Reflecting on my use of Te Reo Maori

Use of Maori in the Habitat

A very proud moment for me - Eve gave me a chocolate fish (real, not virtual) as a thank you for using Maori everyday, whenever I can, in the habitat. Ka pai me!!

4 minutes of me

A task we were set, to introduce ourselves to the whole team, was to talk for no more than 4 minutes about;

where you are from?

where you have taught/lead? 

What, in the last 5 years, has influenced your beliefs about teaching and learning and the impact this has had on your practice?

I decided to start mine with a mini mihi. Couple of reasons why I did this. Firstly, something I think is important in learning is to feel safe enough to enable you to take risks, and secondly, Te Reo Maori is something that interests me and is an area of learning I want to develop further for myself and my learners.

I was very nervous, spoke way too quickly but I think it showed my beliefs  as I took a risk - many in the room were much better at speaking Maori than I am, but they appreciated my effort.

Influences on my teaching were primarily in the room as I have learnt so much more from being on the job and surrounded by amazingly inspirational mentors, rather than through the GradDip.

So much I didn't say, but I was proud of my mihi and as nerve wracking as it was I'm very glad I did it!

Using Maori

One of my (many) goals it to use more Maori in my day and to make sure that in my planning (and that of the team) the bi-cultural heritage is being respected.

I'm not one for token-ism and so I'm trying to use Te Reo Maori in a genuine way. Greeting students in the morning and afternoon, giving basic instructions, and learning basic vocab with my children. I believe that if they see me as a learner of Maori then they will be willing to give it a go too.

In the writing centre I have also put in some Maori writing to be done - a very simple Mihi, and I just need to explain what needs to be done so they students can do it with minimal support during Learning Centre time.