DFI Session 9: External Recognition

 

This would be my dream term break for this time of the year- a quiet, tropical, white sand beach, warm ocean waters lapping at the shore, the scent of frangipani wafting through the air, a great book, chilled wine, and all movement at slower than a snail's pace - bliss. 

Closed border policies and the prevalence of Covid the world over have burst this bubble, and the closest I managed to get was a 3 minute walk that took me down to my local beach at Point Chevalier. The winds were blowing up from Scott Base, and the dark green water was colder than melting ice, and there was a conspicuous absence of palm trees. Definitely not a tropical paradise.

However, I did get to turn my senses off, shut down and attempt to recharge after what was an unprecedentedly busy term. I could not believe how exhaustipated I felt at the end of the ten weeks, more so than ever before in my teaching career. I'm not sure if it's because life is just getting more demanding than usual, or I'm just getting slower at keeping up!

It's taken me 3 weeks to write this entry up, with numerous starts and stops - long moments staring at a screen and not having a single notion of how to write what I want to write, and then making slow progress each visit. The two weeks break was a welcome relief from the tiredness and fatigue. And now here we are back on the hamster wheel for another ten weeks.

Our last DFI session (quite a few weeks ago!) was an opportunity for reflection,  looking at possibilities that are provided by Manaikalani moving forward, sitting the Google Level 1 exam (which I passed), short bursts of extra treasures for our kete, and to celebrate our time together.

I look back over the 8 weeks and acknowledge that despite the challenges and brain aches, we have been given so many gems, small and large, that have both altered and enriched our teaching practice, our perspectives of digital technology and its practical applications, and how we can play our part in leading our Pasifika and Maori students into the world of digital platforms. 

The treasures that fill our kete now are too numerous to mention. Our facilitators were generous with their omniscience, and very, very patient. The comradeship and joviality of our cohort, facilitators included, was enriching to the soul, and even although I know we will be swept up into the business of life and lose touch, we will not forget the faces and the personalities, and when we meet up at another point in time, there will be familiar faces in our circle once again.

I am a great believer in serendipity, and the notion that the universe places us where we are meant to be at the time we are meant to be there. I was meant to do the face to face session in 2020 but a crown-wearing virus put a stop to that. Then it was meant to happen in Term 1 of this year, but that got cancelled because there were not enough of us to make it feasible. Fast-forward to Term 2 and it finally came into fruition. How blessed was I to be surrounded by the tumuaki, classroom teachers and specialist teachers that were in my cohort learning alongside me.

I sometimes wonder who would have been in the original cohort that never came about, but only for a fleeting moment, before I am filled with warmth, thinking of all the wonderful people I was amongst each Friday. We shared stories of our struggles and achievements, the bliss of tasks that were as easy as breathing for us, and the challenge of tasks that were written and spoken in hieroglyphics, sharing many moments of laughter and self-mockery. 

All the while undertaking some pretty serious learning. I would return to school each week and teach my class at least one of the aspects that I had learned on a Friday session, just to keep maintaining the skill and keep it in use so that it became second nature. I know the rewindable learning is sitting in cyberspace, but if I don't practise and repeat a new skill constantly, it drops off my radar. 

I fully intend to go back to all the new skills from DFI session 1 to DFI session 9, and practise them one at at time until they are like breathing. This will probably take me well into 2022, but like great wines, all good things require time. The challenge for me will be making the time to continue my professional blog entries, but there is a high probability that it will be a sporadic journey, however great my intentions are.

To Dame Dorothy, and your wondrous team of facilitators, fa'afetai, fa'afetai, fa'afetai tele lava le tou tauivi malosi. Malo ma le soifua.