GAFE Summit

This week I was lucky to attend the Google Apps for Education Summit at Albany High School. It started off with an inspiring keynote by John Bailey about Disruptive Innovation. Once this was finished, I went upstairs to find myself a quiet spot to go over my own presentation. This was the first time I have ever presented so to put it plainly, I was terrified. In fact, that may be a bit of an understatement. I was presenting my story of starting a digital classroom using Hapara and Google Drive, illustrating the challenges and successes I had along the way. Despite the typical technical difficulties that threw me off quite a bit in the beginning and incredible nerves, I was really happy with the great feedback I received from those who attended. It has definitely sparked something that I didn't realise I had in me - I'm already considering submitting an idea for the Ulearn Conference in October this year.

With the buzz of having my presentation behind me, I was free to explore the rest of what GAFE had to offer, starting with Wes Warner and his passionate demonstration of the uses of Google Earth and how diverse it is! I definitely can't wait for this to become available on Google Chromes so I can start using it in class.

Day two of the conference, Newmarket Primary School truly took over! With Natasha Walden and Belinda Hitchman picking up the two Chromebook prizes during the welcome, and Natasha, Waveney Bryant and Sonya Van Schaijik all presenting throughout the day. Holly Clark gave a killer presentation about disruptive innovation, continuing on from John Baileys keynote from day 1. This really hit me and straight away I was looking for more ways to help develop my practice and offer more innovative opportunities to my students.

Next up was Natasha on gearing up your staff to use Google Drive. I loved her simplistic, easy approach to making the huge change from paper to digital format. Then we had Waveney who showed us how she is monitoring her students achievement through digital badges - such a fantastic idea and I can't wait to get these going with my own students in day one next term! After lunch, Sonya showed us TeachMeetNZ in action. I was so proud to see my colleagues present at the summit. They are such a supportive and passionate bunch! I am so lucky to be able to work with them every day.

Overall, the summit was an all around winner. I am so happy that Sonya believed in me enough to encourage me to present, and that she supported all of us from Newmarket School to do something that was so challenging and out of our comfort zones, but so rewarding. Much like last year, the Summit was a great way to develop new connections with like minded educators and follow their journeys as well. I can't wait for #GAFEsummit 2016!

A proud #gafesummit mama @newmarketschool presentation team rocked with @wavesbryant @MissSpeir @MissNWalden 🌟🌟🌟🌟 pic.twitter.com/ypFMevO0zb

— Sonya (@vanschaijik) April 15, 2015

Discovery Friday

In Te Ako Kahikatea we believe students need to explore their own interests and curiosities. We want to give them a chance to try something new by introducing them to something they may have never tried before. We want them to develop a project based on their personal interests and reflect on the progress they are making. Students will timetable their own day, either selecting a workshop provided by a teacher or guest, or illustrating what is is they plan on doing with their time and having that approved and monitored by their teacher/mentor.

Students can work independently or collaboratively, while being offered a broad scope of opportunities.

Why?

Student voice. Student choice. Students collaborating. Students being self directed and in charge of their own learning. The chance to explore new and exciting tools. The chance to explore their own passions and interests. We hope to spark interests students didn't know they had and grow their passion for learning.

How?

Students will use this template to timetable their day each week. Teachers will ensure the students are aware of what workshops or other commitments, such as whole school assemblies, are taking place that day. They will be given 15 minutes to complete their planning and have it checked by a teacher before moving on to their first task.

Teachers will take a variety of workshops, as will guests where applicable (For example: Musician, engineer, builder), keeping aside one teacher who will be roaming and monitoring the independent tasks.

Reflections and record keeping

Students are responsible for showing evidence of their learning during discovery Friday. They can reflect in a range of ways such as vlogging their progress. It is expected that students will be able to address challenges they ran into throughout the day in their workshops or personal projects, but also recognise the progress they have made. A minimum of 1 reflection is required each day and will be stored on their Google drive for their own and teacher reference.

Students may also use the Edmodo system to keep in touch with others in their group and keep a record of the steps they are taking and any conversations they are having that relate.

What about those students who will just go with their friends or not know where to start?

Initially there will be students who don’t know what they’re interested in or will follow their friends even if their choice doesn't interest them. We will observe all students and place those who we think will need the extra support in something we believe will interest them, while holding regular student/teacher conferences to get their feedback. Feedback from students will be requested a couple of times a term so teachers can design the workshops on offer to cater to the students wants and needs.

Where to next?

• Discovery Friday is our first step in student choice, project based learning and independent timetabling. I hope that this will become something that is implemented across the curriculum spanning the whole week. Students will plan their own days, timetabling in the compulsory teacher conferences (Reading, writing, concept).

• Use of Google Calendar to assist with planning and timetabling in events.
• Students self directed in knowing ‘where to next’, implementation of progressions
• More ‘teacher to student’ conferences to inform students of how to read their progressions
• Teacher PD eg: ULearn, #EdchatNZ Conference, Google Certification
• Observation of already set up classes and schools