Manaiakalani Digital Teacher Academy Orientation

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18th January 2016       
This was our first day together as the 2016 Manaiakalani Digital Teaching Academy (MDTA) cohort. As a team building activity we embarked on a 12 kilometer walk. During this walk visited the schools in the Manaiakalani cluster, notable landmarks and public buildings.
Throughout our journey we considered the various socio-economic, political and environmental factors that had an impact on our community. A large part of this was concerned with the Tāmaki housing redevelopment. This development is particularly apparent at my school, which is currently surrounded by areas of vacant land where houses once stood. These absent houses are also representative of whānau and children who were part of my school community. However, we also witnessed the rate of construction of the new houses and predicted that it would not be long before new buildings and families occupy the empty land. We discussed this redevelopment in great detail and I will be conscious of this discourse as I enter my classroom in February.

19th January 2016
This was an introduction to the Manaiakalani programme and the beginning of our digital professional development. We discussed the components of the programme and we met some of the lecturers and facilitators who will be working with us over the next two years.The lecturers introduced the papers that we would be studying at the University of Auckland and explained the tertiary component of the MDTA.
We then received some professional development regarding various google tools and websites and constructed the framework our PRT sites.

20th January 2016
This was an orientation day for all teachers who were new to the Manaiakalani cluster. We discussed the Manaiakalani pedagogy, history and vision. We also discussed the etymology of "manaiakalani" and the fish hook shaped Manaiakalani constellation (see below) that guided waka from Hawai'i to Aotearoa. 

 It was fabulous hearing of the clusters vision and successes. My excitement to be part of the MDTA has grown over the last few days and I am very much looking forward to meeting my class in two weeks time.  

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