KPMG Day 2 - Re-affirming my MIT2020 challenge

Our KPMG Day 2, kicked off with a bit of shaking here in Levin. It has been an interesting exercise sitting at home with small and frequent after shocks occurring!

Today was an opportunity to reflect and look at where to next. It was reassuring for me to hear that others had also not made as much progress with their projects for a variety of factors. I still firmly believe in my challenge:

"Young people develop wellbeing and resilience strategies at different rates and some require additional support when faced with challenging situations".

However, the part I know I will most likely struggle with is gathering the data to show that what I have created, or done is working. I am still not sure about this.

So, where to next? I really need to spend some time developing a prototype - I have a base google form for checking in, but one of my goals is to develop a form linking to supporting resources based on a student's responses (for example - students selecting 'feeling anxious' are directed to supporting resources about how to identify, and manage anxiety.)

I also want to develop a site that is user friendly (aimed at students) and incorporates an interactive Gratitude Journal, as well as our daily focus (Mindful Monday, Terrific Tuesday etc).

But still...how do I gather the data to prove effectiveness? How do I measure this?

Also of interest from today was looking at the new surveys for the Manaiakalani research team, and thinking about how they are conducting observations. It will be interesting to see the results from the observations, as I think 'in person' observations have the ability to capture the data around learning conversations and feedback etc that online 'site and blog' observations will not. I do like the new student survey questions!

Meet - 7th May - Reconnecting

Today was all about reconnecting with the rest of the 2020 MIT team. It was great to see everybody and catch up on where everyone was at with not only their projects, but also in terms of how lockdown was going for them and their learners.

This was a good opportunity to revisit my project, which has not progressed to the point I would have liked. Trying to teach from home, alongside having other family members at home trying to do their learning online, as well as all of the other challenges associated with being in lockdown, has meant that my project has not had the time given that it requires.

I now need to think about where to next. With a lot of ideas floating around in my head, I need to try and pull it all together and get my prototype started.

Learning During Lockdown

Wow, what an interesting time to be teaching. To say the last few weeks of teaching (and learning!!!) during lockdown have been a rollercoaster, would be an understatement. Trying to teach from home, as well as having my children at home doing their learning, alongside a husband who could not go to work has been an interesting, fun as well as at times overwhelming experience.

The government moving the holidays forward provided an opportunity to really explore what my class site would look like for the duration of lockdown, and most likely beyond lockdown as well. However, with all of the family home as well, and being unable to go anywhere other than around the block or in to the garden, trying to find time to focus on my project as well as planning for teaching from home was incredibly challenging. I am still not in a space where my project is starting to take the shape I want it to, as I am spending a significant amount of time also having to support my own children with their online learning, as well as answering multiple student emails, participating in meets and marking/providing feedback.

My class site was my first stop. Creating a one stop shop for my students to access all of the links etc that they would need. This has evolved over the course of lockdown, as I have adjusted it to better meet the needs of my students.

You can check out my Lockdown Learning Planner page here

Next, was creating the daily learning planner. While in my previous learning planner I created a new set of slides for each week, I decided to simply add to the same presentation, with the current week at the top of the presentation. This has helped keep it simple and everything is in one place.




We also talk through each day and the activities at our google meets, which we have three times peer week. I am also available every day during certain times for my students to connect in, if they need extra help, or just to say hi.

So where is my project at?

I have a daily check in form on my class site. The students complete this every day, and it is insightful. What has come through - that my students are lonely. They are missing the connections from school - social connection is so important! Through this form, I have been able to identify some of my students who are needing extra support - not just with their learning, but with coping and with feeling safe.

I have named each day and for each day, we have an activity related to the day.
Mindful Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wellbeing Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Fun Friday. These slides and activities are incorporated in to our daily planner, and it is the first slide the students see when looking at each day. I have also included questions relating to the activities in our check in form to check their understanding and to see if they are doing the activities for each day.

Next steps:
Design an interactive, online gratitude journal. What I am finding is that over the last few weeks there have been an overwhelming number of resources put out on to the market, and while many market themselves as digital, they are actually PDF downloads that require printing or software for editing online. I am thinking along the lines of a gratitude journal designed in slides.

Introduce it to my students. When? I am not sure. I have found that for a number of my students, including those who I would call tech savvy, they have found this time at. home to be quite overwhelming.