Meet Some of Our Globe-Trotting Student Teachers
Courtney
Jessica
Sarah
Hometown
Clinton Township, MI
Major
Elementary Education
Mathematics, Language Arts
Read Courtney's Blog!
Hometown
Rochester Hills, MI
Major
Elementary Education
Mathematics, Language Arts
Read Jessica's Blog!
Hometown
Algonac, MI
Major
Elementary Education
Language Arts, Social Studies
Recently, we caught up with a few of the participants to hear about their experiences.
Courtney: It is an amazing experience. Much more rewarding than I had expected!
Jessica: I am loving every minute of this experience. I am soaking up information about a new culture and education system.
Sarah: I am having a wonderful time and have been learning so much about teaching and learning strategies. I can’t wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my teaching back at home.
On a typical day, what are you doing?
Courtney: I fully participate in the New Zealand Primary school system. I am on morning tea or lunch duty at least 2 or 3 times each week, and I have attended many after school performances to support the children. I have been to a cultural festival and a music festival in my first 2 weeks being here.
Jessica: I am working with students on reading, writing, spelling, math, art, and fitness. Each child is at a different level in their learning so there is a lot of differentiation involved throughout the day. After school, I am off to different adventures with my host family.
Sarah: On a typical day, I am teaching all day at the school. In the morning the students focus greatly on their language skills, both oral and written language. After morning tea, the students study reading in leveled groupings and I have worked to better incorporate music into the day. After lunch the students focus on P.E and the concept for the term is taught. This term we are studying change with a focus on science. After school I try to travel around the West Auckland area to see as much of the neighborhood as possible.
How do you plan to use this experience in your future endeavors?
Courtney: I hopefully plan to bring the practices in classroom management and the cultural awareness into my classrooms in the future. I also hope to be effective in literacy teaching, and eventually implement those practices into the school systems.
Jessica: This experience gives me the confidence to experiment with my teaching philosophy and mold myself into the teacher I want to be. I am building up my Teacher’s Toolkit with techniques and strategies that I have learned from OU’s education program and my opportunity to teach in a New Zealand school. This experience will only enhance my personal qualities and further my teaching skills.
Sarah: What I plan to take from this experience is the way that curriculum is structured in the classroom and to apply it to my future classroom. The school will choose a concept relevant to the student’s lives outside of school and the curriculum is structured around this concept. For every lesson, there is a learning intention where students are told what they are learning and why. I think this is a really powerful thing because the students are given the opportunity to be aware of their learning and to take control of it so that they are more independent learners.
When I first arrived at the school in Auckland, I was surprised to find the condition of the family life that is present here. The students I have been teaching come from very broken homes and it was a challenge for me to learn how to best engage them and manage the classroom. I had to rethink my teaching and structure the classroom to best meet the needs of my new students. What I have learned is a very important lesson that I will use in all of my future teaching. You can never become complacent as a teacher. What works for one group of students may not always work for others, so we have to be willing to find new ways to manage students. This constant reinvention of your teaching methods is what makes a flexible, effective teacher.
You can read more about some of our student teachers' adventures on their blogs:
Courtney's Blog: Miss Wenson's Blog
Jessica's Blog: A Dolphin's View of the Sea
For more information, please visit the New Zealand Exchange Program website, or contact Dr. Dawn Pickard: pickard@oakland.edu.