Getting your online workflow right.

Today at our Digital Fluency Intensive course we were focusing on how best to manage your workflow.  Getting this right, being organised and methodical in your online practice can really help you feel confident teaching in a digital environment.

For teachers new to digital teaching,  establishing good online practice for your own workflow will serve you well when it comes to creating and managing your online learning space. 

The google suite helps you to be super organised, so on our course today we explored how to make your gmail account work for you by utilising Google's priority inbox, setting up filters and rules, personalised settings and add ons.  Working hand in hand with google's mail box is google task, google calendar and google keep.  All wonderful extras that enhance your workflow and help to save time. 

We did have a glitch with technology which was a real disappointment and meant we couldn't execute our Google Hangout session successfully.  This is a good reminder to triple check your IT provider has considered all potential issues.  On this occasion the problem lay with N4L's recent upgrade which meant that anyone outside the school's email domain address couldn't use Google Hangouts.  We troubleshooted a couple of ideas like creating everyone a school email address but as soon as they started to share their screen on a different profile their connection was lost.  Thankfully everyone was very understanding and it meant they had a fun homework activity to try with their peers.  Although the IT provider had been given a heads up about our requirements months prior, this was a good reminder to myself that you have to repeat two days out with a note about N4L changes.   To all our DFI participants thanks for your patience today. 

Manaiakalani DFI - cohort 1 - day 1

Our first Digital Fluency Intensive for 2019 is underway and we have a fabulous group of 20 participants including principals, primary, intermediate and secondary school teachers.  As you can imagine there is a lot of experience in the room and it makes for some very interesting discussions and sharing of ideas. 

Everyone brings with them a unique set of skills and in this collaborative environment there will be plenty of opportunities to learn from one another.  It's great to be in the company of open minded individuals who are all focused on offering their students the best teaching practice in keeping with learning in a 21st environment.  

Adding to your Google Calendar

Adding the cluster calendar to your own Google calendar is easy, just click the + button in your calendar.  What I particularly like about using them is that you can have any number of calendars and with the ability to turn them on and off you can easily see what your own appointments are and that of your colleagues.  This short video explains how to get started. 

 

Embedding Google Docs in your blog

It is possible to embed a Google Doc or slide directly into your blog but first you will need to publish the document to the web.

Click on File>publish to web 

A new window will pop open.  Select the 'embed' code.  Choose the size of the published document, you can select small, medium or large or make it a custom setting.

Copy the code and paste it into the HTML section of your blog post editor.

You'll then need to change the width and height settings to ensure it displays properly and fills the page.  Thanks to Lenva Shearing who has provided an easy how to, follow this link to learn how.  

Kaikohekohe Cluster PLG - Feb

Today's PLG started off with an overview from Convening Principal Jane Lindsay, about the data feedback from Woolf Fisher.  Results showed in 2018, schools within the cluster had made good improvements with writing overall.

Developing specific vocabulary

Confidence students are reluctant to share back to the class because they don't want to get something wrong.   Reminding students it is ok to get things wrong.
Ensuring students have context specific vocabulary so it has meaning for them and is relative to their learning and interests.
Scaffolding students to help build confidence.
Getting students to take photos and videos that exemplify specific words and then giving them the opportunity to revisit their those learning resources to help deepen their understanding.
Link to the Vocabulary presentation 

Critical Thinking
I really enjoyed Chrissy and Becks presentation on developing critical thinking.
They talked about the success they had with their students using the thinkers keys as tools to get students thinking outside the box.  Utilising this approach, students have a safe environment to explore and experiment in that no question or idea is a silly one.  Following this up with a digital breakout added to the students comprehension. 
When choosing a thinking key giving some consideration to the potential outcome and what you are aiming to guide students towards.

A year of teaching on the Manaiakalani Digital Fluency Intensive

I have now facilitated the Northland Digital Fluency Intensive for two cohorts and it has been a fabulous experience.

In terms of my own facilitation I found I grew into the role as I became more familiar with the process. The comprehensive framework of Learn, Create, Share really helped me to define various parts of the day and this was important with our visiting facilitators who on occasion needed reminding of the time. Meeting the needs of all our participants was an ongoing iterative process which I took upon myself like a mother ensuring all her children were fed. I wanted everyone to go away feeling as though they had learned a lot that they could apply straight away into their teaching practice. Each day has a key focus and it was hoped that teachers would feel confident enough to try what they had learned during the week so they could feedback how it went the following week.

Each DFI brought together a wonderful rich mix of teachers with a range of abilities both in their teaching practice and technical know how. Some barely understood their Google Drive while other participants were already teaching their students coding. Equally there were those who had been teaching for 30 or 40 years and those who were in their first year of teaching. Drawing on this rich expertise within the room opened a treasure trove of knowledge and experience which made for some fabulous discussions, all of which added a bit of dynamism to the day.

Our visiting teachers from Manaiakalani were the crème de la crème and brought a unique flavour to the day. We had primary teachers from new entrants to year 8, a Deputy Principal and a couple of the Manaiakalani Facilitators who brought with them such a wealth of experience. Their anecdotes made it all the more real for teachers and the resources they so openly shared were graciously accepted.

There were certainly stressful moments but that was mostly to do with the technical infrastructure at schools and not being aware of the issues we might encounter. Venue set up, device access and firewall blocks caused a few technical hick-ups on a number of occasions but I've learnt and hopefully so has our network provider what needs to be put in place beforehand to ensure the technology side of things works 100% of the time.

Connecting Secondary Schools

Connecting secondary schools across Manaiakalani is something that I'm really interested in developing.  There is a real need for an online hub that teachers can refer to quickly to see what is happening in other schools.  Ideas that I would like to explore;

Create a website with department pages and generic resources that could encompass moderation templates, NCEA summary report set ups,