I am planning on blogging on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, for those of you that would like to stay updated. Everything is going awesome!!! I can't put into words how amazing my school is, and my cooperating teacher is the coolest guy ever. I was nervous at first having a male cooperating teacher, because I wasn't sure how we would connect. I am so excited to go to school everyday now because we are already great friends, and he is the most fun loving person I have ever met. I also love how many times a day he says "Good Eye Mate"!! It is only the second day and I already have picked up writing with the children, and morning roll. I felt so comfortable the first day, that I told Matt I could start teaching if that was okay with him. The reason I titled this blog "Language Gap" is because of the difference in speech between me and my class. While I was doing roll we have a student in our class named "Chance". I pronounced I usually do emphasizing the "a". The kids started giggling a little, and I asked what was going on.....turns out because they pronounce their "a" differently it was actually "Chaunce". My teacher Matt said, "Say it like you are going to a party with a bunch of very rich, posh people!" According to my students I say their name with an "American Accent". Since I picked up writing today, I had to help students sound out some of their words. How we say our "I" sounds like an "e" to them. So when I would pronounce the word "in" they would keep saying "en?" Once we get used to each other in the classroom it will be easier for the students to understand me when I talk. Lastly at the end of the day today Matt told me to go grab the felts for each student. I looked at him funny because I wasn't sure what he meant by felts. Turns out in New Zealand they call Markers, felts. On a totally different note, after school today we got to go to a Maori performance at a school in Aukland. They did a welcome for us, with some of their traditional songs. It was a very neat experience, and the students were very open to us visiting, and were also very curious about the U.S.
Kia Ora Friends, (Greetings in the Maori language) I am officially in New Zealand after 20 long hours of travel. It is great to finally be here, and the weather and scenery is absolutely beautiful. Our host Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport and we headed back to the house. The first new thing was that their steering wheel is on the right hand side and they drive on the opposite side of the road. The second big difference is everyone here has a heavy British Accent. We arrived at our host families house, and it is located right by some mountains and dormant volcanoes. There are also many palm trees. When we arrived our host Mom Viv had to pick up her granddaughters to babysit them while their parents were selling toys that they make themselves. The granddaughters names are Akimi, and Akiko and they are so sweet. Akimi is a Kindergartener at the school I will be teaching at, although she is not in my class. After getting settled in I was super hungry so Viv and Gavin's daughter Theresa and her boyfriend Dan took us to a mall in Aukland, so we could get some food and exchange some money. The money here is very pretty, and the coins are way thicker than they are in the United States. We ended up eating at a place called Tank and had fresh salads and smoothies. They did have a McDonald's, but it was interesting because McDonalds here sells Kiwi Pie because that is a popular fruit here. The house is only a two minute walk from the school. I am very excited to start and meet all the students in my classroom!! This is the view from our host families house! :)
I cannot believe the day is finally here. After a four month countdown, and three years of waiting I am finally off to start a new adventure in New Zealand. I cannot wait to see what this new adventure entails, and I am very excited to be doing it right along side my best friend.
I will be updating this blog twice a week while I am there. I will share information about my day at school, and the different traveling I will be doing. If you feel the need to contact me while I am there, there is a contact page attached to this site, or........ I can receive imessage and facetime on wifi! You can also facebook message or email! Let the new adventure begin! Goodbye America........Hello New Zealand!!! |
AuthorMy name is Katelyn Landerman and this blog is all about my adventures student teaching in New Zealand Archives
December 2015
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