On the 8th we visited the International School of Hamburg. I was expecting this school to be like the other school I am placed at with a lot of German speaking, but I was completely wrong. (Side note: on the way to the school we got locked on the wrong side of the fence and our director had to pick a lock to get us out so we could make it to the school. I don't know what it is about us Americans and fences.) As soon as we walked into the school we were greeted by the three principals, whom all spoke amazing English, and were given our schedules for the day. They treated us to breakfast in the school cafeteria, where everything from breakfast to lunch to snack, is homemade by the school chef. Why don't schools in America have chefs? We then went on a short tour and went to our assigned classes. The school itself is huge, it houses Kindergarten through 12th grade, and very modern. I was placed in a first-grade classroom that only had 15 students. It was glorious being in a class with so few students because the teacher is able to give students more attention that they need and to cater to each student's struggles and strengths a lot better. The children went around and introduced themselves to me and I found that they were from all over the world! The principal told us about 80% of the students were international, and 20% were German, I should have expected that from the name of the school, but this really surprised me. ALL of the children in this class spoke AMAZING English. I did not have to slow my speech, speak in broken English, or use crazy hand motions, they understood me and I understood them. It almost felt like I was in a school back in America.
The teacher I was working with was also amazing. She has been teaching in Germany for 7 years, but is originally from Holland. She and the kids had a mutual respect for each other, and she made sure the students knew they were responsible for their own learning. It was her job to teach, but their job to accept and learn. While the students went to break, she took me to meet other teacher in the teacher's room. I was expecting the teachers to all be talking in German like in my other school, but they were ALL talking in English, because apparently the teachers are international as well. One of the teachers who is a principal in Australia but is doing an exchange program at ISH, did not even speak any German at all. Everyone I met was nice and helpful, they even shared their delicious cakes with me (I have eaten wayyyy too many sweets while in Germany)! I then went with the children to PE where they were doing an obstacle course of rope climbs, ring swings, beam walking, tumbling, wall climbing, and all kinds of other things. This was not the typical American PE class.
Since all of the students spoke and understood English so well, I was able to work with them and help them in math and reading that day, which is something I have been struggling with at my other school. I even followed some of the students to their Beginner German class and picked up a few things myself. At the end of the day the teacher allowed me to do a read aloud to the class. I felt so comfortable and at ease in front of this group of students and I was amazed at how well they responded. After I finished reading they all wanted to ask questions about America and they all kept begging me to come back, one kid said "you should stay for a bajillion days, pleaaaaase!" They were so sweet and I would definitely go back to ISH in a heartbeat.
The teacher I was working with was also amazing. She has been teaching in Germany for 7 years, but is originally from Holland. She and the kids had a mutual respect for each other, and she made sure the students knew they were responsible for their own learning. It was her job to teach, but their job to accept and learn. While the students went to break, she took me to meet other teacher in the teacher's room. I was expecting the teachers to all be talking in German like in my other school, but they were ALL talking in English, because apparently the teachers are international as well. One of the teachers who is a principal in Australia but is doing an exchange program at ISH, did not even speak any German at all. Everyone I met was nice and helpful, they even shared their delicious cakes with me (I have eaten wayyyy too many sweets while in Germany)! I then went with the children to PE where they were doing an obstacle course of rope climbs, ring swings, beam walking, tumbling, wall climbing, and all kinds of other things. This was not the typical American PE class.
Since all of the students spoke and understood English so well, I was able to work with them and help them in math and reading that day, which is something I have been struggling with at my other school. I even followed some of the students to their Beginner German class and picked up a few things myself. At the end of the day the teacher allowed me to do a read aloud to the class. I felt so comfortable and at ease in front of this group of students and I was amazed at how well they responded. After I finished reading they all wanted to ask questions about America and they all kept begging me to come back, one kid said "you should stay for a bajillion days, pleaaaaase!" They were so sweet and I would definitely go back to ISH in a heartbeat.