Reflection

Reflection, Week 5

Cohort 2 

I again enjoyed the new learning and discussions during today's sessions. Below are some of the aspects I would like to reflect on. 

I realised how important it is to develop Google class sites that are inclusive, differentiated and personalised. The way the class sites are designed is a reflection of what is happening in the different classrooms. Google Sites is an important part of what we use in terms of teaching and learning at our school. These need to be up to date, visually attractive and differentiated in terms of teaching and learning activities. This will encourage student engagement. Two important aspects were discussed by Kerry in this regard; multimodal design for behavioural engagement and multi-textural design for cognitive engagement. Thank you for explaining the difference, Kerry. 

Also, visibility is a very important part of sharing student learning. It opens up the world as an audience (removing barriers), as well as celebrating and accelerating learning. Personal and private assessment information is not shared in this way. 

I've used Google Sites for quite a few years now, but I'm glad that the current version is simplified and much more user friendly. 

I now have a deeper understanding of the different categories of Multi-text resources, but would like to revisit the T-shaped Literacy skills slides from Rebecca Jesson and Aaron Wilson. This is a great time for it as we intensify our teaching of reading by using Multi-text resources.  

We also worked this afternoon on creating a Google Site based on a Multi-text reading activity. A very helpful session indeed. Below is a link to the Site. 

Nga Wero - Culturally Responsive Learning Spaces

Nga Wero Our School Pepeha

Reflection

Reflection Week 4, Cohort 2

Once again, I learnt a lot from our sessions today. 

Dorothy talked this morning about "Sharing" as one of the "legs" of our pedagogy. Sharing is such an important aspect of our pedagogy, especially with implementing a Future-Focused curriculum in a digital environment.  Our parent community became more aware of sharing in a digital environment during the lockdown period. Students were able to share their learning not only with the world out there but also with their parents! While many parents were working alongside their child at home during remote teaching and learning, they became part of the whole Learn, Create, Share process. 

As Dorothy stated sharing online also promotes "learning to finish", in other words, to get something ready to present. With sharing their learning online students see the end product and enjoy the feedback they get from others. 

L, C, S pedagogy is not only linear. Sharing is actually part of an inquiry cycle and can spark a new cycle of learning. 

Dorothy also talked about blogging as a vehicle to teach our students good online citizenship and to be cyber smart. I like the analogy Dorothy is using about using a safe car to learn to drive. That is indeed what it is. 

I found the session on Google Sheets very useful. I use Google Sheets as well as Google Forms very often for administrative purposes and especially in terms of presenting data as part of Achievement and Effectiveness Reports.  

I would like to explore MyMaps further, especially for teaching purposes and maybe to map out our bus routes with more detailed information. 

Below is my attempt to present a snapshot comparison of the number of views we get on a post about a school trip versus a post containing information for parents to read.