DFI Day 9: Revision

Today, while the other participants are undertaking the work they're doing on their Google Certified Educator Level One I'm busy working my way through some Apple Teacher badges and working on my Google Certified Trainer.  I figured that because this is the last part of the Google badges that I haven't completed, that I should have a go.  What's exciting, is that I'm finding some really helpful reflective thinking is occurring through this process.

My first part of the training focused on these ideas:

What leadership qualities should trainers embody when working with educators?
Stellar communication skills, resilience and the ability to have courageous conversations.  A can-do attitude and encouragement that learners can do it, rather than doing it for them.  Empowerment is key.
What leadership qualities do you personally resonate with?
Honesty and trust, professionalism and high relational skills.  People who are willing to get to know me
How do these qualities fit into your personal definition of leadership?
I look at a leader as someone who develops the best in me by listening and coaching me so that I can feel empowered to be the best I can be, making small changes, which compound over time.
How might you exhibit these qualities in your school environment?
Working with educators, I feel it's important to listen to understand.  So I need to be asking lots and lots of questions to be able to get to the bottom of what the challenges are and how best to help that person.

I'm sure I'll want to refine this a lot too, but it's great to start being more cognizant of my own leadership and coaching within this process.  In the past, I've done some work with Cognition Education and leadership, as well as with Joan Dalton, and found both incredibly useful.  I think it's time I started unpacking these concepts further and looking at the work that I can do on myself to further this.

Reading on, the information provided online after I'd done my thinking really resonated with me.  These concepts really affirm for me that I'm in the right place as they are all things I value and think are vitally important - and am passionate about providing for our educators as well.

This site is really user-friendly - as are all of Google's training sites.  I've found them invaluable in the past.

Google Trainer Site

I also completed my Apple Creativity with Mac and Productivity with Mac badges which were quite fun as well.  There is quite a range of badges to undertake with Apple, and most only have five questions needing to be answered before you are awarded the badge, which makes it quite fun and definitely motivating.

After this, I also completed my Creativity with iPad badge.  It feels great to get 2.  There are many more still to come, so I'll be busy for quite a while I think.

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Today I reflected on what an incredible opportunity DFI is for our local educators. The time investment they've put in is really to be celebrated, and it's so wonderful seeing how far they have come and how much they've grown in their learning. I'm so excited for them all and also for their schools and learners.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

Continually moving forward in my own digital learning is exciting. I'm definitely someone who needs to be always learning and growing and I think learning is my superpower. I often feel a bit bored if I haven't got the next new something exciting happening. That might be as diverse as learning how to run a marathon or how to facilitate collaboration between our teachers and community resource educators, such as that of my Innovator project, or even how to create and grow a Forest Garden (Koanga Gardens concept). There's always something new to learn and Google, Apple and Manaiakalani definitely encourage me to do so. Blogging helps me to be reflective in my process and to engage in one of my favourite activities - writing. I'm passionate about writing often and when I'm writing for an authentic audience, I often enjoy it more. I do struggle with ensuring my writing sounds the way I want it to though, as I often feel it flows better on paper, rather than on screen. Perhaps I should draft these posts the way I do with my personal blogs and start with paper; it would be interesting to see if it changes the content much.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

I am always learning more than can be used with my learners. The CS Unplugged work on Apple looks interesting. I struggle with the idea of having to learn it through an Apple Book first, but I guess this is another way they can be drawing users to their iBooks (renamed Books now) tool. I already use it extensively, but really find Google's online learning platform much more interactive and useful for learning new tools.

Everything new I learn about Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa reaffirms that I'm in the right place. I love my new role and working with both learners and teachers is really empowering. When I think about what a difference we could make across our region for our learners and our educators, I celebrate even more. Tairāwhiti is an incredible place and having passionate people helping to add value to the region is wonderful.

I'm looking at ways I can encourage more STEM or STEAM education in our schools and build up coding knowledge of our young people, especially our young women. I'd love to run a coding club that encouraged them to participate in tech spaces more so this may be where I head next. I wonder how many teachers would be interested in using a STEM site with their learners in class and piloting this for me too. Weekly tasks etc would be a wonderful way to get tools out into our local schools and make them accessible for more learners.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

All the work I've done with Manaiakalani, our local Connext Trust and Google has all improved my confidence so much. I'm really enjoying the way I am developing new skills and stretching my resilience and assertiveness muscles. One of the things I value the most is the constant encouragement to grow. Not pressure. Not overwhelm. Just encouragement that growth is exciting and fun and necessary. I love it.

The DFI has been a wonderful way to see Manaiakalani, Google, Teachers, the Connext Trust and pedagogy all come together. Nine weeks has been a wonderful length of time to see change and growth and I'm so grateful to have been here to witness it all. As a facilitator who hopes to run the DFI myself one day, it was so valuable to be here as a participant and to see how it all works. The benefits are huge and I do so hope our local Principals will hear of the value and commit to sending more of our wonderful local teachers as well. At the moment, a new DFI won't be starting until Term 3. I hope it's jam-packed with educators and Principals committed to making a difference in their schools, for their tamariki and ultimately, for our whole Tairāwhiti region.