First Days of School!

It’s been a crazy as week and it’s only Wednesday! We started teaching in the school on Monday and it’s been quite the experience. I was so excited on Sunday night to wake up in the morning and go into the schools again. That’s what it’s all about really. It’s where I feel like I learn the most. I could be in schools for a week and feel more prepared than I would spending an entire semester in classes. I hadn’t been in the schools since my practicum last March and I really, really missed it.

In the midst of it all I seemed to have forgotten how much it really takes out of you. I’ve come home exhausted every night this week! Today I had to lay down and take a short nap so that I could be awake and alert for the rest of the night. I must have been really tired too because I woke up and sort of forgot where I was and what I was doing here. (It all came back to me though).

I’ve been assigned to work with Year 6, 7 and 8’s. That’s like the 5^th and 6^th graders in America. They’re the oldest kids in the school. Our school, Colwill Primary School, is what they call a “full primary” school because it’s one of the only primary schools in the area that goes from years 0-8. Most only go from 0-6. To be honest, I was a little scared when the principal, Rob Taylor, gave me the assignment. I’d requested to be placed with the older kids, but mostly because I knew I had no experience with them and I wanted to learn what it was like in their classroom and how different it was managing a class of 12 and 13 year olds compared to a class of 6 and 7 year olds. I walked into the class having no idea what I was doing! I still don’t, really. But it’s been fun! New Zealand schools are a little different than ours. I’ve been told that they think the BYU girls are a little “soft” when it comes to discipline. We’re a little too nice to the kids. I’m not very good at discipline when it comes to the States’ standards…so they’ll probably think I’m a marshmallow. Hopefully I’ll learn some good management strategies while I’m here.

My mentor teacher’s name is Mrs. Chase. It turns out that she’s actually LDS as well! As we were walking to the buses on the first day she’d asked if I was at stake conference on Sunday and without really thinking I told her that yes, I had been there. Then I thought about it and did sort of a double take and asked her “Were you??” (That’s what living in Utah for so long does to you, I guess…haha). Apparently she is the wife of one of the bishops in our stake…although I can’t remember which one. I really like her. She’s very different from me when it comes to management, work expectations and what not, and she’s very organized. I think I’m going to learn a lot from her. Hopefully I’ll also pick up some of her organization habits. Today she was critiquing some of the students on their handwriting and using a ruler to do it! I don’t think I’d pass her handwriting test if she ever saw mine…it’s not bad, it’s just got a lot of character. Haha

On Tuesday we were invited to attend a welcoming ceremony called a “powhiri” (po-fer-ee). It’s a very sacred Maori tradition that we were really lucky to be a part of. They had us take off our shoes in the parking lot in preparation. We were all asked to wait outside of the hall where the entire primary school was waiting for us to enter. We could hear them chanting from outside. Two girls came out and sang to us as we slowly walked towards the school as a group. I wish I could fully describe to you what happened when we walked inside. It was beautiful. The whole school was singing to us, in Maori, and it echoed everywhere in the small assembly hall. We could feel the floor vibrating as we walked to our seats in our bare feet. All at once the chanting stopped and we were permitted to sit down. The students then all stood and sang the New Zealand national anthem, first in Maori, then in English. I wish everyone could have that experience. It’s something different entirely to have a room of small children all singing to you. It was incredible. I almost started crying.

After the anthem the men of the group are expected to give a speech and introduce the women. Since we are a group of all girls, Chris, our director’s husband, gave the speech on our behalf. It’s given in Maori and is sort of like a poem explaining where we come from.

Ko________taka Ingoa (my name is…)

Ko________taku maunga (my mountain is…)

Ko________taku Whenua (my land is…)

Ko________taku Moana (my ocean/water is…)

Ko________taku awa (my river is…)

Ko________taku marae (my home is…)

Ko________taku iwi (my people/family/tribe/ethnicity is…)

Ko________taku waka (my ship/mote of transport is….)

Ko________me________taku Matua (…are my parents)

Ko________taku ingoa (my name is…)

Once the speech was given our group stood up and sang the song we’d been practicing to the children. The lyrics are:

Te aroha

Te whakapono

Me te ranimarie

Tatou tatou e

Our song was meant to echo what was said by Chris in our indroduction. It was our way of finsishing it.

A boy from the school was then asked to make a speech all in Maori. I don’t know if he was supposed to memorize it or if he wrote it himself. He was nervous nonetheless, but did a really great job.

The final part of the ceremony is called the hongi. This is the part of the ceremony that we practiced in class. It’s not at all like our culture because we’re not accustomed to putting our faces so close to other strangers. We were to go through the line of school officials and press our foreheads and noses to theirs and then breathe in. The two girls who led us in and the boy who made the speech were also in the line. This is symbolic of the joining together of two groups.

After the ceremony they led us out of the assembly hall to gather our shoes. The kids sang another song to us as we left. It’s my favorite song I’ve heard so far…but I don’t know what it is because it’s all in Maori. Once we’d gathered our things we all met in the teacher’s lounge for what they called “refreshments”. What it really was, was a feast! They had everything! I filled myself up and wasn’t even hungry again when lunch rolled around.

There’s a ton more I could say about my so-far-short experience in New Zealand’s schools but I’ll save it for another update! It’s been fun! And I’m loving my class. Here’s a couple things the kids have asked me since I’ve come into their classroom:

“Miss? Is Harper your real name? There’s a girl on TV named Harper too!”

“You’re from America, right? Have you met anyone famous?”

“Miss, I like your accent!”

“I like your jumper! Is it American? Americans have all the coolest clothes!” (My “jumper” is actually just a purple sweatshirt I wore because it was raining)

“Miss, how do you write like that? I can write better with my left hand than I can holding my pencil like that!”

“They don’t have pools at schools in America?!”

“Have you been to any concerts? Or to Disneyworld?” (Apparently that’s what they think you do in America. I think I was a little disappointing to them when the answer was “no” They were impressed though, when I told them I’d been on the World’s Biggest Swing! The video is up, by the way!)

“Oh yeah, American schools are hard as! They have so much homework!”