Just Another Day in Paradise

Tena Koutou!
("hello" in Maori to a group of 3 or more people)

I thought I would begin this blog with the greeting I use everyday in Room 15. Once all of our students have settled in at their desks, I begin the day with the phrase "Tena Koutou Tamarikima". That means "Good day children!" They in turn respond, "Tena Korua teachers!" Koroua is used when speaking to 2 people - in this case, myself and Mrs. Logan. The Maori language is highly incorporated into the New Zealand curriculum at Swanson school. The children are given some commands in Maori throughout the day and they are also taught basic language words like colors and days of the week. It is so neat to see a native culture so directly intertwined with the mainstream school culture.

We are almost to the end of our second week of school here in New Zealand. I have already taken over a great portion of the teaching thus far and by next week will have everything but maths. It is looking like I will then have full control right up towards the end of the school year here! I have had a lot of fun with the activities we are doing this week and an really excited to begin a big unit endeavor next week. Yesterday I showed the students a video I had made about Wisconsin. They loved it! I had put it to some line dancing music and the kids got really into it. Somewhere along in the process of showing them, the idea came up that I could teach the students how to line dance. Mrs. Logan then kindly volunteered me to also lead the students in performing said line dance for the Christmas concert in addition to my conducting of our little classroom orchestra! Oh my! Even though it sounds crazy, I am totally game - this has been such an adventure so far, I am up for trying anything! :) We then went to the lab and the students researched information about Wisconsin, directed by the webs we had made on Tuesday. Afterwards, we shared in a circle what they had found and I was even taught some new things about my own state by my class. :) They found a site that declared Wisconsin as having a state soil, a state fish,and a state rock...none of which I had ever heard of or could pronounce! We had a good laugh about that! This term focuses on a few key things. For writing, we are working on report writing, so that is where my Wisconsin report idea came from. Today the students began writng their reports and will be finishing tomorrow by editing and presenting them to the class. For reading this term, we are focused on Current Events in Newspaper articles. We will be working with key stories and doing a wide array of activities with each one. The most exciting part is that we choose new articles as they happen every few days. Depending on the article content, the students may be drawing a picture of a crime scene, writing a letter to one of the main people in the article, or answering critical thinking/open-ended questions.

Yesterday we also had another go at practicing our recorders which are getting better each day. I have also started to act like a real conductor (hand motions, counting off, having them sit up straight, get beautiful sounds out of their instrument (as beautiful as recorders can be at least!) haha) so that they will know what to expect by the time of our little concert! I never thought I would be teaching music to this extent, but I have realized that with a little passion and a courageous attitude, I can teach almost anything, and almost anywhere! Sometimes a little leap of faith can be such a rewarding experience!

After school yesterday we had some beautiful weather so Laura and I decided to go for a magnificent 5k trek up around a hilly part of Swanson. We had some spectacular views of rolling, forest-covered hills, sheep herds, and of Auckland City in the distance. Then Rachel and her partner Ken took us to a pub/cafe in the little town of Ponsonby which is right outside of Auckland. We watched Cam (Rachel's son's friend who is boarding at Rachel's house right now) and his band play some lovely jazz music as we enjoyed a glass of delicious New Zealand wine and sat talking for a few hours. It was quite nice!! The funniest thing happened though on our way there. We were walking down the sidewalk towards the cafe and saw a restaurant called "Wisconsin Burgers - The world's best burgers!" We took a commenorative photo of course, and made a promise to make it back there at some point to try it out!

Today at school, my cooperating techer and I sat down to plan some things out for next week. We put our brains together and caame up with a rather exciting idea for a huge, several-week-long class project. We are going to be writing a class newspaper. This will cover our aforementionned writing and reading term content areas for a few weeks, as well as give students a chance to practice inquiry and work together to create a final project. They will be working in groups to create articles in categories such as education, politics, environment, crime, health, etc. and will need to conduct interviews and research around the school. They will need to create catchy headlines, taglines, and photos to catch their audience's attention. Some may be funny and some more serious, but the end result will be a Room 15 Press Gazzete that may be distributed throughout the school for a little enjoyment! The students will need to work hard and well together to make this happen but I have high hopes for them as they are highly motivated students. We will also be continuing on with maths (number revision and geometry), music, science topics, and maybe even some art. I am so absorbed in what I am doing already, I just love it! I already feel right at home at Swanson School and cant wait to see what the next few weeks bring!

This weekend our plans are as follows: Friday night we will be heading into Auckland City area with Jan for dinner and drinks because she has a work get-together to go to. Saturday, Laura and I are taking the train into the city and roaming about for the day. Then on Sunday, Rachel is taking us "tramping" on a magnificent trail up in the mountains near Bethel's Beach where we will be trekking behind waterfalls, having a picnic, and looking out over the treetops - it should be fantastic!! Well, I have a lot of lesson planning to do so that is all for now... take care everyone!

Cheers!

Back to Business

G'day Mates! ;)

Laura and I have successfuly returned froom our trip to Aussie-land this past weekend and are back in full swing at Swanson School. New Zealand's Labor Day was yesterday so we had an extended weekend. In our short time in Sydney we experienced the Opera House, Taronga Zoo, the Harbor Bridge, Bilgola Beach, the town of Manly, some shopping, and some nightlife. All thanks to our amazing friend, hostess and tour guide Prue Ramsay (for those of you who don't know, she studied at SNC last spring on exchange from Australia - It was so cool to see her again!). We had a great time!!

Nightshot of Sydney

Bilgola Beach with Prue!

The famous Opera House!

Yay for being tourists! :)

There is a baby kangaroo hiding in this photo...do you see it?

Today was back to business though. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Tuesday because it felt like the beginning of the week. Today I taught an introductory Science lesson on sound by playing a game with the students - it went well and I had so much fun! We will be focusing on light, sound and energy for the rest of their school term. I also began a writing project about Wisconsin. Today we located it on a map, read a story that I had brought from the states, and began making a web of things we knew and wanted to learn. Tomorrow I will be having the students research those items with a parter in the lab. We will then share results and begin report writing towards the end of the week. The kids are so excited about it! I am also teaching a fitness activity everyday and will be beginning reading activities as well. It won't be long at all before I'm in full control. (Wow- it's moving fast!) Music teaching is progressing as well. I am still working with my half of the class to get them to learn recorder. It is definitely a challenge but the kids are so dedicated and I am determined to help them as much as I can. We still have our goal of playing Jingle Bells at their Christmas concert with me conducting (yikes!) haha. Together we will get there in the next few weeks - I know it! :)

Well, that is all for now. As soon as I get my pictures from Australia loaded up I will add them to this post but it might take a while. Farewell for now! :)

The Magic Continues

I cannot believe we are already nearing the end of our first week here in New Zealand. It seems like the time has flown by so fast, yet at the same time it feels like we have been here forever. Everyone has been so welcoming, it already feels like a home away from home.

I have been observing a lot at Swanson School this week and will be gearing up to teach quite a bit already next week. First of all, the curriculum in New Zealand is very small compared to what we have back home in the United States. The whole curriculum for New Zealand Schools (all grade levels combined) fits into a booklet less than one inch thick! Therefore, the teaching is much more laid back and detailed rather than trying to squash everything within the timeframe of each school year. In contrast, at Swanson School at least, it seems that there is much more focus on respect, responsibility, and overall classroom management. The children are held to very high expectations and follow through with them. In our classroom to show they are ready to learn, students must be absolutely silent, eyes focused on the teacher, sitting up straight and tall, and have their arms crossed on their chests. They may relax a bit once the teacher begins the lesson but the teacher will not start until he/she is sure that the students will be listening. At first this seemed a little bit harsh because I had never really wittnessed it before but the students end up taking great pride in showing respect to their teachers and in their own learning as well. It has just become expected behavior for them. It is also much easier to focus on teaching when you don't need to talk over any students or keep regaining their attention. Classroom management skills are gained and perfected through experience. It is something that every teacher can and needs to continue improving throughout their career. I am hoping to work hard at it and have a strong foundation of these skills by the time I am finished with my student teaching placements.

We had a bit of a fun and relaxing day today. My teacher was out on release to work on assessment materials so she had me stay with the release/substituting teacher and help out with a day-long art project. The students were working on a picture of a native New Zealand animal of their choice. We created them by using chalk, crayons and dye. It was a long process but they turned out so neat! The kids had a great time with it and they showed true dedication and hard work throughout the whole day. At the end of the day we had whole-school assembly. Every whole school assembly is put on by a different age group - this one happened to be presented by Pohutakawa, which is the littlest bunch (5 year-olds). They performed songs for us and handed out Good Citizen Awards. The part that struck me the most though, was when the entire school of children stood up to sing their national anthem to open the assembly. It was first sung in Maori, followed by English and was one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Watching all of the students standing up straight and tall and singing gave me chills. It reminded me of the pride I feel when I hear my own national anthem and began to realize the obvious point that these kids have grown up knowing New Zealand as their home. It is the center of their own little worlds, one that I am only able to see from the outside. It sounds silly, but I was truly struck with awe as I listened. Below are the lyrics and a link to the song they sang. Take a listen - it will totally be worth your while! :)

Lyrics - New Zealand National Anthem
http://www.mch.govt.nz/anthem/index.html

Video/Song - New Zealand National Anthem - Amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM8IbtO6vMQ&feature=related

For next week I am planning lessons for Fitness, Science (Sound), and Writing (Wisconsin report writing) - should be fun!

Well I think that is all for now! Laura and I are off to Sydney, Ausrtalia this weekend - should be a great time. I will update you all upon our return! Feel free to comment on my blog or email me!

Missing you all, Cheers! :)

Kia Ora! - First Days in New Zealand

Kia Ora!- Greetings Everyone!

My first few days in New Zealand have been absolutely incredible! We arrived on Saturday after a long and draining journey. The flight into Auckland was stunning - the mountainous and rugged terrain was easily visible from the plane.

Rachel picked us up at the airport with a big hug and a warm smile and drove us to Swanson - about 40 minutes away. We toured a bit of Swanson and then I was dropped off to meet Jan, my host-mom. She is so sweet and a lot of fun! Rachel and Laura will be living just down the street by a few houses and we are in easy walking distance of Swanson School, a grocery store ("the dairy"- as they call it), a doctor, an ATM, and the train station. I think that about covers all the essentials! :) After I dropped of my things at Jan's, we headed down to Rachel's for afternoon tea. While enjoying some fresh fruit, we discussed possible travel ideas for throughout or stay here in New Zealand. Jan and Rachel had a ton of great ideas and suggestions for us! Jan needed to rest for a while and Laura and I were starting to feel a little jet-lagged and tired too, but Rachel was determined to keep us awake! She took us on an amazing little excursion to Bethel's Beach on the "Wild West Coast" which was a 15-minute drive away from where we are staying in Swanson. We parked the car a ways away and began hiking, also known as "tramping" up the mountainside and trekking our way a few miles to the beach. The views were so beautiful!

We then made our way back down towards the beach and thoroughly enjoyed squishing through the super-soft black sand! We walked along the beach and even explored a few caves on the other side. It was amazing! We looked at mussels and sea anenomes in the tidepools and tasted seal lettuce (never again!) I even found a bright purple seashell! Rachel informed us that the surf along the west coast is very dangerous, the undercurrents are extremely strong so it is not a good idea to go swimming. The east coast, however is much more calm.

The rest of the weekend was really nice and relaxing. We got settled and took a small trip to Henderson where there is a shopping mall. On the way back we got fresh fruit ice cream - and none other than - kiwi flavored! It was great!

On Monday was our first day of school. Swanson's classrooms all open to the outdoors and they are eached housed in little buildings that encircle an open play area. My cooperating teacher is Mrs. Debra Logan and I will be working with her class of 25 8-9 year old students. They seem so polite and very well mannered so far! Mrs. Logan is very keen on classroom management, so I'm sure I will learn a lot from her in that regard. She has been teaching for 30 years and is quite experienced. We had a bit of an easier schedule on Monday. We began the day (as we will everyday) with fitness activities on the athletic courts. We then went inside and all of the children stood up individually to tell me their names. I observed a writing lesson, a few math activities, and some story sharing, then we headed out for computer and library time. The teachers all have a morning meeting before school starts and then two tea/lunch breaks throughout the day for 30-45 minutes. In the afternoon the children from 5 Nikau (our age group) classes all had assembly. They surprised me by singing and dancing a traditional Maori (the native tribe in New Zealand) welcome song to welcome me to their country from far away. It was very sweet!

On Tuesday I witnessed some more reading, writing, and "maths" lessons. The afternoon was a bit interesting because we did some music learning. My cooperating teacher was very excited that I have a background in music, a subject she says she struggles with, so she asked me to, over the next few weeks, teach half the class to play recorder. Her overall goal is that we will perform as a class (half on chime bars and half on recorders) Jingle Bells for the school holiday show. I will apparently be conducting! (oh my...) :) However, the kids are staritng out at square one, as they are unsure even how to get a proper sound out of the instrument. We have a lot of work to do, but I think it will be a very rewarding experience for both myself and the students.

As I am at the school more and more, I will be learning more about the curriculum and school procedures. My cooperating teacher and I should be sitting down and chatting a lot in the next few days so I will be updating you all with what I am learning.

I think that is all for now. Until next time! :)