Denmark for a Life-Changing Experience

Before leaving some people commented on how this would be such a “life-changing experience” and while I smiled in response, I secretly thought “maybe incredible, maybe eye-opening, but certainly not life-changing – that’s just us Americans exaggerating again.”  So, if you read the title of this post and rolled your eyes – I would have been right there with you not too long ago.  However, I turned out to be wrong.

This experience has been incredible, and it has been eye-opening, and it has also been life-changing because it has been so much more.  I don’t think I will ever be able to look at our education system through the same eyes again, which will impact my teaching and my students for years to come. 

Further, this experience has made me take a step back and look at myself on a more personal level as well.  It made me realize that I actually can be happy without a million things to do and that letting go of that stress can not only make me a better teacher, but also a better person.  I’ve already been told this countless times by family members, friends, and mentors, but it is difficult to accept when you are surrounded by it.   Here, the positive effects of this attitude are clear in every facet of society and, while I’m sure there are over-stressed, competitive people in Denmark, I didn’t meet them on this trip. 

The trick, of course, will be to not forget everything I have learned while here.  We’ll see how I do with that task, but I am confident (and determined to ensure) that it won’t all be for naught. 

This week our group of four had numerous discussions about what it will be like to go back.  We are all worried that this month will feel like a dream, that we will return to our normal lives and wonder if any of this truly happened.  How will we stay true to what we learned when people all around us are doing what is familiar to us from before?  How much will we be able to put into practice in an entirely different education system? 

I am apprehensive, but also beginning to feel very interested to find out what I will see and notice when I return.  I think that keeping track of what I notice during my first weeks back (what feels strange, what feels wrong, what feels exciting) will be nearly as important as keeping track of what I noticed during my time here.  In this way, I believe that my learning has only just begun.  

And now to make sure I don’t forget everything that happened this week…

Tuesday, Michael and I lead a debate in our English classes on arranged marriage, which was quite successful!  Six students had to speak from each side, which meant that 12 students had to not only speak, but also speak about a difficult subject.  The debate wasn’t the most effective debate, but I was very happy with the students’ ability to express an opinion about arranged marriage – in English!  Later that day, all four of us met with the Principal to ask him all of our remaining questions and Michael and I got to interview three 9^th graders.    

After school,  the four of us prepared our Closure Presentation and then took the train into Aarhus one last time to see Trine and Morten.  We had a lovely, relaxing dinner and ended up staying out much later than expected.  It’s strange to not know when we will see them next, but hopefully sooner rather than later!

Wednesday, Michael and I weren’t teaching any classes, so we got to observe several classes, including the International Class at Østervangskolen.  The International Class is composed of all immigrant students over a certain age in the district (they’re all sent to Østervangskolen).  Before you get images of what “all” means - there are only 12 students in the class.  However, I am sure 12 feels like plenty because the class is incredibly diverse.  There are students from China, Thailand, Syria, Afgahnistan, Poland, Iran, and more.  Many of these students are refugees.  I don’t entirely understand how immigration works, but it seems that these families were instructed by the government to move to Hadsten, for example, for a certain period of time.  After that time, they can move wherever they would like in Denmark.  That is why most of these immigrants are here, rather than in Aarhus or another more obvious immigration location.

The class is conducted entirely in Danish, but there is obviously a huge range of comfort with the Danish language.  The students seem to speak on average 3-4 languages.  This list usually includes English as well as Danish.  Some students speak English with each other and others speak other common languages.  Of course, the teacher cannot possibly speak all of these languages, so the students work together to translate for each other.  One girl speaks 9 languages!  Another girl just arrived here at the beginning of January (like us!) so she understands almost no Danish.  Unfortunately, she also doesn't seem to understand English, which makes things more difficult. 

The students were quite curious about us.  After their many questions, we got to observe a lesson on prepositions (it took awhile, but I eventually figured out that that’s what we were talking about).  It was fun to observe this class because I felt like one of the students, since my Danish is on par with some of them. 

After school on Wednesday, we had our final meeting with Birgit, our advisor from VIA, and then had our Closure Conversation.  We had made this Prezi for this meeting and then, after presenting, we sat around a table and discussed our experience.  That evening, we had a lovely dinner at the school.  In attendance were all of our host families, the principal, and others.  It was a really magical evening.  Jane and Lotte read us a letter, many toasts were made, and Brendan and Allison sung a song they had written called “You can’t sail a Viking ship alone.”  I'm sure Allison will be posting a video of this shortly - if not, I'll get her permission to post mine here.  This evening truly embodied my understanding of the Danish word hyggelig.

Team Denmark!

Thursday was Brendan and Allison’s last day.  Michael and I began the day by saying goodbye to most of our 7^th graders and then teaching our 9^th grade English lessons.  During the lesson we watched this TED talk and had them write their own “Love Letters to Strangers” (you’ll have to watch the TED talk to understand what I’m talking about).  We weren’t sure exactly how it would go over, but it was actually pretty incredible.  The students took these letters so seriously.   They are some of the most heartfelt letters I have ever read.  Michael and I are bringing them home to distribute throughout Santa Barbara. 

After school, Michael and I took a final walk through the central area of Hadsten before joining up with Allison and Brendan for our promised goodbye walk through the forest.  Brendan had been talking about this incredible forest the entire month, and it lived up to expectations.  It had a mystical feeling and even had a spot Brendan called the “faerie mound” where we exchanged cards.  Michael also made his first snow angel (there was a lot of snow this week) and we all made snowfrogs.  We were trying to make snowmen, but the snow just wasn’t sticky enough.

It’s strange because we know we’ll all see each other again soon (or at least we can if we can find the time), but we also know this really is a bigger goodbye than that makes it seem because it’s the end of a very special experience. 

Friday, Michael and I taught our final two English lessons and said goodbye to our 9^th graders.  The final lesson in the unit happened to be on “Goodbye” (how convenient!!) so we had worked it all in together to serve a dual purpose.  We ended the lesson with another letter-writing exercise, but this time instead of writing to a stranger, they had to write to someone (or something) very specific.  Of course, if they wanted they could also write to us, so we got some very sweet goodbye notes. 

One group even decorated an envelope for their goodbye letter - complete with the exact right number of stars and stripes!

At the end of our last class one girl asked if she could hug us.  It was funny because it was good she asked - at home we probably couldn’t really have said yes.  Here we could, so we did and most of the class proceeded to give us each a hug and say goodbye.  We gave them all our email addresses and told them they could email us if they came to California or wanted an essay proofed.  We’ll see if any of them take us up on it.

After class we had our last lunch at Østervangskolen (during which the Principal gave us a nice farewell) and then said our last goodbyes.  Lotte had planned one last adventure to Ebeltoft for us that afternoon, so we didn’t sit at home, twiddle our thumbs, and feel sad about leaving.  Along our drive we stopped along the coast to see a 700-year-old ruin and to see a layer of ice forming over the ocean! Ebeltoft is a small, incredibly cute town that is clearly a summer tourist spot, so it was extremely quiet at this time of year, but was also extremely cute because all of the old buildings were decorated in snow!  We went to the Town Hall (Rådhuset), which is a very old museum and a popular place for couples to get married, if they don’t want to get married in a church.  

 

Ebeltoft Rådhuset

Ebeltoft

That evening we all had dinner together at Lotte’s house (Lotte, Jane, Michael, me, Lotte’s son, and later joined by Lotte’s husband – Thomas was working).  Michael and I had dinner together at Lotte’s his first night in Hadsten (along with Philip) so it felt very fitting to end our trip with a final dinner there again. 

And now, I’m on the train to Copenhagen to see Philip’s grandparents and then begin my journey home tomorrow.  What an adventure it has been.  I will miss Denmark so much, but I plan to return again soon. 

Thank you all for reading my blog.  It has helped me to make sure I record my experiences, even when busy.  More importantly, it has been nice to be able to share this adventure with all of you right alongside through the marvels of the Internet.

A Gymnasium, a Højskole, a Teaching University, and a Folkeskole for a New Vision for Education

Last week went by in a complete blur...

Monday morning was spent teaching biology and Monday evening was spent having dinner with the Danish student teachers (Sophia, Morton, and Trine) who came to Santa Barbara.  

Tuesday morning was spent at Favrskov Gymnasium (Gymnasium is the closest equivalent to the American "high school") and Tuesday afternoon was spent at Hadsten Højskole (Højskole is a uniquely Danish concept - it is essentially schooling purely for the sake of learning and self-improvement).  

A chart of the Danish education system

I think I finally understand how all of the pieces come together! 

The numbers along the top are ages (of the students).  

Purple represents the type of school I am currently working at.

Most of the day on Wednesday was spent in Aarhus at VIA University in the teaching program (this is the university we are technically exchanging with).  We went to a series of classes to get an introduction to what learning how to teach looks like here.  The first class was a biology class.  Here, prospective folkeskole teachers (see grahic above) study the material at the same time they are learning how to teach the material, so the class is specifically structured to not only teach the content, but also to teach how to teach the content to students.  The class was all in Danish, but it was about one of my favorite topics (genetics!!) so I was able to understand a fair amount.  

I even understood the word problem below enough to solve it correctly!

Lav et stamtræ der viser nedarvning for en kønsbundet recessive sygdom (fx. farveblindhed), hvor en task kvinde der er er bærer XbX får 4 børn (2 drenge of 2 piger) med en syg mand XbY.

We next went to an international class because at VIA they have a huge international exchange program.  Student-teachers come here from all over the world and study abroad here for 6 months.  They take courses at VIA and student-teach periodically.  There were students in this class from China, Germany, the Philippines, Ireland, Turkey, and more!  It was a pretty incredible learning experience.  The next two classes were English classes (as in learning how to teach English).  We spent the afternoon in a lovely cafe with Sophia, Morton, and Trine again.

Thursday, we proctored the 9th grade exams.  These are nation-wide exams that all 9th graders take.  The actual government-administered exam will be held this summer, but the schools do a round at this time of year as a sort of practice, but also so that they can give the students grades before the summer, which are used to determine where they can and will go after 9th grade.   Therefore, while these aren't the "real" exams, the grades are very real and the tests matter a lot.

On Thursday we proctored the biology exam (which is a 30 minute multiple choice exam - I was very surprised by this) and the English exam.  The English exam has 4 parts: listening comprehension, reading, grammar, and an essay.  It was quite challenging and probably wouldn't be a walk in the park even for a fluent American student because it was not entirely straightforward.

On Friday morning we corrected the English exams and then left school early for Copenhagen!  

Copenhagen was lots of fun and I really enjoyed being there again.  It was fun to get to be the tour guide a bit this time, since I'd been there for two trips before.  Though of course I still had to rely on my phone a lot.

I want to make sure to post this tonight, so here's what we did/saw in Copenhagen in list form:

• Tivoli
• Rådhuspladsen (our hostel was just a few blocks away)
• Strøget, including: Illums Bolighus, Hay House, Magasin, the Disney Store, the Lego Store, and more
• Ny Havn, including a Canal Tour
• Christiansborg
• Amalienborg
• Frederik's Church
• Danish Design Museum which had this particularly interesting exhibit 

Photo from the aforementioned exhibit:

On the left is an ostomy pouch designed by the Danish company Coloplast.

On the right is a plate designed by the Danish company Royal Copenhagen.

• Manfreds og Vin
• Rosenborg Slot
• National Gallery
• Christiania

Cool fact I just learned - this year is the 200th anniversary of the Danish folkeskole!  This system was originally established (and made a requirement for all children) beginning in 1814.  

Today I taught my final biology lesson here in Denmark.  It went very well and I'm quite proud of my students.  Several groups were able to write their whole lab report in English, which is extremely impressive, particulary considering this was also their first official biology lab report (they're in 7th grade)!  I am very proud and hopeful that they now know a little more about the bacteria they encounter every day.  

Finally, below is a reflection I wrote for one of my weekly reflection assignments on my vision for a good school:

I chose to write about this topic because this week we have been introduced to even more examples of the Danish education system, which has revealed the key components of the Danish vision for a good school.  I do think that to a great extent, this vision aligns well with my vision for a good school.

First and foremost is the importance of community.  At least from my observations, this is the central guiding value of the Danish education system (and perhaps even Danish society).  Community is also central to my vision for a good school.  This has become increasingly apparent to me because I often find myself saying: “wow – X is so great here, but it would be very difficult to put that into practice at home because we don’t have the sense of community they have here.”

This community feeling seems to be established and maintained with three key elements: small & tight-knit groups, collaboration, and creativity & playfulness.

The small & tight-knit groups are created throughout the education system.  They are present in primary school (such as Østervangskolen) at secondary schools (such as Favrskov Gymnasium) and even at the uniquely Danish “Højskole.”  First, they are most obvious in the class sizes, which seem to reach a maximum of 28.  Second, they are present in the fact that students stay with their specific group for years.  Third, this manifests itself in the size of the class (as in year) as a whole, which doesn’t even get close to our class sizes even at the Gymnasium!  On the next level, this is present in the size of the school as a whole.  This translates over to the size of the teaching staff, which is relatively small and particularly tight-knit because teachers teach multiple subjects.  Finally, the fact that teachers teach the same class for multiple years further reinforces this tight-knit community.

I really believe strongly in these small and tight-knit groups.  Occasionally, I am skeptical because it provides fewer opportunities for teacher-specialization and fewer opportunities for students to meet different people, if they do not get along with the standard crowd.  However, I think the positives outweigh, and sometimes negate, the negatives and believe that this is a part of my vision for a good school.

Collaboration is also established throughout the education system.  It is present in nearly every class session as group work is a common theme here.  The schools are designed to encourage and enable collaboration, as they have space to work and study outside of the classrooms.  Favrskov Gymnasium especially had great examples of this: it looked like the areas outside of the classroom were just as conducive to studying and learning as the areas inside of the classroom and this was to encourage student collaboration.  There were even lab benches in the halls! 

Collaboration is also fostered between teachers.  For example, since teachers don’t have their own classrooms, they see each other multiple times a day in the staff room and have a chance to support each other and talk about opportunities to work together.  Since the schedule is different every day, they have different prep periods every day, so they may sit next to a new teacher each day, therefore supporting even more of that community collaboration.  Again, Favrskov Gymnasium even went a step further by having staff workrooms with randomly assigned desks.  This meant that each teacher had a space to work and plan lessons near a randomly assigned group of other teachers.  All of this encourages a lot of collaboration between teachers.  I believe this collaboration (between both students and teachers) is a key element of my vision for a good school.

Finally, creativity and playfulness are two linked elements that I believe are crucial to fostering the feeling of community that I am referring to.  This creativity and playfulness is not as immediately apparent here.  I would say that, when present, this feeling is arguably more obvious at home.  However, I think it is present in the schools here just in a more subtle way, overall.  It is very apparent at the Højskole where creativity and playfulness are almost a focus of the school as a whole.  I think this contributes to the sense of joy about learning and acceptance of each other as a community.  A specific example of this at Østervangskolen came up when one class was having social conflicts.  Instead of punishing the group, the school staff decided to deal with this by having one fun social activity for the class a week.  There is a feeling that playfulness and creativity are a natural aspect of being human and that it can and should contribute to the school community, not take away from it.  

Jutland for Breathtaking, Surprising, & Magical Experiences

First off, I have to apologize for my silence over the past week.  It's been a busy week full of so much learning and so much teaching.  I am so thankful to have been so busy, but sad that that meant that this blog (and therefore my ability to share my reflections) had to take a backseat.  Just like last Sunday, it's late and I'm teaching all day tomorrow, but I couldn't let a whole week go by without anything, so here I go:

I've had the incredible opportunity to teach every day this week!  Monday I taught biology all day - the lesson/lab about bacteria.  Tomorrow my students get to look at their results and from the sneak peek I made on Friday, I think they'll be pretty excited.  Also - it snowed!!!

Very excited at seeing the snow after we got out of school (our school in the background)

Tuesday, I taught more about first crushes with Michael in our 9th grade English classes.  We also all had the opportunity to attend a full staff meeting, which was extremely informative.  We ended the evening by watching Denmark beat Austria in the European Handball Championship, which is currently going on here.

Wednesday, Michael and I gave presentations on the U.S. to three classes that had prepared questions for us, so we had a great time trying to answer everything they ever wondered about the United States.  Sometimes it feels like a lot of responsibility - we're just two Southern Californians trying to tell people about this huge country!  We try to do our best to represent the country while also representing ourselves.  Sometimes that can be a challenge.  After school, the four of us got to attend a meeting about Special Education here, which blew our minds.  More on this later.

Thursday, Michael and I taught a lesson in our 9th grade English classes called "I think I might be gay."  It was a pretty powerful topic for an English class.  I didn't really register until we began how important this topic was to discuss in a class and how lucky I was to be in a place where I could!  At times the discussions felt a bit superficial, but overall it did what it should because it gave the students a chance to grapple with this topic in an academic setting.  Michael and I also returned to the 7th grade English class we'd worked with the week before because they'd requested us to return!  There they were writing letters to their brand new Canadian PenPals.  

Friday, Michael and I continued the topic in our 9th grade English classes by showing them two "It Gets Better" Project videos because some had been wondering about the attitude towards being gay in schools in the U.S.  I thought the videos would be a nice way to exhibit current stories and trends.  In our 7th grade English class we worked more on food vocabulary.  One group and I played a game where we taught each other vocabulary!  It was fun to practice some of my own Danish food vocabulary, while testing their much more advanced English food vocabulary.

After school on Friday, Allison, Brendan, and I went along with some of Allison's host family to Randers (a city just North of Hadsten that is the sixth-largest city in Denmark).  We had hoped to go ice skating, but apparently it was snowing too much to keep the ice clear, so we had to abandon that plan.  We did get to walk around the city of Randers, which is very cute.

Saturday was our big adventure!  The plan was to go to Skagen, but we the snow had been increasing, so we weren't sure how far we would make it.  We set out early Saturday morning and drove a pretty harrowing drive to Hjørring, which is in the Northern part of Jutland.  There we had a break at Thomas's father's house (Thomas is my host father) and then he joined us and became our driver.  Since he grew up in that area and is a driving instructor, he felt relatively comfortable at the wheel despite the ever-increasing amounts of snow and lack of visibility.  Our next stop was a hill in a town called Bjergby (Mountain City).  We all climbed out and eagerly began frolicking in the powdery snow.  It was deep snow and the perfect type for playing in.  We climbed up to the top of the hill (often very deep into the snow on the way) and from there could see all around the Northern part of Jutland.  Apparently, if it had been clear, we'd have been able to see the ocean (and Skagen).

Allison at the top of the hill.

Brendan frolicking in the snow.

I love snow!!!

Our next stop was a summer house that is owned by Thomas's family.  It has a direct view of the ocean and the Northern coast of Denmark.  Here there was also a lot of snow and it was so strange to wade through snow to get to the beach and then once there to walk on frozen sand to the ocean.  It was a breathtakingly magical experience I will never forget.  

The beach.

The wind had created this pattern in the sand, but the cold had frozen it in place.

Allison coming out of a German WW2 bunker that it right by the shore.

Michael frolicking in the snow.

Berries covered in snow on the walk to the beach.

We ate lunch there and then continued our journey to Skagen.  The town of Skagen is beautiful.  It is the Northern most city in Denmark (and we were soon to be standing pretty much on the Northern most point of Denmark).  Skagen sticks way out, so as you drive there the land becomes narrower and narrower.  It feels a lot like driving to P-town on the Cape.  The town is also reminiscent of the Cape because it's clearly a summer town and was pretty quiet at this time of year, but still cute and beautiful.  Most of the buildings are yellow with red-tiled roofs (see the Wikipedia page I linked to earlier).  Skagen itself was breathtaking and a magnificent example of the force and extreme beauty of nature.  My phone died while there (I think due to the bitter cold wind?!) so I'll have to steal Allison's photos and post them in a later post.  I did get a few photos before my phone refused to deal with the harsh weather.

You can see the tip if you look closely.

The light here is beautiful and why there are many famous artists (especially Impressionists) who call(ed) Skagen their home.

Stones that look like they are rushing somewhere because all of the loose sand has been blown away and all that is left is the streak of sand protected by the stone.  The stones themselves are perched above the rest of the sand, so as you walk, you step on the stones and not the sand.  It is hard to explain, but not when you are feeling the force of the wind on your face.

Our final stop was Råbjerg Mile, which is a moving dune (read more on the Wikipedia page).  It was also breathtaking - particularly with the snow and the wind.  I will let pictures describe it.

*Note - I did not use any filters - the light really did change this much while we were there (it was getting dark - around 3:30pm?)

"And now for something completely different..." Sunday we went to a rainforest!  Yes - you did hear that right!  We went to a rainforest in Denmark complete with monkeys, snakes, parrots, and more!  It's in Randers and is essentially a giant conservatory - Randers Regnskov.  Here, I met a few friends and got to wear a T-SHIRT (my TEP Science Cohort t-shirt to be precise)!  

My friends in the rainforest...

Now off to bed, so I can teach my 7th graders how to write a lab report tomorrow!  Considering the language barriers, this could be difficult, but I'm excited for the challenge!  

What a week! 

P.S. I think I forgot to mention we also went to the only school in Denmark that trains people to become roof thatchers and talked to the future first person with a degree in thatching roofs using seaweed, who also happens to be a philosopher who quotes Shakespeare.  Denmark - what a place.

Hadsten for Teaching and Aarhus for Fun

In the interest of relative brevity, this blog post will be formatted differently.  First I will briefly touch on my daily activities over the past 5 days and then I will include an overarching reflection from an assignment I wrote recently.

Thursday (my fourth day at Østervangskolen) was spent in 3 English classes (grades 7 and 9) and in another Danish class.  The 7th grade English class began learning about food, which was fun because we got to learn about what types of food they prefer.  They include a few familiar suspects: burgers and pizza, but also include kebab and tartelet. 

The 9th grade English classes began a new unit on "First Love" and discussed crushes.  They had to define the word "crush," explain why they thought the word was "crush," write about the phrase "falling in love" and why the word "falling" is applicable, and come up with more idioms of their own pertaining to the subject.  Some students giggled, but they seemed to have a good time with the topic in general.  Predictably, the boys and girls had different opinions about the topic, but all agreed that it was well chosen, since it's something they talk about anyway.  

Friday (my fifth day at Østervangskolen) was my first day of teaching here (if you define it as being in charge of a class)!  Michael and I were in the same classes as Thursday, which felt like a relief after trying to keep track of what was happening every day. The 7th grade English class continued their study of food and continued to open up and be more receptive to our help.  We did our presentation on the American education system for the 9th grade English classes today and, in one of the classes, led a discussion about the topic from the day before: crushes.  

It was fun to have our first experience leading the whole period here.  The students were a little shy, but overall it feels very natural to find our place here.  In many ways, I would say that this transition is easier than my transition this past fall from junior high to high school.  I know that this doesn't make much sense, and I keep being surprised by this realization, but it is true.

After we were all done at school, the four of us (including a very jet-lagged Brendan - the fourth and final member of our group who was delayed four days by the storms on the East Coast) went to Aarhus to meet up with the four students who came to Santa Barbara from VIA (VIA is the teaching program we are exchanging with)!  We had a really great evening with them, getting introduced to their facilities (completely different because they're studying teaching and a specific subject, since this replaces their undergraduate degree), and seeing Aarhus at night!    

Morton (VIA), Michael, Brendan, Trine (VIA), Allison, and me 

Photo Credit: Allison

Michael, Morton, Sophia (VIA), Brendan, Allison, and me

Photo Credit: Allison

Aarhus at night

The next day was full of nature!  Allison's host family took all of us to a few places just outside of Aarhus.  We walked through a botanical garden forest (Fredfyldt Park), a deer park that is similar to a smaller version of Dyrehaven (near Philip's grandparents'), and along the ocean.  I was so happy to be next to the ocean again and it was breathtakingly beautiful.  Also, Michael and I collected sand for Peggy's collection (Peggy is a professor of ours at TEP).

The deer here were incredibly docile and nonchalant about our presence.  One even sniffed Brendan's hand!

Me with Aarhus in the background.

Looking to the East - also, for those of you in the TEP science cohort: can you spot something we recently learned about in this picture?

Today, Sunday was also spent out in nature because the sun was out!!!

SUN!

In honor of the sun, my host family took me to Himmelbjerget, which is one of the highest points in Denmark.  It is somewhat mountain-like, but it would probably be more accurate to call it a large hill.  There is a beautiful view from the top of a very large lake.  It was quite windy at the top, so we didn't stay too long - especially since we started to see the rain coming!  It was nice to catch a bit of sun first though.     

My host family (Thomas and Jane) and me!

Random fact I learned today - people fly the full Danish flag here when someone in the house is having a birthday!  People fly a small triangular version of the flag (see below) throughout the year and you can see these everywhere.  In general there is a strong feeling of love for the country.

Another random piece of information (more relevant to the last blog post) --See below for a 7th grader's schedule - I'm finally beginning to understand how the schedule works here!

Tomorrow I will be teaching biology all day - so it's time for bed!  You can view my Prezi for tomorrow's lesson here if you're curious.

Finally, if you're interested in reading something a bit more focused on my reflections about teaching practices here, I've inserted a piece below from an assignment on the topic of student engagement:

Student engagement comes in a variety of forms.  One of the most deceptively simple forms is engagement that manifests as students paying attention to and working on the task at hand. In this respect, students are remarkably engaged in and with their lessons here. 

Students are given a lot of time to work in small groups or independently.  My initial instinct is to say: “despite this, students manage to keep themselves on task and refrain from using this time to surf the Internet or chat with their friends (of course this does happen, but they are much more productive than I would expect).”  However, I think it may be more accurate to not use the word “despite” and instead say that it is because of this independence that students are engaged. 

Very little of what I have observed has been a teacher lecturing the class.  There is a very strong view here that students learn most when they teach themselves.  Students are given a lot of responsibility for their own learning and this is used as a technique for keeping students engaged because to some extent they can choose what they would prefer to work on and how they would prefer to work on it.  Further, students understand that if they don’t do their work now it will be homework and this seems to usually be a significant incentive for them.  This is unlike at home where students seem unable to appreciate a benefit for their future self over their present self.

It is difficult to compare this technique for increasing student engagement to techniques at home because (I think) it is very much reliant on several key cultural differences (see previous blog post on student responsbility).  For example, for an English lesson that I observed here, a teacher had students work on an activity from a workbook that came with the textbook for the majority of the lesson.  I have also seen nearly identical lessons at home, but the results have been very different. 

Here, the students were eager to work on their workbook activities (in fact they requested it)!  Most students happily worked in pairs on each activity.  They were very productive with their time and engaged with the activities.  They were clearly doing more than answering each question; they got excited about some and creative with others.  The teacher was able to circle the class and work with each group to assess their learning, to help those who found it more challenging, and to push those who found it easier. 

This is all very unlike home.  When I have seen a similar lesson at home, students do not engage with the subject in the same way.  Instead, students often do not stay focused on the task and take advantage of independent time as time to socialize or daydream.  Further, of those who do stay focused on the task, many whiz through the activities trying to complete them with as little effort as possible, which means they are not truly engaging with the material.  Finally, the teacher may circle the room to work with the students, but the large class sizes often prevent the teacher from reaching each student.  As a result, teachers use very different methods to engage their students and shy away from this method.  

All of this makes me wonder if what I should be looking for is not merely how the technique to promote student engagement differs, but instead why it differs and what I can learn from this difference.  I will be thinking about all of this more over the course of the next week.

Hadsten for the First Days of School!

So much has happened since my last post!  I apologize, but I am afraid this will be a very long post.  There is so much I want to make sure to remember, so I don't want to leave anything out!  Scan it and pick out the pieces that interest you and don't worry about reading the rest.  :)

My first day... On Monday morning, Jane and I drove to school (Østervangskolen) at 7:30am.  Usually Jane bikes (like a Dane) if the weather is okay but she only has one bike, so she's driving while I'm here.  School begins at 8:05am, but it takes less than 10 minutes to drive there (even though it's on the complete opposite side of Hadsten - this is a small town with only one traffic light), so when we arrived we had a good length of time to meet people and get comfortable before everything began.

The first thing I noticed when I got out of the car is just how dark it is.  It is DARK, like middle-of-the-night dark.  When I arrived at school around the same time at home the sun would be rising, so I wouldn't have described it as light out, but it's easy to forget about how significant the difference is between a little light peeking up and no light at all.  I felt like I was arriving at school late at night for an event or something.  

Once inside all of the lights are on, which wakes you up a bit.  We first went to hang up our coats (I'm sure this is a part of schools in other parts of the country too, but it would be a very strange sight at home).  Then, I was introduced to the principal and vice principal (who were both very welcoming) and we walked into the staff lounge.  The staff lounge is huge and has lockers all along one wall (you'll soon find out why these two facts are so important).  It also has: a fancy coffee machine that even makes hot chocolate at the press of a button, an endless supply of mugs, a dishwasher, a stove, and a screen with constant updates with announcements for the teachers.  

Every teacher I met was very friendly and welcoming to Allison, Michael, and me as we waited in the staff lounge for our first day to begin.  Shortly before 8am, Kirsten (a science teacher at Østervangskolen) picked Michael and me up and took us to the lab where we would observe her teaching today.  Kirsten teaches Physics (Fysik) which is actually a combination of physics and chemistry (Kemi) sort of like our "Physical Science" course for 8th graders.  There was a bit of confusion because I had expressed interest in working in a Biology/Life Science course and they had set this up, but hadn't told me and that class was doing an exam all day, so I decided to observe Kirsten's class today and switch to the biology class for next time, which won't be until next week, because of the interesting schedule they have set up.

On the Schedule...
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth graders all take Physics, Biology, and Geography (all at once).  However, they only take about 1.5 hours of each subject a week.  Before I can explain how that works, I have to explain how the schedule works in general.  Unlike our traditional school day, here every day is completely different and so far I have not seen any pattern to the order of classes.  For example, a student may have English on Tuesday during the first "period" and on Friday during the second.  The same student may have history on Tuesday and Thursday.    

I'm sure the schedule was determined very carefully and specifically, but it was not placed in a clear order or pattern, so it definitely keeps you on your toes.  This even means that some days students get out earlier than other days.  This also means the teachers have schedules that to an American teacher would feel a little unnerving.  For example, a teacher may teach science all Monday with no prep, but on Tuesday that teacher may have the entire morning off before teaching one math class.  If you remember my post about substitute teaching, you can start to see how this system would help support the substituting system I described.        

As far as I can tell, none of the classes are for more than a few hours a week, which is also why this system is possible (because no class is every day).  Instead, students are taking many courses for only a few hours a week, like their science courses.  Science is different from every other subject in a few ways (I will get to the other ways shortly) but first because the teachers have decided to combine the 1.5 hours into one block and to further combine the three sciences into one block day.  Therefore, each grade has a "science day."  For example, all 7th graders have physics, biology, and geography on Monday and then no science for the rest of the week.  This science set up is unique to Østervangskolen, but I believe the rest of the schedule I have described is common to schools throughout Denmark.

Below I have put a breakdown of the school day.  I have used the word "period" purely for clarity purposes (it is not the word they use to describe it when speaking in English).

BELL
Period 1: 8:05-8:50am (45 minutes)
Period 2: 8:50-9:35am (45 minutes)
BELL
Break: 9:35-9:50am (15 minutes)
BELL
Period 3: 9:50-10:35am (45 minutes)
Period 4: 10:35-11:20am (45 minutes)
BELL
Lunch: 11:20-11:50am (30 minutes)
BELL
Period 5: 11:50-12:35pm (45 minutes)
Period 6: 12:35-1:20pm (45 minutes) 
BELL
This seems to be the end of the school day for most students and teachers, but there is one more period for some.  Look at how early school ends (but, as I will describe in a later blog post - this is about to change).

While I'm on the subject of schedule, I have to mention one of the biggest differences between the school day here and at home: students remain in a classroom while teachers move around from classroom to classroom!  This is another way that science courses are different - because of the importance of lab equipment, science classes are unique and function like our classes at home.  For every other subject, however, each group of students has their own room.

This group of students was randomly formed when the students were in Kindergarden and remains the same until they leave the school (after 9th grade).  For example, the 7th grade class has a total of 61 students, which have been divided into 3 groups of 20, 20, and 21.  Each student has been with the same ~19 other students since Kindergarden for every subject, again with the exception of science.  Since the science classes happen simultaneously they can mix up the groups and do so using a variety of ways to group the students.

This is very special because it means the teachers have the opportunity to create groups of students that they believe will be most beneficial for everyone.  Previous set ups have included grouping by ability/achievement level, grouping by behavior, grouping by language abilities, or intentionally spreading all of these factors as evenly as possible to create three equivalent groupings.  The really wonderful thing is that the teachers are willing to change their method based on the specific needs of that group of students and to change it again as the group changes!  For example, the 9th graders are about to get new groups next week!

Finally, something else that caught my attention was the infrequency of bells.  There are only bells surrounding breaks, but not between classes.  This means that there is no strict passing period and no hurried feeling as everyone rushes from one place to the next (although, as I mentioned, this is usually only teachers switching classrooms).  The teachers and students are, for the most part, very punctual and care about the clock, but somehow time feels to move more slowly.  For example, lunch felt luxuriously long and I thought it was much longer than our lunch breaks at home until I wrote this entry.  I think this feeling is because nearly every teacher somehow finds the time to sit down in the staff room for both the break and lunch.  This is of course partly because they don't have their own rooms, but I think it is also because there is a much more humane feeling here.  Like it is acknowledged that teachers can get sick (see previous blog post), so it is acknowledged that teachers must eat and use the restroom (Gabby - if you're reading this, you'd love it here)!

Back to my first day...
Michael and I followed Kirsten to her lab where she was going to teach 3 sections of Physics to 7th graders that day.  She briefly explained that she was introducing the entire topic of chemistry today and that she would introduce us at the beginning of the lesson.  As soon as she opened the door, nearly all of the students filed in (they had been waiting outside the room).  She began by introducing the agenda for the day (including introducing us) and then indicated that she was ready for us to introduce ourselves.  Of course everything she had been saying to the students was in Danish, so the first time I think it caught us a tiny bit off-guard that, oh - now it's our turn!  However, you'd be amazed how much can you pick up from body language, intonation, and the occasional recognized word.  The past three days have been an epic lesson in that.

We introduced ourselves and explained why we were here (all in English of course) and then she launched into the lesson.  By the end of the day (after seeing it three times) I had a pretty firm grasp on the lesson even though it was in Danish, so I will describe it below, but just to exhibit how language interacts with comprehension, here were my notes from the first time round:

*Introduces vocabulary - what is and isn't "chemistry"    
*I wonder what "stoffer" is?
*Teacher demonstrates - "these are the types of things you can do in chemistry" then mixed chemicals together
*Teacher demonstrates - materials and safety procedures for the first step of the lab

This is what actually happened:

She introduced the definition of chemistry and, using a list, asked students what each one was and whether or not it counted as "kemisk stof" or chemical "matter."  This list included: air "luft," water "vand," werewolves "varulve," and Spiderman.  She then demonstrated a few key examples of chemistry including magnetism, electricity, acids, and bases.  She wow-ed the students by using an indicator to turn a basic solution bright pink, but I don't think she told them what she was combining - it was more theatrical.  Finally, she did indeed demonstrate the first step of the lab and primarily the materials needed.  They were to use a graduated cylinder to meature 10mL of HCl (saltsyre) and then pour it into a test tube (reagensglas).  They were then to add 10cm of a magnesium strip (which I was to hand to them).  Then they were to place a glass plate (glaspladen) over the top of the test tube, light a match, and quickly remove the glass plate and stick the match over the test tube.  This would create a "poof!" which several of the students were quite excited about.  In fact, some described chemistry when she asked at the beginning of the period as simply "bang!"  The lab had more steps, but she only described this first section.

The students then set about the lab.  They got into groups of their own choosing (this was new to this year - previously she had selected their groups) and found their materials.  Once I finished handing out the magnesium strips I began circling the room, trying to get to know the students, and trying to figure out what was going on (at this point I didn't even know what the liquid was they were pouring into the test tube - everyone kept calling it "saltsyre").  Luckily, the lab procedure they were following had some pretty clear pictures, so I was able to decipher the steps and communicate with the students using the cognates, the few words I knew, the pictures, and the students' English skills.  Their English is phenomenal and they can communicate, but some are shy and science has a whole new set of vocabulary that they are not familiar with in Danish, let alone English, so communication can be challenging.  However, they are for the most part, happy to make an attempt!

What I didn't realize at the time was that this was the first time the students had used test tubes and I think the second time they had ever used bunsen burners.  However, they were left mostly to their own devices to deal with this equipment safely.  Students had matches, lighters, bunsen burners, HCl, and very hot items yet somehow no one got hurt.  There was some fooling around (they are teenagers after all) and a few "ooh - ouch!" but nothing terrible, just what I might do in my own kitchen at home.  It was suggested that students wear safety goggles and some did, but not all.  Essentially, students were expected to have responsibility for themselves (and lawsuits didn't seem to be on anyone's mind).  Student self-responsibility has been a recurring theme of the past three days.  It definitely seems to play a key role in Danish education.  Of course, it must be acknowledged that small class size is crucial to this (these classes ranged from 18-25 students).      

This is already a long post, so I won't dwell on the specifics of the lab (for those of you in the science cohort it was definitely a "cookbook lab") but the point was for them to see that you put in HCl and a Magnesium strip (so Hydrogen, Chloride, and Magnesium), so you have to get out the same three ingredients.  This means that since the Hydrogen escaped as a gas, the salt that they are eventually left with must be Magnesium Chloride (by process of elimination).  This was truly their introduction to chemistry, so most of them missed a lot of this, but they did get their first exposure to chemistry laboratory techniques and to the general concepts, and I think that was the point.  It was difficult for me to fully assess their learning, because that was definitely lost in translation.

As each group finished the lab, they cleaned up their station (most groups cleaned up without prompting) and returned to their seats.  Kirsten then explained what they did and the central concepts (since many had of course gone through the steps without understanding).  After this the students had the remainder of class to read a few pages of the textbook and write three questions (spørgsmål - rapidly becoming one of my favorite words) down about the material.  

Students were allowed to leave the room during this reading period to work in the hall.  At first this surprised me, but already by today (my third day) this is beginning to feel normal.  The students do this in every class whenever they have independent or group work (which is nearly every class).  

My second day was spent following Jane to her classes.  This was three English classes and one Danish class.  In each of the English classes, Michael and I gave a presentation on ourselves, where we come from, why we're here, and on the American education system.  If you want to check it out, you can view it online here.  After each time we did the presentation, Jane had the students come up and introduce themselves to us one by one as an English exercise (and also so we can get to know our students for the next month on a more personal level).  

These were mostly 9th graders and some 8th graders.  Their English is much stronger than the 7th graders (it's pretty incredible what can happen in a year or two) and it was incredible what they were willing (and able) to share about themselves.  I was very touched by their trust; it is clear that there is a strong community of respect here and that the trust they feel for Jane transfers over to us.  This is very special and would not be easy to find at home.  The closest thing I found to it was the AVID 12 class I worked with.  It was similar in that they had been with the same group and the same teacher for 4 years, so there was a strong community and a strong sense of mutual respect and trust between the teacher and students.  However, this did not automatically transfer over to me as it seemed to here.  To the contrary, I felt it was even more challenging to earn their respect.  I look forward to working with the 9th grade English class more (which is good because I'll be working with them a lot over the next 3 weeks).

The Danish class (as in Danish literature) was incredibly challenging to observe (much harder than the Physics class).  One positive to observing a class where you cannot understand any of the content is that it makes you look that much closer and think that much harder about everything else.  Here are a few of those thoughts in list form:

1. All but three students had a personal laptop (and those three borrowed one from the library).  This seems to be the norm and the expectation by 9th grade here.  I think it is also true of most 8th graders.
2. There are lockers and bookshelves in the classroom - since this is the students' classroom, this is where they put all of their stuff.  There are even hooks for coats along the wall.  
3. Use of Google Docs is very common.  Most students use Google Docs for everything and they collaborate a lot - just like we do in our TEP classes.
4. There is a lot of independent/group work time in classes.  This gives teachers the opportunity to circle and check in with each student and/or group and they take full advantage of this.  
5. There are skylights in the classroom, along with big windows along the wall.  This is nice because otherwise we'd all miss most of the day's sunlight.    
6. Remarkably, students seem mostly very on-task. 

There are also a few things that seem to be somewhat universal:

1. Teenagers here are just like teenagers at home.  They have acne, they have braces, they are often tired and sleepy, there are shy teenagers and class clowns, there are crushes, and tight friend groups...
2. Some students work excellently in groups and some students sit in a group and, even when asked to work together, continue to sit side-by-side working independently.
3. Students always want to leave early for lunch.
4. Teachers use the same "checks for understanding" we use.
5. When teachers ask "Spørgsmål?" all anyone hears are crickets.

After school that night I learned all about handball, which is not what you probably think it is.  It is a very big deal here and was actually invented by two Danish teachers at the end of the 19th century!  Many of my students are on handball teams, so when I asked Jane what it was (because it didn't sound like the game we used to play in elementary school) she laughed and exclaimed that I had to see, so we watched about half of a game on TV.  She's also going to take me to see some of our students play, which will be fun.  She would disagree, but my oversimplified description of it is soccer with your hands.  

The first half of my third day was spent observing two 9th grade Biology classes.  It is late and this is a long post, so I will discuss more about the differences between how biology is taught here vs. at home later, but it was very interesting to observe this class and, like with the science classes on Monday, it was rewarding to see the same lesson twice and learn some Danish vocabulary along the way (biology folks can you guess what a "grønkorn" is?  Hint: it's found in the "plantecelle").

Michael and I also went to a 7th grade English class with Jane and did our presentation again.  This time we had to speak much more slowly, since the 7th graders are not as far along with their English.  I was very happy to hear from Jane that we did a good job with this and the students really did seem to follow along with what we were saying.  We got to talk with them individually afterwards as well, which I really enjoyed.

A few closing thoughts about the Danish education system thus far:

1. Student responsibility is huge.  Students are expected to be accountable for themselves and for their actions.  They are given a lot of choice and a lot of time to use as they like.  They are allowed to use their phones during class between tasks (just like I might at an average job).  They are allowed to leave the classroom and work in the hall unsupervised.  Obviously, when things seem to be headed in the wrong direction, teachers step in and it is clear that they are not unaware of what is going on, but they do truly let students make their own choices.

2. Class size plays a big role in all of this.  I don't just mean each group, I also mean total grade level.  I also think that, while there are a few immigrants, most students have very similar backgrounds and this helps with the creating the positive and tight-knit classroom community I am observing.  I am sure that some of the differences I am seeing are exaggerated because they are representative of differences between a city and a town in addition to differences between the US and Denmark.

3. Teachers have a lot of responsibility, power, and influence.  I observed two meetings in the past 3 days about various planning topics and have spoken to Jane about more, and I spoke to Kirsten about how the science groupings were decided.  These teachers really know the students and they are really allowed to have a big say in many things about their students' education.  This includes a wide range of topics including: determining additional help for those with language barriers or special needs, creating class groupings, creating the schedule, and more!  This even means that teachers are in charge of keeping track of attendance (there is no such thing as an "attendance secretary") and keeping updated on their students' personal concerns!

My final note is on the phrase: rødgrød med fløde

This is a Danish phrase that people ask you to say, mostly to taunt and make fun of you because it's impossible to pronounce.  Philip says it's legitimate because it tests your accent.  Hmph.

Anyway, I have, predictably, been asked to say this phrase many times over the past 2 days (these are teenagers, after all), BUT I feel very proud of myself because after the most recent time the student who had asked me to say it just dropped her jaw and stared at me in astonishment because she couldn't believe I hadn't sounded completely stupid.  Thanks Philip for making me say it a million times.  ;-) 

Despite how this sounds, the students are actually really nice about us learning Danish and they are quite impressed any time we can decipher or say anything.