School Beginnings!

Hi, everyone!

My first week of school at school was excellent and I am learning lots! I work at a nearby primary school that includes years 1-6. I am in a year 5 class (equivalent to 4th grade in the US). The class (and entire school) is extremely diverse. In my class alone there are many ethnicities represented including NZ Maori (the native population), NZ European, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Samoan, and Korean. It is wonderful to learn about everyone's cultures and the students made very neat welcome signs for our room with greetings in different languages!

Fantastic multi-lingual welcome signs made by children in my class.

Aside from the diversity, there are many striking aspects of the school. First off, is the positive atmosphere. The campus is very open with a center outdoor area where all students mingle before school, during morning tea break at 11 am, and at lunchtime. Morning tea is a great mid-morning break for both students and teachers! The students spend a lot of time outdoors and even when they are not outside the windows and doors are open so that it is light and airy. I'm also getting used to the fact that many students walk around barefoot inside and outside (and some teachers!). Everyone is very comfortable and treats school as a second home. There are also central areas between 3 classrooms called "awhina spaces." Awhina is a Maori word that translates to support or help. There is no assigned seating and students have the option of sitting wherever they are most comfortable to work (at a table in the classroom, on the floor, or in the awhina space).

Central outdoor space (although it feels much different when students are bustling about).

Our classroom (again it usually feels different with students inside...and chairs--I took this after hours when our chairs were being used for parent night).

The school also does a fantastic job of building community. At the end of the first week there was a Powhiri, a Maori ceremony, to welcome new students and staff (they included us student teachers which was very thoughtful). Parents are also openly welcomed onto campus and you will see them in the center outdoor area dropping students off or picking them up. They will often pop in just to say a friendly hello to the teachers!

I love my class so far! I have never taught this age before (8 and 9-year-olds), so it is great experience. At this age the children are very sweet (they've made me cute drawings and sneak hugs), but are also getting into deeper content and literature which is interesting. My cooperating teacher is also fantastic and a great example for me. It has been really useful to see how she set the classroom rules, structure, and tone at the beginning of the year (the school year started on February 2nd, my first day!). The first week was spent doing activities with getting to know each other and getting back into the groove of school. She also modeled and explained different types of lessons and projects. There has also been a lot of assessing in order to place students into appropriate small groups for instruction (more information on this to come in a future post!). Students are encouraged to self-assess as well and reflect about their academic performances.

So far, I have been observing, working with small groups of students, and helping individual students who need extra assistance. I also led a small lesson on the U.S. (they expressed a lot of curiosity about the U.S. to me, so my teacher encouraged me to make a presentation). They were struck by many facts including the time difference, snow (most have never seen it before!), and landmarks (they had lots of questions about the Statue of Liberty). They also thought that the U.S. money I showed them looked sooo cool (I told them that I thought the same thing when I saw their currency...the grass is always greener!). They also loved seeing pictures of my family, friends, and my dog, Luna, who is now famous both in my class and with my homestay family.

I will slowly begin to plan and lead lessons over the next 2 weeks and then during weeks 4 and 5 I will be the full classroom teacher. I will report back with updates as my role increases!

Lots of Love,

Katie

Fun Fact: We had last Friday off of school to celebrate "Waitangi Day." This national holiday commemorates the 1840 signing of the Waitangi Treaty between the Maori natives and the British settlers. The treaty is considered NZ's founding document. We celebrated by having a fun weekend at the beach...more on that to come! :)