Wednesday and Thursday, April 16 & 17, 2012- OstBevern

Since I continue to get behind in writing to ya'll, I am going to share Wednesday and Thursday at JAS first!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

 Wednesday was yet another wonderful day at school! Wednesday is my more laid back day of the week. I spent two periods making my schedule. You wouldn't think this would be difficult but figuring out what I am teaching and what I want to observe is very time consuming! After organizing my schedule I realized I only had thirteen days of school left! THIRTEEN! Where has the time gone?! I am not ready to go home at all, much less leave these amazing kiddos I just met! I was so sad when I realized just how short of time four weeks really is! I carefully planned my schedule and now I only teach one class on Wednesdays! I observe Viola in Music and Christina in English! The one class I will be teaching on Wednesdays is a seventh grade English class with my wonderful colleague, Lena. She is so sweet! I really enjoy working with these kids. I always thought there was no way I could teach the older kids and that I was meant to teach elementary or the young ones! However, I now realize it doesn't matter how old the kids are, I love teaching them all! Observing Viola's music classes are so much fun. It reminds me of when I had music in school. The kids danced, boys with girls, and it was so sweet! After school, Christian, one of my colleagues arranged a roll play. There were ten of us (teachers) who did this together! Now, forgive me for not explaining this well, but I was confused the entire time! We all went upstairs to Viola's classroom where the tables were arranged in a horseshoe. Each person was assigned a country. It was sort of like a business game and each of us served as delegates from different countries. We were to debate and find solutions on current international issues, as in the real world at the United Nations. We focused on environmental problems and global warming. Our "theme" as you may call it focused on CO2 emissions. Have I lost you yet? Hannah was assigned to America and I was assigned to Germany. After a few minutes of introduction (in German of course) Hannah and I were completely and utterly LOST! We had no idea what was going on. Fortunately, we were able to "combine" countries and become one, the USA. At first we thought this would help our chances of understanding, as a colleague translated everything in English for us! But, we were still.... LOST! I felt terrible for not understanding but I ended up learning a lot! The older students actually do the same debate that we did. They probably would do better than Hannah and I, that's for sure! :) It was fun spending time with some colleagues and getting to know them! After the debate, Viola and I rode our bikes home. We were both EXHAUSTED! Viola had another meeting to go to in which I planned on going to also. However, I came up to my room and the next thing I knew I woke up and it was 7:15 pm. I didn't even remember falling asleep! It was much needed rest though! Another wonderful day in OstBevern!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

 On Thursday I observed the other class I will be teaching! This also a fifth grade class. The periods here for each subject are each forty-five minutes long. However, on Thursdays this class is two class periods! So, I have a total of ninety minutes with them! I had met these students previously when I was observing Music with Viola! They are a great group of kiddos! I am so excited to be teaching them. Since I had my other fifth grade class write letters back to my students in Kentucky, I thought it would be great if this class could write letters as well. So, I decided to have them write to another class at the school in Kentucky where I student taught. I spoke with a couple teachers there and they were more than happy to have their students write! I am so excited the students are forming pen pals, I just can't stand it! They are all so excited!!! I was teaching this lesson today and I was so excited before class started. I hoped the students would be able to understand me since I was speaking in English. I was very surprised just how well they did understand. One thing I really like about teaching here is after I give instructions, the homeroom teacher always asks the students who can repeat this in German for the class. That way, they always know what is going on! It is really great. It is very challenging for me sometimes because I notice I can talk very quickly. My vocabulary has also changed a lot because I want to make sure everyone understands what I am talking about! I have also noticed my grammar is getting better. I don't think I realized how bad it was until I got here! So, this is certainly a good thing!! :) I taught this group similarly to my other fifth grade class. We went over how to write a letter and how we should address the letter. I also wrote on the chalk board for them like I did my other class!
 I took a picture of it so I could share with ya'll!

The students began with "Dear American Student". Then, they wrote about themselves and asked questions such as "What is school like in Kentucky?" and "What are your hobbies?" They ended the letter with "Your new friend". SO CUTE! I love it! While they were writing their letters, I walked around with the school yearbook one of my students from Kentucky let me borrow. I showed them the pictures of the students who they were writing to. The look on their faces was priceless! They did such a wonderful job writing. Their English is superb for ten and eleven year olds! I can't wait for my kiddos in Kentucky to read their letters! They worked so hard on them!
Here are some of them hard at work!!

I ended the school day observing Viola in math, German (which I LOVE), and music! After school, I came home for a few hours and relaxed. Viola and I also had a delicious snack! A mixture of break and cake with marmalade inside, AND powdered sugar on top! LECKER! LECKER!

A field trip had been planned with some older students and a few teachers to go see Romeo and Juliet in Münster later Thursday evening. A teacher who was unable to attend gave Hannah and I her two tickets! We were so excited! Around 6:30, I rode my bike to school and hopped on the bus for Münster. We picked Hannah and the vice principal up in Telgte which is about fifteen minutes from OstBevern.
Here are some pictures of the theatre:

This version of Romeo and Juliet was much different from what I had ever seen! Although it was different it was still very good! The actors did an amazing job! The kids really enjoyed the play as well. We finally arrived back in OstBevern and I rode my bike home! I thought I might be scared coming home alone in the dark but it is so great here! There are no worries and it is normal for people to bike at night. I felt very safe! I arrived home very late, around 11:30 and finally got some rest! Another eventful and exciting day in Germany! :)


Till' Next Time!