Well, I'm now 8 weeks into the school year! Maybe I say this in every post, but time really is flying by!! Now that I've gotten into a routine and learned most of the ropes, I thought I'd share with you a little bit more about German school because as I learned quite quickly, it's very different from a high school in the U.S. :-)
First, for those of you who are interested and missed my first post about school, here's the link http://juliannesjourneys.blogspot.com/2011/09/guess-what-i-survived-my-first-week-of.html I also have my schedule posted there :-)
Well, where do I start? I guess I should mention with pride, that I haven't gotten lost in weeks now. Although I'm anything but self sufficient, it does feel good to not need a babysitter in between classes ;-) I've learned that although I'm taking Chemistry, Geography, History, and many others....those are all just code names for what the classes really are--German! German, German, German--everywhere and all the time I'm constantly hearing to words and trying to absorb as much as I can and I think I might even be learning a little :-) I've also discovered which teachers I like--and which teachers frustrate the--you know, I'm not even gonna go there :-)
I do have two favorite teachers though. One is my Geography teacher who is constantly making the class laugh with his over-enthusiasm and determination to help us not learn, but understand. He's the kind of teacher that really seems passionate about what he's teaching, and therefore the majority of the class (which is only 9 people) can handle listening to him teach. I personally appreciate his abundance of hands on examples--whether using books, chairs, desks, rocks or whatever else he can get his hands on, seeing what he's saying makes understanding a million times easier! From what German I could understand, he even got himself scolded once for bringing the class, who couldn't stop yawning, coffee from the teacher's lounge. :-)
Although I still only understand about 25% of the advanced vocabulary in my history class, I am happy that I have a wonderful teacher. Actually, he just happens to also be an English teacher and on more than one occasion has happily translated an assignment, or even discussion, for me. Right now, the class is studying early American history and I've enjoyed being able to offer my two cents and even reading excerpts from different documents like the Declaration of Independence. A few weeks ago, he'd started talking about how beautiful the American passport is and asked me if I could bring mine one day. When I did, he took it up to the front of the class, showed off what he found to be it's most impressive features, then passed it around the classroom! I was feeling pretty patriotic about then :-)
As far as the system of school itself--hang on don't stop reading! I promise it won't get too boring :-) the differences are huge and more than I care to list (and you care to read) in one blog post. One of the biggest differences though, is Substitute teachers--or lack thereof. This just happens to be one of the differences I quite enjoy, actually. :-) When a teacher is sick, on vacation, or whatever the case may be, the class is simply canceled for that day and the students have a free period. This is fairly common and I usually get at least one unexpected free period a week. There is a big electronic board in the main part of the school that keeps track of what classes are cancelled and there is always a hopeful crowd gathered around it. Usually you can even hear disappointed groans as well and excited cheers.
One other difference I'll mention isn't one I love nearly as much. I knew coming here that school sports and school spirit are very American but experiencing difference for myself occasionally causes me to miss the halls of CHS decked out in red every Friday before the big game or the giant crowds that rooted on our girls to the state basketball tournament last year. In Germany, school is solely academic--which makes sense but isn't quite as fun :-) I guess I'm lucky to have been able to experience the best of both worlds. ;-P
Well, with posts about this size, hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to cover the main differences but for now I'll leave you with these few and a bit more of an idea of what my life is like at a German Gymnasium :-)
Well, where do I start? I guess I should mention with pride, that I haven't gotten lost in weeks now. Although I'm anything but self sufficient, it does feel good to not need a babysitter in between classes ;-) I've learned that although I'm taking Chemistry, Geography, History, and many others....those are all just code names for what the classes really are--German! German, German, German--everywhere and all the time I'm constantly hearing to words and trying to absorb as much as I can and I think I might even be learning a little :-) I've also discovered which teachers I like--and which teachers frustrate the--you know, I'm not even gonna go there :-)
I do have two favorite teachers though. One is my Geography teacher who is constantly making the class laugh with his over-enthusiasm and determination to help us not learn, but understand. He's the kind of teacher that really seems passionate about what he's teaching, and therefore the majority of the class (which is only 9 people) can handle listening to him teach. I personally appreciate his abundance of hands on examples--whether using books, chairs, desks, rocks or whatever else he can get his hands on, seeing what he's saying makes understanding a million times easier! From what German I could understand, he even got himself scolded once for bringing the class, who couldn't stop yawning, coffee from the teacher's lounge. :-)
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| Using two buckets, a desk, and some rocks, he showed us how different forces of water are capable of moving different sized stones :-) |
Although I still only understand about 25% of the advanced vocabulary in my history class, I am happy that I have a wonderful teacher. Actually, he just happens to also be an English teacher and on more than one occasion has happily translated an assignment, or even discussion, for me. Right now, the class is studying early American history and I've enjoyed being able to offer my two cents and even reading excerpts from different documents like the Declaration of Independence. A few weeks ago, he'd started talking about how beautiful the American passport is and asked me if I could bring mine one day. When I did, he took it up to the front of the class, showed off what he found to be it's most impressive features, then passed it around the classroom! I was feeling pretty patriotic about then :-)
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| The class admiring my passport :-) |
One other difference I'll mention isn't one I love nearly as much. I knew coming here that school sports and school spirit are very American but experiencing difference for myself occasionally causes me to miss the halls of CHS decked out in red every Friday before the big game or the giant crowds that rooted on our girls to the state basketball tournament last year. In Germany, school is solely academic--which makes sense but isn't quite as fun :-) I guess I'm lucky to have been able to experience the best of both worlds. ;-P
Well, with posts about this size, hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to cover the main differences but for now I'll leave you with these few and a bit more of an idea of what my life is like at a German Gymnasium :-)
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