DFI Session 9

Today was the last DFI session. I have gained soo much new knowledge- what wonderful professional development. I have come out of this training feeling more digitally confident and able to support students with their digital learning journey. The DFI training couldn't have come at a better time! We only had a couple of sessions face to face and then the rest was run via distance learning using Google Hangout due to Covid-19. Participating via distance really helped me to gain further knowledge that I then used to teach my own class while they were learning distantly also.

As well as feeling more confident to teach children using the google apps and tools I also feel like I have come out of this learning journey better equiped to manage my own work load. A few things that have already sped up my work are...
-Colour coding folders in my drive.
-Linking documents so I can move easily between both.
-Managing my emails into folders.
-Using the 'Toby' app extension on Chrome to hold tabs that I frequently use.
-Collaboration through google keep with things such as to do lists.
-A better understanding of websites and how they can be used.

I've also really enjoyed making digital work easily accessible for the children I teach, I have ...
-Organised folders in their drive (with a young class all children work in the same drive).
-Simplified our website and learning visually. I enjoyed using the white backgrounds rather than overwhelming the children with too many bright colours (guilty of this in the past).
-Less links for the children to navigate

I am really looking forward to getting back into the classroom and supporting the children to continue learning in a rich digital environment. Over the past 7 weeks the children have done a really great job alongside their families of accessing the learning online each day. What an awesome position to be in to be teaching children who are so empowered I cannot wait to continue the digital learning journey with them and make rewindable learning a part of our everyday learning experiences.

Finally a highlight for me was becoming a Google Certified Level1 Educator!

Thank you for a fantastic 9 weeks!