First Week at School

After spending over 16 hours on airplanes and in airports, Rachel and I finally made it to Germany on Tuesday!

I have had a wonderful first week at school. For the first two weeks, I will be at the Anne Frank Gymnasium. In this school there are grades 5-12. This week I was able to teach/observe 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade classrooms. This has allowed me to see a variety of different teaching styles and students. After these first two weeks, I will be at Selm Primary school.

Our first day at school was on Wednesday. Heike Armburst, one of our cooperating teachers, had Rachel and I teach the very first day. The first class was a 9th grade class. I taught a short lesson on a reading assignment about the exploration of Australia. I am used to teaching the little ones, so this was a learning experience. Overall, the lesson went well and I am glad I have the opportunity to experience what it is like to teach in a high school classroom.

The second class I taught was a 5th grade class. The students were working on rooms and furniture, as well as the location of items in their rooms. We played with the stuffed Big Red I brought in a game called "Where is Big Red?" I had the students write sentences that described a location Big Red could be in the classroom. The students took turns writing the sentence and then taking Big Red to that location. Overall, I loved teaching this class! I know I will greatly enjoy teaching this grade.

I am glad Heike had Rachel and I teach the first day, and teach multiple lessons in the first week. This helped me to adjust faster to the environment of a German classroom and to become more comfortable with the students. I am looking forward to what the rest of my time here brings me.