It's a cute little school with 1st-7th grade students. One class per grade ranging from around 10-23 students. Across the playground is the Kindergarten building (ages 2ish-5). There are younger children downstairs...possibly 18 months maybe? I don't remember! However, there are three classrooms upstairs all with a mix of 2-5 year-olds. There is one class downstairs for young toddlers.
I spend time with Kindergarten-3rd grade. On Mondays I work with preschool aged students, help teach 2nd grade English, and have fun with the 1st graders during the last period. On Tuesdays I teach 1st grade English, work with 1st grade Math small groups, teach 3rd grade English, and something else that I can't remember off the top of my head. On Wednesdays I do more 1st grade Math and spend a lot of time with 3rd grade. On Thursdays I spend all day with third grade and even get to teach 3rd grade Music! How exciting! I also get to help with Special Education on Thursdays! On Fridays I help the 2nd graders with Norwegian and participate in 2nd and 3rd Music/Dance class. To me this class is like a music expression class. The children learn how to express the different styles of music by dance. I absolutely love it...mostly because the children do! At the end of the day I get to teach stuff about the U.S.A. The kids love it and it's so much fun for me to share about our countries differences and similarities! It leads to great discussions with my third graders!
I love teaching and learning at Sunde skule! It's full of awesome staff and students!!
At times the language barrier does provide a challenge, especially in classroom management. This was always one of my strongest areas as a practicum student and during my last student teaching placement. However, now that I am working with students who have little to no English, my classroom management isn't as effective. This experience is great for me though. Now I am learning just how important VISUAL cues are for classroom management! I'm not sure what I would do without them. Although sometimes I do have to resort to sternly saying, "stop"....which is not a favorite of mine...but it is one of the very few words that translates from English to Norwegian, and is surprisingly effective with some of the first graders who like to challenge me! I love it though. It keeps me thinking and on my toes! That's why I took this opportunity...to be challenged and to learn! I will say there are times that I question why I didn't learn Norwegian before I came here! :)
I still have much to learn from Sunde skule, but I can say one thing for sure, I have already learned a ton. I feel like I am already much more prepared for working with language barriers in my future classroom. Being unable to communicate with students has given me the opportunity to experiment and practice over and over and over again.
I'm starting to pick up on parts of the Norwegian language which really helps! But I've also learned how to show and rephrase what I am saying. The students have even learned the same! It's been amazing to see the students try different ways of communicating with me. Many times they ask me questions in Norwegian. If I don't understand, they use visuals or English words to help me understand. I really feel this form of communication is helping me build a trusting relationship with the students and earning their respect. I'm not trying to force them to speak English nor am I'm only talking to them in English. I'm sharing my language with them while also using their language when I can. And even though many are afraid to speak English they're speaking it more frequently. Could it be because I'm trying to speak more Norwegian? Maybe seeing me confident but failing to speak their language has given them the confidence to speak English? Hmm...I don't know. But it is definitely something to ponder.
No matter the reason I am pleased and excited with my students progress this week. The first week few third graders spoke a word of English to me. At the end of the second week I learned that two of them could speak fluent English and understood everything I said, and one of them is even an amazing translator! I believe he will be a great resource these next five weeks!
Oh and before I forget. The first week during Norwegian class many of the third graders were not to excited for me to show up when they had their hand raised. They knew it would be difficult for them to ask the question and for me to explain the answer. However, this second week I noticed many of the students actually smiling when I came over. Some of them asked me their question in English, some with a combination of two languages, some just in Norwegian, while others used visuals while speaking Norwegian. It makes me so proud and so excited to see where they will be in five weeks! So many wonderful things to look forward to!
Anyway, this is another very long post. I had promised some people I would keep my posts short! However, I start typing and I can't stop. There is so much to say and Blogger doesn't limit the amount of words in a post! :)
I hope you enjoy the read! There is still more to come. But they might have to wait until later this week!
Once again, tusen takk!
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