Being powerful: learning to negotiate and be peace makers

As part of exploring how we can be powerful we have been learning a little about how to negotiate. All of us run into conflicts from time to time and we are learning to resolve them in ways that we can all walk away happy, with win win solutions. This is part of an introduction to peer mediation. It helps us have more peaceful and happy environments.

We looked at a format for discussions we can have when a problem arises:

1. State what you want: “I want to use the book now.”

2. State how you feel: “I'm frustrated.”

3. State the reasons for your wants and feelings: “You have been using the book for the past hour. If I don't get to use the book soon, my report will not be done on time. It's frustrating to have to wait so long.”

4. Then it's the other person's turn to share their wants, feelings and reasons for both.

5. Summarise your understanding of what the other person wants, how the other person feels, and the reasons underlying both.

6. Invent three optional plans to resolve the conflict.

7. Choose one plan and shake hands.

We will keep practising this when conflicts arise. Things we have found difficult so far are saying our feelings, saying the other person's wants and feelings, coming up with a few options to resolve the problem.

When we are confident to use this method of negotiating, hopefully we will use it at home too.

Eco-House Minecraft Competition

We have found a Minecraft Competition that we want to enter. We thought that other students might want to enter as well. Nicola will send in the entries. Send entries to her by next Friday 29th September.  nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz

"How do you put ‘Eco’ into a Home?

So, what are we looking for in the perfect Eco-House? Some of the key elements will be:
Low environmental impact: How does it fit with the world around it? We want to see a minimal impact on the environment – both in construction and on-going use.
Sustainable: We want to see use of sustainable materials in the construction.
Energy-efficiency: How energy efficient in the house? Construct is so that it makes best use of renewable energy resources, for heating and lighting, etc."

Overall, you need to create us a building that’s friendly to the environment around it – and explain why you think it is."


This is Ollie's design


You can find out more at:
https://interfaceonline.co.nz/minecraft2017/

By Thomas, Lachlan, Hugo W and Alex B

Hutt Central play our game!

As part of our Inquiry, we made up our own games. We were very excited to receive 19 letters from Hutt Central School who played our game. 

Dear Hutt Central School,

Thank you so much for our letters.

It was really cool that you played our game. Thank you for all of the advice.

We will put the levels in to try and make our game more interesting.

We are glad that you found it simple to play.

We like how you said that it improves your accuracy. It improves ours too.

If you get a goal, you get a point. We need to include these in our instructions. The person with the most points win the game.

We like the suggestion that if we get a goal then you can give someone a dare.

From D, M and H

Hands on Fractions

Today in Maths, we used different tools and pictures to explore fractions and what they look like. We invented our own games to play to help us learn what fractions look like and how we can use them.

Some of the activities we did included...

- using play dough to make a fraction pyramid

- playing memory and matching up different fractions

- we invented a game called 'Fraction Bounce' where we have to draw a fraction that someone says as quickly as we can

- match up different fractions to make a fraction wall.

International Dot Day!

Today is International Dot Day. We have been thinking about the character strength of creativity. 

"International Dot Day is named for the classic Peter H. Reynolds storybook The Dot. The book shares the story of a girl who begins a journey of self-discovery after a caring teacher challenges her to “make her mark.” 

You can read more http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/get-inspired/making-a-mark

Here is the story read beautifully by Emelia:

Catch up with Room 3 at Auroa School

Orla: Today we skyped Auroa School. We talked about our learning. They were talking about how they got to choose their own learning around the STEM subjects. Some of them chose trapping and some grew bacteria from Mr Webb's phone.

Hana: We talked about our Inquiry. They had a camera that they put in the bushes so they can see the pests. They 3D printed platforms to put cat biscuits or peanut butter to attract the animals. Here are some of the images that they have captured.

Peter: The kids at Auroa School played the game that me and Ollie made up. They said that it was a bit like piggy in the middle. The aim of the game is to not let the person in the middle catch it. It was exciting that they played our game.

You can check out their blog: http://mrwebbauroa.blogspot.co.nz/

Kicking off our Student Led Conferences

Today we kicked off our Student Led Conferences (SLCs). Students shared their learning with parents while others led workshops. The workshops were designed to showcase some of the things that we do in Matariki and Mahutonga. The students led workshops around yoga, bootcamp, drawing, art, number talks, maths, drama, inquiry...