I am quite overwhelmed! I don’t mean like where I am too stressed out, I mean there is just so much to absorb right now…it’s hard to take it all in! This weekend was fantastic! Laura and I spent Saturday in Auckland city doing some final Christmas shopping after we finally got there due to train problems (epic adventure). Then on Sunday we took a ferry over to Waiheke Island, a tropical, beachy, surf-type island located north east of Auckland city. We rented scooters for the day and zipped around the mountainous terrain, enjoying some shopping, some sunny beach time, some wine tasting at one of Waiheke’s many vineyards, and simply enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Yesterday was spent watching the school talent show and making sure our concert item was set. Our students are also working on independent group inquiry projects where they are doing research and experiments on an “I Wonder” type question. They are to incorporate reading, writing, art, and other various subject areas in their projects.
Today was the infamous Swanson Christmas Show. My students successfully performed our item to a stellar degree, I was so proud of them! We got it on video tape so I will share that with everyone when I return. Laura and I additionally performed in the traditional staff item where we sang and danced to “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” which students and parents alike had a good laugh at…good times! It was a relief to be done with our class item though…now we can breathe a little easier without having to practice that anymore! It was worth the time and effort though, we got so many good comments from students, staff, and parents!
The rest of the week will be fairly easy, we are just tying up loose ends for the school year. I can’t believe I will already be home in about a week and a half. I am not ready to leave New Zealand at all yet, but I am getting excited to come home and see everyone for Christmas.
So, as for that Christmas concert, it was a success and is now behind us….a mission well accomplished! But, the school term is still in progress. We are not finished here yet, but we are nearing the end…it is certainly a bittersweet feeling overall!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
So….it’s December, right?? Except wait, … it’s hot, it’s the end of the school year, and there are Christmas decorations everywhere!! I SO do not know what to think right now!! This is so off base from every December that I have ever experienced! Not complaining at all, but wow its strange!
So many things are happening right now, especially at school. We are finished with our newspaper, so that is a big relief… (It turned out marvelously, by the way!) we are just making copies now and delivering them around the school. The students have a lot to be proud of, they have worked hard!
We are also busy doing a lot of practice for our item for the Upcoming Christmas Concert on Tuesday night next week. Here’s what happens…Each class has a part in the Christmas Show, whether it is being on stage singing/dancing, or creating and advertising an enterprise item to sell like candy or Christmas headbands. Our class in particular, Room 15, will be playing the music we have learned on the recorders and chime bars. I am really impressed with how far the children have come with learning their music. We went from not being able to create anything but squeaky noise on the recorders to now being able to play a small repertoire of Christmas tunes like Ode To Joy, Jingle Bells, and Jolly Old Saint Nick…and sound good while doing it! I have taught my students how to be professional musicians as well, sitting up straight, holding their instruments properly, and how to watch the conductor for tempo and playing cues. All those years in band seem to have paid of for something! ☺ So anyways, we will be playing our music…and then getting a little crazier. Believe it or not, I have been also teaching my students how to line dance. It’s a long story how we even got started doing it…it was never in my initial plans for coming to New Zealand, but well, we have been dancing up a storm in Room 15 for the last few minutes of every day. The kids have gotten quite good at it actually…so much to the point that now we are adding that to our concert item. Long story short, we will play our music in a little band…then quickly stash the instruments and have a mini hoe-down in front of 300 families…oh yikes! What have I gotten myself into?? ☺
In other current happenings, there are several assemblies and the Swanson’s Got Talent Show that will all be taking place in the last bits of school so our in-class time is getting more and more limited. Tomorrow the whole school will be participating in what is called National Jandal Day – a day to raise money for Surf Life Saving and also to promote healthy living awareness. (sidenote: “jandals” are another term for flip-flops here) Basically the kids are allowed to abandon their school uniforms for the day and just wear normal clothes if they agree to donate a dollar or two for the cause. Then the whole school will participate in outdoor fitness and game activities like relays, sack races, and jandal tosses (no joke). Its kind of funny actually…I’m not sure we would ever have a day like that back in Wisconsin!
The weather is absolutely beautiful here though, a bit rainy at times but I really can’t complain! I still can’t get over how warm it is. We actually went over to one of the teacher’s houses this evening for a staff barbecue. The widows and doors were all open as we enjoyed a warm breeze and some delicious food! New Zealand barbeques are definitely quite the event, we had such a great time!
That’s all I can think of for now… Ta!
So many things are happening right now, especially at school. We are finished with our newspaper, so that is a big relief… (It turned out marvelously, by the way!) we are just making copies now and delivering them around the school. The students have a lot to be proud of, they have worked hard!
We are also busy doing a lot of practice for our item for the Upcoming Christmas Concert on Tuesday night next week. Here’s what happens…Each class has a part in the Christmas Show, whether it is being on stage singing/dancing, or creating and advertising an enterprise item to sell like candy or Christmas headbands. Our class in particular, Room 15, will be playing the music we have learned on the recorders and chime bars. I am really impressed with how far the children have come with learning their music. We went from not being able to create anything but squeaky noise on the recorders to now being able to play a small repertoire of Christmas tunes like Ode To Joy, Jingle Bells, and Jolly Old Saint Nick…and sound good while doing it! I have taught my students how to be professional musicians as well, sitting up straight, holding their instruments properly, and how to watch the conductor for tempo and playing cues. All those years in band seem to have paid of for something! ☺ So anyways, we will be playing our music…and then getting a little crazier. Believe it or not, I have been also teaching my students how to line dance. It’s a long story how we even got started doing it…it was never in my initial plans for coming to New Zealand, but well, we have been dancing up a storm in Room 15 for the last few minutes of every day. The kids have gotten quite good at it actually…so much to the point that now we are adding that to our concert item. Long story short, we will play our music in a little band…then quickly stash the instruments and have a mini hoe-down in front of 300 families…oh yikes! What have I gotten myself into?? ☺
In other current happenings, there are several assemblies and the Swanson’s Got Talent Show that will all be taking place in the last bits of school so our in-class time is getting more and more limited. Tomorrow the whole school will be participating in what is called National Jandal Day – a day to raise money for Surf Life Saving and also to promote healthy living awareness. (sidenote: “jandals” are another term for flip-flops here) Basically the kids are allowed to abandon their school uniforms for the day and just wear normal clothes if they agree to donate a dollar or two for the cause. Then the whole school will participate in outdoor fitness and game activities like relays, sack races, and jandal tosses (no joke). Its kind of funny actually…I’m not sure we would ever have a day like that back in Wisconsin!
The weather is absolutely beautiful here though, a bit rainy at times but I really can’t complain! I still can’t get over how warm it is. We actually went over to one of the teacher’s houses this evening for a staff barbecue. The widows and doors were all open as we enjoyed a warm breeze and some delicious food! New Zealand barbeques are definitely quite the event, we had such a great time!
That’s all I can think of for now… Ta!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I’ve Found The End Of The Rainbow
That’s right everyone, I have found the end of the rainbow. It’s right here in New Zealand! Figuratively speaking of course ☺. So just go with me on this attempt to use a metaphor… If we consider my student teaching journey as a quest for that end of the rainbow, then the “pot of gold”, so to speak, would be me growing in my confidence and independence as an educator to the point where I would finally feel comfortable having my own classroom. Still with me? In simple terms, I feel like over the past few months, I have changed so much. Over the course of my two placements thus far, I have gone from being kind of nervous and unsure as to how everything comes together as a classroom teacher and also about simply conducting whole day of school with my students, to where I feel far more confident and able to go onward in my profession. I think I simply needed to be thrown in head first to fully learn to swim. Ok enough metaphors I promise. But I guess I’m saying that before student teaching, I just didn’t feel ready to be a teacher yet, I felt like there was still far too much that I needed to learn. And I was right. I did need to learn a lot and I still do. I will continue learning throughout my whole career. But what I needed to learn most is about myself and my own strengths as a teacher simply through the experience of being in full control of a classroom. Most importantly, I have learned it as not as scary as it one seemed. In fact I love it more and more each day. I am very much looking forward to having my own classroom someday.
Ah well, enough deep stuff for now, I just felt like putting that out there…☺ Rotorua this weekend was a blast! We went on the gondola, tried out some luge-ing and took the ride of our lives on the Sky Swing (craziness!) which you must watch a video of to fully comprehend. Then Laura and I went to Maori Hangi Dinner and Cultural Dance show…it was absolutely fascinating! ☺. We also enjoyed some much-needed relaxation at the Polynesian Thermal Pools. Lovely! Overall a great weekend!
Well, the weather is getting more and more summery…. I’m off to enjoy some of it!
Cheers!
Ah well, enough deep stuff for now, I just felt like putting that out there…☺ Rotorua this weekend was a blast! We went on the gondola, tried out some luge-ing and took the ride of our lives on the Sky Swing (craziness!) which you must watch a video of to fully comprehend. Then Laura and I went to Maori Hangi Dinner and Cultural Dance show…it was absolutely fascinating! ☺. We also enjoyed some much-needed relaxation at the Polynesian Thermal Pools. Lovely! Overall a great weekend!
Well, the weather is getting more and more summery…. I’m off to enjoy some of it!
Cheers!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving in New Zealand
Hey Everyone!
Thanksgiving is always a holiday I really enjoy. To me it means getting together with family, reflecting on the many blessings in my life, going Christmas shopping, eating great food, and of course, the start of the Christmas season. I have been impressed at how easy it has been thus far or me to be away from home for so long, but I have to admit, not being able to share this holiday with my family for the first time in 21 years is pretty difficult. Instead of wallowing though, I decided to bring as much of Thanksgiving to New Zealand as possible. Today with my class was awesome. I taught them about the history of Thanksgiving; made them a pumpkin pie, and we made a turkey project with our handprints. I was a lot of fun! I even learned about some New Zealand history in return as they have many connections as far as what happened between indigenous cultures and European immigrants. It was fascinating to see the similarities!
The pumpkin pie was probably one of the most memorable parts of the day too. I successfully cut it into 30 tiny pieces and passed one around to each student in a circle. They had to wait until everyone had a piece before we proceeded. We went around in a circle and each person had to say one thing that they were thankful for. I explained that this is an important Thanksgiving tradition for many families in the U.S. Then they were able to try it for the first time. Since the majority of them had never tried it as a dessert before (only as a vegetable), they had perceptions of it being salty or bitter. About 90% of the class loved it, exclaiming things like “Oh it’s really nice!” or “Yeah, it’s yum!” It was really cute! The other 10% curled up their faces in disgust and couldn’t eat any more. What an experience. ☺
Tonight Laura and I cooked a Thanksgiving meal for our host families. It was amazing! It was a joint event, consisting of 10 people total. Jan and I cooked a turkey and another pumpkin pie and brought it over to Rachel’s where we all toasted with wine and feasted on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies, and cranberries. Pumpkin pie was for dessert. As with tradition before eating, we went around the table and said something we were thankful for. It was incredibly heartwarming! Even though I couldn’t be with my own family, they all made it such a great and special time.
I think that’s all for now, we are off to Rotorua this weekend with Jan and Cory where we will rent a cabin and do some luge-ing!
Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving! ☺
Thanksgiving is always a holiday I really enjoy. To me it means getting together with family, reflecting on the many blessings in my life, going Christmas shopping, eating great food, and of course, the start of the Christmas season. I have been impressed at how easy it has been thus far or me to be away from home for so long, but I have to admit, not being able to share this holiday with my family for the first time in 21 years is pretty difficult. Instead of wallowing though, I decided to bring as much of Thanksgiving to New Zealand as possible. Today with my class was awesome. I taught them about the history of Thanksgiving; made them a pumpkin pie, and we made a turkey project with our handprints. I was a lot of fun! I even learned about some New Zealand history in return as they have many connections as far as what happened between indigenous cultures and European immigrants. It was fascinating to see the similarities!
The pumpkin pie was probably one of the most memorable parts of the day too. I successfully cut it into 30 tiny pieces and passed one around to each student in a circle. They had to wait until everyone had a piece before we proceeded. We went around in a circle and each person had to say one thing that they were thankful for. I explained that this is an important Thanksgiving tradition for many families in the U.S. Then they were able to try it for the first time. Since the majority of them had never tried it as a dessert before (only as a vegetable), they had perceptions of it being salty or bitter. About 90% of the class loved it, exclaiming things like “Oh it’s really nice!” or “Yeah, it’s yum!” It was really cute! The other 10% curled up their faces in disgust and couldn’t eat any more. What an experience. ☺
Tonight Laura and I cooked a Thanksgiving meal for our host families. It was amazing! It was a joint event, consisting of 10 people total. Jan and I cooked a turkey and another pumpkin pie and brought it over to Rachel’s where we all toasted with wine and feasted on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies, and cranberries. Pumpkin pie was for dessert. As with tradition before eating, we went around the table and said something we were thankful for. It was incredibly heartwarming! Even though I couldn’t be with my own family, they all made it such a great and special time.
I think that’s all for now, we are off to Rotorua this weekend with Jan and Cory where we will rent a cabin and do some luge-ing!
Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving! ☺
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Putting Things In Perspective
Wow! We are already to the final third of our time here in New Zealand and things are winding down fast! Our regular schedule is becoming less and less regular as the end of the school year here brings more and more “out of the classroom” activities and presentations to go to. Tomorrow, for instance, I will be assisting in our Western District Athletics Day at the local Trust Stadium. It is a day where all schools in the local area get together with their best athletes in Levels 4, 5, and 6 and compete in Track and Field Activities. Some of my class will be there, amongst about 75 other students from Swanson School. I will be helping to make sure the children get to the right events on time and helping with crowd control in the stands. Should be interesting!
As for the rest of the week, my class will be learning a little bit about our Thanksgiving history and traditions in America. I have brought a storybook from the states and am baking a pumpkin pie for my students to sample on Thursday. We will also be making handprint turkey art projects in class.
The newspaper is nearly finished; it is in its final stages. The children have worked exceptionally hard to produce their articles and they are very proud of their work. We also continue to learn math, our music for the Christmas Concert, and are practicing line dancing. Teaching 26 students how to dance in synch is not necessarily an easy task, that’s for sure. It is exhausting rather, but so worth it because we have a lot of fun.
This past weekend, Laura and I spent some time roaming around Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. We had a great time shopping, visiting Te Papa National Museum, riding the cable cars, walking through the botanical gardens, and seeing some of the parliament buildings. I also took a ½ day Lord of the Rings tour where we visited some of the movie filming locations. It was wonderful!
As the title of this entry says, things are really coming into focus for the rest of this school year. I’ve worked really hard with my students and we have done a lot so far. I am also able to clearly see what our goals are for the next few weeks as things are wrapping up.
That’s all for now I think…I have some pumpkin pies to make!
Cheers!
As for the rest of the week, my class will be learning a little bit about our Thanksgiving history and traditions in America. I have brought a storybook from the states and am baking a pumpkin pie for my students to sample on Thursday. We will also be making handprint turkey art projects in class.
The newspaper is nearly finished; it is in its final stages. The children have worked exceptionally hard to produce their articles and they are very proud of their work. We also continue to learn math, our music for the Christmas Concert, and are practicing line dancing. Teaching 26 students how to dance in synch is not necessarily an easy task, that’s for sure. It is exhausting rather, but so worth it because we have a lot of fun.
This past weekend, Laura and I spent some time roaming around Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. We had a great time shopping, visiting Te Papa National Museum, riding the cable cars, walking through the botanical gardens, and seeing some of the parliament buildings. I also took a ½ day Lord of the Rings tour where we visited some of the movie filming locations. It was wonderful!
As the title of this entry says, things are really coming into focus for the rest of this school year. I’ve worked really hard with my students and we have done a lot so far. I am also able to clearly see what our goals are for the next few weeks as things are wrapping up.
That’s all for now I think…I have some pumpkin pies to make!
Cheers!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Living The Dream
I’m quite busy at the moment, so I will keep this post somewhat short. The week is winding down fast. Our class worked really hard this week on our newspaper, math lessons, athletics, and music practice. Tomorrow we have what is called a “Koro-Nikau Athletics Day Out.” What that means is both the Nikau and Koromiko (all students ages 7-11) teams, students and teachers alike, will cast aside all lessons and plans for the day and hit the fields and courts for Track and Field activities. I will supposedly be running the Sevens Sticks Game, which I have never heard of or done before. I got a run through of it today but am basically going to be winging it with the students tomorrow! Other activities the students will participate in include: Sprints, Shot Put, Discus, Relays, Obstacle Courses, High Jump, and Long Jump. It is really exciting to me that the school embraces such an enriching and educational opportunity like this for its students. Hats, sun-block, and water bottles are necessary for the day… shoes, however, are optional as always. ☺
It's odd to wake up every morning and think, "Oh yeah, I'm in New Zealand." At times it feels so normal, and other times I cannot beleive it. It feels like a dream. Like this sort of thing is an unreal occurence that I will just wake up from and think it happened in a faraway place long long ago. But it is real, and it is now. Being in New Zealand right now and doing what I truly love to do is an absolute dream come true for me. I cannot think of a better way to enhance my own teaching skills and styles and also get to know a whole new culture and country at the same time. I know that my memories from this trip will be some of the most important and fun memories that I carry with me for the rest of my life. For now I am living and loving every moment...because eventually and all too soon, every good dream has to come to an end.
This weekend, Laura and I are flying out to Wellington for 2 days. Wellington is New Zealand’s capital and it known for it’s wind, rain, and whimsical, lively vibe. It is located on the bottom tip of the North Island and is a short, 1-hour flight from Auckland. I am excited! We are flying in early Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening after staying in a youth hostel Saturday night. I’ll update as to how our travels went in my next post.
So long for now! ☺
It's odd to wake up every morning and think, "Oh yeah, I'm in New Zealand." At times it feels so normal, and other times I cannot beleive it. It feels like a dream. Like this sort of thing is an unreal occurence that I will just wake up from and think it happened in a faraway place long long ago. But it is real, and it is now. Being in New Zealand right now and doing what I truly love to do is an absolute dream come true for me. I cannot think of a better way to enhance my own teaching skills and styles and also get to know a whole new culture and country at the same time. I know that my memories from this trip will be some of the most important and fun memories that I carry with me for the rest of my life. For now I am living and loving every moment...because eventually and all too soon, every good dream has to come to an end.
This weekend, Laura and I are flying out to Wellington for 2 days. Wellington is New Zealand’s capital and it known for it’s wind, rain, and whimsical, lively vibe. It is located on the bottom tip of the North Island and is a short, 1-hour flight from Auckland. I am excited! We are flying in early Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening after staying in a youth hostel Saturday night. I’ll update as to how our travels went in my next post.
So long for now! ☺
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
Hey Everyone!
So the title of this blog is classically cliché but time and time again it proves appropriate in describing this trip. We are already in the 6th week of Swanson School’s 4th 10-week term. Since we started on Week 2 and will be here for a total of 9 weeks, that means that we are in the middle of our 5th week here. The final week will be short, and the week before that will be spent tying up loose ends for the year, so in all reality, things are going by quite quickly.
The more time I spend at Swanson School, the more I love it. I am having so much fun getting involved with all the academics and extra-curriculars at a full-time speed. I have been conducting our little classroom orchestra of recorders, guest-judging for the Swanson’s Got Talent competition, teaching line-dancing to students, and choreographing a dance for Laura and I to perform in the school’s show…all on top of being a full time teacher. It’s amazingly fun and exhausting!
As for our newspaper project…we are still working on it. The project has now expanded again as well, to also include a classified ads section for advertisements from other classrooms…It’s really fun and the kids are so involved! The only struggle for me as the teacher is keeping everyone moving at their own pace because the project is so in-depth with everyone at different stages. I guess that’s part of teaching though that will become an acquired skill – learning to keep every child engaged at their own level at all times.
This past weekend was full of fun shenanigans as well! ☺ Laura and I hired a car from a somewhat dodgy rental place in a town about 20 minutes away. We picked up our cherry-red Honda Civic Hatchback on Saturday morning and drove to Waitomo (about 3 hours away) for a 3-hour Legendary Black Water Rafting Adventure. We zipped into wetsuits and lighted helmets, grabbed inner-tubes, and set off underground exploring caves, jumping backwards over waterfalls, and viewing glowworms that illuminated the ceiling of the caves. It was incredible! Afterwards we visited the museum and headed back home, another 3-hour beautifully scenic and curvy drive. I took lots of pictures and videos! ☺
Onwards with the week…Have a good one everyone!
Cheers!
So the title of this blog is classically cliché but time and time again it proves appropriate in describing this trip. We are already in the 6th week of Swanson School’s 4th 10-week term. Since we started on Week 2 and will be here for a total of 9 weeks, that means that we are in the middle of our 5th week here. The final week will be short, and the week before that will be spent tying up loose ends for the year, so in all reality, things are going by quite quickly.
The more time I spend at Swanson School, the more I love it. I am having so much fun getting involved with all the academics and extra-curriculars at a full-time speed. I have been conducting our little classroom orchestra of recorders, guest-judging for the Swanson’s Got Talent competition, teaching line-dancing to students, and choreographing a dance for Laura and I to perform in the school’s show…all on top of being a full time teacher. It’s amazingly fun and exhausting!
As for our newspaper project…we are still working on it. The project has now expanded again as well, to also include a classified ads section for advertisements from other classrooms…It’s really fun and the kids are so involved! The only struggle for me as the teacher is keeping everyone moving at their own pace because the project is so in-depth with everyone at different stages. I guess that’s part of teaching though that will become an acquired skill – learning to keep every child engaged at their own level at all times.
This past weekend was full of fun shenanigans as well! ☺ Laura and I hired a car from a somewhat dodgy rental place in a town about 20 minutes away. We picked up our cherry-red Honda Civic Hatchback on Saturday morning and drove to Waitomo (about 3 hours away) for a 3-hour Legendary Black Water Rafting Adventure. We zipped into wetsuits and lighted helmets, grabbed inner-tubes, and set off underground exploring caves, jumping backwards over waterfalls, and viewing glowworms that illuminated the ceiling of the caves. It was incredible! Afterwards we visited the museum and headed back home, another 3-hour beautifully scenic and curvy drive. I took lots of pictures and videos! ☺
Onwards with the week…Have a good one everyone!
Cheers!
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