Digital Fluency Session 5 - Connections

Connecting with High Schools other Primary Schools and Intermediates. Connecting School, Teacher and Students through common and shared language. Creating unity and connectivity through this shared language and familiarity to help learning in the future and for the future. Creating links with people in Papakura, around Auckland, New Zealand and the World.

If you don't have connections you are sharing with no one and with connections they want to see what you are doing or there is no connection. To be connected you need to share regularly. Students can see what other students are learning and how they are learning it. Rewinding there own learning and reinforcing it.

OMG - Tech

Gives children the opportunity to create through education provides equity of access of technology and a lot of content supporting learning in English, Te Reo and Pasifika.

Technological Practice - Only do what told like a computer; Chess board move the rover across board (miss obstacles river). Coder is across the room sending messages up down across and number of squares.

Bubble code one person moves at a time; if then if your number is bigger then move to the right sorting numbers may have to move along sequence multiple times. Then always run along an extra time to check sequence is correct.

This sorting code can sort information quicker. Children move at the same time as they 'flop' when they have decided if then and who moves where.

Coding

By understanding how binary code works children can understand how a computer works.

We created a maze in Scratch using code.

 

We pulled apart a CD Rom Drive and found 3 motors 2 DC/Universal motors and a stepper motor. Along with a lazer and mirrors and tiny screws.

3D Fabrication

There are different ways to fabricate objects 3D pens, 3D printer, Router and Lazer Cutter .
Using 3D Pens - We can digitally represent any object. We need children to be inspired to be engineers and creators.

Now just have to decide what to take back to school. 

Looking forward to using Hour of Code in class.

Digital Fluency Session 4 - Sharing is as old as Adam and Eve

Sharing

Sharing is as old as time but with media it is has become more user generated and amplified.

Create is a hook for learning and so can Sharing be a hook for learning. Need an audience, sharing via internet is larger. Authentic Audience - on the internet people can choose to listen/read.
Blogger only legal site for primary children. Most are illegal eg Facebook.

Sharing is not the end of learning. It can be a trigger to help continue with learning. And people can revisit it creating rewindable learning. Sharing is not the end for us as teachers either the feedback and feed forward is important for the learner to helping them to see what is next and what they have got.

3 quality posts in a week increase learning acceleration, 2 posts maintain learning. Commenting helps draw students back to the learning.

Google Sites 

Multi Model - Many different ways. Multiple modes of presenting learning. Engaging both behaviour and brains.

UDL - Universal Design for Learning

Text is not just the written word, sound bites, you tube, site with information... 

This helps acknowledge that every child is different. Remember some learn kinetically, orally, dramatically/performing, reading the written word.

To get full engagement and understanding you need to hook the students in using different modes. 

This is engaging for our learners - Engagement = The Hook

Eccentric - Need to think about the shop window how can we get them to school, ready to get to come to class and learn.  (Especially for the compulsory sector).

Try making our class sites eccentric.

I enjoy working with Multi-modal activities, as I feel energised just organsing them and finding them.

Digital Fluency Session 3 - Connecting to Media

The day started investigating ways we can record experiences in a rewindable way for learners. It was exciting to see that schools could record and live feed special events such as Cultural Performances or Sports Events for those unable to make it or are a long way away. This included how to create a YouTube Channel and how to make playlists to entice learners with learning.

We then moved into Google drawings and how to make buttons and keep them that same size by having multiple pictures around the canvas. And how to create a portrait that looks lifelike using the camera to take a photo and then in drawings using the polyline and colour dropper/colorzilla to add the correct colours. Then layer by layer adding facial features. Here is the beginning of mine.

    

Then we create an animation using google slides. This was fun and has huge potential for learners to show storyline or inquiry.

   

Then we create our Pepeha in slides. This was a great opportunity to use the experts in the room to help and ask the 'dumb' questions if I wasn't sure. Thank you.

    

Using Forms in a Class after Reading -

Fuelling Up with Fredge

We have been learning about 5+ a day and how a serving of fruit and vegetables can help keep you healthy. I had fun making the forms for the story. Having to come up with different answers was sometimes challenging. But I am glad I didn't have to think up all the questions. This one we didn't make into a quiz with points. The students tell me the quiz one we did on plants was the best one, so I will be making the next one into a quiz too.

Digital Fluency Session 2 - The World at your Fingers

Today we looked at Sheets and how they can help us analysis and create charts. I visited a blog and looked at where the visitors had viewed the blog from. Here is the Geo chart and you can see most of the visitors are from New Zealand.

I found the conditional formatting very helpful to analysis who is achieving in different subjects, such as spelling.

The most amazing part of today was to find out that information from a form can be exported to My Maps.

Digital Fluency Session 1 - Making Google Documents Easier and Interesting

Today we investigated google docs. It was interesting, it is not my usual way of presenting on a blog so please take a look as I am only practising what I learnt and using this opportunity to show it to others.

Self Defense - TOD

After having a few incidents in the news recently we decided to find way to protect ourselves as a staff. We approached Highwire a local facility who offered to help us.

What I found the most interesting was even though we have a flight or fight response sometimes to fly we have to get closer to the offender (so against what I want to do). To achieved this it will be a matter of practising.

Creating a Professional Blog

How to set up a Blog about what you are doing as a professional to accelerate learning in your space.

Whether Learning or Teaching a Blog can be helpful to rewind your own learning and help others who are unsure. Here is how I set up my blog using Blogger. As way to track the six professional standards that can help others improve learning and remind you of the difference you are making.

This set of slides I presented at the latest Kootuitui Unconference.

Learning Te Reo

One of the challenges teachers always face is what to learn more of each year when there is so much we can continue to learn to help encourage and engage our students.

One of the discussion we had before posting about where we come from was talking about posting personal information on our blogs. As often a security questions can refer to Nōhea koe? Where are you from? However part of Maori cultural is understanding where people come from to help us understand each other better.

We looked at the clip, followed the transcript role playing what they learnt. Then after asking 10 or more students from within the class they were allow to create a post showing what they had learnt about other students.

Check in and see what else we learn over the term.

Google L1 Session 1 - Using Technology in the Classroom

The way students and teachers can collaborate through Google has been an interesting turn in education. Children can work on the same project on different pages or the same page in their own space. They are no longer rubbing elbows and squabbling for space.

Google Maps students can locate places and track where characters head or use them to plot trips working out which is the quickest way and does the bus take it. Creating discussion on why or why not.

I enjoy using maps to help plot the adventures of characters in my novels and locate places they can or could use, including local public facilities.

Writing Basics

Most students are familiar with writing using 'I' but they possibly haven't been taught it is first person. This is something I am aiming to correct this year during my teaching. I am planning on showing and encouraging students to use third person. By explaining it is like telling someone what occurred in a movie or favourite television program.

We wrote both first person and third adapting fairy tales then we made up a story about a plant.
Here are so examples of what the students in my class came up with.

Third Person:

A little while after they moved into the house. It was a very old house, it had an attic in the high pitched roof and a cellar under the ground. Coraline's family didn't own all of the house it was too big for that. Instead they owned part of it. There were other people who lived in the old house. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flat below Coraline’s. On the ground floor they were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. - Krystal

She called, “Hello.”

No one answered. She could smell some hot butter chicken in the cottage. Goldilocks called out again.Then she saw three chairs, an oval wooden table and three bowls. One was small, the second one was medium and one last was big. Her tummy growled. The delicious aroma too much for her. She took a bite. The first was too hot, the second one was cold and the third one was perfect. - Justyce

The long snake like path led to a small house with a roof made out of branches. The walls made out of brick and it was a gloomy day, so she went inside the house. Smelling the scent of sweet porridge as she looked at the bowls on the table. She tried the first bowl that she saw.

“YUCK it’s too cold,” Goldy said.

So she went to the next bowl and tried the porridge.

“AHH IT BURNS,” she said as she ran round and round. - Dante

First Person:

I was so sad my Step Mother and my Step Sisters went to the ball, leaving  me at home, cleaning up and cooking. ‘When do I get to go to the ball?’ I wondered. - Krystal

I was planted in a bottomless pit. I was freezing, I got planted without anything, no

water, sunlight or nutrients. It felt like I was in a chilli bin, it was that pitch black. Did I mention it was wet, because it has raining for hours. Until I got the sun over me, then  finally I was getting a bit warmer every minute. - Te Iriwhiro

I was so lonely in the pitch black soil. My mean owner never came to water me the only one who watered me was the clouds.

“Oh dear what is going on here.” I wondered to myself. “I can finally move around and relaxed.” - Breeze

“ OUCH!!!” I said.

“ Who was that And why do I feel trapped, enclosed” I wondered.

“Hmmm what to do,” I thought. “Uhhh I'll just wait.”

4 days later…

“ I'm tired of waiting, I'm going  to push myself out”.

“I'm finally free. OMG I feel so good, stretched out.”

“Woh, I am growing, out of this tiny shell. - Dante

I was a lonely seed in a pitch black hole. I had no friends. When I was buried I was watered. But right now I'll  stay put right here to be watered again.

The next day I got watered. Now I looked at myself there was something appearing out of me.

The next day I figure out what it was. It was my roots.

A few days later I grew a shoot. I wish I knew what would happen to me next.

“Would I stay like this? Or would I grow more?” - Akram

Introduction to Writing

I found this very interesting because as teachers we often try to help direct students to write and they ask us what do you want me to write about. Then we try to encourage them to finish that one story. I also felt this first module gave me permission to use things I see everyday and change it up. So by carrying a notebook with me (usually when I am by myself driving) I can pull over and write a quick note or once at my destination before getting out of the car. I even write songs in the notebook as one of my characters enjoys using lines from songs when ribbing family members.

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