Teaching with Miss Jones

WK 5: Enabling Access Today we learnt about one of Manaiakalani's kaupapa words; Visible. The meaning of this word had changed in teaching through time. It no longer means being able to see something that is 'visible' within the classroom walls. It is now a word that has a great deal of meaning in the world of education. 'Visible' is about everyone being able to see and access teaching and learning without any barriers in the way. Teachers now need to think about whether or not the learning they are providing is visible to; the learner, whanau, teacher and colleagues. A lack of visibillity can feel like wondering through a maze for some children. Success comes to those learners who are able to 'read' the teachers mind and know where the teaching and learning is going to take them. It is important for every part of the learning process to be completely visible to the learner. This includes; planning, process, outcomes and assessment. With this in

Wk 4: Collaborating with Sites Digital technology has significantly enabled the way people can now share with others - anywhere, anytime. Words such as Facebook and Twitter are now a part of young people's vocabulary as they grow up in this digital world. What drives people towards these digital programmes is the ability to be able to share your life, learning and movement with friends, family but also globally with anyone at anytime.  With these digital developments teachers are now able to provide children with the skills and tools needed to share with more authentic audiences beyond the classroom walls and across the world. This in return makes the aspect of 'sharing' so much more engaging and motivating for students and their learning. So why Blogger for allowing our young people to share? Today we began learning about Google Sites and making these Multi Modal. By making a site Multi Model it makes the learning on the site more engaging for our learne

Week 3: Dealing with Data Today we looked into the 'Create' part of Manaikalini's pedagogy of 'learn, create, share.' Create - is a doing word, it involves the whole body. The experiences where children get to create are the ones that they remember. The use of devices can enable creativity to take place and in return engage students in the thinking involved in the task. Allowing children to be creative can be empowering when they are given choices, information, skills, and scaffolding. As a part of exploring 'create' this morning the 6 C's were brought to our attention. I really resonate with these. As an educator I feel that these are essential skills for children to develop in order for them to become successful members within our society. As we approach our midyear reporting I plan to look at and comment on these skills and how children are developing/working towards these. Google Forms - I am now inspired to use this as a

Week 2: Workflow Today's session was all about workflow, a topic of great interest to many busy teachers. I know that as a teacher myself I am always on the look out and interested in ways that I can save time and be more efficient with my workload. Today's session covered several tips, tricks and tools to encourage the flow of work more efficiently. First on the agenda was Google Keep - a tool I had never heard of before. For someone who fizzes off organisation I was very excited to see this post-it note like system. In the past I have used 'sticky notes' to write 'to do' lists, however it has annoyed me the way it sits on my desktop for everyone to see what you haven't accomplished for the day and the many things still waiting for your attention. Now with Google Keep I can write as many lists as my heart desires! Not just for school but also a grocery list, a wish list and more! I especially love that you can pin, prioritise, checkbox