
Performing with Play
From Fund for Teachers - The Podcast by Carrie Caton
December 9, 2025 · 35 min · Season 6 · Episode 3
About this episode
Amanda Hinrichs discusses her fifth graders' experience writing and performing a haka, inspired by her observations in New Zealand.
As the fall semester speeds into winter break, Amanda Hinrichs’ fifth graders at Hebron Avenue School in Glastonbury, CT, are pretty worked up. They’re stamping their feet and making bold hand gestures with eyes bulging and tongues out. And Amanda is loving every second. Her music students are writing and performing their own “haka,” a Maori tradition that Amanda observed all across New Zealand on her Fund for Teachers grant this summer. Amanda is a 25-year veteran teacher of music but recent...
People in this episode
Host: Carrie Caton
Guest: Amanda Hinrichs
Topics covered
- music education
- cultural traditions
- student performance
- teaching methods
- creative expression
Keywords
- haka
- music education
- teaching
- New Zealand
- student performance
- cultural traditions
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Hebron Avenue School, Fund for Teachers
Places: Glastonbury, CT, New Zealand
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