No words needed . . .

Photograph; a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. 

Ambrose Bierce 

So where to since then?

I often question teachers and myself, What does your class environment tell the wider community about you as a teacher?
Does it reflect a space of teachers and children's values, visible connections of identity? Over the last few months we have been involved in bringing our vision to life through our classroom environment. What was a blank canvas, now speaks wonder, delight, excitement, color, provocation and hard work.
As teachers you make decisions and it is up to you whether you persist to follow through with your intentions, or do nothing about it. I recently presented at teachmeetnz via Sonya, who has begun this great network sharing via Google Hangouts with teachers throughout NZ. I was an observer at the very first one this year, then had to bite the bullet and present at the next one.

Before the preparation of teachmeetnz, I did my best to get out of it (haha). To no success, I was left to work on a presentation of 12 slides, 20 seconds (per slide) and a 3 minute window to talk. For anything new, there is always natural apprehension at the start. So I reminded myself, How else am I suppose to grow as a teacher without trying and taking risks to work through those obstacles and learn from them? I knew all this, I was just obviously reacting, yet biting my own words at the best of times, I know!
Only completing my presentation days before going live I had a practice run with Sonya as I wasn't able to make the run through with the other teachers. As this is recorded, I watched it back and wow what an impact! Being able to re-visit this process, yet be able to listen and see me speaking was such a great help in preparing me for the actual day. How brilliant is technology right? Yes, that is a rhetorical question!

So in this presentation I shared the process of our classroom design, how it all started and what it looks like today. Although these presentations are a short insight, I think it is a great way of fostering those connections on a global front and sharing your story within the wider community.

I have been strongly influenced by the likes of Margie Carter and Deb Curtis, who I have had the pleasure in meeting on their visits to NZ and my visit to Seattle and San Francisco in 2012 Making your environment "The Third Teacher"
Margie and Deb have several publications which share some fine exemplars of schools and early childhood centers in NZ, Australia and the US. I have been inspired by being at Tots Corner ELC and immersed in an environment which reflects respect and beauty for children, teachers and families. I can definitely say that it has made a lifetime sentence on my teaching practice.

 

The Studio

I look at this change of my current class environment as a testament to what I have learnt over the years despite changing schools and countries. I was determined to continue striving for what I believe is quality learning for young children. This experience has shown me that it doesn't matter where you go in the world, as you take with you the beliefs and values that shape who you are as a person.

It was such a privilege to be part of Sonya's ULearn13 workshop virtually all the way from Korea! who would have thought, I could still be part of the greatness of ULearn whilst abroad. I would like to thank Sonya for the time and patience in creating this network to come together as one for what looks like is going to be the eptiome of professional learning for teachers in NZ and the wider world. Do check out the other great educators and their imbuing stories they have contributed to teachmeetnz

You will find my presentation and slides here

The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'

Maria Montessori

Shifting Classroom Design Abroad, Part I.ish

Words that are truly etched in my mind. If you know my background, it is fair to say how much Tots Corner has influenced my thinking in so many ways, I wouldn't even know where to start!

  

Tots Corner Early Learning Centre 

Starting at EtonHouse Bundang was an experience I will definitely take away as one of those challenges in life that make you a stronger person. The school had renovations done before we were about to start and we were given a brand new classroom that was rather large and blank at first, yet the potential to be so much more over time. Obviously as teachers you envision what you could turn this space into and the excitement of the process takes over. As I mentioned in a previous post, the children who started in our class had little to no transition and we realised this was going to be a whole new ball game.
Families shared their concerns over the physical space of the classroom, lack of color, stimulation, windows etc. Yet there solution to the 'problem' was to change to another classroom, acknowledging the families thoughts, we kindly reassured them that we were not changing classrooms. We were determined to bring our vision to life and stand by our decision, they just had to give us time.

  

 

The weeks went by and the children were understandably still trying to settle into our class. Not only this, but build relationships with us and feel safe and secure in a whole new chapter of their life, school. Some children had come straight from what they had always known and trusted, home. The transition from home to school is a huge gap to fill and for such young children, relationships are central to their sense of belonging in a whole new environment.
As mentioned establishing reciprocal relationships was a priority for us in being able to move to the next step with these children and their families. It was indeed such a long process, but worth every inch of perseverance.

My co-teacher is Chloe and has spent the last 5 years in Canada where she studied early childhood education and also taught at a pre-school in Toronto. She has recently come back to Korea to be with family and we both started together at EtonHouse Bundang. Chloe is a talented musician and artist and this is reflected in our classroom environment. Our strengths lie in opposite directions, therefore when they are combined, it really is rewarding and we are always grateful that they placed us together! We agree to disagree and I am a tidy freak and she is not, haha. So I would say traits like that in our personalities keep us grounded and continue to shape who we are.

An inquiry of 'color' became the beginning of it all, not only were we inviting experiences for children to explore the idea of colors. It brought to life the transformation of our classroom environment.

Osaka, Japan

It seems as though I have done more traveling, then actual work! For the Chuseok break I set off to Osaka to meet up with Sonya Van Schaijik (eFellow11) who was on her Sabbatical traveling the globe visiting different schools and educators. I have to mention these virtual connections she had made prior to her sabbatical adventure through social media such as Twitter, which invited opportunities for her to link up with these teachers face to face. You can check out her journey here. Sonya has been a great influence to my teaching over the last few years, especially during our year as eFellows with Core Education. I will share more about Sonya in the next few posts, especially in relation to #teachmeetnz which I recently presented at virtually via Google Hangouts. 

We sat down thinking we were going to eat, being told "no, no this is a Museum!" 

The actual restaurant with Aiko's lovely friend who showed us around Gojo

We met with Aiko, who was an exchange teacher that lived with Sonya in NZ 14 years ago. Aiko is from Gojo and we got to visit her Nursery School. Probably a bit cheesy to say I met the most *gorgeous* babies that really did make me miss working with that age group! It was an interesting environment to see, and although the children are in separate age groups, they seemed to do everything together. There was a feeling of warmth and comfort that reflected from this learning space and although I can say how much children benefit from a stimulating environment that encourages curiosity, discovery, imagination and so on. Yet this short but enlightening visit shared such a beautiful lens of how these children were in an environment of love, care and most of all happiness. 

Aiko 

  

'Studying' hard 

The navigation around Osaka was interesting. . I am probably the worse navigator if I don't have Google maps pointing me in the direction every step of the way. Visiting Ryan at Kansai Elementary in Takastsuki, we ended up on the opposite side of Osaka in Takagucci. You see, I don't think I am all to blame (haha) as the Metro map for the subway app Sonya purchased for $5 was half cut and didn't have Takastuki on it, yet Ryan's instructions led me to think oh it must be Takagucci. . ermm no, epic fail much!
After many calls to Ryan and metro stops later, we finally made it to Kansai Elementary and met Ryan who showed us around his school. The school is only a couple of years old, and Ryan is one of the English teachers. The school has beautiful grounds and reflects a journey of great growth in their short life so far.

Kyoto set the scene for the local markets of fashion, food and Japanese ornaments. Aiko shared how much Kyoto has changed over the years and is becoming more "hip" with the modern world. I must say I do prefer the rural towns to gain that 'authentic' experience of the Japanese lifestyle. Being in Gojo, we visited the "oldest street"and also got to see a farmer at work in his rice farm. It's the little things like this that interest me more than the bright lights of the city. Although I think the farmer thought we were quite odd, taking photos of him at his 'normal' everyday job! (Tourist life)

 

Kyoto 

 

Overall we spent a lot of time traveling between places. It is easy to get to one end of Osaka to the other, yet the train prices do get rather pricey. It is recommended to purchase rail passes online before heading to Japan. I would have loved to of visited Hiroshima, for me those are places

with such rich history that have left an undeniably large footprint on our world library. I remember visiting the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam a few years ago, and being so moved by the reality of it all. It brought the book I read at Intermediate School to life and made the experience so much more meaningful yet at the same time very surreal to actually be where it all took place. 

Although we didn't make it to see the Deer park in Nara and other sights in Osaka, just being there was enough for me. Traveling, you embrace these countries with appreciation and I feel that it really is a blessing to be able to experience life beyond NZ! Living it, and loving every minute. 

Thank you Osaka! 

My brother Brandyn sent this to me prior to leaving for Japan and unfortunately I didn't get to experience the sardine squash! 

Life in Korea.ish

I have met a lot of wonderful people in Korea who come from all sorts of life. There is quite a Kiwi community spread throughout Korea as well, so it is nice to make those familiar connections so far away from home. I am living in Bundang, which is 40 minutes away from Seoul. Bundang is quite a wealthy area, especially where EtonHouse is located.

 

Learning the Korean language was interesting. . . I started a (free) lesson and then did not continue after that. As the great learner that I say I am, I think there are some areas of grey that need a push, or maybe a shove! I know if I would have persevered I could be stringing more everyday sentences and building on from this. Instead I choose to talk with gestures and play charades when communicating with people that only speak Korean. 

I would have to say the biggest learning curve is working with children that have Korean as their first language. As a teacher in this environment it is something that I am still trying to grapple with, as the children are still learning their own language and then enter an environment everyday to learn "English" as well. Most of my class still speak Korean at times during the day, yet I don't disregard it or insist they "speak English!" In saying this, they do try and are becoming more confident each day at their own natural pace. The children are immersed in this English environment, yet personally I think their own language is still developing and should be the priority. Language is not a barrier to our communication, but a place where we have embraced Korean and English as one.

School Story: When painting for the first time, as soon as the children got paint on their hands they refused to paint and insisted on washing their hands (every time). . . It was experiences like this that shared so much more about the cultural dynamic in International Education, I think it is fair to say that teaching in Korea is commonly out of a textbook. I know that EtonHouse Asia is the paradigm shift of education in Asia today, there are already 70 EtonHouse pre-schools across 9 countries in Asia. Therefore parents sending their children to EtonHouse Korea, already have the prior-knowledge that EtonHouse is a school that encourages "Play" as learning and development. There is still a long way to go from shifting parents thinking into this zone and away from textbook learning for young children, but I feel will get there eventually.

Although our families are very supportive of what we do in the Jellyfish class, I think it is important to share stories from their own community. In a recent class newsletter, we attached a ted talk by Korean Author Young-Ha kim who shares an insightful talk on "Be an Artist right now". Young-Ha speaks wonders from a Korean perspective and I know has been an influential person for our parents to reflect on in relation to the work we are doing with their children and the thinking behind the scenes of our Jellyfish adventures. Enjoy!

Kuala Lumpur

Made with love from Jen Boyd! 

As the siblings made their way back home, Mum and I ventured onto KL in Malaysia. Now I know Malaysia is literally on the border of Singapore, but if you look at a 5 hour bus ride in comparison to a half an hour plane ride, comfort and time over rules scenic views and a bumpy ride. Flights were dirt cheap, yet when you add taxes, fuel and other additional prices than everything obviously accumulates very quickly. I take back the dirt, and replace it with reasonable!

When searching through my photos, I realised how sucky (yes I used sucky) I am at organising these traveling photos into some sort of collection like a photo book or flickr. Maybe I should practice what I preach as I tell many people about ways to store or share photos online and I don't even do it myself. Anyway, back to KL - excuse my tendency to vent during blog posts. I am sure you all want to know my deep and meaningful thoughts, haha.

Hotel

Just kidding. Kings Palace

Kings old Palace

KL is very modern in parts of the city and obviously a tourist hot spot. Staying in the heart of the Petrona Towers set the scene for this iconic building, only just being able to secure tickets to visit the towers. Times like this you need to book online (Biting my words) or get down there early to get a ticket as they sell out very quickly. Visits are done in an orderly fashion with groups of people going up at particular times.

The views are superb, as per the actual towers. No jumping, running or anything that will cause the building to "shake or move". It is quite eerie and picture perfect way up high. You do feel it moving like sea motion almost, doesn't it make you want to run that bridge just to satisfy your curiosity! (crazy, I know)

Batu Caves made for great exercise, 272 steps up to the actual caves. The monkeys greeted with such joy, and their seemed to be a Zoo of them as we puffed our way up to the top. Near the end of our stay, the King was opening his palace doors to the public which we were unfortunately going to miss. Yet it didn't stop my eagerness to go and see the palace anyway! I would have liked to visit other parts of Malaysia and be part of the local life, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city.