Coding Maniaiakalani DFI

Coding Manaiakalani DFI
Today was so much fun! We explored coding, using tools such as Code.org and Scratch. We also had a huge amount of fun using Makey Makey boards. We certainly put ourselves in the students's shoes today. Learning with digital technology is engaging, develops oral language, maths skills, science skills AND is so much fun!

Coding for Beginners

This was a great way to get into coding and develop some initial knowledge and skills. The one hour of coding was a great introduction and I found the videos very helpful. I would love to use this with my students!!  This is an activity I will definitely do with my students!





Coding with Scratch

This is a great way to learn about coding. With a small amount of help, you are able to develop an animation.  My year seven and eight students would love this and would be able to produce some amazing animations!





Makey Makey
This was such a fun activity and was very user friendly. You Tube videos were a great help after we unpacked the Makey Makey board and organised clips and attachments. We chose to make a screaming banana following a You Tube clip. The bongo drum was also easy to make.

Screaming Banana

Manaiakalani DFI Google Slides and Drawings

Google Slides

An amazing amount of learning happening again today as part of session four  in our Manaiakalani DFI. Although I have been using Google Slides for quite some time, I was astonished, once again, by learning new applications to use with this Google app.


The main points were:
-keeping slides simple with a minimum of information 
-not to use templates, be creative with your slides
-slides can be used to create simple animations

I can't wait to try the animations with my students! A simple idea that could be an effective way to engage students and have fun! Another way to be creative with our learning!

You Tube
I had already created a You Tube channel when I was attending The Mindlab PD. I had never used my channel. I learned an incredible amount of information about this digital tool today and I can't wait to create playlists! I have already created one playlist to use on my Google Site about our Survival topic for this term. I particularly like the safety that this creates for our students, allowing them to access the video you want them to watch. Video is a great way for our students to show their learning,

Google Drawing
The star of the digital tools today was Google Drawing. There are so may uses...comic strips, drawing, info graphics, posters and 'how to' instructions. I have seldom used Google drawing but I will definitely be using this on my Google Site                                           

Hapara Manaiakalani Digital Fluency

Today has been intensive but a real game changer kind of a day. We have learned about using Screen Castify as a way to create, which is part of the Manaiakalani pedagogy. It was challenging learning to use the tool in a few moments but it was very user friendly. Time to develop a script would have been helpful!!! All part of the learning!

We also had a look at Hapara, which is what my video is all about. It feels like it has been the missing link to this process. It was great to see the work space and learn about how to share work with students. It is incredibly exciting to see how Hapara links to our Google sites. I have been a user of Google classroom for quite some time and I see that Hapara is far more expansive than this and the biggest benefit is making learning visible and accessible to our students. 

My Holidays Map

This weeks Manaiakalani DFI  session has been full of new learning for me.

We focused on Learning and the idea that learning can look very different in different school settings. It is the shift in pedagogy and the way we use technology to engage our students that is at the heart of this PD today. It is not enough to use technology as a substitute. As teachers we need to use technology to augment the student's learning  and provide a different way to achieve learning goals.

The use of Google Forms was great. I felt empowered to use this tool, after realising that it is user friendly and takes very little time to set up a form for students to use. I will definitely be using this with the students. It seems to be an ideal way to gather student voice and collaborate with students for learning.

Learning about Google Sheets was a challenge but very worthwhile as I learned about auto filling and finding the range, average and median of data. As part of the learning discussion, we started talking about using Google sheets to record Class Dojo points.... another opportunity to use today's learning.
This professional development is so valuable and I look forward to using today's learning in the classroom setting.

Manaiakalani Digital Intensive

Today is the day that the Earth stood still for me!!!! Well for a moment anyway...well quite a few moments actually, during the first session of our Digital Intensive PD with the amazing team from Manaiakalani!
The use of digital technology in education has become a crucial part of teaching and learning. With the ever increasing teacher workload, it has been amazing to learn about new ways to work smarter! I have learned things about Google docs today that I have not been aware of and it excites me to think that they can become part of the tools I use as a teacher in the classroom. not only that, but I can share the knowledge with the students! I never used the drop down menu under Tools but today I have learned so much more about using Google Drive and Google docs that will change the way that I teach. I have never thought of inserting an image by creating an image with the camera!!! Amazing! To all the tech savvy people out there, I only wish I had discovered this years ago! I was so inspired, I created my poster about my new knowledge in digital technology!