In The Blink Of An Eye...

Hey Everyone!

I just realized that we are nearly half way through our trip already. Where has the time gone? The past month has seemed to pass by in a flash second, yet I have tons of memories and experiences from these past few weeks that will last me a whole lifetime. It's unbeleivable really. Just a few weeks ago, I felt like I was thinking so long term as far as the rest of the trip. Now I feel like I am almost rushing to make sure I cover all those things I said I would do "at some point on this trip." Funny how that works!

The newspaper project continues underway. We are slowly making progress but I have needed to teach them so many unexpected things as we go along so the process is taking awhile. That's alright though, I'd rather cover my material well thean try to race through it and have the whole thing become meaningless for my students. We have done mini lessons on simply how to interview, how to write al letter asking permission to interview, how to puncuate an interview properly in a report, how to come up with and document information from questions in an interview, how to design a newspaper page, how to come up with catch and exciting headlines, what the parts of a newspaper article are, and more. My agenda in particular for the end of this week has been so set my students up for success in their interviews. I made them work really hard as teams to accomplish a list of 4 things to prove to me they were ready to conduct their investigations. 1) They had to establish who was going to take on which roles (easier said than done for 9-year-olds!) 2) They needed to tell me what information they were setting out to find (who, what, where, etc.) 3) Who they were interviewing and what they were going to photograph, and 4) What questions were they going to ask the interviewees based on #2. I wanted them to show me these things so that they wouldn't be aimlessly wandering without direction looking for information to report on. This has been a challenging project for them and it has really tested a lot of their social skills personality-wise. But I truly beleive that learning to work as a team despite differences in opinion is a key life skill that extends far beyond memorizing facts in school. It will be a skill these students need to have for the rest of their lives.

In other news, I am now guest-judging for Swanson's Got Talent during lunch times throughout the week. It is a really fun way to get involved outside of my own classroom and partake in school-wide events.

This weekend Laura and I are hiring a car and driving 3 hours each way to Waitomo for a 3-hour Black Water Rafting Adventure. Should be amazing!! The only challenging part will be learning how to drive on the left side of the road but on the right side of the car. It's all opposite! Wish us luck ;) haha.

Cheers Everyone!

Busy, Busy! First Week Of Full Control!

Kia Ora!

Hey everyone. So today began my first week of full control. The time is just flying by! We really only have a few weeks left before school starts winding down for the summer.

The newspaper project is well underway. We are currently working as a class to create an edition of "The Room 15 Gazette", complete with a Current Events section, a Gossip Column, inside scoop specialists describing "Who's Who at Swanson School?", and Environmental Advocates Team, and Sports Reporters. The kids are having a ball with it so far! They love that they have ownership over their articles and will take on great responsibility by researching, interviewing, photographing, and layout designing for their whole project. Should be interesting! It was tricky to get things going at first but hopefully now that we have started the main part, things will go much more smoothly.

This entire week, our 1-hour afternoon block is dedicated to a music rotation which will involve all Nikau rooms switching to each of the teachers for a music lesson. Its really quite cool!. We also have 2- 1-hour Athletics blocks throughout the week in which I will be teaching kids how to high-jump... Just as a note, until a few days ago...I had absolutely no idea how high jump actually works...go figure that now I will be instructing it! :) Oh well, go with the flow I suppose!

Tomorrow I have a unique chance to roam around the school and simply visit a few classes to see various teaching styles, methods, and age levels at Swanson. My cooperating teacher is on release tomorrow so she suggested that I take advantage of having some time to observe. I think it will be truly worthwhile!

This past weekend was absolutely fantastic! On Saturday, Jan took Laura, Cory and I along a scenic drive to some amazing lookouts. For the afternoon, we headed to Karekare Beach which was so neat! Everything here is just so beautiful and natural. I am constantly surrounded by green and rugged landscape, I love it! Then on Sunday, Rachel took Laura and I, along with 2 of her other friends from out of town, on a hike up and around the Rangitoto Island Volcano. It was so cool! We made a day of it by taking the ferry and doing one of the longer, sceinic routes. The views from the top of the volcano were amazing and I learned so much! I will try to post some photos here as soon as possible.

Well, thats all for now..I have quite a bit to do so take care everyone!

Cheers!

Has It Really Been 3 Weeks Already?

Greetings!

(I've added photos to my previous blogs so check them out!)

The past three weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of excitement, adventure, fun, and of course, learning!

This week at Swanson, my class began preparing for our newspaper project by doing a few introductory activities. My teaching of this unit has evolved immensly due to the feedback I get from my students on a daily basis. I realize what they need more or less of and go from there. Right now, I am teaching lessons on formating, language, and content of reports. From there we will move into construction of their own reports then put them into the final format. It is a challenging project, but I think it is realistic, worthwhile, and very meaningful and fun for the students! I love how it perfectly encompasses our reading theme (Current Events/News) and writing theme (Report Writing) for Term 4.

Also, due to rain cancelling our two, hour and a half long Athletic blocks, most of my nicely organized lesson plans for the week somewhat "hit the rubbish bin" by Tuesday as we had to restructure our plans almost daily. I found that I followed my plans for Monday, some of Tuesday, and then none of the rest of the week because things had shifted around so much. Now, don't get the wrong idea...it was still very worthwhile to write them because it gave me an idea of what our focuses would be and a basis for my teaching, but I found that instead of following an exact schedule for each block, I pulled stuff from all over the week into how it would best fit for each day and block of time. Funny enough though, things ended up turning out even better than I could have planned for. We got quite a bit accomplished in the realms of reading, writing, and especially music. As for music, I think our concert will turn out to be magnificent! The students are very quick learners on the recorder...I am amazed by how fast they have been able to pick it up! Science is also going well. We continue to do experiments with light, sound, and energy. Next week will focus particularily on light. After we finish with the basics of these themes in the next few weeks, the students will be doing an inquiry project and presentation for the class on a science topic of their choice.

Next week I already begin full control! I cannot believe how quickly I have taken over. As my cooperating teacher says, "Sometimes it is best just to dive head first into the deep end...you'll learn to swim as you go!" This has certainly been true. It was definitely not all rainbows and butterflies the first few times I was up in front of my class. Instead, those butterflies were swirling around in my stomach! I was very uneasy and unsure, but I quickly got the hang of it. I had to. I had a room of 25 9-year-olds eyeing me up, ready to see what I was like as a teacher and what I would excpect/tolerate from them in return. I had to just bite the bullet and go for it! Did I struggle? Oh yes. Did I have failures? Definitely, and will continue to have them so long as I am a teacher...it's unavoidable. Am I still here? Yes. Life goes on! Did I have fun? Absolutely, that I why am in in this profession in the first place! It hasn't been easy, but it has been very rewarding and I learn so much everyday.

On the outside of school agenda, a lot has been happening as well! Yesterday Rachel took us for a hike over near Bethels. It was a bit muddy, but still a lot of fun! Laura and I have also booked a flight for a weekend trip to to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. We will be going in roughly 2 weeks. We also booked a daytrip with Kiwi Experience to Milford Sound which will take place while we are in Queenstown at the end of our stay in New Zealand. Additionally we are planning to go on a 3-hour Black Water Rafting Adventure at the Waitomo Caves next weekend. For all of you who would like to see what craziness we will be up to, check out this link! :) http://www.waitomo.com/Default.aspx?DN=71783eda-ea40-4e6e-b0d3-9c8346d8719c
In addition, other weekend shenanigans will include a daytrip to Waiheke Island where we will rent mopeds and zoom around the beaches, vineyards/wineries, and landscapes (hehe) and also a trip to Rotorua in the beginning of December with Jan and Cory where we will be renting a cabin and trying out some of the following wacky New Zealand inventions: Zorbing, Off-roading on 4-wheelers, Lugeing, etc. We'll see as it gets closer!

Up and coming this weekend though, we are going to take it fairly easy. Saturday will include a scenic drive, lookouts, and maybe a beach with Jan and Cory and Sunday Laura and I will be climbing Rangitoto (a volcanic island off the coast of Auckland) with Rachel. Supposedly it has been dormant for about 400 years so breath easy, Mom! :)

I think that is all for now...until next time! Have a great weekend everyone!

Traveling and Teaching - A Match Made in Heaven

Hello Everyone!

Here I am enjoying a lovely cup of tea, trying to come up with the best way to describe all of the amazing things I have experienced on my journey thus far. It's really quite difficult.

They say a picture says a thousand words, but even if I show you a hundred photos from my trip, only I will truly be able to remember all of the sights, sounds, smells, and emotions that have surrounded me while in New Zealand. For now, however, I will try my best.

This past weekend was absolutely wonderful! On Friday night, Jan had a work party to attend so she dropped off Laura and I downtown Auckland to explore the city for a few hours. We meandered along the harbor and wharf (for those of you who don't know this fun fact...Auckland is called the "City of Sails" - and for good reason!) and got some dinner and drinks. Auckland City is unique for a few reasons. Even though it is New Zealand's largest city, it's whole area still contains only one million people so there is a very safe, homey vibe to it. It is not overwhelmingly large either, most everything is within close walking distance. The icon of the city is definitely the Skytower, which they illuminate at night with fancy colors. The current shade of choice appears to be a pinkish purple.

After perusing for awhile, we met back up with Jan and Rob and took a drive along the waterfront, stopping for a few scenic nightime views of the city and at a small Belgian pub to hang out. On Saturday, Laura and I took the train into Auckland city to wander around for the day. We visited Victoria Park Market, the Skytower Observatory, Victoria Street for some shopping, and also took a ferry boat ride over to Devonport to walk around some shops.

We may have to go back sometime though because many things were already closing up around 7pm. We still had a great time just walking around though. On Sunday, Rachel and Ken took us on a wild rainforest tramping excursion! It was near Bethel's Beach at the Makutu Reserve. We went on a 3-hour long hike around in the mountains up and down some rough and rugged terrain. When I say wild, I mean wild! Clearly the safety regulations here are not the same as in the U.S.! Haha. For example - we found ourselves walking along a narrow cliff hanging on tightly to a cable with only our hands so we would not fall down into a ravine! We trekked down bare traces of steps in the mountains made from rocks pushed into the ground and over a few streams (one of which I slipped into and soaked my entire boot! - classy!). Over the course of our hike, Rachel and Ken taught us "heaps" of things about the plants, animals, birds and trees found in the forest. We had a picnic near a lovely waterfall and then continued onward. I am still so sore from all the crazy climbing up and down, but it was an absolutely awesome time! We plan to do similar excursions in the future so maybe I will be a pro when I return! haha we'll see about that :)
At school this week, I am nearly to full control. I wrote out detailed plans for myself and my cooperating teacher but am finding that no matter what, the plans are more like guidelines than actual rules ;)

One thing that is absolutely mandatory about the teaching field is that you must be flexible. This has certainly been true throughout my time at Swanson School. The learning environment here extends so far out of the classroom (which is awesome!!), that the kids are always going to enriching activities that involve fitness, music, art, teambuilding, community, and even dance! It is so wonderful that kids get such a well rounded education here. However, that also means that several times a week, things need to be changed around to accomodate such activities. It has been best to just go with the flow. There is no point in forcing a schedule that clearly isn't going to happen the way you want it to. In fact, several times a day, I find myself adjusting individual lessons to better suit the vibe I am getting from the class, or to accomodate for more or less time that other lessons had taken. I have completely thrown out some lessons, and have also made up new ones on the spot. Mrs. Logan keeps her schedule and mind very fluid. She has found much higher success by creating plans with the intention that changes can and will happen. I have found this to be very true as well. In making my plans for a week, I understand that they are not fully finished and set in stone. Every night I look them over and decide what needs changing for the days ahead based on what was accomplished for the day.

I have also begun to feel much more confident and relaxed in front of my class. Teaching has become a natural part of who I am and I absolutely love that feeling. With the support and resources of great teachers around me and by taking a lot of initiative on my own, I am learning so much and having a lot of fun!

This week our class is beginning to come up with articles for our class newspaper project. They will be investigating, interviewing, documenting, and and writing. We are also focusing on geometry, sound, and current events. Twice this week we have an hour reserved for Nikau Athletics where the kids will be learning a variet of Track and Field activities from all the Nikau teachers. I started today by assisting in High Jump and catching kids who lauched themselves too far over the mat - it was quite humorous! The whole school will also be attending a dance show in the main hall tomorrow as well - very exciting!

On a different note, one of the teachers recently asked me what I have noticed as differences between students in America and students in New Zealand. I realized it was a very difficult question fo rme to answer. To be quite honest, I don't think there are any. I think that kids are kids no matter where you go in the world. It is simply how they are raised, managed, and taught that is different. Kids here in New Zealand have a slightly different set of expectations from the adults in their lives and they have grown up with those expectations and ways of doing things. At heart though, they have many (not all, but many) of the same needs, thoughts, hopes, desires, fears, curiosities, and dreams that kids in America and all over the world do. It is this realization that has made my time here so valuable already. I can teach anywhere, I just have to have an open mind.

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! :)