Feeling Creative and efficient

Today I have made use of a number of the tools I've learned over the past few weeks in the DFI.   For the last week of the term, I have planned a wellbeing week for staff to align with Mental Health Awareness week.   There will be a number of activities, with some optional that staff will need to register for.   Prior to the DFI this would probably have involved setting up a number of separate Google docs and using email to communicate the week's activities to staff. 

This photo shows part of a Google doc designed using tables, the color pick tool, Jamboard,  and links to documents in a folder with the correct sharing settings.  I have shared the document with a colleague who will add more links to the activities she has responsibility for.    Staff will be able to access all the information they need and register for activities all from this page. 

I felt confident in putting all the elements together and managed to do  this efficiently.    I had a clear purpose and a plan for how I wanted the document to look, and how it needed to be used.    Being very purpose-driven makes a big difference in how I approached the task.  I get frustrated with practice tasks when I don't have a real need.   When I've completed something I feel satisfied when it has a use. 

Over the course of the DFI I have altered the way I label emails, label, and file google docs, become more adept at ensuring sharing settings are correct, used forms more efficiently, and find myself using Google Keep for an increasing range of purposes, both personal and professional.   I've updated a professional learning site for staff and an thinking about other uses for sites.    I feel more efficient and organised - which I thought I was beforehand.  Great to learn new ways to improve on anything that saves time.    

Some of the tools and programmes don't yet meet a need for me.   However, sometime in the future, I may see a purpose for their use and it will be good to have the knowledge to draw on.