Reading is Such a Beautiful Thing

I love reading. Anyone who knows me knows that I love reading, and one of my big goals as a teacher is to instill that in children. I want to show children the endless possibilities and worlds that reading can take you to. I want children to want to read in their spare time and be confident as a reader. It is so amazing to be in New Zealand where reading is a priority and guided reading practices are done right, and I hope to learn a lot from this. On Friday I worked with a group of students with guided reading. It just so happened that the group that I decided to work with had *Dan in the group. I had each student read a paragraph outloud to me while the other students followed along. We worked on projecting our reading voices and adding expression when we are reading. I was so impressed with *Dan becuase he is an amazing oral reader. I immediately gave him positive reinforcement and his face just lit up. Then, another little boy *Mike read outloud and he was also fantastic. I told the group how proud I was of them and their awesome oral reading. However, I had strict rules that while one student was reading aloud the other students were to be following along pointing to the words. *Dan was not doing this and when it was his turn he never knew where we were in the book. I had to pull him aside and talk with him about the importance of following along and how it will make him a better reader. He started to follow along much better then. The students really enjoyed the book that they read and then I had them do a fun activity to go along with their reading and they loved that.

A Tough Job at Times

I wish that teaching could just be about helping children succeed, learning, and making children realize that they are special. However, I am quickly learning there are some not so glamorous sides to teaching. I am learning that some home lives that children are coming from are horrific. It breaks my heart, but makes me strive to make the eight hours that they spend at school amazing. I am also learning that discipline is a HUGE part of what we do as teachers, and for me that is not a very glamorous part. Nonetheless, I am learning and having to learn quickly due to some of the students in my class. I wrote the other day about my student who had a breakthrough excellent day, well Wednesday was not such an excellent day for him. My teacher was away on Wednesday and so at lunch time I was working on lesson plans in the classroom for the day and getting some stuff done. All of the sudden this little girl from my class comes running inside the classroom crying hysterically. I calmed her down and told her to tell me what had happened. She told me that *Dan had kicked her when they were playing on the monkey bars. *Dan has had quite a bit of trouble with the monkey bars, and so has *Eileen. I went outside and pulled *Dan and *Eileen aside. I had *Eileen tell me her side of the story and during this time *Dan could not talk, and then vice versa. They had two completely different stories, and since this had happened in the past I told them until they could prove to me that they could handle playing nice that they were not to go on the monkey bars. *Eileen understood this and went away and played something else, but *Dan went to the other set of monkey bars and asked if he could play on those. I told him that no monkey bars meant none of the monkey bars, and he went off and did something else. I headed back into the classroom to get some work done, but our classroom overlooks the playground and all of the sudden I looked outside and sure enough *Dan was playing on the monkey bars. I thought to myself "you've got to be kidding me." I ran outside and in my best stern teacher voice I told him to come here right now. *Dan came right away and I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was playing on the monkey bars. I asked him what I told him not to do and he told me not to play on the monkey bars. I then told him how becuase he could not listen to my instructions (that have been repeated numerous times) he would spend the rest of his recess inside with me. I had him sit down and finish some work (he is very behind on his work because he does not focus in class and disrupts other children). Then, I sat down and had a talk with him. I told *Dan how I was not mad at him but I was disappointed that he did not listen to my instructions. We talked about respect and what that means, and why we are at school. I have faith in him that by the time I leave he will be a hard working student who knows how to behave with other children, and I will NOT give up on him. However, I have decided that I really dislike punishment and having to be stern with children like that, but I know it must be done for their own good and the sake of other children.

No More Substitute Teachers

I learned this week that it is at times very difficult to be a student teacher and work with substitute teachers in the classroom. My teacher was sick this week and I have not begun to take full control of the classroom yet, but have control of some subjects. I found that it was very difficult on myself and the children having different substitute teachers in and out of the classroom all week. Every teacher has their own pedagogy and way of doing things in the classroom, and I think it was difficult on both the kids and I this week. The children were clinging to me because I was something familiar. Routines make children feel safe and their routines were definitely disrupted this week and it has been difficult to get back on track. I tried speaking with the subs about how we do things but most of them did not care and just did what they wanted. It was frustrating to me that my opinion and my ways of teaching were not taken into consideration. I feel like in a few months I will be graduated and I know how to teach and I am a good teacher and I found it very difficult to work with these substitute teachers that would not listen to what I had to say.

I taught a writing lesson today and it went very well and the students really enjoyed it. I taught them how to do a noisy story, and tomorrow we are going to share our stories with the class. I had them working in teams to create the stories and this was a difficult task for them. There have been some difficulties in the class of children not working together so I decided a teamwork task would be a great way for different groups of children to work together to achieve a common goal. It took a great big discussion about what teamwork is and what it looks like but it finally got through to them and they worked very well together.

Constantly Learning

I am trying to absorb everything that comes my way during this unique and amazing experience. I am trying to grasp every opportunity that I can and learn as much as possible, so that I can be the best teacher for my students. The assistant principal is quite impressed with our work thus far, and she is a lovely woman so that is great. Today was a very busy day at school, but we got a lot accomplished. The students really buckled down today and got a lot of work done, and were very well behaved. I love that my students respond very well to my nonverbal cues and they know just by a look that I give them what they should or should not be doing. It is wonderful and allows for instruction to carry on without all of the disruptions. The students really listen to me and behave the same for me, sometimes even better, than they do for the teacher.

Today was a breakthrough day for one of our students who has been having quite a bit of trouble. This student has had trouble following directions and just seems to always get into trouble. Today I came up with the idea of talking to him at the very beginning of the day about trying to have the best day possible. I told him how it makes me happy to see him succeed. I asked him if he likes it when I have to give him the "teacher stare" and he told me no, and I said don't you like it when I can give you a thumbs up and good job and he told me yes. I told him that we were going to make it a day full of good jobs and high fives. Everytime I saw him doing something good I gave him such positive reinforcement and his face lit up it was so beautiful! He had his first EXCELLENT day since school started! I was so thrilled! At the end of the day I told him to bring his mom over to the classroom so I could tell her how wonderful he was. His mom was so thrilled. I do not think he had ever had a good report home before. I am learning so much about individual children's needs and how to help them succeed it is amazing! I love this profession. Going to work everyday is going to be a delight!

"To Teach is To Touch a Life Forever"

I am having the time of my life in New Zealand and at school. I am learning so much about myself, about education, and that this is my true calling in life. I have slowly been easing into the teaching role and I must say that it feels pretty magnificent. I am really getting a grasp for the way the school does things and how my teacher handles instruction and classroom management. I have been working with the a group of eleven students on maths and have found it to be wonderful. It is at times difficult to work with such a large group of students with varied abilities but I am doing my best. The students seem to really like being in my group and I am making sure that I am constantly providing the students with positive reinforcement. I myself, not being a mathematician, know how great it feels to be told that I am doing a great job. I am finding new and creative ways to teach these math concepts to my students, and I hope that it will benefit them. I have also taken charge of doing attendance in the morning. I greet each student by saying good morning followed by their name, and in return they say good morning Bre. It is so cute and a great way to start the morning. I even have some students that greet me in different languages which is always fun. I have also taken over read aloud time during the day. My teacher has told me that I have a beautiful voice and that she could listen to me read all day long. I think the children like hearing a story told in an American accent because when I read their eyes are glued to me, it is very adorable I reckon. The teachers have also put the student teachers on recess duty which is nice to really feel like part of the staff. I have had lots of injuries and fights to take care of while I have been on duty, but it is all ultimately making me a better-more qualified teacher.

On Friday I did my first lesson in front of the whole class and I must say that it went very well. Valentine's day is not very big in New Zealand so this year while I was there I wanted to make it a big deal with my class. I wore my Valentine's day colors and greeted all my students in the morning with a happy Valentine's day. Then, I read them a book about Valentine's day that they loved. Then, I had the students go back to their desks and we brainstormed on the board what Valentine's day means to them, what words, colors, actions make them think of Valentine's day, and we made quite the list. Then, I told them some stories from Valentine's days at school that I had where we made boxes and everyone brought in Valentine's and exchanged them. I told the class about conversation hearts and then introduced our lesson. I had the students write a story or a card to someone they cared about for Valentine's day but they had to use the conversation hearts in their writing. The students loved this and worked so hard during the time that they were given! The work that they produced really impressed me and it was easy to see that they not only understood what I wanted them to do, but they exceeded the expectations.

I am having a fantastic time teaching and am so excited to teach more. I will fill you in on how this week of teaching goes!

Kia Ora

I know that I have found my calling in life, and working with children and helping them discover themselves and learn is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I have such bright Kiwi students, and they have taught me so much already in the short time I have been with them. I have quickly learned all of the children's names in the class, and I am really settling in quite nicely at the school. The staff is so wonderful here, and I am treated like a staff member and not just a student teacher. I feel as though they really value what I think and believe. The students are really starting to get into a routine since it is the beginning of the year here. It sure is exhausting setting up that routine though. The students are starting to understand what they should be doing when and that is very important. It has been incredibly helpful to see how the beginning of a school year is set up and what needs to be in place in order for there to be success. Overall, I would say that the children are very well behaved, lovely children. I reckon that I have gotten quite good at my teacher stare and using nonverbal cues to get students on task. The children are really listening to me, and comprehending that I am also their teacher. Since there were only three days in the school week last week I mostly observed and led small group activities. I also got to see the testing that takes place at the beginning of the school year to split students up into their math, reading, and spelling groups. I was also fortunate enough to grade those tests and to see what levels the students were at.

The Adventure Begins

Yesterday was my first day of professional development at Green Bay Primary and Intermediate School in New Zealand. Our session was on restorative justice approaches in the school, and how we deal with "punishment". It was interesting being new to the school to learn about the school values and what the school holds to be important. It was also interesting to learn what the issues have been at the school, and how the school handles issues when they arrise. Two men put on the seminar and they did a great job of keeping it fun and entertaining(a hard task to do when you are sitting for hours). It was interesting to learn more about the school that I will be spending nine weeks at, and how they run their school. We did a great deal of work with punitive, restorative, neglectful, and permissive ways of handling situations. I now more than ever know what kind of teacher I WANT to be and WILL be and how I will handle situations. I think too often teachers speak or act first and think later, and when dealing with children we must put thought into it as well. All in all, it was a very interesting day that opened my eyes to so much that I did not know prior to the development day.
Today, Wednesday, was the first official day of teaching and it was absolutely lovely! I feel so blessed to be with my teacher because she is fabulous and I know that I will learn a lot from her, and my hopes are that she will learn a lot from me as well. We got to school early which is good because I like to feel prepared and know what is going on, and set everything up before the children get there. The children got to school and were instructed to come sit on the carpet nicely. They were very good at listening to instructions and doing what was asked of them-I am curious to see if that is because it was the first day of school, of if it will be a regular thing. My teacher took attendance and greeted saying, "Good morning (student's name) and then the student responded good morning, Vivienne." They call teachers by their first name at this school, but having taught at Aldo Leopold in Wisconsin.