Kia ora koutou,
It was a real pleasure to facilitate a couple of really rich conversations with 2 brilliant groups of educators on Monday and this afternoon. Monday's session was with a group of secondary school Maths teachers and Wednesday was a discussion around Writing with Year 6-8 teachers. These two discussions were 2 of almost 60 that happened across the country. Click on this link to check out the Photo album with all of the screenshots from each group!
Ngā mihi
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| Monday's group of Secondary Maths teachers |
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| Wednesday's discussion around writing at Year 6-8 level |
Kia ora koutou,
I am really excited to be supporting Mercer School with their journey of discovery of understanding Manaiakalani. A small school, but one with such a lovely feel to it. Fiona Grant and I were made to feel so welcome on our first visit to the school during the first week of the recent holidays. We had the chance to give the staff an introduction into what Manaiakalani is all about, and some examples of our kaupapa in action.
They have a wonderful staff, led by Paula Faitala, a former member of Senior Leadership at Glen Taylor School in Glen Innes. Paula has been in her role at Mercer for 4 years and has done a brilliant job amercing herself in the local community and history of the local area. In fact, as part of this process, she, along with the Board of Trustees and local haapu, have made the decision to change the name of the school to Te Paina School. Below is the information provided to the local community regarding their decision to change the name.
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| The letter to the school's community, outlining the context for the name change |
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| The awesome teaching staff at Te Paina School |
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| The awesome teaching staff at Te Paina School |
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| Imagine having this view outside your classroom each day! |
Kia ora koutou,
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| Dr Carney's presentation |
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| the landing page when you launch a new whiteboard |
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| demonstrating that the same whiteboard can be open by two people at the same time on different devices |
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| order of operations being demonstrated with colour-coding as each step is made |
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| the ability to drag and drop a PDF worksheet file from your desktop straight into the whiteboard |
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| making your worksheets interactive and collaborative in real time between teacher and learner |
Kia ora koutou,
I was pleased to be able to get access to my original MyPortfolio account which I used during my time training to be a teacher from 2013 to 2014 and then again in 2017 to 2018. My hope was that I would be able to get access to this content again and that it wouldn't be lost. Needless to say, I was very happy to be able to get into it again.
I will gradually work at getting it transferred over onto this blog over the coming time, and will backdate it to the dates in which the original content was posted. I will also curate the posts to the 'From my time at University' page on my blog so that all of those posts are in the same place.
I look forward to taking a trip back down memory lane to remind myself of what was going through young Jeremy's mind!
Ngā mihi
Kia ora koutou,
I have made a quick screen recording of how you can change the settings that control the format which images are uploaded with on an iPhone. By default, images are uploaded as an HEIC or High Efficiency Image Format which is not easily compatible for Google Drive, especially if your plan is to embed the images into your Site.
To change the setting, all that needs to be done is to follow the process of Settings - Camera - Formats - Most Compatible.
If you're an iPhone user, check out the screen recording below to change this setting.
Ngā mihi
Kia ora koutou,
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to hear from Dr Rebecca Jesson on the fundamentals of what effective T-shaped literacy looks like in Junior classes. T-shaped literacy is an area which I am interested in learning more about, having first heard about the concept within in the last year. In all honesty, it's a concept that I have struggled to understand, never really having an opportunity to see it in practice. Without the chance to see it being modelled in person and without an example of a teacher plan being implemented in person, it never really clicked with me.
That said, I really enjoyed the way that Dr Jesson broke the presentation down into practical steps and 'how to' do t-shaped literacy for early readers. Speaking to other facilitators who attended, they were all in agreement that it would have been really beneficial for junior teachers.
A realisation that I made during the presentation was the fact that I had been getting confused between the idea of 'topic' vs 'theme' when it comes to putting together a set of texts. I was prompted to reflect on what are the transferable ideas? What can be taken from text 1 and applied across texts 2, 3, 4, etc?
All in all, a really helpful talk that I thoroughly enjoyed. Dr Jesson is a fountain of knowledge in this area, and I am looking forward to further opportunities of hearing her speak again in the future.
Click on the screenshots of the Slides and YouTube video below to revisit Dr Jesson's content.
Ngā mihi
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| Dr Jesson presenting her content |
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| Kent Somerville's impressive livestream set up |
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| Link to Dr Jesson's Slides |
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| live stream of the event |
Kia ora koutou,
It's that point in our DFI cohorts where we are beginning to look at Google Sites. Week 5 of DFI focuses on Multi-modal/Multi-textual sites, and Week 6 provides an opportunity for participants to create or work on their class or subject sites.
Often as facilitators, we encounter teachers who feel intimidated by the exemplar sites that we reference in the content of DFI, thinking that their site is inadequate or not as good as those which they are looking at on the screen.
I think it's important to remember that each person starts somewhere, and that everyone learns and progresses at their own pace. With this in mind, I had a hunt and came across the first site that I created in my first year of teaching. It was simple, uninteresting and very 'meat and potatoes' for what my class of Year 3&4 kids needed to help with their learning.
Check out the screenshots below to compare and contrast from where I started to where I am now! 👇
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| My first class site - before I began in a Manaiakalani school |
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| My first site as a Manaiakalani teacher |
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| My most recent site from 2021 before I began full time with Manaiakalani |
Kia ora everyone,
It was great to be able to lead a Toolkit this afternoon on the topic of using Google Forms to create self-marking tests. This idea was birthed out of me getting fed up with the hours of marking of tests done on paper, such as the Schonell Spelling test, Maths basic facts, etc. I thought to myself that there has to be a more simple way of getting assessments done, without the hours of time spent marking, So, I did some Googling and watching of YouTube tutorials, and realised that I could solve my problem using Google Forms. I tried it with my class during mid-year testing last year, and it was a success!
In terms of how Forms can help in this situation, the 'Quiz mode' feature of Forms is the key here - setting an answer key for each question and appointing a point value for each question. This way, as soon as the student submits the Form, it is marked instantly and the data is then readily available for teachers to view and analyse.
Check out the Meet recording and the Slides below! 👇
We had a great combined session today with the Hamilton DFI cohort. Papakura Central School kindly hosted us, and we really enjoyed working in their fantastic auditorium space. It was also having Vicki Archer with us in person for the day - our cohorts had gotten used to seeing her on our screens, and so appreciated having her in the room with us for the day.
For me, it was also great to connect with the crew from Whakawatea (one of our kura in Hamilton) who are also part of the Te Purapura Ngātahi o Manaiakalani online cluster that I am associated with through Ōtāhuhu and Roscommon schools which I work in.
I was really happy to be able to support Susanne (tumuaki of Whakawatea) get a Form that she had created during today's session on to their school site to help with admin processes - this was a really practical solution for her and their kura, so to be able to support in this process was really satisfying. I also showed her how to import the responses from 3 different admin Forms all to the same Google Sheet to make the administrative process behind the scenes more simple for her and her admin staff.
Below you'll see a few photos from our day today. As part of the 'Levelling Up' section of the Data day, we break into groups to work on upskilling with Google Sheets. Sheets and Forms are a particular area of passion for me, and so I had the pleasure of working with those in the group who consider themselves proficient in this area. I showed the group some cool ways to use features such as conditional formatting, drop down boxes, check boxes and a range of different formulas for different purposes. A handy way I discovered I could work through content with a group like this in the same room was by using Google Meet in a tactical way. I got the group to join a Meet with their camera and mic turned off, whilst also having their device muted from the desktop (meaning there'd be no interference from the room). I then was able to share my screen and have the participants observe what I was demonstrating, all by them looking at their own screens. This is definitely a tool I'll keep in mind for next time we are in a face to face environment where this type of demonstration is necessary.
Something I am finding interesting at this point in the DFI process is the fact that I am now at the point where I am unfamiliar what the later weeks of DFI look like in a Face to Face setting. Having been a participant in 2020, just as Covid hit, our group had to continue the process online. This was a great experience, but it meant that I never got the chance to see what the F2F experience looks like past week 3. Since then, I have also been part of 2 Online cohorts as a coach - it's safe to say that my default has been set to online! That said, I am loving the "authentic learning" of fumbling and stumbling my way through facilitating the DFI each Friday in person. Our cohort is full of life, with a wide range of educators - from 1st year PCTs to Principals. It's great to have such a wide variety of experience and knowledge across the group. Check out some of the shots from today - courtesy of Dorothy Burt.
Ngā mihi
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| Presenting the Forms 'Chalk n' Talk' session to the whole group |
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| Sheets 'Levelling Up' section |
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| Sheets 'Levelling Up' section |
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| Sheets 'Levelling Up' section |
Kia ora koutou,
I was happy to be asked recently by Fiona Grant to update the 'Smart Learners: Posting to a Blog' graphic, originally put together in 2013. This original graphic has served me and my learners well over the years, and has been a fantastic resource to point students towards in supporting them with their blogging. No doubt, many of you will have used this with your students in the past, too.
As you'll see below, the blog post itself is the same. That said, you will notice that the layout of Blogger has changed quite a bit over the years.
Look out for the new graphic on the Manaiakalani Cybersmart site soon!
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| Original graphic - created in 2013 |
| Updated graphic - 2021 version |
Kia ora everyone,
I am pleased to announce that I have heard back from Google for Education to confirm that I have been selected to become a Google for Education Certified Trainer. I am really proud to have been awarded this accreditation, and I look forward to being able to further support educators and learners with this new accreditation.
Below are my new credentials;
Kia Ora Koutou,
The start of the new term has seen the start of a new job for me. Having finished up at Wesley Intermediate at the end of last term, I have begun my role with Manaiakalani as a PLD Facilitator. At the moment, my week is made up of 3 days in a mixture of schools from the Tamaki and South Auckland clusters, as well as 2 days of DFI - 1 online and 1 in person. Every day is different, and I am loving the chance to get a different perspective of the awesome learning, creating and sharing that is happening in our kura across the wider Manaiakalani outreach.
Check out some of the photos of my first two weeks below👇
More updates to come!
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| Taking a Cybersmart lesson at Glen Taylor School |
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| Matt Goodwin using Explain Everything at Tamaki Primary |
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| 'Learn Create Share' staff meeting at Ōtāhuhu Primary |
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| Dorothy Burt talking about Docs on Day 1 of our Auckland Face to Face DFI cohort |
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| Matt Goodwin at the junior bilingual unit at Tamaki Primary |
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| Dorothy during the Connecting with Manaiakalani session W2 Auckland F2F DFI |
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| Talking 'Taming our Tabs' on DFI W2 |
Kia Ora koutou,
I had a few people asking me to share the link to the self-marking Schonell Spelling test Google Form which I had created, following the DFI session in which I referenced it.
The link is attached below. It'll prompt you to make a copy of the Form and then you can go from there. All you'll need to do is connect it to a Sheet in the responses section. Also, as you'll see, it's only test 1. So if you want to duplicate for tests 2, 3 and 4, you'll need to do that for yourselves. I have also started inserting audio files using the extension 'Talk and Comment' but this isn't completed as yet. If you want to finish this, you can use this YouTube video tutorial. Here is the link to the test Form or on the screenshot below
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: jeremy.ferguson@manaiakalani.org
Kia ora everyone!
This week's Cybersmart content in Room 4 has been a bit different... a behind the scenes look at Room 4 students recording their video tours of our class site using ScreenCastify. As you'll see from the video, our class are a bit crazy but that's just the way we like it 😜
Enjoy!
Kia ora koutou,
To assist with managing your e-asTTle writing test data, I have put together a Sheet with formulas and conditional formatting. Either use the drop down boxes or type the 'R' values into each cell (B-H) and it will give you a total (cell I) and a writing level (cell J). Row 36 also gives you a break down of how many of your learners are at each curriculum level, based on their results on their test.
Hopefully you find this resource helpful!
Have a look for yourself by exploring the embedded window of the Sheet below and feel free to make a copy of the Sheet using this link. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email me - jeremy.ferguson@manaiakalani.org
