Having just spent the last few nights mounting students artwork that was a large focus in my class for the weeks prior- for an art exhibition next week -it was timely to reflect on the need to return to creativity. Our focus has, over years been moved away from wonderful learning experiences cited such as Elwyn Richardson, in favor of more a prescriptive crowded curriculum that focused on achieving standards at the expense of many things, including engaging all students with learning. For a number of years I have heard that the Early Childhood sector has been fortunate to be provided with opportunities for a more balanced approach and provide wonderful creative opportunities with their curriculum Te Whāriki. Thinking about the sight, sound and motion, Sisimo, also fits nicely with the brain learning that I have also been doing and to optimize learning we focus on music movement and engaging activities, ( and 60-90 repititions! ) so there is lots of practice time.
Today I experimented with using Draw and how resources can be created using Drag and Drop. A follow up for me is to investigate if these slides can be used in Seesaw as that is the learning vehicle my class uses on their ipads. Having used Youtube for many years my useful take away from Vicki's presentation in particular was discovering the 3 dots to the right of a kids content video allows it to be saved under playlists -as previously all were added to playlists the same way. I was trying to find a workaround and now I have! I also need to set up a new channel as mine were done many years ago and I understand the process has changed alot.
Using Slides is an area I also want to be a lot more familiar with for having had juniors for the last few years I have not needed to use them but am interested in seeing their creative potential for me and my students.
I have a long list of things I now want to develop to support my professional role, having begun with some from the first two DFI's. In many ways, just being fluent with using the tools is my focus for now as I am sure I will discover useful applications as I go.
Kia ora Delia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful reflection - I really enjoyed the link you made between our primary and secondary school challenge with having creativity squeezed out and Te Whāriki having retained that. Isn't it a blessing that it still remains in some form? With the Learn, Create, Share approach I'm sure we can bring it back. I've witnessed the create process benefitting learners immensely - there is so much scope for them to be successful in their learning when they are applying knowledge in a creative way - and it's so engaging! It's wonderful to hear you can see value in exploring Google Slides more too. I just love using all the different applications they have with our learners.
How great you have a long list! I wonder what's at the top of it to put into practice? I look forward to hearing next week,
Nga Mihi,
Amie
Kia ora Delia,
ReplyDeleteWhat great timing to focus on creativity! The art work at Waitohu is fabulous (I got had a wee peek in the hall when I was there yesterday, it looked incredible!) Slides can be a fabulous tool for creating content you are sharing with your learners, and I understand they can also be used in Seasaw. I would love to support you in your long list of things - let me know how I can help :)
Ngā mihi
Vicki