Picture 2: students workbooks
Picture 3: PB4L posters
Picture 4: student egg
Picture 5: literature circles
Today, we visited Pokekohe Intermediate, a school of over 600 Year 7 and 8 (grade 6 and 7) students. There school is doing a unit called B4L which is positive behavior for learning. All of their texts had a positive message, and there were a lot of posters in the classroom that involved having good manner and values. PB4L was on display in the first classroom, because the teacher read "The Lion and the Mouse,” and the children discussed how that related to PB4L.Then, they wrote a diary dash from one of the character's perspectives. Some students read their stories aloud, and I was very impressed with their creativity. Afterwards, the children were put into groups to work on various assignments. The teacher worked with some students outside, and many of the inside students were off task.
The next classroom we went to was a Year 8 class. They were doing poetry and they read an excerpt from "The Witches" by Roald Dahl. I enjoyed how the teacher made them read the poem with a witch voice. Also, she made them take away some of the lines of the poem and write their own in. The students were able to name a lot of poetic devices prior to reading, but I wish the teacher would have had them name specific examples of those devices in the poem.
The third class we visited was a Year 7 classroom. It was an advanced classroom, and they were doing literature circles. I really liked that the students had their own wiki page. I think it would be very useful for the students and would keep them very organized. We also got to see the students’ workbooks. They were very colorful, and they showed that the students have been exposed to a lot of different types of writing. The teacher gave the children different books to choose from and they were group with the students who chose that book as well. Each students in the group is given a specific job. The students stayed on task during the class really well. I was able to talk to the teacher, and she was very nice. She even gave us a copy of a book that Dr. Lindsey and Dr. Fernandez have been trying to order.
One classroom that was really interesting was the bilingual/ Maori enrichment classroom. The students in the classroom were either frequent Maori speakers or trying to learn the language. Apart from the language, the teacher was having the students create Maori crafts and practice Maori values. Students were specially selected to be in the class. As part of PB4L, the students were learning about responsibility. As a side project, students have to take care of an egg for two weeks. Many of the students had given their eggs names and made them beds. They really seemed to be careful of what they did with their egg or who they let watch it. I also noticed that the teacher gave out sticks for students who were displaying good behavior or who participated. The same system was used when I was in elementary school.
We spoke to a lady who ran a class to help students who were behind in reading. She taught us about kinesiology which helps students relieve tension and focus. She also helps identify students with dyspraxia and Irlen's. Another big focus of her class is writing cursive. Writing words in cursive helps students realize the connection of the letters to make a word. Overall, she teachers about 40 children who are behind in reading. She tests them at the beginning and end of the year, and the tests showed that they made great progress over the year. The four of us are very interested in reading more about the methods that the teacher used, because we were not sure if we believe the amount of progress that she said the students were making.
After lunch, Dr. Lindsey to us to observe the students practicing a kapa haka. A kapa haka is a Maori performance that involves singing and dancing. It was really interesting. I took a lot of good videos of their performance. The students were practicing, because they are going to perform the kapa haka this weekend at a multicultural festiva;. We will be there watching, because Sofya and Robert are performing something with their school as well.
After the kapa haka, we left the school. We went to ANOTHER cafe (it is becoming an everyday occurrence which I won't complain about). We went to The Warehouse (similar to Wal-Mart) to get Brittany ads for the lesson she will be teaching Friday. Then, we went to buy groceries for our lunches for the next two days. For dinner, Martin grilled delicious cheeseburgers. He also cooked eggs on the grill, and I tried one on my burger. I really liked it! I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. The days in the school go really fast since we are taking-in A LOT of information. Today, marks one week of being in New Zealand. The time is going by very fast!
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