THINKING BIG

 Here is an opportunity to extend your project further. Could your project benefit from funding to help the project achieve what you are aiming for? 

Applications for Think Big grants 2020 are now open! Get your funding application in by Sunday 20 September 2020.

Think Big is a youth grant program that funds youth-led projects in Kāpiti. Individuals and groups of young peopleaged 13-24 have the opportunity to apply for up to $1,800 for their projects. Your project could be almost anything that is trying to createpositive change in Kāpiti and beyond. 

Need more info? Contact ella.kirby@kapiticoast.govt.nzor check out our Facebook page for Think Big updates at www.facebook.com/kcyouthcouncil.

You can apply online atwww.kapiticoast.govt.nz/thinkbig.

GENIUS TIME or 20% TIME in 9T

 Every day at school I ask my students to work on and learn content that we as Year 9 teachers identify as important to their growth towards being a positively active and contributing global citizen. Keen to enable my students to spend time inquiring, building knowledge and sharing their findings, new skills and outcomes with an audience outside our classroom I began my own inquiry into a model that would support my goal. 

 I am following A. J. Juliani as inspiration for building our class inquiries.  Juliani states that - "Our job as leaders, teachers, and parents is not to prepare kids for something; our job is to help kids prepare themselves for anything."

On Fridays, I now dedicate two lesson times to time for working on their Genius Time or 20% Time inquiries. Being given time is one thing, able to select what you want to do is not so easy. The students have been putting good effort into this critical part of the process and many now are starting to outline:

1. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM

2. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPROVE, CREATE OR CHANGE?

3. WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS?

4. WHO CAN HELP US WITH THIS?

Students so far have selected inquiries that include:

• finding ways to raise funds for a hospital,
• raising funds for a golf club,
• learning sign language,
• researching information around hair and its cultural aspects,
• researching young people with Down Syndrome who help run their own business ventures with a goal to meet and speak with them,
• making the tools needed to catch kai from the Otaki River and then going fishing while also reporting back to be part of the Otaki Museum's exhibition in 2021,
• designing improvements for education at Otaki College
• creating a stop-go animation longer than 2 minutes, they are aiming for 10 -20 minutes of footage

As the students define their inquiries further, I will encourage them to update their thinking and progress on their Blog sites. A key goal I have is to find mentors who share the students' passion and who have the knowledge the students need to access, this will require the students to establish a learning and working relationship with people outside of the classroom.

Day 3

The first day of the School Holidays. Locked in and catching up with the whanau by phone and online. I started the morning adding today's Write That Essay daily challenge for students who wish to continue building their writing portfolio of these challenges. Today's image gives the opportunity to build a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas. 

When I check students work I will add some extracts from their work. Their writing is impressive and they are constructing sentences with purposeful word choice to good effect. 

Between showers of rain, we went for a fast walk with a few other hardy walkers out and keeping their safe distance. Hellos and nods of the head given.  Bears in windows were spotted as was a cat spying the quiet roads from his fence top vantage point. 

Google MEET

I am finding Google MEET an excellent way to connect, problem solve and talk to more than one person at a time today. Mr Fraser ran his first Google MEET today with all the staff and we talked about how teaching remotely was going for us all. It took us a while to work out how to turn microphones off so as to avoid playback but we got there in the end. 

This afternoon, I ran our first 9T class MEET. It was lovely to catch up with 5 of the students who joined in. If you have a chance find Freddy's Blog in the list at the side of this Blog and check out the animation that Wyeth and he have been working on. 

Two weeks holiday ahead of us now, a staycation on a massive scale. Hoping you do not take ill with the virus and that you find lots to do that grows your creativity and your knowledge during this time. 

Kia Kaha

Athletics Day 2020

All together competing for our houses

Thursday 26th March: 

Day one of Lockdown but day four of remote teaching for my class. 


Great to see my students working on their set tasks. My new routine means getting up early to have classwork ready. Uploading a video each day is a challenge at times, today it took over ninety minutes to load. Networks are overworked with the extra demand from all the work from home adults and students. I need to work on how many times I say, “Um!” on the videos. 

I am working today on preparing our teachers to be able to use Google Meet for lessons after the holidays. Vicki Archer is leading this and I am hoping to run a Google Meet with my class tomorrow. After the holidays we will still be in Lockdown and it will be a good way to connect with our classes to continue learning.

No more dozing in front of the television at night. Making the most of my evenings by knitting for my toddler granddaughter, Abbie. My challenges will be to stick to the pattern and have enough wool.