eeek.

Classroom decorations are coming down.

Students are really starting to push for summer to be here already.

Classroom placements have been made for next year.

We're wrapping up end of the year activities and having kids move into cleaning everything out.

This is the end of the year...

It's crazy and it's still so odd to me. Even though I've only been here the past 2 months, I've really come to love being in Room 1 with all these younguns and Amanda. Despite how rough and rily it may have been at times, I've absolutely loved all of it.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated at home - something that was oddly bizarre to do as it was sunny and really warm outside while we were inside decorating and listening to Christmas carols dealing with snow - something they don't get any of down here in Swanson. I've wrapped my presents for people down here already and baked gingerbread cookies for my class and made some peppermint bark for some other people. Christmas is really coming, whether I believe it or not. The end is SO close it's absolutely ridiculously terrifying.

the end is nigh.

Already the first student from my class is gone. Granted, it's a bit early and he headed back to Samoa to visit family, but it's strange already having the number of kids in the class start shrinking. With the end of the year so close already, the feeling of summer is already in the school. Most of our major subjects have already come to a close with the exception of some tiny loose ends for our narratives. It always seems as though time runs away faster than you could ever want it to. We had planned to have the narratives completely finished by the end of week 8 and moving on towards presentations for week 9. We ended up with, however, the students barely finishing their editing of their second drafts this week (already week 9).

We've now moved on to more loose activities with creating gifts for people for Christmas and the like. While we're talking about Christmas, decorating Christmas trees, playing Christmas music, and all else down here in New Zealand already, I'm finding it impossible to get into the Christmas spirit. There's just something about it that's so Northern Hemisphere-ish - palm trees, summer, and Christmas just don't blend well. Rachel and I already have the tree in the house and it just doesn't seem right. If you close your eyes, it smells like Christmas, but once you open them, it all just seems so off.

There's really not all that much going on at the moment. While it may seem crazy at school these past couple days it's mostly all just preparation for the Leavers' assembly that comes up tomorrow for the year eights. I'm still trying to grasp the idea that the year's ending so soon.

I'll post a bit more once all this madness settles down a bit - which may not be for a few days.....

Until then, try to get into the Christmas spirit on our behalf down here because we're having the darndest time.

Cheers!

with a slight touch of madness.

Christmas Concert Michael Jackson Medley performance?

Check.

Slightly embarrassing staff item at the Christmas Concert?

Check.

An awesome night of tinsel-filled, festive excitement?

Absolutely check.

We're done with our Christmas Concert, it's official. After several days of intensive rehearsals, we've mastered the Michael Jackson medley we had put together, along with some wicked dancers from our lovely Rooms 1 and 2. Clearly the best were saved for last tonight. Our amazing Years 7 & 8 took the cake with their outstanding performance, which only gave way to the fabulous teachers of Swanson School and their spunky "Rocking 'Round the Christmas Tree." There was a pretty decent turn-out with parents, teachers, and students alike for the event. And, apparently for the first time in years, the weather decided to hold out and provide us with some lovely summer sun & heat. While it was nice to have some summer weather, it got a bit sweltering under the tinsel I had raided from Rachel's Christmas decoration box back home.

Most of our major units have already come to a close for the year, with the exception of our narratives. While the students are still putting final touches on these, they've moved on to some revisitations of maths and reading. Looking back on problem areas, we've put together some reviews and practice for areas like statistics, ratios, etc. While you would think that these last couple days wouldn't be all that busy, they've been nothing but jam-packed with various tasks, activities.

Most everyone is still going fairly strong, but it's getting somewhat apparent that some are starting to run on only steam now. After starting out the school year at Denmark High School at my other placement, it's really interesting to be seeing the other tail end of the year. While we started out the year in one place, we're finishing it in another. It's really quite interesting to see how moods & energy levels change between the two dynamics.

More to come Thursday evening, but for now it's on to the Leavers' Assembly after the finality of this Christmas Concert.

Cheers!

a winding process.

I think it's finally started to hit just about everyone in the school that the year's going to be ending in just about 2 weeks time. There's this sort of emotion around the entirety of Swanson School that just screams "Summertime!" We finished our Geometry unit today with a look at location using grids and scape maps. It's strange to think that the unit we just started not all that long ago is already wrapping up with AsTTle testing tomorrow.

There's also a huge amount of excitement in the air with Jandal Day and Push Play Day coming up tomorrow. Jandal Day is apparently an annual activity to support Surf Life & Beach Safety. Essentially, any student or person who wears jandals (flip flops) is urged to donate money to the Surf Life organization. It's meant to be just a day for the kids to have a day full of activities and fun to enjoy the beginning of summer and to promote being active. I'm crossing my fingers that it will actually be a reality as multiple people have been talking about how it is meant to rain tomorrow. So we'll be seeing how it all plays out come tomorrow morning.

I'm actually quite impressed with how most students are still staying very much so on target with their work despite how close we are to the end. Every once in a while there will be a little surge in energy or sass. Aside from these moments, it's been pretty smooth, but I'm hoping that I'm not speaking too soon. With so little time remaining, it's bound to get a bit more crazy soon enough...

For now, it's off to doing some sort of sun dance to prevent the rain from coming down tomorrow and a little bit of shut eye to prepare for a potential staff-jandal race.

Cheers!

the madness continues.

And so the absolute madness that is the end of the year rages on.

Thanksgiving was phenomenal. The weekend was a blast down in Rotorua, but now that the end of the year is so nigh, we're plowing straight ahead. All systems are go.

Into the final stretch of the year, the Totara team is launching straight into our chaotic agenda. With the year eights continuing on to college next year, we have our schedule full of Leavers' Assembly (a.k.a. Graduation Ceremony) rehearsals. The younguns have been working their little hearts and lungs out to get R. Kelly's "World's Greatest" and a song from a previous assembly down to the slightest tone. It sounds absolutely phenomenal, but there's still perfection to be achieved where their singing is involved We also have some Christmas Concert rehearsals smattered across the schedule. The team absolutely loves the Michael Jackson medley that we're planning for this. We actually have started to have students volunteer to be dancers for this number. It's pretty shocking and AMAZING to see how many fantastic dancers we have among our group - some could almost give ol' MJ a run for his money were he still among the living.

Being in week 8, we're also bringing our Geometry to a close at the end after an all but brief run. With such a jam-packed schedule it's been difficult to achieve absolutely everything that we had wanted to for our little mathematicians, but they've at least developed a fairly solid understanding of all the 2-D & 3-D shapes along with several additional concepts. Next week we'll be delving into some recaps for previous units that they had struggled with. While we may be in the end of the year, expectations for their achievement levels are still very high. I have to admit that I'm actually quite proud of how focused most of the class is staying with their subjects. Their heads haven't quite gotten all the way into the clouds with the summer holidays so near.

We've also been injecting multiple writing sessions into the days to ensure that they're getting as much time as possible to work on their narratives. There have also been some sessions of games and miscellaneous activities that have managed to sneak their way into our agenda also. While our expectations are running high for the class - it has to be recognized that it is the end of the year and that they have been working their little butts off over the year. They need some breathing time.

And, so, it's off to finish up some loose ends for the evening and get ready for another busy day.

Cheers!

perfectly delish.

And so it's all over and done with.

Shared the wonderful story of Thanksgiving with my class.

Check.

Partook in the traditional Pumpkin Pie with Room 1 students in a bit of a twist.

Check.

Accomplished 3-D shape perspective drawing.

Check.

Bumped students up to the next step in the narrative-writing process.

Check.

Set everything up for tomorrow's Athletics for Years 7 & 8 at the Waitakere Stadium.

Check.

Attempted and succeeded our first solo Thanksgiving meal with Alissa.

Check and Check.

And now, after a full day of teaching, an evening of cooking, and delightful company for feasting I'm completely zonked for any bit of energy I might be able to scrounge up.

It's off to bed for me for now. I know I'm going to need every bit of energy for tomorrow as I'm helping Hayley (the other Totara team teacher member) with taking our wonderful students over to the Waitakere Stadium. I'm hoping my students are doing the same so they're rearing and ready to go to show us what they're made of tomorrow at all the track & field events.

There's also the little tid bit of helping out a little bit tomorrow morning to get everything set up for the Talent Show coming up next Tuesday evening. Alissa and I are in with Robin, one of our deputy principals, and decorating the stage and hall for the major event.

More to come on all the nitty gritty details potentially over this weekend when my brain isn't about to shut down on me after an exhausting day.

Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving to all!

insanity.

The other night I sat on Rachel's floor with my geometry materials spread out all around me, working through everything to figure out a plan for the next few weeks. While looking at what I could do with my students to cover geometric transformations, I thought it'd be a good idea to just look at the overall scheme of the next few weeks just to see how many sessions of what I had to plan for. As I gridded out the piece of paper in front of me and began to pencil things in, a realization hit me harder than a brick. 3 weeks left. 3 weeks until we're on that plane headed across the timeline back towards the wintry northern hemisphere. This is sheer insanity.

Amanda and I discussed all the plans for the next couple weeks in a general sense, and it just seems so strange that the end of the year is so nigh. I'm planning the rest of my geometry unit - working out what each of the groups needs to be sure to get through as we wrap up our final maths bit. For reading, our groups are each still working on individual tasks. My highest group, Tawa, finally has their novel in and are ready and rearing to get into it. While I'm slightly doubtful whether or not we'll be able to get through every single bit I wanted to with them, I have no reservations about if they'll be able to actually finish the book. It just seems so strange after all the time that I've been here that things are finally beginning to tie off all their loose ends. While it feels like we've been here an eternity, it all seems to have gone to by way too soon.

I know I'm speaking as though the school year ends tomorrow, but in school terms (with everything we have going on over the next few weeks) it will feel like tomorrow.

As I was planning the other night, I've come to realize just how excited I am about the narrative assignments the class are working on. After having studied the various bits and pieces of narratives over the better part of this term, they've finally moved on with their groups onto picking up the quill and scribing their own stories. While some have come up with ideas that had to be questioned, and others have encountered numerous difficulties with other ideas, they're all plodding ahead. Once we're done with the actual writing of the full-fledged narratives, it's on to figuring out just how they want to present their tales of wonder. Some already have their hearts set on movies, while others a play or drama. Some have an inkling of doing a puppet show of some sort, or just moving onwards

So much to do in what seems like so little time.

But I guess for now, the key thing is to keep a good focus and just keep on trucking with the school business. Alissa and I have also thrown a good old American Thanksgiving into the mix as well. A bit of my spare time has been allotted for hunting for all sorts of traditional recipes and ingredients to match up with them. It will be more than interesting to see how it all works out, but, one thing's for sure, our New Zealand families are definitely in for an EPIC night.

Until next time, cheers!

here goes everything.

I'm convinced that with the end of this week, the end of all weeks normal is coming near. I know I've mentioned this quite a bit over the past couple of posts, but there's really so much going on with end of the year events over the next couple of weeks. As I've been planning for next week over the past couple of days, I'm realizing that pretty much half of next week is spent doing various activities that are sort of outside what normally qualifies as teaching. For all of Swanson, New Zealand's Life Education program is here over the next week or so doing various programs for the students depending on their years. The Totara team still has two sessions for Out of the Shadows this week, dealing with drugs and substance abuse. So setting aside 2 sessions for that, in addition to time being taken out to prepare the years 7 and 8 for the leavers' assembly coming up in week 9, and I'm left with just some minimal planning to take care of for this week.

While at times like this it doesn't seem to be too much planning for the next couple of days - it's actually taking me much more time to plan these lessons than those for my other placement. I'm really finding myself all over the place in terms of what I'm teaching. I'm finding myself planning four different reading lessons for each day of reading that we have. This comes alongside three math lessons for each day of maths, as well as multiple writing sessions throughout the week, several special topic sessions, sprinkled here and there with fitness, spelling, and other miscellaneous tasks.

I'm actually really excited for the upcoming reading session this Monday, since the novel Castaway will finally be arriving for my Tawa group. We've been intending to start our novel study with the book for the past week, but due to some problems, we've been waiting for its arrival to school, which has been horribly delayed. There's also the upcoming bake sale that my other Rimu reading group has been working to set up. It started off after a reading we did about Tsunamis and kind of branched off into a follow-up activity trying to think of ways to create our own tsunami-relief efforts. So expect me to be wringing my hands, waiting to see how it goes over and hoping that we're able to pull it all off in order to get some money to send off to the Red Cross relief effort for victims in Samoa.

In a way, this entire upcoming week is going to be fairly exciting, not only with reading, but also with the upcoming Athletics day that qualified years 7 & 8 will be going to this Friday at Waitakere Stadium. After various trials for track and field over the past couple of weeks, it's time for the Swanson student to show off their mad talents.

As for now, my brain can't quite handle the excitement, so I'm off to catch some z's and get some rest before another jam-packed day. The life of a teacher is definitely anything but dull.

Cheers my blog-followers!

hormones.

It really shouldn't be something that I forget. These kids are going through puberty and it's so blatantly clear nearly all of the time just how hormonal they all are. They're all int hat wonderful stage where they're changing faster than they can realize what exactly it is that's going on. With some students it's so much more intense, while others seem to not have even entered the glorious stage or they've already been there and done that. It's made for a few interesting moments where, girls especially, come up to me in an emotional fuss over some of the simplest things. While this along with the energy highs definitely make for some moments I never had in my high school placement, I'm actually finding more and more that I really enjoy working with this age group.

I'll admit that it's been a bit of a challenge adjusting to some of the things that are going on in regards to the classroom itself and everything that's just going on school-wide for the end of the year. Challenging as it may be, however, I'm learning so much more than I ever really expected. With the divisions going on in the classroom for each subject, it's really like teaching multiple different classes all wrapped into one. This definitely makes planning a little time consuming and thought-provoking. When it all clicks into place though it's definitely more than worth it. It's kind of sad too, because it seems like just when I'm starting to really get into the swing of things, the term's wrapping up faster than I can say "boo."

With Week 6 just about halfway through it's down to just about 3 weeks left in the term. While it may seem a lot of time at one moment, the reality is that it's going to pass me by before I even know what happened.

Here's to, not looking forward, but, rather, living in the moments at hand.

Cheers!

Despite how slowly this week is going, it's ridiculous to think about how quickly time is going by. We're nearly on to week 6 already out of what's really going to be an eight week semester. We do have our weeks nine and ten, but there seems to be so much going on with end of the year wrapping up that I don't think much actual curricula will be being taught during that last week and a half. Even before those last days, we still have so much that has to be mixed in with what's being taught in the classroom. Though I expected it, especially with having one of the senior classes of the school, it's surprising how so many things need to be fit into our already busy schedule. My biggest challenge I'll be working with over the next couple of weeks is simply having to fit all the pieces of this magnificent time puzzle together.

Energy levels definitely seem to be running high this week, something which is normal towards the end of the year. This week, though, seems really bizarre in some strange way that I can't put my finger on. It's almost as though absolutely no one can really focus on any one task. I've been having a grand old time keeping everyone in the class as much on track as humanly possible. I'm finding this group to be a most interesting one to work with. They're all such characters in their own ways that each one is so easily capable of making me bust out laughing at the most random of times throughout the day. I absolutely love them all. Of course, they have their moments, but I'm finding that all the smaller hilarious/touching/random bits outweigh the others by so much.

After prepping the students for their measurement posttest, it's off to take that tomorrow morning. While the students catch a little bit of a break between the two units, for me, it's off to plan the next couple of weeks of geometry. This week's kind of dwindling down so there's not a whole lot of chaos going on right now. With planned parenthood coming in next week to teach the kids about puberty and Life Education coming to teach them about drugs and substance abuse, next week is bound to be nothing short of amazingly busy. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

energy buzz

One huge thing I've noticed in the change from high school to middle school age students is the energy level difference. High school students still have that teenage energy buzz going, but the younger students seem to have an excess. Tuesdays are always kind of a nice day because it gives the students an opportunity to get out of the normal classroom setting and into really hands-on activities with their Tech lessons. I have noticed, however, that once the energy levels get up during the time spent on the bus between Tech and at Tech, they don't really come down all too easily once the students are back at Swanson and having to settle back in. I understand exactly what the students are experiencing, having gone through it plenty of times myself back in my day. I have a feeling these transition days will be one of my tougher spots over the next few weeks of total control.

I actually just introduced a bit of an art unit that the students will be working with over the next couple of weeks. They will be working with a bit of an investigation of the various art movements and creating trivial pursuit type games with their new found artistic knowledge. I explained the different aspects they need to look into (style, subject, genre/movement, mediums, instruments, etc) with a twist on tying it into music and the various genres. I have to admit that I absolutely cracked up when some of the students were baffled by some of the older examples of music I played. They were spot on with identifying all sorts of style characteristics and classifying the genres, but were at a loss of who some of the artists were. It's amazing how, over the past couple of weeks here, I've really started to feel older than I thought I was.

So far, not too bad, but tomorrow's another day, so we'll have to see just how much the students were able to hold onto from today. This week seems a bit slow so far for everyone, but I'm pretty sure things will definitely start to pick up really rapidly over the next couple of days and weeks. Looking ahead for planning during our team meeting today, I started to realize just how many days over the next couple of weeks are actually spent working on various other tasks. Working with the years seven and eight, it seems like there's almost more on the plate in regards to miscellaneous duties than actual class time. With all this in mind, it's definitely going to be interesting trying to tie everything together cohesively over the last half of the term. I'm especially, excited for the beach education day on November 30th. It should be a handful with having to take the entire Totara team to Bethels Beach - but I'm really interested to see just what's in store with this program. It's intended to teach the students all they ought to know about how to be safe at the beach. I guess I'm most interested to see how receptive the students are to it more than anything else.

I think I might have to call it quits for tonight though. After hitting the pool with Rachel for a little exercise tonight and two days into my full control, I'm sapped for energy. So this is me signing out for the evening.

animation time

After only posting text for the previous blog posts, I figured it's about time for a little bit of a change of pace. I've just finished my weekly/unit plan for my upcoming first week of total control and I need something to occupy me until I head to bed for the night. As overwhelming as all the planning is sometimes, it's amazing how calming it is to just see everything fit together in a basic, loose schedule for the time to come. I find it a little bit shocking too how so many small miscellaneous tasks seem to fill up so much time that I would otherwise be planning activities for. I can almost feel the next couple weeks whizzing past me already. All planning aside, here's a little multimedia taste of some of the things I've been withholding for the past couple of weeks...

I have a bunch of pictures from MOTAT, the Museum of Transportation and Technology from about three weeks ago. It was really a fun time for chaprones and students alike. I don't think the students truly realize that they're learning while they're there, it's more a chance for them to just get out of school and into some sort of adventure. I'll have to check into some things at school before I can post some of my pictures up here. Despite how large of a group we had with all the different students from both classes, it seemed that everyone was on their best behavior.

Last week and the week before we had been doing a bit of a bike safety unit for the Totara team with an ex-police officer who came in to teach the program. I'll have to upload pictures from that potentially later as I've just realized they're saved at school and not on my laptop. It was really just a lot of fun to see the students enjoying themselves on bikes and trying hopelessly to avoid "breaking" any road laws. I found it extremely helpful too as it helped me figure out some of the technicalities of driving on the other side of the road as they tend to do down here in the land of Kiwis.

Another tidbit definitely worth sharing from last week is the little "Jump Jam" session we had last Friday in honor of World Teachers' Day. Janet & Barbara choreographed and organized the whole ordeal, along with the help of wonderful Tracy who's always running around taking care of the tech happenings at Swanson. I'm crossing my fingers that this link works so that you can share the wonders of Swanson School's amazing dance stars.

Hands Up for Learning

I have to apologize for not getting any pictures up here sooner, but hopefully with a spare moment or two this weekend I'll get a chance to update a little bit more on what exactly has been going on around here over these past jam packed weeks so far. More to come at a later date....this will have to suffice in the meantime.

most curious.

It's funny, but not once since I started have I thought about something that would otherwise be blatantly obvious. I'm pursuing my certification in secondary education with a concentration in history and Spanish. Yet, here I am, teaching just about everything but. I guess I just picked up everything that I was handed and began to run with it. Mathematics? Reading? Writing? Athletics? Sure, bring them all on. Maybe, just maybe, that could explain why I was so overwhelmed in the first place. These areas aren't supposed to be my areas of expertise, but I'm amazed at just how comfortable I feel in all of them. It's even more surprising due to the fact that I haven't really had any guidance yet on how to manage all curricula at once.

Aside from this grand realization, everything's really been picking up over the past bit of time. It's only about halfway into week three, but it still seems like time is whizzing by already. As I sat with Amanda the other day to plan out the basics for the rest of the term, it really struck me that every single minute I have is going to be occupied with something or other. When that happens, time always manages to slip away some how.

I'm really starting to feel the clicking into place with my class. I know that just when things start to go their smoothest, it's going to be the end of it all, which kind of breaks my heart. I've had several students come up to me and ask me when I leave, thinking that I'm here for the next year or so. I've only been met with sad faces when I tell them I'm only here for the rest of the term. It's amazing how quickly bonds form with students just slightly younger than those I was working with before. It's really quite an eye-opening experience working at a primary school with the other half of the age spectrum. It still has its little snags here and there, but it's really a fun, intimate environment.

With full control coming into my hands next week, there's definitely a lot of work in the process and in the future. I only wish there were more hours in a day, but I'll take what I can get. Here's looking forward to new experiences, busy days and nights, and working my butt off like there's no tomorrow. For now though, it's off to count some Kiwi sleeping sheep so I'm well rested for tomorrow.

Two Weeks Down, Seven More To Go

While the students are still seemingly lovely, with their Kiwi accents and all, they're beginning to show some of their truer colors to me. They're all sweethearts in their own way. Over the past couple of days, however, Amanda's been gone on one full and one part day release, meaning a reliever (a substitute) has been in the room with the class to hold the fort. Much like in the States, the students try to get away with whatever they can. While it's nowhere near absolute chaos and bedlam, it's become evident just how well Amanda is able to manage the classroom with all the various personalities that exist within it.

After a maths session today that was a little less than smooth, I had my first little chat with the class. Just to lay down some rules and basics with them, I explained how, despite the fact that I am clearly NOT Mrs. Douglas, I do expect the same behavior from them. They're all eager to learn and they all know how to behave themselves in the best of ways, so I know that they're fully capable of meeting the high expectations I have set for their behavior.

Similar to other field experiences I've had, it's always interesting for me to see how students react differently to different teachers/people in the classroom. In some cases, the relationships are smooth and seamless as silk, while others are full of patches and rough spots. I know I'm still learning in many ways, but I feel as though with the models from Amanda and her guidance will really help me in keeping the class functioning in an orderly, neat fashion.

I feel as though I've been a bundle of all sorts of emotions over the past two weeks, if not even before that. I have nerves from a combination of traveling to a new country and standard pre-teaching jitters. I'm excited by just about everything that lies on the path ahead of me. I'm overwhelmed by how many things there are to do and experience over such a short period of time. I'm grateful to all the people who I've worked with over the past several days, weeks, and months. I'm sad that this experience is going to be over so quickly, but I'm optimistic that the teaching and cultural experiences here in New Zealand will go far beyond all my expectations.

And, so, with these sole two weeks passed, it's on to planning for week 3 and keeping up with the Kiwi flow of things.

One Step At A Time

And so begins my second week at Swanson School. It already feels as though we've been here for ages, despite the fact that, in all reality, it's only been a little over a week. Strange how quickly time goes by. After a fun weekend in Sydney, it's good to be back to what already feels like home. New Zealand's labor day has already come and gone after being long awaited, and today begins the next week already.

It may be the first day of the week, but it definitely wasn't as bad as the mondays that are normally dreaded by so many. I have to admit that I've been somewhat overwhelmed by some of the differences between my previous placement and this current one. With my first real "mini-lesson" with one of the math groups today, I'm definitely starting to realize that this may not be as terrifying as I originally foresaw it being. With having to plan for the four different groups for both math and reading, I know it will be a lot of work, but I feel as though I'm starting to get a better understanding of how to best approach the planning process. Like any normal Tuesday, we spent the better half of today at Bruce McLaren School for some tech classes. While the students were busy as bees crafting things, Amanda and I were able to sit down and discuss everything so that I can start planning for the weeks ahead. It all starts taking off especially next week with me taking over for all the math sessions and then moving on to the reading sessions the following week, along with everything else.

There will be a ton of planning involved in all of this, but certain units/activities easily take up several sessions making time seem like it will pass by extremely quickly. It also seems as though it will be easier to plan out sessions due to the fact that the topics are more simplified than what I'm used to doing with high school. The majority of the time will likely be spent explaining simpler ideas as the students are still not extremely advanced. I'm also excited for some of the activities I began planning today as they're going to be fairly hands-on and I believe the students will enjoy them.

I feel as though I'm starting to enjoy the middle school level much, much more than I had ever anticipated. I know I'll be working my butt off over the next couple weeks, but this will definitely be well worth everything that's gone into preparing for this experience.

Getting Into the Swing of Things

So maybe this is adapting to the new country...

Things at home are still absolutely amazing. Rachel's been more than welcoming and helpful as my hostess, and I couldn't be more grateful. After already have taken both me and Alissa to Bethels Beach on Saturday, she's also taken us to the mall to see what sort of "youthful" shopping is available, Craftworld - a place where all sorts of Kiwi artisans can sell all their artistic endeavors, and, on top of being a tour guide of sorts, she's also been more than helpful in adjusting to the cultural change. With her, I've found a great deal of guidance not only in that regard, but also greatly in a professional regard. She's a wealth of information regarding teaching in general (theories, practices, you name it) as well as so many things with the educational system that Alissa and I find ourselves working with). She provides great insight into the workings of Swanson School so that we have a better understanding of just what's going on and why everything works the way it does.

With a combination of Amanda and Rachel's guidance, everything's starting to really click into place in regards to my understanding of the school, the curriculum, the classroom, and all other aspects. What originally struck me as a little overwhelming with the various ability groups in the classroom is becoming more simplified and clarified with the more time I'm in the classroom. Talking with Amanda various times has really opened my eyes to her exact methods for her class. Beginning yesterday and working into the next couple of days, we've begun working out just how to work me gradually into the class. With a field trip to the Museum of Technology tomorrow and Labor Day on Monday, I almost wish that I had a real full week to get a chance to see how everything progresses. I guess, however, that I'll have to make do with what's available to me.

I've already started working with the lower level group for maths over the past day or two. I absolutely love it, because I get the chance to work with Leah, a student with spinal bifida, who is an absolute sweetheart. Though she may not be at the highest level in maths, it's really obvious that she's doing her best to learn as much as she can. Even though she may not get every single detail very clearly, she doesn't let anything really deter her. Though she's among many in the classroom, she always seems to have a smile rearing and ready to go. This definitely makes it easier to keep on trucking along, even when a lesson on time tables and hourly intervals doesn't go as smoothly as it ought to.

All the students in the classroom have their own individual personalities, and although some might raise a bit of a ruckus at times, they're all very endearing. So while I may only be working with a handful of the students for math right now, I'm really looking forward to next week when I get to take over working with more of them during reading. As they're all divided into their various groups for the subjects, they're all working on different texts/assignments during class time. While this originally seemed a little bit daunting and potentially overwhelming, it's starting to seem more appealing as it adds a bit of variety to the material to be taught.

As the week's moving along towards its end already, it's time to start looking towards next week and the planning at hand. Until later...

It's Only Tuesday But It Feels Like Forever

So it's only just Tuesday, meaning we've been here a whopping total of 3 full days. Yet, it feels like we've already been here for much longer. After getting my first taste of Swanson School and Amanda's classroom yesterday, today was a little bit more than just sitting by and observing. The entire Totara Team had their first Tech session of the week. This entails both Amanda and Hayley's (the other Totara Team teacher) classes taking a twenty minute bus ride to the Bruce McLaren school for some applied arts classes. These classes include activities along the lines of sewing, woodworking, art, metalworking, and other specializations. It seems as though the students really look forward to getting a chance at working on something that isn't strictly reading, I actually got the chance to get a peek into the metal working class with Neil Parker and a group of several of the students. Working on creating personalized key tags, it was really apparent that the students took a great deal of pride in seeing the completion of something they had made with their own hands.

With a shortened afternoon of maths, interval, shared reading, and work time on character sketches, I feel like I was able to become more familiarized with Amanda's style of classroom management. It's a really interesting combination as she has very clear classroom expectations set with her class, in a fairly regimented way, but she's still so warm with her students and they absolutely seem to love her. It's definitely interesting being able to experience this classroom as it's so different from what I was exposed to at my other high school placement. The age, for one thing, is different as the students are younger and clearly at a different phase in their lives than the high school teenagers. The mix of learning levels/abilities also makes it rather interesting, as the class is divided up into groups based on this during each of the subject sessions. This kind of threw me off initially, as I'd never really personally experienced a classroom quite like it before. Each group is responsible for a different task during each subject's allotted time period, which they actually do a fairly decent job of staying on task with. It will definitely be quite interesting working out lessons to fit along with this class environment. It definitely seems to work for the students though, as there really are several distinct levels of capabilities/talents.

The next couple days and moving into next week ought to be rather fun and busy as Amanda and I work out how to start integrating me into the lessons and as I begin my planning for future weeks. I can tell that this term will definitely be a busy and fast-paced, yet oddly relaxed, period of practice. I honestly feel that my placement with a cooperating teacher could not have worked out better, as Amanda is definitely an amazing model to learn from and a great person to work with.

It's Not Just a Dream

So I've managed to get this blog kind of up and running again, despite having all sorts of problems with it before. I can't quite figure out what is going on with the formatting of the last post though. So I guess, all my dear readers, you're going to have to be alright with some strange font changes that are going on with that. Moral of the story, and the most important bit, is that this is up and running for keeping you updated on what's going on down south of the equator.

These past couple days still feel like a complete piece of something surreal out of a dream. After months of waiting for that upcoming date of October 15th, Alissa and I area finally down in New Zealand - Swanson, to be exact. We landed on Saturday morning in Auckland after at least 25+ hours of traveling and some delays in Los Angeles. The weekend's mostly been spent setting up our home bases with our host families - me with Rachel and Alissa with Jan. So far, I'm absolutely loving every minute of this - the food, the weather, the nature, the people, just everything about it. Rachel, Cam, and Ken have been more than welcoming in every way possible to make me feel like I'm at home, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of it. Louis the cat still seems a little wary of me, but I'm sure the adorable fluffy family member will start to warm up to be me over time.

Today, after having my initial excitement develop to nerves over the past day or so, I'm home after my first day at Swanson School. It's a little overwhelming, diving into the school right off the bat, especially since it's a completely different setting from what my previous placement was. I have a feeling, however, that it's going to be a great deal of fun that will end sooner than I want it to. There are about 30 students in the classroom, and a definite mix of Pacific Islanders, Maori, and European cultures. After talking to some of the students already, it seems that at least a decent handful speak more than just English alone. It should also be rather interesting with the variety of learning and age levels that exists in the classroom. I'm genuinely impressed with how well Amanda seems to handle the classroom environment that might otherwise give other teachers some problems. The students definitely know what is expected of them and what classroom regimen is. Though she keeps the class with a steady fist, she definitely has a warm aspect to her that the kids seem to love. I hope that I'm able to learn a lot from her through observing and working with her.

I'm a little nervous how the students will handle the transition between her teaching and me taking over for the period that I'm here. With my other placement, it seemed a little bit easier as it was at the beginning of the year. With this placement, however, I'm coming in at the end of everything, when the students have had Amanda for the majority of the time and are extremely used to her teaching styles. I guess there is only one way to find out how it will be, and I'll be sure to keep tabs on it all.

For now, though, it will mostly be me sticking to observations over the next week or so. I'll also be trying to get myself adapted to the whole Kiwi culture. Nothing has really thrown me off too much, yet, but I'm sure I'm bound to encounter something along the way - especially with some of the differences in colloquial phrases/words. I need to get my head back into everything though, as it's kind of hard still to realize that I'm actually here, this isn't all some sort of dream...

Just a Bit of Background Knowledge

Just to get a better idea of what New Zealand's all about....

Location
New Zealand's just southeast of Australia and south of several other Pacific Islands (Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, etc)

first time south of the equator!

Population
The majority of the population are of European descent, although there are strong minority groups from the Maori population and other Pacific Island populations. The total population adds up to around 4.25 million people, with the highest concentration in Auckland. About 2/3 of the population live in the exterior areas/cities in more rural areas, spread out throughout the rest of the country.

Culture
The culture of New Zealand, due to the population majority, is mostly tied to European culture. Though not as dominant, Pacific Island cultures & Maori cultures are also visible throughout New Zealand.

Maori culture, however, holds a fairly strong position in regards to national culture. Though the Maori were put into a subjective role under European settlers, today they still retain some aspects of their culture despite having been assimilated to a great degree. The Maori language is actually a national language and is visible in a great deal of places, such as street signs, schools, city/town names, landmark names, etc. In some places, it is possible, mostly as what seems to be a tourist dealing, to witness/partake in some traditional Maori customs, such as the dancing, social interaction, food, etc.

As far as food goes, it seems that there are some similarities between the food found in the U.K. and the food found in New Zealand. With the immigration of more and more Pacific Islanders though, it seems that the influence of their cuisine has greatly impacted the types of food available. Something that also really caught my attention (I'm a real raw-food junky), was that, thanks to the climate, a good deal of vegetables and fruit grow fairly well throughout the country. They're also known for their meats, from cattle, venison, and sheep. Supposedly the meats are all very healthful and delicious thanks to how much available grassland that is available to raise the livestock in a much better fashion than most other places do (if only I wasn't a vegetarian - although maybe I'll end up changing my ways). New Zealand's also widely known for their wineries that they have a fair deal of thanks to the climate that suits grape-growing.

Language for the most part shouldn't be too much of a problem, as English seems to be the most widely spoken language in the country. I'm pretty sure that I'll catch myself slipping up on some words or phrases though, such as "loo/toilet," "rubber," and any other colloquial term that doesn't quite match up with what we normally use in the States. The hardest language dilemma might be picking up some of the Maori langauge, as they tend to incorporate it into the school's teaching and other characteristics. Some key phrases I found though were:

Welcome Haere mai / Nau mai

Hello Kia ora, Kia ora rā kōrua (dl) Kia ora koutou (pl)

How are you? I'm fine, thanks. And you?	Kei te pēhea koe?
	Kei te pai
Long time no see	He roa te wā kua kitea
What is your name? My name is ...	Ko wai tōu ingoa?
	Ko ... ahau
Where are you from? I'm from ...	Nō hea koe?
	Nō ... ahau
Good Morning	Kia ora, Ata mārie, Mōrena
Good afternoon/evening	Kia ora
Good night	Pō mārie
Goodbye	Hei kona rā (inf)

Food

As for food, New Zealand is widely known for being a huge producer of fresh produce and tasty grass-fed meats, not to mention their popularity as a wine-producing country. A lot of this they owe to the amazingly fertile landscape and the climate they have available to them. I have to admit that I’m extremely excited about the fresh produce as I’m a huge raw-food junkie. I am a vegetarian, but maybe by the end of my stay I might have changed my ways due to how delicious the meats are supposed to be.

The cuisine used to be mainly influenced, and still is to a great degree, by European cuisines, especially that of the U.K. Euro dishes, such as fish and chips, however, give way to a fair deal of Maori cooking customs as well as the influence of various cuisines brought over by Pacific Islanders in recent years. One sampling of New Zealand cuisine that I really want to try out is the Maori style of cooking using a hangi. A pit is dug into the ground where stones are heated by fire. Various meats and vegetables are then thrown on top, followed by all sorts of plant leaves/brush to cover the food, and then a layer of dirt is thrown on top. The cooks leave it all to cook/steam for several minutes before digging it up and serving it.

Weather

Something I’m greatly looking forward to is the weather. Seeing as we’ll be traveling south of the equator, seasons will be the complete opposite of what we’ll be experiencing here over the months of October, November, and December. When we get down there, New Zealand will be towards the middle of their spring and heading into their summer. So while everyone is up in Green Bay freezing their butts off, Alissa and I will be likely roasting our butts of when things start to heat up down there.

As it’s completely surrounded by water, the climate of New Zealand is somewhat more temperate, and greatly affected by ocean currents and wind patterns. From research and what I’ve heard from friends who spent time down there, I’ve received multiple warnings of the very temperamental weather. In the course of one day, weather patterns can go from sunny and blue-skied to cloudy and windy rain bursts. Looking at the time span from October through December, temperatures will be starting out around the 60’s and working their way up to the 80’s (and potentially higher) by the time we’ll be ending our experience in New Zealand. I’m also looking into the potential purchase of a very wide-brimmed hat, as the combination of ozone layer problems and sun intensity will likely turn me into a lobster crisp.

Education

For the most part, education in New Zealand and the curricula vary from school to school. While the government sets some very basic standards, it seems that a great deal of freedom is given to teachers in regard to what they teach to their students. It also seems that some schools set up their own standards/objectives that are to be met by all teachers over the course of the year. These standards, however, don’t seem to be nearly as strict/demanding as the ones that we find here in the States.

Swanson School

The school itself, Swanson School, is located in Swanson in Waitakere City, a region just outside of Auckland on the North Island. Outside of the more urban part of Auckalnd, the school’s near the edge of the rural areas right along the Waitakere Reserve along the Western Coast.

With a little less than 500 students, Swanson School has students from various backgrounds of Maori, Pacific Islander, and European. The students are divided up into four main groups based on their age. Each group is given a Maori name, some of which are the names of native trees or plants. The eldest group of students, years 6-8 are under the Totara team, named after one of the tallest trees that grows natively in New Zealand.

Because of the strong influence of the Maori culture, the school takes special steps to give a place to Maori culture and language in the classroom. This is actually included in the school’s curricular objectives. I have not closely examined any other particular school’s curriculum, but I can only assume that other public schools have some similarities in regards to including Maori education.

While I’m down there I’ll be working with the Totara group, the oldest/highest group of students there. Specifically, I’ll be working in the classroom with Amanda Douglas and her mix of seventh and eighth year students. It’ll be a bit of a change from the high school students I’ve gotten used to working with, but I’m more than a little excited about the change.

The Reasoning Behind New Zealand

My main reasoning behind choosing to teach abroad in New Zealand is tied to something that's both a personal and professional ideal of mine. I believe that one of the best and most effective ways of learning things is to genuinely experience them and that someone cannot truly become a well-rounded, educated person without experiencing everything possible that the world has to offer, this includes other cultures. As a person, I highly value being able to understand, communicate with, and teach about other cultures and peoples throughout the world. Without this sort of knowledge, it would likely be exceedingly difficult to succeed in life and relationships. We would otherwise be without an understanding humans function.

As a teacher and a developing professional, I believe that traveling and experiencing other cultures really opens your eyes to the world that exists beyond our own comfortable spheres. It also helps us to gain better understandings of what it is exactly that we are teaching our students. Without a true understanding of certain topics, it's difficult to be able to teach our students as thoroughly as possible.

So over the next couple months of my experience in New Zealand, I hope that I am able to get a more intimate knowledge of New Zealand and its people. It is a country that is not given nearly as much attention as it deserves in our society. I hope to especially learn a great deal of the indigenous Maori people, their history, and their culture in addition to the general New Zealand people and cultures. As a history/social studies teacher, it would help me out a good deal when I have to teach about the dilemmas that many indigenous peoples around the world have faced over the past centuries. In regard to my personal development, I hope that I will be able to truly experience the "Kiwi" culture and that it will help me to gain an appreciation for a culture that I've never gotten the chance to be part of in the slightest bit.

It's hard for me to put into concise words exactly what it is I hope to gain from this experience, but I hope that it all helps me grow in my career as a teacher and as a person.