Digital Fluency Intensive Day 3

Well, what a great day of learning! I have a classroom website that I have not been using as I haven't known where to start. A lot of today was addressed at solving this problem.

Today, with a colleague, I created a multi modal site for my learners. This was based on next term's topic:

Celebrations!

Having the time to put in the effort into something that could easily be used has left me feeling a lot more confident than I thought I would be.

I think a lot of time will be taken to get the classroom website up and running the way I want it to be, especially the visual aspect. At this stage it will only be used for homework purposes and communications with parents as I do not have a digital classroom. However, it's very exciting to learn how it can be used when that changes.

Knowing how to make and use such an interactive tool automatically increases my confidence to use other people's creations too.


Even at college we were always taught that the 'hook' was the most important part of a lesson. Even though times are changing and digital technologies is out in full force, this still stands true today. I feel that I haven't used digital hooks as much as I could have and plan to change this. Children in my current class are still excited about devices as they do not have a device each and spend a very small amount of time on them.

When I set tasks or activities, children have a large selection of choices, but rarely does this include digitally because of the lack of devices. However, my senior children will be in a digital classroom next year and I'm wondering, am I preparing them for this?

Today's session has taught me a lot about how to use devices in an engaging way. I would like to use digital technologies more with my senior students. Now I know I have the confidence to do so.

Comments

  1. Miss DenneAugust 6, 2019 at 8:36 PM

    Hi Abby, I love your multimodal learning site called celebrations. It was very clear and easy to navigate. My eyes have been opened at how useful these learning sites can be for our students and what a great way for teachers to share their knowledge and resources with each other. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already created something awesome! Thanks Emma

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs ThomasAugust 6, 2019 at 8:42 PM

    It was great to learn some new little tricks to making the site engaging and how we can hook in the different learners. The site will be great to use. Thank you for your support and confidence today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicolaAugust 7, 2019 at 2:56 PM

    Good on you Abby for getting out of your comfort zone and recognising the opportunities this new way of learning could hold for your learners. It is so wonderful to watch your confidence grow as you attend the DFI and thank you for always asking questions because this is the ideal opportunity to get that additional 1:1 support in your teaching journey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Danni StoneAugust 7, 2019 at 5:42 PM

    Hi Abby,

    I really enjoyed reading your blog post and it was great to see you collaborating to create a site (meeting all of the aims of the day)! There will be another session on setting up a classroom site in a few weeks, that I think you will really enjoy and it will support you to feel even more confident in this area.

    Danni

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maths Inquiry - Number Talks

May 29, 2019 So my math inquiry started off being about how to group children - by ability, either same stage or multi ability. I'm now looking into 'Math Talks' to see how I can make maths more exciting in the classroom. I have many visual learners in my class and I feel that my maths is a bit 'stale' and needs more oomph. I've been researching online and this video has made me confirm that this is what I want to know more about:  Intro to Math Talks I'm really looking forward to learning as I go and to putting some of these new ideas into my lessons straight away.
Read more

Teaching Update with Covid 19 fears

It's been a tough couple of weeks trying to teach children when there has been real fear in the community regarding Coronavirus. It seems like everyone is holding their breath waiting for schools to close, or waiting for someone we know to get the virus, or waiting for whatever is meant to come next. I have been guilty of 'waiting' too. On average, eight children from my class are absent each day. I feel myself 'holding off' on the fun learning so they don't miss out. However, it has given us time to catch up on topic and those things we never get around to finishing. On reflection with my mentor, I will continue as per normal next week. Yes, it will be difficult when the absent children return, but I have provided them with home learning at the moment, so they won't be completely behind. While these are uncertain times, we need to carry routine on as per normal so that children know that this is a safe place to be and their anxieties can be laid to re...
Read more

Digital Fluency Intensive Day 1

Image
Manaiakalani has such an interesting origin. It was eye opening the small amount of space in the Tamati Basin that housed so many people and schools. What a great incentive for the community to come together to provide devices and internet to the local tamariki. An important part of this introduction for myself was the quote "We did not come to school to teach teachers" by a Manaiakalani learner. I am probably a bit guilty of asking children questions about digital technology both at school and at home with my own children. I shouldn't need to do this and children shouldn't feel like they have to stop what they're doing and help me when this is their time to shine. The shortcuts learnt today will make my professional life a lot easier. I can see a lot of time being saved knowing the little tricks for chrome, drive and docs. As I continue to use these in my professional life, I will discover more of what's available to use in the classroom. My learners will...
Read more