Back to School!!

Riding the two-wheeler

Our school is about a 45-minute walk from our house. We had never went to the school before Monday....big mistake! The bike ride was intense to say the least. There were a few hills I just could not seem to keep peddling in my dress pants and flats. The necessary helmet mixed the muggy humidity  and my sweat just about ruin any chance of my hair looking halfway decent for teaching! I am not sure if it has been a bit too long since spin class, or if maybe when the instructor told us to be at a 9 or 10 I just did not push myself hard enough because climbing hills on a bike has never seemed so difficult. At times coming up hobsonville road I feel as if my calves are going to pop, or my legs will just fall off completely and I will tumble to the ground. Well on the bright side I am getting a work out and my school has a swimming pool which I will eventually be using for a cool down! We got a system down now so we ride in our workout clothes and change at Brooke and Kirsten's because they live very close to the school. 

The Classroom

The classroom incorporates Maori everyday! My teacher is a strong advocate of incorporating a lot of Maori. Out of a class of 29 there are 4 blonde kids, which is a lot for a classroom. Many of the boys have rattails, which I think is just fab! About half of the kids run around barefoot and I hear some of the teachers do it too. I love the kids accents that make my name Ms. Whittaka! They always use the word Miss to call any teacher. You can hear if from the playground or in the classroom, Miss, Miss. It is adorable, it reminds me of the south! 

They do not celebrate Valentine's day here like they do in the states. No valentine’s, lollies, or decorated boxes in the primary schools. No flowers or chocolates in the family. No abnormal amount of pink or red. It is just strange and a bit depressing!

They do have a tradition here for morning tea. Whether in the office, classroom, or wherever you may be there is always a morning tea time. The schedule stops for a 10-minute morning tea when all the kids must have something to eat. (There is food in the staff room if kids do not have a lunch, or the students are very good about sharing with each other.) After morning tea they have a 30-minute recess and then they have the same thing a bit longer for lunchtime. I think it is a great tradition. They have tea and also milo in the staff room. Milo is similar to a hot chocolate, but I think hot chocolate is better. I just put "heaps" of sugar into my mug and it tastes pretty good. 

The Students

The class is adorable even with the few deviant children! It is a level 3,4, and 5, which is the same as grades 2,3, and 4 in the states. I am not really a fan of this combination in the classroom because their is enough separation of levels between one school year. Now we have the lowest of the 3s and the highest of the 5s and the challenge of teaching them all. I think it will be a great learning experience! They don't follow close to detailed curriculum like we do in the states and they don't have standardized testing, so the classroom is ran a bit differently. 

On my first day I accidently called a boy a she! His name is Jahzel, he has a very pretty face, and a long brown braid down his back, what would you have done in my case? All the students wear uniforms, so that makes it even harder to tell. He was like um I am a boy...Whoops! There is a student in the class who is deaf. Her name is Trisha and she is just adorable. You would think I would have a slight advantage having taken 2 semesters of ASL, but no. NZSL (im not sure if that is what it is called) is all different, even the alphabet and colors. I am starting from square 1 with the sign language thing. The sign I was given for my name, is pulling both index fingers from your mouth making a smile because I am always smiling! I love that!!

Quotes of the week:

“Are you rich?” (I answered No)

“Really, but look at your necklace, are you good?” (I answered Yes)

“So you are like good, but not rich?”

Haha I don’t know what she meant by that but I guess money!

“Oh wow you are so lucky I wish I was from America”

“I feel like everyone from America is famous”

“Ahhh have you been to the red carpet?”

“Have you seen Justin Beiber?”

And the list goes on and on. One of the girls teaching at a different primary school said her students are convinced she is a rock star. They ask her what her stage name is, like Hannah Montana, what is hers? They watch some many shows that they seriously think she is living a double like of a rock star!! Hilarious!

The Powhiri 

(in Maori the wh makes the sound of f)

It was a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony. We had to be welcomed into the gym and only the boys can speak. Our leader Ramona's husband said an introduction in Maori and then we all sung a lovely song in Maori. The gymnasium was filled with the cutest students all singing the New Zealand national anthem. It is beautiful and the children sing it with such gusto! I love hearing them sing in maori and observe some different traditions like this. We had a large morning tea for all of us in the staff room with plenty of treats! It was delicious and I filled up on chocolate covered cream puffs, crackers and cheese, sausages in a puff pastry, cake, and more.

After School Friends

 So some of the kids in my class see us all walking from Brooke and Kirsten's house to school. They decided that they wanted to walk me home. They were very excited and clung to me the entire way. We had Patsy, Perina, Jordan, Colleen, from my class and a few other siblings and friends that walk home the same way. We stopped at the park with the kids and Patsy's little brother taught me about how to be a gangsta. They kids are adorable and now we have friends to walk home with everyday! We only teach Monday through Thursday so it makes for a nice long weekend!!