Grundschule am See

Last week started out just like any other week for me at the Deustch-Polnisches Gymnasium.  On Monday I introduced myself and answered questions in a 7th grade class and two 9th grade classes.  On Tuesday I did the same in an 8th grade class, observed a 9th grade class, and then worked on reading with the Polish students.  On Wednesday I went to one of Herr Hettig's English classes to talk about my beliefs about the purpose of school and the differences between schools in Germany and the United States as far as preparing students for the future.  I then did some reading tutoring before going back to Herr Hettig's room for the 9th grade history class I have talked to a couple times before.  That day they were discussing the Constitution.

This history lesson did not go very well for me.  I do not have a vast knowledge of history, American or otherwise, but even so I was asked to talk about the Constitution without having anything prepared.  I did my best, but I still ended up feeling a bit embarrassed.  One thought led to another, and by the end of the day I was feeling like I was not fulfilling my purpose here at the school.

However, all that changed on Thursday when I had the chance to visit the grade school.  I visited two 4th grade classes, and I left feeling refreshed and re-energized, knowing that I was helping out here after all.

In the first 4th grade class I visited, I stood up in front of the class and students took turns asking me questions in English, the questions they have learned by this point, since they have only had English one year so far.  Their teacher then allowed them to ask me questions in German.  In the second class, we all sat in a circle, and I first had a chat with the teacher in German about my time here so far, and then each student asked me a question in English.  They were allowed to repeat a question a previous student had said, just as long as they asked one question in English, so I ended up answering the question "What is your name?" several times.

I then went back to that first 4th grade class and observed their English lesson.  They were drawing a witch's house based on a book they had read previously.  This drawing didn't seem to have much of a purpose in the hour I was there, since students were simply drawing a house based on the teacher's instructions, but perhaps the picture will be used at a later time for another purpose.

Finally, I stayed and watched this class have their art lesson, as well.  They were painting a fall scene with colorful trees.  Both during the English lesson and this lesson, I noted how precisely students needed to follow the teachers' instructions in order for their work to be considered successful.

The next day, Friday, I went back to the grade school for a few hours.  I went into the last 4th grade class and observed a grammar lesson.  I answered questions from a 3rd grade class about Halloween in the United States.  Then, in the third hour, the principal of the school then took me into another 3rd grade class and I answered students' questions in English and German the entire hour.  The principal, Frau Erdmann, was so sweet and patient to the students, which was really nice to see after observing a couple really strict teachers.

At the Gymnasium on Friday, I helped out with a Halloween lesson in Frau Zornodt's class.  I introduced the lesson, giving a brief history of Halloween, as well as telling the students about Halloween in the United States.  Frau Zornodt then introduced a stations activity, in which students were asked to translate a Halloween recipe, write a scary story, and write an acrostic poem, among other activities.  This lesson also helped me feel like I was helping out at the school.

It got even better this week.  I went back to the grade school and helped out with a 2-hour Halloween lesson in one of the 4th grade classes, a lesson that included decorating cookies to look like monsters.  I also observed a lesson in a 2nd grade class in which students first practiced writing and then built reading huts in which to read the books they brought with them that day.

Die Lesehuette

At the Gymnasium I not only helped tutor the Polish students in reading (and continued to see progress!), but also during this Lernzeit, I met for the first time with a group of 7th graders I will be meeting with once per week from now on.  During this review time, we practiced the present progressive.  We first conjugated "to be," and then I had students answer questions, such as "What are you doing after school?" and "What am I doing right now?" accompanied, of course, but amusing charades by yours truly.  A couple students told me afterward that it was a fun lesson.

Well, that ended up being a really long post, but I hope you can see how much fun I had at the grade school, and how things are seeming to get better for me as a teaching assistant.  I hope I get a call to go back to the grade school next week.  I have also been asked by Frau Krumrück to teach a lesson in one of her classes next week, so I am looking forward to that!

- Amy

Klassenfahrt nach Kamminke

This past week my husband, Jesse, and I went on the 8th grade class trip to a youth hostel in Kamminke near the Baltic Sea.  I was a little bit nervous about the idea of going on this trip and being partially responsible for sixty 8th graders, but we ended up having a really nice, and really tiring, time.  Many of these students already knew each other from 7th grade, but a few were new to the school, and this trip was a chance for everyone to get to know their classmates, and it was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of my new students.

On Monday we arrived at the school around 8:30 and got onto the bus.  Two and a half hours later we arrived in Kamminke, got our rooms, and had a teachers meeting to review the schedule for the week.  Then it was time for lunch.  After lunch the students played games to get to know each other and break the ice a bit.  We then took a walk down to the Kamminker Hafen (harbor) before dinner.  After dinner Jesse and I went back to our room and I watched some German TV and got to bed early.

Tuesday began with breakfast and a walk to the Golm War Cemetary.  The students were charged with filling out a worksheet as they walked around the cemetery.  They were then given some information about a particular person buried there, and they were asked to summarize the information and present it to their classmates.  This was a tough excursion, as I was starting to notice the students who had a tendency to act out to impress their friends.  It was difficult getting everyone to listen up to the presentations, and at this point I was also unsure how much of a supervisory role I had on this trip, so I didn't want to overstep my bounds.

After lunch we took a bus to Ahlbeck on the Baltic Sea and walked through the town and along the beach to Heringsdorf.  Jesse and I were often surprised on this trip how much autonomy the 8th graders were given, and this excursion was no exception.  Students were given free reign around the town until the designated meeting time, and they were also asked to find their way back to the train station themselves.  Of course, some of them were late, but overall it went surprisingly well.

On Tuesday evening after dinner Jesse and I went over to the recreational room to see what the students were up to in their free time.  We ended up playing one game of Foosball and hours worth of table tennis.  I had never played table tennis before, but by the end I was feeling pretty comfortable with the game.  It was also fantastic getting to know some of the students a little better, and I think they liked seeing me have fun and make a fool of myself!

It ended up being really good that Jesse and I were there to keep an eye on the students, because elsewhere the teachers were doing room checks.  They did find some contraband, and some students had to call their parents and explain the situation.  After 10:00, which is the time that all students needed to be in their rooms, Jesse and I walked around, broke up parties, and herded students into their rooms.  It was tough, because there was so much gossiping and drama going around, but eventually things started quieting down and we headed off to bed ourselves.

Wednesday was a day spent at the youth hostel.  In the morning, students listened to a presentation about youth during Nationalsozialismus.  Again, it was tough to keep the students attentive; many of them were passing notes or just falling asleep.  Then in the afternoon students participated in a ropes course.  It was fun watching them go from trying to complete the course individually to working together as a team.  Once they had completed the course (whenever someone touched the ground, everyone in the entire group had to go back), they identified teamwork as being an important quality that helped them be successful.  Dinner was a grill-out, and then Jesse and I went and played Tischtennis again for a couple hours.  Jesse also wowed some of the students with his card tricks and explanations of his life in Nebraska.

We ended the night with another patrol to make sure students were where they needed to be, but it went quickly this time around.  I was also pleasantly surprised that the students seemed to be listening to me when I asked them to get to their rooms.  I had found my place as a supervisor on the trip, and I felt like I was doing a good job.  The teachers also mentioned later how much of a help Jesse and I were in this area.

Thursday was my favorite day, because I got to ride a bike for the first time in 12 years!  I was a little nervous, but riding a bike really does seem to be something you don't forget how to do.  We all rode together to Swinemünde in Poland, and then the students were given time to go on a Fotosafari and take pictures of certain locations in the Altstadt.  We had pizza for lunch and then had a little more free time in the town.  The plan was to ride down to the beach, but unfortunately the rain was only getting worse, so we just rode back to the youth hostel.

After dinner, the students had a Discoabend.  It was funny seeing this middle school dance in action, because so many of the students didn't want to dance or only danced for a couple songs.  The dance ended up petering out a little early, so Jesse and I put on some of our own music and hung out with a couple students who wandered in after that.

The next day we cleaned up our rooms and headed back to Löckntiz.  Jesse and I were really excited to get some sleep when we got back to our apartment, but other than being worn out, we were glad we were able to go on this trip.  I felt like I got to know these students a bit better and I was able to establish my role in the group fairly well.  I also have so many wonderful memories of the trip, since it was also nice for me from a travel perspective.  I got to go to Poland and a couple towns on the Baltic Sea.  I have already been asked if Jesse and I want to go with the 11th graders to Berlin in November or December, so I have another trip to look forward to!

- Amy

Weeks 3 and 4

The past two weeks I have been doing more observing, more introductions, and answering more questions in various classes around the school.  Frau Krumrück wanted me to get to know each class before I began focusing my time on the 11th and 8th graders.

23. September: I observed Frau Krumrück's 7th grade class.  I also sat in on Frau Wollenberg's 8th grade class, introduced myself, and answered questions for a bit.  On a more interesting note, I started working with two Polish students (one who comes to the Lernzeit regularly, and another who comes less regularly) on reading.  Frau Krumrück asked me to simply have them read texts to me, correct their pronunciation, and then have them read the text again, but I am wondering if I could look into better methods to help them.  Perhaps this could be a research project in the future!

24. September: I worked with the two Polish students again today.

25. September: I saw the Polish student who comes regularly (Marvin) during Lernzeit again today.  Some of the words we have been working on are starting to stick, which makes me happy.   I also introduced myself and answered questions in Frau Krumrück's 9th grade class.

26. September: I went to Frau Wollenberg's same 8th grade class today to observe.  The class was working on the present perfect progressive, so I learned a little bit about English grammar, too!

27. September: I sat in on Frau Krumrück's 7th grade class as they corrected their homework and did a listening comprehension test.

Some general notes from this week: Many, if not all, of the teachers I have observed seem to teach grammar without much of a context.  I have seen a lot of grammar worksheets.  The teachers here also tend to be blunter than American teachers to the point where I begin to wonder if they are being too mean or not.

30. September: This was an interesting day in Frau Krumrück's classroom.  She began the 2-hour lesson with an activity in which we wrote down 4 items that we would take with us if we were to move to another country.  We then got into groups and then had to decide on one 4-item list between the 4 of us.  My group was pretty quiet, and it was tough to get them to speak English to me.  Frau Krumrück then gave a lesson on the Statue of Liberty, beginning with a song called "Back in the New York Groove".  She even dressed the part in a green blanket and a Statue of Liberty foam hat.  It was a fun lesson, but the different parts didn't quiet go together.  There were too many elements, from a discussion of the homework about American vs. British English to a text about immigrants.

I then met with the Polish student, Marvin.  Finally, I went up to Herr Hettig's room by request, and he asked that I take three 11th grade students outside and have a discussion about the theme that they are working on: adolescence and independence.  We ended up just chatting about the differences between the American and German school systems, as well as differences between Germany and Poland.  Herr Hettig told me later that these students are the best in this particular English class, so he feels like they are bored and not reaching their full potential sitting in class.

1. October: I was picking Jesse up from the airport, so I wasn't in class.

2. October: After working with Marvin for a bit on reading, I went to Herr Hettig's history class again.  This time his class was discussing the Constitution, so I was asked to talk about patriotism in the United States.  It was a fairly interesting discussion, and I learned that Polish people tend to be more patriotic than Germans.  I then stayed for another hour in Herr Hettig's classroom, an 11th grade class, and he asked me to start a discussion about this theme of adolescence.  I had no idea where to begin, it was pretty spontaneous, but I think I did a pretty good job of keeping the conversation going by asking questions about the differences between the United States and Germany.  We ended up talking a lot about prom, homecoming, and school spirit.

This was a short week, so I had Thursday (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) and Friday off to spend with Jesse.

I hope I will begin teaching lessons soon.  I plan on talking to Frau Krumrück after fall break if nothing changes by then.

- Amy