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.