Computer in Homes

One of our goals for e-learning was engaging Whanau. We got presented a proposal at the end of 2015 for Computer in Homes. It is run by 20/20 trust and the Ministry and it provides 20 hours of free computer training to Whanau and for a cost of $50 they get given a refurbished computer and a subsidized internet connection.
We sent out a flyer to parents and got about 35 responses. I decided to run two sessions Monday and Fridays and I would be the trainer. 35 were signed off but by about week 3 25 were still coming regularly to the sessions. I planned the sessions to give the partipants practical experiences using a range of tools that our tamariki use in their learning.

Our aim is that Whanau feel more confident in their own ability using computers and this enables them to understand what their tamariki are learning at school and that having a computer at home offers the students more opportunities to extent learning beyond the classroom.


We had 25 participants in the two sessions that I ran. The parents said this course gave them more confidence to help their children with their homework.

Click here for more information on computer in homes

Learning with Digital Technologies: End of year ANOV

Last week we met with Angie to complete our end of year summary. We will ask some key staff to complete the ELF (E-learning framework) and we will add that to the  document. We used that framework to help design our strategic plan so we will use the information from the framework to help us complete our strategic plan review.

Click here for the ANOV review document

Collaborative Leadership of E-learning

We got an email from Angie Simmons this week

Hi Tina and Vanessa,

I have a request for you - if you are both too busy I understand. 

I am going to a hui on Wednesday and had to have teacher inquiry stories to share. I thought it would be interesting to discuss how both of you are engaged in collaborative leadership of the e-learning at your school and it would be great to have a personal voice from your experience doing this - if you could put something together it would be great - a doc or a vokaroo recording you could share with me before Wednesday but I understand if you are too busy.

Ngā mihi nui,

Angie

So we both reflected on our collaboration and how it works so well.
I believe it is so successful because we are both passionate, we have release time together to work on tasks, we both completed the same Core Education PLD on Modern Learning Practice so we have the same theoretical understandings and beliefs of where we want the school to head.
We also have each taken on responsibilities that we manage and we communicate regularly about all issues.
We also have a Principal that respects our knowledge and passion and allows us to run with new ideas.


My reflection on our Collaborative leading of E-learning

Click for Vanessa's Vocaroo Reflection

Curriculum Update 26

Future focussed Themes:

We shared this Document with all the staff. Vanessa, Angie Simmons and I  took a teacher meeting on Wednesday the 5th of August unpacking this document and the themes.
Click here for the Presentation
The Teachers collaborated together to add  summaries of each section on a padlet. (The padlet links are below)

Views of equity and Diversity 
A culture of continuous learning for teachers and educational leaders 
Personalizing Learning
Rethinking learners and teachers roles
A curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learner capacity


Click here for the Update

Our next step at Tuakau School is to develop a continuum from Yr 0 to Yr 6.
We have done lots of work with our Graduate Profile and Room 3 is a digital class with high student Agency. The pupils are reflecting on their learning on their blogs. They create their own personalized timetable from their task list. The students are aware of how they learn and what to do if they are in the learning pit. They are confident, connected, creative students.
Room 2 has started developing Self directed Learning and the students are becoming more familiar with where they are working and their goals in learning. The teacher is working with Vanessa and preparing to go 1:1 devices which will enable her class to become even more Future Focussed.
How do we start to develop these skills in the Juniors?

• Have Can Do's and Must Do's in our Group teaching so children are selecting their tasks. 
• Use the key competencies in our classrooms so the children are familiar with this vocab and can self assess against these
• Have children aware of how they learn and what they can do when they are in the pit.
• Ensuring children are aware of  Learning Smarts. (Multiple Intelligences)  Could use a test like Online Learning Smarts test
• Providing a range of furniture heights and spaces and discuss how children like to work
• Using the "Create not Consume" moto to self assess whether the tasks children are using do provide opportunities creation. 

E-learning Strategic Planning

Vanessa and I sat down and reviewed our E-learning Development Plan from 2014
Here is our 2014 E-learning Development Plan

We had previously met with Angie Simmons who is our Learning With Digital Technologies facilitator and used the rubric to assess where we were achieving. We decided to use this framework to help us create an Strategic Plan 2015-2017.
We planned under the headings
Leadership, Professional Learning, Teaching and Learning, Technologies and Infrastructure, and Beyond the classroom.
We want it to be a working document, that  we will review regularly and move along the continuum towards Extend and Empower.

Click here for the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan

We also created  Development plan documenting our path to Innovative Learning Pedagogy

Innovative Learning Practice

Also here is our Rolling Notes from our LWDT PLD

Click here for the Rolling Doc

Techie Brekkies

One of the ways I decided to offer support to staff is to offer Techie Brekkies on a Tuesday morning.

How can we "create not consume"in Mathematics/E-learning?

I have been reflecting on our use of ICT/E-learning in Room 10 and really like the saying "Create don't just consume"  to help me review whether the activity I was thinking of doing was going to extend and provide opportunities for creation.
I was noticing that within the subject of Mathematics so much of the activities/games practising Basic Facts were consume activities. Games that were already created by someone else where the children just answered questions. as challlenging and engaging as they were I wanted richer tasks.

I spent some time thinking about this and deciding how we could create numeracy content for others.
I had a template for a Powerpoint "Who wants to be a Millionaire Game"

I shared it with the class and we decided we would make a basic facts game for Room 9. We had been practising writing word problems so the children wrote their own word problem and 4 possible answers.
They added these to the presentation and we trialled it.
You can not share powerpoint so we tried moving it to Google Drive and converting it to Google Slides. When we did this all the transitions/sounds disappeared which were so important. So I explored lots of ways we could convert into a movie but keep the effects.
finally I  came across Author Stream which allows you to upload a presentation and then it gives you the HTML code so I could embed it into the Room 10 blog so the children could share it.
They loved creating this and having an authentic audience. A very worthwhile activity.

Basic facts who wants to be a millionaire Room 10

More presentations from Tina Taylor

An Email from the Principal

margaret kaa <margaret.kaa@tuakau.school.nz>	May 20
to me, Vanessa

I am extremely proud and lucky to have you both on TPS staff. You are both natural leaders, professional and empathetic to the needs of others and you have been responsible for the positive environment created around our Learning with Digital Technology professional development. 

It is a joy to watch you both share your passion with others and with the children in your class and to see you explore the possibilities and push the boundaries of teaching and learning out into the 21st century.

Thank you

This email was really appreciated. We had planned and led some PLD session around Learning with Digital Technology and has spent time making sure it was targeted and met the needs of the staff. 

E-Learning

 E-Learning   -  Vanessa Hira and Tina Taylor

1. Hardware and TTS liaison
2. Professional development and staff ‘troubleshooting’
3. Software including sourcing apps. Etc.

• Mentoring staff to upskill in use of digital technology

4. Website maintenance and design

Wednesday 13th May:

Took PD with 4 staff members introducing them to Blogger and how to collect eveidence for their RTC.

I had 2 very nervous teachers and by the end of the session they met the lesson outcomes and alot of their fears were calmed. We are going to timetable time into our team meetings to support each other to post evidence.

Here is the PLD timetable and plan

Modern Learning Practice Paper Core Education

 In Terms 3 and 4 of 2014 Vanessa and I completed the 20 week Core Education Paper on Modern Learning Practice. 

This paper was excellent at helping us to decide our Vision and what MLP we wanted for our Modern Learning environment. 

With the delay in building our space we have explored ways to use the Modern Learning Pedagogy.

Vanessa and I have led the school in Future Focussed Pedagogy and MLP.

We have taken Teacher Meetings, shared readings and clips to watch. 

like in May we sent the clip about Learner Orientation with Mark Osbourne to the teaching staff. We added reflective questions that they were to reflect on their blog with. 

Click here for the link

My reflections and thoughts on the course are on the blog we created 

Click here for the blog