#4 Newsletter, 2022

Rāmere, te 4 o Maehe 2022

Honouring Te Tītiriti o Waitangi in Education

As educators, we all know that we have a responsibility to honour Te Tīriti o Waitangi but many of us don’t know where to begin. CORE Education has a great resource that breaks down the articles of Te Tīriti and gives kura practical steps towards doing this from a governance/board level down to the classroom.

For a printable PDF of this resource, follow this link.

Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori (Learn Te Reo Māori and get your kura paid!)

It’s not too late to jump on the waka with the rest of us and learn te reo Māori in a way that’s designed specifically for kaiako. We have at least 20 people from across our kura signed up so far and they have told us that they will extend the enrolment time for one more week for our Kāhui.

With 20 educators on board, we are not just empowering ourselves to be better practitioners but we are bringing $10,000 into our community to support our Māori programmes. Don’t doubt yourself, you will be with a group of people at the same ability level.

Enrolment

There are two steps that you need to complete as a part of your enrolment.

Complete the Endorsement Form attached and upload it as a requirement of your completing the Enrolment Form (Section 8). We have attached the form in Word format to this email. We have also linked a PDF copy of the same form here. We will accept a photo, a scanned copy or an e-signed copy of the completed form.
Fill in the Enrolment Form linked below
1. For Wellington, click here
2. For Auckland, click here

For more information, send us an email or call us:

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland)

takatu.akld@gmail.com, 0800 825 200

YouTube Channels

Free School offers a range of engaging videos on a range of topics including; literacy, animals, geography, health, history, art and music. Watch the latest releases, search for a specific topic or browse playlists grouped by subject. Link here

INTERFACE – Minecraft Competition

Are you and your students mad for Minecraft? Well, get your thinking caps on and your blocks ready to move because the INTERFACE Minecraft Competition 2022 is up and running.

We’ve teamed up with Microsoft and there are two parts to choose

from, one for students and the other for teachers.

Teachers: We know you’re doing some awesome things with Minecraft Education Edition. Now’s the time share your success. Simply tell us about a project you’ve been doing in class with Minecraft.

Students: Your challenge is to ‘Build a Better Future’. Come up with a creation in Minecraft that helps to protect our environment. From sustainable living to fighting climate change to tackling plastic pollution, the choice is yours!

WIN some awesome prizes, including a #StikBot Zanimation Studio and Minecraft goodies. PLUS, get the bragging rights as the best Minecrafters in the country.

Entries close Friday 8 July (end of Term 2).

Looking to change things up in the classroom and add another element of competition? Read the article below on some tips for setting up a gaming environment in your classroom.

Gamification in Education: 5 tips to successfully gamify your classroom

Not to be mistaken with Esports, gamification in education is all about applying gaming dynamics in the classroom to improve learning and enhance students’ skills and performance.

In fact, it helps instil crucial skills such as collaboration, critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Plus, it fosters engagement, increases motivation and interest in certain subjects and offers immediate feedback to pupils.

Curious to learn more? Read on!

The neuroscience behind gamification in education

What makes gamification so effective? The answer is in neuroscience. Several experts have studied gaming systems applied to different fields – from learning to business training.

As a result, researchers have proven that brain-wise, gamification increases a feeling of motivation and enjoyment through dopamine release and hippocampus stimulation.

Firstly, playing keeps the brain healthy by training memory and attention and preventing cognitive decline. Secondly, it relies on emotions, which makes learning retention more effective. Finally, gamification’s storytelling-dynamic helps students process information without boring them with lists of notions.

Learn how to gamify your classroom

Now that you know a little more about how gamification works, let’s put it into practice. Here are some basic strategies to help you out.

1. Set up a point system and start assigning points for completing tasks

If integrated with class activities, point systems allow students to visualise their progress and encourage their motivation!

2. Promote healthy competition with leaderboards

Creating competition among peers is a great way to improve performance. What’s more, you can create more than one leaderboard based on different achievements.

By doing so, you will promote various types of skills and make things more inclusive for all students.

3. Assign badges & awards

Reward-based systems are excellent to show your class that you value effort and hard work. For instance, you can create a criterion based on points and assign badges. Or even term-end awards.

4. Create a mission with an objective

Unleash your creativity! Use apps like Google Slides and create a quest where students need to unlock objectives to move forward. For example, you can create a cross-curricular mission that includes Maths, reading and science, and put a badge on the line!

5. Go full boss mode

As classic video games taught us, every level ends with a boss battle. So, are you ready to take up the mantle at the end of point 4’s quest? Prepare a list of more challenging questions and ask your students to answer with a time limit. You can even split your pupils into teams and let them cooperate to win.

The Benefits of Humour

“Humour is a source of power and healing and may be a key to survival”

(Greg 2002, as cited in Hugh Foot and May McCreaddie’s work)

There is a mountain of research into the benefits of humour. Some of the most interesting research points to the benefits that humour has to offer children. Humour allows students to learn two vital lessons:

i) the decoding of humour – understanding the meaning of the joke,

ii) the encoding of humour – understanding how and when to use humour to convey a message to others.

As our students have had so much at home time, away from social settings outside their homes, many children are lacking in social skills associated with relating to others, especially:

i) how to read social cues,

ii) interpreting the meaning behind comments – serious/fun,

iii) how to express themselves when frustrated or they don’t understand the situation

iv) have fun with others, but definitely not make fun of others,

v) missing out on joy and laughter with others in distressing times.

Some suggestions for including humour in your classroom include:

Telling jokes helps us to gauge how other people respond to us

Tell a joke a day – teacher chosen
A joke a day – student chosen and shared (check them first)

Humorous visuals help us laugh together

Humorous cartoons / posters

Funny Characters can help to create humour in stories

Teacher provides a picture of a funny character, students write about the funny things they do
Students design a character who is funny and swap with a peer, they write or tell a story with their partner’s character in it.

Nothing beats in the moment humour

Look for opportunities to add a little humour, e.g. do a little boogie to get the class’ attention, add humour to your little mistakes.

Kidding Around, is a paperback resource ($6.95 on Amazon) which provides activities for opportunities around humour. It has activities to help teach what humour is, how to relate, how to respond, connecting kids with humour, happiness and laughter, writing, communicating, and when humour is not ok i.e. is bullying.