Mōrena World! We are learning so much about the Maori culture and language- our brains are growing and as Ayn said today, "Sometimes it hurts when our brains are growing." We are soaking up like sponges as much as we can. Mōrena means Good Morning and every day when they do the attendance, they are greeted by this. It is so important to start the day with a positive no matter what! Children are the same everywhere. No matter where in the world you go, the smiles on their faces can brighten any room. At Arataki School, the students brighten each moment of each day.
Tuesday we showed the students that Canadians are just as goofy as Kiwis when we danced alongside them during JumpJam, danced alongside the swimming pool while they were having aquabics and tried our hand at singing along to their Maori songs. They laughed and giggled along as we eagerly joined in. It is so important to let children see us learning too.
Tuesday we also made BIG plans- plans for Summer Institute, plans for incorporating tradition and culture into our northern classrooms and plans for new resources to be created. It was a growing brain kind of day, the kind of day where you go home and say WOAH! Do I have THINGS TO DO! We cannot wait to share them with everyone!
As I write this, we are getting ready to head to school- it's Wednesday morning here in Papamoa. We are ready to STRETCH our growing brains a little bit more today!
I will definitely be leaving a part of my MANAWA here.
