A Teacher Goes to School

As many of you know, one of my main reasons for taking this trip to Europe was to take a break from school. I've been in school for the last 19 years of my life (pre-K through college), and I've been looking forward to taking this trip for at least the last 7 of those years.

So, naturally, a week after I got here, I went to school.

My Frankfurt friend is a teacher at a Gymnasium (that's what they call schools for grades 5-12) here in Germany, and she let me tag along with her for two days. I sat in on her 5th grade Geography class,as well as her 7th-grade math class. Then I headed to a colleague's German-as-a-Second-Language class. The next day, I observed half of a 6th-grade math class on fractions, then went to an 11th-grade English class as a guest speaker (!).

The rest of this post is a little bit of a brain dump of my observations from my two days in school. I'm not passing judgement on either American or German schools, just reporting what I noticed. Hopefully, my teacher friends in the audience find this interesting! (If you're not a teacher, hopefully it's at least a little bit interesting to you.)

General:
--Classroom management/discipline does not seem to be as much of a priority here as it is in American schools. Faculty and staff are generally more relaxed regarding students' behavior.
--Rather than raising an open hand in class to ask or answer questions, students raise their hands with their pointer finger extended. (It's just a little thing, but I found it interesting nonetheless.)
--The school day is broken up into nine 45-minute periods. After every two periods, there is a 20-minute break, during which students can chat, play soccer, or buy food.
--School food here is much healthier and tastier than that of American schools; fresh bread, vegetables, etc. It's real food, not frozen french fries or cardboard pizzas.
--Teachers are only required to be present at the school for the lessons that they teach.
--Students go on a lot of big trips. The week after I was at the school was Schulfahre week (school trip week), during which classes spend a week in various cities around the country. There are also major trips to other countries for various student organizations.
--The school is comprised of several buildings, spread out over the quad, with a few buildings across the street, rather than just one building (which is typical of the US).
--Students and teachers both swap classrooms throughout the day. No teacher has their own classroom, and classrooms are furnished with desks, chairs, chalkboards, and overhead projectors. Some classrooms also have cabinets with textbooks.
--There are about 1,800 students total in the school, and about 150 teachers.
--Classes aren't determined by ability level, just by age/grade.
--Technology wasn't very prevalent in this school. (I don't know whether it's like that in most German schools, or just this one.)

Learning a Second Language:
I was put in the shoes of a Language Learner here in Germany; I know a little bit of German, but am nowhere near fluent. This opportunity really helped me to understand what English Language Learners (ELLs) in US schools experience.

--My attention often drifted in the math and geography classes; it's much harder to stay focused when you don't know the language. I can't blame my ELLs for drifting away sometimes.
--Visuals are crucial. Even just gestures help a Language Learner to figure out what is going on.
--Small classes are far more effective for Language Learners, and for teachers. The students get the one-on-one help that they need, and it is much easier to differentiate to meet students where they are.
--Grammar is more difficult to learn than vocabulary. It's easy to fit new words into grammatical structures that you are familiar with than it is to
--It is intimidating to put yourself out there and speak in a language you are not comfortable speaking, one that you do not know well. If someone meets you halfway, even with just one or two words of your own language, you feel much safer trying out the new language.

German Perception of Americans:
When I went to the English class, students had a lot of questions about what life is really like in America. Those teens asked some hard-hitting questions. Hopefully, I did a good job of repping the US of A. Here are some of the highlights:

--Do Americans play a lot of soccer?
--Are American high schools as cliquey as they are on TV and in movies?
--Are people really serious about voting for Donald Trump?
--Does everyone drive cars everywhere, or do you ride bikes, take trains, etc. like we do in Germany?
--Does everyone really eat fast food?
--What is the difference between colleges and universities?
--You said you're from Baltimore. Are you a Ravens fan?
--What do you think about the refugee crisis?

Overall, a very interesting experience. Big thanks to my friend and her colleagues for letting me sit in on their classes!

Next post will have some pictures, I promise.