School Days

About a month and a half ago our good friend Dorte had asked me if I was interested in visiting Emma's (her daughter) school. I of course jumped at the opportunity, because I had only seen Danish public schools from the outside. Dorte contacted Emma's teacher and they came to the conclusion that it would be interesting to have me come give a little talk to the teachers two English classes. Dorte suggested that I prepare something about Texas. I spent a couple weeks talking to a lot of our Danish, British, Australian, and Polish friends here in Lyngby about what they knew about Texas and what would be interesting to learn about. They gave me a lot of cool ideas an insights. I contemplated asking all you faithful blog readers as well but since 99% of you live or have lived in Texas, it seemed that I might get more interesting ideas from people who did not have much Texas knowledge to start with, and I certainly did!

This past Friday (June 6th) was the big day. I traveled north to Allerød where Dorte met me at the train station and walked me to school. The teacher that I was shadowing was named Julie and just 1 year younger than me so we had a lot of fun and good conversation.

My day started with Dorte dropping me off with Julie. Emma forbid Dorte from staying at school, so she had to leave. Class started at 8:10. I was visiting the 6th grade class, which age-wise is similar to US 7th grade (12-13 year olds). We started the morning with math. I learned lot of new math vocabulary that I didn't know previously and understood most of the lecture with the exception of some math words that both Julie and I never could find a translation for. Math class was pretty similar to the way I remember learning math years and years and years ago. Julie taught the lesson and then gave some exercises to the class. The class broke up into groups that they made. Some groups were as large as 6 people. Others as small as 1. They scattered throughout the class, out in the hallways and even outside! There was a door to the outside in the classrooms so the students were able to just walk out. I thought it seems like a nice idea to go do my work outside in the beautiful weather. :) Lucky Danish kids. Of course, just like in American schools the kids would come up and ask questions when they didn't understand. Many of them used their cell phones as their calculators, and when time was up and Julie wrote their homework on the board, they would take a picture of the homework with their cell phones as well. I obviously wasn't in school when the cell phone craze hit for kids, but I imagine that in US schools, that probably wouldn't be allowed....but maybe? I don't know.

This next part was the thing that shocked me. After each lesson the kids and teachers get a 20 minute break. The students are free to eat a little food, play outside or sit around and chat. The teachers, including me went to the teachers lounge to eat and talk too. During the break Julie walked me across the sidewalk to the brand new school for the younger kids. I think it was grades 1,2 and 3. It was a beautiful new modern building. The school had a huge middle section with super nice furniture and toys, and all the classrooms were entered from the big circle. It was really nice.

After 20 minutes was up the bell rang and we walked back to class. There are only bells to signal the start of class. The end of class is up to the teacher, in case they need a little more time, or they finish early. Julie mentioned that sometimes she gives a break in the middle of the class if the kids are to full of energy. She lets them run around outside for about 10 minutes to get it out of their system. This is just what it done and accepted. Sure wish my teachers back in the day were allowed to do that!

So, back to class. Now it was English class time and she started with me. My objective of course was to teach them a little bit about Texas but also to simply get them talking and conversing with me as a way for them to practice English. Danish kids are very much in tune with the world and current events, issues and problems. I was certain that one of the first things they would ask was something about how I felt about greenhouse gas emissions or something crazy. They didn't, but when I asked close to the start if anyone knew anything about Texas, my first three responses were:

1. Executions
2. Death Penalty
3. Electric Chair

HA!
My British, Australian, Danish and Polish friends all said things like, "cowboys, oil, steak, desert, guns and of course, George W. Bush"

I had a lot of fun talking with them. Some of them of course stayed very quiet but I could see them smiling as I was answering other questions. Other kids couldn't stop asking questions or telling me about this or that.

When I was done, Julie proceeded with asking them to present their homework. They were given two sentences from a book and they had to finish the story. I loved listening to what they came up with and not shocked at all how good their English was already at the young ages of 12 and 13. When class was over, it was lunch time.

They got 45 minutes for lunch. Julie and I headed back to the teachers lounge, which was by far the nicest teachers lounge I've ever seen and didn't feel like a school at all. When we were done Juile gave me a little tour of the school including the library. It was especially fun to see as it just won the "Best School Library in Denmark" award. Cool huh?

When the bell rang we went back to class, in a new classroom with new students for one more class. Again, English class. I only had about 45 minutes in this class and my presentation took about the whole time. I said some different things, and some of the same things. They asked me different questions and some of the same ones as well.

Some of the questions I was asked:
What are the differences in the school in US and Denmark?
How long have you lived in Denmark?
Is it hard to live in Denmark?
Do you like Denmark or the US better?
What do you do if there is a tornado?
What city are you from?
What food do you eat in Texas?


Some things we talked about:
Traveling
Some told me about previous and planned trips for this summer to the US and where they were going.
Some told me about other cool destinations they had been, like Singapore.
One kid noticed that the Texas flag looked a lot like the Chile flag
Differences between American and British English
The moon controversy (were we really there? or not?)

I found the things that made them all say, "WOW" and made their mouths drop were about all the animals in Texas...mostly the yucky bugs. Scorpions, tarantula's, rattlesnakes and vinegarroons. They all freaked out a little bit when I mentioned I had been stung 3 times by scorpions. The weather seemed to amaze them too. The second class asked a ton of questions about tornadoes and just like all other Danes, they couldn't even comprehend the thought that I went to class one day at Tech wearing shorts in the morning, and when I came home it was snowing. I also told them about our March adventure of two days of snow in Texas with a day of swimming in between. Also, like everyone else, they couldn't imagine having 45C degree weather in the summer.

I taught them alot about how big Texas was including the term Texas-sized, which one girl even used later as an example of an adjective. Thing one thing, that stuck out the most that both classes were completely in awe when I said, "16 Denmark's will fit in Texas" which was followed by lots of loud wow noises.

I took along our big Texas flag and told them a little bit about it including that it is possible that a Danish man, Charles Zanco, could have been the first person to draw the star on the Texas flag. This flag isn't the one we know today, but the "Independence Flag". Still, I think its cool that the Dane might have been the first to draw the lone star :)

The Independence Texas Flag

Zanco was a Danish man from Randers whose family moved to Texas long ago. I of course told them a little about the Alamo because Mister Charles Zanco, fought and of course lost his life at the Alamo that one March day. They all thought it was pretty cool that a Dane fought in one of our most important Texas battles.

I had a REALLY fun day and enjoyed talking to these young kids in English. I enjoyed watching them think about the words they needed to use to talk to me and enjoyed watching their brains process my language. I did quickly remember why I hated math class so much and as much fun as I did have, I also remembered why I for so long have sworn I would never ever be a teacher or work for the education system. I give mega kudos to all those that can do it. :)

The school day ended at 1:00. Dorte and Emma picked me up and we walked back to their house for a lovely lunch on the patio with Dortes husband. I stayed over there til about 5pm enjoying the company and the beautiful weather. It was a great Friday.