Officially Welcomed

I am starting a new week at Green Bay Primary and I am starting to really settle into the school. Last Thursday I was officially welcomed into the school through a Maori ritual called a Pōwhiri. The entire school assembled in the hall and all new students, teachers, and student teachers made a procession into the hall. There were speeches from Maori members of the school to welcome us and the Maori club called Kapa Haka, which includes students and teachers, performed songs. Then, a new teacher gave a speech on behalf of all the new people of the school and then we sang a song for everyone in the assembly. It is also a tradition to do a Hongi, which is the the pressing of noses between those who are welcoming the new people and the new people. The Hongi signifies the joining together of two groups of people. After I pressed my nose against various members of the school then I got a take part in a small feast, which is a great way to end a welcoming ceremony.

I am beginning to organize a large unit for the students with the big idea of bullying. There is a program called Kia Kaha that has the foundation of creating a bully-free and unified environment. I am going to expand on this idea. The summative assessment will include students making anti-bullying campaigns that will be captured on video. Students will then use Movie Maker to create their final anti-bullying movie. This will be a large project and I am really excited to see where it leads.

This weekend was very exciting. I went with my host parents to the Bay of Islands, which is north of Auckland. It is so beautiful, as you can see from the pictures I posted. My favorite part of the trip was the Dolphin Encounter that Bre and I went on Sunday morning. We went on a boat early in the morning with other dolphin-passionate tourists. We saw many dolphins near and far from the boat, which was totally magical. The dolphins were swimming, jumping, and playing and it was quite a site. Bre and I even attempted to swim with the dolphins, but they were pretty fast and it was hard to keep up to their speed. I still can't believe how blessed I am to be part of such an amazing adventure!!!