Initial+impressions

For the international interns-what was your initial impression when you started at your school in New Zealand or St. Croix?

Greetings from New Zealand! This is the start of my third week of interning in the schools. I am at Owairoa Primary School in a year 1 (kindergarten) classroom. Like Shannon said on the Summer NZ interns page, I am very surprised at how independent year 1 students can be. It is crazy to me that when the teacher says clean up they literally clean up the entire classroom within minutes. It is hard to even get second graders to do that back home. I think it makes it much easier for the teachers with the kids being so independent. Also, for the most part, the kids are really well behaved. Of course there are still a few that act up. I enjoy having three blocks of instruction time, each being an hour and a half because it makes the day go by quickly. Tea time is definitely an added bonus as well. I enjoy getting cookies and having a short break to just relax for a little while. I think it is pretty interesting that the entire school goes by the same exact schedule with the same tea break, lunch/recess time, and instruction blocks. So far I have enjoyed my experience and hope that the remaining 5 weeks in which I will be interning will be just as enjoyable.

Michelle Dadourian