Pure Manaʻo

As the start of a new semester begins and the new professors start their classes (yours truly included), let us take a little time to remember a bit of advice from Kumu Noe Noe. Based on my sitting through new faculty orientation, I found that most of us that are starting at the University system are not from here. E olu olu (please, kindly) practice a little cultural humility by starting with these ten best practices below. A little bit of aloha goes a long way and you will see that our local students will come out of their "cages" and thrive. Have a wonderful semester! Ten Best Practices for Effective Teaching To Students From Hawai‘i By Noe Noe Wong-Wilson Names are an integral part of a person’s genealogy and identity.   Ask each student what name they prefer to be called. Learn to pronounce their names properly. Inform your students how you would like to be addressed.  The name you choose to be called sets up your relationship with the students.  ...

John McCarthy writes about Igniting Student Engagement , all things worthy of being pinned in my Teaching 101 Pinterest, but I just wanted to focus on one of his concepts, "be real," and "Hawaiian-ize" it for our community of students. He talks about connecting skills and content to students' interests and really that is the key. Content shouldn't happen until the teacher has created a true relationship with the student first. Creating a relationship with each student could take two months, and what is wrong with that? Other skills, expectations, content can happen, but by getting to know the students by understanding what family knowledge they come to school with, by humbling yourself, even if you are the teacher with all your degrees, so that you can learn from the students is the highest priority for the new school year and the best way to motivate students. When you can connect your content and skills to the knowledge and skills and interests of the...