Digital Collaboration and Leadership Session 2

Whakatauki:
Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua
Look back and reflect so we can move forward.
It is true, this is a digital world and I teach and learn within that world. And yet all of the technological skills that I have gained have been developed alongside my students, often because of them and through them.

I guess that I can wear the hat of  'early adopter'. I always saw myself undertaking a new learning challenge from the perspective of someone who saw the idea and wanted to go from A through to Z without too much fretting on the remaining 24 points of contact. I just assumed that as I arrived at destination B or C or Q I would figure it out at the time. That attitude has been pivotal to stepping into the digital classroom I teach in. I have assimilated my love of people, learning, communicating and creating into the digital world in so many aspects of my life that now it would be difficult (but not impossible) to think of working in a classroom without technology and the tools that technology allows into the classroom to support teaching and learning.  And yet I know that I have only skimmed the surface at this point.

When I reflect on the area of my 21st Century skills I would like to focus on I think that it would be to develop greater levels of student agency. It is always a delight to watch students awaken, to see them recognise within themselves innate abilities and to see new skills build increased capability and confidence.

I think that my students would agree that this is a suitable challenge for me and for them, and they would think that they could take on that challenge. They are Year 7 & 8 students in a full primary and developing student agency and leadership within the peer group could enhance their sense of self as they transition through to secondary school.

Digital Collaboration and Leadership Session 1

Whakatauki:
Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua
Look back and reflect so we can move forward.

Revelations occur in the oddest moments: on Wednesday 23rd March at approximately 4.45p.m. I recognised my inner geek had stretched and yawned and sat up straight.  Later that evening, at about 7.45p.m. I had to acknowledge that not only was the inner geek awake but it was driven by timeframes! My perception of myself as a spontaneous human being was being challenged.

I love words... lush, sentient, capricious language that conjures up images and understanding, and provokes emotion and collaboration. And on that night I was gifted three... epistemology, ontology, and axiology. Delicious.

Then a task; to collaboratively create a visual representation of our understanding of what knowledge is and what the purpose of education is. This was when I recognised that timeframes matter to me. Who knew! I had previously thought that I worked within that zone of positive stress and last minute attention to tasks. Strange how that approach can feel like a foray into asphyxiation when you are relying on the team to move in unison towards the zero minute on an automated count down clock.

With regard to meeting the time frame... we did not quite manage this. However kudos to Gina who took it upon herself to complete the task for the group later that evening. So this is Mindlab eh? Collaborative, creative, communicative, critical thinking... and clocks! Oivay!