Waikato University

Yesterday, we went to a multicultural festival. I really enjoyed seeing all the unique dances and the different types of food available. Robert and Sofya performed with their class and did great. We also got to see the kapa haka group perform that we observed at the Pukekohe Intermediate the other day. Once we got back to the house, we packed out belongings and headed to Hamilton to get a hotel.

We woke up early this morning to get to the university. They had a beautiful campus with two lakes and a lot of interesting plants and trees. A lot of the building were right by the lake so you could sit or eat and have a beautiful view. The first thing we did was observe a guided reading lesson. All sophomore students have a 50 minute lecture together. Those students are split into 3 groups for tutorials which are taught by three different teachers. The three teachers also rotate the lecture class as well. I really like that New Zealand students get a lot of time in the schools. On the other hand, their degree only takes three years, so I am not sure how much more prepared to teach they are. The guided reading lecture was really good. The things that she taught are definitely concepts that we are seeing in the schools.

At morning tea, we got to chat with the tutorial teachers. One of the teachers was American, and Brittany and I compared our education with the one that she got. She was really interesting to talk to! We got to also go to one of the hour tutorials. Jody and I sat in on the one that was taught by the same woman who did the lecture. She showed a video of a teacher doing a guided reading lesson with students who were about Year 6. The stduents had to identify the types of strategies that the teacher was using in the lesson. The students did not seem really engaged, and the same students were answering all of her questions.

In the afternoon, we toured the campus. We went into two different bookstores and libraries. The education department had its own library which was very nice. Thankfully, we have the LRC at Morehead, or I would have been very jealous that they have that resource. I really enjoyed the university. I am looking forward to going to more and seeing if they also have the lecture/tutorial setup.

For dinner, we drove to Cambridge (which we thought was a lot closer than it was) for Indian food. After dinner, we had to go back through Hamilton to get home. It is now almost 10 pm which is my bedtime. These New Zealand days are very long, and I get tired really early.

P.S. UK won again! We are in the final four. I will be very mad if they win a national championship while I am out of the country!!