Me he te!

Have been scouting for some fresh Te Reo and I scored some! Me he te! (Like a boss!)

Kiwaha (which is kind of a Maori term for idioms - things that don't really make sense in translation so you just have to know them...).

Found this - which has the term in English, then in Maori , then a sound file to listen to!

Also some images from He Maori Ahau Facebook page

Pepeha, Acknowledgement and Humbleness

I am humbled and valued today!
Our Maori language expert was in today.
He sat with me after his session to share with me that he was very impressed with the  pronunciation, commitment and ability of our learners (including me!) in picking up this complex mihi he has provided us with!

A week or two ago he arrived to teach us a graphic way of remembering the components, only to find, we had already employed the exact strategy he wanted to show us - and to great success!

We have been utilising visual cues (from The Writing Book) in our writing and we had the idea to use  them to remember each line of our mihi.

So we all have a coloured strip of paper with circled stick figure images that trigger us to remember the part we are up to.

We are ingenious apparently!

He also made a point of acknowledging my part in the improvements in attitude, behaviour and engagement of some of the more infamous members of our learning environment.
That is just the pep one needs every now and then!

#feelingblessed

Places for Mihi!

Useful places name resource  - I am thinking for mihi.

It includes pronunciation and translation.
Need to get this on the blog so students can use it for their mini this term.

The Treaty

Underlying our work this term on developing our learning environment and expectations is the concept of a classroom treaty.
I have attempted to educate about our NZ Treaty in subtle ways as well as direct teaching.

We have the treaty up on the wall (a facsimile) and our classroom treaty relates to this and will be compared to it.

On the list of activities are a few readings and a station activity.

EDIT: We had an excellent impromptu discussion about Wairau that led into discussion about The Treaty and language interpretation and unfairness.

Te Whāriki- because learning happens everywhere and all the time...

Have been having a quick re-look at Te Whāriki which came up as part of our change team work last year (to do with reviewing our use of assessment). The literal translation of Te Whāriki is 'The Woven Mat' - a holistic metaphor for what we do, indeed!
Te Whāriki is based on the aspirations that children grow up:

• as competent and confident learners and communicators
• healthy in mind, body and spirit
• secure in their sense of belonging
• secure in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society.

I initially was attracted to it in terms of integrating discovery learning into St V's classroom programme.
It is a surprising wee gem of a document - well done Early Childhood - thank goodness the government isn't interfering with this side of their professionalism ... yet (knock on wood!!!).

Te Whāriki principles are;

• Empowerment
• Holistic Development
• Family and Community 
• Relationships

What an amazing foundation for our youngsters - it would be great if this could transition more into our primary curriculum ( not to mention our secondary!). These things are important to us all!!

Notes I made this time around

Empowerment - Feedback to students on their learning must enhance their sense of themselves to nurture esteem in their capability and competence

Holistic Development - assessing needs to take place in context - transparently meaningful/purposeful activities

Family and Community

The necessity and usefulness of having family integrated into  assessment and evaluation of the curriculum AND student's learning and development.

Also I note the positives and negatives we deal with as educators in the reality of parental influence on learning (transferences of parents educational baggage to their children).

Relationships - adults as learners - life long learners whether they know it or not! Self awareness of this is key.

Five learning strands

 Te Whāriki’s four principles are interwoven with these learning areas:

• Mana atua wellbeing
• Mana tangata contribution
• Mana whenua belonging
• Mana reo communication
• Mana aotūroa exploration.

Thoughts on these another time...

Māori Cultural Lens Walkthrough

Sonya came through to do the walk through today. Specifically looking at evidence for aspects of Wananga, Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, Tangata Whenua and Ako. I was pretty happy with all the things she noticed in ten minutes - except "Uses Te Reo in the class and encourages learners to speak Te Reo if they want to" (and the corresponding Leanrer side) as I specifically remember when this occurred. I think she got into an in-depth conversation with SP and didn't hear this. Oh well - it's not like we're fluent!

This sheet is great as it helps me to self identify next steps e.g. we need more local tikanga as part of our classroom culture. How can I achieve this?

Tātaiako

Wanted to make a note that I am enjoying spending time looking at the Tātaiako document and readings in our Change Team PD with Cat. Using this as a lens on my own practise has been enlightening and rewarding.

The dimension indicators have been really useful in identifying and refining my existing practise as well as  putting labels on the gaps (aka areas I can improve for the benefit of our learners).

My current favourite of the cultural competencies is Manaakitanga as it is all about showing integrity, sincerity and respect; the foundation of my teaching pedagogy! Aspirationally and inspirationally.

Although, to be fair, I think I do AKO best. Lots of teina/tuakana, reciprocal teaching and student initiated learning.

Lofty Mountains Rock

Found a whakatauki that fits with my pedagogical beliefs about needing to have high expectations for ALL students.

‘Arohatia te Reo – cherish the language'

Kia ora!  My class has been having fun with their Māori phrases this month - I have a stock set of phrases that are in deeply embedded in my  everyday language (I even ask the cat if he wants some "miraka"...).
We have been pushing ourselves lately though - Homai (pass me) this and that - roll call in the morning with more complex range of feelings
Kei te pehea koe?  Kei te wiriwiri!
We make sure we ask Papa Maru the correct pronunciation for things (turns out I have been saying the word for pen wrong all these years...).


To commemorate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) this year I want to share some history about it.
It has been a 'thing' since 1975.

In the last 200 years the history of the Māori language (te reo Māori) has been one of ups and downs. At the beginning of the 19th century it was the predominant language spoken in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As more English speakers arrived in New Zealand, the Māori language was increasingly confined to Māori communities. By the mid-20th century there were concerns that the language was dying out.

Major initiatives launched from the 1980s have brought about a revival of te reo. In the early 21st century, more than 130,000 people of Māori ethnicity could speak and understand te reo, one of the three official languages of New Zealand (the others are English and New Zealand Sign Language).

I hope attitudes are changing towards this language - although I do remember having a few parents (via their children) in 2012 be very difficult about even incidental classroom use of Māori language and how sad this made me.
Always meet this with a professional attitude - "it is the law in NZ and we are officially bicultural" - followed up with my personal opinion "I love the Māori language!" - not to mention it is good for the functioning of a young brain to know more than one language (although I don't suppose it matters what language that is... it may as well be one of ours!).

Try a Māori language quiz...

In 2014 Māori Language Week is from 21-27 July; the theme is 'Te Kupu o te Wiki', 'The Word of the Week’.