Successful moments with students

Message of the Day –  “A black pearl is small but it is a gem. “ (Traditional)   Even though our time here is short, it is very useful and a gem.

Our first day of work and we were all anxious to learn more about our assignments. James took us to our sites and made introductions.

Peggy went to the Creative Centre which is a day program for developmentally/intellectually disabled individuals. There were 13 clients aged 8 to 60+. She observed the activities, including a morning cup of tea and cookies, morning devotion, a sign language class, and some crafts. She described it as a caring, mothering atmosphere. Lunch and a ride back were provided.

Rod and Suzanne were at Apii Takitumu (a public pre-school/elementary school). The principal is away until Thursday but a teacher got them busy with reading. They each spent 15 minutes with groups of 4 students, reading to the children, having them read as a group and individually. Each did 10 groups, with the students being in Years 4-6. They each read a story to a group of Year 1 – Year 2 students. A couple of the students recognized Suzanne at the dance troupe later in the day – neat!!

Mary and Dave were at Apii Arorangi (a public elementary school).  They spent the day in the library and organized books.

Dorothy and Laurel were at Titikaveka College (high school, Years 7-11). We did literacy testing with Year 7 students who were in their 2^nd week at their new school. Each student was shown sets of words and asked to read the word out loud and occasionally we asked them to explain what the word meant. There was wide variation in ability and often students could pronounce the word but were unable to explain it. This work allowed for one-on-one interaction and when asking about a meaning of a word, we were able to learn more about the student. One of the boys Dorothy tested struggled with a word and was on his way out when he remembered it and blurted it out. He came back and went thru the rest of the list – an AHA moment. Wonderful interaction with all the students and the teachers were very welcoming. We came back to the Kiikii on the school bus.

The group went to the Museum and then to watch a dance troupe doing traditional dancing to drums. Dorothy and Debi joined the dancers and both were very impressive. Back to Kiikii for dinner – food was excellent!

Everyone tired and early to bed to be ready for tomorrow’s adventure.