Hello all! I know I have been here for almost three weeks now and I have not been able to e-mail or contact all of the people I have been meaning to. A couple of the girls I have met that are also here from the USA gave me the great idea of making a blog for all of those who want to read about my time in New Zealand! I am just going to warn you that I may not update it as often as I should, but I am going to try my hardest to update once a week!
Life in New Zealand is amazing! I am surrounded by 365 beaches in a country that is smaller than the state of Colorado. I am living in the North Shore of Auckland (population 1.4 million). I am able to walk to Campbell's Bay Beach in 20 min. and take a bus to a number of beaches in under 15 minutes. The weather has not been gorgeous here, although it is beginning to warm up. Auckland is said to be able to have 5 seasons in one day, I thought only Montana could do that!
I am staying with a family just 5 minutes away from my school. Tracey is a yr. 1 (kindergarten) teacher, Dave is some high rank in the NZ Navy, Holly is 6, and Connor is 5. The are a great family, and have provided me with some great ideas of exploring!
School has been interesting. My first week here I went on a "camping" trip with the yr. 4 (3rd grade) class. We stayed at Long Bay in a Lutheran Church retreat center. Needless to say, there was no camping. My private room had a view of the beach not more than 200 yards away. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper were all catered! The class spent an entire day doing outdoor activities on the beach. They also spent a day "tramping" around cliffs, and another day was spent learning about outdoor education.
When I finally got into the classroom I realized how much small group work the teacher spends on mainly literature and math (maths in NZ). It is a great concept and the kids seem to do quite well with it. The reading program in the country is said to be one of the top 5 in the world, so hopefully I will come home with some knowledge to implement in my classroom one day.
My class is composed of almost 30 children coming from at least 6 different cultures. I love the fact that we are somewhat of an international school, although it is very hard to communicate effectively to all of the children. My teacher is a "senior" teacher who has spent a number of years in the classroom. When she is teaching the class she is great, but tends to get sidetracked of all of the other roles she has taken as being a "senior" teacher.
I know this is long, but hopefully the next ones will not have to cover so much!
~Kylie
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