Digital Fluency Intensive 1 - Core Business

Digital Fluency Intensive 1 - Core Business

Today was the first day of my journey to becoming a digitally fluent educator.  I approached today with equal parts trepidation and enthusiasm (probably much like my learners on their first day). As a teacher who trained in her late 40's, the digital component of Manaiakalani school's pedagogy was one of the most challenging aspects of my first years in the classroom.  

Connecting with Manaiakalani - Dorothy Burt

What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

As a teacher at Pt England School one of the founding schools of the Manaiakalani programme, I have had some previous opportunities to connect with the story of the genesis of the kuapapa.  Each time I hear this story I find that a different part of the korero will touch me.  

Today the words aspiration and hope felt really important to me.  The people who drove this change for our kids had hope for better futures for them and were aware that using the full range of digital tools available would allow that achievement to be realised. Dororthy shared with us the vision that was behind the creation of this movement in education.  The vision was for students in Tamaki schools to have a voice which could be heard and listened to across the world.  This is so important for children who come from backgrounds which our society does not privilege and who's opinions are not often sought.  This pedagogy of connecting learning to authentic audiences feels to me like the ultimate act of democracy.

We are saying to our learners - We see you - We hear you - And what you have to say matters.

In my work as a teacher of New Entrant children I am proud to be sowing the seeds of this in my learners.

Connecting with Digital - Vicki Archer

What did I learn that could be used with my learners?

I was able to put to use my Google docs learning  to create a flyer to give to my parents, as a way of introducing them to our pedagogy.  I wanted this flyer to be a physical reminder of how to access their child's blogs and to invite my whanau and aiga to be the authentic audience for their learning.  

Vicky's introduction to google groups provided me with a solution to a problem I encountered during our Covid lockdowns.  I was using individual emails to communicate directly with some of my parents.  I will now utilise the Google groups tool to allow communications with whanau in a way that protects the privacy of all and ensures that members are receiving all information at the same time.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

This also holds true for my personal life in which I am managing communications with a number of different people.

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

As a new(ish) teacher I have been a bit whakama about sharing my teaching with others.  Today's discussion made me reconsider sharing through making my documents public.  I can now see that it is really about being transparent, and is respectful to families to allow them a window into the classroom.  I have now changed the sharing settings on my drive.  I have taken a considered approach to this by making some documents (my personal reflections, assessment data and reports private).  

The content shared by our facilitators today provided me with many tips and tricks to improve my workflow and allow me to work in a more efficient way.  I'm excited to see what I will learn next week.