End of 3 Years

What a great journey to be part of. The Facilitator of the Te Hiku Outreach cluster of Manaikalani. We got to celebrate the 3 years in Auckland at the National Library. The first time since last September that the whole team has been face to face together. We all got to reflect on our 3 years this is my slide I presented to the team.

Hapara Champion Educator

For the past 6 weeks I have been participating in the Hapara Champion Educator course online. It was worthwhile completting the course to get a good understanding of the Kaupapa of the whole program and why it was created. It is quite humbling to know it was created in New Zealand for Manaiaklani and is now a world wide resource very popular in th USA and Canadian schools. It was a good reminder to learn about how to use Dashboard and highlights especially the clear formative assesment purpose of them. The most I learnt was about Workspaces as I have not used or created many so it was good to get to create a resource in workspaces and practise using all the great tools available. I enjoyed the course so much I have registered for the next level Hapara Scholar which starts in January 2021.

Maori Language Week

 There were some great resources shared with teachers to help support Maori Language week. I challenged myself to introduce some activities into the cyber smart lessons to support and promote Maori Language.

In my junior classes with Ipads, we created a jr scratch activity greeting a friend and telling them your name. Introducing yourself. So I had to introduce the recording block to the students and the pause timer block so they didn't talk over the top of themselves. The students really enjoyed the activity and the teachers also loved the record button and could see the value of voice being used in Jr scratch. 

We had to use the Ipad record button to record the jr scratch activity and airdrop it to the teacher to post it up to the class blog. The record button needed to be turned on in the custom section of the settings. To add the microphone you needed to hold down the record button and turn on the mic. Teachers found this really useful. 

Some of the great resources shared. 

Amplify Basic Facts Online Toolkit

 Term 3 toolkits I decided to do another workshop based around Mathematics and statistics. My last ones were very popular and seem to be of high demand. So I choose Basic Facts always an area of need and concern. I started it in lockdown so I had my site I developed already started and just needed to add to it. My big idea was how to link the creation into the teaching of basic facts and using a lot more of the online manipulatives to model number sense and understanding of the facts. I had 57 registered to attend and had 36 turn up for the hangout. I was concerned that it would become a lecture at that high number and still wanted to include some activities. So I included a padlet to assess what our teachers are using currently to teach the Basic facts. I then decided to give an activity at the end so the teachers had a chance to be in the students' shoes. I got some great feedback. 

Book Creator

 It was great to introduce the book creator tool into cyber smart lessons. An exciting and vibrant tool that creates books, fun templates, and an easy way to add a voice recording. The students enjoyed the tool and I gave them a lot of time to explore and try out the many tools. The teacher created an account and shared the code with the students so all their books were in the class library which made it easy to share the learning on the big screen.  I think teachers will use this option more in the creative part of learning.  

Term 3

 It is been such a busy term I have not even had a chance to post to my blog. Week 5 has commenced and unfortunately, we have had another break out of COVID in New Zealand. Auckland has gone into level 3 lockdown and the rest of the country is at level 2. So that has meant DFI is back online so I have been supporting them on Wednesdays and Fridays. Back to sign in and hand sanitizer. One of my schools has no external visitors allowed into the school so I am having hangouts with one class, which is a challenge as there is a major sound delay. We managed to get one staff meeting in Kaitaia but due to heavy rain and flooding the coast staff meeting was canceled. We also had our wonderful teacher Only Day canceled due to level 2.  This terms smart relationship has been great to teach with our team of facilitators who got together in the last holiday and collaboratively planned together. The activities are refreshing, exciting, and interesting. This has saved a lot of time and stress a great idea which should be completed at the meetings we have at the end of each term.  

End of a long term.

The term has finally come to an end, with lockdown being in the school holidays and teachers preparing for distance teaching the term was 24 weeks. So to finally get to the end of term 2 was a relief for a lot of tired teachers and students. As a Mnaiakalani team, we meet online for a sharing time of our experiences and feelings. There were a lot of similarities across the clusters and facilitators. I am looking forward to our September face to face meeting to catch up with everyone in-person.  This was my presentation
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Oruaiti School

What a great article in the Education Gazette. I have been lucky enough to have been working in the enviro class with Rob Arrowsmith and the students. I supported them through integrating cyber smart lessons to create their posters and labels for their Honey. They also designed tea towels based on the past historical designs back in the Elwyn Richardson error. We also created QR Codes to go on the labels that took you to their class site page all about the process and history behind their work. The students and class have also been posting lots of posts on their blogs about their journey and learning.  The student wrote and designed the site pages. I can not wait to take a lesson in their natural 21st-century sustainable outdoor classroom.

Outdoor classroom honours legacy

Level 1 History.

Monday 8th of June.
NZ has 0 active cases of Covid 19.
1504 people in NZ had the disease
22 people died

As of midnight tonight we enter Level 1.  No more social distancing. Life returns to a new normal.
Borders remain closed to the world except for returning kiwis and those will quarantine for 14 days on arrival.

Level 4 lockdown 26.03.20 to 27.04.20
Level 3 lockdown 28.04.20 to 13.05.20
Level 2 lockdown 14.05.20 to 08.06.20

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, which was declared March 11th, 2020.

New Zealand has officially done it. So proud to be a Kiwi. 
Life will return to normal, more students will return to school. 
We can hug each other and high five. Sports and concerts will be back on. 
The next issue on the cards is when and how do we open our borders. Our poor tourist industry is really hurting.

Great Sense Making with WFRC.

Going to online hangout meets for the sense-making was a great move. With the leaders joining at 1.30pm to 3pm going over the writing and Maths data and then the teachers in the Te Hiku cluster joining at 3.15am to review the Reading data. Having also unpacked the Te Hiku cluster data at the week before leaders PLG saved a lot of time doing this in the sense-making meeting. This also helped to support the WFRC team to present the data. Kerry and I organised the break out sessions for the teachers to be sharing time. Sharing what they are currently doing for HLPs in their classroom reading programs. The WFRC also created a short video on HLPs to share with staff to remind them of what they are, which was very helpful. I think it was more successful as teachers were not sitting and listening for such long periods of time and listening to data talk. The talking related to what is actually going on in classrooms, they were getting ideas and resources they can take back and introduce into their classroom work. They were also getting reassurance.

First Week back in Classes

This week was my first week back in classes across the Te Hiku cluster. Most of the class numbers are about half to three quarters some parents are waiting to level 1 before they are sending back their children to school. For tracking purposes, I am signing in and out of schools which is just like I use to. In some schools, I am signing in and out of each class, I am going into. The other major requirement is sanitizing my hands as I enter each classroom and when I leave. Students are separated from each other by a meter in the junior classes not so much. There are different levels of health and safety between the schools. Some of the students are not allowed to use the equipment as they would need to be sterilized after each use. But the students themselves are very happy to be back and have got straight back into learning. Somewhere a bit anxious to begin with, but with reassurance and clear guidelines explained they settled down very quickly. My first activity was to create a slide of pictures of lockdown and add audio to the slide telling us about their life in lockdown. It was great to gather evidence and the student's voice. We will be back to cyber smart activities next week. One of the big improvements from lockdown is the number of blog posts across the cluster was 3 times the number of normal posts. I have been encouraging and supporting teachers to keep these numbers up. Some have made Fridays a posting day which is a start but not ideal. It would be more beneficial if it is embedded into the planning and part of the Learn, create and share of all learning in the classroom and across schools. It has been a busy week I am tired, with all the traveling and being back in classes. The biggest issue I have had is a sore back from leaning over low desks and tables supporting students with their work. I am going to stop this by using the wheely chair or carry a chair around the class with me and sit beside the students. I have also been organising a principal meeting round unpacking the WFRC data and the sense-making day next Tuesday. It is all organized and communication and agenda have gone out. We still need to work on communication within and across our Norhtlnad team and with WFRC. It is frustrating when you have been delegated a job and someone else is forever checking and changing things. Especially when they have delegated it to you in the first place. It has been beneficial to discuss with the teachers a plan of action for the rest of the activities for the term, especially with areas or concerns that arose out of lockdown that need to be revisited or covered. It has also been essential that they have shared their key areas or themes they are covering this term so I can link the cyber smart activities to these. Currently today in New Zealand we have one case of COVID 19, 22 deaths, and zero cases for a week. I do not want to jinx it but I think we may have got this or as a famous Kiwi once said "Well George, we have knocked the Bastard off" Sir Edmond Hillary.

Level 2 Tomorrow

Thursday 14 May we move to Level 2 retail shops can open again, gyms, hairdressers (I am booked for next Friday lucky I am not grey yet!!!) Restaurants, and beauticians, normality in the economic sector start. Schools go back on Monday 18th May.  At the moment with the distancing of a meter still in place and staggering lunchtime and morning teas, I am not wanted back till the following week the 25 May. Schools and Teachers want to settle students back into routines and socializing but hardest of all the health and safety regulations. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!!!!!! So I carry on working from home. It is starting to send me into a mental state, I am missing company and people. Stuck in a house for nearly 9 weeks is a long time. You get very lonely and bored with your own company very easily.
There has been some good distance learning happening a lot of teachers are enjoying it. What changes will schools make or do differently when schools are back?  Some great relationships have been established with whanau and this needs to continue it is a partnership between the whanau, and school to educate children. Will our very capable self motivated students be able to drive their own learning more and not have to wait for the teacher.  Will school devices be sent home and used more to enhance the learning. these great articles have been coming out which are a good read.

Digital learning 2025
Classroom or Community

Level 3 Still Working From Home

Another week of Hangout Meets with students in the class hangouts and with teachers. We had 2 good workshops with Harley on Monday going over the basics or creating movies. With this Pandemic and the History behind it, we have suggested the Movie festival theme for 2020 be about our lives in Lockdown or surviving COVID 19. A great idea for looking back in years ahead to see how we survived. The students are excited and the poor parents will be losing their phones over the next week while students are videoing. Look out Peter Jackson!!!! I have joined some class hangouts I am not sure if I was a help or a disturbance as the students where so excited to see another familiar face. It was great to listen to them talking about their creations and learning at home. Some have really got very creative and with the support of parents and grandparents, they have become projects that keep developing. I have been commenting on student and class blogs. We had our second Junior teacher catch-up today we only had 7 teachers but they had some great conversations and shared ideas. Students are starting to lose motivation and are sharing learning less and less as the weeks go by. We also need to work with parents on commenting on blogs across the clusters. We will find out tomorrow when and if we are going to level 2 or 2.5. We had 2 days of no cases recorded and then today we had 2 cases and another death. They are going to announce what the level will look like for education. we had a great Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu hangout on blog tips, I got some great ideas and can now answer questions I often get asked about blogs.

33 Days Of Lockdown.

We have finally come to the end of lockdown 33 days later.
Officaly today  Tuesday, 28 April 2020 we went to level 3. The boys in my house went back to work, the roads are very busy and noisy. The builders are back the quiet has gone.
I am still working form home as schools are only partially open for essential workers' children and others who could not get minders as they went back to work. The numbers in local schools are very low and teachers are on a roaster to look after the children who are there. Distance learning is still the main way children are learning if they have access to a device and the internet. The students attending school are also learning by distance learning. Today across the country is an official teacher only day for schools to prepare for level 3. I hope everyone is sensible in level 3 it is not time to socialize we still need to be careful. Stay in your bubble and keep your distance from others, and wash your hands.  

Day 25

The big announcement was made yesterday we have one more week then we are on level 3. Schools will go back on the 29 April only for students of essential workers and parents that are working. They are requesting to keep you, children, at home if you can.
I will carry on working from home this just means more hangouts and supporting teachers distantly.
We have had many online toolkits this week on screencastify, for support teachers, Hapara workspaces and Junior Slide slam tomorrow.
There was a great turn out from support teachers who are doing a great job commenting on student blogs and joining in the class hangouts.
I have been exploring with audio in slides using vocaroo for the audio files. This is my first attempt so I can show junior teachers tomorrow. This has been a great time to have a chance to explore some of the new tools and updates. 

Week 3 Lockdown

Week 3 of lockdown nearly over we head into week 4. Will it be the last week or will lockdown level 4 be extended?? The daily case numbers are down but our death rates are on the increase as it has spread to a couple of elderly homes and the elderly are not strong enough to fight the virus.

With a nice break with Easter just finished it was good to watch some movies, get out in the garden and do some cooking.

But today is a day that will also go down in history as New Zealand schools start teaching from home or distance learning while the country is in lockdown. I have had emails, phone calls and texts from teachers all weekend with the common title "HELP".

• How do I embed a video?
• The sound is not working in the video?
• I can not get the video embedded in the site.
• My site links are not working.

With the panic and stress coming from teachers I, of course, made how-to videos and shared them with teachers and also sent instructions. I wanted to support and release some of the stress they were having.

I have set up myself in the backroom as our weather has turned very cold and wet my two men at home are now inside a lot more and are very noisy and distracting. 

I have had to move the desk around from under the window as I had a clear view over my shoulder of the pathway to the toilet and while in a hangout my 18year old son wandered through in his boxes.. A good lesson for teachers and students at home in Hangouts to make sure you have a wall behind you. 

This week is a short week but we have support hangouts today and tomorrow for teachers in the Te Hiku and Kaikohekohe clusters on Google hangout Meet and Hapara and DFI on Friday. I am also creating videos for teachers to add to their sites. Some are how-to videos for rewindable learning and others are just to say Hi and connect with students. I thought I might do some of me reading stories for the junior classes. I will also remind the students to be cyber smart while on their devices and online. It is frustrating when you hear on the news that we can not trust students. We should just block everything. That will not teach students to be cyber smart. I notice my email box starting to fill up so I had better go. Good luck to all teachers, students, and Whanau with online learning. 

Grid view for Hangout meets

This wonderful resource has been shared which allows you to view every screen in the hangout on your screen. Which as we move to distance learning using this as a key connect tool this is vital.
This is a great extension for google hangout "Google Meet Grid View " we have been trialing it in our daily hangouts and it is a great way to view everyone in the hangout. Here are the instructions on how to install it.
Installation
To install the "Google Meet Grid View" extension do the following:

• Go to the extension's page in the Chrome Web Store - "Google Meet Grid View"
• Click the "Add to Chrome" button to install the extension.
• Give it permission to install.
• And then that is it! The extension will now show up in the top right corner of your web browser.

Using Grid View
Now that the Grid View extension is installed, anytime you are in a Google Meet you will now see a new button in the top right corner of the Meet window (next to the "People" and "Chat" button).
Simply click on this button to turn Grid View on or off. Once you turn it on you will now see all of the participants in the meeting.
There are a few options you can adjust in the drop-down menu below the button.

• "Only show participants with video" - If you check this box then Grid View will not show anyone who has turned off their webcam or who doesn't have a camera to begin with.
• "Highlight speakers" - If you check this box then anytime someone is speaking, a yellow box will appear around their them in the grid. This can help make it easier to see who is talking.
• "Include yourself in the grid" - You can check or uncheck this if you want to see yourself as well or not.

Note: Keep in mind, this extension is only changing the view for you, and not for the other people in the meeting. Each person controls their own view. For other people in the meeting to see the grid, they also need to install the extension one time, and then they can turn the Grid View on or off for themselves.
Google Meet Grid View is a great extension to help everyone in a meeting or classroom feel like they are more connected with the group.

Limit the Links

One week has gone very quick when you have a long list of things to do. I have been part of 4 online DFI workshops which has been good to connect with others across the country. It is also an opportunity to keep up to date with the google resources and changes that are happening daily especially as the world is going to distance learning. Also to hear Dorothy make the connects to the Manaiakalani Pedagogy.
I have made class sets of blogs, added resources to the Te hiku site, created a Distance learning page to share resources. I also realized the links to school class sites needed updating so I had to get them off the school web pages and add them to the Te Hiku site.
Daily we have been having catch-ups as a team in a google hangout from 3.30-4pm which has been great to connect and make sure we are all feeling safe and sharing the correct information at such an unsure time in education. The key document for us is Limit the Links.

DFI By Hangout Through Lock Down.

Today Friday 27 March day 2 of the lockdown Manaiakalani did a DFI (Digital fluency Intensive) by google hangout from all across New Zealand. Dorothy leads the day and lots of facilitators were there to support and lead some presentations. Everyone was asking questions in the comments. Then for the leveling up sessions 2 or 3 participants were paired up with a facilitator and we went into our own hangouts and supported small groups through setting up a google form and google sheets. The small groups worked well with them being able to share their screens and me talking them through things. Then I could also share my screen and model for them and they could follow on their device. Having 2 devices for the day made it a lot easier to follow the slide show and the speaker and comments. With the corona 19 lockdown teachers are being forced to use their devices and are stepping up and taking more risks and trying new things. They are going outside their comfort zones. They realize after the 2-week break which starts today, when school goes back on Wednesday 15 April we will still be in lockdown and will be doing learning through distance learning on the class learning site.

Day 1 of Isolation at Home.

This day in the future will be talked about. Hopefully how we as a country stoped the virus in New Zealand. I am proud to be a kiwi and of how Jacinda and her team made the quick decision to lock the country down. For once we are way ahead of Australia and a lot of other countries. I am at home working for Manaiakalani we are very busy supporting schools and teachers with distance learning which is very easy for the teachers using sites, blogs and hangout meetings. We are regularly having meetings each day in our organization which is good to be in contact with and kept up to date on information and sharing resources, ideas and MOE info. It is a good opportunity to do some professional learning and upskilling. It is important to post videos to the students to keep in contact and for them to see a familiar cheerful face. I had fun at Kaingaroa school before shutting down making videos.

Please everyone out there in kiwi land keep in your bubble and we will beat this.

Online toolkit

This week I presented my online toolkit on Amplify Talk Moves. It was great to get back into my Mathematics and statistics hat. This presentation I made a very hands-on one with the teachers doing exactly what you would get the students to do. It was hard to judge the time as it is teachers, not students completing the activities. Some of the main areas, I wanted to emphasize was the purpose and big idea of the lesson. We also looked at a couple of tools to help amplify the student's voice and discussed and shared ideas of how we could turbocharge the get ideas and voice of the students. I felt it went well and feel after looking at the cluster data Maths and statistics is an area we need to focus on.

Blog Post Analysis

This week I have been working with students completing Robyn Anderson from Panmure Bridge,
her wonderfull lesson on statistical analysis on blog posts.  I role modeled my graph with the students and we unpacked my graphs. I am working in January but not in schools so I have lots of time to catch up on readings, research and investigating other great ideas and work. So I have the time to post to my blog. December is my busiest month so didn't have the time to share to my blog.
My goal for this year is to increase my posts from about 2 a month up to at least 6 a month. This means I need to take the time to share and it can be a mixture of things. This is a good challenge for me and I know I can do it.