Schule (School)

If you know me, then you know how important I believe it is to get a good education. As an educator, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of schools, classrooms as well as with a diversity of many different students, teachers and grades. I’ve had the privilege of growing up, watching and learning from one of the best teachers I know- my mom. She has showed me what it takes and the hard work that goes into excelling as educator. I guess one would say, teaching is in my blood. It’s something that I am so passionate about and something that comes to me as second nature. It’s what I am meant to do with my life and it’s what excites me.

When I came to Germany, I knew that one of the things I wanted to do was go to an elementary school and learn about the education system as well as compare and contrast it to the one in the US. Luckily, I had that opportunity on Friday. I joined my Cousin Leila’s 1^st grade class of 18 students and got to see a little of what it is like to go to a German School.

School in Germany, as you would probably imagine is much different. The school starts at 8:30 and runs to about 11:30. One day a week it goes an hour longer so that religion can be taught. YES religion (Christianity) is taught in a public school……..kind of a mind boggling concept for Americans.

I really don’t know how any teaching and learning gets done in such a short amount of time. Leila has two teachers. On the day I observed, Frau Lingens started with a German lesson. She told the kids about the letter A as in Apfel (apple) and then they traced the letter and drew a picture. This took about an hour. Not even exaggerating. Then the kids got into a circle, sang a couple of songs, read a book and then it was time for snack followed by recess.

It felt more like a glorified pre-kindergarten then a 1^st grade classroom. Leila hardly ever has homework. No spelling words to study or books to read. I’m kind of shocked at this system but I guess it somehow works.

Behavior wise…the class was chaotic. The kids were talking while the teacher was giving her lesson and she really didn’t do anything besides say SHH. She did however write a little boys name on the board when he tipped in his chair and fell over. These 1^st graders were pretty cute though and they all came up and talked to me in German or sang American songs to me.

Recess was really fun! The kids have the greatest equipment to play on! All my work/Lion Den kiddos at home would be so jealous. Recess is combined with all the grades /classes and the teachers don’t have to go out. All the kids came up to me and asked Leila, “Wer ist sie” (Who is she?). I would answer and ask them if they knew English. By 3^rd grade, the kids know English pretty well. They all asked me tons of questions and thought I was from London. When I told them I was from America they would tell me about a state they knew something about or a state where a friend or relative lives.

When recess was over, Frau Lingens left and Herr Kaiser came into the classroom and took the kids to Sport which I guess would be like PE. Sport, however wasn’t in a gym, it was in a regular sized classroom. Instead of playing some type of game that involves a ball like what happens in America, these kids were given a stick and they did aerobic exercises. I participated and man some of the exercises were kind of difficult. By the time Sport was over, I really think I got a good workout for the day…..lol. That was pretty much the extent of the day. Wow, no wonder Leila likes school so much…lol English and Math are taught on other days and I hope to go in another time to see how those are run. On another note, teachers are allowed to wear whatever they want. There is not really a dress code. Some were in t-shirts and jeans and others were wearing nicer clothing.

The school I was in runs 1^st through 5^th grade. When you are in 6^th grade like my cousin Alex, you attend either a Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, Intermediate School or Gesamtschule. Each one is different and depends on the marks (grades) that you earned in Elementary school. Based on which school you attend, kind of decides what you will do in the future (ie- go to college, a technical school or have a factory type of job). His school runs from 7:45 until 12. Lunch is always at home and then a couple of days a week, he has afternoon school which goes until about 4. He, too hardly has any homework or much time spent in school.

Well if you are still reading, I hope you enjoyed my little “lesson” on school in Germany. I found it very interesting to see the way school is run here and can’t get over how much extra time teachers would have to get things done. Some pictures below!

All my love.

-L