I can’t believe September is halfway over already! In two weeks it’s October (what how why) and the schools in Hessen get their fall break. It’s late enough in the year that schools are getting fall vacations! How did this happen??
This past week was my first official week at my school as a foreign language assistant! It was fun and busy and exhausting and exciting! Also it was only three days, but still! Everything was new! On Monday, I got to the school an hour before my first class period because my mentor teacher and I needed to go over a bunch of paperwork and get things all settled. I was supposed to get keys for the school (all the classroom doors lock automatically when they close, and to get into the teacher bathrooms and the teacher workroom area, you need keys) but I couldn’t get my keys until I had been signed up for key insurance. I didn’t know key insurance was a thing, but there you go.
Monday and Tuesday I spent in 9th grade, which was wildly out of my comfort zone. Both days I was only at the school for two hours and spent the whole time in a double period of English class. The English curriculum in Hessen uses each English-speaking country as a theme for each different year of school, and in 9th grade the theme is Australia. I spent the first day sitting in class, working with one of the students as his partner while we did a listening exercise and dialogue about Australian hazards at the beach. I have a newfound sympathy for all my language teachers of the past who had to sit through hours of ridiculous recorded conversations. The best part about spending two consecutive days in 9th grade was that I got to see the same lesson taught in two classes and I got to teach a lot of it the second day!
The students in the two classes were also completely different groups! The first class didn’t want to raise their hands or talk at all, and when I introduced myself to them and asked if anyone wanted to ask me any questions, there was a long period of silence until one person finally asked if I could speak German. In the second class, the moment I asked if they had any questions for me, 10 hands went up and the first question I got was about whether or not I had eaten In-N-Out Burger, and did I like it.
The highlight of my first day at school, however, was getting to go to a staff meeting and introducing myself! When I say that, it sounds like a super boring moment and a terrible choice for a highlight, but it was one of those moments that felt like coming full-circle with my German, because it was so easily compared to my first day of school as an exchange student in Germany. That first time, I couldn’t speak a word of German, so I introduced myself in English as quickly as I could and sat down – I was made to introduce myself in front of the entire student body! This time, I introduced myself to the staff in German and got to hang out and chat with them. It was such a great way to see how far I have come in the last ten years with my language skills and honestly just made me feel really great. How’s that for a Monday? J
I had Wednesday and Thursday off last week (normally I will have every Thursday off, but will be at school on Wednesdays) and Matt and I went and registered with the city of Offenbach, where we are living. On Friday, I started off in a 7th grade study hall for the first hour of the day. The 7th graders have a big oral exam in English at the end of the year, so the 7th grade teachers want me to come to study hall twice a week and help the students prepare for their exam! After study hall and a break, I got to go to elementary school! I was SO excited about this and couldn’t wait to see what elementary school was like in Germany! About five minutes into my first period with fourth grade, we had a fire drill and had to line up and go outside. After we were finally back in the building, we had to have a long conversation about fire drills (it started with the teacher asking the students what they thought had gone well and what they thought they could improve on for the next fire drill – spoiler alert, they had been very loud and not stayed in line) but the conversation quickly turned into the students asking what we would do if there was a fire directly outside the classroom, or what if we were doing a fire drill and then a real fire broke out, but the fire department thought we were just doing a drill so they didn’t come. It turns out elementary school students are the same all over the world.
In my second period with fourth grade, I got to observe an actual English lesson. The teacher had me introduce myself to the students completely in English and then asked them to share with the class what they had heard and understood of what I’d told them. After that, we did another (hilarious) listening exercise in which a bunch of children were sent to the grocery store by themselves to buy things on their lists.
Next week I start my regular schedule (every day but Thursday) and get to go to all my regular classes! On Mondays I am in 7th grade study hall, 3rd grade and 5th grade, Tuesdays are 9th grade, Wednesdays are 3rd, 5th and 8th (the 8th graders are studying the United States this year) and Friday is 7th and 4th! I think it will be a really exciting mix of experiences!
I didn’t manage to get any pictures of the school or the classrooms, but I’ll try to get a few this week! Also, sorry for such a long post!
Have a fabulous weekend!
-Celeste