First post!

About a month ago, I received the exciting news that I was chosen to be a part of a research team that compares literacy in the U.S. to literacy in New Zealand. In March, my team and I will travel to Auckland, New Zealand. I have never been out of the country before, and I am really looking forward to experiencing a new culture.

Initially, I was assigned the task of comparing the teaching standards between Kentucky and New Zealand. I started comparing the standards using a feature analysis. My research is currently on hold because I am working on literacy interventions in preparation for Posters-at-the-Capitol in February. I have been emailing the companies that produce the interventions currently being used in local elementary schools to find out more information about the products.

Before being offered this opportunity, I did not know much about New Zealand. Lately, I have been looking into the country and their education system. During our trip in March, we will being going in schools and observing New Zealand classrooms. As a future teacher, I am excited to experience a different education system than I am used to. I look forward to all of the things that I will learn from being a part of this research study!