First of all, students learnt how they connect to places through their pepeha. They acknowledged connections they had to their surroundings: mountains, rivers, lakes, other special places to them, and family. Creating an artwork to show these things helped students to memorise lines from their pepeha. The next step for most students is to work on their pronunciation of te reo Māori and to be able to recite their whole pepeha from memory.
Next, we explored how people connect to places through maths. Conducting statistical investigations to gather information focused our learning. Students formulated investigations to find information about the different areas in Taupō that Room 2 students lived in, their favourite Taupō activities, and favourite places to play at school. I was surprised to see that the senior playground received only one vote. This led the class to delve deeper into this; why didn’t students have a stronger connection to the school playground?
Students had to learn to write their personal opinions about the senior playground. Their success criteria was to include the pros and cons of the playground, what they would add or remove to improve it, and how they could make it more inclusive for all students.
Overall, I think our current playground is scary because it’s high up in the air and people wobble it! But if you’re a pro you can jump off the high places.
The pros of it are the green steps and the zip line. The zipline is really cool because you go really fast at the start until you get to the middle. In the middle it just stops so you get stuck.
I hate the rockwall because the screws are loose and you can fall off and hurt yourself.
I would remove the bark and the wooden guard so everyone can play on the playground.
After students shared their personal opinions, we looked more closely at the idea of inclusivity, and how people have a stronger connection to places if they feel included. We discussed what people did at lunchtimes and discovered that some students said they didn’t know what to do or were bored. When asked how we might fix this, students came up with the idea of creating games. When asked how they could make them inclusive so they don’t favour anyone in particular, this is what students had to say.
We can make some games just for fun, and some other games where they are racing. I want to make a fun game because I don’t care about racing - Aria
I want to make a racing game because I like racing against other people.
Room 2 created some great games that were inclusive. Games worked very well with small groups because small groups listened better so they could understand what they had to do. Students ran their games at the Ohaaki Celebration of Learning. Positives that groups identified were that everyone was having fun, students were excited and Room 2 students enjoyed making their courses.
Some of the negatives that groups identified were that groups were too big, some students weren’t following the rules and some students were being silly. Some game organisers felt a bit frustrated - but from frustration comes learning. To prevent similar challenges from happening in the future, students suggested we have an adult supervisor or responsible senior student at each game.
Room 2’s learning journey took us in many different directions. Through different curriculum areas, students learnt how natural resources and inclusivity help people connect with places.
I am from Christchurch but moved to Taupō at the end of 2018. I am passionate about travelling with my most memorable trip being to Egypt. I also love keeping fit through sport, the gym and just getting out and exploring the outdoors.
I have been a qualified teacher working in New Zealand since 2013. Prior to that, I spent 8 years in Hong Kong working with Chinese children in primary schools.
I decided to pursue a career in teaching because I loved the idea of making a difference in the world by helping children learn and develop as people. It is rewarding to see the progress children make and to be a part of their learning journeys.
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