This is the end!

Aloha and Mahalo for reading this blog. I hope you have all enjoyed reading and keeping up with all that is going on here. We have been busy, busy, busy the whole time here. Therefore, due to lack of time and multitudinous amounts of photos, not every experience has been documented here on the blog. I hope many of you will ask me questions about my experience here and I will do my best to answer! See you all soon!





Love,





Millayna

Here I am with all of my little 'angels' :)

Our teachers put together a potluck for us which included a wonderful coconut cake....Here is Gordon explaining the virtue of patience (as he dips his finger in the frosting).

And here is our group leaving Hau'ula for the last day...

Almost Everything I Need to Know About Teaching Children (and Living Life) I Learned from My Kindergartners at Hau'ula

Yes, these are balanced round stones which I see everyday on the drive to Hau'ula. It is really an inspiring sight which reminds me of the importance of focus, determination, and skill which is required to be a successful teacher. (If this doesn't make sense to you, you are probably not in the MIT program so; ask me about the article on "Balancing Round Stones")

Lesson #1: Taking joy and pride in the small and simple things and moments in life. Success doesn't always mean drastic changes and an "all of a sudden" expertise. Sometimes just being invited to play with new friends is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Lesson #2: Help out those around you. If you see someone hanging on he edge; don't be afraid to walk over and give them a boost. You just might help them do something they've never done before.
Lesson #3: Work smarter, not harder. When you work as a team, each person brings something special and unique to the group. When people work all by themselves the outcome is unpredictable and disjointed: teams bring all the pieces together to reveal a comprehensive picture in its entirety. These five children spent both recesses on Friday working on this puzzle together. Lesson #4: Always take pride in a job well done. Maiya here chose to finish coloring her picture about how she uses water instead of watching a movie with the other students. Afterwards she handed it to me and said she just didn't want to stop when it was only half way done. I praised her for her hard work and determination to see it through to the end.

Lesson #5: Be happy! There is so much to see, learn, experience, and laugh about everyday. There is no time to waste being sullen or stuck in a rut of doing the same thing everyday.


Lesson #6: Be yourself. Why try to pretend to be something that you're not or to change yourself for others? JL here was asked to go play soccer with his friends at recess but chose to jump rope "with the girls" instead. He had a great time laughing and jumping. He even jumped twenty times in a row with the rope....which he counted himself!

Lesson #7: Try something new everyday. You just might surprise yourself and those around you! One of my students asked if she could take a picture with my camera....She had never taken a picture before. I was nervous, to say the least, about handing over my camera. But, I showed her how to put the strap around her wrist, where to push the button, and where to look to line up the shot. She took the picture, laughed and said, "that was so cool". Clearly, the picture turned out great!



For more lessons on life and learning from the wonderful world of kindergarten: just ask me. Or, better yet, ask your local five and six year old....he or she can probably explain things much better and more matter of factly than I can!

We're going to do what??!!!

This was my response when I was told that all of us Whitworth teachers were going to be learning and performing a traditional hula dance for the entire school next week. We've had a few practices already and I think we are getting pretty good. For all you MIT's out there you'll have to help me convince Kim Thomas and Nichole Lindbloom to perform it with me. I've got the music downloaded onto my iTunes so I can bring it to class and we can show you all how to tell the story of wind, water, and the moon with your hands and arms.



This is Zac and Aaron practicing the "wind" portion of our dance:



Here they are praising the moon:
The Hula is really a beautiful dance form and is usually accompanied by chant or song. I learned that the chant or song is called a mele and that the hula dramatizes or comments on the mele. Further, there are actually two styles of hula. Ancient hula, as performed before Western encounters with Hawaii, is called kahiko. It is accompanied by chant and traditional instruments such as drums and flutes made from natural resources on the islands. There is a huge festival every year called the Merrie Monarch in which the top Hula dancers in the world come and compete in the traditional format.

Hula as it evolved under Western influence, in the 19th and 20th centuries, is called ʻauana. It is accompanied by song and Western-influenced musical instruments such as the guitar, the ukulele, and the double bass. This is the kind of hula we will be performing, being as none of us know how to chant.

Hula kahiko (traditional/ancient hula) encompasses an enormous variety of styles and moods, from the solemn and sacred to the frivolous. Many hula were created to praise the chiefs and performed in their honor, or for their entertainment.

Serious hula was considered a religious performance. As was true of ceremonies at the heiau the platform temple, even a minor error was considered to invalidate the performance. It might even be a presage of bad luck or have dire consequences. Dancers who were learning to do such hula necessarily made many mistakes. Hence they were ritually secluded and put under the protection of the goddess Laka during the learning period. Ceremonies marked the successful learning of the hula and the emergence from seclusion.

Hula kahiko is performed today by dancing to the historical chants. Hula kahiko is characterized by traditional costuming, by an austere look, and by a belief that the meaning of the words is to be taken seriously.

Guess Who Loves Teaching Kindergartners!!

This is a picture of my class. I know, I know...How did I get so lucky? In this picture they are performing a dance they made up to learn different geographical terms that describe the Earth: they are making ocean waves, I believe. In the front row, on the left in the blue sweatshirt, is Honu. This little boy is painstakingly sweet, but also needs constant attention in order to complete the most remedial of tasks. He is smart and capable, however, he is always asking for help and the minute I walk away from him he quits working. Honu is the Hawaiian word for "sea turtle" by the way... There is also a very shy little girl named Ku'uipo, her name is the Hawaiian word for "sweetheart".



This is Kamihie (say: Kah mee hee ay). He is SMART and loves to cook with his kupunawahine (grandmother). She baked the BEST chocolate chip cookies for me on Wednesday. Kamihie is also a developing artist. I have already observed some of his 'journal entries' (which in kindergarten consists of writing a sentence and drawing a picture) his drawings are impressively detailed and colored. I am sure that I cannot draw as well as he can!

This is Emily and a little girl from the other kindergarten class. Emily is on the left and is one of two white students in my classroom. Emily is also new to the island. She just moved here about three weeks ago from New Zealand. ( I knew you would ask Kelly, and she is from Auckland and speaks with the most adorable accent). Emily is a very accomplished reader and hardly needs to sound words out any more.
This is Maiya. She is absolutely as cute in real life as she appears in this picture. Maiya loves to sing and dance. Many of her 'journal entries' are of Ukuleles and Hula dancing; which she does with her mom.
La'akea amazed me on Thursday. He counted up to 177!!! Nearly all of the other kindergartners I tested this week could only make it to 39 (which is just fine because that is their bench mark for this month). However, La'akea made it right up to 100 made a big grin and then looked at me expectantly. I praised him and then asked, "do you know any more"? With a quick nod he was off and counting. At 177 he said, "that's all I got Mrs. K".

La'akea also introduced me to a new Hawaiian word on Friday. After morning recess he came over and said, "Mrs. K, do I got any Ukus on me?"

I wasn't sure what to do, until I noticed he was vigorously scratching his head. Miss. Swope, his teacher giggled at my ignorance and said, "Uku means lice. La'akea thinks he has lice, and it looks like he may be right!"

After a brief inspection, it turns out that yes, La'akea had plenty of Ukus to go around. Let's hope is mom has taken care of it by tomorrow:)

Duke is a sweetheart and something of a jokester. He is always laughing and making funny faces. Duke is also very fashionable. His normal everyday outfit is a Quicksilver or Billabong short sleeve button up and cargo shorts.

I am so excited to see my students again tomorrow!!

Turn up the Eric Clapton and Let's Take a Drive!!

Classic rock radio stations are really a hit down here in Hawaii. Everyday during the hour long drive to Hau'ula I sink down into the chair, take in my fair share of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, and many more. I lean my head against the window and this is the scenery I pass by everyday................................... (All of these pictures were actually taken from inside the car on Wednesday morning)

I really can't say anything more about it. Beautiful! This is going to make driving division and Highway 2 out to Mt. Spokane a little more populated than it used to!

First Day at Hau'ula Elementary

Sea Turtles at Punalu'u Beach (The Big Island)

My first day here at Hau'ula has been a blast. I am working with 15 kindergartners and they are all adorable. When I was first told I would be working with kindergartners i was a little nervous, being that I have been teaching prep for college writing and French II at Mt. Spokane all year. Hau'ula is the complete opposite of my comfort zone considering both age and culture dynamics but I am having a lot of fun and the students are very forgiving when I mispronounce their names. I have one student with three "a's" in the middle of his name as well as a little girl with three first names--all of which have multiple connecting vowels. When the students were sharing what they did over the three day weekend, one students said he dreamt about snow, and that he wondered what it actually felt like. I tired to describe it, but I don't think I did it justice.
My teacher has already given me some "homework" and I will be teaching their "Language for Learning" curriculum the next few weeks.......I better study up the giant manual she gave me.

I'm Here!!

I am having an amazing time in Hawaii! I arrived last Tuesday and the learning and exploring hasn't stopped. Neeedless to say, internet has not been good so far and time limitations are not optimum for regularly updating a blog. I am hoping to be able to log in about once a week and fill everyone in. The picture above is me eating some sort of strange prickly fruit that you squeeze open and eat the center. Once I got past it's formidable exterior it tasted quite good; kind of like a white grape. While staying in Paradise Park (appropriate name for this beautiful area just outside of Hilo, on the big island) we got to tour nearly the entire island of Hawaii. Below, you will see the view from the back deck of the house we stayed in.............Awesome!

We visited a museum dedicated to the history and information of Tsunamis. I learned a lot of information about these "walls of water" which came to be especially handy as Hawaii was put on a tsunami watch last week, a little frightening, but everything worked out. I have seen sea turtles relaxing on the ocean at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach...so close that I could touch them, but didn't because it is illegal. We visited the volcano national park and saw active volcanoes up close as well as ancient petroglyphs. We saw the ancient city of refuge as well as a Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Wood Valley, Hawaii that the Dali Llama has stayed at a few times. I wish I could post all of those pictures, but the internet connection here is dreadfully slow. I miss all of my family, friends, and students. See you in two more weeks!

Aloha!

Getting ready to go

This is me with my nieces (4 and 5 respectively). When I asked if they would be sad to have me be gone for three whole weeks they very politely said, "no!"


Aren't they sweet?

I just set up my first blogg !

For those of you more technologically savvy; setting up a blogg is no big deal. For me, it is a momentous occasion worthy of being described only in the most meretricious encomium.

I am so excited to be embarking on this journey to Hawaii. I will be working in an elementary school on the island of Oahu in a town called Hauula. I leave on Tuesday January 9th and will not be back until January 31st. While I am gone I will be periodically posting pictures and interesting things I am learning here on this blogg.