Appraisal Goal for 2020 - Digital Competency Goals for every student.

Exploring 3D design using Minecraft. 

My personal "Appraisal Goal"  this year has been to enable every student in my class to becoming more Digitally Competent and Independent using digital devices. 

We use devices every day in Room 21 for reading, maths, writing, games, research and much, much more, and every student needs to be able to log into their JBS Google Account before they do any work on the Chrome Books and desktop computers. 

It is about making my students more digitally fluent 

Some of the goals that I have set for all students includes: 

      Logging onto school devices.
      Logging onto school google accounts.
Using Google Suite and the programs within Google eg: docs,slides,google drive.
      Logging into e-ako maths and Prototec.
      Improving their typing skills using Typing Club.
      Using and uploading photos and writing to Blogger.
      Creating 3-D designs reflecting their Whare Tapa Wha using Minecraft.
      Using Sketchpad and Canva to create and design digital art and posters.
      Using Google Classroom from home and at school.
      Opening up and using Room 21 Google Site in class

      Using Zoom for meetings during Distance Learning.  

Exploring for reading activities

Connecting during lockdown on Zoom.

I have been amazed at how quickly many students have become independent so quickly, and how they have shared their knowledge of the programs with myself and their peers. Some have been a bit slower to remember their email log-ins and passwords, but they have all shown growth with their Digital Competency. 

Designing 3D models using Minecraft.

It has been a big learning journey for me, and I have enjoyed seeing the moments when students no longer need to look in their notebooks to check their email and passwords are correct. 

However, one major problem I have had, is finding effective learning sites that cater for my students' needs and that fit all curriculum areas, especially when there are so many options out there.  

I know all my students are better prepared digitally for next year and have become more independent than when the year started. 

Learning to type better using Typing Club.

On reflection, with the crazy year that 2020 has been, I can honestly say that I am really proud of my students and how they have achieved so much through all the turmoil and unsettling year. They have shown resilience and determination to achieve the goals that have been set. 

I had to learn new ways to teach remotely and I did a crash course on how to use Google Classroom and Zoom to be able teach effectively. With limited access to devices and internet at home, only a third of the students were able to connect during the lockdowns, so these students were ahead of those who didn't have the resources to connect.

However, those students without devices returned to school with great enthusiasm and a strong willingness to develop and raise their Digital Competency. They were able to achieve small goals of logging in and sharing their work with me. And the growth from there was rapid, as they were not afraid to make mistakes and explore through designated websites.

Overall, my goal of raising the Digital Competency in all my students was achieved and apart from 2 students, every student is able to log in to their Google Suite independently. I am still working on these 2 students and I am confident that they will achieve this by year end.        

Swimming lessons for Room 21

 As part of our school programme,  swimming lessons for all middle-senior students at JBS is an essential part of our the students' education. NZ has one of the highest rates of drownings in the world and we are striving to improve this statistic by educating students with water safety and swimming skills. 

The learning objectives of the lessons are: 

Learning to get in and out of the water

Floating on the water - personal buoyancy

Rolling and turning in the water

What to do in an emergency - Safety of self and others 

Moving through the water - Propulsion

                                        

Pepeha Art

Part of Room 21's learning this term has been doing their own Pepeha - a Maori way of introducing ourselves. It also tells a story of people and places each student is connected to. This is all connected in context to Taha Whanau, as part of our Te Whare Tapa Wha learning. 

Everyone has a pepeha which links them to their ancestors. It's like a story that connects you to your waka, your hapū and iwi. It identifies important places like your maunga, awa and marae. 

Our Art process was to draw our awa and maunga, and to integrate the words of our whanau, awa, maunga, name, cultures and home into our drawing.

Students were able to discuss the art process of mixed media and materials and textures, and also lines, shapes, form and patterns.

Collecting Assessment data

 Love or hate them, assessments for every student is a necessity every term.  

One of the toughest, yet most rewarding, tasks to do in a very busy classroom, is doing assessments of all students' learning. Tough, because I have to find the time in each day to test for each students whenever I can. And rewarding because you see the learning growth of each students after your teaching and their hard work. 

I especially love seeing the look on some students faces when I tell them that they have gone up a level and the totally satisfying feeling is when the students retain what you have been teaching them all term coming to fruition. 

We test each student one-on-one at least once per term for reading and maths, and as a whole class for writing. We also get to see the strategies students use with maths and the ways they decode when the are reading. 

One thing is for sure though - every single student is unique and they all learn at their own pace and time.

Running Record testing

JAM testing

Covid-19 lockdown return- take 2!!

School were reopened again this week, after another lockdown in Auckland. Our return was effectively under Covid-Alert Level 2.5 in Auckland.

With South Auckland, and in particular Mangere being the hub of the latest outbreak of COVID-19, many parents were anxious to send their kids back to school. 

Anxiety is high across the community as cases are still active in the community and wider Tamaki Makaurau area. My whanau were also anxious with me going back to school, with an unknown amount of students returning, and social distancing being closer in a confined classroom. Masks were not compulsory, but I wore one for the first day and a few students also chose to wear them. I have to be honest, I was quite anxious and felt that we should have waited another week at least before going back.  

 

Social distancing rules, hygiene and overall safety has been my main focus in the classroom and wider school community. Only half of my class returned during the first week back, and this helped with good desk spacing and easier to keep students away from each other. Well. this is easier said than done, as all the students were happy to see each other again and wanted to play games, eat together and hug each other. 
But, the learning must go on and all the students were excited to be back and doing some school work. My goal was to ease their anxiety, making them feel safe back at school and having lots of fun activities to do. 
Well, I think I achieved all of these and had lots of fun myself - it's so good to be back in my classroom!!! 

  

 

 

Typing club - the road to becoming better typists.

                  Everybody wants to learn to type like a pro.

Part of learning to be more digitally competent involves becoming a better typist. So my class have been doing Typing Club, an online program for all students to practice typing and becoming more comfortable with typing with more than just 2 fingers. This will assist in their speed to log into Google before they do online work and using google docs and other google programs, which we use at JBS on a daily basis.

The typing program includes 650 typing games, typing tests and videos to keep the students engaged with their learning.
The old adage of "practice makes perfect" is definitely the case with each students' goal of learning to type like a pro.
Some of the students have improved really quickly, while others have been a bit slower and more cautious with learning to look at the screen and not at the keyboard all the time.
Listening, looking and hand-eye co-ordination are all part of becoming a better typist.