DFI Week 1: Core Business

Having been part of Manaiakalani for the past 3 years I knew a bit about the background of how and why everything started but today gained a deeper understanding around the reasons for the Manaiakalani movement and the establishment of the trust. One thing that stood out for me from listening to Dorothy's talk was the innovative attitude of the founding group of teachers. Dorothy got us thinking about where we were during 2006, and I remember wanting that extra thing for the students in my class so I totally understood why Manaiakalani began. It was, and still is, about making things work with what you had, and when you want the best for your students that is what you do.

I found the sessions around G Suite really helpful (especially after thinking I knew it all already)! I learned a lot of tricks and tips to help with managing all the documents that I deal with on a daily basis.

I have created a poster on some of the ideas I learned more about or heard for the first time today.

There are two things that I think I could use in my classroom on Monday to improve the outcomes for my learners.

1. Teaching the students how to use the correct formatting tools for the 21st century and especially remembering to use “C shift V” to remove all formatting when pasting onto a document or into their blog.
2. Using voice typing on a more regular basis for literacy. I can see this tool being very useful especially for increasing reading mileage and getting more ideas recorded in writing time.

Not only can I see these tools being useful for my students but also for myself. I think what I have learned today about using the correct formatting tools, using the explore tool, how to remove backgrounds, how to create posters in google docs, just to name a few things, are going to help my confidence and streamline many of the clunky procedures that often slow me down.