Cheers!

I leave New Zealand today. Wow! I have such a mix of emotions right now. I am going to miss so many of the amazing Kiwis that I have met, however I am so happy to see my family in Wisconsin. The past week has flown by because I have been so busy wrapping-up my time at Green Bay Primary and Intermediate.

The Anti-Bullying commercials are finished. I learned so much about myself as a teacher and about my students through this performance task. Many groups had trouble working in groups because this was the first time in the term that they had to cooperatively work together on one common project. The specific roles that were assigned to each member in the group helped the group work and I would do that again for this project. Many students had scripts that showed bullying, which was great. I think I needed to be a little more clear that they should focus on the anti-bullying message rather than the bullying itself. I was surprised at how well my students knew how to use MovieMaker for editing their commercials. Technology usually makes me nervous because so many things can go wrong, but my students were so knowledgeable that when there was a "glitch" it was usually fixed by them.

This week I was able to go around and look at the "junior" area of the school. This is where the 5 and 6 year-olds are at Green Bay Primary. I was very interested in learning about the literacy programs that were used in the classrooms. I saw Guided Reading groups, Shared reading, Running records, and Writing. I was really fascinated about how the rooms were set-up to facilitate learning (I took a lot of pictures of the classrooms to remember!).

My last day of school in room 12 was wonderful. My students surprised me with a "shared lunch." I knew that something was going on in the classroom because my students were acting really "cheeky" (which is tricky/sneaky in Kiwi). It is funny to see how difficult it is for students to keep secrets. I loved seeing my students' enthusiasm when they presented me with a homemade card and showed me the feast that they provided.

At the end of every day of school my cooperating teacher says "Good afternoon room 12" and the students respond with "Good afternoon Whaea Jo." Then, I say good afternoon to the students and they respond back. It was really hard for me to say that on the last day with my kids because basically I was saying goodbye forever. Once I said good afternoon all of my students came up to me, shook my hand or gave me a hug, and then thanked me. I cried because all of these "cool" adolescents really did feel grateful that I was part of their classroom, even though they might not have shown it on a daily basis. It was a wonderful last day at Green Bay Primary and Intermediate and I will never forget the life-changing experiences that I had there.

Time to get ready to go home. I love New Zealand and it I can't believe that I have to leave. Here's to more adventures that await when I go back to Wisconsin.

Cheers!