My Reflection for the Week 2-6 Nov 2015

The question I would like to investigate this week is:

What are the benefits to myself and the children in learning Māori waiata?

The Practising Teacher Criteria says:

Key Link:

10. work effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand. 
i) practise and develop the relevant use of te reo Māori me ngā tikanga-a-iwi in context.

Other Links:

2 ii. acknowledge and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga.

3. demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand
i)  demonstrate respect for the heritages, languages and cultures of both partners to the Treaty of Waitangi.

9 i. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of social and cultural influences on learning, by working effectively in the bicultural and multicultural contexts of learning in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Recently, as I was teaching the tamariki a basic group clapping game, I shared with them that Māori children through the ages have sat together and played clap games too. This inspired me with the idea that Māori waiata can be used as a springboard for teaching them about Māori heritage, culture, and values. It doesn’t need to be complicated or in depth – just a sentence or two acknowledging Māori culture, used as an introduction to a song, can be enough.
One example could be the waiata Tohora nui, which is about a big whale. This could link to a discussion about the sea and sea animals and the special connection that Māori have with these.

These small nuggets of information help to gradually enlarge children’s world view, as they simultaneously embrace their perspectives and validate the perspectives of other cultures (this links to a Te Whariki Contribution Goal 3 learning outcome which says “Children develop an increasing ability to take another’s point of view and to empathise with others.”) Also, when you explain to children what the Māori waiata mean, it can help children to gain an understanding of te reo Māori as a living and relevant language (Te Whariki communication goal 2 learning outcome).

-       Ako Aotearoa recognises the importance of Māori waiata and the role it plays in language acquisition in Te Reo Māori. The benefit is multi-faceted – not only is it easier to recall new words when you have previously used them in a waiata (e.g. by remembering the Māori colours through sing the song “Ma is white”), but the sentence structures within Māori waiata reflect correct Māori sentence structure and syntax, making it simpler to learn how to create simple sentences in the Māori language when speaking.

-       Finally, I believe that when Te Whariki says in a learning outcome in Communication goal 4 that “children develop an increasing familiarity with a selection of songs that are valued by the cultures in the community”, its meaning goes deeper than children just “knowing the words”. It is one thing to be able to sing a song by rote from memory, and another thing entirely to understand a song and connect to the heart and emotions in it.

This is why I think that little introductory discussions about Māori waiata prior to singing them with the children are so important. It opens the door for us to discuss things like “the person in this song is feeling very happy, or strong, or they are worshipping God”. This has the added benefit of developing children’s emotional intelligence, and they might even find that sometimes they want to express their feelings through songs and music too.

As I incorporate these Māori waiata into my teaching, and talk about waiata and their meanings with the children, I am developing the Tataiako competency of Manaakitanga, in that I am demonstrating respect for Māori culture through the “delivery process” of presenting waiata respectfully to the children. Also, I am developing the Tataiako competency of Tangata whenuatanga, as I present cultural knowledge to the children alongside the waiata.

With all this in mind, over the Christmas holidays I am going to learn 2 new simple Māori waiata and the meanings and cultural links that those waiata have for Māori, so I can return next year and teach them to the children. Also, I will seek to educate others on the many benefits of learning Māori waiata, for both kaiako and tamariki.

Breaking Down the Fruit of the Spirit of Self-Control

Hey friends! Lately I have been thinking about the fruit of the spirit of self-control, and all the different aspects of this fruit, so I thought I'd share a little breakdown of my thoughts with you.

Some of it is based on things I have read, and some is based on my own personal revelations.
First, self-control = resisting temptation to instigate or participate in evil thoughts, words, or actions. This is kinda the obvious one.
Second, self-control = self - responsibility. Taking care of your own chores/work/study etc, not expecting someone else to do it for you. And if you have a issue that you can't resolve alone, you responsibly seek help from experts who are qualified to support you (eg teachers). Also, take responsibility for any mistakes you may make. Third, self-control = self care. Only you (and God) really know what you need, so take it upon yourself to get enough sleep and exercise, eat everything in moderation, have enough alone time and enough social time, seek help from doctors, counselors, etc as necessary to maintain your physical and emotional health. Fourth, self- control = self-management. Another word for this is autonomy. This is something you gradually develop throughout your life. It involves making decisions for yourself, such as what your boundaries are, what kind of company you choose to keep, what you will study at university (and possibly where you will study it), managing your financial situation and obligations, deciding where you will work, etc. And fifth, self-control = self - regulation. It spans from the idea that even a good thing in too large a quantity is no longer beneficial. It means being able to say no to yourself sometimes. This could involve not taking another biscuit when you have already had three, not spending all day in bed when there are other obligations already in place, not spending all night on Facebook when you have an assignment to finish, etc. Again, all these things are great, as long as they are done in moderation. E.g Facebook is a wonderful social tool, but it becomes unhealthy when it starts to consume your life and take up all your time. I hope this is helpful for you, dear readers!

Love,
Melanie Raye.

10 Random Things That You Might Not Know About Me

Hey my friends! Well, I think it's time again that I should give you some random insights into who I am, so enjoy!

1. The first book to ever make me cry was Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

2. I prefer eating raw vegetables over cooked ones.

3. If I was ever going to cosplay, I would be Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

4. I like to have lots of pillows underneath and around me while I sleep.

5. I also struggle to sleep when it is completely silent. I usually have quiet music or a soft YouTube video playing while I go to sleep.

6. I love planning parties. But only about 1 in 5 of the parties I plan ever actually come to fruition.

7. My favourite scents are vanilla, lavender, jasmine, peppermint, and apple.

8. I like going to the movies by myself sometimes.

9. I am an adrenaline junkie.

10. I can read really really fast.

So there ya have it!
Bless you all!

Love,
Melanie Raye.

My Favourite Movies

Hello friends!
Since I have recently been posting pictures of the DVD's that I am adding to my collection on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I thought that this would be a good time to share my favourite movies with you all. I have divided them into 2 lists: my top ten favourite Disney movies (#1 being my favourite), and my top ten favourite non-Disney movies (again, #1 being my favourite). A couple of times, you will find a movie and it's sequel/s together - don't judge me ;) These top 10 lists have been carefully thought through, and there are plenty more films that I love that were contenders for these lists- I could probably make a top 30 for each list, if I had to!
My goal is to own all of these movies on DVD, so that when people view my DVD collection, they will get an insight into who I am as a person.

 But for now, let me just type out my lists for you :) Oh, and if you are a fan of any of these, please let me know in the comments (either here in the blog comments, or in the facebook comments), and we can fangirl (or fanboy) out together! I love sharing what I love with people I love!

My Top Ten Favourite Disney Movies:
1. Beauty and the Beast (and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas)
2. Frozen
3. Enchanted
4. Into The Woods
5. Big Hero 6
6. Tangled
7. Princess Protection Program
8. Camp Rock (1 and 2)
9. Robin Hood
10. Mulan

My Top Ten Favourite Non-Disney Movies:
1. The Sound of Music (this is my favourite movie of all time!)
2. A Walk To Remember
3. Titanic
4. Raise Your Voice
5. Pitch Perfect (and Pitch Perfect 2)
6. The Hunger Games (and all the sequels)
7. The Swan Princess (and the sequels- and nope, these ones are not Disney!)
8. Mamma Mia
9. Dirty Dancing
10. The Babysitters Club: The Movie




So there you go my friends! Let the fangirling (and fanboying) begin!

Love,
Melanie Raye.

Reflecting on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Describe:

This week I was thinking about the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi : protection, participation, and partnership.  I wanted to take some time to think about what applying these principles would look like in my practice.

Inform:

Protection: I think that in my practice the principle of protection looks like not discriminating in any way against children/staff/parents and whanau of Maori or any other descent. It means having high expectations for Maori learners, that ensure that they will succeed academically, as this benefits their family and community in the long run. It means upholding tikanga practices and respecting Maori ways of being. I think it means continuing to use Maori language, so that the language does not become extinct. I think it means respecting the land and not abusing it, keeping in mind that we as Europeans are manuhiri, and that the Maori are tangata whenua- we should respect them and their tino rangatiratanga over Aotearoa by being respectful and treating the land well, just like we would be respectful of other people's possessions if we were experiencing someone's hospitality in their home.

Participation: I think that in my practice the principle of participation looks like everyone being involved in using Maori language, and taking part in Maori waiata and games. I believe that taking part in tikanga and kaupapa Maori is beneficial for all children, staff, parents, and whanau, regardless of their cultural heritage. This is consistent with Te Whaariki, which informs us that "curriculum in early childhood settings should promote te reo and ngā tikanga Māori, making them visible and affirming their value for children from all cultural backgrounds. " 

Partnership: I think that in my practice the principle of partnership looks like parents and teachers working together collaboratively, sharing knowledge and strategies that will lead to the best outcomes for children. I think it means involving the local community, iwi, and kaumatua in our centre life, such as inviting them to our centre events. I think it also means teachers partnering with children, empowering children to take responsibility for their own learning. Finally, I think it means teachers working together as a team, with everyone contributing their strengths, to provide the best learning and environment possible for the children.

Confront:

Some of these things I already do (such as singing Maori waiata with all the children at mat time), but I want to carry more of an awareness within myself about why I do these things- keeping the principles of Te Tiriti in mind as I work with the children during the day. I think that mindfulness about why we follow tikanga and practice partnership shows that Maoritanga is important to us, and that we respect it.

Reconstruct:

I will continue to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti in my practice. I will also share my thoughts from today's reflection on my blog and on a facebook early childhood page, and welcome discussion, feedback, and any articles they might like to share with me. In this way, I can actively contribute to the professionial learning comunity by sharing my knowledge and understanding, and also gain new knowledge, understanding, and feedback from other members of the learning community. I can then read and respond to their comments and/or articles. (I can take a screen shot of this in a week or so, to give time for people to respond, as evidence, and I can take copies of the articles and highlight/comment on them and put them in my portfolio).

Links to Registered Teachers Criteria:

3. demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand: ​i. demonstrate respect for the heritages, languages and cultures of both partners to the Treaty of Waitangi. 5(i) : Actively contribute to the professional learning community. Other links: 2 (ii, iii), 9 (i), 10 (i), 12 ​(i, ii).

My Fan Theory about "Mystical Feather" (from Heather Feather's ASMR Role Plays)

Hello dear readers!

Today I want to write you about one of the most interesting characters in Heather Feather’s ASMR Role Plays (henceforth referred to as “RP”s). This character is Mystical Feather. I have been working on this fan theory for about 4 months now, & I by no means think that I have it all together (heck, I could be WAY off-base, for all I know!), but I wanted to share it with you guys, anyway.

So, let’s jump right in, okay?

In the 2^nd Comprehensive Physical Exam RP, Doctor Feather informs us that she “knows all about” people undergoing testing in exchange for cake, which we know from the first Science RP takes place at ASMR Science (we as the audience underwent some of this testing ourselves). This implies that ASMR Science is a well-known company or entity in the Featherverse. We can therefore assume that because Mystical Feather owns ASMR Science (we learned this from the ASMR Science, Testing Your 5 Senses RP), that she too is well-known by many if not all of the characters that exist in the Featherverse. What we don’t know however, is how well she is liked or disliked.

Doctor Feather, as a medical practitioner, seems to disapprove of Mystical Feather’s unconventional methods. I also wonder if the “Skynet” program that logs all our information at Dr. Feather’s office is being imposed on Dr. Feather by Mystical Feather. This would indicate that Mystical Feather has a desire to acquire information about the people who are interacting with other members of the Featherverse. Would this be to gain new potential candidates for testing at ASMR Science, perhaps?

On the other side of the coin though, we notice that several Featherverse characters have business dealings with Mystical Feather. Twin Feathers Spa gets the supernatural hair growth tonic from Mystical Feather, and the Apothecary gets the special pills from Mystical Feather. A worker at ASMR Science (who obviously would be working for Mystical Feather), gives us as an intern a potion for “H” in the Jekyll & Hyde RP. The Twin Feathers Spa girls even mention that they got the hair tonic from “a little shop”, which I would assume is the same shop that we as the audience visited for crystals in the Magic Shop RP. These characters seem to trust Mystical Feather, at least enough to do business with her. Or maybe, Mystical Feather is holding something over them that pressures them to do what Mystical Feather wants. Is Mystical Feather capable of blackmail? Or does she have good intentions, but sees her more shady dealings as a means to an end? This would explain her interactions with us as the audience in the Magic Shop RP, where she essentially tricks us into letting her put a spell on us that somehow transforms us into someone (or something) that would be useful to her as an ally/apprentice.

Mystical Feather strikes me to be quite similar to Rumplestiltskin’s character in Once Upon A Time. She has her fingers in everybody’s pies (or, almost everybody’s anyway). Mystical Feather tells us this straight-up when she says in the Magic Shop (Crystals) RP that "I have my hands in a few projects. I dabble. I have a web with a thousand threads, and I know how each and every one dances". She also seems to like making deals with people. She even made a deal with us as the audience when she cast a spell on us in the Magic Shop RP, in exchange for a crystal. We also see in that same Magic Shop RP just how sweet, charming, and disarming Mystical Feather is. She invokes trust in people. We do not yet know whether we should trust her or not. Does she really care about us, or does she really want control? Maybe it’s both. Maybe she is an idealist with a specific view of what Utopia should look like, and she feels the need to control the other people in the Featherverse in order to make her Utopia a reality, but while still believing that this Utopia she imagines is the best thing for everyone.

Another little note is that Fairy Godfeather in the Fairy Godmother RP pinched “sleeping powder” from a woman with a cape that had MF on it. I can only assume that this is again Mystical Feather. This makes me wonder if whatever we ate at the end of the ASMR Science “Testing Your Five Senses” RP was also laced with the same stuff. This would mean that we are not dead, only sleeping. But why? The message from Doug Ratmann that was hidden in the eye chart in that same 5 Senses RP indicates that he thought everyone at ASMR Science was crazy. Could that be because he thought that Mystical Feather’s (and the other ASMR Science workers’) attempts to create Utopia through human testing were too extreme?

The tests that we underwent during the “Testing Your Five Senses” RP indicate a desire to give humans super-human senses/abilities, such as improved eyesight (with the eyedrops), increased hearing (through the spray), and the ability to smell things more strongly or smell things just by seeing pictures of them (with the stuff that gets shoved up your nose). Could this be because Mystical Feather believes that in order to have a Utopia, the humans dwelling within Utopia need to possess these aforementioned special abilities? It would appear that Mystical Feather also desires for humans to live forever, as she says in the Magic Shop RP "The chains that were binding that mortal body are broken".

The hidden message within the “welcome video” at the beginning of the “Testing Your Five Senses” RP seems to be that people have lost their lives through the testing that they underwent at ASMR Science. Does Mystical Feather regret this loss of life, and fear it like Jekyll in the “Jekyll & Hyde” RP, or is she more like “H”, seeing these people, too, as a means to an end in the pursuit of Science/Utopia/Eternal Life?

In conclusion, Mystical Feather seems to be a key player in the Featherverse, & I know for sure that we will see more of her, both in our direct interactions with her as the audience, and through the impact/ influence that she has on other members of the Featherverse. When it comes to this fascinating character, we always seem to have more questions than answers. One thing is very clear though- Mystical Feather is extremely morally ambiguous. I am excited to see where Heather Feather decides to take her. 

So there you have it- my own little fan theory about “MF” (as she has come to be known).

Bless you all heaps!

Love,

Melanie Raye.

15 Reasons Why I Love My Mama

Hey guys, 

So tonight I'm taking a break from studying coz I want to do something special for my mama. She has been so amazing these last few weeks while I've been practically tearing my hair out from stress, so I wanted to do something to honour her. So here is a list (not comprehensive, by any means!) of 15 reasons why I love my mama.

1. She supports me. She has always let me make my own decisions with regards to what I want to study, my extra curricular activities, etc. Nowadays, she supports me with things like my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/melanieraye89). It's so amazing to have her in my corner like that.

2. She doesn't just accept my crazy...she joins in, too. One great example of this is the day that we parodied the movie "Mamma Mia" over skype chat. It was glorious, I tell you.

3. She is the most amazing baker. And, ever since I was a little girl, she would let me help her bake...and then came my favourite part. She would let me lick the wooden spoon, the spatula, the beaters, and sometimes even the whole freaking mixing bowl. YUM.

4. She shares some of the same tastes in music that I do. Three artists/bands that immediately come to mind that we both love are ABBA, Shania Twain, and Celine Dion.

5. She lets me share my love of Glee with her by watching a full season of the show with me almost every time I go to Australia to visit her.

6. She loves my friends. It means the world to me that she approves of the people that I have chosen to do life with.

7. She knows that a movie marathon is not a movie marathon without popcorn, chips, dip, and lollies of some description.

8. As I have grown into a young woman, she has become a close friend as well as my mother. I love that we can go out and "be ladies" together, get our hair done, go shopping, out for coffee and/or dessert, or to the movies.

9. She raised me to love Jesus. I have her to thank for a good part of why I am walking so close to God now.

10. She taught me to live generously. I know that one of the main reasons why I so love giving gifts, sharing food, and donating to charities or even random buskers on the street is because she modeled that to me.

11. She shares my love of reading. I never have to pack any books in my suitcase when I go visit her in Australia, because I know that she will let me raid her bookshelf to my heart's content.

12. She says often that she is proud of me and loves me...and not just to me, but on Facebook for all her friends to see. I am glad that she sees me as someone worth declaring her love for.

13. She has always put in the effort to make birthdays, Easters and Christmases really special days for us. I like our special little traditions such as eating pancakes on Christmas morning.

14. When I was little, she used to leave notes for me in my lunchbox to surprise me at lunchtime. I loved getting those little notes so much.

15. No matter how old I get, she will always call me her baby...and I will always call her my mama.

I love you mama!

Bless,
Melanie Raye.