Full control & Rotorua

Wow what a great week! I have pretty much been in full control now and it is great. I am learning a lot about this age group (if you write something wrong on the board, they will catch you!!!) that is a little different than the kinders who have no clue! I do miss how oblivious the kinders are when I make a mistake! I am doing a procedural writing unit with the kids that I created.  It is going well.  We wrote how to’s last week and I think this week I am going to put them in groups to create their own games and then come up with a list of instructions.  Then I hope to have them type them up and make them into an IWEB so they have access to the games.  I am still finding the little differences between American schools and New Zealand schools. Obviously the no shoes one is a big difference! But there are many little other ones.  The students have more responsibility here, they trust them to do more things.  Such as going to the office or getting something from the staff lounge.  I love the trust the students and teachers have with each other.  I also love how much of an influence the Maori culture has on the school.  They learn some Maori words and teachers try to incorporate it in many ways.  I would love to learn some of the words, they are really hard to pronounce!!

This past weekend Cathy and I went with her host mom Jan and son Cory to Rotorua! It was awesome!! Just the drive there is breathtaking. The scenery is absolutely amazing.  Cathy did some skydiving! I stayed on the ground and watched from there! We went to a Maori Hongi. Which was AWESOME! We learned more about the culture, watched their dances and songs and had a great dinner.  The hongi was cooked underground.  They have coals in the ground and then the food in baskets, then covered with blankets and then dirt on top.  It was delicious.  And today we got to enjoy Kerosine creek, which is a hot spring.  It felt sooooo awesome! I am just amazed at how it is a natural hot spring.  In all, this week has gone good and I am ready for another one! Its hard to believe that this is basically half over! Time flies! Enjoy the pictures :)