Adding to the site Creating Writers

Here we go again... Lockdown 2021 August

Teaching always has challenges. This is especially so in a new school. This time allowed me to get to know the community differently. Yes, from a distance. 

It even provided the opportunity to add to my site Creating Writers. (Click image below to visit) 

One of the teachers at school was encouraging students to use and understand idioms, which I really enjoy due to their playful nature with words. That set me to thinking why are there no activities for students on the site for this to help hold the reader's attention?

Thinking about I get it, in New Zealand we teach a range of cultures with a range of languages and the ability to understand English, so as I always do I  explain what an idiom is. The great thing is they are used in all languages, but the slides focus on idioms used in English. 

Here are the new activities I have added and modified to create a follow on. 

Each set of slides uses a different range of idioms and explains a range of idioms we often use in everyday life without thinking about them.

I even had time to make a second simile set. 

Hope you enjoy using them as much as I enjoy making them.

Passing Google Level 2

I did it!

Yeah okay, it was the second time I passed. Yes, I have been using the various parts from the google suite but, that didn't mean I studied for it. But something I need to remember is Pivot Tables! 

Once again, we are in lockdown. The email reminders saying I was needed to resit Google Level 2 kept coming and I thought it was a good time to do it. I didn't know there would be a week to finish the exam after enrolling (last time, I could pick a day and time to take the exam). My last day for the exam was approaching, so I decided to wake up early. Before having to teach online or my teenagers needed me (not usually at 5 am).

Pivot Tables stumped me the first time doing the exam, and it got me this time too. So, this post is more about reminding me than helping you. The last time I managed to work it out, this time I ran out of time and then found it in the last second Blah!!!!

Pivot Tables

This is a feature to help make long tables with a mountain of information on them easier to read by refining what will end up on the table. 

Of course, the feature can be found under the data tab. (I need to remember that!)

Then you need it to be on a new sheet (don't want to lose any data). Refer back to the question in the exam to set the filters. - When you think about it, it's not really hard at all. 

Just don't Panic!!!

What's new in Hapara?

 

With Lockdown, I had time today to view a Hapara Update session. It was interesting although there was no video, there were screenshots help us to understand some of the new features or the features that were already there we might not know about.

Some features have not been rolled out here in New Zealand yet, like the Digital Backpack. This means students could access Hapara from any device it doesn't have to be a Chromebook. For me, this brought up the question, "Do students have access to Hapara or just teachers through the Teacher Dashboard?"

A great feature that I believe I have seen but ignore is the '?' where you can access tutorials. Located at the bottom of the screen.

In Hapara, you can set the landing page to Highlights, but this has to be done for an area. It is not a personal preference or setting. Which I thought was sad as everyone has their own preferences.                                                                                                I have noticed students offline on Hapara, but they are logged into their Chromebook. I have been told this is because they are using a leaf browser which is an experimental browser (but don't ask me what that means). This will be a good way to try to problem solve myself.                                                                                                                                                    I don't often see students logged in through 2 devices as I usually have devices allocated. Having said that, I have seen it, and it was helpful to know I can rectify it.                                                                                                                                            Viewing the highlights through either the 'open tabs' feature or 'current screen', I like the idea of being able to shut them down (which I have never tried). I usually just ask a student, "Are you in the right place?" and they move. The ability to explain why I closed 'a tab' means it can be done in a less invasive manner. That informs the student about their behaviour.

Looking forward to trying some of these ideas out when we return after lockdown.

Manaiakalani - Shared Discussion

The shared discussion was a new idea for me. A Staff Meeting with people around New Zealand with similar concerns or wonderings.

Our focus was on Maths we had a few questions to get the discussion underway 

Knowing our Learners:

1. Describe what is happening for the group of learners you selected, their strengths and weakness. Discuss evidence e.g. anecdotal, blogs, observation, data ...

2. Summarise the learning challenges you plan to focus on in class. Why is this important to your class, your school? What difference will it make for your learners/school?

Changes:

3. Your hunch - Describe what you can change or do differently to improve learning experiences and outcomes for students. 

4. Learning - Describe how you have acquired new knowledge and skills to make changes in your practice e.g. PLD, readings/research, ideas from your own colleagues

Taking Action: 

5. Describe what you are planning to do (or have done) differently. Have you planned to regularly monitor the impact of what you are doing differently? e.g. surveys, smiley face charts from e-asttle...

Changes for my class -

I was focusing on my lower group and wondering how I can help them move, one is ESL and the others seem to have a problem with focusing.

We talked about structuring a lesson in small parts 

    Warm-up - 10minutes

    Problem Solving (Thinking) - 20 minutes, moving around and talking with other students to help them

The use of speaking frames to help students phrase what they are thinking was a thoughtful idea.

    Exposing them to vocabulary that is particular to Mathematics - inverse, operations, multiple...

    Using vocabulary with prompts and visual aids to help remind students of meaning.

    Say and show 

    Explain to a friend

    Regularly asking them to THINK PEER SHARE

    How can you prove that to me?

    Find, Explain and Fix the Error (teacher made)

At the end of the lesson, I want to use these phrases more...

What did you learn today?

What did you struggle with today?

What do you need more help with?

Ideas to help with Math learning in class ...

Kahoot - A great way to check student understanding or do basic facts

Topmarks and IXL, are two of my favourites

Maths Time

Transum Maths Games

AAAmath.com

App - Mathlearningcentre

So I am going to get the students in my class in a few of these,

 we already use Mathletics and E-ako Maths, 

I do like E-ako maths as it is New Zealand based and free.

MASLOW

As part of looking at our struggling students, we need to understand what might be causing their learning struggles.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted within a pyramid.

The bottom two lines of the pyramid are the foundation of a person needs, their basic needs.  These need to be met to a satisfactory level for the person to achieve their psychological needs.

These five levels can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top-level is known as growth or being needs (B-needs).

Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the motivation to fulfil such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.

Our communication with families and the more information we have about students, the more effectively we can develop their psychological needs and help students achieve their basic needs.

MIT - Presenting in Cook Island - Creating Writers

We were all arriving at different times. Finally Tuesday I landed in the beautiful Rarotonga. We gathered for a quick debrief about what could be happening - don't forget we are in Raro and wonderful things can happen and do when like-minded people gather.

Wednesday morning we were up and at it. Arriving at school we were welcomed like treasured guests. It was a privilege to be receiving such a formal welcome. As you can see in my previous post, MIT - Workshops in the Cook Islands.

After the welcome and workshops, it was time to return to the resort and prepare for the evening presentations. We had a small quick bite to eat due to the large morning tea provided after the welcome and knowing snacks were available at the presentations. This is the order we were to run through:

My presentation was similar to that I had done and prepared for the Principal's Wānanga in October 2020, with a few small tweaks, due to the change of audience and developments with the tool.

Please visit the site Creating Writers and use or modify to use in your teaching.

School Visits

The following day we had the pleasure of visiting 6 schools to see how they work and integrate technology.

It was very interesting as 20 years ago I visited schools in Fiji (it was their school holidays) and there was a few single-cell classrooms that catered for multiple school years, old textbooks and furniture, it was an eye-opener. 

And although this is a different island in the pacific I kind of expected something similar, so was very pleasantly surprised how adding students and their work brightened the learning spaces. Each school we visited even though in their own village had many multiple rooms to cater for the different levels and a wealth of books and resources, with teachers modifying their practice to include digital technology where they could. 

We visited Tereora College that is well set up with dedicated teachers who were willing to embrace the development of technology. St Joseph's was next and we enjoyed joining in with their singing, it was peace filling and inspiring.

After our flying visits, we were able to freshen up back at the resort before heading back to

 Te Uki Ou School for a lovely feast and final gifts.