DFI Day 3: Reflection

1. What I learned that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy:

Kaupapa:

I loved watching the clip from The heART of the matter documentary - it took me back to my life as a Playcentre and homeschooling mum when I saw and believed every day that creativity was how learning happened. (It made me miss my mum too - she was a teacher who embraced this creativity is learning philosophy - I don't know if she ever saw the documentary ... but I know she would have loved it!)

I feel glad and reassured that a full spectrum of creative elements are embraced within the kaupapa because it is non-digital elements engage me most.

I also witness that digital elements totally engage many of my learners so it is good for me to be doing the DFI for them.

Pedagogy:

A takeaway for me today is to use the tech to make the 'teaching content' stuff efficient (and rewindable - so I don't necessarily need to repeat myself) and then dream up more creative ways for kids to show their learning - I do not teach NCEA - so I have plenty of freedom.

I recognise that 'bogged-down-by-curriculum-content-coverage' feeling that high school students and teachers get weighed down by.... this has got to stop!

2. What I learned that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional:

I am relieved to learn about Youtube playlists - no more documents called 'links' scattered through my folders

I am keen to share the 'create' options with my team - since we all notice the lack of kids hooking in to what we are asking of them... baby steps since our school doesn't really know it is a Manaiakalani school yet...

The driving question for me as a teacher is always about high expectations (even while many learners seem to have low ones) - I secretly hope that the opportunities to get into new ways of 'doing school' with our chromebooks might bypass the default reluctance among some of the learners.... a clear slate

3. What I learned that could be used with my learners:  

• I will start to use buttons in sites ...just cos they are cooler than hyperlinked words
• I want to talk to them about google draw and find out how much they already know - some will want to be unleashed when it comes to making presentations
• I want to find out how much they know about making animations using slides .. see if someone wants to teach me (because I was pretty lost today on that front)
• I like the idea of the kids using videos with voice overs to demonstrate learning - I can see this as a great task for kids to show their understanding of energy transfers and transformations in a chosen sport

4. What I learned that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life:

Just knowing my way round google products helps

Here's my play with inserting audio: