Day 1 DFI Term 3 2020

DFI - Day 1 Core business

Teaching is about being in the moment and being passionate about what you are doing.  We as educators need to be not just ready for change but actively looking for change, and have the growth mindset that we can and will make it happen.  With this in mind, I was really excited to be able to start this DFI journey today.

Although over the years I have been involved with KEN (in a number of roles) which works with Manaiakalani, it was really interesting to hear about the journey of the Manaiakalani cluster as there were many aspects of this initial journey that I did not know.  Seeing and hearing the insight and struggles these initial schools had, made me realize again how lucky we have been to be able to tap into their expertiese and experience again.  

Even before I started working at Ohaeawai School, I remember long conversations with a previous principal in 2011-2012 about the Manaiakalani cluster and even back then it was held up as a model that other schools could use to enhance and engage student learning.  As such it is a cluster that has just always seemed well set up and so far ahead in this journey that it was inspiring to see the challenges they started with.  If you are reading this Dorothy, thanks again for the run-through.

A few take away points.

1. Share, share, share (always my battle!)
2. Teach the basics from an early age.

Our creative task today was to get creative in google docs.  This is not something I normally would do (as I prefer to use Slides or Draw) this was a refreshing task to see all the changes that have happened within docs.  

Earlier in the day Dorothy had walked us through the need to specifically teach about naming and getting children to use headings from a young age.  When I think about this, it is very simple but also an area that we don't as teachers focus on.