"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!