MIT2020 - Final Meetup/Reflections

Today my MIT journey for 2020 wrapped up as our crew gathered at KPMG for the last time. Given the year we have had, it was actually the first and only time that we were all present in person in Auckland. We took time to reflect on our projects, share next steps and offered up words of support and advice to each other. 

It seems a mighty long time since we are first gathered at Kuaotuna in late February that is 9 months and 2 lockdowns ago!

My next steps:

- Update content (videos, site pages) on Get Ready site for 2021 using feedback from colleagues and students
- Continue to reach out to the local high school and leverage the learning I have gained from designing Get Ready! site and attempt to bring my original achievement objective to fruition i.e. develop a digital tool to assist with Year 8 transition to high school

What could I have done differently?

Woulda (With 20/20 hindsight)

• Identified AND met with a larger group of key stakeholders at local high school from start of 2020;
• Done thorough inventory of the resources/programmes the local high school currently uses for Year 9 transition 
• Focused on Year 8s exclusively from the start of the year - for feedback
• Identify gaps/opportunities to develop resources further or create new tool from scratch

Shoulda (Woulda but circumstances made it challenging to do)

• Had better lead times for student surveys to get as much feedback as possible, 

Coulda (Should have but didn't!)

• Met with/interviewed Year 9 deans at other Manaiakalani High Schools  to find out how they handle Year 9 transition.

Thank you to Dorothy, Matt and Jenny for supporting us all through this MIT experience - what a journey for us especially in a year that COVID threw a spanner in the works many times over! Thanks for the opportunity to explore digital solutions to a range of issues that are impacting student achievement.

MIT2020 - Manaiakalani Outreach and Principals Wananga 2020

Today's wananga was a moment to come together at the end of what has been a challenging year and celebrate milestones in student achievement (thank you to Dr Aaron Wilson from Woolf-Fisher) and for our MIT 2020 cohort to present their design projects.

The hui opened with a performance from Manaia ki te rangi - the senior kapa haka group from Pt England School and opening remarks from Russell Burt (Convenor of the Manaiakalani schools cluster, Principal of Pt. England ) and Pat Sneddon (Chairman, Manaiakalani Education Trust). 

L to R: Manaia ki te rangi (Kapa haka roopu), Russell Burt

MIT 2020 - Break time!

It was quite an experience to be speaking in front of a room full of 150 school leaders and educators. The time limit (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide )was both a blessing and a curse - each of us presenting, needed to be ruthless with what we included and culled to keep to the timeframes; I chose 'old skool' styles and went with my printed notes - it gave me much comfort to have sheets of paper in my hands!

I'd like to extend a huge pakipaki and congratulations to Sarah, Alethea, Tanya, Angela, Kerianna, Sonali and Jo - my fellow MITers - so very proud of all of you!

MIT2020 - Wananga Preparation

Presentation challenge:  I need to distill my MIT design project journey into a presentation using the Pecha Kucha format - 20 slides, each slide visible for 20 seconds -ready for the Manaiakalani Outreach and Principals Wananga next week on October 22nd - watch this space!

MIT2020 - Launch Day - Get Ready! Kia Rite! Nofo Sauni!

Last day of the term and one month exactly before the Year 8s go to camp! Today is launch day for the Get Ready! site. It will be linked off the main learning site for all intermediate students. Below are screenshots of the landing page - click here to see the published site which includes:

- the Get Ready! Kia Rite! Nofo sauni! banner - translations in Te Reo Māori and Samoan

- key dates/deadlines, location map and a photo gallery

- a questionnaire for all camp related queries, 

-  Four student videos

- key Mindset slogans

- Karakia 

GOOGLE Analytics has been activated to monitor usage of the site.  By the end of Day 1, 22 users had accessed the site - a promising start!

MIT 2020 - Tuakana-teina: Year 9s in action!

I got in touch with Year 9 students at the local high school last week to see if they would be keen to be part of the GET READY! project. Many were keen but in the end was happy to reconnect with two ex-Pt Englanders - Charlese was in my home class from last year and in school to help out with the weekly Riverside Club as student leader and Troy, was super keen to help out and ended up being very generous with his time,- I ended up filming bulk of videos with him!

Their input seemed like a positive way to build the tuakana-teina connection. Reaching out (via video). Being older/recent peers of the current batch of Year 8s the tips/advice they had to offer were likely to resonate more effectively than if the same information was coming from a well-meaning teacher!

Here are two examples of the videos we filmed:

PAPERWORK

GEAR LIST

MIT 2020: The latest iteration!

In today's GOOGLE HANGOUT  I got to share the latest iteration (draft version!) of my digital tool - named Get Ready! Kia Rite! Nofo Sauni! - my latest attempt to create a one stop site that  would be engaging and will support students' preparation for the upcoming Year 8 camp.

I started with all the practical elements for students and Team 5 staff going to the Year 8 Leadership camp e.g. key dates (camp and our annual fundraiser), permission slips, and the gear list as well as a map and a photo gallery with highlights from camp in 2019.

To get some benchmark data, I asked all Year 8 students to fill out a survey form - a self-assessment of their organisation skills and a set of questions to gauge their interest, excitement and concerns about Year 8 camp.

Survey responses provide valuable feedback for further site content. There were common themes in the concerns that student's had about their camp experience e.g. nerves around having to say a karakia at meal times, not having friends in their camp groups, feeling homesick and the possibility of getting hurt!

Using the template of the TAHA CHALLENGE site, I wanted to incorporate student videos into the site as way to deliver key messages. 

We are blessed with a rich diversity of languages amongst our Year 8 cohort. To celebrate this living resource and bring forth students who are not the regular student leaders, a group of Year 8s have been recorded reciting prayers in their mother languages.

Karakia - Cook Island Māori

   

Overall, I am feeling pretty confident about how I am tracking but still need to complete the student videos for the site and have it ready to launch by end of this term.

I really appreciate the feedback I received from MITers in my hangout session:

Sonali: Great archive for siblings of senior students as they come through to the intermediate block and see their older brothers/sisters/cousins 

Angela: Consider how to work in with local college and see if can link to Graduate Profile

Dorothy: Get in touch with Hinearau, COL Across Schools Support based at Tamaki College to see how this tool could be developed further into resource to support the Year 9 transition

MIT2020 - Research: What is self-management?

Reading through the literature, the importance of being a competent self-management should not be underestimated. Studies show that strong self-management skills in students leads to better life outcomes, better performance in school and lower school dropout rates.

It is clear that being a successful self-manager requires a person to be competent across a number of areas including a person's skillset for organisation, planning, time management, stress management and self-motivation.

For the purposes of my design project, I will focus on the ORGANISATION component. My aim is to design a tool that will support Year 8 students to get ready for their leadership camp in the first week of Term 3.