Seaside Hui

Takeaways 

* Google Meet was an awesome tool which allowed me to connect to this hui, attend but it did require a bit of extra effort from both ends (the hui and myself). Many thanks to the crew! At times, I felt like a fly on the wall and I acknkowledge the other hui members for allowing me to also participate - fakaaue lahi! 

* Joining the hui online felt like being a student in my own class, forced to connect online while his mates were busy working away in class. I missed the subtleties in some tasks which is why my ideas might look different to my colleagues. For example, no one else put The Rock or Elon Musk as a possible "big" contact. Dreams are free, right? 

* I need to refine my statement going forward. 

* The hui was a great intensive filled with activities to really get you thinking and excited about your project. Attend in person where possible! 

* Covid is really annoying. I'd been excited to attend since December but I'm glad I didn't go, having been a close contact in the days leading up to this event. 

Hui Intro 

This year I am grateful for being part of the 2022 Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers Project. The first group hui took place at what looked to be a cosy and relaxing Coromandel seaside bach. I was unable to attend in person but able to join most workshops by video call - thanks to Matt, Dorothy and Jenny for letting me tune in! 

Our key leaders for this project are: 

Dorothy Burt - Logistics and Cheer Leader 

Matt Goodwin - Co-pilot and Ship Steadier 

Jenny Oxley - Commissariat Officer

This year’s group are from all over New Zealand and in teaching roles from early childhood up to high school. This was the first face-to-face meeting for most of the group. Although I wasn’t there, I previously had a great chance to connect with Nick and Anusha through our 5 Why’s projects. We had to be vulnerable in discussing what our ‘moonshot’ ideas are, through questioning and critically thinking about what others had to say.

The hui was a great location to kickstart our individual projects. There was a lot of self-reflecting but one thing that stuck out for me is that we should always remember it is our ‘user’ we see in this project, not us. This means although we may feel quite personal about our projects, we ultimately want to see student achievement improve, thus seeing THEIR needs reflected in what we choose to do. 

Discovery 

The Kuatonu Area School role play was an entertaining and interesting experience. I tuned in when this role play had already started. The level of criticism aimed at the hui and their statements caught me by surprise. It was quite jarring to hear an almost no-holds-barred panel discussion about why things hadn’t been done in the first place, or “what’s the point in doing this?” about MIT-22's different statements. I felt quite strongly about the task - only later did I realise the hui had assumed different roles and had to answer as if they were that person (e.g. Board Member, working parent, teacher, principal). 

I think this idea is really clever, because it forces you as a participant and observer to take a deeper look at what you believe to be a genuine problem or issue in your school. With that pressure, you delve into why things have happened, how others may perceive your beliefs, what could have been done differently and ultimately what to do now. 

In my statement, Y7&8 achievement in maths is significantly low (actually across the school) and needs to be accelerated towards higher academic levels. I thought of providing realistic contexts for learning - by the next hui, I need to consider a smaller scope to really address specific areas or gaps in student learning where I can have the most impact. For example, developing student’s. base level understanding of algebra, number knowledge through basic facts, fractions and so on. 

Empathy 

The empathy role play involved working with another hui member to explore what your target user may feel in class or at home in relation to your statement. The crew had to act out their statements, with special attention to what their users and families do or say in a school or home context. 

Across the team's different role plays, the idea of feeling challenged or doubtful really made it known to us as educators that we must always have our target group at the forefront of what we want to do. We need to understand that our identified 'problems' have real people with real feelings attached to the what we are trying to solve. 

Interpretation 

The “How Might We” task challenged us to turn our statements from problems into opportunities. My statement changed from: 

‘Year 7&8 students need to develop their understanding of basic level algebra because they are underachieving in maths” 

To

“How might we improve student in maths, by developing their basic understanding of algebra?” 

This shifts the statement from being viewed as a problem, but rather into something which allows several outcomes or opportunities to happen. It re-centres my area of focus, but broadens the different possible opportunities available within algebra and what/where would be a good place to start. 

Who? 

My “Who” poster got me thinking about all the possible people who could help with my MIT project. I thought on four levels from immediate points of access, to local sources, and bigger dream contacts. Lastly we had to remove one of our sources and had to say why. Initially I had Elon Musk and Dwayne Johnson for their entrepreneurism. It’s not impossible but I think there are even greater people more immediate and available to speak with. My maths team at school has some great mathematicians whose brains I’d like to pick. 

Ideation 

The Crazy 8’s sounds like an old-school Western shooter film - it isn’t but that would be an awesome title, right? This workshop got us to think of our craziest, biggest and possible ideas in relation to our projects. I struggled with this task because I’m trying to refine my overall statement. 

I like the idea that students need relevant contexts to help them learn - I also believe the underlying issues causing student underachievement in math need to be addressed. I feel like this project could become a case of merging the two together.