Kindergarten

I was trying to figure out how I wanted to work with the 2-5 year-olds. At the moment I am only with them one day a week and it sounds like I will be rotating from classroom to classroom every two weeks. 

The first day I visited the students wanted to see where I was from on the huge map on their wall. I showed them and explained how I got from my home to their school. One of the teachers helped translate! Then the kids started pointing to the hundreds of pictures on their map (representing different states, countries, landmarks  and such). They wanted to know what the English words were for each picture. I think we went through 40-50 pictures before we had to transition. 

I decided to use this eagerness and interest and use it to my advantage. With the limited supplies I had in Norway I created these animal flash cards:

On Monday, October 28th I was sitting at the table with a group of 4-5 year olds. I couldn't understand everything they were talking about but I did hear one child make a monkey sound. I asked the teacher, “Monkey?” She confirmed they were talking about monkeys. I decided this would be a great opportunity to introduce the animal cards. I already had the animal flashcards in my pocket. I pulled them out and found the monkey card. The minute I took them out of my pocket the kids were so intrigued. They weren't quite sure what I was doing but loved the animal drawings. 

I showed the monkey to the kid and said, “Monkey.” He laughed and said monkey in Norwegian. 

He then wanted to look at all the pictures, as did the rest of the table. I started showing the animal cards around the table and had them repeat the animal name. They loved it so much they had me do it over and over again.

Awhile later during free choice I showed the cards to a few students who decided to work on the words again. They helped me try to say the Norwegian words. I think my confidence but my inability to say the words gave one of the five-year-olds the courage to try to say the English words. He sat with me and said both Norwegian and English words for each of the animals. I’m curious to see if this will continue at a later date. 

I think the children find it very interesting. I just feel like only visiting them once a week isn't going to give them the practice they need to really learn the words before I leave. Maybe instead of worrying about them learning English words I should focus more on them just speaking English when we do these activities. For most of these students it could be the first English they've been exposed to. Some are only two-years-old! 

For now I am going to continue what I am doing and change it with the interests of the children. If they get bored then I'm going to try another activity with animals or maybe to transportation cards instead! I get to spend time with them tomorrow morning, maybe this will help me decide!

Well, this is another long post. It's time to quit typing!

Once again, tusen takk!

Sunde skule!

Well October 21st marked my first day at Sunde skule. Here is a picture of the entrance side of the school...



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!

Random Walk

I took this photo last Saturday, October 26th. If I remember correctly we were headed to the town center area of Rosendal. We stopped in quite a few shops to gather trinket and gift ideas! So many things I want to buy!! 

This is just walking up the driveway from the cabins. The middle school is next to the white building on the left. Pretty impressive scenery! 

Professional Development Day

While the other girls had the day off Jennifer and I headed to school for Professional Development. And boy am I glad we did!! Even though there was a language barrier I learned so much. It was a great opportunity to see how another school in a different country works through a meeting. However, the most surprising part of this experience was learning that Sunde skule uses PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports). I had observed PBIS back in the states but had no clue it was in international use. It sounded like the school had recently begun using positive reinforcement (or putting more emphasis on it anyway).  

They do have a school wide positive reinforcement system that I still don't fully understand yet. I know that when students are behaving or following the directions the teacher gives the individual a special green card. They collect them and place them in their baskets.  I still haven't figured out what they do with the green cards once they have them. I've asked but I think it's getting lost in translation. I will try again this week! 

While they were discussing PBIS they were also working on their school rules. The school broke into teams and they each had to decide on rules to add, edit, or remove. Then each team had to share their rules and role play one in front of the class. They were actually role playing how you would teach the rule. If I remember correctly the teacher is supposed to teach the correct behavior, show the wrong behavior, and teach the correct behavior again. So anyway each group demonstrated how they would teach the skill/desired behavior. It was great to see their strategies as well as their personalities come to play during the role playing!

Oh, I almost forgot! Before the role playing we had some delicious cake....image to follow....

I think this might have been Marzipan...but honestly not sure. However, it was delicious! If I understood correctly the cake was in celebration of someones acceptance into some type of educational union. 

After some cake tasting Jennifer and I went to the different small groups I mentioned earlier. One of the stops was in the kitchen....to keep this blog post from running too long I will simply say, we made hot chocolate for everyone. Unfortunately even when I was being very careful I managed to boil the milk over...I should not have filled my pot so high. However, everything was fine..besides having to clean the mess! Before we served it we decided to test it ourselves....

It was delicious!! So we began serving the hot chocolate and marshmallows. Some were a bit confused with adding marshmallows to the hot chocolate. Oh, let me add these teachers drink a lot of coffee....a lot of dark dark black coffee! I think the idea of drinking sweet hot chocolate with added marshmallows was a bit silly! But they seemed to love it. I enjoyed watching some of them poke the marshmallow! Ah, the little things that make you smile!

Anyway, Jennifer and I ended the school day reviewing our first week with the faculty and staff. It was a great opportunity to share how thankful we are to be at Sunde skule! Seriously, this school has been so welcoming! I couldn't imagine being at any other school. I love the staff and students and am so happy I have been given this opportunity! I am blessed to be a part of this program and am excited for the next five weeks! 

It was also great to hear how they felt about having us at the school. The headmaster (principal) said every morning he thinks about how much of a blessing we are to them. I may have almost cried...but I kept strong! It is evident that the school is excited that we are here. At this point I'm not sure who is more excited and thankful! 

I can't say enough how blessed I am to be given this opportunity, especially here and Sunde skule! I don't want to even think about saying goodbye in five weeks. We're just going to pretend that day isn't coming!

Well, I really need to wrap up this post. I am so behind on my posts that I need to start the next one. But I will leave you with the last picture I have from professional development day....

This is the view form our bus stop in Huesnes. Jennifer and I are dropped off here after school each day. Some times we get to shop around before catching the bus. This is just the view straight across from the stop. There is sooooo much more to the North and South ... (well right and left). I will try to take a better picture! But can you imagine....mountains behind your town shopping center? I know I can't...I live in Iowa!

Anyway, it's time to put this post to a close!

I hope you've enjoyed this very long read!

Stay tuned for the next post....that I think will be about the school and/or my first lesson!

Tusen Takk!

 

Catch Up

Hello from Norway! I'm sorry I was behind on updating this week. I've been working on lesson plans and enjoying Norway!

So the first post is going to be a recap of some of the things my blog is missing. The first is about the awesome hike we took on the second day in Norway!

One of the cooperating teachers showed up at our door in the early afternoon. I answered it in my pajamas...we were all in our pajamas! She asked if we wanted to go on a trip. We decided, why not. So four of us put some street clothes on and started for the trip.

Turns out it was actually a hike up one of the mountains, Skalafjell.



So we began the hike....

It was beautiful!!


Part of the way up...before the challenging part.



Some of my hiking companions, Kim, Jennifer, and Marianne.



Getting closer to the top!



Made it to the top!!



Signing the book!!



The other direction!



The awesome sign/arrows at the top!

It was a gorgeous trip. I have plenty of pictures that you can check out on Facebook or when I get home! It was a beautiful day and now I can say I hiked a mountain in Norway! I enjoyed it and hope to do it again before the snow comes!

Stay tuned for more catch up posts!!

Tusen Takk!

Life in Sunde and Husnes

Hello from Norway everyone!! The following are some pictures from Wednesday and Thursday of this past week. The first picture is of our office! It is actually the copy room but the headmaster and staff at Sunde skule were so worried about us having a work space that they rearranged the copy room! We have a nice view of the bay and the front entrance of the school. We get to watch the kids while they're at recess, if we're in our "office" at the time. As you can see our desks are pretty bare at the moment. We were still working on a final schedule as we are teaching more than one subject and in different grade levels. Jennifer is teaching 4th-7th grades and I'm teaching Kindergarten (Norwegian preschool) - 3rd grade. I will primarily teach English in each grade but get to spend a few weeks teaching music (all of my former music ed professors will be thrilled) as well as a unit on the USA. I will also help teach Math in 1st and 3rd grade. I even get to assist in Art and Norwegian (which is the most difficult for me). It's been a great first week at the school getting to participate in each classroom. Sunde skule has been so welcoming. I am not sure who is more excited the staff or myself! 

On Thursday three of the teachers took us out for a traditional Norwegian dish called Komle. They warned us that not all foreigners like this meal. I was a little worried but from how they explained it I figured it would be delicious. BOY WAS IT! The plate consisted of sweedish turnips, smoked ham, smoked, sausage, and the actual Komle, topped with bacon! The komle is a ball of flour, salt, and powdered potato. Some people put light syrup on top of the Komle. I ate it both ways and LOVED it!! Check out the next picture for proof!

Yea....it's safe to say I liked it....maybe loved it! Eating Komle is actually a Thursday tradition in Norway. Guess what I will be doing each Thursday? EATING KOMLE!!! One of the teachers also offered to teach us how to make it. I'm hoping to cook it when I get back to Iowa!

After eating Komle Thursday night we went to the shopping center in Husnes where we wait for the bus each day. We had about an hour to kill so we decided to walk around the larger shopping center. As we got upstairs we realized some of our students from Sunde skule were performing in a brass ensemble, pictured below. It was fun seeing the kids outside of school. They were very excited to see us!

It was a great week in Sunde and Husnes...stay tuned for another entry about my weekend! :)

Tusen takk!

Fall in Norway

I always thought Ames in Fall was so beautiful, there wasn't anything prettier. WRONG! Fall in Norway trumps Fall in Ames by thousands of points. The picture above isn't even close to what the bus ride home looked like today. It was simply gorgeous. Orange, red, yellow, and green trees followed the fjord as waterfalls rushed down the mountains on our right. Why did people migrate from Norway to the U.S.A.? Really? This is a beautiful country!

Our commute is about 35 minutes from Huesnes to Rosendal. When we reached our bus stop today Jennifer and I had to take pictures with the waterfall in the background. It's been raining a lot this week so the waterfall is overflowing which means we can see it so clearly. Check out the picture below!

I love it! This may be my favorite picture from the trip so far! I don't have much time tonight as I am trying to get some work done. This weekend I will write a couple posts regarding my first week at Sunde Skule. I've been working with Kindergarten (ages 2-5) through third grade. It has been very exciting and boy do I have stories to share! I love the school, staff, and students! They are fantastic and I am so happy to spend these seven weeks with them!

Check back for more this weekend!

Tusen takk!
(Thank you)

-Ashlie