4, 3, 2, 1

A journey through Covid-19, 

Like everyone else our lives were flipped upside down due to Covid-19. Children slowly started working from home; the class got smaller as the days went by. Then level four was announced and schools across Aotearoa closed their doors. 

Being a Manaia Kalani school put us in such a good place to hit the ground running with online learning. Class work was uploaded to our class site as usual, except now with the aim for students to be able to complete it unassisted. We ran sessions twice daily through Google Hangouts where I was able to teach my tamariki and the students were able to catch up with each other. 

It was a fast learning experience figuring out what worked and what didn't for the students in Te Kahu. It took just over the first week until we had the perfect system running. With a class of 27, I had 23 attending both sessions and completing their mahi and others joining where they could (only one not engaged). 

Our two lessons focused on either math or literacy, running a contract system allowed students to tap into other learning areas and expand their thinking. The independence of students grew along with their level of responsibility. Covid-19 was building students who took agency over their learning, who took pride in what they produced and grew my students from children to young adults. They chose when to take breaks and when to knuckle down and get things done. 

As levels progressed downward and normality began trickling back to us I made my way to school alongside other members of staff to make hard copy packs for whanau who had connectivity issues and for those who needed a break from the screen. 

We are now back at school and normality has been restored. Students entered school eager to get back into the swing of things and with a new sense of ownership over their learning. They were so excited to see their friends and solidify those relationships with one another. 

We discussed how our learning went and what we wanted to carry from our remote learning experience into our every day classroom life. Students enjoyed the choice they had in their learning, the choice of what tasks to complete, and when to complete them during the week. We have established a daily fitness program which students run and plan. We have also now turned our Friday's into an independent day for students to work on what is needed and fill in their gaps as they see fit. 

I have found the whole experience amazing; yes it was hard, yes it had its challenges. But the outcome of it all has been really positive for my students and their learning journeys. 

From one teacher who is very happy to have her 27 smiling faces back in front of her every day :) 

CONNECTING WITH WHANAU

During this time of uncertainty and being stuck at home connection has become something that we all value more highly than we may have in the past. Being kept away from friends and family has been difficult for myself and for my students. 

“I love those connections that make this big old world feel like a little village.” – Gina Bellman

I thought it would be awesome to connect the whanau in our class by hosting a Whanau Quiz, bringing our little village together after being a part for 5 weeks. Not only did this allow me to connect with whanau and whanau to connect with each other it also got whanau involved in their child's learning. 

It was a fun and exciting way to be involved and have a bit of fun. 
I received lots of great feedback from whanau saying it was fun, great way to connect and that it provided some good whanau time. This is definitely something I would love to do more of, Keeping whanau connected, Reconnecting our Village.