Day 8: My Brain Hurts

Today I got to teach English and Arts and Crafts again.
English... was a nightmare. I started by splitting the kids into two groups. This was my first mistake for today's lessons. Half the kids were working on their Halloween stories and half of the kids started writing letters to my American students. Yeah, those kids can't write on their own! I should have realized that after watching them write their Halloween stories ( it took them three days for 5 sentences.) I left that class feeling really discouraged. I went over what Hilde thought and she had some good ideas. Some of them were writing the letters together, talking about strange words, and letting them talk about their letters together. Overall... I need to re think that lesson!

Arts and Crafts went much better. I did the Picasso face with my new improvements. That worked out well! I also told the kids if they asked me questions they could get candy. I had questions for the entire two hours! I did switch to stickers which they also loved. I am going to need some more stickers!

Hilde had me read a paper to her in Norwegian today and then she translated it... that was so mentally taxing. I don't know that I have done anything that hard in a while.

Day 7: Improvement Requires Reflection

Today I got to teach almost all day! I was very excited about it and nervous. I can teach all day, no problem... in English. But I was teaching 4th grade and they need a translator. So I didn't quite know how it was going to go.
Overall, I think it went well.
English was first. Last week when they had questions they would ask the teacher in Norwegian and she would translate for me and then I would answer. The kids got no experience talking in English. So this week I upped the stakes.
"If you ask Hilde for help and then ask me a question, I will give you a sticker." I promised the children as I showed them the awesome stickers I had brought.
"But, if you ask me without getting help I will give you a candy!" A chorus of amazement met this declaration.
Every single child got at least one candy today, most two or three. I think my plan worked out rather well. Since I don't want the kids to never ask questions I am going to switch it up next time. I will tell them that if they get help, or if they don't, either way they still get a prize. The requirement is asking me in English. This way each of the students will be able to get any help they need without fear of losing some reward.

Then the part of the day I was looking forward to the most. Arts and Crafts! I have always loved art time, and here they have designated two hours for art! It is like a dream come true! Last week we started working on our patterns and designs. This week we drew the head and started adding the designs to the paper. The kids were really engaged and I had to herd them out of the door for recess assuring them that they could keep working on it when they came back in.
As I taught this lesson I recognized some things I could do better. So I added them to my lesson plan and when I get to teach this same lesson to 5th grade tomorrow I get to try and make it better! The lesson directly relates to the Utah core standards, especially 4th grade standard 1 objective one.

There are three main things I learned that weren't directly tied to my lesson today.
1. When Hilde has students grade themselves she has three boxes they can check: I'm good at this, This is difficult, and I want to practice this more. I love the last one. It does not mean bad, it just means the student wants more practice!
2. I need a signal for when I am done with instruction so they children know when they can move. Today I used "let's go." as my signal but I thought maybe a specific clap would be better. And it would be more fun as well.
3. I need to be better at noticing students who haven't been commenting or who need a bit more attention. When I am teaching I get so involved in answering questions and teaching that I forget to look for understanding.

Day 6: Dislike, Picasso, Classroom, and P.E.

I have found something I truly do not like in Norwegian schools. There is not enough books. There are no classroom libraries, the school library contains one bookshelf. Every other Tuesday the Book Bus comes and the students can check books out from there. But I have not seen a single 4th grader with a book. I understand that America puts too much emphasis on reading and math, but I feel like Norway is not putting enough. There needs to be a happy balance.

I created a lesson plan for the Picasso head activity that I did a while ago. The lesson plan spans over 2-3 days and I have already started teaching it in 4th grade. It addresses the Utah Core Standards for 3rd grade, standard one, objective one. While I was planning after school I found out that the 5th grade doesn't have an art lesson for Thursday. I volunteered this lesson and shared it with two other teachers here. I did not realize how helpful it could be to have lesson plans already written up and ready to use and share.

I have thought about teacher desks before. Do teachers actually need a desk to keep all of their stuff? To an extent, my opinion is yes. But it does not have to be the main focus of the classroom. Here in Norway all of the teacher desks are in a common room. All planning takes place there and then teaching is done in the classroom. Most teachers have a small table to set their teaching book, but no "Teacher Desk."

The 5th graders got to go to the Book Bus today so I noticed a lot of books in the classroom. I was surprised to find that most of them were Diary of a Wimpy kid, or similar books. That is the same kind of books the 5th graders were reading in 5th grade in America. I think it is good that they are reading, but I wish they would read better books!

I got a picture of the classroom so you can see how small it is!

View from the back, and you can see the cool chairs I was talking about! 

View front he front. Their chairs balance on their desks. 

That is a large classroom in Valen school. That is not very big! 

I also got to go to P.E. today! Man that was fun and I learned some really cool games! When we walked into the gym today it looked like this:

The ladders on the wall are permanent fixtures. Other permanent fixtures include: climbing ropes, basketball hoops, and net posts. 

The first game I call:

Obstacle Course Tag!

Object of the game: don't get tagged. 

Rules of the game: you can't touch the floor, only one step in each hulahoo (in the middle of the floor), no hurting others.

How it works: One person is it, everyone else runs away. If you get tagged you have to go into the corner (upper left hand side) and jump rope 5 times, then you can go back to the course. 

Every few minutes the teacher chooses a new person to be it. 

We played to music today with was brilliant because the kids knew to listen when it turned off. 

Second game:

Flag Tag!

Object of the game: get as many tails as you can! 

Rules of the game: no shoving, no pulling on tail/flag/ tag around someone's neck

How it works: Each person as a flag (which is a loop of fabric or rope) and they stick it in their waistband. Everyone commences to run around trying to grab someone else's flag. When another flag is won that person puts it on like a necklace. If their flag is taken, they can use the necklace as a replacement. If a person has no flag at all, they can still grab someone else's and use it. 

Third game:

Toilet Tag!

Object of the game: Don't get tagged!

Rules of the Game: pull gently, don't hit

How it works: Same rules as generic tag, but when a person is tagged they have to "go to the bathroom". This means they squat down with their hand up. Someone can grab their hand and pull them "off of the toilet" and then they can run again. 

Today the person who was "it" was the teacher, and the students loved that!

Fourth game: 

(Yes, I know. "Four games? How did they fit that into 45 minutes?!"They didn't. P.E. was 2 hours!!!!)

Norwegian Base- Ball

Object of the game: get around the bases

Rules of the game: don't hurt anyone

How it works: There are four bases, home, first, second, third. All except for 6 people are line up to hit the ball. Five people are in the middle of the gym to catch the ball, and one to pitch the ball. When the batting team hits the ball they use their forearms, like in vollyball. If the ball is caught by the team in the middle, whoever caught the ball gets to switch places with whoever hit the ball. 

We did not play with a winner, but it could be changed that way if you wanted too. 

Seriously, Norwegian P.E. is the best! 

Day 5: A Little English, A Little Polish

Today I got to be in three different classrooms. 3rd grade, 4th grade and 7th grade. I would have also been in 6th grade, however they were just refreshing on how to get online to do a test and that is pretty much the same everywhere. 

In 4th grade today I got to help kids figure out what to draw. That was fun. I showed one student how to draw fire, another how to draw a flying carriage. Not too shabby. 

In 3rd grade we learned the names of fruit and berries. According to the Utah Core Language Standards these kids are in the Level 1 category of speaking when it comes to everyday objects. They can't have a conversation with me. But they can listen pretty well, though they don't understand everything. 

Then to 7th grade. By far, this was my favorite part of the day... okay second favorite part. The kids talked to me and asked me questions. They gave me foods to try and told me about what they were writing reports on. It is very refreshing to be able to talk to people. I never knew how difficult it would be to not be able to communicate well with everyone around me. 

My favorite part of the day recess. I know, typical answer. But today there was a good reason for it. Last week I had promised the 5th grade girls that I would paint their nails. And today was the day we had decided to do it. I brought my nail polish and they lined up to have their nails painted. But it did not stop with the 5 girls I promised. No, some of the boys wanted their nails painted, and then the 3rd grade girls and then some 4th graders. There seemed to be a never ending line! I told them I would have to do more tomorrow. And that is true! I also need to bring my acetone so they can clean their old nail polish off first. I won't do it for them though. They will have to do it. (I don't want to ruin my nails!)

Some things I noticed today, or rather have been noticing but stood out to me today.

- Everyone talks over each other. Whether it is conversations going on in an X shape, or someone interrupting and talking first. It is all fair game in Norsk. And no one seems to be offended by it. Which I appreciate that they aren't offended, but I think I would rather just listen to one person at a time. 

- Mental math. Most of the math I have seen here has been mental math. The students solve pretty large addition and subtraction problems (in 4th grade) in their heads. Pretty awesome. 

After school the other student teachers and I went and played football (soccer) and basketball. I had so much fun! and it was nice to get all of my energy out from the day of sitting and standing at school. 

Student Teaching Adventures in Norway

This post is not about school, but rather about my experience in Norway.

So far... the only thing I can really complain about is the tight curves on the road and the speed at which Norwegian drivers take them. But, if it was perfect everyone would live here, right?
This country is so beautiful! Since coming here we have gone on several different hikes, all of which present new breathtaking views and memorable scenery.
Here are a few pictures from the hikes I have done since being here.

The waterfall near the Rosendal barony.

The coolest glacier! It looks like it could cascade down the mountain at any moment.

A view of Rosendal from the top of a mountain.

There were so many more amazing pictures! But looking at the pictures does poor justice to the real thing. Being here is so much more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I have fallen in love with the landscape and the people of Norway. It is hard to believe that I have only been here for a week!

Day 4: Can Do Attitude!

Today was the first day that I didn't feel totally overwhelmed. I still didn't understand everyone but it was okay. I got to do some teaching which always makes me feel better. The kids also gave me a list of foods to try and I started keeping a Norsk Journal. These two things... I think made a huge different.

Before I get into those I was noticing some things that I dislike about the school system ( I had to look hard for these)
- They don't have as much technology. There is a set of computers for the entire school and everyone shares them. Yeah they only have 100 kids, but still, they could use those computers a lot! Every classroom has a Promethean board, which is like a next gen SmartBoard.
- Blackboards. They still have blackboards. I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes it is very useful to have a blackboard, other time I wish I had the smoothness of a whiteboard. Both have their place I think.
- National tests are the same everywhere. (from what I have observed). I watched the 5th grade take a national test. The only real differences were that the teachers could explain what the question asked of the student. They couldn't explain the concept, which is to be expected. But in America the teachers can't even answer any questions!
- The classrooms are pretty small. Smaller than the classrooms in the states. Hilde is in one of the biggest classrooms and it is not big. I think every classroom should have plenty of space for activities.
- Big desks. All of the desks are huge! Okay, not huge but at least one and half of the start desk size in the US. They also have these really cool chairs that are made so students can lean their chair back or sides ways and have a footrest that is bumpy. That is perfect since the kids don't wear shores in school.
- Recess. They have recess every hour. And school is out by 2 pm every day.

Okay so that was not all things that I don't like.. I only really don't like the lack of technology or the small classrooms. Everything else on that list I really love!

Foods to Try:
- fiskburger (fish burger)
- farikol (sheep, cabbage, peppercorns)
- hjort
- pinnekjott
- makrell (in a can)
- krabbe (crab)
- roykt fisk (smoked fish)
- blot kake (sponge cake)
- fiskkake (fish cake)
- orret (trout)

Norsk I have learned
liker du - (likado) do you like
ha det - (ha dey) good bye
tak - (toc) thanks
finn fram - (fin from) find
bokene (the o has a slash through it) - (bo-ken-uh) the books
gjer side - (yer seeda)  do page...
bra - (brra) good, well done
ha det bra - (ha dey brra) have it good
raud (growl the r - roud) red
sand - (sont) true
usant - (osont) false

A long vowel sound happens where there is one consonant.
short vowel sound happens if there is two conontants after.

Day 3: Hodet

Well, I now know what it is like to teach in conjunction with another teacher. And I can see how it would work. But it will take time for me and Hilde to be able to work seemlessly together. It will probably happen right before I leave. Right now, even though she speaks English, there is still a language barrier. I try to tell her something but she doesn't know what one word means and so the whole sentence doesn't make sense. We will get past it eventually. 

I taught English and Arts & Crafts today. English we sang a song about the months and practiced our verbs and our nouns. For Arts and Crafts we started the Picasso Hodet (or Picasso Head). They made their patterns, which turned out pretty cool. Some of them were really cool! Here are the ones I made. 

Next Wednesday or Onsdag we will do the head portion. I need to remember next time I do this assignment to tell the students that they can't have any white space in any of their squares and if they want white they need to have a white colored pencil. 

The 5th grade girls found out that I like to do nails and so I am bringing my nail polish stuff to school on Monday. If I were to do that in the States... I don't think I could do it in the States. 

There was a faculty meeting today, which they just called a meeting. All 14(ish) teachers were there and they started out their meeting by turning to look at me (all of them) and saying "we want to welcome you to Valen school." Then proceeded to ask for all of my free time. I now have quite a full schedule and I think it is going to be very fun. Lots of English teaching and two days of Arts & Crafts, some P.E. and some random things stuck in there. It is going to be very fun! 

Day 2: Harder than Day One

Making it through today was rough. Take away the fact that I forgot my lunch on the counter (poor pizza), and just focus on the fact that everyone around me speaks a different language. My brain hurts! I am so tired, physically and mentally. It is exhausting to be around all of this language that I don't understand. It gives me a lot of sympathy for those students who come into America not knowing any English.

Here some some things I thought were interesting about the Norwegian school system today:
- The students didn't talk at all when coming into class
- Hilde has taught the same students for 2 almost 3 years.

Some things that I realized today:
- I really need to be better at mental math!
- I can help in the classroom, even if I can't speak to them.
- It is better to grade the homework each day rather than let it pile up for the entire week.

I get to start teaching tomorrow. I am going to teach part of an English lesson and all of Arts and Crafts (with Hilde translating). Hopefully we will be good. I am doing a lesson with the Picasso Head thing that I did a while ago. This is what mine looked like and an example of the texture/pattern page. I hope that they will like it. I made some slides to introduce Picasso and translated them into Norwegian, but... I didn't know how to do the grammar in Norsk so I did simple phrases and hoped that would be good enough.

Since football is so big here, we (the American student teachers) have decided to play football everyday. WE only played for a little bit today, but it was still fun! I think I want to go for a run tomorrow. Maybe I'll have my mom send my running shoes over.

Day 1: First Day of Skole

Happy first day of school in Norway! They spell school skole, though it used to be skule. It is pronounced skool. As I went through my dad I realized a few things. I can't be afraid to sound silly. I need to try and try and try until I get it. When they make the guttural trilled r that I may never be able to duplicate, I still need to try. I also want to learn Norwegian. I want to be able to talk with the people around me. When I am speaking to anyone I am noticing myself speaking slower and with more precise vocabulary. This way of speaking required quite a bit of thinking and so I have unnatural pauses and often forget the word I am looking for. But I hope it helps people understand me better. 

I started out the day with Hilde picking me up for school. Hilde is my cooperating teacher and is marvelous! She is a wonderful teacher and is willing to ask questions and answer questions. I can tell her students really like her a lot. She introduced me to the teachers at her school and showed me around. She warned me that recess may be crazy with all 100 children that attend the school running around. I told her not to worry, back home we have 100 children in just one grade, not seven!

As class started I walked around to get a good look at what everyone was doing. Several children raised their hands and it was right then that I realized what a difference a language barrier makes. I couldn't help those kids, answer their questions, or point them in the right direction because I couldn't read their instructions or speak to them in a way that they would truly understand. It kind of hurt my heart. 

I took note of several things, but mostly what was similar or different about Norwegian schools and American schools. 

Same: The teachers counted down to let the students know how much time they had to get ready to learn. 

All of the children had cubbies for their books and equipment. 

All children love drawing, and all children can draw excellent stick-figures. Guess that is something that translates well between cultures. 

Students still learn cursive, it is just in Norsk instead of English. 

Early finishers had extra work they can do. 

Lunch is at 10:50. That was a happy discovery, it was the same time at Ellis for the 5th grade!

Attention getters such as clapping in a rhythm and the students answer in a different rhythm. 

Communicating with the parents is important. 

Different: All of the grades have recess at the same time on the same equipment.

Recess is awesome! The kids have to get their equipment and are allowed to create and fun around and play on everything. It was wonderful to watch!

They don't have every subject every day. They spread the subjects out through the week. But Mondays (mandag) are always the same and so are Tuesdays (trisdag) and so forth. 

I get to teach on Thursday. I am excited to do that! Also nervous. I wonder what it would take to get a teaching job here. I would need to know Norsk first! I want to spend an entire year here, and teaching here would be a joy!

Norway

Hi.

That is a deceptively simple world. that is what people say here in Norway as greeting. When you reply "Hi." back they assume you speak Norwegian. And that can create quite a problem.
It is a wonderful experience to be here in a country where everyone speaks a different language. I love being surrounded by the language. I sure hope that I will be able to understand at least a little bit by the time that I leave. Maybe even speak it.
We went grocery shopping yesterday and were able to find some great food, but it took a lot of guesswork. This was basically how all of our conversations went:
"Is this oatmeal?"
"It looks like oatmeal."
"What flavor is it?"
"Maybe apple and blueberry... that is what the picture is."

Rosendal Barony Rose Garden

"Sounds good to me, let's get it."

The start of the hike to the waterfall.

Yeah, it was great.

Waterfall trailhead. Hattebergfossen.

Today we went on a hike that lasted around 4 hours. Maybe a little more. Rosendal Barony and looked around. But we were really just walking past there to get to the trail head for the waterfall.

The waterfall. 

We went to the waterfall and it was so beautiful! Everywhere I looked there was something beautiful to look at. It was just like being in Southern Utah. Something to take your breath away with every blink. I think we saw the sun rise at least 3 times because we kept going deeper into the mountains. We did get to a spot in the mountains where the sun never actually hit.

The sheep.

While we were in a canyon between two mountains we got to see these two sheep being herded. There was a young woman who whistled at her dog and then the dog would change directions so that the sheep would stay on the road.
The waterfall looked pretty far away, but it turns out it was closer than I thought it was. The entire experience was awe-some. It put in perspective for me how small I am. I am just a small piece in this huge world. I am just a small piece in Norway. Together is how people are able to live.

Tomorrow we start teaching. I am going to Valen skule. (Yes, that is how you spell it) I am going to need so much help on the names. I cannot say the names of half of the people or places here. But I will be able to say a lot more by the time I go back to the states.

For now we can say that I love it here and am so excited to live here for the next while.  I already love the land and the people that I have met. I love the food (they put corn on pizza, salad, and tacos...It is surprisingly good.) and I love the view.
This picture about sums up how I feel about Norway.

A very soft, large tree.

Day 38: Last Day

Working with Mrs. Burton's and the students in her classroom has been a huge blessing. I have been able to learn so much from her as a teacher and as a person. I have been able to grow as a teacher while in her classroom and discover things that I want to do in my classroom and things that I would rather not do (though not very many of those).

As I finish this section of my student teaching and get ready to start the next one, I am feeling excitement and nervous butterflies in my stomach. I have so much to learn, but I am feeling so much more prepared for actually teaching. I am thankful for the opportunity to discover that I can actually teach.

Day 37: Challenges

There is more challenge to teaching than just the kids or the material. More than just planning the lessons and the tests and making sure that it is integrated and you have met all of the standards. That is only part of teaching. The other part is emotional and all consuming. My life does not begin at 7 am and end at 3 pm. I am not only alive in the classroom, living and breathing education. No. I am a person who has hopes and dreams, who has a life beyond the school room. And there are so many outside variables that effect my performance in the classroom. I have all of these emotions about totally different things that change my perspective or alter what I think about student behavior. All the parts of my life bleed together, as they should. But it makes it difficult to separate them. While I want to be a cohesive person, I also want to make sure that I can be professional when I need to. This is fairly easy most time, but every once in a while... it is difficult. Thankfully, I have wonderful examples and can follow them.

I went to get gifts for people in Norway yesterday... I only ended up getting gifts for the people here. I can't get a gift for someone I don't even know! I would rather get them something they will love and cherish. Something that will let them know I was paying attention to them. So I am just going to get them something when I get to Norway.

Day 36: By Any Other Name

Bitter-sweet endings. I am so excited to be moving one step closer to my degree and getting a good paying job. But I wish I didn't have to leave these kids and this school. I love it at Ellis, and I love working with Mrs. Burton. I love creating lessons and watching them either work or bomb. Then I can figure out how to do better next time.

The thing that is really getting to me right now is that I have no clue as to what I will be doing when I get to Norway. I have some paper information, some correspondence with my teacher. But in reality I am going to a foreign country to teach in a foreign school system. While this is exhilarating it is,at the same time, nerve wracking. Very unnerving to be looking forward to this.

Teaching is something I have wanted to do desperately. This semester I have felt that I can truly do this profession. In my level three I was certain I was going to be a failure no matter what I did because there was too much to do. There is still too much to do, but I have seen how to work through it, how to pick out the parts that are most needed. I now know that I can't do everything my first year. I have to just figure it out one step at a time.

Day 35: Evaluations

I only have 3 days left at Ellis Elementary. My teachers keep telling me they don't want me to go. Good self-esteem boost for me.

Mrs. Burton and I went over some of the evaluations she did on me today. I am always surprised at how other people see me. They notice things that I don't notice. Which is why other people evaluate me and not myself.

Speaking of evaluating myself, I need to take a video of myself teaching and then watch it and critique myself. I want to do that this week so I don't have to think about it when I am in Norway. There are a lot of things I don't want to think about in Norway. Like how I will be nearly broke. Or how I won't have all my own things. This is crazy! I am going to Norway really soon!

Teaching today was a kind of eye opening. I have learned the value of changing the volume of my voice. When I drop down to a whisper it throws the kids off really quickly. They don't know how to act. Being loud is natural for me. I can talk over all of them. But that is not the goal. The goal is to keep the kids engaged and learning. And a great way to do that is to vary my volume.

Day 33: SEP Prep

SEP prep day today. I was amazed at how wonderful I felt. I loved being there and getting ready. I felt peaceful. It helped me to see that I love all the parts of teaching. The challenge of creating engaging lessons, seeing those lessons through to the end and then seeing if the students understood. The organization it requires to run a classroom with 25+ students. The many different ways I can express myself and what I love through my classroom and teaching. The challenge of developing relationships with parents. The monotony of grading. The structure of a schedule I love it all. This is how I feel now. Maybe one day I will need to look back at this post so that I can remember.

I sometimes think that I am different from everyone else. I won't burn out. I won't do this stupid thing. But I do. I may be different, but I am similar enough that if I don't make a considerable effort I probably will burn out. And I am not okay with that. I want to help the children to love to learn. I want to make sure that I can provide a safe spot for kids where they know how the day is going to be.

Just to reiterate, I love 5th grade. I was so sure that I would hate it. And I am surprised more and more every day how much I love it! Those kids are so smart! One thing I didn't want was the rebellious side of the kids. One thing I failed to realize is that with structure and firm rules, that rebellious side is minimal. Very manageable.

Day 32: Desk-less

I love teaching. Even when it is hard. It is a challenge every day. Every day I have to try to do something different and new while still keeping it the same. That is a difficult thing to do, but one that keeps me on my toes and keeps me wanting to try again tomorrow. I know that no day will be the same, and that is wonderful.

Something that worries me is parents. I don't know how I will communicate with parents and keep them informed about things that are going on in their classroom. I understand that I need to have a good relationship with the parents of my students, but I need to figure out how to do that.

I was also talking with Mrs. Burton today about a deskless classroom. How would that work? I read this article a while back and it has stuck with me. When I start my own classroom do I want to have a desk at first? Do I want to take the desk away later and see what the difference is? Well, I guess I don't really have to decide until I actually have my own classroom. It is difficult to plan for anything when I don't know where I will be or what I will be teaching.