Kick Start Hui

 Kuaotunu is a beautiful slice of paradise in the Coromandel, and we were fortunate to be able to spend some time at Russell and Dorothy's gorgeous bach, surrounded by native birdsong, clear night skies for star-gazing, and the sounds and smells of the ocean. Heaven! The hospitality and generosity of the Burts and Jenny Oxley knows no bounds and I am so grateful to you all. 

If you were to ask me what my favourite part of the hui was, it was definitely the role play/skit. My inner drama queen definitely enjoys getting the opportunity to show herself off. It was fun to make yourself see things from the perspective of someone very different to you, and I especially enjoyed taking the anti-Māori position. Hātakēhi rawa!

The most challenging part was the reframing of my problem, and writing the 'How Might We' statement. The semantics of it did get quite difficult, and it also felt a little bit like I was taking attention away from the real problem (which is the system within which Rangaranga Reo ā-Tā currently sits) and focusing it on teachers instead. However, I see now that I can help teachers to become more competent by improving the system.

Crazy 8s was another new activity for me. While some of the ideas were just desperate last-minute ideas to make up the 8, it was good to see which of my sensible ideas people thought might work. It was also a wonderful opportunity to see other people's ideas, as some of them were truly creative, and I've put some of them in my back pocket to use in class (not in an MIT context).

Lastly, we identified our support networks in a poster format. I always tend to think of myself as a loner, and generally prefer to work that way, so this was an important activity for me to actually identify the people in my world that I will HAVE TO depend on this year. It was also fun to identify some dream team members that I would love to have working alongside me on my project (Ian Taylor, Te Taka Keegan, Steve Smith, and an as yet unknown person who is not only an expert platform developer but fluent in te reo Māori! Surely that person exists). 

These two days were a valuable retreat that we as teachers do not get to do often, and to be able to spend it focused on one issue (rather than an entire term's worth of every school issue) was gratifying. Thank you to Dorothy, Jenny, Matt, and my MIT whānau for this experience.