Monday the 20th of January was the start of the second semester at the Deutsch-Polnisches Gymnasium, so many of the classes I observe and help started new units. The 11th graders are now talking about the varieties of English, for example, which a double lesson I observed on Tuesday, January 21. I am still tutoring my group of 7th graders during the Lernzeit, and we've been talking about their favorite sports and the Olympics the past two weeks. In Herr Hettig's 11th grade English class I helped students prepare presentations about English-speaking countries on Wednesday, January 22, and then I sat in on some of these presentations on Wednesday the following week. Frau Krumrück's 12th graders are currently talking about the "World of Work." I sat in on one of these lessons on Thursday the 23rd and then led a discussion the following week on Thursday about how difficult it is for young people to find jobs in our areas of Germany, Poland, and the United States. Finally, the 8th graders are now in a unit about California, which they started in a double lesson on Thursday the 30th.
On Thursday the 23rd I got to have a conversation with a few students from one of Herr Hettig's class. He pulled me out of the hall and asked me to come talk to them about what they would do if they saw a fight start at school or what they would do to de-escalate a situation. We talked a little bit about the actions they should take, such as going to get a teacher for help, but apparently these girls never see fights happen at school. I asked them why they think that is and I told them about the situation at my high school (I heard about fights, but I never saw them). We then talked a bit about the differences between schools in Germany and the United States, as well as between Germany and Poland. The girls told me that Poland teachers are very strict in comparison to German teachers, and that they go to the teachers from Germany at the Gymnasium when they have an issue or just need someone to talk to. My favorite part of being a teaching assistant at this school is just being able to sit down and talk to the students.
On the last day of school before our two-week winter break, a couple of the 7th graders invited me to their Zeugnisaufgabe, or handing out of report cards. Each student was called to the front of the room, and their class teacher gave them their report card, gave a few comments about it, and then wished them luck in their studies. If the student had a bad grade or a grade that could simply be improved, he asked them to point to the grade on the card, so that he knew they were aware of their weaknesses, but so he didn't draw too much attention to the negatives while these students were in front of the entire class. We then said good-bye to one of the 7th graders whose grades weren't quite good enough for him to stay at the Gymnasium. Frau Zarnodt told me he will be going to the Regionalschule from now on. The class speakers gave him a stuffed giraffe and some chocolates, wished him luck, and said the class would miss him. We then spent the rest of the hour hanging out and eating sweets the students had brought.
A side note: I tutored a 9th grader from the Regionalschule in English on Monday the 27th, helping her write a text for school, but so far I haven't heard back from her about wanting to meet again, so we'll see what happens.
- Amy
No comments:
Post a Comment