Cindy Wihongi - Professional Blog

 So today has been a really interesting day and great to get some history on the empowerment aspect of Manaiakalani.  I really enjoyed Dorothy's presentation where we worked through some examples of just how empowering the ability to access information is.  Students who are able to take responsibility for some of this accessing for the whanau and even teaching their whanau is incredibly exciting - an authentic example of tuakana-teina relationship working in reverse.  The accessing of all devices and making this possible for all socio-economics within our communities is also an amazing advantage for our tamariki.  It allows for equality, which although should always be the case in education, is certainly not.  I loved the quote that Dorothy shared with us along with her wero... Based on what we have been learning about today, my statemnt would be as follows:  The greatest joy comes from Empowering students to....allow them to follow any path they may w...

So today was all about the big word.... Ubiquitous!! In a nut shell I was able to determine that this really means that all our learning needs to be rewindable and as one of the facilitators put it, 'if it's worth teaching, it's worth recording (or something along those lines!!).  I think like all of the learning that we have experienced throughout the DFI, although things take a while to get my head around and a while to set up, it is worth it once it is done.  I really feel like this in regards to the Screencastify and also the Workspace within Hapara.  I believe that given my students year group (6 and 7), they have the ability to be accountable for their learning (well most of them!) and therefore the opportunity to present learning opportunities through Workspace would be a good way to assist them with this.   As I have never used Screencastify or Workspace before, this is going to involve a bit of self-training and also perseverance.  I do think ...

It was great to hear Dorothy converse regarding connection today. This to me, is a huge part of why we communicate online or should I say, one of the massive benefits of online learning. We live within a world today where whanau are so spread out but yet their support around learning is still invaluable. To have the opportunity for them to be able to be in touch with their tamariki's learning is so crucial and so possible. When looking at our sites from Amy's screen, it became very obvious what could be viewed etc and how appealing/not appealing my site was! I have been able to look at my site today from another perspective which I feel has been great in improving my workflow as a professional. If it doesn't do what its meant to do, then its not worth having?? Having had the opportunity to begin fiddling around with my site will definitely have some benefit to both me and my learners. I feel that when I set it up, it was a matter of getting information on there. Now ...

  What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy? What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional? What did I learn that could be used with my learners?   What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life? Its was great to get some insight into the kaupapa around visibility.  It was interesting to understand and discuss the benefits of the visibility as I was not in the classroom last year during lockdown.  It made complete sense and I look forward to seeing this in 'action' once my class site is all up and running.  The ability to be so collaborative is also a massive benefit and one that I am already seeing happen within my kura.   Having a go at making a site based on a topic/inquiry was an awesome way of promoting student agency as well as getting whanau involved in their tamariki learning.  I really enjoyed seein...