Happy

 

 

There was a particular day of chaos that stands out to me when I reflect on my time student teaching at Carrboro High. On certain Thursdays, classes were shortened an eensy bit so that faculty and students could have an extended lunch for meetings and training. These minor shifts to the schedule were fairly typical, and everyone was accustomed to them so they usually were pretty seamless. On the day I recall though, there were hiccups in the process. Bells were not ringing when they were supposed to, some teachers were dismissing early, others were not. The students took advantage of the uncertainty and arrived late to class. At one point, staff in the hallways ordered all students to return to their classrooms. Things never really got out of control, but the slight alteration to the accepted routine lead to an imbalance that left the teachers scrambling to maintain control. I mention this story because, to me, it demonstrates the reliability that resulted from this high school bell system. After a month in Germany, I definitely appreciated the stability and predictability of the typical American system.

 

In Germany, the school system differs greatly from that in the U.S. Growing up in the states, school was the center of my world until I graduated high school. I was there from 8:15 until 3:15 pretty much every day for thirteen years. For most students, this is still the case. Not so in Germany. While the school day at the gymnasium I was placed at began at 7:50 and went until 3:30, students’ and teachers’ time at the campus varied from day to day. The system was more reminiscent of a college format back home in the states. Each day of the week they have different courses they attend, and usually it is only 2 or 3 per day. So while Monday they may need to be there at 7:50 in the morning, on Thursdays, they may not start until 11:30. This results in an immense amount of movement around the campuses by the students and faculty, and no traditional “school day” as in the U.S. All of the traffic and shifting schedules feel confusing and foreign compared to regimented schedule I’m accustomed to, and make my “chaotic” day seem trivial.

 

One of the sources of this cultural frustration was the actual layout of the school. My experiences in Germany have all been in a Gymnasium. In Hamburg, there is essentially a two track system. In the 5th grade, pupils either select a gymnasium, which is traditionally the choice to prepare for college, or a community school where apprenticeships and vocational training are historically the focus. Gymnasiums used to be elite schools with rigorous academics that only the top 10% of students could attend. Today, more than 40% of students choose this route. Unfortunately, the infrastructure has not kept up with the increased demand. The school I am placed at is one of the largest gymnasiums in the city, with over a thousand students spread across multiple campuses. Germany is in the process of integrating children with special needs into their community schools, so the separate facilities once used for them are vacant. My gymnasium claimed one of these abandoned schools for students with special needs to ease the overcrowding while waiting for new construction at the main campus. So both students and faculty may have to travel between campuses when they head to their next class. On top of this, the exact building and/or room may shift, too. So there are screens that update with the daily schedule and where each class will meet.

 

 

Most of my classes are at the secondary campus, in buildings that are far from state of the art. Most of the rooms are small, especially when filled with tables and chairs to accommodate the students. Each of them have a traditional blackboard, usually streaked with smears of chalky residue. There are no whiteboards, smartboards, document scanners, or computer projectors in most rooms. So when planning my lesson, it was quite an adjustment to only rely on what my CT and I dubbed “old school” technology. Essentially all I had to use was a chalkboard and traditional overhead projector with black and white transparencies. This was a difficult challenge for me, considering I love to integrate videos, music, powerpoints, and interactive games into my lessons. My CT offered to reserve the computer lab, which is a tiny room with very little space to circulate, but I decided to use the typical classroom to make the experience more authentic. In the end, I am glad I did, because forgoing all the tech made me really think about the lesson and consider how students would be engaged.

 

In previous posts I have mentioned how astounding the deep level of discussion amongst the students is. Upon reflection, I believe some of this may be direct result of the lack of technology. Students are not busy struggling to get logged in to laptops. They’re not distracted by surfing the web or what ad popped up before my youtube video. Most importantly, the allocated time is not filled with technological diversions. In order to keep the class student centered, they therefore carry the burden of engaging with teacher and one another instead of tech. The result is typically lively and participatory discussion. While I’m not ready to abandon my tech, I will be more critically conscious of using it in meaningful ways in the classroom.