Working in Wellington ...

Our first line of business in Wellington was to meet with the amazingly talented author Joy Cowley. She is most famous for her work with early childhood literacy and is acknowledged worldwide for her contributions to the teaching profession. This was one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me.

Joy Cowley's address ...

(her flat was amazing!):

I thought I wanted a bookshelf like Margaret Mooney's ...

I lied. I really want one like Joy Cowley's:

Whoops:

We gave her a copy of her book Mrs. Wishy-Washy, that

we have translated into Japanese:

And she read us her latest copy of her new book Meanies Night Out,

which is still in the rough draft stage. Kind of like a sneak peek. :) :

And then she shared her wisdom, endless literacy knowledge, and

life lessons with our group of educators. I've never felt so professionally inspired.:

And then we had time to share our stories, pictures and experiences with her personally:

Look how nerdy, excited I was when she autographed my copy of her book:

Daniel & I ... still on cloud 9:

And even more so sitting next to Joy Cowley!!:

I will never forget this experience or the advice I got from Joy Cowley and I know that I will be a better teacher because of the time, however brief, that I was able to spend with her.

Joy Cowley & I:

The whole shabang with & that amazing bookshelf:

While in Wellington we were invited to Karori West Normal School to observe shared and guided reading instruction from expert teachers. Finally, I was the one observing as opposed to being observed which was the life at Freeburg. :)

Their school is set up more of like a campus with different buildings for different age groups and classrooms. I loved they style and the design and the layout. I love how much time the children spend outside and the way the space was utilized. I loved everything about this school.

Some pictures of the 'campus':

Inside one of the the five year old classrooms:
We observed a shared writing lesson that reminded me of the way Shirley Jean & I held it down in our classroom two years ago. There I was, in a classroom in New Zealand observing an expert teacher conduct a beautiful literacy lesson, missing my SJ Bruce. :)

Shared writing:

We also observed independent reading and writing, as well as a small group guided reading lesson. I was amazed by the things that the children were doing and I felt exceptionally proud, as though I had just received a confirmation of some sort, because I know that I did very similar work in my classroom at Freeburg. My next classroom will be that much better. :)

These boys were adorable ... & studying dogs:

And their writing was amazing:
Their writing instruction style was really close to the way Shirley & I did writing with our kindergartners, and for a minute I missed my classroom and thought about where my babies are now. I hope they're still amazing writers because I know they were 2 years ago.

I could have wrote so much more about the magnitude of this experience. I barely skimmed the surface of my thoughts, but, once again, just know that it was amazing. And I'm going to rock my future classroom because of it.

much love

-tara-

xx