The Challenge of Teaching Hawaiian History...to Hawaiians

Only a small fraction of my seventh-grade Hawaiian History students are native Hawaiian or even partly Hawaiian. Still, most of them spent much more of their lives in Hawaiian than I. They've been surrounded by the culture, history, the language, and the traditions. I've only had two years to catch up. One of the toughest aspects of teaching Hawaiian History is the names. I'm going to share some of them with you in order that you can appreciate. The names all can start to all sound the same. They are mostly long and they virtually all are hard to pronounce. This past week, we've discussed the following historical figures:

Kamehameha
Kekuiapoiwa
Naeole
Alapa'inui
Kekuhaupio
Keoua
Kalanikupule
Kiwalao
Keawemauhili
Keeaumoku
Kahekili
Kaiana
Nahiolea
Kukailimoku
Pele
Pai'ea
John Young
Isaac Davis
Captain James Cook
(ok, those last three aren't THAT hard)

Some of the places names include:
Kohala
Ka'u
Kauai
Nuuanu
Waialae
Maui
Lana'i
O'ahu
Moloka'i
Mokuohai
Waimanalo

A few other relevant Hawaiian words:
mamalahoe
haole
ali'i

See why my head can start to spin? I'm actually thankful for the students who politely correct my pronunciation of some of these words they know. I've mostly got the hang of Hawaiian pronunciation, but just look at a word like "Keoua" and there are too many possibilities.

Ok. Back to grading the last of my Kamehameha projects.

Efficient Teaching

I've bit off more than I can chew. I've spent a bit of Saturday and most of my Sunday grading papers and I still have a ways to go. Worse yet, I have no lessons planned for this week's classes. I'm exhausted and the week hasn't even started yet. In fact, I'm exhausted thinking about how much I have to do this week and every week after that. Its only September 7. Somehow I'll muddle through, but please send any ideas for making my job more manageable. I'm really really trying, but its easier said than done. If nothing else, keep me in your thoughts and support funding for public education! I guarantee that in a perfectly-funded world, two people would be doing my job. Not ONE.

Home Improvement: The Backyard Edition

Over the past several months, in addition to the improvements to the bathroom, we've also been working on making our backyard a nice little outdoor haven. With so much nice weather, a comfortable and pleasant outdoor spaces is worth a lot. We've got a ways to go, but there's new grass, three new trees, and a lot of other plants enhancing the space.

Two of the new Manila palm trees with ferns behind.

Plantings on the left side of the yard.

Quincy enjoys a shady spot out back.