My cheeks hurt from all of the smiling on my first day of German school! The "pupils" were all so sweet, eager to learn and excited to see me. The fifth graders decorated the room with handmade cards and sang me a song - I'm a big big girl in a big big world...fitting. You're probably thinking, did she sample the Bier before school? No. :) Here's a little background on my host's school - it's an all girls Catholic private school and most student have relatives who also went to St. Marien.
St. Marien was an interesting first impression of German education. The basics are the same - kids learn, kids graduate, kids move on. But, the setup is a bit different. In Germany, every fourth grader is tested and placed into either the Gymnasium (grades 5-12 for smarty pants kids), the Realshule (grades 5-10 for average kiddos) or the Middle Schuler (grades 5-8 for the bottom 20%). Their placement is based on test scores and the fourth grade teacher recommendation, and they have the opportunity to move up the food chain with higher test scores at the end of 8th or 10th grade. Almost all students in the Gym end up at the (free!) University, about half of the Realshule middle class go on to the Gym and then attend the University, and almost all of the Middle Schulers end up at trade school or labor intensive jobs. It is an interesting tracking system that has pros and cons - more on this later!
This school is a Realshule, but it's connected to a Gym, so an easy transition to move up. Her school is very teacher driven - lots of lectures and very few student activities or movement. In fact, in all of Germany, the kids don't move at all - the teachers do! This does cut down on the hallway traffic, but how on Earth would I transport the Chameleons! The technology in German schools is very limited. Most rooms only have a overhead projector (similar to the ones colleague Corey put outside his room for "free" pickup, and barely any have a ceiling mounted one. There is also no wifi - let me repeat - no wifi! I'm dying a little inside.
After school I have some very brief (but needed) free time before my host finished with her music lesson. We did more shopping, ate more German chocolate, ate more ice (cream), and visited of course, more churches. The highlight was Quasimodo's view of Regensburg! We climbed to the highest bell tower in the city and even though I couldn't me ring it, the view made my day! We then met up with a friend of my host who had been to Tempe as both a student and professional exchange. It was so great to talk with her about Tempe and hear her stories - the Sister City program is huge and I am so grateful to be a part of it. I feel like my involvement is just beginning and I'm so so excited about the future!
Then we headed to my host's 75 minute orchestra practice while the rest of the group went to watch a risque German musical. This would have been a cool experience, but as I'm learning, I can't plan everything in this trip.
I went for a much needed run after the rehearsal and realized I am very grateful I can run and have this time to really appreciate everything around me - everything I am fortunate enough to see. :)
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