The way Manaikalani has connected educators and schools together is powerful. I have found being able to access ideas from others invaluable for my learning. Being connected in a way which will accelerate the learning of my Year 0-1 students is something I need to explore - How are my students connected? How do, or do, their connections support acceleration of their learning?
Google Sites
The slides below - 'Why Google Sites?' and the following slide ' What does Learn, Create, Share look like through Google Sites? helped me gain a greater understanding of the 'why' and 'what' concerning my class site.
I need to review my class site and think about some of the points mentioned in the tutorial. I need to think about the why - what is the purpose of my class site. How is it going to be used? Who is going to use it? and for my year group of students - when are they going to use it? These questions lead in to thinking about the set up of the my class site and then the content of the site.
In light of today's learning I have updated my class site (some of the content still needs to be developed and linked) - Room One Class Site
Wow, what a busy day! Today's DFI session was an online one. I enjoyed the online learning. I found myself considerably more focused.
Dorothy's discussion around Manaiakalani's priority goals and the importance of visible learning helped me understand more about the Manaiakalani kaupapa and also the value of a class site and blogs.
The tutorials about multimodal helped me see the value of providing multimodal learning for my students.
Having the opportunity to create a site with multimodal content was a valuable learning experience. I discovered that creating and sourcing multimodal content was not as difficult as I had previously thought and I can already see the benefit of using this type of content in my class site. I am already thinking about our topics this term and how I can find or create multimodal content for my students.
Key points of interest from this week's DFI session
Google Sheets
I have used Google Sheets many times but reading through the Google Sheets slide presentation was a revelation. The basic calculations and formulas are something I have been wanting to learn for sometime now. I also found the formatting and filter information helpful as well as the useful tips. This presentation, including the Sheets on Speed slides are going to make a positive impact on my workload in regards to data collection and analysis.
Google My Maps
I have never heard of Google My Maps. I am looking forward to exploring this further and wondering where I can find some opportunities to use this in my classroom.
Google Forms
I tried to use Google Forms to create a form for our Junior Syndicate collect sociogram information last year. I couldn't quite get it sorted. I am going to use Google Forms to collect the sociogram information this year because now I know how to create one.
Creativity could be termed the hook of Manaiakalani. The hook speaks of motivating our learners to engage with the curriculum. Creative experiences support thinking, invention, exploration and learning. Creativity is an essential aspect of learning for all age groups of children. Creativity gives learning an authentic purpose.
What does create look like in my classroom? Does the create we do in my classroom support the engagement, thinking, invention and learning of my students? Am I using modern technologies to enable creativity and capture creativity?
Deep Dive - Media
'The power of Sisomo - sight, sound, motion. Demystifying technology and unleashing its creative potential.'
How can I use media (film, slides, podcasts, etc) to support my students to express themselves in ways other than writing or drawing? Using media with my Year 0 - 1 class is something I would like to explore further. I wonder how other new entrant classes are doing this?
Ideas:
Green screen using Doing (a green screen app) - it is possible to simply use green fabric behind the children when they are recording. Green screen allows you to put children in front of any background.
Suitable for iPads - Garage band, Camera App, Quickbay Chalk & Talk - Channel and Playlists, Google Draw, YouTube, Google Slides
YouTube
The YouTube part of today's session answered so many questions I have had regarding putting YouTube clips in my class site. The slide below answered some of my questions
My first embedded YouTube clip from my playlist - Woo hoo!
Google Drawing
Every time I have used Google draw in the past I have found myself dithering over the page setting - Should I use pixels or centimetres? When do I use pixels and centimetres? What numbers do I need to input? Today I found out 😜
My About Me google drawing & a certificate I will be using at school.
Google Slides - Animation
I use Google Slides frequently but I have not used it to create an animation before. I was quite keen to use Google Slides to create animations with my class but after some discussion with other teachers at my year level it would seem that Explain Everything might be a more appropriate animation tool as my class use iPads.
This animation could be much better, however, making it has given me a general idea about how to create one.
In reflection, from my experiences creating today, I can see how incredibly engaging 'create' can be and how powerful the learning is. I can understand why create is one of Manaiakalani's key points and why it is vital that my students to engage in 'creating'.
