Week 1 is in the books! I spent the week trying to navigate my way through the school, decipher words that in America we do not use, and figure out how the New Zealand school curriculum works. I came in on week two of my Year 6 students taking swimming lessons, so everyday we would walk to a different school and the kids would get swimming lessons. This is a requirement in New Zealand schools in Primary schools as the country is an island and beaches are affluent in both islands. I am in year 6 which is equivalent to 5th grade in the states and entering the classroom in term 4 which is the last term before the kids head off to summer break. At Tirimoana Primary school there are 4 terms in the school year, each 10 weeks long and a 2 week break in between each term. After term 4 there is a 6 week summer break before the next school year starts. There are 29 students in my classroom and to be honest coming from a classroom of 13 students in my placement at Southern Door elementary school, it is a very different way that the teachers have to approach the classroom to attend to each students needs and abilities.
Since the climate is very mild in the winter the schools and classrooms are not all connected by a hallway, rather the outdoors. The doors in our classroom stay open all day, so weather rain or shine, we get to experience mother nature personally rather than just having to look out the window to see the sun blasting through the building. I attached some pictures of my students, classroom, and school below, room 23 is quite a rowdy bunch, but it excites me to see how open they are to learning new cultures and adapting to any situation thrown at them. One week down, eight more to go!!
