Connecting through the Curriculum

Sometimes I am unsure if I am writing this out for a purpose or just out of need? The very act of collecting my thoughts at the end of the term is becoming something of a cathartic act. It helps me transition from one term to the next mulling over my own learnings.

We often talk about things as big or busy and these words could certainly be placed around term 2. I could list all the activities here from rugby to enterprise challenges, but most teachers in Aotearoa would already know the amount of extracurricular activities that make the term flow and allow time to build positive relationships with ākonga.

Within the classroom I continue to be surprised by the quality of the work ākonga can produce. In Business studies, a number of groups have proved their ability to play to their own talents. With over 20 different business groups all working on separate projects, the subject is enough to make anyone's head spin. Here is a few of the stories Stellar Lash won $150 in national seed funding for their volumising eyelash tonic, SOLE hair care have produced a series of excellent Tik Tok adverts that are going viral, The together talks have an event happening on the first week back at school and Atua Whanaunga have launched there te reo card game. Have I pitched the businesses enough? Get in behind these young entrepreneurs.

Next term sees the staff and school refocus on connecting through the curriculum. It is going to be a fantastic time to refocus on the craft of the classroom. Within the year 10 space, we have organised a top floor take over for our i-time slot. This will put classes and teachers in close proximity and mean that we can connect in a number of ways. Though this will only be our own department connecting within our curriculum I wonder what scope there is for further connections. In term 3 traditionally we look at the world of work and this leans into innovation and digital technologies really well. There is of course scope for all subjects within this as we look at potential career pathways. How can we further develop these links so that there is higher engagement in learning, due to greater relevance to their world?

One thing I really look forward to is our Next Big Thing project. This is a chance for the students to design their future idea. Last year I had students build a model flying giraffe taxi this would solve all of their transportation issues (through years 9-11 transport has persistently been an issue students have investigated). I attempted to look at using Makey-Makey’s to programme these but with a limited amount of knowledge and playtime, we couldn’t really get the programming in there. Entrepreneurship comes from building ākonga with the ability to take risks. We can see this in years 12 and 13.

In year 12 the risks are pitching to a room full of strangers and being judged, organising an apportionment at the bank, running a bake sale/sausage sizzle to build start-up capital, or just opening your online shop. Is amazing to see how these students progress through the year. In year 10 it really has to be about developing the interpersonal skills that empower the ākonga to collaborate effectively. Through writing this blog I have looked at a number of ways to increase students' abilities to develop a creative mindset and see opportunities. Little challenges like the Smithsonian Ready Set Design to build students' capacity to design. How though can we continue to develop students' ability to work effectively with different people? Though I am going to be deliberate with randomising the groupings, what shared experiences along the way are needed to forge a team? This leads us to our school Malaga.

I always look at this as an iterative cycle. Whakaoho to inspire or awaken, how can our programme further play to the talents hidden or clear for our ākonga? We have recently been talking about ways to include more drama or art within our curriculum area. I wonder how we could be more deliberate about this. Would this be the spark of inspiration? Whakamana how can the student

s be further empowered, through the exploration of future pathways and talking through careers pathways hopefully we can connect the curriculum with their learning. Werohia the challenge will come in many forms picking their subjects for NCEA, working with people they are unfamiliar with and the challenge of developing a potential new product or service both these will help us fulfill the Moemoeā aspect of our vision.

What does this mean for our ākonga? Well, this connected curriculum hopefully will help ākonga have a more committed approach and value towards learning and achievement. Through this term, I will ensure that ākonga get a chance to write their first CV and practice

a job interview and explore the world of entrepreneurship. All this is only looking at our year 10 programme. So lots of exciting things are afoot.

On top of this my continuing facilitation of the regional eSports this has become all-encompassing and seems to be taking up more and more of my time. The league itself is running smoothly and the Otago Girls' first team finished 2nd in the bottom 6 split. League of Legends is an extremely sharp learning curve maintaining 12 teams will prove interesting over the next while. Can the local league continue to operate for free and continue to draw teams from across the region? Will teams continue to enjoy the chosen competition?

The next big step is the tournament that we are facilitating at Otago Girls. Everything is in place and it is the Feild of dreams moment at the moment. Publicity to be sent out next week to keep pushing the envelope. The strength at our school is that we have always operated the eSports team as a Sports team so this makes arranging payments and such relatively easy. Other schools are still just establishing this. Will they manage payments through the office or will teams be left to arrange their own payments? My step after this one is to try and set up a final hurrah for the OGHS team. I want to try and facilitate an all-girls school tournament that we can just manage remotely. This is ambitious yet I feel we can organise something have put my feelers out to see what we can do.

Well,

this whole thing feels more of a ramble than anything coherent but if there is anything that triggers any thoughts or ideas please get in touch.

Nga mihi

Duncan