Day 6 - Enabling Access - Sites

 Our day started with sharing what we have used from our last session. Moving on we had a Google Meet with Dorothy about being 'connected.' This was so relevant given how 2020 is panning out.

"Most of us are at our best when we are connected with other people" - Dorothy Burt. What true words! I have always been a 'people person' but never realised how much until lockdown earlier in the year. 

Moving on we looked at the importance of Blogger to help our students connect in a safe place with support.

 We then looked at some school sites and evaluated the sites. We looked at the visual appeal and user experience. As much as I love colour I found the work with a lot of white space easier to read and more appealing. The overuse of colour was too distracting. Interestingly, one of my work buddies liked the colour and found the work on the site way more appealing than I did. This lead on to an interesting discussion about knowing our learners and what works best for them rather than what we find attractive. 

Following on we then worked with different buddies looking at their sites to give and receive feedback. It was great to connect with different teachers and look at their sites - I took away some great ideas and need to go back and look at their sites again for ideas. 

It was great to have time to discuss our own work and look at others. I came away with so many ideas and am looking forward to implementing them. The most exciting part of the day was learning how to add my voice recording to a google slide - a rather long process but I'll get quicker at it the more I do it.

All in all another great day of learning, sharing and time to 'play.'

Day 5 - Collaborate Sites

 The day started with sharing what has gone well. It's always interesting listening to others' thoughts and ideas.

We had our weekly presentation by Dorothy - looked at making teaching and learning visible. It was an interesting and thought-provoking presentation. We need to make sure that accessibility is easy for our families and students to navigate - everything should only be three clicks away. In the 'old days' it may have been easier for parents to access their child's learning by looking through their books...that is if they could find them. In a nutshell, nothing should be hidden.

Nothing is hidden, everything is open for others to see.

Moving on we then looked at multi-modal learning and investigated some sites to look at what others have done. This made me think about the way I deliver reading to my students and what I can do better - how can I dress the 'window' to make learning more appealing and hook the student.

We had a lot of time to 'play' today and I worked on creating my own site and completing a DFI Google Sites Challenge which was prep for the exam... I have a lot to learn.  However, using our own site during lockdown has certainly helped and I did bring some previous knowledge to the table so to speak.

My Site

It was another really busy day with lots to think about.

DFI Day 4 - Dealing with Data

Today has been another day of thinking until my brain was throbbing. Thank goodness I upped the ginger crunch and coffee order to include a freshly baked scone. 

The day started with a review of what went well and what we need further support with. This is always a good time to realise how many others on the course are learning just as much as I am - which is heaps.  

Dorothy Burt's presentation this week was looking at the Share pedagogy. The biggest take-home message for me was the remark Dorothy made about the importance of students finishing their work to ensure the work is shared. Many students may never finish anything, so the need to complete work to share may motivate the reluctant student to complete work. Completing a job is a life skill that we need to help students with. 

We created our own Google form which was heaps of fun and then completed a colleague's. I have created a form in the past but now have the skills to make it look more attractive.

I love Google Maps for helping me find my way but now have a deeper understanding of the different features which are available. I created a map showing a few vegan cafes to go to.

Moving on we looked at Google Sheets and after a 'play' we created our own using blog data.

I can't believe how much learning is packed into a day. There are so many little tips I take away from each session. 

DFI Day 3 - Media

Today was another big day of learning...ginger crunch and coffee helped a lot.

We started with what's going well and what we need support with. This is always a good time to hear how things are going for others and what other teachers have tried in their classrooms since last week.

Then it was onto looking at Manaiakalani's pedagogy of create. Dorothy led this and I always feel inspired by her positivity and energy. The quote below really resonated with me and I thought it would be good to share...

I love Youtube and this relationship is now even stronger now I know how to make a playlist. I created a playlist and added a story about kindness to it (see below).  I used Youtube a lot over lockdown, many authors read their stories and shared their work through Youtube, I used many of these as part of the literacy activities on our site. If only I had known how to make a playlist my life would have been so much easier. Better late than never!

I was so grateful for the sugar from the ginger crunch as the day progressed with more learning as we looked at various features of google draw and google slides. Google drawing was a new tool for me and it was a lot of fun to use. I created a pick a path story using google slides. The best part of the day was having the time to play and create with these tools and the time certainly flew. I have learned so much in such a short time and look forward to learning more next week.