A Field Trip to MOTAT

I have just finished my third week in Swanson School, and I am still enjoying every minute of my time here in NZ. This week involved me taking a trip to MOTAT with the students to begin our unit on communication, comparing communication, in all its forms, from the past to the present with some general predictions about the future. This unit will be coming into full swing during our next week where it truly becomes an inquiry unit. It was an interesting experience for me to lead my class (RM 34) on this field trip, because I was able to understand what my fellow teachers were telling me when they said that a field trip day is more draining than a day of teaching, but the planning is so much easier. During this field trip, I needed to keep my 26 pupils together as a group and get them to the different activities that the MOTAT staff had planned on time. I also needed to deal with behaviors that only were only displayed when the students were not in a classroom setting, i.e. I had a student crying face down on the black top because he did not get his way. I should note that this student is 11 and a sixth grader. 

I have also been so excited to take control of more and more of the class management. I now am responsible for about 75% of the class, including planning and teaching. I will be starting to take over more of the class for our English narrative unit and planning for the four different reading groups that my cooperating teacher has had set up since the beginning of the year. My cooperating teacher has also said that she is feeling that I am able to handle being in room 34 by myself, and has been taking opportunities to make up testing with certain students from before I arrived, since she knows that I can handle the class. 

I know that I have been learn so much from my cooperating teacher, especially in the area of behavior management, which I consider to be more than just classroom management. She has previously taught in schools that have made behavior management a main focus for their teachers. She is constantly offering me constructive hints which I quickly try to incorporate into my teaching. By her own admission, my classroom and behavior management skills have drastically improved. I knew that the students would test me as soon as I started standing in front of the room. In fact, the students have even tried to play my coop and I off of each other, but by maintaining classroom behavior expectation those attempts have failed and ceased. The students are becoming accustomed to seeing me as their teacher, and they respond quickly and without question to instructions I give them. 

I have also taken over my coop's role in our athletics rotation for the Koromiko classes. I have been coaching a group of students in the long jump, which has been exciting for me because of my experience in track both with watching and with participating in triple jump. The other teachers of Koromiko are starting to wish that I could take their place for things like shot put, discus, or even sprinting because of my more recent experience with track. I have always thought that I would like to be a coach of basketball, but this rotation has led me to understand that I would also like to and be able to coach some of the field events for track and field. It is a wonderful experience to me to be able to meet the students in situations outside of the classroom. Swanson Primary does not have the sports programs as do people in the States, so this is a great opportunity for me to connect with my class and other class in our rotation outside of the classroom.