Day 3 and a LOT of Teaching Experience

Today was an amazing day. It was challenging and tiring too. Mrs. Jane was absent today for a teacher conference. I feel that I gained a lot of experience and gained student’s respect very quickly. I think the students realized today that they must follow my orders as they do for Mrs. Jane. As crazy as it sounds, I think it was good that Jane was absent because it not only built my confidence but it helped the students see me as a teacher more so than before.

The morning activities went well and the students worked hard to finish all the morning assignments. It was the first rainy day-since I have arrived in Auckland. It was a nasty day and the children got a little restless before lunch. We played a round of Simon Says and it seemed to calm them down a bit.

After lunch, I read Charlotte’s Web and ironically enough the chapter that we read today was about Charlotte weaving the word Terrific into her web for Wilbur. After I read Charlotte’s Web, I then showed the PowerPoint that I created on Maori Weaving. We were able to bring the class novel into our lesson very nicely. It helped the students understand that weaving takes a lot of time and dedication. The students quickly compared Charlotte’s hard work on her weaving to the culture of the Maori people and how they sometimes may stay up long hours as well to finish weaving a piece of artwork.

After we discussed the PowerPoint we then allowed the students to create their own fish on black paper using chalk to outline their fish. It was amazing to watch the students use their art skills. They are so creative!!! Preparing for the lesson, gathering all the materials and such was a mess, but when we finally got going, I was loving it!! We had a teacher helper and a parent helping with crowd control and blending. It was fabulous to see the children learning and enjoying the activity. The fish came out beautifully, even though it was more challenging allowing the students to create their own fish versus pre-cut out fish, I feel that students gained more out of the hands-on activity and had the opportunity to be very creative. The students all created their own unique fish. We will begin the weaving tomorrow.

When we circled up to discuss our favorite part of the school day, one student Jack announced, “I love it when Ms. Burton says Criss Cross Apple Sauce.” It was funny that he said this because today I used this instead of telling them to cross their legs. This is a saying that we use in the US and they absolutely love it. I am having so much fun learning about the kiwi children and how they do things differently than we do in the states.

When I arrived home from school I had afternoon tea with Karyn and a few chocolate treats. We then had dinner shortly after. When bedtime came around Deanna asked me to come tuck her in and read a few chapters of the BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) by Roald Dahl. She is so precious and reminds me of myself when I was 7 years old. I can’t wait for day 4 in the classroom!!

Food of the Day: Nutella, Cadbury Milk Chocolate, and Port Wine-Red wine that is amazing!!