Weeks 37-39

The past few weeks of my teaching assistantship have been much of the same routine I have gotten used to.  I have been working with my group of 7th graders and my American Culture group and visiting Frau Krumrück and Herr Hettig's classes.  I have also been meeting with the girl I tutor from the Regionalschule on a regular basis, since she was working up to a big test in her English class.

With my 7th graders, we have mostly been playing English games.  We played "Who am I?" where students tape an unknown name to their foreheads and they have to ask their classmates questions to figure out who they are, for instance.  This past Tuesday, however, I talked to their regular English teacher and found out they are starting a new theme, so we spent our time together creating a mind map about Canada.

With my American Culture group we have been watching the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, which has led us to talk about character archetypes, high school culture, and Shakespeare.  This week we also played some typical American children's games, such as...

In Herr Hettig's classroom I have been talking to one of his 11th grade classes about what it means to be British when Britain is so multicultural.  Then this week I visited his other 11th grade class, which was switching focus to the United States.  Students created mind maps around the theme of the U.S. and then presented them in front of the class.  I also got to visit his 10th grade class where I talked to a group about their favorite books.  It was great hearing about what they read, and I have added a couple new books to my to-read list!

In Frau Krumrück's classroom I watched the film version of The Great Gatsby with the 11th graders as they wrapped up their unit on the novel.  This class then started a unit on the visual arts by discussing their opinions on paintings, how many of them frequent art galleries, and which famous artists they know.  They then listened to a text about the Mona Lisa and used it as a jumping off point for a grammar exercise.

I also visited Frau Krumrück's 8th grade class to talk about school dances before they listened to a short story by Chris Crutcher about an overweight boy who is elected prom king.

One of my biggest challenges over the past couple weeks was preparing the girl that I tutor for her big English test.  It is difficult to know where to start and what would help her the most.  We ended up working on some practice tests and testing strategies, as well as doing some exercises on tenses and word order.  I feel like we're building a good relationship, and we're able to just hang out and joke now, which is great.  Here's hoping she does well on her test!

Starting Friday we have break from school for Pfingsten or Pentecost, and I'll be in London with my family!  I am so excited.

Until next time,
Amy