Week 3- Reflection
As briefly mentioned in last week’s reflection, the school I am visiting practices a democracy that not only gives students choice but also includes giving them responsibilities as well. Students participate in weekly conferences that are student-led, where they get to bring up any issues they think need to be addressed in the school. This may result in a change of school rules or the placement of a new policy. For example, after students’ complaints of an increase of garbage left on the ground, the students got reflective vests and bags for someone to be the weekly “garbage police” to clean up garbage and ensure they don’t see others littering. Students are also given a choice in their weekly projects on Fridays, however they are responsible for ensuring the project is related to one of their classroom subjects, as well as for bringing in the appropriate materials to complete the project. Students are also able to choose which assignment they want to complete and are given a weekly schedule of all the work that gets done and are to sign the schedule when they have completed each task. I found this resulted in students being quite independent and the teacher does not spend a long time instructing the class but rather gives students more time to work on their weekly plan. Students are on their own to get this completed and the teacher does not constantly remind them.
On Tuesday I taught English class again. I used pictures on the overhead projector to help students practice speaking in the present continuous and present simple tenses. We then practiced saying these same sentences in the negative and turning them into a question. We then played a board game where students were able to practice using the present conditional tense while using vocabulary they have already learned.
On Thursday we went on a field trip. Since the weather has been quite cold and rainy up until this week, many classes across the region had to postpone field trips and it had even been announced in the local news that many classes were going to be on a field trip today. Every single class at my school was away on a field trip as well. We took the bus and the train into Zurich and began by participating in Foxtrails, which is similar to a big organized scavenger hung across the city. The students were split into four teams of five and each team had a chaperone and was completing a different route. Completing the course took about two and a half hours. I found that this was a great team-building activity as it encouraged students to think critically with their teammates, while also exploring and getting to know more of the city’s geography and history. The clues were presented in different modes that involved reading, writing, listening, and looking for footprints. After lunch we went to the Zoological Museum at the university. The students have been studying frogs in class and this was a great chance for them to see various frogs, as well as other animals and learn new information about them. They also completed a scavenger hunt where they had to locate different species and record them on a piece of paper and the teacher put the names of all the students who completed this activity into a draw and gave out prizes.
My last week was very enjoyable and I am going to miss visiting the countryside location of my school in the beautiful setting of the mountains!
Week 2- Reflection
This week I began by introducing a game during the students’ sport lesson on Monday afternoon. We first began by playing dodgeball, then kept adding in different rules to learn doctor dodgeball. I tried to use lots of gestures and acting while I was speaking and it seemed to work. When the teacher asked the class who had understood at least 5 (which doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s a start!) raised their hands and could repeat the instructions to the rest of the class in German. Once they started playing, it was clear that the students had all understood the rules and they had a lot of fun.
I also taught English for the first time on Tuesday. I began the lesson by doing a powerpoint presentation on Canada. I tried to include lots of pictures and simple written words so that the students could understand and follow along as best as they could. I did the presentation twice: once first thing in the morning for the grades 5 and 6s, and once after the morning break for the grade 4s. The second time I did the presentation I tried to make it more interactive by asking students questions related to the topic, such as what sports they play and what kinds of animals they find in Switzerland. I was worried my questions would be answered by blank looks and silence, but to my pleasant surprise the students began raising their hands right away to offer responses. I also presented the powerpoint for another Grade 4, 5, and 6 class.
Next in the lesson we practiced vocabulary by having one student draw or act out a word for the rest of the class to guess. The students understood the instructions in English and enjoyed playing the game. After this they looked at a busy picture with lots going on and were asked to say a sentence that describes one thing they see happening in the picture in the present continuous tense (ie. The biker is riding fast). Then they practiced sentences in their workbooks. The unit they are currently studying is about chocolate so after their writing they discussed statements about chocolate in their groups and decided whether they thought these statements were true or not. At the end of the class they shared their thoughts with the whole class.
Once a week, each class has a conference. Two Grade 6s are chosen to talk about what is going on in the school and another writes down what is discussed. This is an opportunity for students to bring up what they would like to change in the school. These two students who lead the meeting then have a meeting with the designated students from the other grades. On Thursday there was a big school meeting to discuss how this system has been working and to consider some of the changes brought up in the classrooms.
On Friday the students were able to work on free projects of their choice again. I was able to help various students with their baking and art projects. Overall, it was another good week and I am looking forward to what the next week brings. We are going on a field trip next Thursday in Zurich so I am excited to see how that goes.
Week 1- Reflection
This week I began my community field experience in a Grade 4,5, and 6 combined class at Primarschule Hirzel in rural Switzerland. Many of the students who go to this school live on farmland and their lunch break is 2 hours long so that they can go home to eat with their families. Initially coming to the school was a bit of a shock as the students do not speak much English, only in their designated English classes which are once a week for 2 blocks. I was speaking to my host family one night at dinner and I found it quite interesting that they told me that although students begin learning English in Grade 2, the country’s national languages are German, French, and Italian, and they only begin learning French in Grade 5. They said this is up for a lot of debate as it questions why the priority is to learn English before the country’s own national languages and whose interests this serves.
Another things that surprised me during my first day is that the students shake their teacher’s hands both to say good morning when they first arrive to class and to say goodbye as they leave for the afternoon. It is a sign of respect but I also think it gives the teacher to connect with every student.
Since my class is a mix of three different grades, the teacher told me for some activities she makes three different exercises and students are able to choose which one they would like to complete. Despite being given this choice, she said most of them will choose the one at the appropriate level. I thought this was very interesting and am curious as to how the students make these decisions that align with the teacher’s expectations. In addition to choosing their own activities, students also often have free work periods where they have a list of activities they need to have completed by the end of the week as well as a schedule that shows them when they will get time to work on these, which helps them decide when they may need extra time to work on them at home. Students are able to choose what order to do the listed activities in. During these work periods they are usually working on worksheets individually, but if they need help they may discuss with those sitting near them. During math blocks there are lots of manipulatives, such as coloured wooden blocks and foam blocks they assemble themselves. During work periods students are usually working independently but may put their name on the board to have individual conferences with the teacher, either when they neeed help or have finished an activity.
All grade levels are usually in class together except during English the Grades 4s have class separately from the Grade 5s and 6s. During the Grade 4 English block the older grades have French class as the Grade 4s only need to begin learning French next year.
My favourite class to observe was English class as it was when I could understand the most. The students work out of a textbook and also practice making sentences using pictures on the board. Next week I will be teaching English class, as well as giving a presentation on Canada. I will also introduce a game in gym class, as I participated in gym class this week with the students and had a lot of fun. During the last half of their gym period, one of the students gets to lead the class and teach the students a warm-up, skills, and then a game related to these practiced skills.
On Friday the students get the whole morning of time to work on their own projects either individually or with a partner. The students are able to do a project of their choice as long as it relates to one of their school subjects. Some students made clocks, computer programs, soap, baking, and cars. This was fun to observe as I could help some of the students with their projects. I assisted some of the students baking cupcakes.
Overall I had an interesting and exciting week at this school in Hirzel and am excited to see what will happen next week once I begin teaching English.
