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 mind we continued learning about Google Sites and how to use this to make our teaching and learning as visible as we can. I enjoyed getting to explore others Google Sites as it helped me to visualise what I would like to see in my own site. With some ideas in mind I began to make my own site. This is something that in the past I would have felt was too technologically challenging!

I'm excited about the opportunities and visibility this will give to my students, but also their whanau and other colleagues. I can see now since beginning my site that initially it is going to take some time to set up and organise. I am now in the process of changing my planning formats in order to work with a site. I need to remind myself not to get lost in the world of clip art and design for too long when trying to make my site look nice. My hope is that once the site is up to date that it will be a central place where my teaching, planning and resources are visible to anyone who wishes to see it.

Image result for work in progress clipart

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