Creating a CV page/site

Today we were given the day to work on creating a CV page/site. I decided to first of all explore the past MDTA's CV pages to get an idea for how I could lay mine out. I then selected the highlights of 2016 to display on my CV page - each year I can then add a new selection on the top with the viewer still being able to visit previous years by scrolling down. I wanted to ensure I placed enough content on the page to display what I have learnt and been involved in, but also limited amount of text so that it remained interactive for the viewer.

Click the image below to visit my CV page!

My first Manaiakalani Film Festival!

On Wednesday it was the Manaiakalani Film Festival (to find out more and to see all the movies follow this link). All the students at Point England School caught a bus to Hoyts movie theatre in Sylvia Park to see our movies screened. This was a great opportunity to share our learning with both our school and other clusters. Along with Michelle George and Room 19 we created our movie "Freedom". Our movie explores the freedom we have in New Zealand to go to school and learn and was inspired by the Pharrell William's music video. Enjoy!

Getting my PCT site up to scratch

Today we were fortunate enough to be given a day to work on our PCT site. It was a great opportunity to come together as a group and share ideas for the site and reflect on all the experiences and opportunities we have this year to include in the twelve criteria. As I reflected on the year and the development of my site, I created a list of top tips for those who are starting out:

1. Create a PCT folder where all documents are kept in your drive in one place - this folder can then be shared with those who you want to share your site documents with.

2. Either design your site late out early so you have the areas for which you must collect evidence or create docs with the headings on in a folder.

3. Give yourself 30 minutes each week to update your site.

4. Collaborate with others - often we do not realise how so much we do each day can be evidence for our PCT site.

Here is a screenshot of my work in progress site:

My first Google Class Onair episode is complete!

I have finally managed to complete and edit my video and site page for my first Google Class Onair episode. This lesson works not only as maths lesson on basic directions but also as an opportunity to get newer students use to the basic functions of the iPad. Two of the students in the group had recently joined our class and are now beginning to grasp the basics of Explain Everything. I was amazed at how much I learnt from my teaching by revisiting the footage and I definitely will keep doing this in the future! Enjoy!


Click the image to link to the page below:

Google Class OnAir!

Today we had Matt Goodwin come in to talk to us about his Google Class OnAir experience so far. Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir is a site which follows a group of teachers and learners on their collaborative learning journey throughout the year. It is a rich online resource on which others can access the shared learning, what has been created and the resources required to complete the lessons in another learning environment. Matt provided us with a great insight and tips on how to create the videos that accompanies the planning on the Google Class OnAir Sites. We were then challenged to create our own version of a Google Class OnAir site to gain an authentic understanding of the process. I have decided that my lesson will be with a reading group and on how they engage on their iPads to support the learning. Although I have yet to finalise the planning of the lesson, I have used the HTML off one of Matt's sites to create my own Google Class OnAir page. Below you can see a sneak peek of what it looks like so far. Once I have completed the recorded lesson and edited the video to accompany my page I will post the link for you all to see!

Digital Immersion - Term 4

Today at the Manaiakalani Digital Immersion day we got to connect with other teachers in the Manaiakalani learning community. It was great to have the chance to share and learn about what other teachers have been learning, creating and sharing in their classrooms. A major focus of the day was multi modal learning and how we can create a variety of opportunities to meet the variety of learning needs of our students. I decided to create my mini-inquiry around Popcorn as this is an up and coming lesson for science in the next few weeks. Below you can see a screenshot of the almost finished slide I have created for our lesson (with some great help from Juanita) . I have included two texts (a PM reader at green level and an orange level Ready to Read book) which will link to a soundbite of the teacher reading the story so that students at a lower level can read by following along. I also found a video which shows that popcorn comes from the vegetable corn. The two EE activities are still yet to be created however one will include a poem with a series of related literacy activities and the other looks at students describing the popcorn by exploring the five senses. Below you can see a screenshot of how it currently looks!

Keep posted to find out how it goes!

Hour of Code - Flappy Santa

Today, I created my first online game using Hour of Code. Hour of code scaffolds you through the basics of block coding in a series of puzzles/lessons and then at the end gives you the opportunity to create your own game. You create your game by assigning a command to an event e.g. When Santa hits a chimney he falls to the ground or loses a certain amount of points. As you build your game you are given the opportunity to test the game along the way - this was extremely valuable as you notice changes that you need to make which you didn't initially think of e.g. how does the level of gravity you have associated affect how possible it is to flap through the width of the gap you have associated to the chimney spaces Santa flies through. When you are satisfied with the game you simply click Finish to get a shareable link. Hour of code is extremely interactive and I could just imagine how much fun students would have creating the games and sharing these with their friends!

Here is a screenshot of the coding for the game I created and a screen recording of the game being played:

To play Flappy Santa click the following link - Play here!

After I had finished Hour of Code I then also had a look at Scratch and Gamefruit. Osmo is another great piece of technology which includes activities on the basics of how to code for younger students.