:

DFI Session 4

Creating

Back in the days students used many natural resources to create learning - making huts, weaving flax, build mud sculptures, etc. These days we need to think about ways that we can allow this freedom to create for students, using digital technologies. Many options are available for this purpose: stop motion animation, videos, writing music, virtual tours of the world, and so much more.

The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read ad write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

Youtube

Creating playlists for students to view can decrease distraction for students viewing irrelevant videos. Below is a playlist I have created to experiment with this new learning.  Embedding playlists (like how I have done here) into class sites makes it easier for students to access the right video, first time.  My next learning steps are to remove the 'extras' that are part of youtube, ie, removing the comments, the side view, and the option to view the videos in youtube, rather than remaining on the class site.

Live Streaming

Students can live locally, but learn globally. This can be used to live stream sporting events to whanau, but also throughout the school so that students can watch the events as they happen in class.

Google Draw

Had a go again today creating buttons using google draw. I created buttons that will be used for our new school site, giving students access to all their learning and blogs. Google draw can also be very useful when creating infographics.  Pictures can be loaded to google draw, and overlays can be used so that when clicking in certain parts of a picture, it could link you to another page, or give some information.  This would be great for our current learning about the Marae. Students can create an infographic labelling the parts of a marae. 



Google Slides

Google slides are useful for creating animations, lesson plans and much more.  From what we had learnt today, I'm excited to give google slide a go for my planning. I'm hoping to create a flipped learning environment for my target maths group (this is currently my teacher inquiry). Students would be able to access the slides at all times, meaning that any past learning can be 'rewinded' and revisited again.

Reflective Questions

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

• Google slides for planning flipped learning content
• Google draw for creating my class and school site

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

• Google draw to create infographics
• Google slides to share their learning - possibly use this with screencastify

DFI Session 3 - Digital Dig

Digital Fluency Intensive - Session 3

One thing that I will take back to the staff today (especially our laggards) is to not always look at the big picture relating to technology, what you need to know/be able to do at the end, but rather the little changes you can make along the way to support the big picture.

Connecting from last week

We had a discussion around the expectations within our student blogs. Many of us had concerns that parents may get the wrong idea about what has been posted, especially if a draft has been published, and parents assume it's a published copy. As a group we have decided that we can add headers to the top of each blog post. Students can use labels / tags to organise all blog posts into draft, draft 2, publish, cold sample, etc...

Cyber Smart

Don't focus on the negative. don't mention cyber bullying. instead focus on being cyber smart. Cyber bullying is the same as bullying out in the playground.

Digital Dig

Screencastify

Today we used screencastify to record our new learning from today. I chose to share my digital dig.
View my screencastify here.

Tags

Using tags are important when writing blogs. Students will need to use tags also when publishing to their blog.

Term 1, 2018 Reflection

Term 1, 2018 Reflection

This term is the first time in my teaching career where I taught in an ILE environment alongside another colleague. At the end of the term we had 52 students in our care.  This is been a new learning journey for both Deb and I.  

It has taken us all term to find our feet, set expectations, get to know the kids, and iron out some challenges.  The first challenge that arose was the location of stationary and equipment.  With our students learning across two spaces to create our ILE, it meant that students had books, etc in both spaces.  This was a nightmare at the start, students not being able to find their belongings and not knowing where to start looking.  We decided to have all our student's books in tote trays stored in one space so students always knew where to go looking.  This created the next issue of students having to remember which hub they would go to next for their next lesson in order to make sure they have their tote trays and belonging in the right hub.  This is still a work in progress, but we have the maths rotation sorted.  

The next challenge we both face is the lack of time we have with each child.  With there being 52 students, we find it challenging connecting with each and every child on a daily basis to build strong relationships for learning. Some students haven't been in either of my learning groups, which means I haven't been able to connect with them on a learning level, and it means I have no idea where they are in their learning. I'm hoping as our groups change next term,I will be able to connect with a few more learners.

My biggest challenge I face, is working alongside my colleague, knowing that not all the decisions lay with me. Having worked in single cell classroom environment my whole teaching career, I have never had to check with anyone before changing my daily plans, ordering stationary, deciding on teaching/learning topics, etc.  Being consistent is also very important. We need to have clear understanding of each others expectations and boundaries as to not confuse the students. I have not wanted to say one thing to my students only to find out that my Colleague has said the opposite.  This meant that I have taken on more of a backseat approach, checking in with her before giving any instructions. This at times makes me feel as though I am incompetent, however I know it is just as to not step on any toes. I do feel however, the more I take the backseat approach, the less competent I will become, especially when moving back to a single cell again one day. This is where I will need to find the balance for myself.  Deb and I have discussed this and have agreed that we should have set days to be 'in charge'.

With all the challenges that have faced me so far this term, I do feel that lots of meaningful learning has occured and I have changed my practice therefore. Deb is a very experienced teacher with a wealth of knowledge, having shown significant shifts in student learning across the curriculum throughout her teaching career. I have enjoyed shadowing her, seeing what she does that makes a difference, and applying it to my own practise. So far we have made a great team and have worked well together. I look forward to us growing as a team this year, because together we can achieve great things with our students.