The girls working on their henens for the upcoming Medieval Banquet
Thursday night out on the town with Kate and friends!!
Over these past few days I have had full control throughout the school days with a little help from Jane. I am continuously gaining more confidence in my teaching and gaining children’s respect more and more each day. Jane has been absent two days this week, Monday and Wednesday. The reliever teacher (a.k.a. substitute teacher) has given me great feedback and observed my teaching along with Jane. It is good to gain feedback from various adults. Everyday I am learning more about myself and as a teacher.
Over the past few weeks, I have also been introduced to a new reading comprehension resource book written by Sheena Cameron, New Zealand author. I actually had the opportunity to meet and speak with her on Wednesday of this week; she came to Point View and held a 3-hour workshop with all the teachers in the school. It was a great learning experience and I gained many ideas from Sheena Cameron’s workshop on reading comprehension strategies and how to teach them. I plan on using the strategies in my three weeks of full control, which are approaching very quickly!!
Over the past few weeks I have really been focusing on behavior management. It is unreal to observe how students respond to positive reinforcement. Students love praise and recognition! This week I put a star on the board and if I caught students being good I would put their name in the gold star and give them a sticker at the intervals of the day. It was so funny because the students seriously wore the sticker they received on Monday every day of the week. It is amazing how students here react to positive reinforcement, students will seriously eat out of your hands just for a little bit of praise and attention. I am learning so much from Jane everyday. I can’t wait to see what lies in the days ahead.
During the week days away from School:
I went to dinner with a few friends on Tuesday night; we had Portuguese food at Nando’s a local restaurant here in Auckland. Then on Wednesday night we grilled on the “Barbie” it was so much fun!
The weather here is so weird. One minute it is pouring down rain and then ten minutes later the sun is shining and it could not be any more beautiful. It is days like these when I realize that I am living on the coast of the island! I feel like I am living a dream, living in NZ still does not feel like real life and it has been a month already!
Thursday night I went shopping with Jane and her daughter Kate. I found some cute NZ teaching/going out clothes. Kate is a hair-stylist so I will definitely be going to see her in a few weeks for cut and color. haha I then went to a local club with Kate and some other friends. It was lots of fun and interesting to compare the nightlife to the U.S. It is funny to see how much of America is here, especially the music (It is all American rap and pop music)! I love it because it makes me feel at home!
Food of the Day: Tofu, Trifle Dessert, Mince Pie, Prawns and Passion Fruit Cupcake, Cadbury Bubbly White Chocolate Bars, Mars Bar
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