Athletics Day, Bushwhackers, Cave Dwellers, and Adventure Girls

I am sure that you have probably been wondering where exactly I have been teaching the last 3 weeks so I decided to add a picture of my classroom. Keep in mind that this was before the day started so kids are just being kids and having fun in the classroom. On that note, welcome to Room 13!

And this is the block where my classroom is. There are 5 blocks in the school that all have classrooms in them. My particular block has 8 classrooms in it and is 2 floors. We are on the left hand side of this building on the second floor in the corner.

Today has been quite the day! At school, we had Athletics day where students are participating in athletic events throughout the entire school day. We lucked out today and had an absolutely gorgeous day with a perfectly blue sky and the sun shining down on us. I even ended up getting a little tan from being in the sun all day so I can't complain :)

All day I was in charge of helping Miss Carter fun the shot put. We had to get all the kids in a grade level through in 40 minutes and measure the distances of the top 5 boys and the top 5 girls. Needless to say, it was a very busy afternoon! However, I really enjoyed being able to get to know all of the students in the school and spend some time to get to know all of them better.

So I secretly felt like I was at Hogwarts all day because the school is divided into four houses that are separate colors. The houses are competing for points to be the "top dog" and just like in Harry Potter, points can be given and points can be taken away. From day one, everyone told me I should be in the red house (Slytherin) because they always win. It was like I was really Harry Potter! I ended up being in the yellow house and this is the flag that we made to represent our house. It says yellow in the Maori language.

Students preparing for high jump.

One of the year 6 girls doing her long jump.

Our Yellow House flag!

The top year 5 girls running their final relay of the day!

After a very busy day at school, Rachel and Jan (My house mum and Miranda's house mum) took us to one of the beaches that it is near by. The cool thing about all the beaches on the West coast is that they are black sand beaches. I tried to take pictures of the sand but you just couldn't really see the color. The beaches were gorgeous and they were so sparkly. It looked like someone had poured glitter all over the sand! So we got to the beach and Rachel told us that we were going to be climbing up all the way to the top of the mountain in the picture below and we would end up right where you can see one tree sticking out. Needless to say, Miranda and I were a little bit concerned.

However, it was amazing going up the mountain and we had some of the most beautiful views ever imaginable. I never realized that our little town of Swanson was so close to all of this beauty. It was quite an adventure going up the mountain. We followed this really tiny path that was just part of nature. We need some bushwhackers with us at some point and maybe a chainsaw to cut down some of the huge tree branches! It was really amazing to be in nature like that and truly see the beauty that New Zealand has to offer.

Once we got to the top of the mountain, we took some time to take in all the views and we started our journey back down the mountain. It was actually really easy to climb down and Miranda and I made sure to make some time to take pictures :) 

We officially made it to the top! Just call us Mountain Ladies!

Help! I need a bushwhacker!

When we got to the bottom of the hill, it was time for another beach walk. This time we were going a different way and we ended up at a cave that was on the beach. While we were walking on the wonderful sparkly black sand, I  made sure to take a bunch of pictures. What was surrounding us was so beautiful that it is hard to describe.

Needless to say, the beach was absolutely amazing! This weekend, Miranda and I have ventured to Devonport and are going to the zoo tomorrow. You will get an update on that very soon! I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend so far and I miss you all!

Stay relaxed, because that's the kiwi way!

Learning About 'Merica!

This week, I had full control of the classroom and we spent time learning all about the land of the free and the home of the brave. Before any of that happened, however, I had to make sure that my students would be able to handle learning about such a wonderful place and made them have a mostly silent work day on Monday to get ahead with their work for the week. I knew that learning about America would excite all of my students and we would probably end up with less academic learning time because of it.

So on Tuesday, the excitement began as we learned all about the election that was taking place in America on the next day (because we are a day ahead of you). We learned all about how the electoral college works and we learned about the candidates that were running for president. Of course, my students asked me who I had voted for and I explained to them how that is a very personal thing in America and does not usually get shared with others. After all of our learning, we had our own vote in the class, deciding which American lolly we liked more: Bazooka Bubble Gum or Chewy Jolly Ranchers. We used the electoral college for our vote and as a class, Bazooka Bubble Gum was the favorite. It was really fun to watch the students get excited about being able to vote and they actually seemed to have a pretty good understanding of the electoral college, even though all the students did agree that it was a silly system to have.

Wednesday came and we read the story M is for Mitten and learned all about Michigan. All of the students were angry that I didn't bring them Vernor's to try because apparently it sounded delicious to all of them. They loved learning about where I am from and had millions of questions about not only Michigan, but about America in general. Since they had so many questions, I took a survey of the students and we picked a few American topics to focus on in the weeks to come.

Also on Wednesday, we started to create our own ABC book about New Zealand. We have decided to call it K is for Kiwi and my students are extremely excited to share it with as many people as they can. When it is finished, we are going to create a movie of them reading it so that you can see it too :)

Thursday came and I taught the students more about me and the places that I have been. However, I made the mistake of showing them a picture of me dancing and now they all want to see me do the splits... So I promised that before I leave, I would do them for the kids. It's the little things like that that get me through the day.

Tomorrow is Friday and we have our whole school athletics day. All students in the school will be participating in track and field events, such as high jump, long jump, shot put, discus, the 100 meter dash, and long distance running. It is going to be a very eventful day and I plan on taking many pictures so that you can finally meet the students who I am teaching and learn more about my school through pictures.

Overall, I have had a very busy 4 days but I wouldn't have it any other way!

What A Crazy Few Days!

This has been one crazy week and an even crazier weekend. I guess the best place to start off would be on Monday. Amanda, my cooperating teacher, was out basically all week because she had staff training on Monday and Tuesday, CRT (classroom release time) on Thursday, and then left for Brisbane, Australia for 6 days on Friday. Because of this, I basically had full control of the classroom for the week, which was scary because it was only my second week with the students.

Monday morning came, however, and I was feeling prepared for the day. I knew what my plans were and thought that things were going to go considerably well. My day started pretty well and the students were engaged with their maths (yes, math does have an “s” on the end of it here) lesson.  They did wonderfully with their reading lessons as well and the day was off to a great start. However, things started to change when the substitute teacher who was in the room started to aggravate the students and turn their moods around. Because of this, we had a very rocky afternoon with students who were getting very upset and started to have behavior problems. We made it to the end of the day but I was feeling a little anxious after what had happened.

Because of how poorly Tuesday went with the substitute teacher, I made my co-op aware of this and she was able to be in the classroom on Tuesday as a support system for me. Tuesday went better but there was still something that was not working for me in the classroom. Wednesday and Thursday came and went as well. On Wednesday, we were able to do some fun things because it was Halloween. Thursday was a little bit better but something was still off. I felt as though the students were not respecting me in the way that they should be.

So on Friday, we made a change in the classroom. I introduced a new behavior management system where my students were in charge of their own fates. We created a point system where students can earn points for doing what they should be doing in class and making positive choices but points can be deducted if a student is not following the classroom treaty and showing disrespect. Surprisingly, the students adapted really well to this change and Friday was an incredible day. We were able to get a ton of work done and I had a classroom where I finally felt like I was able to teach. It was perfect!

After school on Friday, Miranda and I quickly went home, got our bags and headed for the train station. We had to catch the train by 3:30 so that we could get into Auckland in time to get to out bus that would be taking us to the Bay of Islands. Our adventure started at the train station, when we almost missed our train because we were at the wrong track. There is currently construction at the train station and we were quite confused. However, we were able to get to our train on time and start our adventure.

The Naked Bus (yes mom and dad, we did have clothes on. No worries!) was waiting for us and we got on right away to go on our adventure. I know what you are thinking and I know, I never thought I would be taking a bus somewhere either but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do! It was a long bus ride down a lot of windy and narrow roads but we eventually made it to Paihia where we would be staying. When we got off the bus, we politely asked the bus driver how to get to the Pickled Parrot, our backpackers accommodations, and he gave us directions. Again, I know what you are thinking about me staying at a backpackers hotel. It was a little bit different from what I am used to but it wasn’t terrible actually!

When we finally made it to our hostel about 6 and a half hours after we had left Swanson and after Miranda had a little run in with a whole in the pavement, we had a little surprise waiting for us. The woman who was running the backpacker’s accommodation told us that Fuller’s, the company who we had made our reservation with to go on a tour the next day, had called to tell us that our trip was cancelled and we needed to call them to figure out what to do. (We had no idea how they found where we were staying until we realized that the company must have called Miranda’s house mum to let her know the trip was cancelled because we gave them her phone number as a contact number) So right after we got to our room, we made a call to Fuller’s and talked with a man named Ross. He gave us some choices for the day but never really made anything very clear. Basically, we knew that we were going to have to be at the ferry station at 8:15 Saturday morning to figure out what we wanted to do.

Needless to say, this was not the most ideal way to be starting our weekend. We then went up to our room and we were slightly grossed out by what we saw. Both of us were scared to find bugs in our beds and we didn’t really know what to think. Eventually we were able to calm down and go to sleep. We knew that we had an early day on Saturday and needed to try to get some rest, if possible.

So Saturday morning came and we woke up extremely tired. However, we rolled ourselves out of bed, ate some breakfast, and headed over to talk to Ross. Basically, Ross was able to refund us our money and put us on a trip that was shorter. It worked out pretty nicely, except for the fact that it was expected to rain all day and the sky did not look very promising.

We got on the boat and started out adventure around the Bay of Islands. It rained a little bit at first but it wasn’t anything terrible. We were able to get some beautiful pictures and still have some fun. Right when we started our cruise, we were told that there were dolphins in the area. Luckily, we were able to go on the bow of the boat and see the dolphins! It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat. Some of the dolphins were jumping around and some were just enjoying a nice morning swim.

 
 After the dolphins, the captain told us that we were heading to the Hole in the Rock a little bit early because he was concerned about the weather. The Hole in the Rock was what I was the most excited for. It is a natural formed hole in a rock (imagine that) but you can drive a boat through it. We had to leave the clam waters of the Bay and head out into more rough waters. Miranda and I decided it would be fun to stand on the top of the ship at the back and pretend that we were surfing! It was really fun and we were sure entertaining all the people. However, we did get a little wet from the boat crashing on the huge waves and the wind catching the spray but it was all worth it.
 

On our way to the hole, we saw this mountain that had the clouds touching the top of it. We decided that it was probably Hogwarts and we were waiting to try and find Dumbledore up in the clouds. Sadly, it never happened.

We also got to see the Cape Brett lighthouse, which was once operational but now is a historic landmark. The lighthouse keepers lived and worked in the lighthouse from 1910 until 1978, when a new automated light went into service,

When we got to the Hole in the Rock, it was beautiful. We were able to actually go through the hole and see the inside of the rock. It was fantastic. We also saw some seals perched on one of the nearby rocks!

We shot across the ocean again and ended up at another island where we were able to get off and climb to the top of this giant mountain. At the top, we had spectacular views and were able to see many of the islands. When we were finished here, our boat took us to the town of Russell, where Miranda and I had some amazing fish and chips. We also ended up going to a flower show (strange I know) because it started pouring rain and the flower show was the closest building.

When we got back to Paihia, we decided to go back to our room and take a nap. We napped for a bit longer than expected and by the time we got out to go to supper, which was only 5:30pm, most of the shops were closed. Because of this, we were able to have some delicious pizza for dinner and then we went back to the room to relax, watch a movie, and enjoy some time on Pinterst :)

Now it is Sunday and we are back in Auckland, after another long bus ride. I am very happy to be home and in a place that is actually clean! I hope that everyone has a fantastic week and I will post again soon!

I miss you all a lot and hope to hear from all of you soon!

We Are Here To Party!

Today Miranda and I decided that we would have a more relaxing Saturday and go on a wine tasting adventure on the beautiful Waiheke Island. To get to the island, we had to take a train into Auckland, which takes about an hour, and then catch a ferry to the island. The ferry is a 40 minute ride and has magnificent views the entire way.

When we got to the island, we were greeted by our tour bus driver and we were very excited to get on with our adventure! At first, we were quite concerned that we were going to be the youngest people on the tour but there ended up being a group from the UK who we were able to have some fun with!

The first vineyard that we went to was called Stonyridge. When we got off the bus, we were given a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and it was delicious. The man at this winery told us all about how the grapes are grown and the types of wines that were created at the winery. After our time with him, we were given another glass of wine,  red wine this time, that we had with our lunch. It was a beautiful place to start our wine tasting experience.

After Stonyridge, we headed to a place where we were tasting different types of olive oils. It was at this point when I had a revelation (being blonde and all...) that olive oil is actually made from olives! It was quite the moment for me. LOL! We tasted 4 different types of olive oils that all had very distinct flavors. There was a more fruity olive oil and then there was one that actually tasted like grass. I didn't necessarily like any of the oils but it was fun to have experienced it.

As we traveled around on the bus, we were able to see some beautiful scenery. This is one of the beaches that we saw as we were driving around with our tour guide who I liked to call Meg because she was Meg, from Bridesmaids, twin!





Next we went to a fun brewery called Wild On Waiheke. It was a vineyard as well but they were extremely proud of the brewery that they have created. They also made an extremely strong rum there. It was a very relaxed place with a fun atmosphere. While there, I was able to sample their red and white wines as well as 3 types of beer and ginger beer. I was able to try a pale ale that had a grapefruit flavor, a dark ale that was very chocolatey, and then their cider which was my favorite. At the end, we had some ginger beer "to clean our pallets".

The final place that we went to is called Mud Brick. It had spectacular views that were worth every dime that we spent on the tour. We were able to try a red and white wine there as well as a sparkling wine. It was an absolutely beautiful vineyard. The whole island was incredible and reminded me of the Caribbean. It was a very relaxed place that was wonderful to visit! If I ever had the opportunity to go back and enjoy some time on the beaches, I would for sure!

My First Teaching Day!

Today was my first day being at Swanson Primary School. New Zealand schooling looks quite different from American schooling so it was a lot to take in but I had a lot of fun. I am in a year 5/6 class, which is similar to our 4th and 5th graders. The students are a hoot and are just amazed that I am from America. We spent a lot of time together trying to figure out what New Zealand words and American words were different. They had a million questions for me and I had a million for them.

Our day is structured into 3 separate blocks. In the 1st block, we do maths and reading. Then, we have a break for 40 minutes. 10 of the minutes are spent having a snack for morning tea and the other 30 minutes are spent outside playing. The structure of their play is not what I am used to. Students are able to ride their scooters, play in the mud, run around barefoot, play with sticks, climb trees, etc. As long as students are back in the room when the bell rings and ready to learn (in clean clothes if they got dirty) the staff allows them to play as they wish during free play time. The second block of the day is spent with writing and administrative things, such as checking homework. The students then have another 40 minute break, 10 minutes for eating lunch and 30 for playing. We then have block 3, which is typically spent with content.

My first day was an adventure but I learned a lot and know that I am going to be learning the entire time that I am here!

Safe and Sound

After a long journey, I am finally safe and sound in Swanson, New Zealand. I have been here for the entire day, which is Monday here (Sunday in America) and have spent my time becoming familiar with the area and getting myself situated.

When we arrived in Auckland this morning, we had a somewhat interesting situation on the plane. We were told that we had an unwanted visitor on the plane with us. Miranda and I had no idea what they were referring to. Come to find out, a fly from America had come with us on the plane and New Zealand will not allow bugs form another country to be introduced into their environment for fear of destroying the agriculture. So, the agricultural department came on board with insecticide and sprayed down the entire plane until they knew that the culprit had been eliminated.

Once that was over, we had an easy time coming into the country and finding our bags. Miranda's house mum was able to pick us up form the airport and take us to a park where we were able to see the beautiful skyline.

These are some pictures of the island from on top of One Tree Hill. It's park of a gorgeous park that is close to the Auckland airport.

Once we got home, I made sure to get myself situated and take a short nap! I spent some time chatting with my host mum, Rachel, and learned a lot about her and the experiences that she has had. We then went to pick Miranda up and go see the school that we will be volunteering at, as well as the town. We then all had supper together.

Now it is time for me to get some sleep! I have had a long day but can't wait to see what tomorrow is going to bring when I am able to meet my kiddos! For those of you in the US, have a happy Monday. For me, tomorrow is happy Tuesday!

And The Journey Begins!

Today is finally the day that I am on my way to Swanson! Miranda, the other student teacher who is going, and I are extremely excited for our upcoming journey.

It has been an emotional roller coaster all week as well as today. With all of my excitement, there is also the feeling of being anxious with all of the unknown that is going to happen in my life. Saying goodbye to my kinder students yesterday was not an easy task because of how much they have impacted my life already. However, it is easier knowing that in a few short weeks I will be back with them in the classroom. Leaving my family and friends behind in a different country is a daunting thought but I know that the experience I am going to have is going to change my life forever!

My journey began at 11:00 am when Tony, Miranda's dad, came to De Pere to pick us up and bring us to Chicago. We had an easy drive to Chicago, with Tony making sure to entertain the entire way. We stopped in the smallest town I have ever been to for a little lunch and finally arrived in Chicago around 2:30 pm. There were no problems with getting through security and we made it here with plenty of time before out flight (a whole 5 hours!).

My flight leaves Chicago this evening, Saturday, October 20, and I will be in Auckland on Monday morning at 8:45 am! Wait! Where did Sunday go? I don't know, it's just gone. I have a layover in LA for a couple hours before the 10 hour flight to Auckland.  Right now, I am not really excited to get on the plane for such a long time but it will be over before I even know it.

When we get to Auckland, Miranda's host family will be picking us up and bringing us to our homes. I can't wait to finally be in New Zealand where I can embrace a new culture and learn from the people around me!

We are about 23 hours from officially getting to New Zealand!