Wednesday 26 October 2011

First Few Days of Teaching

So I have finally started my student teaching at my new school, which just so happens to be in New Zealand too, so luckily I was visiting.  So far I really like the school.  It is completely different from the schools in the states.  It is much more relaxed and the students are given a little more independence when it comes to the type of work they do.  The staff here is great and always friendly.  I haven't started teaching much, still kind of getting used to the new environment.  I will start teaching a little bit next week, doing a few lessons on U.S. history.

Some of the biggest differences here are the length of the school days.  I do get an extra hour of sleep, which is nice, because as all of you who know me well, I need an extra hour to rest from the amount of physical activity I do in a day.  Plus the fridge is about ten feet farther away then what I have grown accustomed to, which usually requires a break midway thru the trek.  I also get to partake in interval, or "tea time" while I am here.  This is about 30 minutes long, where I go to the staff room, drink tea, and talk with the faculty.  I immediately felt out of place during my first tea time.  I had to awkwardly look around to figure out how to make tea.  After burning my fingers a few times, trying to remove the bag from the boiling hot water I had just poured, I began catching on.  I believe I have become a socially acceptable tea drinker now, but I am in no way ready to move my way up to the elite tea drinkers, you know the ones who know whether they like one cube of sugar or two.

Well I think I am gonna make my way back home, it is about a 20 minute walk for me, which probably converts to 10 minutes for most individuals.  I have however purchased an umbrella down here, which comes with a nice 5 inch pole on the top that I can use as a walking stick, in case my body begins to give out.

Well once again, this is Alex Higginbotham saying, "Who did let those dogs out?"

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