Week 1

Hellooo from New Zealand!!!

In case you don’t know me, my name is Ellie Riihiluoma (crazy Finnish last name pronounced ree-uh-low-muh if that helps). If you do know me you might know that I live in Minnesota (USA) and have been dreaming of student teaching in New Zealand for a while now. And the fact that I am finally here still feels very surreal. It kind of feels like one of those things that you dream about but never think will really happen… EXCEPT THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!! Let me back up and give you some more details about how I ended up in the beautiful country of New Zealand….

1.      I grew up in Minnesota with my mom, dad, and brother.

2.      After finishing high school in Moose Lake, I went to college to study Elementary Education.

3.      I pretty much always knew I wanted to be a teacher. Realizing occupational therapy schooling took around 8 years sealed the deal.

4.      I chose to pursue my bachelors degree at the University of Minnesota Morris, a homey college situated on the prairie of Western Minnesota.

5.      I have known that I wanted to student teach abroad since my freshman year of college.

6.      Junior year I took at the list of all the countries the U of M Morris cooperates with for Global Student Teaching (GST) and chose New Zealand.

7.      It seemed like the perfect choice because I LOVE hiking and camping and being outdoors, and there is no shortage of natural beauty in New Zealand.

8.      Later that year I applied to the GST program – and was accepted!

9.      During the fall of my senior year I received a placement at a school in New Zealand, followed shortly by a host to live with.

10.   On January 22 I got on a plane to New Zealand along with two other student teachers from my college and I will be here until the beginning of May.

 

So now I am in New Zealand, living with the most wonderful host and student teaching at a primary school! We’ve just finished our first week with students this school year, and I am very excited to continue learning from both the students and my cooperating teachers throughout this semester. I have been paired with a sweet and experienced teacher who knows what she is doing in the classroom – I have learned so much already! And I feel very fortunate to be placed in a school where each grade level has 3-4 teachers who co-teach the class. I am in years 3-4 (second and third grade in the states) and there are three teachers including my cooperating teacher in charge of the learning of this group of 72 students. While students are assigned to home rooms, they don’t stay there all day and every student works with every teacher at some point or another. There are even openings between the rooms for students (and teachers) to flow through. This is very different from the experiences I have had in the states, where one teacher is in charge of one class in one room, but I am enjoying the change and loving the collaborative nature of it. There are a few other differences between my school in New Zealand and the schools I have been to in the states. In case you’re curious what some of them are, I will list them below.

1.      Year-round. New Zealand’s school year is split into four terms which span the entire year, with a break of a few weeks to a month in between each term.

2.      Morning tea. New Zealanders love their morning tea – and this tradition carries over into the school. Every morning there is a short break for students to go outside and play while teachers gather in the lounge to enjoy tea or coffee and a light snack. The students then come inside and enjoy a snack of their own.

3.      Snack break. In addition to morning tea, the students at my school also have a snack in the morning before lunch.

4.      Lunch is much later than it is in the states. Students eat lunch at 1:40pm. Good thing they have two snack breaks to keep them full and focused throughout the day!

5.      Standards. New Zealand’s standards are much more open than the standards I have worked with in the states. This leaves teachers room to implement real-life applications for subjects such as art, cooking, carpentry, etc. while still meeting national standards.

6.      Culture. The culture of the Maori people (who lived in New Zealand before Europeans settled it) is a large focus of schools. Students know and regularly use a number of Maori words throughout the day and learn about Maori customs as part of the curriculum in order to keep the culture alive.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Every day I am learning more and more about school and my students, and the more I learn the more I want to know!

 

Besides getting acclimated to the school, I have spent some time getting acclimated to New Zealand and the town I am living in as well. I flew away from a cold Minnesota winter and jumped straight into a hot New Zealand summer. We have spent many evenings after school cooling off in the gorgeous Lake Taupo. We also hiked to the top of Mt. Tauhara and got a birds-eye view of the town I am calling home for the next three months. I spent a day in a neighboring town and learned a little bit about Maori culture. And drinking tea (or coffee) three times a day is now such a part of my routine I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t do that (even though it was literally two weeks ago). We also learned that sunscreen and sunhats are a MUST in New Zealand. The ozone layer is very thin over this part of the earth and it is very easy to burn – even if it’s cloudy and even if you put on sunscreen. We slather on the SPF50 every time we go outside and re-apply every few hours in attempts to minimize the damage. New Zealand’s accent and dialect also took some getting used to, but I am happy to report that I am much better at understanding it than when I first got here, and have learned many words that don’t match what we have in the US. Here are a few examples:

1.      The letter “z” is pronounced “zed”

2.      Chips = fries

3.      Tomato sauce = ketchup

4.      Togs = swim suits

5.      Jandals = flip flops

6.      Plunger = French press

7.      Rock Melon = cantaloupe

8.      Boot or hatch = trunk (of the car)

9.      Trolley = shopping cart

10.   Garage rhymes with carriage

 

Thanks for sticking with me (if you made it this far) and learning a little bit about my student teaching experience! While it has only just begun, I can tell it is going to go SO fast, so I am trying to take in everything that I can while I am here. I can’t wait to tell you about what I learn and experience in the coming weeks. For now, I’ll leave you with a few pictures so you can appreciate the beauty of New Zealand that I am lucky enough to experience on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I welcome any questions or comments you might have about my post, trip, or student teaching! Drop them below and let’s connect!