I was able to understand a lot more about the kaupapa of Manaiakalani, including where it all originated from in East Tamaki back in 2006. I enjoyed hearing about the story, their journey to date, and the four main goals that were established at the beginning where they set out to pioneer a programme which could engage their tamariki. Now that I have a greater understanding the pedagogy, including the Learn, Create, Share model, I am excited about what I can learn throughout the Intensive.
PARTNERING, not buy-in. Manaiakalani were able to make string partnerships with whanau who were happy to support their children having access to positive opportunities and devices like those living in higher decile neighbourhoods. Another thought that Dorothy spoke to is the concept that the device is the pencil, not the book. Sustainable approach, future focused, and relevant.
As I saw the statistics and research outlining the success Manaiakalani has had with accelerated learning, but also extending learners who are already excelling in a range of learning areas, I felt excited as to how this learning could enrich the outcomes of children that I teach.
The Learn Create Share model has fostered high levels of motivation and engagement, and brings a strong sense of meaning to children’s learning. They know that they have an authentic audience keen to see a snapshot of what they’re learning. “This writing they’re going to do, is going to then allow them to CREATE something”... paint something messy, voice their favourite sentence, publish their best bit, create an artwork gift showcasing the best part.
There were a number of tips and tricks which I learned to improve workflow and efficiency in the way that I work professionally. These include:
- Simply type in the name of the app, and then .google.com to get to an app faster.
- Google groups quite effective, like a blog, in the sense that you can use tags (blogs call them labels)... for example instead of searching and searching for agenda you can just go directly to Groups and it’s all stored there in one central location.
- When setting up a Google Group, it is a better idea to Direct add, don’t invite to groups. However, on the google exam, invite students to the group is the correct way to do this.
- Omnibox is the proper name for the place where you type in a URL!
- Don’t use underline which you think is a way to add emphasis. It is dated and shows your age. These days, it is only meant to be a hyperlink, don’t use it as anything else.
- Use shft+Z to move someone else's file and reorganise to your own Drive, but still in the original folder for all to access.
- Never COPY and PASTE. CTRL+shift+v - this does it without yucky formatting. Better living.
- Use kids initials first to name Google Docs, so that Hapara can recognise it and file it efficiently… in the right folder from the start. Never too late to stop the class, and start from the beginning again. Not wasting time, it’s investing in solid routines and strong foundations to build from.
- Toggle through tabs - ctrl + whichever #
- Get on with the mahi - Tell the kids that they can bling it later.
- Google Docs - voice typing… what an amazing tool! Use paper cups to help their voices.
- Styles is a tool that I have underutilized in the past. Can add in contents and then go on to indent with a sub-clause.
- Give them ONE document, so they don’t have to spend HEAPS of time setting it up each time. Work on this, and use it for a while until they’re proficient. The trick is to keep MOST RECENT writing at the top of their page.
- SEND THE URL TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU WANT PEOPLE TO READ. There is a unique url code for each particular part of the document you need their attention to. For example ‘map’ part of the cross country organisation. Or executive summary of a professional reading you want to share. AMAZING.
- 'Back to top’ bookmark quite handy.
- Checklists for Google are out of date the day that they are created. Don’t get into it. Keep up to date with features that are released as they're rolled out.
- Google form from the Doc to Form extension I just learned to use could be a handy resource to help gather student voice from children in my class.
- Scavenger Hunt is a resource which I will be able to come back to and explore with children in my class
Extensions and Add-ons:
- Draftback (also eZnotifications) is a great way of ensuring a more robust revision history.
- Kaizena really awesome verbal feedback that they can hear.
- Texthelp
- Excellent and free tool for removing backgrounds of images - https://www.remove.bg/
Wonderings and things I can sort out/learn about:
Voice over, Video Capture and microphone on my laptop.
