Can we start over?...........

2020 started off as a very exciting year for me! It was the big 40th birthday, Lydia my daughter turned 10 and Mb ( The husband) also turned 40! The start of the year was going well, after a lovely summer break it was a nice smooth transition back to school.
As the news unfolded over the course of the term, we realised that things would be about to change! So, here we are 7 weeks later.... 4 weeks of full lock down and another 3 weeks of home learning. To be honest I have enjoyed being at home with the family, working from home has suited me ha ha! I have missed the hustle and bustle of school and teaching music from a distance is not that exciting!!
I have really been proud of how the kids have tackled online learning, it was really cool having google meets and being able to talk online and catch up!
For us at Hornby High School we were ahead of the game with our google sites. We already have our curriculum on our sites so transitioning into full online learning was an easier process.
We are now in the final week of our learning from home. Whilst I am looking forward to coming back to school I will miss being able to work when I went and get up when I want to! Also, going back to going to the loo when the bell rings will be challenging ha ha!
I feel incredibly lucky to have spent this time with my whanau, to have escaped COVID-19 and remained healthy and to be returning to a job that I love. Many have not been so lucky.

PLG - Feedback

A constant challenge in performance Music is the process of giving feedback and feedforward. As a music teacher you have lots of one on one conversations giving direct feedback. The challenge is how to give productive feedback so that the students remember and can look back on it.
My PLG group this year is on feedback and Joanne and I are working with our seniors on productive ways to do this! Things I have tried are having a running doc that can be a running diary of feedback, target setting like meetings with individuals ( I like this one as you get to have face to face conversations but it takes a lot of time, particularly with big classes! ) I have also done good old post it notes for quick feedback but of course these get lost easily! We now comment on blogs and this works ( if students have their devices) but I would like to look at other more efficient types of giving feedback. I am going to get some student voice as to how they like to receive feedback.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XLsPiAVgJwURvWwQBV-WFCkKaiyoJZhJLAL4jD7K5HA/edit#slide=id.g5484a8bcc3_3_5

Splurge guns and Gangsters!!!!!

We must have been mad when we had the idea of visiting scenes from Bugsy Malone!!! We were mad, it was awesome and it was a banger of a year end!!!

The passion projects are now in its second year! Although, the Performing Arts have been participating in the end of year arts focus since it started its life as the Arts Kete. This year we collapsed the timetable for years 7 - 10 during the last six weeks of Term 4. Students were able to choose their passion to embark on. Options for students ranged from community events to wearable arts. Sports events to science and food. There was something for everyone and of course this year we offered Musical Theatre once again. As we were now accomodating two extra year groups we had a whopping 60 kids sign up which meant we could have four specialist teachers. Joanne clark taking the role of Director, me as musical director and choreography, Sarah Richardson as choreographer and vocal director and Luke Taylor as our resident dialect coach. We were also blessed to have two of our awesome teacher aides Judy and Joanne who also have theatre experience.
It was a huge challenge having to muster up the energy at the end of a crazy busy year to put on this wee musical. Having full days on this project meant that we could get so much more done in a session. Last year we were in two hour slots and this certainly didn't help the creative flow.
As the excited theatre kid faces appeared at the whare we knew that it was going to be a great time. Seeing how much the students were engaged and excited certainly helped my energy levels. If the students were bringing it then I certainly had to.
We all met as one big group to start off our sessions. Here we did a physical warm up and then we discussed our objectives for the day! After that we would work in groups on different parts of the show!
This year we had two wonderful people work on our set and props. Mike and Nick worked on our concept ideas and designed us an amazing stage and of course the unforgettable splurge guns!!

Having the set and props definitely lifted the professional level from the students. This was now getting real and after 5 weeks and a bit we were ready!
We did two performances on our show case day. The first was to our primary school next door, expecting a few classes they were so excited to see our show that the whole school came! They were such a fantastic audience and the performers were feeding off their laughter and their applause! Next up was our students biggest challenge....... their peers. During the day all of the passion project groups had displays that parents could look at, we were the finale of our day with our show! Nerves were high ( including mine as I was on the sound desk again, no pressure ha ha )
Our kids always enjoy the music and drama we provide them to watch but this was for sure the quietest audience we have ever had! I mean that in a good way, plenty of laughter and applause but the audience were so engaged you could feel it!
Our hearts bursting with pride, we finally finished this mad, crazy year!! The show was a success, everyone was exhausted, apart from Mrs Clark who was already in the midst of planning next years show!! HA Ha ha!
Blessed to work with wonderful students and inspiring staff, we had for sure earned our summer!
2018 OUT ( MIC DROP)

Musical Theatre mayhem!!!

It's been a manic term........ In year 8 and 9 we have focused on Musical Theatre as a genre for Term 1. This was a collaborative project between myself, Joanne (HOD Drama) and our two part time PA teachers Luke and Sarah. We all had one goal and that was to get all of our juniors on the stage performing. Cue dramatic sound........
We spent a lot of time initially researching musical theatre and putting this new genre into context. Many students had no idea what musical theatre was, some only thought of good old High school musical and some students already had a vast knowledge and were already fans of Hamilton and Mean Girls. We had ALOT of differentiation..... Some students were so keen to perform and as soon as we headed into the practical element were on their way. Others had a passion for sets and props and began designing. Some students were a little reluctant and preferred to research the genre further and produce detailed slide shows. We had a vast array of work happening and even those students that still were not sold on performing on stage they understood the genre and could explain features and give examples. FANTASTIC. In our final showcase each class presented their work, this was a class performance from each ( and yes everyone in the class stood on stage and did something!!! Even the nervous kids stood at the back and sang or danced their heart out) RESULT!! we had some fantastic solo and small ensamble performances, some fab research and some gorgeous set pieces.
There are many things we will take from this project and change and tweak. There were certainly things that didn't work. But, most importantly there were lots of things that did work! Everyone enjoyed themselves and in the end every student involved stood on a stage and performed and left the term with new knowledge on the wonderful genre of Musical Theatre.

Music mentor!!

This year we were lucky to gain another music mentor from the NZ music commission. This is a wonderful initiative by the commission which is completely free of charge. A mentor is assigned to your school and they run workshops based on what you want for your students. This year we were super lucky to get the amazing Lavina Williams! Lavina was such a perfect fit for Hornby and we fell in love with her immediately. Lavina is an amazingly talented performer from Auckland, she is part Samoan part Fijian. She is a singer/songwriter but also an accomplished musical theatre performer. She is the only polynesian woman to have ever been cast in the role of Rafiki in The Lion King. Wow!!!!! Lavina talked us through her amazing career as a singer. Our students were captivated! One of the biggest hurdles for our kids is for them to believe that they can follow their passions in performing arts and that they can travel the world and be a musician. It is possible!!! Lavina really encouraged this and focused on believing in themselves. We had two wonderful days working on stage presence, stage craft and songwriting. Our students soaked up the time and I was really proud of them for putting themselves out there and really giving everything!! I also gained so much from Lavina. It was really interesting to see her giving feedback and having fresh eyes looking at our performances was so rewarding. This was such a perfect way to end the term, I know all my senior musicians benefitted hugely! What an amazing thing for New Zealand to have this commission so that our tamariki can experience working with mentors that we would never usually have the opportunity to access.

Hit the term running....... no, sprinting!!!!

To say we have started school with a bang is an understatement! Its only week 4 and we have had pd days, staff meetings, student meetings, international students, timetable changes, crazy weather and lots of new faces. 2018 was always set to be a big year at Hornby High School but i think i may have underestimated this!
We started our year with our Uru Manuka cluster meeting. This was a day for all of the schools in the cluster to meet together and to discuss our progress with Learn, Create, Share. I did take some valuable things from the day. Listening to Pat Sneddon is always inspiring, hear his encouraging words and the the difference we are making to our children was definitely a great way to start the year. It was interesting though to hear the differences in opinions from our colleagues from other schools........
I always love the start of a school year. I had really missed the kids and it was great catching up with the staff and meeting the 12 newbies! Week 4 in and it already feels like its half way through the term lol! Being over code this term is hard work but I am enjoying all of my classes. Really noticing the difference with smaller junior classes. Going from around 35 to 19 in an average junior music class is already reaping the benefits!
We have set the tone for a great year but it's going to be a hard one too!!

A Lion, three teachers and some awesomeness!!!

The festival of the arts 2017 began with 8 remaining weeks of the school year. Usually we would be winding down but we certainly were not this time! Our wonderful year 7 and 8 students end their year celebrating the Arts. Each student chooses a project based on their interests. This year we offered, photography, mosaic, guitars, sculpture, carving, weaving, movie making and musical theatre. Groups are usually around 10-15 students.Surprisingly we had over 40 students sign up for our musical project! Because of the numbers, we had three teachers to take the three disciplines, acting, singing and dancing. This was the first time we had attempted to do a "mini" musical and having three teachers and a lot of eager kids we knew it was going to be a good time!
We began with voice and dance warm-ups, drama games and generally getting everyone amped up! We settled on doing a shortened version of The lion King as we only had a maximum of 30 minutes performance time.
The students were so enthusiastic we had a fantastic selection of leads to cast and we also cast understudies ( We actually had to use our Pumba understudy 10 minutes before our show started).
Some of our students had never performed before and so were both excited but extremely nervous! Students helped design set, costumes and makeup. During this process students blogged their adventures and did homework on the characteristics of their characters. I was so impressed with the work the students did outside of rehearsal time, they were so onto it and you could read their enthusiasm! After weeks of prep we did our dress rehearsal to our primary school next door. They loved it and wished we had done the full show! :) Our final show was to a full auditorium, you could feel the nerves but equally the excitement too! We were so proud of their final performances, you would never have guessed we had some first time performers! Hopefully they stay enthused and carry on with the Performing Arts! It certainly was a huge learning curve, self esteem builder and an amazing experience for all of them!

2017......... What a year!!

So, I didn't make a single blog post in 2017!! That's not to say that I spent the year with nothing to write. It is in fact the exact opposite! The last school year I can only describe as a whirlwind!! It had many, many highs and also some really challenging times! During the summer break of 2016/17 the music department had a huge overhaul. This included huge renovations but also we became "Whare toi Whakaari" the home of the arts. Having my drama comrade with me sharing spaces was both new and challenging but also totally awesome! Making spaces work that haven't been used to their potential for tens of years was exciting to see. What was immediately surprising was seeing how the students reacted to the new interior! New carpets and a bright paint job makes a difference. I could see how the attitudes to the spaces changed. The delight of new cushions ( even though a colleague made a comment that they wouldn't be there by the end of the year!!) They were there!!!!!! In good condition having been carried around as comforters ( yes it is a high school) sat on for floor jam sessions and placed around our new window seats! Who would have thought those things made such a difference???? They do! Having a creative space to work that looks inviting and homely really has brought out the best of all of us this year!!
I will mention a few highlights or my 2017 summary will be 50 pages long. One of my biggest proudest moments this year was my Musical Theatre showcase. This was the first time we have done an NCEA only music performance night. I had studied this genre a lot with my year 13's this year and they loved it! It was their idea to do a full "Musicals" showcase and it was magical! I was bursting with pride seeing the display of professionalism and talent! We buzzed for days after and it is definitely something I want to do each year! We also had another fantastic year at the Shakespeare festival and our international evening was wonderful again!

So now we wait for the start of the 2018 year! Its going to be another biggie with school rebuild in full swing! It is going to be a hard year for teachers and students changing classes and going into new buildings! Despite the stress I know that the rewards will be huge! #hornbypride

A new vision!

As Hornby High school moves into the realms of the big rebuild we are starting to look at the vision of the school. Our board of trustees presented their ideas of our vision after school on Monday, along with afternoon tea which always goes down well with the Hornby crew.
Learn, Create, Share is where we want to take our students, being creative in whatever they do
 ( creativity is not exclusive to the Arts but to be creative in all subjects.) The toughest part of that equation is the sharing part. I find my wonderful musos learn and create in their comfort zones well and work hard. The scary part is the sharing. The performing and giving their all on stage! Now, we have become better at this and I have seen the confidence levels grow in my musicians. We are still not quite at the point though where my students will do this freely without me nagging them! ( with the exception of Jacob and Siaosi if they happen to read this) How do I get them to this point.......  I am not sure. I can do all the encouraging in the world but there still has to be more! Project based learning is an avenue we are beginning to look at and I have started thinking about this for 2017. Cross - curricular projects which engage our students and connect our subjects! Is this the answer??? I don't know but as a teacher in the 21st century I want to give it a go, I'm excited to try it and am keen to get it started!!! More to come on this subject......... :)

Back to school.............

We gotta go back, back, back to school again!!! Who doesn't love Grease 2. So I can not believe that we are going into the final term of the school year! This year has been the fastest one yet! The next 4 weeks are going to be mayhem as we have 4 weeks left with seniors. Deadlines are approaching and the pressure is on! This term is an exciting one also as the music and performing arts areas are to be refurbished over the holidays! Its a perfect time to get rid of stuff and prepare our teaching environments for an overhaul! The students are really excited and are all keen to help move and pack things which is wonderful ( I wonder if they are as pro-active when tidying their bedrooms) lol! Its an exciting time and am enjoying looking at new classroom furniture and ways to bring colour to the spaces!

Voices with Soul mayem!!

So, we are one week away from this years voices festival!!!! ahhhhh I cant believe it. I don't think we have ever been this under prepared. Its senior assessment week this week too so we have a week or rehearsals with out them!! OMG!! I have faith though that my amazing singers will totally nail it!! We have some intensive rehearsals this week, I will try to post a video later in the week!