A kiwi school

I am starting my second week at Gladstone and I love it! It is a little intimidating though because there are so many differences. For instance:

1) they don't test the kids (standardized or just a regular math test) they rely on homework/classwork to check for understanding.
2) You will never see the teacher "teaching" in front of the class for more than 10-15 minutes a day. They only work in small groups, so the kids really work well by themselves. For math my teacher has the students broken up into three different groups (low, middle and high). She will see at least two of those groups a day. When they are not with Ms. Oates they are working on activities and centers (rarely worksheets). This method takes ALOT of planning and really good class management but Ms. Oates has perfected it and it works great! It should be interesting when I take over ;)
3) Some of the kids don't wear shoes to school! Weird right?!? But this is normal even when it’s freezing and raining outside!
4) The teachers have a morning tea time (for 25 minutes) and a 45 minute lunch break where they go to the teacher's lounge and don't have to worry about kids! (unless they are on duty) The teachers lounge is really nice! They have microwaves, sinks espresso/coffee/ hot chocolate maker, my favorite :) and a dart board.
5) The kids have a lot of freedom during lunch. They first have to eat their lunch for a minimum of ten minutes and if they are done with lunch they can play on the fields or play ground or they go to their sport practice. (They teachers on duty have to walk around and supervise)
6) My class is also learning Maori. That should also be interesting when I take over! I can barely speak New Zealand ;)

I am sure I will think of more to tell you about Gladstone but that is it for now! This past weekend an amazing teacher (who is also from the U.S) took me and the other COST student to a wonderful lunch and then to another volcano (there is 50 in Auckland) where we got to see an amazing view of Auckland and some little lambs! I will post pictures later. We finished the day with some good ole' southern comedy! We watched the blue collar comedy tour (or something like that… I can't remember the exact title) It was the one with Jeff Foxworthy and the guy who played Mater! Until next time!

Hei konā rā (Goodbye)