Looking back at my journey to becoming an educator

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 

Changing image upload format for iPhone

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 

T-shaped Literacy: Skills for Juniors - Dr Rebecca Jesson @ Pt England School, Mon 21st June 2021

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 

Dr Jesson presenting her content

Kent Somerville's impressive livestream set up

Link to Dr Jesson's Slides 

live stream of the event

Progression of my Google Sites - Then vs Now

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! 👇

My first class site - before I began in a Manaiakalani school

My first site as a Manaiakalani teacher

My most recent site from 2021 before I began full time with Manaiakalani

Manaiakalani Toolkits Term 2 2021 - Simplifying testing with Google Forms

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! 👇