Here are my thoughts on how we are progressing towards our goal:
The release day with specific outcomes was really helpful. It gave me a chance to sit down and focus on my reflection on my progress.
The online session I had with Susan was extremely helpful, I had the opportunity to speak about my class and the challenges that I have. She gave such good and specific advice.
After interviewing Karli's students, I realised once again how valuable students voice is. They came up with solutions on how to encourage talking in the groups/class. One was that they should get the choice to sit with their friends, and the other was that they should have like a talking stick to pass around. Then everybody gets a chance to talk, and they could pass if they want to.
Although I felt a bit disheartened after my first science lesson in room 2, I realised what an important learning pit this is for me, not only for me but for the school. I will be able to share what I struggled with, with my pears, should they have the same barriers.
I am looking forward to next year, where I will have a class from the start of the year and where we can instil good dialogue habits from the start of the year. By then, I will have a better understanding of how to implement dialogue in my class, and won't get hung up with the technicality of what to do. At the moment my lesson plans are taking a bit of time to do, as I really have to think about teacher and student talk moves. This will hopefully get easier, and I will get faster at planning.
Monday 25 November 2019
TLIF Reflection on teaching
Looking at the data as collected by Natalie, the students knew what the strategies were that does not support their learning, i.e. loud noises, annoying students, students walking around etc. At that point, the students did not have any idea of what talking rules were.
When I introduced Talanoa, I initially went through it and assumed that they knew what each word meant i.e. participation, speaking clearly, connect ideas etc. The second day I went through the questions, and asked them what it meant and look like, they had no idea. This leads me to realise that I was trying to move too fast and that I had to try and introduce each 'finger' of Talanoa individually.
I took my focus group separate, focussing on using Talanoa again, although it went a little better, it was still very unorganised and students just talking out of their turn and not listening to each other.
I asked for advice from my colleagues and then tried doing group work with the whole class. My focus students were then divided into each group and took the lead by asking the questions that I provided, but the rest of the class were still clueless. So then I had a chat with Susan. And we came up with the following strategy:
Do whole class short sharp lessons. Focus on Think, pair, share. I do the writing focussing on getting their feedback.
E.g.
I introduce the WALT.
Add that we are focussing on Talk(We are getting better at listening and talking - we know we learn through that).
Ask a question, the student thinks, pair and share.
After talking to a partner, you share what your partner said, not what you said. Reminding them constantly of Talanoa rules.
When they talk, they should look at each other. Build up the expectation of how to behave (knee to knee, eye to eye).
At this stage, less is more.
Reinforce the expectations at the end of the lesson (What did we learn today, what did we get better at today in terms of our talk, and what do we still have to work on).
Be explicit about choosing partners, if it goes well, we can continue where students choose the groups, if not, I will choose them.
When I introduced Talanoa, I initially went through it and assumed that they knew what each word meant i.e. participation, speaking clearly, connect ideas etc. The second day I went through the questions, and asked them what it meant and look like, they had no idea. This leads me to realise that I was trying to move too fast and that I had to try and introduce each 'finger' of Talanoa individually.
I took my focus group separate, focussing on using Talanoa again, although it went a little better, it was still very unorganised and students just talking out of their turn and not listening to each other.
I asked for advice from my colleagues and then tried doing group work with the whole class. My focus students were then divided into each group and took the lead by asking the questions that I provided, but the rest of the class were still clueless. So then I had a chat with Susan. And we came up with the following strategy:
Do whole class short sharp lessons. Focus on Think, pair, share. I do the writing focussing on getting their feedback.
E.g.
I introduce the WALT.
Add that we are focussing on Talk(We are getting better at listening and talking - we know we learn through that).
Ask a question, the student thinks, pair and share.
After talking to a partner, you share what your partner said, not what you said. Reminding them constantly of Talanoa rules.
When they talk, they should look at each other. Build up the expectation of how to behave (knee to knee, eye to eye).
At this stage, less is more.
Reinforce the expectations at the end of the lesson (What did we learn today, what did we get better at today in terms of our talk, and what do we still have to work on).
Be explicit about choosing partners, if it goes well, we can continue where students choose the groups, if not, I will choose them.
Saturday 23 November 2019
Curious minds - TV Series
Nigel Latta said, “Over the last several decades the evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness based training for young people (and adults) has continued to grow. Studies all over the world show that mindfulness training is effective. It helps children and young people develop increased calm and resilience, increased focus and attention, enhanced self-awareness and conflict-resolution skills, increased kindness, empathy, connection and pro-social behaviour, and statistically significant increases in emotional and general wellbeing."
This is a fascinating series On Demand (https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/
WHAT STOOD OUT:
"If children have an attentive and active caregiver, the social circuits in their brain is constantly reinforced, but if they are neglected for long period of time, they effectively become desensitised to social interaction. This can affect parts of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions and self-control.
This is a fascinating series On Demand (https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/
WHAT STOOD OUT:
"If children have an attentive and active caregiver, the social circuits in their brain is constantly reinforced, but if they are neglected for long period of time, they effectively become desensitised to social interaction. This can affect parts of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions and self-control.
DFI Session
Not digital classes or digital learning - We teach and learn - AKO
Deep Dive:
Google Groups - This can be handy so that nobody is left out in messages. I like that you can control messages e.g. send daily summaries or every message. A good idea is to have one for parents e,g, production helpers/sports teaching. (Everybody should, however, have a Google account and not yahoo or something else).
Don't make groups for children. Hapara makes groups for children. Hapara is owned by the school domain.
Exam moment: Create a group for social studies class: Copy and paste it into the group name. It will automatically create an email address. Could leave group description empty. Click create. Have to tick allow members - basic permission.
Direct Add except in exam where it says invite.
Short cuts:
Switching quickly between tables: Command 1 or any number between 1 - 9
Right-click on tabs - Close all the tabs to the right
Closing by accident - Command Shift T
Moving folders to the top of my drive - Shift Z then choose a pathway of where you want it to sit.
Deep Dive:
Google Groups - This can be handy so that nobody is left out in messages. I like that you can control messages e.g. send daily summaries or every message. A good idea is to have one for parents e,g, production helpers/sports teaching. (Everybody should, however, have a Google account and not yahoo or something else).
Don't make groups for children. Hapara makes groups for children. Hapara is owned by the school domain.
Exam moment: Create a group for social studies class: Copy and paste it into the group name. It will automatically create an email address. Could leave group description empty. Click create. Have to tick allow members - basic permission.
Direct Add except in exam where it says invite.
Short cuts:
Switching quickly between tables: Command 1 or any number between 1 - 9
Right-click on tabs - Close all the tabs to the right
Closing by accident - Command Shift T
Moving folders to the top of my drive - Shift Z then choose a pathway of where you want it to sit.
DFL Session 2 Reflection
Google Keep
Something new: After taking a photo of a displayed image, GRAB IMAGE TEXT, Google Keep formats it's into notes.
Ideas for next term: 100-word challenge, writing exactly up to 100 words. Give a prompt and kids can use voice typing to help them.
Cup Mikes for recording voices on Seesaw.
AKO
You cannot focus on effective teaching if the digital is not aligned. They need to be laid side by side, e.g. electricity. When you flick the light switch, life goes on, when it doesn't work, life is on its head. The same with digital, we need the digital fluency to work, in order for effective learning to happen is that we should be teaching effectively. Computers are not the silver bullet. It works hand in hand with effective teaching. A great teacher is irreplaceable. A person that cares about the learner and the learning. We should be the silver bullet.
Something new: After taking a photo of a displayed image, GRAB IMAGE TEXT, Google Keep formats it's into notes.
Ideas for next term: 100-word challenge, writing exactly up to 100 words. Give a prompt and kids can use voice typing to help them.
Cup Mikes for recording voices on Seesaw.
AKO
You cannot focus on effective teaching if the digital is not aligned. They need to be laid side by side, e.g. electricity. When you flick the light switch, life goes on, when it doesn't work, life is on its head. The same with digital, we need the digital fluency to work, in order for effective learning to happen is that we should be teaching effectively. Computers are not the silver bullet. It works hand in hand with effective teaching. A great teacher is irreplaceable. A person that cares about the learner and the learning. We should be the silver bullet.
Gmail:
Calendar
Hangout - Sharing screen
Tame your tabs - One Tab
Reluctant Writers Room 2 (ALL)
Some ideas of how to engage my reluctant writers in room 2.
10 weeks to set some strategies place
- Visual prompts with labels on topic
- Recording ideas
- Sticky notes with words that might be hard to write - not writing in the child's book
- Smaller groups
- Practising tricky words and adding t to a personal dictionary
- Word Cards
- Sentence Frames - model and adapt
- Picture prompts to organise writing e.g. frog - picture of where they live, eat
- Simple mindmaps
- Explicit feedback - positive feedback
- The teacher is the scribe for the planning part - and then they will write their draft using the plan - pre-load them so that next time they try it alone
- After reading a book - practice planning - how would the author have planned his writing
Books: The panicosaurus, The Disappointment dragon & the Red Beast (series) Written by K.I. Al-Ghani
Zones of regulation NZ FB page -
Aroha's Way Book
Helping Kiwi Kids with anxiety
Social Skills games - a bit like charades - dramatise what to do in specific situations - How do you fee and what can you do?
Breathing space - add posters of how to do breathing and add something special box e.g. with a game or books
Fidget pillow - Little Red's Learning Tools.
10 weeks to set some strategies place
- Visual prompts with labels on topic
- Recording ideas
- Sticky notes with words that might be hard to write - not writing in the child's book
- Smaller groups
- Practising tricky words and adding t to a personal dictionary
- Word Cards
- Sentence Frames - model and adapt
- Picture prompts to organise writing e.g. frog - picture of where they live, eat
- Simple mindmaps
- Explicit feedback - positive feedback
- The teacher is the scribe for the planning part - and then they will write their draft using the plan - pre-load them so that next time they try it alone
- After reading a book - practice planning - how would the author have planned his writing
Books: The panicosaurus, The Disappointment dragon & the Red Beast (series) Written by K.I. Al-Ghani
Zones of regulation NZ FB page -
Aroha's Way Book
Helping Kiwi Kids with anxiety
Social Skills games - a bit like charades - dramatise what to do in specific situations - How do you fee and what can you do?
Breathing space - add posters of how to do breathing and add something special box e.g. with a game or books
Fidget pillow - Little Red's Learning Tools.
Friday 15 November 2019
DFIl Session 9 Revision and exam
My DFI (Digital Fluency Intensive) Journey
Wow-what a journey. Today I am reflecting on 9 weeks of digital fluency training. When I started the course I did not even really know what DFI stood for. Although I was comfortable digitally, I haven't been in a digital class for 2 years. I would recommend this course to anybody that is in a digital class. There are so many updates and shortcuts to be learned. I feel more confident and excited about what Google offers. The learning and ideas that have been shared over the course of time, has given me lots of ideas of how to make it work in a digital class. My understanding of our Learn, Create, Share pedagogy has also improved. We are not limited to just a laptop.
What stood out for me in my journey, and something that I will use more and more with the students are Google Sheets, Google Keep and Google Drawings.
I am able to work so much faster on Google Sites and learned lots of little tricks on how to make sites work really well. I look forward to working with a team next year and sharing what I have learned.
And the highlight today was our Google Level 1 Exam. Such a great feeling to pass.
A huge thank you to Dorothy Burt and Gerhard Vermeulen for being great facilitators.
Friday 8 November 2019
DFI Session 8 Devices
Today we started off by looking into Being Cybersmart (See Slide 4) It's very important that we use the correct positive language when teaching students. This will be a major teaching point for me at the start of next year.
Use smart language (To me that links in 100% with PB4L). Demonstrating the right actions for a week can help to re-train students doing the wrong thing. It's better if you can catch the students that usually do the wrong thing, doing the right thing. Teach them on Day 1, Term 1 on filing documents in the right folders. As well as Kawa of Care. (Make a positive slide animation on how to care for your chrome). Every Friday take the time to tidy up the unshared folders.
I think it is important that we come up with a plan of what we want to teach for cyber safety at PES. What is priority and should be taught first. A bit like we have a weekly focus for PB4L. I would like to have a weekly focus on being Cybersmart.
Here is a nice example of a rubric for students to evaluate their blog posts. Quality Blog Post Rubric
Use smart language (To me that links in 100% with PB4L). Demonstrating the right actions for a week can help to re-train students doing the wrong thing. It's better if you can catch the students that usually do the wrong thing, doing the right thing. Teach them on Day 1, Term 1 on filing documents in the right folders. As well as Kawa of Care. (Make a positive slide animation on how to care for your chrome). Every Friday take the time to tidy up the unshared folders.
I think it is important that we come up with a plan of what we want to teach for cyber safety at PES. What is priority and should be taught first. A bit like we have a weekly focus for PB4L. I would like to have a weekly focus on being Cybersmart.
Hapara
Teach students how to categorize their work from day 1.
Tidy up drives from unshared documents weekly.
New function on Dashboard is Pause screen - same as stop, look and listen.
Guided browsing, keeps students focussed on the task at hand. Great for tests, exams or silent reading.
Blogs in Hapara (able to see blog posts and comments)
Kawa of Care video for Ipads This is really cute. I will share this with our junior teachers as it is very clear on how to care for your Ipad.
Screen Chastity is very handy to demonstrate and share how things work or where to find things on a computer. Below are two of my efforts to demonstrate how you can use Screencastify. It is a very handy and easy tool that I totally underutilise. Planning on using it a lot next year.
Here is a nice example of a rubric for students to evaluate their blog posts. Quality Blog Post Rubric
Friday 1 November 2019
DFI Session 7 Computational Thinking
Pedagogy and Kaupapa
Today Dorothy emphasised the pedagogy and kaupapa behind digital technologies. Chromes are not JUST a tool. It has an impact on their whole life including their health, finances and housing. We should use digital technology to change our student's lives.It's not just a tool presentation. We are empowering families.
TEACHING NEW ZEALAND'S FUTURE INVENTORS
OMG Tech Awesome Lesson Plans for Digital Technology
OMGTech! Trailblazers Presentation
Hour of code
What stood out for me in today's' presentation is my understanding of Digital Technologies. It does not only include inquiry and communication. The part that I neglect is the construction and expression part. I am looking forward to using what I learned today, in my class next year.
We had a go at simple coding on Hour of Code and Scratch. I found Scratch a bit tricky realising that I have not been exposed to coding too much. (Suppose that is why I never became a programmer). We had a go at creating a simple circuit. This is one of the lessons that are on the OMG Tech website. Even as adults we were engaged, just imagine using it in our classes.
After today's session, I feel inspired to teach digital technology in my class. I should plan carefully for it during the holidays so that I am well prepared and have all the resources I need. Thank you OMG Tech for sharing your lesson plans to us for free. This makes our life so much easier.
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