Thursday 16 June 2016

Paradise - Waimarie Smith

We are Aotearoa by Hannah Milo & Ella Dale

Nibbles and Pickles Update

We took some individuals photos and photos together with the guinea pigs, I hope you like them.



Love this !!

Te Aroha



Te aroha - LoveTe whakapono - FaithMe te rangimarie - Peace

This is a beautiful song that we sang this afternoon to conclude our farewell ceremony to Elizabeth and William.



Garden Post

The Garden

Hi and welcome to our garden we are the Head Gardeners. Our goal is is to plant,harvest and cook with the food from the garden we might even sell our crops for fundraising.
All the Leaves
It would have taken a looonnng time to rake up all the leaves but we had some help from the Foxes.


Meet the Head Gardeners.
Hi, I will be writing this blog.My goal for the garden is to be able sell and/or use them in our cooking.
Hi, I am a Head Gardener I enjoy my role as a Head Gardener as I get to co-operate with the other students in my class.My goal is to have a beautiful garden.
Hi, I'm a Head Gardener. My goal is to sell the crops for fundraising. I will also be helping with the slide show.


Our latest additional to Rm15


Welcome to the Room 15 family Nibbles!!!

Thursday 9 June 2016

Science and Technology Day in Room15

Technology and collaboration....

 This term our science day took a Montessori twist - following the interests and strengths of our whanau members, seeing tuakana working with teina and sharing their robotics skills...

 A very big thank you to Renee and Chris...

For sharing their own knowledge and time with a group of students who built online rockets!

Montessori materials....

that align with the interests of groups and individuals were explored.  This was a great opportunity for students to remember past learning and apply their knowledge as they shared with newer members of our whanau...



And great discussions about our world... and our universe resulted from this exploration.

 To piece things altogether....

We revisited previous learning about the creation of the earth and its layers, and used this knowledge to unpack the myth "The Battle of the Mountains".  As a suggestion from one of the whanau this battle was recreated by the teina for the tuakana to enjoy.  






The newest members of our whanau were able to join us today on our journey and we look forward to the contribution they will bring to our learning.


Monday 30 May 2016

Theme Week - Matariki


Today, in Rm15, our main focus was on Matariki.  Here is a snapshot into today's morning work cycle.

Tuakana teaching teina how to create their own visual mihi.


Visual art and geography combined to arouse interest about NZ Maori place names for these students.  They got talking about Stewart Island and if that was a Maori name and that perhaps they could come up with a good Maori name for it.


Students looked at their own mihi and pepeha (an introductory 'speech' - based on whakapapa - recited during mihimihi).

Ko ____________ te māunga
Ko ____________ te awa/roto/moana
Ko ____________ te waka *
Ko ____________ tōku tīpuna *
Ko ____________ tōku iwi
Ko ____________ tōku hapū
Ko ____________ tōku marae *
Nō ____________ ahau
Ko ____________ rāua ko __________ ōku mātua *
Ko ____________ tōku ingoa


The mountain that I affiliate to is _________________________
The river/lake/sea that I affiliate to is ____________________
The waka that I affiliate to is ____________________________ *
My (founding) ancestor is _______________ *
My tribe is _____________________________
My sub-tribe is _________________________
My marae is ___________________________ *
I am from _____________________________
My parents are __________ and ___________ *
My name is ____________________________

Great discussion, planning and organisation going into Matariki.

Teina teaching tuakana how to build a visual mihi.
Mattie worked on a visual art / 3D creation to represent his interpretation of Matariki.  When the students shared their 'work in progress' this afternoon a teina student commented to Mattie how "inspiring' his work was.


21st Century skills in play here with collaboration and co-operation occurring naturally. 
Students practicing ti raku alongside others creating their visual mihi.




What's Cooking in Rm15?

                                                      Welcome!

Welcome to the class kitchen. I, Olesya, am going to keep you up to date on what is happening in the class kitchen.

Term 1
In term one the kitchen had been used three times.
The first time some students made pancakes.
The second time others made chocolate brownies.
The third time a different group made cupcakes.

Term 2
It started of with a cooking group making banana cake.
The second group made cupcakes.
The third group to venture into the kitchen made yummy chocolate cake.




Enjoying our time in the kitchen.

Recently Afghans were baked.


Thursday 26 May 2016

Compulsory Viewing for all parents

There was a special report that TV3 aired last night (click on the link below to watch the catch up).  It is thought provoking and timely with reports about to be given out.  It's important that we as Montessorians understand the impact testing and assessment has on our children and their psychological and emotional wellbeing.  Comparing our children at all is wrong let alone comparing them to 'national standards'.   

Why, when we are reporting to parents, do we only tell them about their child's achievements  in regards to reading , writing and mathematics?  What about all the other equally, if not more important, learning areas?  The Arts - music, visual art, drama, dance, sciences, geography, history, gardening, cooking...  

Maria Montessori was all about 'following the child' in doing so this enables children to work on what interests them and at their own pace.  So, if you get a report and see 'Below, At and Above' please be mindful that this is a snapshot of your child's achievement in a given test and at a point in time against a national standard which has nothing to do with their own personal growth and development which is as individualised as each of us is unique.

If I was asked what the purpose of education in the 21st Century is I would say to help every child develop essential skills that already exist within and to master the creative learning process to develop the skills essential for success.  

World Class? Inside NZ Education - A Special Report

Award-winning documentary maker and author Bryan Bruce asks what the purpose of public education in the 21st Century is; and how should we be teaching our children to help them deal with whatever the future will throw at them?






Wednesday 25 May 2016

Thursdays in Rm15

Rm15 being introduced to philosophical discussion.

A couple of teina looking at the Commutative Law of Distribution.

Do you remember learning stick games during your primary schooling?  The teina are learning Maori games as part of their te reo maori with Mrs Norton on Thursdays. 


Maori place names of New Zealand was the task these two took on last week. 

The tuakana have enjoyed hablando en español. Ruth sole habla en español during her sessions with them. My Spanish is un poco. Ask your child to share with you what they have learned so far.

What Did Plato say about Music...


We all enjoyed the impromptu violin concert from Katya.  

There was lots of interest and inquiring.