DFI Session 6 - Enabling Sites - 28th August 2020

 The  focus today was to look at Class/ Syndicate/ HUB/ School Sites - and analyse what looks great, works well as far as clicking and accessibility goes. We were also asked what wasn't so great - what could be worked on to make it better and easier to use. 

There were certain things that I took from this session to bring back to our HUB Site and make it better.

Big clear buttons for various aspects of the blog made it easy to click on the part you were wanting to go to. Not too much information on the page, as that would confuse the viewer. Planning for groups in various Curricula could be helpful when students are looking to find their Mahi.

It was good to get some critical feedback around how accessible our Kereru HUB Site looks and feels for other teachers. I was able to take this on board, and make or plan to change the Site with Tim  and Emma.

I realise the importance of having the Site as a living document that is used daily, and not referred back to on occassions. I will endeavour to add planning to this Site too - as I feel this will help the teachers and students organise their time and learning more efficiently.

Two thirds of the way through our programme now, and things continue to evolve fluidly. Looking towards the next few weeks, and the looming Test at the end - I'm wondering what that will entail, and how much heads up we'll recieve? The information we were given the other session around sheets made us all feel more aware.

I've just noticed that there are some hot tips for the exam - Yah!

DFI Session 5 August 21st 2020

 Today has been great - Learning a few tips and tricks about Google Sites. I enjoyed creating a new one from scratch to practice the skills necessary to make one. I feel like I can contribute way more confidently and effectively with our Kereru HUB Site from now on.

I thought the time we were given today to CREATE a Multimodal Database  that we will be able to use Deeper and Wider in T shaped literacy was very useful. I created a Database that centres around Changes that need to made at Makauri School -  that were identified by our students. They will be able to access this Sheet - and use it as a base for their Research in a Reading/Inquiry Context. 

I will make sure I go to the SHARING tab in HAPARA to check on Students work - making sure they are labelling them appropriately.

It is great to feel like it is beginning to all come together with these apps and their application. We are more than half way through this course now, and I am feeling more fluent with each session.  

Manaiakalani Create Session August 17th 2020

2020 -The year of the revised digital curriculum. Learn - CREATE - Share. We got together today with the Tairawhiti Cluster Schools for a create session. "What the Duck" - I used the Skills that Amie taught me in the last DFI Friday session. This was a fun afternoon that was helpful in making those skills more solid for me.

DFI Session 4 August 14th Dealing with Data.

What an interesting way to spend a birthday!! It was really good to have an intense look at Google Forms - I can see this being very beneficial to my Sports Co-ordination role when it comes to collecting different information that the different codes require each year. I will get my students to create Forms next week to practice this skill and see where we can go from there. I have looked at Google maps before - I must admit I got a bit lost along the way with this session, which was frustrating. I did manage to find my way back to some sort of understanding eventually - as with all Google Apps, you just need to try things out and you're generally OK - or you find your way to some different learning. We have been using Google Sheets in our HUB for a while - But I am not the one who has been creating and administering these. I can see now having used them today where the different functions are found. Latham was great at guiding me through some of the functions that will be most helpful for our HUB with data analysis. The exam support section of the day was great. I have heard lots of stories about the exam - it is good to know what the expectations of this will be - and how to tackle them - less scary maybe? It was good to create graphs with real information from my Blog. I can use this in an ongoing way. I am happy that I have been a part of this programme for the last month. We are again coming to a strange time in the history of our country and world - I feel like I am even more capable and confident in guiding my students through distance learning if that is what is going to happen. There are many resources and skills I can pass on in the coming weeks - however that needs to be delivered.

DFI Session 3 Friday 7th August 2020 -MEDIA.

Well - Another very intensive day today! I enjoyed the discussions and presentations. Something that stood out for me was the quote about students understanding 75% of what they see, hear, and DO! I picked up lots of tips and tricks around Google Slides, Drawings, and also YouTube. I will definitely utilise slides next week, taking students through these tips and tricks to give them the knowledge and learnings I picked up today. Polylines were tricky for me - They continue to frustrate me when I take lots of time to creat a shape around a picture, only to double click on them which means I have to start again. Shortcuts are great e.g Ctrl D when in a Google meet to mute/unmute, Ctrl D when in a slide to duplicate a shape, slides.new in the URL bar to quickly start a new slide ( doc.new for a new Doc? - I'll find out). Adding audio and video to slides is going to also be helpful - I will use this in next weeks lesson when we create characters that will be able to portray great relationship messages for other students. I feel like I am learning plenty - again, it's about applying it where it is going to be effective as well as permanent learning.

Slide ART From Amie's Lesson