Ngā Matapakinga | Discussion

Kia ora koutou,

These are some ideas I sent to my schools before the rāhui was put in place to support them as they thought about planning for home learning. You may have other ideas to add  - it isn't very refined and I would be happy for people to add ideas by replying below. PLEASE!

• Family situation/context - are your students caring for younger siblings while parents still working - especially those in key jobs? Are parents also at home working so caring/babysitting falls to older siblings? Do they have sick / older whanau members who are causing concern and worry and so preventing them from being able to concentrate? Be kind to them and to yourself!

• Internet access at home - how good is it? Capped or unlimited? Who else in the family is trying to use it? - Parents working from home, other siblings?

• Device access at home including things like headphones. 

• If you want them to use any tech they have not used before, trial it in class now. E.g. Google Classroom, Flipgrid, Book Creator, Thinglink but also open up options so they can choose how to share their learning using a platform that they already know or that they are happy to explore the use of. 

• Providing a routine to replicate what they have at school is helpful for many but may not be doable for others if they have other family commitments (see above).

• Online for 4 - 5 hours a day is not doable or advisable for any of us! Aim to connect with kids 2 - 3 times a week as a group but otherwise check-in via Google Classroom/Google docs and personal /small group tutor hangouts.

• Be available for kids in hangout meets at set times as ‘drop-in’ sessions. These will probably be at the times when you might normally have a timetabled class with them. 

• Provide projects that can be worked on over a period of time with regular check-in points for scaffolding but that kids can work on in and amongst other stuff. 

• Work together as a team so that projects can be as cross-curricular as possible so kids not overloaded by each subject area. Work with Phys Ed/ Arts subjects - how can these be factored into the day so kids get a balance?

• Try not to overload kids with a huge amount of resources at the start, drip-feed resources when they are appropriate and provide explanations of what part of any learning they are relevant to.

• Maintain social contact through the online space - the stream in Google Classroom is great for setting mini-tasks that keep everyone connected - maybe really simple like take a photo out of your window today and post it. Or what did you do today that you felt good about (doesn’t have to be anything to do with schoolwork!)

• Asynchronous learning is more effective than synchronous in an online context - see this page for more information and some stories

• Years 1 - 4  - let them play, provide guidance for parents - games they can play, maybe create a resource pack for parents