DFI Reflection - Day 1 - Core Business

It's finally started! After watching my colleagues for two terms now, completing their DFI for Manaiakalani, and being the only one in the syndicate who hasn't been through the course, it's my turn! It feels like a long time coming and it is very exciting.

Starting the day by reminding us why we are all picking up the Manaiakalani kaupapa and how it all began was great. It cemented the decision we as a Board made to hook into this pedagogy and take Waitara East School and its tamariki forward. We are here for the tamariki first and foremost and it is our responsibility as kaiako to deliver education that is relevant, interesting and authentic. Dorothy's presentation took me back to the first time I heard about Manaiakalani and how excited I felt then.

With the day called "Core Business" we quickly covered the core products in the suite we would be using and how to use them.  It was the first time I saw Google Groups, apart from as an icon lurking on the edge of my screen when I used the waffle! I can already see uses for it as the school grows in its digital capacity and learners come online. I see it as useful for Guiding as well (I'm a Unit Leader and Regional Hub Coordinator for Guides in Te Tai Hauāuru) with whānau around the province involved in various events. 

We covered Drive, which I felt I had a handle on regarding organisation, but the key is to actually use the organisation you set up. I was glad I didn't have to share my screen to show how it looks to everyone in my Digital Bubble. 

Brushing up on Google Docs was good, with the scavenger hunt particularly perplexing. I have spent years using word in a professional setting in offices and have a great understanding of its features. Trying to cross that over into Docs has been frustrating at times with differing levels of functionality, but more that I haven't taken the time to check through every menu item yet. This exercise forced me to look for what I had to do in order to complete it. 

We also used docs to create a Poster, or something that would a table in it. I created a resource to go on my site for our tamariki to use. It directs them to suitable resources for our Te Awa Inquiry. It includes links to Google Docs, YouTube and articles across the internet. 

Click on the image to open a new window and check out the document "Te Awa Resources"

A long day, but a great one. I'm looking forward to next week and getting to know my bubble group a bit better. In the meantime, I will be sharing the Te Awa doc with my kopa and working on the presentation of my blog to fill in any gaps and to better reflect ME!