Today was my first day of school at Swanson and wow is all I can say. First off, school is a 2 minute walk from our host family's house, so it nice to be able to walk to and from school each day, while enjoying the nice sunny weather! Secondly, from the moment we stepped foot into Swanson, everyone was welcoming us and it felt like home. All of the teachers were sipping on coffee/tea and chatting with one another--everyone was happy!!!! We started off the day with a Māori welcoming ceremony which they call a Pōwhiri, where students and staff sang, danced and gave a speech to welcome all the new students that joined Swanson for term 4 along with welcoming us. It was such a cool thing to experience and something I have never seen before.
Māori is one of the 3 languages of New Zealand, the other two are English and NZ Sign Language. My co-op teacher incorporates all three languages into the classroom. My students start each day off doing the days of the week and months of the year in both English and Māori and then practice the alphabet in English and in NZ sign language. The kids are so good at it and have been so helpful teaching me! Day one and I was already teaching and working with students on writing. During their writing time, students go into a room called the "learning room." During this time all of the year 0/1 teachers take a couple students from any of the the year 0/1 classes and work with them in small groups on their writing and give them immediate verbal feedback and practice on what each individual needs. The rest of the students during this time are back in their main classroom working on a task or playing outside. Teachers put all their trust their students and students know their expectations when they are not working with a teacher on writing. It is such a neat system and I love how much independence and outside play that the students are given.
During outside free play students at Swanson are literally playing with no rules! They call it "No Rule Recess." During outside time you will find kids climbing in trees, climbing on top of sheds, sliding down railings, scootering or biking around, building huts with wood, sliding in bins down mudslides, you name it! Students are really using their imagination. It is one thing to read about their "No Rule Recess" and another thing to see it first hand. I got a little nervous seeing a kiddo climbing up on the roof of a shed and my co-ops advice was "just don't look if it makes you nervous!" I just really love how relaxed all the students and teacher are at school.
It is only day one and I already have soaked up so much learning. Swanson is truly an incredible school with some awesome kiddos.
