Capturing those Voices & Moments

As we have held our staff meetings this term and used Screencastify and Flipgrid to capture and share teacher's instructions on video, it is amazing how anxious and reluctant teachers are in making a video using their voice to give instructions. Teachers need to get used to using their voice outside the classroom walls. AI and voice recognition is a growing area of technology. Here is a blog post about voice recognition with summaries from a variety of experts.

In our staff meetings we have got teachers to make a Screencastify tutorial on how to use Google Voice Search. They then shared their tutorial on a Flipgrid (embedded below).

Screencastify is an efficient tool that teachers should be harnessing to use in their class. Teachers can quickly make tutorials to support student learning. Students can use Screencastify to record proof of their learning. More junior classes can use it to read and check for fluency.

There are many sites that give teachers ideas on how to use Screencastify. Here is a starter list from Matt Miller of "Ditch That textbook" fame and his post about using Flipgrid in the class

Flipgrid is a tool that can capture voices in the classroom quickly and efficiently. It also enables replying.  This would hook students in.

Connecting with Chch

Towards the end of Term 2 a group of the Tairāwhiti Outreach team travelled to Christchurch to connect with Kelsey (Facilitator), Hornby Primary and the the Uru Mānuka cluster. The key vision of the expedition (Besides Jo and Paul heading to the Trustees Hui the day following) was to connect and learn from a cluster in their second phase of the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme.

While there they were able to attend a sense making session to see what the Manaiakalani Outreach journey looks like 5 years down the track. It was amazing to see how cohesive and collaborative the school leaders were who were attending. A collaborative approach was taking towards solving 'Our Problems' as a cluster - identifying the need based on cluster data. Very inspirational!

Digital Fluency Intensive Cohort #2 2019

The Tairāwhiti cluster Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI) Cohort 2 is underway. 

A band of 11 committed professionals are attending 9 weeks of intense PLD 

to level up their digital fluency.

To find out more about the participants read their introductions here.

Day #1 started with Dorothy Burt, Head of the Manaiakalani Education Programme. 

She set the scene by connecting us with the Manaiakalani Programme. 

Then we were into our LEARN day by deep diving, exploring, learning, creating and sharing.

We all left with1 exhausting day done...8 to go.

GizzyBytes 2.0

An opportunity to connect

This event was inspired by a conversation with a teacher who found that sometime the best take-aways from PL opportunities is the connections made and ideas discussed with other attendees. So with that purpose in mind... this adventure set off with an open agenda of creating an opportunity to connect educators and enable opportunities to collaborate with local educators. Simple idea with an effective outcome.

Feedback from teachers and people who attended was very positive and those who were able to make it there utilised the opportunity to connect with others, ask questions, challenge assumptions and to create further opportunities to get together with each other. We have lots of educators who are interested in connecting with each other in Tairāwhiti!

Making connections across schools 

There were many teachers from schools across our cluster wanting to connect. Below is the table showing those who signed up and endeavoured to make it to the experience.

Coffee, food and an epic venue

Gisborne Boys High Catering teacher, Josef Reiter and his helper William, a student at Boys High served great coffee and hot chocolate as well as putting on a fabulous spread for teachers. A wonderful effort as the boys who created the spread back at school needed to be convinced to make the food that they would not be around to eat!

Teachers won and got to enjoy the food. Great for busy teachers who haven't managed lunch. The Waikanae SLS club was a wonderful venue, even on a cloudy day. Please contact Clara if you are looking for an awesome space that includes wifi, catering facilities and an epic view! Contact the club now :)

Thanks to Connext Trust for sponsoring the food and venue.

Google Innovators

Newly minted Google Innovators shared their pitches of the projects they are working on. Two passionate local teachers, Rachel Duckworth and Amie Williams showed us what they are planning to support our Tairāwhiti learners and beyond.

 

Middle of the Outreach Programme

We have reached the middle of The Manaiakalani Outreach Programme (TMOP) in that we are a year and a half in.

One of our 'pockets of promise', something that is working well so far...

Learners are blogging 

Sharing learning for an authentic audience is one of our goals.

Learners are sharing learning via the blogs. Not necessarily their best but the everyday; learning that shows progress over time. The learning might be small steps or large. The blog allows that anyone can view and comment on the learning.

Blogs are the way learners practice being cybersmart. Cybermart is about knowing how to behave online and what to expect. The blogs are owned by the school and the class teacher has oversight of them.






Our aim is that whānau and others will engage with the learning and help learners to take the next step. This is something we continue to work on.

Twitter Feed

https://twitter.com/Learnerslcs

Our twitter feed shows what learners are sharing on their blogs. 

Collecting these blog posts together via the twitter feed allows the facilitators, school leaders and teachers to use the blog posts as examples of what is working well, enables us to see who is posting regularly and who is creating quality blog posts in real time.

 The twitter feed also allows other learners to see what is happening across the cluster and gives a window onto what is happening in other classes at the same level. Learners always find this fascinating and they often find someone they know at another school. Connections are made and learning is happening as they critique others writing or maths. 

 Learners are empowered to have a voice and to do the best they can as others are looking.

Our next steps are to focus on quality blog commenting with a 'Positive, Thoughtful, and Helpful' lens.

PLD in Pyjamas

Once a term the Manaiakalani facilitators from all over Aotearoa present Online Toolkits using Google Meet.

The topics are wide-ranging and deliver professional learning at no cost to the participants. No travel costs, no accommodation costs and no registration costs. All these costs are particularly prohibitive in a geographical area such as Tairāwhiti.

The toolkits are presented over 3 consecutive days after school and in the evening. PLD in pyjamas, at home, is a great alternative for busy teachers.

All sessions are recorded and they are available for viewing here. Each session has a corresponding slide deck to view as well.

Writing Moderation

In term 1 all school gather a writing sample from their students. The Literacy leaders form the schools came together today to moderate the samples. This is a time for them to work together and share their understandings of expected levels in writing. Not only does it aim at developing consistency of teacher decisions when marking writing, but it also leads to a better understanding of the progressions and in turn interpretation of learner strengths and needs.

The literacy leaders then return to their schools and carry out the same process with their staff to further develop within school capabilities.

Further information is available here about moderation and here about e-asTTle writing.

B.H.A.G.

There’s no doubt this programme is a BHAG (a.k.a. Big Hairy Audacious Goal)!    

We are living in a fast-paced world that requires new skills and thinking.  This programme is a real opportunity for us to embrace change and enable our teachers and learners to respond to the opportunities that the Twenty-first Century affords.

It will only be possible to make a step change for our learners by working together, trusting one another, asking questions, having the courage to ask questions, looking beyond our own area of direct responsibility to understand how we may contribute to the bigger picture, by being learners ourselves and most importantly always placing our learners at the heart of every decision.  

Thanks to the vision and generous philanthropy of the HB Williams Family Trusts, the governance of Connext trustees, the guidance of the Connected Kids Advisory Group and leadership of school boards and principals, participating schools are already experiencing many benefits of being a member of the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme.  

For the time, energy and commitment you are investing in our learners and/or teachers - thank you.

Tairāwhiti Hui

Despite the mid-week holiday, the Tairāwhiti Cluster facilitation team have had a busy week.  Today, we were excited to run a 1:1 Teachers with Facilitation Hui for 2019, which was held at Awapuni School.  Nearly 20 teachers joined us from around the district to learn about Manaiakalani; the Learn, Create, Share Pedagogy and building Google Sites for Visible Teaching and Learning.

It was also exciting to have Jo Haughey join us and speak to our big group about the role of the Connext Trust in the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme journey, too.  Thanks for coming along, Jo!

A huge mihi to all the fabulous teachers that attended today and participated so wholeheartedly in the Google Sites learning journey.  Our Google+ community now houses some links to these new sites as well as some of the staff meeting creations that teachers at our Orientation Hui across the week have shared there.  Ka mau te wehi, e te kaiako! What a lucky place Tairāwhiti is, to have so many passionate educators in one place.

Tairāwhiti Team in our new space

We are delighted to be in our new space in Gisborne Intermediate where we are planning for the beginning of facilitation in classes for 2019.

A big thank you to Manaiakalani Education Trust, Connext Trust and Gisborne Intermediate for their part in making this happen.

Bert

We are making it homey with some extra additions. Although as a team we are not getting too comfortable as we are itching to be in classes as facilitators as soon as we can. 

We are making sure our on-fire brains are kept cool with our maker-space cooling system. Works a treat! 

Our space is great for a meeting or a spot to prepare for the year. Come and say hello if you are in Gisborne Intermediate. We are at the back of the hall.

Introducing Herman

I am an Education Programme Leader working with the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme in Tairāwhiti, New Zealand.


In 2019 our team will be working with 14 schools in Gisborne; providing personalised support through facilitation and developing strategic plans for our region moving forward. Before joining the Manaiakalani team, I had been a long-serving staff member of Gisborne Intermediate School.


As a Gisborne local, father of four young children, and educator in Tairāwhiti, I am passionate about the development of education within our region and about the learning experiences and outcomes for the ākonga placed in our care. I am even more excited about the opportunity to help lead change within Tairāwhiti for learners and educators!


I am a positive and enthusiastic person, who has an energetic and motivated approach to training and professional development. I am most excited about being able to see the confidence and digital fluency growth in the teachers I will be working with in 2019. 

Introducing Amie

Kia ora koutou,

My name is Amie Williams and I have recently joined the Manaiakalani Gisborne Cluster facilitator team.

Being a local Gisborne parent and educator has given me the opportunity to see many of the wonderful things Gisborne has on offer. There are some wonderful things happening in our community.  I have been teaching in local classrooms for the past 13 years, beginning at Matawai School where I was lucky enough to have taught across a variety of classroom levels across the school and enjoyed being part of teaching Japanese, and the Enviroschools programme.

In 2013 my husband and three children and I relocated to town, and I was fortunate to take up a position at Gisborne Intermediate where I have been for the past six years.  Here in 2018, I had the opportunity to become a Manaiakalani Pilot teacher.  Having an understanding of what Manaiakalani facilitation truly means in a classroom has given me great insight into its power and the potential for it to create a positive impact for the tamariki in our community.  I have witnessed many changes in the use of technology in education across my years of teaching and learning, and in the power of visible and rewindable learning for my own children.

I am excited about working across the wonderful schools in our region to continue to support an even wider range of excellent professionals in our local kura.  Together, we can support our kids to succeed in the connected and collaborative world ahead.

Chromebooks for Learning

This robust device is available for purchase now for learners to use at school.

Welcome to 2019

Welcome to the new year of learning.

This is the second year of the 

Manaiakalani Outreach Programme in Tairāwhiti.

This year we welcome Herman Fourie and Amie Williams, our 2 new facilitators.

We also welcome Gisborne Boys' High School and Mangapapa, our 2 new schools joining the programme this year.