Reading time

At Tamaki College we value reading, and schedule one library period per class as part of the English programme. The students are welcome to use the library at lunch and after school as well.

Here's 9RTd in the library today.

Initial values paragraphs

I just had a look at some of the paragraphs the Year 9 students wrote and they are very cool. Here are a couple to get you started before we complete the essays on Monday.


One value I have is commitment. This means that if I join something I have to stay committed to it. Goals are important to me because I used to quit and give up on things that I should have put more effort into. I think that never giving up is one value related to commitment. When I show this value I try to stay clam, think of positive things and do it hard and fast.

-Henry

One value I have learned at Tamaki is respect. I think that it is important to use it because if you want to be respected you have to show it back. When I show this value I try to be nice to everyone I see and not judge them based on what they look like before I know them.

-Cheyanne

Integrity is all about honesty and trust. Remember- don't lie, be honest to yourself. Being honest and doing the right thing is awesome, you would feel so great afterwards. But if you don't show integrity you will be scarred with a lie and you would look back at it and you would feel really bad.

-Teariki

One value that I think is important is respect. I place self-respect first. I beleive that you have to respect yourself before you can start respecting others. It is very important because it shows that one values another as an individual.

-Dion

One value that I think is important is integrity. It is important because it means that everything is going to be alright because everyone is showing honesty to each other. It makes our environment much safer. When I show this value I try my best to be honest all the time to adults, friends and myself.

-Sue

Values with 9RTd

We were talking about values today, with the focus of "What we value is who we are." We know the Tamaki College values-Respect, Integrity, Success and Responsibilty. One group said that "A value is something that you hold and treasure for generations and is something that is very useful in life."

We thought about the following questions:

• Where do you think we get our values? 
• What is one example of a value your family feels is very important?
• Does anyone have an example of a religious value you hold and have been taught?
• Which of your values come from your cultural beliefs?
• What is a value that is widely held in this country and that may be less important in other countries?
• Can you think of a value someone else has that you do not share? What is it?

We shared our values and made a word cloud.

Family trees

9RTd made some great takeaway boxes so that I could get to know them. It included a family tree, fact sheet and a letter. Thanks 9RTd, love the work. So happy to be teaching you this year.

Here's one of the family trees, from Malulu.

Just because... portrait poems

9RTd did some portrait poems- here's one from Henry. Thanks Henry!


Just because I’m brown

Doesn’t mean you’ll have my crown

Doesn’t mean I like being put down

Doesn’t make me your clown

Just because I’m brown

Doesn’t mean I was found

Yous tied my hands and beat me down

Just because I’m brown

I’m not just a voice in your head

To me it all matters about what you said

Doesn’t mean you really cared

Cause all along you thought I was always in the air

Just because I’m brown

Am I just an outsider ?

Do I really matter ?

Can you like me for who I can be ?

Colour doesn’t define who I am.

10RLe creative writing

"This is my voice. There are many like it, but this one is mine." 

We'll be updating the blog with creative writing periodically. Here's a picture of the class working hard during our regular Friday creative writing time. Today we're using a quote from Zech Soakai as the starter for either a poem or short story.

We'll put some completed writing up next week.

Responses to Brown Brother

Here are a selection of the student responses to Brown Brother by Joshua Iosefo...






"I think that the speech had a big impact on people because of the fact the it was all true, and it relates to a lot of people in many communities. He spoke a lot about how people assume a lot of things just by looking at you. He also talks about the brown statistics and about how most brown Pacific Islanders are truck drivers, fast food eating and box packing people.





Not all Pacific Islanders do those types of things, most Islanders now are rugby players and fashion designers- people can shape their own future and are capable to do anything."





"This poem was very strong because he is standing up for people who are being stereotyped and for all people who think that everyone should have equal rights like not getting judged just because their brown.





This means that when he heard it he knew that we could relate to the poem about being judged or stereotyped, racism and being called poor because of the clothes we wear, the traditions we have in our culture or what we look like."






"Joshua had an impact on people because of words and phrases he sent out to us. Telling us that we’re not stereotypes, were just people with different colour skin to others. “Brown like the bark of the palm tree that supports my heritage.” Joshua made his poem to make people think about their future, or what they’ve got themselves into. Joshua is speaking up and showing what people would expect from us because we're brown. They look down at brown people because of some people making shame of our cultures, making the society think differently about us Islanders. Really it’s about what the society expects from us brown people."