Intergenerational Mamae

Mamae - Hurt, pain

Intergenerational - successive, over generations

Pointing out punctuation issues led to a really in-depth conversation and learning with one of my students on Friday.

There were many issues with punctuation in her writing, as there has been all year. Her writing has gotten stronger and her analysis skills too. I've been so proud of her development this year.

Friday was just a culmination of too much going on, punctuation issues and I picked at the unsaid feeling I could see on her face.

We talked about how punctuation is hard, particularly when your first language is te reo Māori because when there is punctuation - the point is in the rerenga (sentences) itself, not the punctuation. It's an added bonus.

We talked about the difference in the two languages - how te reo Māori is an oral language and how English is a written language, where punctuation is used to emphasise verbal communication and intonation.

It wasn't enough though. I could see her face. She was on the brink of tears, and I asked her quietly, "Bub, is this making you feel dumb right now?" She nodded, tears welling over. Yes - it was and I'd picked at the sore, gave her a huge hug as we laughed together at the silliness of how punctuation can make us feel this way. Another student brought over the tissues - always in short supply in our classroom - so many stressed out kids and a teacher who reads body language too well.

So I began the korero with her - connecting her pain right now to the intergenerational mamae and helped her understand that it wasn't just her hurting right now. That it's been passed down over many many generations.

We talked about her nanny's generation and back and back. The legislation that caused an entire series of generations to lose reo Māori and to be forced to learn English by way of being caned and given the strap. And then forward from the mamae and towards mine and her mum's generation - with the revitalisation of reo Māori. And then forward to hers - where she stands so strongly i te ao Māori that I'm now needing and happily encouraging her to find equal footing in both worlds to be able to engage the korero with mana and understanding.

Because by understanding the intergenerational mamae - we can understand why we still are hurting today in the here and now.

We talked about how her whanau love her and how proud they are of her. How she stands on the shoulders of giants. How she is working hard every day to break free from the struggles of managing her anger and how she is creating better strategies all the time.

At the end of the day, bub - I said - it's just punctuation. Your writing is beautiful. It's gettinf better all the time.

She said - I can explain it well i te Reo Māori - and I said that's algud - I'd love her to do that - but I also want her to feel comfortable sharing her korero i te ao Pākehā too. I told her I can show her a few tricks with punctuation - because it's a small issue - changing writing style is way harder.

She left that period - hopefully feeling a little better.

Last period, she came back and we worked on her punctuation skills. I showed her a few tricks on Google Docs on my computer, gave her my seat and she did all the editing on her own with my help of course - going from the written piece of editing needed and the sentence by sentence editing needed on her doc.

The ctrl + F function and the replace all mode - helped her see just how many fullstops didn't have a space beside them - and then how quick it was to add a space and then have it magically fixed. The same thing done with the commas and indented commas.

A tiny fix - she felt more confident and learnt new skills. But overall - she chose to work through the mamae instead of letting it sit on her chest. So freaking proud of her. ❤️

It's the small moments like these that truly remind me why I teach. If only every kid was as willing to do self-work. Without our whanaungatanga over the past couple years - we wouldn't have been able to get her there. I'm just so proud of her - honestly.

First person in the class to complete all six internals. 😍 You achieve every day bub. Proud of you.