First days

As of now, I am still surviving in Christchurch and getting lost less and less with each day. I am also getting along better on my bike and remembering to stay on the left side of the road which is a good thing. I have met lots of foreigners which has been great and I am hoping to try surfing this weekend.

I visisted my school for the first time yesterday and all went very well. I met a lot of the staff and saw my new classroom and everything! It is all a little overwhelming though, just with some of the different terminology and assessment strategies. But I have been asking lots of questions and I'm sure I will slowly but surely figure it all out!

Today, I attended a workshop with all of the staff called "Creating the Thinking Classroom" and it was absolutely fabulous! I learned lots of new student-orientated strategies to use that all integrate and differentiate as well. I am very excited to use some of these in my own lessons. The speaker, Eric, was so thorough that I was really able to grasp the concepts and how to really apply them in the classroom. I have often tried to use student-centered learning but it is hard to do alone so I am hoping to really get a grasp of it here because New Zealand teachers seem to already be very geared towards it.

I start on Wednesday and am looking very forward to meeting the students and starting to get to know them a little. Other than that, I am just ready to dive in and get back into the teaching routine.