Global Storytellers

This star studded video reminds us that stories are powerful when shared...everyone has a story to tell - what's yours?

Outdoor Environments

Nō hea koe? - Māori Maps

Nō hea koe? - Where are you from? A common greeting in any Māori/Pasifika introduction. Who you are and where you are from determines your place in this world. It helps the person you are speaking to make a connection with you. So what happens when your sense of ancestral ties lie in another part of New Zealand. With most Māori living in urban areas the links to marae for many Māori occurs when you have lost a loved on, when you are celebrating an event or a family reunion.

Today I read an article in the Aucklander - "Putting Māori on the Map" which briefly details the endeavours of some wonderful people who have trekked Tai Tokoreau capturing images of Northland and Auckland marae - these images and details have been capture on a portal called Māori Maps.

Instinctively, I took the opportunity to search my own marae (as you do). And there in all of its glory is an image of Kohewhata Marae on Mangakahia Rd and Te Kotahitanga Marae on Rangihamama Rd. I can see the potential of such a site and am looking forward to see how it unravels.

Reflective Questions

I came across a post this evening at Wake Up Tiger. I usually just browse through their quotes and find some gems here and there. Tonight there was a link to thoughtquestions.com and what a great find. I've been reflecting in online spaces and the role I play through commenting, liking and sharing. One hundred percent of what I share is super positive... that's fine obviously! But I've been thinking lately about how I might engage in some in-depth thought provoking thinking. The questions at thoughtquestions.com have done this for me tonight. I'm about to head over to Facebook and start some thought provoking conversations. A few questions that got me thinking are below:

What would your answers to these questions be?

What memories do these images bring back?

Reomations

We're enjoying a National Facilitators Hui with our Early Years team up in Auckland. The ideas buzzing in the room are ample. Our colleague Tania shared the Reomations link yesterday. A resource within TKI - Te Kete Ipurangi that has a huge range of animations focussed on Te Reo Maori. There is a wealth of information with accompanying teachers notes and videos. The list of Units are detailed below:

• Unit 1 Ko au
• Unit 2 Akomanga
• Unit 3 Kai
• Unit 4 Te huarere
• Unit 5 Hauora
• Unit 6 Ngā tau
• Unit 7 Ngā hākari
• Unit 8 Te marae

There is lots of potential for children, teachers and whānau to further explore this resource in their centres. Perhaps sharing a video at each team meeting and then practising the reo throughout the week would be useful. If you have any ideas for other teachers feel free leave your ideas in the comments section below.

Reflections on 'Children sharing stories across the world' - Glynda Hull

Children sharing stories across the world - Glynda Hull

I first learned of Glynda Hull several years ago when my colleague Ann mentioned her work with the D.U.S.T.Y (Digital Underground Storytelling Youth) programme. The notion of children from under-privileged areas coming together after school to engage in digital storytelling to share their stories appealed to me.

I grew up and still live in Otara, Auckland which is considered to be a very low-socio economic area with high social needs and issues. Like alot of my friends doing okay for themselves and still living in the 'hood' we do what we can, when we can to do our bit to reach out to youth, with the desire of helping them carve out a better future.

So, in 2007 I contacted Michaelangelo from D.U.S.T.Y to seek advice on how to replicate the programme in South Auckland. At the time I was volunteering with CANOPY Trust and working with two ladies teaching them what I knew about technology and getting them to join me in my role teaching teachers, we started an 'Otara Heroes' programme where they created a DVD about people they considered to be Otara Heroes. We soon learned, that the definition 'Hero' meant something different to each of us: a single mum with 7 kids, Reuben Wiki and Manu Vatuvei amazing league players, Norman Kirk and Len Brown.

Glynda Hull talked about the D.U.S.T.Y programme in her korero, she is still involved with some of the youth she worked with some years ago. The stories she shared with us were very moving, the most popular story that has epitomized the work of D.U.S.T.Y for the past decade is Life 'n' Rhyme.

Since then however, she has moved into working across many different countries with a forum called Space2Cre8. She talked about the impact of circulating stories by youth for youth across the world and using a social networking site as the platform to share these among youth.Hull went on to talk about the lessons learned from the work that she is currently doing with Space2Cre8, these included:

- Children can easily extend print based genres.

- Children use different modes.

- Children who struggle with writing may excel with digital media.

- Sharing Digital stories both online and offline can have unexpected and unintended consequences.

She went on to talk about the notion of 'mirror stories', and demonstrated this with two stories: one created by a young girl in India and her struggles with day-to-day living, she then showed a story from a teenage boy in the Bronx who saw this story and decided to document his neighborhood and life - bringing to light the similarities and differences. Hull confirmed through stories "the personal assumes great importance".

What could happen in our teaching teams if we all took time to tell stories? Tell stories of our journey into teaching? Our backgrounds? Our goals and our desires? Then share these stories beyond our walls and into International forums?