Ngā tito - More student creations

There was much excitement in the classroom yesterday as Tracey Tupuivao, Te Atamarie Taripo and Jahlaesha Tiraha put together a waiata based on the melody that Tracey had come up with earlier. While the boys quietly got on with stencil making, these three finished theirs and worked together to explore ideas and shape their creation. 

It's wonderful for me to see such enthusiasm about music and the joy they got from experimenting and really tuning in to their own thoughts and wairua to see where the music might go. You can feel the energy from their creative flow as they improvise on the spot, and I love seeing that confidence to try out their own ideas and not worry about making mistakes, as it's so often the times that we really listen to our own inner thoughts and have the courage to try them that the most wonderful possibilities come to light. What I love about this video is not that they made a polished production (that may come), but that they had the courage and drive to get together and experiment with full conviction, and see what came out of it. It makes this class a joy to work with.

Tracey Tupuivao, Te Atamarie Taripo and Jahlaesha Tiraha's musical creation

This is the point of the sound garden project - for our students to have free access to music making on these funky, beautiful instruments which are set up so they may learn, experiment, collaborate and explore at their own pace. I can't wait till the installation is set up and our kids can do this sort of jamming in their own time. While we've looked at rerenga tāruarua (repeating patterns) and such in Puoro class before, there was no input from me into this song, and it shows a glimpse of what is possible when you open the doors to the arts for our wonderful, talented tamariki.