DFI Week 6 - Dealing with Data

Today's session has been incredibly helpful! Sheets have been a tool I have been utilising but not to the full extent possible. Today's session has really opened up the possibilities, especially as someone who has to deal with data frequently as a Curriculum Leader. I know I am now able to take and use some of today's tips within spreadsheets I have created for data, and not only saving myself a ton of time with calculations I was making manually, but also with ways of making the spreadsheets more visually appealing and user friendly (If only we had this session pre ERO!). The ability to use the explore tool is incredibly valuable as it is doing some of that 'oh so important' analysis for you.

The afternoon has been spent playing with Sheets and looking at how we can analyse student blog data, or more importantly, get our students to analyse their own blog data, using the range of tools available. As our students are beginning to use their blogs over time, I can see this being a valuable way of them learning analysis and data handling skills. Now to get the World Maps working on our blogs! I also find looking at other student blogs a valuable experience as it gives me ideas of other ways in which I can utilise blogging within the classroom. After initially concentrating on getting my students posting, the focus is now more on ensuring they are quality posts and include a DLO and explanation of what they have been doing. Some of the class are beginning to do this quite well and i need to bring everyone up to the same point. I think participating in Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu has definitely helped with this as they are much more aware that they have an external audience viewing their blogs.

We also spent some time today looking at google forms. Forms are a tool I have used previously in a range of ways. From surveys to gathering data about a particular topic, I have found them to be a valuable method for gathering information. I want to further investigate the option of having different pathways depending on the response given. I could see this as being really useful to help guide next steps for students and for my own planning. I have also shown students how to use google forms when they are conducting research, so that they can get a range of responses on a topic they are researching. I think the next step with this would be to go in to greater depth with them about how they can use the data they gather.

DFI Week 5 - Enabling Access

Today has been an interesting day which has involved exploring a variety of sites (including our own) for visibility and accessibility for learners. It is interesting to consider the variety of ways in which the same forms of information can be presented and knowing which is best can be a challenging exercise.

As someone who has been using sites for a while, my usage has evolved over time and I am constantly modifying and revising the way in which I present learning to my students. For me, having a class site has given planning and sharing a genuine purpose - the days of the black planner have long gone for me. A site provides me with the ability to share my planning with students, whanau and other teachers in an easily accessible format.

Class Site

It was also valuable for me to get feedback from other members of the DFI who were looking at my site from the perspective of a viewer. This feedback helped reinforce for me that I am on the right track with my site, but there is always room for change and improvement.

In the afternoon, Marion and I were fortunate enough to spend some time talking with Anne after being inspired looking at her Paideia Site.  Paideia is a model designed to encourage argumentation and discussion amongst students. This discussion has allowed us to formulate a plan for moving forward, using Anne to support us. The hope for both Marion and I, is that we can get other staff on board with supporting this as it will help us encourage deeper thinking with our students. The aim is for us to work with Anne once seniors have finished for the year, as it removes the pressure of relief requirements.

I am really enjoying DFI. The opportunity to spend time off site, focussing on something I am passionate about is both reinforcing my teaching practice, as well as extending my thinking in a range of areas. Putting in to practice many of the things I am discovering is the key.

DFI WEEK 4 - Sites

Today has been about 'sharing' and also creating using google sites. I have been using sites for my class ever since we went to Chromebooks in 2014. I use my class site to share daily planning, learning activities, photos of activities and trips, as well as for sharing links, for example to student blogs and sites we use frequently.

Over time, my class site has evolved and changed, and I am frequently making changes to try and make it more user friendly for both my students, parents and myself. For me, my site has made planning have a purpose and it is far more useful now that it is visible and not just written in a daily plan book.

Dorothy spoke this morning about the different ways of sharing and the importance of sharing to learn, as well as sharing to finish learning. I found the discussion around 'authentic audience' was also valuable as it is so true. We often talk to and expect our students to create a piece of writing or complete an activity for an authentic audience, but it is so often just the teacher or the class who have no choice. When the sharing moves to blogging, people can choose to look at a child's or person's site and therefore it does become a more authentic audience as the viewer is making a choice.

From my own experience within the classroom, I have found that when my students are sharing to their blogs, the standard of their work increases significantly. A most recent example of this would be on my class blogs. Students who in their daily writing often never use paragraphs have posted pieces of their work with clearly defined paragraphs, each one introducing and explaining a new idea.

We have also spent time today looking at Multimodal texts and how we can use these with our students. In recent times, I have been using MMTS to introduce and hook students in to a new topic or area of learning. Providing them with a range of texts (video, audio, written, visual) has meant that all students can access information on a topic at a variety of levels. I have found these text sets have really benefitted the struggling learners in my class, as they have access to information in a video or audio format. They have been able to show deep thinking through discussion and follow up tasks that had they only been faced with written texts would have been a challenge. I also find that by using these MMTS, students are far more engaged in the learning tasks they have been set and I am having a higher level of work completion across all students in my class.

This afternoon, we were encouraged to create a new site that incorporates MMTS. I chose to create a site based on the novel I will read to my class either later this term or next term.  I created my base site and then used slides to create a MMTS on topics found within the novel, for example homeless children and Indian slums. This is not yet finished. Currently, I am sharing my MMTS with students via Hapara Workspace. I had not thought about putting them in to my site or a site, and am not sure if I will change this practice or not. I like the idea of Workspace from the perspective that it enables everything (including student work) in one space, but sites are more visible publicly. Definitely something to think about!

MMTS Site

DFI Week 3 - Media

This week has been all about how we use media such as Youtube, as well as using google tools such as draw and slides to create.


Dorothy spoke this morning about the importance of giving students and teachers the opportunity to be creative. Creativity is so important! Giving our students the opportunity to simply 'create' and use their imaginations is so vital. In an era when we can 'google' the answer to everything, it sometimes seems like our students are losing the ability to use their imaginations and create, so we must provide them with opportunities to do this within a classroom and school environment in a variety of ways.


Thinking about my own classroom practice, I am trying to give students more opportunities to create and show their learning in a variety of ways. I am also trying to ensure that i am giving them the opportunity to just 'play' with new tools I am wanting to utilise, for example google slides for animations and google drawings for some design tasks within our literacy programme. I am also using tools such as sketch noting on an increasing basis, as it gives students the opportunity to identify important or key information from listening, viewing and reading activities. I think sketch noting really highlights how creative students can be, as if I look at my class of 27, every single student is making notes in a different way, yet all of them are being more . involved in class discussions and demonstrating deep thinking as they have made notes in a way that works for them.


Having a chance to play with slide animation myself this afternoon was a lot of fun, as my students make it look so easy, yet in reality, it is actually quite complex, if you want to do it right. It is really interesting to put yourself in the shoes of one of your learners and experience it for yourself, which is something we quite often do not get to do. It was also fantastic to be reminded of all of the ways in which we can use google draw for such a wide variety of purposes, many of which I knew but had shelved in the back of my brain and forgotten about.



Below is my initial attempt at creating an animation. While it is far from finished, or perfect, it was a fun exercise.

DFI Week Two - Workflow

Week Two has been a great way to think about ways of how to streamline google apps and tools I use on a daily basis, such as gmail, Keep and calendar. I found this incredibly helpful as they are all aspects of these tools that can help make our lives easier and save time in the long run, as well as making things run more efficiently. I also really like the way that google keep can be used.


It was also an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the ways in which can use google hangouts/meet in order to connect with others on a specific topic, or to assist in making learning rewindable by recording the session using a tool such as Quicktime on Mac, or Screencastify which can then be used on blogs, sites and other tools.

Dorothy presented to us about the 'Learn' aspect of Learn, Create, Share and the importance of effective practice.

I connected with the acronym of RATE and the importance of recognising effective teaching practice, amplifying and then turbocharging that effective practice through the process of sharing with other teaching practitioners and encouraging the spread of effective teaching and learning. I also valued the aspect that in a digital world, we are enabling our students to develop in to life long learners and that we need to value this technology as more than just a tool, as it opens up a world of possibilities for both us and our students.

Our final part of the day was the 'Create' session, where in small groups we recorded a google meet using Quicktime. This was a great opportunity to practice using hangouts as a way of connecting and sharing learning.