Update on the Hiss Hass Hoos Boys

So where are we up to? 

After deciding that the project was going to be 'The Taste of the Pacific' we've spent the last 4 weeks getting our menu sorted, all our numbers for the food and working on a proposal letter, asking Mr Herlihy if we could use some of the school money. Unpacking the learning was the easy part for me - aligning the learning with their needs and expectations. What was tricky was establishing group expectations, purpose and attitudes. This was highlighted in my previous post about the Boys. 

This is a screenshot of their working doc which they titled 'Food Pricing' After deciding on the menu,  our sessions were looking at recipes (reading, listening). We had lots of talanoa about how we cook certain foods at home, and were able to draw connections to our own cultures. Two of the boys are ESOL learners, so to have them speak so openly and confidently was really a special moment. 

Week 1 - Two columns: Food & ingredients
Week 2 - Added in 'Costs' column. The boys used the Pak n Sav website to find costs for ingredients. Some time was spent on teaching boys how to navigate the website. The group went through the menu and started identifying how much each item cost (unit price)
Week 3 & 4 - Looked at the menu and figured out how many of each item we would aim to make/budget for. The numbers were added below the menu item. Once these numbers were identified, we explored how to calculate ratios. For example: if 5kg flour cost $2.50 - and we needed 30kg flour how much would we need to spend. 5x?=30 so therefore $2.50x?=amount needed. This by far was the trickest to overcome. Two of the boys caught onto the concept very quickly and so I left them to it. I left the room. 10 minutes into it, the boys had sorted out who was finding out how much of which item, ensuring that they all felt successful. Even one of the boys who is working at Early Stage 5. This was a proud moment. Trusting that they would support each other, help each other and get it done. I think me leaving the room was important. It allowed the space for them to overcome it together. With the group of boys - having a female energy can sometimes be off putting - I know hah. I can be much. So this was just the beginning of them taking over the space. Literally. 
Week 5 & 6 - Proposal letter writing. We unpacked the structure of a proposal letter and discussed the purpose behind this. We needed money to be able to do this project. While reading and unpacking proposal letters we identified what each paragraph explained, co-constructed the success criteria for a proposal letter and then started writing one together. Using the ALL (Accellerated Learning in Literacy) strategy of GRR (Gradual Release of Responsibility) we wrote the proposal letter to Mr Herlihy. They wanted to write it as a shared google slide - and so that's what they did. Slide deck below. 

This was a working space they created for themselves before we spent 3 sessions editing and finalising what will go in the letter. A lot of time was spent on building the right vocabulary that was needed to go into this letter. Some of this was given to them (DAT - Telling) while others we played a synonym game. The final letter is linked here >> The Taste of the Pacific - Proposal Letter.

Once their letter was written, a date for the meeting had to be set. Two of the boys went and set a date with Mr Herlihy. Once this was done, we spent time practising how to enter the office, sitting at the table for the meeting and going over who was going to say what. Initially they wanted me to come into the meeting with them - but this was their meeting and they had this. Amping them up was all I needed to do because they had done all the preparation for this meeting. 

I am so proud of the boys for driving this. They took over my office and made it their space. The change in their attitudes towards themselves and their peers was such a positive change. The biggest learnings for me throughout this; 
- Give them time and give them space (even if it means taking over my office hah) 
- Trust that they will pull through

We are in the process now of planning to make more. The dishes will remain the same but advice from the boss; make more.