DFI - Computational Thinking

Computational Thinking

Empowering students to be active creators and participants in a digital world to create and also problem-solve underpins the work for DFI today.
As always the underlying authentic purpose is essential in order to ensure the design is relevant so students can make appropriate choices.
The new technology curriculum includes computational thinking which is the thought processes involved in solving problems.
Computational thinking involves:

• smaller manageable parts
• describing the problem
• identifying important details
• break into smaller logical steps
• use the steps to create a process (algorithm)
• evaluate

These are very transferable skills and can be used in many curriculum areas.

Taking time to create and use the options was helpful to use coding. I value the sandpit time to use scratch, Khan Academy, Hour of Code, Scratch - 10 block Challenge, Lightbot, Kodable, Comput it to explore and upskill in coding. Thanks team.

DFI Sites - Visible Learning

On-line Learning for Leaders of Learning Today.
Working with Woolf Fisher team supports students and teachers. This year we are looking at observing and drilling down to gain a line of sight, on sites for reading. 
We shared the framework tool with staff and will use this again as the tool captures the common themes and messages we have worked on over the past two and a half years gaining visibility and clarity of learning. Multiple texts and capturing overarching themes is made more possible through sites as teachers source a variety of material. 
Take away key messages around sites are to view and observe the visual appeal through the layout and space and the user experience which requires simplicity, clarity, and limited information on a page. For learners limiting to a maximum of 3 clicks in order to find information is crucial. At Kaingaroa School we include photos for our community as many of our staff have local connections.

Valuable time was enjoyed this afternoon to work on goals related to individual sites. As we changed our school website site to cater to whanau during Lockdown and ease of finding what they needed to support learners this was perfect timing, aligned to level 1 today. I was able to add footers, tabs, and content as well as an online learning page with links to the Te Hiku Cluster and Manaiakalani pedagogy.

Kaingaroa Site

DFI 5 Sites

Student Agency through Visible Learning
Today's professional learning focused on the importance of visible learning. The visibility and clarity of the learning, demystify the learning process, and enable many opportunities for accessing learning with a choice as well as rewindable opportunities. Today, although not new learning it was valuable to articulate, rethink, and focus on the importance of visible learning for all students. The power lies in the visibility for whanau and the absolute agency for learners who are able to navigate sites on their own.

Teachers who make sites available are able to teach small groups knowing that agency can be strong as learners chose to scaffold, prepare for, and extend their learning. Visible, rewindable learning can be accessed anywhere and students and teachers who are absent know that authentic learning is still possible.

Jamboard was a new planning tool that has value when thinking through what needs to be included when teaching the big themes or ideas within concepts and selecting multi-modal options before creating the site.
The Woolf Fisher research team has talked about high leverage practices such as collaboration, authentic texts and critical thinking. Today we looked at the elements within the T Shaped Literacy Practices. We have focused on critical thinking but the specific planning under the following headings makes planning more deliberate when selecting tools and texts for differentiation within sites for reading:

• Scaffolding
• Challenge
• Complimentary
• Student Choice

New learning was also to think about ensuring the systems are in place within our setting for blogger and dealing with comments and archiving appropriately for all including if a teacher leaves. The teaching and learning are completely visible and the other school matters we have discussed as private. 

There are many resources to access which compliment the learning today to support. Thanks team.

Trial Site

DFI 4 Dealing with Data

Day 4 Today we discussed the share - tohatoha part of our learning. This resonates with me as the most important factor in designing learning and creating is knowing who the audience is. When you know who you are presenting to, one can make informed decisions and craft accordingly.
With blogs we know the audience is beyond our own setting therefore we need to add the information which will help a reader or viewer. These are valuable teaching points for students to understand and use to shape and craft their work.
The session also covered using data and forms to create work. The data around blogging was discussed as a starting part of a new year through statistics for learners. I will definitely use this as a way of teachers knowing and understanding what has previously happened for learners. I will also explore the blogging patterns especially over the lockdown period which has increased.  We will explore what is the extent and impact of this practice for learners?
As learners do not have access to the settings function teachers will need to support by providing the data for blogging history. As with all data, there is a story to be told. Deciding on what is important to learn, therefore what is important to find out,  what is the impact, and for whom overtime underpin what is needed in sheets to understand collective next steps.
A great session to brush up on google sheets (much easier in google). Thanks team.

DFI Draft Digital Pepeha

Today's learning looked at the "Create" part of the learn, create, share. While we all have our own beliefs around the importance of being creative this is a key part of how students learn and make sense of their world and beyond. In my view, the creation needs to demand thinking and encourages original ideas drawing on students' prior knowledge, new knowledge, problem-solving and much more. The three key ideas of learn, create, share may happen in any order therefore students may create in order to start new learning as long as students are clear on a purpose so learning is meaningful.  Workstream ideas today explored the use of google draw and google slides along with YouTube playlists for smart work in the drive.
An important aspect of DFI for all is the understanding of the tools and pedagogy which have been selected in order maximise students' access and keeping students safe. Blogger was designed to teach students to the online platform with the security of dashboard and administration while students focus on being cyber smart. As a principal our duty of care for our learners is important and the rationale behind this decision is crucial for teachers, students and whanau.

Online DFI

Another great session online today. Thanks, team for the work you put in before and during these sessions.
While we have been working from home many of our educators have talked about the ways they have appreciated time. Creating ways to streamline workflow and work efficiently means we are creating time.
Also during Lockdown, I have been thinking about what is important to learn? We need to be really mindful that what we spend time on as teachers and leaders are important and meaningful for our learners. The RATE acronym to recognise, amplify, turbocharge, and look at effectiveness examines the way digital devices can amplify the learning in new ways of transforming learning for our students.
These are important concepts now and as we move back to our familiar learning environments keeping the essence of learner agency we have seen over the past weeks.

Day I DFI

DFI during Lockdown Level 3.
A standing desk is a must!!!
A great opportunity to take time away from Health and Safety planning to upskill. Great facilitation and I appreciate the way you have adapted to delivering online.
Key Learnings
There are many tips, key understandings and ways to increase workflow which are available with ways to extend ourselves.  Underpinning all of the work we learn is the improvement to communication, smart workflows, collaboration, and effective teaching.
Time is important for everyone therefore every tip to improve and smarten our tasks is the off benefit.
The importance of setting up Drive and documents for organisation and contacts and groups highlights the collaborative nature of this way of working now and for revisiting key communications easily.
Each time I hear Dorothy talk about the origins of the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy I gain more understanding of the key pillars which are the glue to drive the Manaiakalani beliefs.
Eyes on text is also a key driver for our cluster so using tools and ways to support learners is key to gain fluency and mileage with relevance today.

DFI Reflection - Day 3

I am thinking about:
Online options for all students ensuring learning is equitable where there is no internet available
Explore vodafone options for data and the library
How to support whanau who do not have
Ann Sinclair / Create Students at the Centre of the Learning
How to hook students into learning? How do I get my students to create to develop and explore what they want to explore involving the students?
Having a big idea to centre the learning on is crucial.

Using student voice to determine interests and design learning to capture the learning.
How we can change things for students. Creative skills help students to become better at thinking.
Plan and allow space for exploration time to grapple with ideas.
Creating a centre of creative excellence for our students - design, create, innovate.
Using our local curriculum to create opportunities for students. Using multiple senses and exploring across the curriculum to create. Thinking about something to learn and something to do. Creators of content. Students' choice and collaboration in learning.
Refer Ken Robinson Killing creativity.
SISOMO - sight sound and motion for creativity.
Creativity empowers learners with cognitive load.
What can I do that will help to foster creativity for our students?

I am also thinking about how the creative tools for teaching and learning need to be very purposeful and link to the big idea of learning so that students can select and create to share learning as they learn to use these creative tools such as google draw and animation.

Initial Googe Drawing

DFI Workflow Day 2

Paparore School with the DFI team A.
Learn with Anne Sinclair
Key Messages :

• Collaboration and discussion alongside explicit teaching
• Students, teachers, and whanau as  learners and teachers
• Igniting and following student passions and curiosity to inquire
• Local school curriculum used to develop powerful learning opportunities turbocharged through the purposeful use of digital affordances.
• Opportunities for powerful connections in and across our schools
• Maori terms for Learn / Create / Share pedagogoy Learn - Ako / Create-  Hanga /Tohatoha - Share

Using Google to get organized!!!!

Key tasks around calendar and managing emails and tabs are key ways in order to reduce time and maximize organization to be an effective leader.

2013 Rebecca Jessen findings - maximise digital affordances at Manaiakalani

Wolf Fischer - recommendations for teacher practice

Learn Authentic texts - actual texts not teacher made articles journals research material both digital and print. MORE OF THIS.

Collaboration - discussion students discussing. Unpack views and elaborate. Where is my view from? Why do I think this? Learning is a social activity. Be involved. Children’s thinking curriculum. Curriculum of influence. What do I want to know?
Can you articulate what learning looks like in our school?
Magic Bullets
Harness the digital affordances
Acceleration
Deliberate teaching
Collaboration
Making learning visible and rewindable. The difficult learning - differentiation.
Open to learning mindsets
SMAR model - creating and redesigning and more visible and exciting.
Turbocharge
Refer to the Class on Air
Face to face with the students / PCK still important
Recognise / Amplify / Turbocharge
HARNESS THE AFFORDANCE OF TECHNOLOGIES
If it is worth teaching it is worth capturing. If technology is just a tool do not use it. It needs to amplify learning in 2020.

DFI Venues / Time Frames

Digital Fluency Intensive

2020 Manaiakalani DFI Term 1 Great opportunity to learn amongst colleagues.