Welcome to 2022

 Dear Readers,

2022 is here and bringing us a new experience again.  This year's blog posts will be featured on both my Blogger platform and my EduBlogs platform in order for me to experience both platforms and compare them.

It's also bringing me some duality in my work too.  In 2022 I am contracting my work to the Manaiakalani Education Team, Auckland, rather than my work for Connext Trust here in Tairāwhiti, Gisborne.  This work will be a mixture of DFI coaching and support for the West Coast cluster in the South Island of New Zealand.  Both of these roles will bring some new opportunities to continue to build my coaching capability and I'm incredibly excited about them both.

Below are some images that show some of the locations I join our learning from.  The top image is from my parents farm, where I was lucky enough to grow up, and where my husband and I returned to in order to raise our children.  The other two images are our home in Gisborne city and the farm my husband works on sometimes.  How fortunate am I, to be able to join our Digital Fluency intensives from anywhere due to connectivity!?

Where are you joining us from? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

I look forward to exploring all things Manaiakalani and Google with you!

Have a wonderful day and please feel free to leave me a comment.  I'd love to hear from you soon.

Happy Term 1, 2022.

Google Certified Coach Programme

 Kia ora koutou,

I'm really excited about the PLD opportunity that the Google Certified Coach Programme offers.  In the past I have completed Google Certified Educator Level One, Google Certified Educator Level 2 and Google Certified Innovator.  While some may say I've definitely drunk the Google Kool-Aid, as my role as a facilitator involves supporting teachers to use free tools to enable visibility, empowerment, connectedness and ubiquitous.  Google just does this so well.

Google Sites enable learning to be housed in one place, to be visible and rewindable and that learners can connect to their learning from anywhere, at any time and for any pace.

Google Docs and Google Slides enable our learners to be involved in trackable learning, visible in real time, able to be commented on by the teacher and peers and enables peer collaboration and interaction which all enhances learning.

Along with this, there are some incredible extensions that work really well with Chrome and the Google tools, with Screencastify and Mote being some of my very favourites. These provide an incredible opportunity for all learners to be 

As my role as a facilitator involves coaching a number of teachers I continue to look for opportunities to upskill in this area.  Last year, for personal interest, I undertook a Life Coaching Diploma with the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  This was applicable to the work I do coaching teachers as well as with my wellness side business.  At the end of the year, I was excited to see Google offering a new certification relevant to coaching.  From past experience, I know that Google offer incredibly well structured professional learning and exceptional teaching tools, so I know that the Google team will have put together something quite special for us to engage in.

Teacher Inquiry is an aspect of professional accountability that is present in most schools, but my experience as a teacher was that this inquiry, expected of all teachers, is often rather haphazard, with many teachers requiring scaffolding to completed their inquiry to the depth that it is of use in terms of facilitating professional change.... and all too often no structure or support exist.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Google Certified Coach learning can enhance my effectiveness as a coach and mentor in my facilitation role.  

The Challenge Based Coaching model that is used, is found below.

An optional add-on to the course is a Book study using a book called Courageous Edventures by Jenny Magiera. I've seen Jenny supporting with other Google learning in the past, so I am enjoying the opportunity to explore her work a little deeper as well.  Although I love my digital learning, a book always really helps me to immerse myself in the learning. I'm enjoying it immensely already and thanks to an online ebook it wasn't as expensive as educational resource books often are.

The last thing I'd like to share from the beginning of this journey, is how much I smiled reading the word 'meaningful' in the Google Certified Coach curriculum.  They're talking about supporting teachers to implement the use of technology in the classroom in meaningful ways!  I can't emphasise enough how important it is that technology not be used just for technology's sake, but actually in meaningful ways in the classroom.  A device, like anything else, can be a powerful tool to enhance learning.... or a powerful distraction.  Using technology to enable learners to be placed on babysitting platforms that remove the integral role of the teacher from the learning progression and support their learners receive, is a terrible move... but one that has occurred many times as schools attempt to provide opportunities for digital learning.

Our teachers are out greatest asset!  They are the ones who know their students; their needs, their challenges and their interests.  If we remove the key role of of the teacher in creating responsive learning pathways for students, nothing we offer them will be adequate, let alone accelerative.  

I'm excited to see Google thinking carefully about some elements that our programme really value and dedicate time to as well.  Here's hoping that this learning can be as fruitful as it looks!

In some discussions with some of my teachers this term, there is definitely a continual desire amongst our local teachers to work toward their goals for their learners.  What a wonderful opportunity for us all.

Moving On

 It's hard to believe how much time has passed and how much the world has changed since my last post.  In 2020, we took learning online, big time!

The COVID19 pandemic has changed education like never before.  In some ways, it has been a catalyst for change, a catalyst that was sorely needed in education in order to bring it into the 21st century.  We could not and should not still be learning like this:

Image attribution:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StateLibQld_1_100348.jpg

Yet the acceleration into more contemporary modes of learning, in an online space, was also fraught with challenges.  Educators everywhere, unprepared for the shift and anxious in this new, open way of teaching and attempting to manage their families during lockdowns at the same time as adapting quickly to vastly different ways of teaching were vulnerable to products and platforms everywhere, peddling their wares.

Coming together in an online workshop forum, our local team offered a simplified approach to educators wanting to have support.  Google Meet and Google Sites, with limited links, to support learners in their changing education.

Learners everywhere were unprepared also.  Many had no internet or devices at home.  Those that did, were not necessarily prepared for the task of managing their time and online distractions in order to really fly in their learning. Some learners fared far better than they did usually in the classroom.  Some just disappeared.  Some learned from horse floats atop our remote hills.  Some with 'Nanny' (Kiwi for 'Nana or Gran or Grandma) sitting next to them, checking that they were focused, elbowing them when they weren't  and learning alongside their mokopuna (NZ Māori for grandchild).  The whole thing was a giant experiment for many.

Learners who had been part of schools that were already undertaking the use of Google Sites for learning found the transition easier, yet still many struggled with the lack of resources or the lack of preparedness to undertake online learning solo, without their teacher alongside them.

Here, in July 2021, many things in New Zealand have returned to normal.  Our trans tasman bubble between NZ and Australia has opened, and closed... and opened again.  Vaccinations are slow to get to NZ... unsurprising when hundreds are dying in other countries daily.  Many here are still wary of a vaccine developed under accelerated timeframes due to the dire need for them.  

What will stick?

Will the lessons we learned during the lockdowns in NZ continue to be acknowledged, explored and applied in preparedness for future such challenges?  Or will we head back to our classrooms hoping never to have to undertake a Google Meet again?

What can we do differently?  What will we?

DFI Day 1: Term 3 2020

The value of having a wonderful team was emphasised for me today.  We had 60 teachers and 10 facilitators online and the atmosphere was just wonderful.  Manaiakalani continues to be a vehicle and a movement inspiring me.  From more than five years ago when I was first introduced by an excited colleague to the Manaiakalani modes of operating, through my time as a classroom teacher receiving in-class facilitation, to my work as an in-class support Manaiakalani Facilitator, I have felt the magic in many occasions.  Being part of this wonderful team throughout my time with Manaiakalani has been so rewarding and my own learning has grown exponentially with such strengths around me.

Participating in the online DFI has allowed me to continue to deepen my understanding of my role as a facilitator as well as my knowledge of tools, especially with the online component necessitating me recalling how to do things without necessarily being able to physically sit next to the teachers I'm working with.  With Google Docs, adding annotated footnotes and matching heading styles was a great reminder that what I don't use often, I forget about!  I will be using these tools more in the future to ensure this is less likely to occur.

Revisiting the Eyes on Text task was also a wonderful reminder that we have a number of great tools to use with learners that are engaging and motivating that are also very simple and don't require teachers to do huge hours of preparation.  Our learners should always be working harder than our teachers.  Sadly, this is often not the case.  I can see that often this means our learners feel they are able to abdicate responsibility for their learning to their teachers, even in situations that could empower them.  The more of these types of learning opportunities we can add to classroom programmes, the higher the likelihood is that they will again regain a sense of agency in their learning.

Having used the same Voice Typing feature that is used within Eyes on Text in some of my facilitation sessions, along with the Word Count feature, I have seen firsthand the power of a little self-competition.  An activity that I often find challenging in terms of motivating students, was super engaging when they had a timer running and regular checkins to see how many words they were up to for their profile designs.  One young man who usually spends a lot of time distracting others actually voice typed 750 words for his profile introduction!  Highly engaging.

I thought a lot about our new MAPIC acronym which I'm working on developing an in-depth understanding about.  This was recently introduced to us by Naomi Rosedale from Woolf Fisher Research Centre and there is so much scope for amazing pedagogical development within it once I can understand it a bit better.  Many of the lessons I run with learners now are assessment tools for me, to see how well we are employing each of the different elements in order to create engaging and purposeful learning for our tamariki.  What a fortunate position we are in with Naomi Rosedale and Woolf Fisher Research Centre to be able to have access to the wonderful research that has been undertaken that we can employ to inform our practice - both as facilitators, and also in helping our teachers to strive to do the same in the lessons they are creating for their learners.

Blogger Inquiry: Episode #1

As a team, Manaiakalani have advocated for the use of Blogger in the classroom.  It's not the sexiest platform and it certainly has room for growth.  It's often frustrating to see the enhancements made to a number of other incredible Google Suite tools, with Blogger just getting left behind.  

Here in NZ, we have more than 22,000 learners involved in programmes where blogging is an integral part of the share component of what we do.  As an avid blogger myself, I understand the potential benefits even beyond our classrooms and am passionate about helping teachers to see the power in it.  But I am also a realist.  I have been a classroom teacher, inundated and overwhelmed by the complexities of the needs of busy classes of 30 children, wifi that won't cooperate, devices that are not charged, assessments that require completion and the competing demands of other curriculum areas that appear to not 'fit' within the scope of blogging.  So this series will attempt to explore not just the why and the how of blogging, but also to answer some of the challenging questions we must explore in order to help blogging gain the kind of traction it requires to be able to take on a life of its own.

In this first post, I will explore why we blog, what the power of it is and showcase some of the many blogs I'm enjoying around our country at the moment, both educators and students.  I am conscious that 'done' is better than perfect and absent, which is often what my blog posts are when I strive for perfection. Please know that this is an inquiry - a place to explore the many facets of my topic, before endeavouring to get my research to the point that it is actually of use in its implementation in our classrooms.

Wins from the week

If you'd told me a few years ago that in 2020 I'd be working from home due to a global pandemic, supporting teachers in becoming proficient in designing engaging, visible, empowering, ubiquitous, connected learning for their kids... I would have laughed you off the face of this earth!  Yet here we are.







In my work as a Manaiakalani outreach facilitator and education programme leader, we usually spend most of our time supporting teachers in learning about learning that is visible and rewindable in the context of their classroom, amplifying their great practice and implementation of their wonderful, creative local curriculums and designing Cybersmart lessons to teach in the classes we support in.  

But not right now!

We are in a privileged position, being able to witness the development of some exponential learning all and I find myself feeling very grateful, very often. We received some wonderful feedback on the Top Tips site - I'm pleased it was helpful. We were certainly grateful to be able to support so many people at such a challenging and uncertain time. I definitely think that clear and concise is the way to go. I love that the tools we chose were also the very same tools that allowed teachers to do what they do best: teach! Not load learners and whānau up with apps and passwords that 'teach them'. Our teachers have wonderful knowledge of their tamariki and rich local curriculums to engage their kids through; it would have been such a shame for that to be abdicated to a platform. 

Today, having been part of a Tairāwhiti Slam session where some teachers shared with us what has been working well for them, I was rewarded again, watching many of our teachers share and show leadership by amplifying their practice, sharing with others.  What a great waka we're on when we all paddle together.  





I just know that together next week, heading into level 2, that our nation will continue to do great things by our tamariki, and now that we have begun to address some of the inequities that occur in our communities, we will be better able to be of benefit to more learners, heading forward.

Accelerated learning - for our teachers!

April 2020 has been a month like no other in New Zealand.

The commencement of Level 4 lockdown from March 26th changed the way we exist and by necessity, changed the way we look at learning.

Within a week, many of our teachers were becoming far more competent at delivering learning online.  Something that had been long considered either impossible or unnecessary was suddenly the only option. Teachers' and Principals' inboxes were being inundated relentlessly with new shiny platforms and tools that were purported to be the saving grace of a teacher struggling to find their way into remote learning for their tamariki.

Here locally, 14 of our local schools are involved in The Manaiakalani Programme Outreach (T.M.P.O) and have been since the beginning of 2018.  Two of these schools had joined at the beginning of 2019 and so understandably, were not quite as experienced as the others, but during the transition to online or remote learning in April, were equally as committed to the necessary growth.

It became apparent very quickly that the schools that were already having support found the whole process much less of a journey and as facilitators it was so rewarding working alongside all of our incredible local educators as they geared up for this process.
As a team, we wanted to support as many teachers and schools as possible, so with the support Manaiakalani and our local Connext Trust, we set up a Top Tips page on our local Tairāwhiti Cluster site dedicated to remote learning.  Online workshop sessions were run from here using Google Meet and across the week we explored the use of highly effective tools such as Google Sites, Google Meet and the Screencastify extension app.

Click here for our Top Tips page: (scroll towards the bottom for recordings and original workshops)

One of the most exciting aspects of being able to support a number of schools was to know that we were helping our local tamariki to be able to continue their learning and in particular, the connection with their teacher and peers, which globally, we were hearing was the most valued aspect during this time of physical distancing.  

The growth in the digital fluency of our local educators from Manaiakalani schools has exploded! Exponential acceleration is the only way I can explain it.  I consider myself in an incredibly privileged position in that I am privy to the exceptional commitment to growth in our educators.  Our local tamariki are blessed to have both teachers and Principals who are dedicated to doing the very best by their education at a time when the world has literally changed as we know it.  It is an incredibly uncertain and challenging time for our teachers who are often learning to work from home, supporting their own children or spouses in their 'learning from home' (even if this is just timetabling support and sharing space and wifi!) as well as parenting and running households under lockdown.  While support in the form of hard packs for schools and educational tv etc for learners has been provided by the New Zealand government, which is outstanding, I personally feel that not as much acknowledgement has been given to our wonderful teachers who have really been 'thrown in the dee; end' and have had to simply 'get on with it'.  Although this is reflective of the kiwi can-do attitude, I feel we certainly do need to commend our teachers on their resilience and resourcefulness throughout this time. They really are amazing!

This morning, I was lucky enough to join a local school Google Meet for a staff briefing and PLD session.  I was lucky enough to be able to share some ideas for teachers around recording the Google Meets they are doing with their learners so that they can be displayed on their classroom Google Sites where they can be rewindable.  This means learners can view learning over and over again and help them to consolidate learning.

But what really stood out for me was the digital capacity that's growing within their school.  One of their younger teachers demonstrated today how she's using Screencastify in her lessons to provide visual instructions for her learners AND to provide feedback to her learners and additional support.  She also shared that the feedback from her learners is that they have really valued receiving instructions and feedback in this video format - that it has been powerful and a wonderful support mechanism for the kids at the moment.  As a teacher, she also shared how providing feedback to learners in this way was much more time-efficient than sending a number of emails back and forth.  I mentioned to her how useful some of these screencasts would be housed in an FAQ folder on her class site, as likely other learners may have similar problems.  

Helping our teachers manage their time at the moment is vital as online meetings are incredibly taxing of energy levels and the additional support learners often need in order to learn how to function in this way means that teachers are often spending a massive number of hours a day on emails and phone calls as well as their scheduled online meetings.  Another reason why we need to be celebrating our great teachers as they model exponential learning at this time.  I for one, take my hat off to them.