DFI Core Business Day 1

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Kia ora


Well today was the first DFI full on day of learning! Even after completing Google Educator Level 1 during lockdown I have come away with some tips and tricks on how to streamline certain tasks online. The add ons section is something I want to look into more - loving dualless which allows me to split the screen without having to remember which drop down menu to go to and great as I always seem to have multiple tabs on the go!

Above is my poster created on google docs, which to be honest I have always found very frustrating to use in this way. After moving from PC to Mac and mourning the loss of Publisher, I found Google Drawing which would usually be my go to for things like this. However the benefits of using a table and being able to “disappear” the borders is literally work-life changing :)


As I teach New Entrants and Year 1 we use iPads and are nowhere near 1:5 let alone 1:1. Thinking about how I can use what I have learnt today with them has been very thought provoking. An obvious choice would be the voice recorder as we try and encourage fluency in both reading and writing - so to be able to get the children to read into the iPad and listen back to how it sounds - along with them taking photos of the books they are reading makes sense to me.


I have previously used Explain Everything on iPads with Year 3 and 4 which was amazing and it would be great to see that level of engagement and motivation in action in the New Entrant and Year 1 space - using the humble google doc!


I think creating a template with a simple table and helping the children select from a range of images to insert would be a good way to start to visually represent some of their learning and can see how we can adapt across the curriculum - from matching pictures and patterns to numbers and asking them to record their thinking to inquiry learning research.


I have been really encouraged by today in that - yes there are some many of us in the group but the break out groups allow time for questions and catch ups, also that it wasn’t all completely new but see the potential for becoming much more proficient in using the tools we have and sharing that with my team of teachers and also the children.


Love the saying from Dorothy - “Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.” - will be using that with my own children this weekend :) 




Comments

  1. Pedro VJuly 25, 2020 at 10:56 AM

    It was a good first day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Latham MartinJuly 28, 2020 at 2:51 PM

    Kia ora Rachael,

    It was a joy to view the PB4L poster that you have created using Google Docs! Well done! I am sure that this will be a great learning tool to support teachers and students alike. It is great to see you making connections with the tools that you have used and how it connects or could connect to your classroom practice. Keep up the great blogging and see you Friday!

    Latham

    ReplyDelete

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