Funnn week

It has been a wonderful week! The few writing lessons I taught went well and I have many ideas on how to make them better, so that was good.

On Wednesday my students had their swimming sports competition. The students swam in multiple races: freestyle, gliding, backstroke and some silly races like bobbing a ball across the pool and back, horse races with a floaty and partner and a running race. My job during swimming sports was to hand out the first place cuisenaire rod. Thankfully there weren't any issues with the parents or the children about who actually got first place. Many students had to be disqualified for running across the pool more than actually swimming, that was interesting :)

For Maths (yes they say maths) one day we had a blast playing giant Jenga. The students learned about balance, "taking away" and "adding". It was neat how they could come up with the maths involved with Jenga when we asked.

The whole week has been great but today has been one of my favorite days here so far. Our class went to the beach for some beach education! We started off the day learning about the gear and equipment the Surf Lifeguards use to rescue people and then we learned about beach safety. The students played a game on the beach before heading in for lunch. After lunch it was time to go into the ocean! I found it very effective to have the student teams up and do relay races that involved entering the water. The teachers and parents stood at about knee level in the water and the student had to run out, go around us and run back to touch the persons hand, who then did the same thing. Having relay races distracted the kids who were nervous about entering the water because they were focused on the task instead of the scary waves. Next the lifeguards told us teachers to go out about waist deep in the water... Mind you waist deep to most people is my well-past-bellybutton deep! The waves were HUGE! Some of them went well over my head. Originally, I thought I would just be standing in the water as a boundary line for the students. Little to me knowing I was way out in the waves and couldn't have been happier doing anything else. I could not stop laughing for the life of me. The waves were so powerful and took me out a time or two. Now just imagine the students! They did such a great job! They swam/walked from teacher to teacher who held them up in the air if a big wave was passing by and everyone gave it a go. I couldn't be more proud of them. A lot of them learned how to dive under the waves or to swim to shore using the force of the wave. After the relay races the students were allowed to swim and play in the waves, using us teachers as the boundaries. It was so much fun! I laughed the entire time and have the biggest smile lines tonight! I really was acting like a child but I couldn't help it, for some reason I thought it was hilarious! 

Beach Education

Learning about the rescue boat

Warning signs!

Playing a game on the beach called seaweed

Waimarama Beach, such a pretty drive

Waimarama Beach

Miss you all

Vineyard and palm trees!

Pretty drive, we pasted so many vineyards and wineries! 

The fun doesn't end there! Tonight, Kate from North Dakota is on her way to stay with me and Cheryl for the weekend, and I can't wait! 

Two last things... I'm reading the best book I think I have ever read, Wild by Cheryl Strayed (If you're reading Katie Girouard I hope you're proud haha) 

Oh, and I got into the Master's program at the University of Washington... :) the MEd program in Early Childhood Special Education!!!! So exciting!! 

Art Deco weekend and it's time to start teaching!

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go to a few of the Art Deco events. In 1931 Napier, NZ was  destroyed by an earthquake and fire. The town was rebuilt in 1920 and 1930 style. Art Deco weekend is a time when people dress to the nines in 1920's and 1930's attire and participate in events of that era. Cheryl and I saw the old fashion car parade and she showed me around town, pointing out the Art Deco style buildings and giving me a bit about the history. For lunch we had the best sushi... I doubt they had sushi in the 20's but regardless it was amazing! The following day I went into Napier and finally met Kate for North Dakota. Kate is a student teacher through Educators Abroad, like myself, teaching in Napier, which is about 30 minutes from where I live, in Havelock North. We met up with our supervisor Val and her husband Bruce. We arrived in style to the posh picnic, driving in a 1925 Fiat. All of the food looked elegant and the displays were stunning. Families literally brought out their fine China, it was nothing less than posh! Some people went as far as to have fountains and plants to bring together their display. The air show, with planes from the 20's and 30's was amazing, but made me a little nervous for those pilots. There were bands playing and the cutest children playing cricket, I have never seen anything like this!

Old Fashion Car Parade                                   Kate and I                            Amazing Sushi

                       Air Show                                         Band                                         Cricket

Posh Picnic!

Friday night I got invited to a quiz night (trivia night) and so I thought I would "give it a go"! The quiz night was a fundraiser for a local children's center and it was a really neat event with very nice people. I tried a couple New Zealand wines, which were tasty and my first New Zealand beer! I got a few questions right, involving  Napoleon Dynamite, the Statue of Liberty, the height minimum of a horse (thanks to 14 Hand wine), identifying famous red heads and yup, that's about it! I wasn't much help with the trivia but the atmosphere and people were wonderful!

School this week is quite exciting as well. We have swimming sports on Wednesday, where the student will be competing in different races. When enrolled at Frimley each student is put into a "house". There are competitions throughout the year to earn house points and prizes. I am apart of the Lyndhurst house, go Lyndhurst! On Wednesday I will be wearing red to support the Lyndhurst house, who will be trying to earn house points by finishing first in their races.

Friday will be an exciting day as well. We will be going to the Waimarama Beach for beach education. The students meet lifeguards and have lesson around safety at the beach. Considering New Zealand is surrounded with water, beach safety is very important for the students to understand and take serious. Apart from that it is a lot of fun! I am really looking forward to seeing a beautiful sandy beach and learning beach safety as well.

Although the students won't be in class for 1 1/2 days this week, I will be starting my first unit of study! It is my job to lead the morning routines that lead into writing time. For this week and next the student's writing will be focused on beach safety and thank you letters to parent volunteers and the lifeguards. I am really looking forward to teaching more this week!

One thing that I have loved so far about Frimley is that the teachers teach the students at whatever level they may be at. Therefore, we have 6-7 math groups and reading groups. This takes a lot of planning and variation with our teaching but is very beneficial to the students. A classroom like this is my goal when I have my own group of students with various skill levels!

I am still trying to remember which side of the car to enter and to pass people on the left instead of the right, but I am getting better. The accents are becoming easier to understand at a faster pace but students I haven't met yet still look at me strange when I open my mouth "on duty" (recess duty, aka morning tea time), its funny to see their reactions. I still need to try a Tim-Tam slam! That will be my goal before my next blog. Hope all is well back home, sure missing you all!

Had to share!

Our class at the Frimley swimming pool! What a fun day!

Shoes are optional at Frimley - My first day of teaching

I love Frimley Primary School. The school is very laid back but at the same time the children are set to very high expectations of appropriate behavior and quality of work, therefore they are so well behaved and very respectful! As you can see from the picture below, shoes are optional at school. The weather here in Hawkes Bay is so warm the staff does not force the children to wear shoes. This provides for a very laid back and comfortable setting, which I definitely appreciated my first day in a new school.

My 30 students are all lovely. They are so kind and very curious about me and life in general. Their names are quite unique and actually many words associated with the school and in New Zealand in general are Maori.  I definitely have my work cut out for me to pronounce and remember them correctly. My favorite part about my first day was hearing Mr. Fitzsimons (my cooperating teacher who is great) say "Good morning Room 15" and all the students responded in a long drawn out "Gooooddd moornningg Mr. Fitzsiimonns!" My teacher then proceeded to talk roll, greeting each student with "Good morning Lusha" and they individually responded with their adoreable New Zealand accents "Good morning Mr. Fitzsimons" to let him know they were present. It was such a great way to start off the day, each child completely silent with their eyes on the teacher, being so respectful!

After the morning welcome we headed straight to the pool! I couldn't believe it! The student bring their togs (swimsuit) each day to school in order to either go swimming in the pool at Frimley or the aquatics center down the street. My class swims about twice a week to not only learn to swim but to compete in races as well. The children were shocked to hear that in Seattle students don't swim during the school day, I then explained our weather...

Morning tea was on the agenda when we returned to school. Each morning at 11:00 the 600 students go outside to the huge play field and toys for recess, while the teachers (about 45) all meet in the staff room for morning tea. I met a lot of teachers today, whom I hope to observe teach and get to know a lot better in the weeks to come.

My students started making shields today that represent things they like. They love art! We also did some reading aloud, individual reading and writing. A few of my students wrote about their cool new teacher from the states :)

I loved learning about my students as much as they loved learning about me I believe:
"Where in a America are you from?"
"Do you go to school?" "What school do you go to?"
"What do you learn in school over there?"
"How do you say your name?"
"Did you go to school when you were little?"
"Are you married?"
"How many sisters and brothers do you have?"
"Do you live with your mum and dad?"
"How do you say your name again?"
"How old are you?" Guess... "25, 27, 30" Not bad! Normally I am 14...
"So what is America like anyways?"
"What do you do in America?"

The list could go on and on. It hard at times to not giggle when they ask me cute questions like those with their adorable accents. I will get use to it though, and maybe even pick one up for myself!

Apart from school my time here with Cheryl has been great! We went to the a farmers market yesterday that was amazing! We bought a lot of veggies, a fig bar, sweets and of course tasted a few wines.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Let the journey begin!

I have arrived at my home stay in Havelock North, New Zealand which is near Hastings in Hawkes Bay on the north island. I absolutely love it here. It's nice and warm, a high of 77 degrees F today! It is very rewarding being here after the long two days of traveling.

The flights and connections were going very smoothly and were quite nice (especially the pod I slept in during the 15 hour flight)! Not to mention the food on the flights was surprisingly very good.  I was quite entertained watching movies, reading, eating and drinking wine, I had no complaints! Well, no complaints until I arrived in Auckland. I reached customs where there was no line and was filling out an entry form, while a huge group of maybe 300 people (with entry forms already filled out) piled into the customs area. Once I was finished with my paperwork I had to stand in line behind this whole group of people, nervously hoping I wasn't going to miss my connection to Napier. As I waited in the long line, watching people cut me, I just kept thinking only one more flight! I made it thru customs finally and got my bags, which had all gained 10 pound since I originally checked them 30 hours prior. At customs and when rechecking my bags airport personnel kept telling me I needed to hurry to my gate, afraid I was going to miss it. After confusion of where to go I finally booked it 15 minutes to the domestic terminal where I found I still had 40 minutes until my flight boarded. Despite the frustration and exhaustion I was happy to be in the right place. So I sat and stared of into space until my flight was called, trying to relax and pull myself together before meeting my supervisor and host mom.

My supervisor Val picked me up from the airport and I nearly had a heart attack as she drove onto the left side a very busy road, forgetting they drive on the opposite side here. It will take some time getting use to driving on the opposite side and looking the opposite way when crossing the street. After about 20 minutes we arrived to my home stay. Cheryl, my host mom, has the cutest ranch style house with brightly colored walls and beautiful artwork. I sat on Cheryl's large deck under a very large silk tree while eating my breakfast this morning, it was very nice. Cheryl is at work today but she has a friend in town for a few days. This morning we went for a walk into town, about a 20-30 minute walk and she showed me around all of the shops and cafes, etc! It is the cutest little town with very nice people. I look forward to exploring the shops more and going for stroll/jogs down there often.

Monday morning I will drive with Cheryl (who is a year 1 teacher at the same school as me) to school at Frimley Primary School! I cannot wait to meet my year 4 students (3rd grade) and the teachers! Look back soon to see posts about my first days as an elementary student teacher/intern! Good bye for now, time to go read my book in the sun :)

G'day!