Term Two 2012 - Up and running!

Yes it's Term Two already and what a term we have to look forward to.  It's fabulous to be back and the students have turned up to school ready for action after a well deserved break!

One of the highlights of this term will be our School Cross Country coming up in a few weeks.  I have been really impressed with the students of Pouakai Syndicate and their dedication and commitment to their cross country training.  We are blessed to have the infamous Mr Rickard 'lead the way' implementing a mighty training regime and offering words of advice and expertise.

I managed to capture some of our students training hard.  Well done you lot! 

Good Old Board Games

Remember the good old days when families sat around and played board games and cards?  I certainly do.  We never had a TV when I was a kid so we played board games and cards all the time.  I know (from what the kids have told me) that some of you still do.  Fantastic!  Board games promote a whole lot of things.  strategic thinking, co-operation, competition, logical thinking, honesty, mathematical skills, literacy skills and plenty of other things.

As part of a class reward: Everyone has posted on their individual blogs Wooooohoooooo! We played board games this afternoon.  As a teacher it is wonderful to see your class engaged and 'playing' respectfully and genuinely having fun.  Well done Room 13, I am proud of you :)
Ms Tito

Awesome Animations

Wednesdays are funny days because students are in and out of class attending various Academies.  So, we decided that this would be a good time for all the 'left over' students to do something fun.  Today we looked at some software called I can animate.  We started off with something pretty basic and we'll be starting to develop storyboards and characters during future sessions.  Here's a slideshow of the process and a completed animation by Sheridan, Sean and Rahul.  We love it!  Please leave them some feedback on their own blog.

And here is the actual animation.
A Bugs Tale from Janine Tito on Vimeo.

Did you know... Treaty facts.

We have been reading about the Treaty of Waitangi and here are some facts students chose to share with you.

Did you know Treaty facts from Janine Tito on Vimeo.

What can you tell us about the Treaty of Waitangi?

Our Sensational Athletics Day

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! The wonderful Wellington wind sent shivers coursing through my body while measuring discus throws up on the Tawa College field.  It was the very first whole school 'event' of 2012 here at Tawa Intermediate.  Athletics day!

The commitment shown by passionate and patriotic students to their syndicates were apparent when I scanned the hall in the morning briefing.  I saw clumps of blue, red, pink, green, yellow and purple students dressed to show their support.  Pouakai (my syndicate) wore pink.

So the scene is set... watch our movie, it captures the mood of the day along with some excitement and talent.  Are you one of the talented ones?

TIS Athletics 2012 from Janine Tito on Vimeo.

Thanks to Lasi, Mr O'C and Miss Goldfinch for the photos and footage.

Pinkilicious Pouakai

The students came to school 'Pinked Up' to represent the "Mighty Pouakai" syndicate.   I spent my day with Mr O'carroll up at one of the Discus circles set up on the Tawa College Field.  The cold Wellington wind cut right through my pink Lava lava, skins and merino long sleeve top but I really enjoyed watching our students having fun and giving Athletics a good go.  I'm collating more footage and photos from other staff members to put together a movie of our students striving to do their best during our wonderful Athletics day.  So, watch this space :)

Meet Ryley Bridges

Ryley is definitely one of our talented writers.  I thought it would be a good idea to post a pic of her so you can put a face to her writing.  Hopefully she will accept a challenge to write a book this year or publish some of her work in the next Journal of Young People's Writing.  As you can see she is a lot of fun too.  If you happen to see her, maybe she will share with you what she had written on the stickers on her forehead and school shirt.

Ryley Bridges - Ngati Toa Trip

February 16th. A hot Thursday morning at Tawa Intermediate School. Pouakai Syndicate were going to Ngati Toa Domain. The courts, where everyone lined up, outside of the classrooms smelt like sun screen. People wore hats, sunglasses and bits of clothing that might of been the  latest fashion craze. I stuck with my normal style (T-shirt, shorts and sneakers). The teachers made us shout “POUAKAI!!!” at the top of our lungs. We then walked off down the street towards the train station, chatting among friends.

The train ride was boring but at least we weren’t stuck on the train forever (last year at the end of year picnic, we were stuck on the train for a length of time that felt like hours but was only about an hour). Pouakai syndicate filled up the train and the only other person on the train was some guy listening to music. We chatted about where we could go (and where we couldn’t). I attempted to take some pictures of people walking but sadly, failed miserably.

The playground was as hot as school. The suns energy was focused on us today. After eating, people split up and ran around the not so big playground. Students laughed, talked and shouted all around the place. Some boys went and played rugby on the field. Today was a day for fun in the sun.

The beach was hot and beautful. The water was cool and peaceful. I didn’t go in the water but my friends did and they enjoyed it. Reilly, Jackson and a couple of other boys went crab hunting. They screamed a couple of times like little girls when they saw big crabs. It was pretty funny.

The beach trip ended after hours of fun. Everyone enjoyed it and had the time of their lives. We become closer as friends, as a class and as a syndicate. Best Beach Day Ever!!!

Pouakai Syndicate Trip - MOVIE

Kia ora everyone.  Here's a movie I made with footage captured by myself and a couple of Room 13 Students (Zoe and Ryley - theirs is the 'wobbly' footage).  It was the motivation for our effective paragraph writing today, so hopefully our next few posts are exceptional examples of E.P's (effective paragraphs).  So watch this space!

Yes it was a marvelous day and I can't wait until our next one
Ms T x

Pouakai Syndicate Trip from Janine Tito on Vimeo.

Our very first Outing...

Kia Ora... Nau mai haere mai!

Hi everyone and welcome to our blog.  If you are wondering about the name of our blog, I'll let you in on how and why we named it "Ngaa Hau Mahana".

When I was given the wonderful class Room 13 here at Tawa Intermediate I knew I wanted a 'learning statement' that we could say every morning to start off our day to set us up for success.  I am lucky enough to have a wonderful partner who has a passion for Te Reo me ona Tikanga Maori and he helped write our learning statement in Maori with it's English translation:

E ngā hau mahana

Piri mai ki a mātou I tēnei rā

Hei mahana tōku hāere

May a warm, yet gentle wind

Be with us this day

In aid of my journey

So, Ngaa Hau Mahana (Warm, yet gentle wind) is the name of our blog.  When coming up with the learning statement we had in mind Wellington, which is famous for it's wind.  It was written especially for our students and they are busy learning both the Maori and English version.  Maybe you could ask one of the Room 13 students to recite it for you and share the deeper meaning of it also. We hope you love it as much as we do :)

 
Kia ora ano
Ms Tito