Blog Post 3 - What is Sense of Place & Why Does it Matter?

Perceptual -
            Our sense of place is based on our own personal and emotional experiences. I asked my students what they felt was their sense of place and they all had a sense of place that related to something that they were familiar with and had a personal connection to. Their sense of place all had to do with where they were from or where they spent a majority of their time. My "lifers" (students who began school at Kamehameha from Kindergarden) school sense of place were each of the teacher's classrooms that they had. While my students that came from multiple schools saw each school as a different experience that formed their overall school sense of place. 

Sociological -
            When I discussed this sociological piece with my students, it was one that took a while to figure out what they were thinking. When I asked them to give me an idea that they went into something without having a full understanding of it and how it was changed. It was an overwhelming response in how they were scared when they found out that their new math teacher had once been a police officer. They were convinced that my class would be a dictatorship type of class and since I was teaching math, a subject that they consider not fun or easy, that made them even more nervous. After six weeks of class, they are beginning to see that Mathematics can be fun and that I am not the scary hard teacher they were anticipating. They are also starting to understand their role within the classroom as they complete their classroom jobs. I have everything from paper passers, mailbox stuffer, pencil sharpener, mailman, door opener, line leaders, to desk wipers, chair wipers, and table wipers. They each know that we are trying to build a place that they are comfortable in and this can only be done by working together as a collaborative unit.

Ideological -
            One thing that my team has tried to instill into our students this year, is that we are all coming from the same place in our teaching philosophy. We all want them to succeed, to grow individually as students while getting a deeper understanding of their own personal school sense of place. It amuses me when they ask me a question and when not liking the given answer will go to another core teacher and how surprised they are to get the same answer across the board. They are only figuring out that we hold the same standards within each of our classrooms. 

Ecological -
            My classroom is its own ecosystem. The students are the living organism that relate one to another on a daily basis. We are constatnly trying to figure each other out so that our classroom will be able to work like a well oiled machine. Needless to say, we are not there yet. We are still in the adaptive stages of getting used to each other and knowing how far we can push each other without having a verbal lashout.

Political -
            The students say that within the walls of my classroom it is my way or the highway. I'm not sure where they came up with this and why they originally thought this. After six weeks of school, they now know that my classroom is an open and safe environment where we come up with class rules together and that every member has a voice and that each of these voices are important.

Why does it matter?
            That is a loaded question, but it comes down to the fact that as life-long learners each of us has a sense of place and we can relate to others sense of place on a daily basis. We are all intertwined and this unites our various sense of place. My students now know that when they are in the classroom of one of their core teachers that we all have the same mindset and set of rules that pertain to our classroom. They know that when they go to their Hawaiian Language class that they will have to oli to enter and wait for their permission to enter. The students are starting to understand that sense of place is more than where you are from. It is more than just your own ideas and personal experiences. Sense of place is a constantly changing and adaptive idea that unites the students to each other.  I look forward to this year, where we will continue to learn and grow from each other. It's not the destination that matters, but this year will be all about the journey.

            

Blog Post 2 - Portrait of My School - Kamehameha

My Students 
I have twenty-four 6th graders - twelve girls and twelve boys. They come from a range of different backgrounds, but the commonality being their Hawaiian heritage. The majority have been here since kindergarten, some entered in fourth grade, and a handful just this year in 6th grade. Their overall goal is to graduate from Kamehameha Schools. For a few they are the first to start off at Kamehameha School while many are following the footsteps of their siblings, parents, and their 'ohana.

WEO - Working Exit Outcomes

Just as DOE has their GLO's, here at Kamehameha, we have the WEO, working exit outcomes. We use these daily in our classrooms and the students are constantly looking for connections to their learning. They make cultural connections daily through our morning Piko Wehena (morning protocol) where the students oli or chant to start off their day, followed by pule (prayer), and a mele (song). To close the day we attend our afternoon Piko Panina (afternoon protocol) where they give thanks with their Oli Mahalo. The goal is to make our haumana (students) good and industrious people. To be life-long learners and though we are diverse we will come together as one in education.

Educational Mission

The mission of Kamehameha Schools is to improve the capability and well-being of Hawaiians through education.

A Brief History of Kamehameha Schools

Kamehameha Schools was founded by the will of Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1831-1884), the great-granddaughter and last direct royal descendant of Kamehameha the Great.

During her lifetime, Princess Pauahi witnessed the rapid decline of the Hawaiian population. With that decline came a challenge to preserve the Hawaiian language and culture she held dear.

The princess knew that education would be key to the survival of her people, so in an enduring act of aloha, she left them a precious gift upon her passing – 375,000 acres of ancestral land. She instructed the trustees of her estate to use the land to educate her people.

In 1887, three years after her death, the Kamehameha School for Boys opened with 37 students and four teachers. In 1894 the Kamehameha School for Girls opened.

From these modest beginnings Kamehameha Schools has grown to become a symbol of educational excellence for Hawaiians. Today, Kamehameha is a statewide educational system with three campuses on Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi serving more than 5,500 students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Kamehameha Schools also operates 29 preschools statewide, which serve more than 1,500 students.  Additionally, more than 30,000 additional Hawaiian learners are reached annually through a variety of Kamehameha Schools outreach programs, community collaborations and scholarships. (Information gathered from the ksbe.edu website).

Blog Post 1 - Where I am right now with STEMS2 in my teaching

Where I Am Right Now With STEMS2 In My Teaching

     Wow, that is a loaded statement. As you know, I am starting a new teaching position in a new grade level (6th vs 7th & 8th) , at a new school (Kamehameha), with a new team of teachers. Needless to say, I have been overwhelmed, but I am taking things slowly as they come one day at a time step by step. 

     At Kamehameha, we hold protocol every morning. We greet the 6th graders with roll call in Hawaiian to each class before we begin with oli, mele, and pule. As teachers we must respond to their oli (chant) so I have been quickly trying my best to learn my response vs looking at my notes. Just as we needed to learn new things for our summer institute so I am trying to emulate all that we learned on our Big Island trip.

     Since I've only been with the haumana (students) for two weeks since we began a few weeks after DOE, I have not gotten into content as of yet. I have tried some STEMS2 like activities to get to know each other. We began with a paper table challenge to see how many math textbooks the students would be able to stack on their paper tables. They were only given an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardboard, 8 sheets of newspaper, and a foot of masking tape to start. If they needed additional supplies, they needed to justify their needs for an additional foot of tape and four more sheets of newspaper. I now know who my negotiators are! There was a student who when she could not get what she needed from me began to barter and trade with her classmates for what she needed! 

     So time had elapsed and it was time to test the tables. My first class came up and I got my expected results of 1-2 books being held up by their paper tables. Success! My next class was where I was utterly surprised by how many heavy mathematics textbooks were able to be held. Guesses? If you said 5, guess higher. 10 - higher. 15 - higher. They were able to carry 20 textbooks! The record was set and the rest of my classes tried to beat that, but 2nd place came in with only 14 textbooks.

     A few days later, our campus lost electricity power due to the storms so the paper airplane challenge ensued. I had gliders, cranes, and planes. What a fun activity. The students were quick to point out how they needed to figure out which wing span would give the best lift to their planes. As this was a last minute lesson due to the power outage, the students did not have time to test and re-test their planes, but in the future I will be looking at returning to this lesson to see what we can due to improve the distance that their planes were able to fly!