Friday, July 30, 2021

The Journey Begins

Day 1 DFI

Day one of DFI was a great opportunity to really explore the idea of ensuring our tamariki are fluent with the digital tools they need to enable them to be active participants in their world.  I reflected on how this connects to me as an educator and the pace of technological change.  You can quickly get left behind in this fast paced world.  

At the beginning of today my thinking was that tamariki need to know all these different tools.  The reality is that we need to teach them a range of learner attributes so that they can learn about these tools - just in time learning.  In order for our tamariki and ourselves to be fluent with digital tools they need a range of learner attributes.  Today the learner attributes I used were;  rising to a challenge to trying new things,  inquiring and asking questions, resilience - the ability to keep trying until I was fluent in my understanding and working collaboratively.

As a deputy principal, without a class, I was pondering I could ensure the skills I gain will benefit tamariki. Maria discussed that the teachers are our students in this scenario.   So now my new wondering throughout the 9 weeks will be; 

How can I use the new learning with our teachers?  

One of the 'whys' for Manaiakalani was the importance of equity. We need to ensure that all students have equal opportunity for success and the Manaiakalani kaupapa provides us with a road map to help guide us on this journey.  The importance of engagement, empowerment, having a voice and having an authentic audience are the foundation stones of success.   

Do we as educators at South Hornby School - Te Manu Tukutuku, have these foundations in the forefront of our minds when we plan and implement lessons?

Today's focus was on core business and the tools that are integral to teaching and learning.  It was a great opportunity to spend time exploring some of the digital tools we may not be aware of and how we can use these.

- Chrome

- Chrome Extension

- Google Groups

- Drive

- Google Docs

My take away for today is how to remove the background from images.  I was very excited to be shown this app and I know it  will be well used.  I used the removebg on this poster to make the images blend with the background.

removebg


A poster for beginning writers