Vielen Dank, Deutschland!

Wow, I can't believe my time in Germany is over! I'm sitting in the airport in the Frankfurt and thinking about how much I've learned and grown these past 3 weeks! I learned a lot about myself both personally and professionally. I was challenged to teach topics and content that was outside of my comfort zone which made me feel more confident in my teaching abilities! I can't wait to take on my own classroom this coming school year! When I started this journey, I wanted to learn about classroom management and from what I saw during my time at AFG (and conversations with other student teachers!) I know procedures and policies I want to implement in my future classroom.

I want to say thank you to everyone that helped me while in Werne, Germany! I'm so thankful for the kind teachers at AFG that let me teach their students! Thank you Heike for making sure we were well supported and challenged while in Germany! This program couldn't work without you. Thank you to my host parents and siblings for being the most hospitable and kind family ever! I can never thank them enough! Thank you Elizabeth Hook for co-teaching with me and translating all the menus at restaurants! Thank you to my parents for supporting me in every way possible so that I may take trips like this that teach me things that just aren't possible in a classroom in the US! Danke euch allen!!

I'm so excited to return home, see my family and friends, and graduate on Saturday! I'm excited to bring my knowledge into my future classroom and see how I can impact my future students. Below are pictures from my last week in Germany! Don't forget to watch our group project video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQYTyD_lVps&t=1s . Go Tops!

Reflecting at a Holocaust memorial in Berlin

Group picture in Berlin

My sweet host sister, Anna

Connecting with culture (and each other!)

Mixed emotions as this week comes to a close! This week has been full of teaching and afternoon sight seeing. I've enjoyed teaching the 6th and 9th graders this week with my co-teacher Ms. Hook! This week we've been teaching about how to write tv and newspaper reports and how to write good speeches. This week's topics have been out of my comfort zone, but teaching them has been nothing short of enjoyable! It's getting bittersweet that this journey is coming to a close soon.
This week has me feeling more and more like a local as I navigate town on my bike and participated in the festival on April 30! May 1st is like their Labor Day here, so Monday we were able to celebrate this holiday with one of the teachers from our school. She took us dancing which was fun and a great way to connect with the culture!
This week I've also been able to see some castles in the area! My host family took me to one in Münster and one of the teachers at our school met us at a castle in her village! The kindness and hospitality here never ceases to amaze me.

While I've been able to connect with the culture, I've also been able to connect with the other student teachers here with me and that's been one of my favorite parts! I truly enjoy sitting in cafes with everyone or eating dinner out! Shoutout to Maddie Haas for always bringing her fancy camera and taking fun pictures!

This evening I'm putting final touches on my lesson for tomorrow and packing my bag for a weekend in Berlin! Look for a post about my weekend on Monday! Now, enjoy some pictures! 

New favorite German city

This past weekend, I went with two other students teachers (who are great friends!) to Cologne (Köln--the German spelling/pronunciation). This city is beautiful and I learned so much.

We started off our day by taking the train from a nearby village to Cologne. This was about 2.5 hours on the train, and I enjoyed being able to see the nice sites and views from the train. Upon arrival in the train station in Cologne, I needed a small piece of home and we found ourselves in a....
Starbucks! It was nice having something that tasted like home. While we were drinking our coffee, a nice English speaking couple leaned across the table asking where we were from (I can't imagine how they knew we weren't from Germany!). We told them our story and why we're in Germany, and this husband and wife were retired teachers from Australia! We were able to sit and have a really interesting, in-depth conversation about education and compare our two educational systems.




After leaving Starbucks, we walked right into the beautiful cathedral in Cologne. This cathedral is Gothic style and leaves you in awe of its architecture. We decided to climb the tower in the cathedral because why not! We had no idea what we got ourselves into. To climb to the top it's over 500 steps...and to get back down you take the same flight of stairs of over 500 steps! Below you can see our faces/stages of how we felt climbing the stairs. For anyone considering visiting Cologne, it is worth it!
 While also in Cologne, we visited the Roman history museum which was wonderful!

Pre-climb

Post-climb

We couldn't leave out the chocolate museum while in Cologne! We are all avid chocolate lovers and wanted to see how chocolate was made (and of course eat all the samples throughout the tour!). We learned a lot about the process of chocolate making process and see the nice Rhine River which many refer to as their Mississippi River! We ended our trip with a little shopping and were exhausted! 

Sunday's in Germany are truly days of rest. Many stores and restaurants are closed so that everyone can spend time with family and friends and rest. Let me tell ya, after a long day in Cologne, I took that day of rest to heart! I propped my feet up and planned my lessons for the week! I'm looking forward to a week of teaching and Berlin this weekend!

End of week 2

Another school week finished! Wow! This trip is going by so quickly but I'm enjoying it so much! This week was full of lessons and enjoying the local culture.

This week I co-taught a lot with a fellow student teacher in 5th grade, 6th grade, and 9th grade. These students continue to blow my mind with their intelligence and willingness to learn from us! The topics we discussed this week were fighting for your rights and global warming. Some of the lessons were planned in advance while some were just on the spot teaching! It's times like this that I get to truly test my teaching and flexibility!

I still find myself adjusting to the time difference and adjusting to the different schedule at school. As mentioned in my previous post, the class periods are more like 90 minute blocks with two 20 minute breaks during the school day! It's very different from school at home, but also an enjoyable difference!

On Thursday, our group of student teachers headed to Münster after school to spend the afternoon. This town is one of the closest big cities and has many college aged students. And not to mention the insane amount of bikes in this city! This city has more bikes than people, how crazy is that!? While in the city, we were able to enjoy the cathedrals, visit the city museum, and eat some typical German food. This city is very nice and only a short train ride away from Werne! One of my favorite parts about Europe is the trains because you can just hop on a train and head to another city while in the US you would have to drive in the car. On a train, everyone is able to talk and enjoy themselves and even rest!

Schnitzel! A typical German food.

I can't believe the time is ticking away as quickly as it is, but I'm loving teaching the students here and spending time with my host family and friends. One thing I love about this program is being able to make friends with other student teachers that I never knew before this trip! We often find ourselves in a local café talking 'teacher talk' for hours here! I can't wait to see what the next couple weeks bring here in Werne, Germany. Tschüss! (One of the few German words I've learned since I got here!)

A beautiful street in Münster.

An iconic red towel picture in front of the historic town hall in Werne.

First School Week Finished!

This is everyone in our group plus the school principal!

 

                             

The top picture is the new part of the school and the bottom is the school cafeteria that we eat in most days!

It's only been five days, but I am absolutely loving my time here in Werne, Germany! The people here are so kind and welcoming, and my host family is nothing short of amazing!

My time at Anne-Frank Gimnasio has been so wonderful and the students surprise me everday by how intelligent they are! Some of the topics I've talked about with students include global warming, politics, religion, and fighting for our rights. On my second day, I was able to co-teach a lesson in a 9th grade class with a fellow student teacher from WKU. During this lesson, we discussed freedom of speech. It was a very in-depth conversation that discussed the topics of why freedom of speech is important to the limits of it. The conversations were extremely in-depth and we were able to express our opinions freely. One of my favorite parts of the school here is the schedule. It is very different from the school schedules at home. For example, the schedules are more like block schedule with 90 minute classes and 20 minute breaks in between! During these breaks, the students can have a snack and hang out with their friends. For many students, the school day ends at lunch which is around 1:15. This is quite different than the US! But it's nice because students can go home for lunch if they so choose or they can eat in the school cafeteria (which has wonderful food by the way!). Also, the teachers go to the students, they don't have their own classroom. All of the teachers spend time and prepare in the teacher's lounge prior to and between classes. This is very different than home but it creates a nice sense of community between teachers which I think is wonderful.

A typical day for me here during this first week starts with my commute to school on a bike! That was quite the change for me, but it's such a lovely change. It was a bit scary at first because it had been many years since I had ridden a bike that wasn't stationary in a gym, but I really enjoy it. The first day it took us almost 30 minutes on the bike to get to school and the second day it took 15 minutes, so my learning curve was quick on the bike! Once I arrive at school, I will observe and assist in many classes throughout the day. I am in classes from the 5th to the 10th grade. My schedule here ends at lunch time, so we often eat lunch together as a group in the cafeteria or go home for lunch. After school, this week we went as a group a few times to hang out in Werne to see the town, and may I say we have mastered the art of ice cream eating. In the evenings, I sit down for dinner with my host family and discuss our days and often find our selves discussing topics like culture and politics.

This week has been so enjoyable and I look forward to what the next couple weeks will bring!

Off to Germany!

Finishing up my last week at Bowling Green High School.

"Thanks, Ms. Jackson and good luck!"

While it's bittersweet to leave my students here, I am so excited to see what I have in store in Werne, Germany! While in Germany,  I am looking forward to working with students whose first language is not English. I think this is going to be such a unique experience working with students with high levels of English proficiency whose first language is not English. I'm also looking forward to immersing myself in the German culture. During this semester, I've been learning about German culture from a colleague and I can't wait to immerse and learn all about German culture! (Thanks Dr. Rose!)

While teaching English in Werne, Germany, I'm expecting to be greeted with smiling faces and students who are eager to learn. I think that while in the classroom, the students will be ready to learn about American culture and increase their English fluency by working with a native English speaker. While researching what to wear at school in Werne, I was most surprised by what the teachers wore! It's not uncommon for teachers to wear jeans everyday! It felt strange packing a stack of jeans in my suitcase! I was also surprised by how the weather looks during my trip. It looks fairly warm and nice spring weather! Walks around Werne sound lovely!

I know this experience is going to be influential in my future teaching! Learning about different cultures and bringing that knowledge and experience to my classroom will influence how and what I teach my students. I know that many students don't have the chance to travel the world, and I want to bring the world to my classroom. I'm hoping to learn some classroom management techniques while in the classrooms in Germany, and bring back language teaching techniques that will help me better teach my future students.

Auf wiedersehen, Bowling Green! Hallo, Germany!

Welcome to my blog!

Hello readers,
This blog is what I'll be using while I am teaching abroad in Germany, and I hope to continue using this blog well into my teaching career! This blog will allow me to share what I'm doing in and out of my classroom!


Before reading more of blog, you should know more about me! Here are a few of my favorite things.

Ms. Jackson's favorite...

-pastimes: spending time with family & friends, reading, and traveling

-drink: COFFEE!

-restaurant: Chick-fil-a  

-color: purple

-animal: beluga whale

This blog post will help you as readers peek into my teaching life!

Hasta luego,

Ms. Jackson