It’s either clean my apartment & do dishes or update my blog, so new blogpost it is! Today was the first day of school for the students (and me, too!). I shadowed a few teachers to get an idea of what their lessons are like / what types of classes I might be helping with. There are 15 English teachers at the school, so I still have quite a few people to meet/classes to observe — we’ll see what happens over the next week or two. I don’t have a set schedule yet, and no one seems to care when I come and go, so it’s basically up to me to figure out what classes I want to work with (assuming the teachers want the help) and what time of day I want to work. Ah, the paradox of choice!
I met with the principal of the school (again) to sign some forms, so I’ve already been in the principal’s office more here than I was in all my years back in school…. bad joke… but anyway, the principal is incredibly friendly and LOVES BASKETBALL! I mean, he loves it. He’s taking a trip in February to the US to see various NBA games - he’s going to hit up San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, & Miami, just to name a few. So this guy knows more about US basketball than I do, not to mention he’s already seen various NBA teams throughout the US before. Needless to say I enjoyed talking with him - I’m always happy when people I meet from other countries have been to the US, and more often than not, they’ve even been to more states/cities than I have. There are a surprising amount of teachers at the school who have either lived in or traveled to the States. One of the teachers went to high school for a year in New Orleans, another worked as an au pair for a year in Chicago, one has a best friend from Milwaukee, and another lived in Portland.
The school teaches grades 5 through 12 - there are several different types of schools in Germany and it can be kind of confusing the follow, at least for me: the one I’m working with is called a Gymnasium, which is preparing the students to eventually study at university. (Below is a chart with a breakdown of the German school system, click here for a detailed explanation of German schooling).
Ideally I’d like to work with the older students for English so that I can provide more of a cultural exchange, i.e. teach them about current affairs in the US, history, universities, etc., but we’ll see what happens! Probably the most intriguing aspect of the school curriculum is that starting in Grade 7 the students can choose to take other courses in English as well - there is a biology class, a history class, and a geography class that are all taught in English. I think it would be a great experience to work with these courses, too.
I met with the principal of the school (again) to sign some forms, so I’ve already been in the principal’s office more here than I was in all my years back in school…. bad joke… but anyway, the principal is incredibly friendly and LOVES BASKETBALL! I mean, he loves it. He’s taking a trip in February to the US to see various NBA games - he’s going to hit up San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, & Miami, just to name a few. So this guy knows more about US basketball than I do, not to mention he’s already seen various NBA teams throughout the US before. Needless to say I enjoyed talking with him - I’m always happy when people I meet from other countries have been to the US, and more often than not, they’ve even been to more states/cities than I have. There are a surprising amount of teachers at the school who have either lived in or traveled to the States. One of the teachers went to high school for a year in New Orleans, another worked as an au pair for a year in Chicago, one has a best friend from Milwaukee, and another lived in Portland.
The school teaches grades 5 through 12 - there are several different types of schools in Germany and it can be kind of confusing the follow, at least for me: the one I’m working with is called a Gymnasium, which is preparing the students to eventually study at university. (Below is a chart with a breakdown of the German school system, click here for a detailed explanation of German schooling).
Ideally I’d like to work with the older students for English so that I can provide more of a cultural exchange, i.e. teach them about current affairs in the US, history, universities, etc., but we’ll see what happens! Probably the most intriguing aspect of the school curriculum is that starting in Grade 7 the students can choose to take other courses in English as well - there is a biology class, a history class, and a geography class that are all taught in English. I think it would be a great experience to work with these courses, too.
SIDE NOTE (THE BEST FOR LAST) - As I previously mentioned, I'm joining a gym nearby. I took the liberty of taking some photos, b/c words don't do it justice.... more to come tomorrow!