First Day
During our first day at the Swiss school my travel buddy Olivia and I realized just how different the classroom management was. After 45 minutes the students always get a ten minute break, and for lunch they get an hour and a half break. The breaks appear to influence the students abilities to stay focused and interested in what they are learning. The time often spent in American classrooms telling students to be quiet could potentially be instead used for breaks; the Swiss children were very quiet while working, even when working in groups. During these breaks it is important to note that the students were free to do mostly whatever they wanted. Many of the boys and girls were play- fighting, nothing serious, Olivia and I could tell that it was all play and that things wouldn't get out of hand; the explanation the Swiss teachers gave us for allowing this was that the children exhausted all their energy. From what I observed, this appeared to be true.
Another thing I consider to be worth noting is the amount of natural light, and creativity in the room. Art work was hung up all around the room to support the children's creativity, it gave the room a very cozy feel. The windows took up three-fourths of the walls and therefore let in all the light the classroom needed. The natural light made the classroom more pleasant than the glow of fluorescent lights in American classrooms. This atmosphere also could've contributed to the pleasant attitudes of the students. The video to the right shows the classroom while the children were singing during music.
I'm eager to learn more from the Swiss school as the three weeks continues on,
-Caroline
The Gym
The gym is huge here, and the students have extremely nice (and tons!) of equipment to use. Olivia and I have been told that the students often say that P.E. is their favorite class, and after playing badminton and floor hockey with the students I can see why! All of the students are engaged in whatever sport they are playing which is sometimes not always the case in American schools. I've seen many students in America complain about P.E. but I think if American students were able to participate in sports like this, they would enjoy P.E. more. There is a wide range of equipment so I think the students get to play a variety of activities throughout the week. It's also impressive how well the students work together while playing sports. I'm not entirely sure what they are saying in German, but their tones are friendly and it sounds like quality teamwork. The students keep score, but they don't get too upset over an unsure point or losing.
An Emphasis on the Arts
One of the things Olivia and I have greatly enjoyed seeing is the numerous opportunities the students have to create works of art. We were able to observe the "handicraft" class, and were amazed by the students' skills. The variety of projects the students were able to accomplish was impressive; the students were working on sewing pillows, and we looked through a binder full of pictures of other student creations. These pictures weren't of drawings or paintings, but of things like bean bag chairs, painted wooden hangers, and even embroidered towels! The creativity the Swiss students show is clearly nurtured and encouraged here.
The handicraft room is full of all kinds of crafting supplies: sew machines (yes plural!), fabric, ceramic tiles, paint pens, etc. I can only imagine how much all of this crafting equipment costs. Earlier in the week, Olivia and I had commented on how outdated a lot of the school's technology seemed; for example, they still frequently use blackboards and old projector screens. After observing the handicraft class, it's clear to see that the school spends its money on the arts rather than technology. I am quite fond of this idea. Handicrafts teaches these students a lot of hard work and patience in my opinion. One of the students said she had been working on sewing her pillow for an entire month, and I'm sure at first she struggled but the pillow turned out very cute. Many of the other students were still persistently working on their pillows and were very focused on their work. There are quite a few students in the US that struggle with patience, and if we spent more time in schools practicing things like handicrafts, maybe our students would have better patience.
As I said, Olivia and I were quite fascinated with all the different handicrafts, so I'm including a link to a gallery of the pictures I took of the handicrafts class.
-Caroline
A Final Reflection
For one of my classes back in the US I had to write a reflection on the aspects of Swiss education that I thought would be good to bring back to US, as well as practices I liked that I could not bring back.
I really enjoyed the unique instructional practices I observed and Switzerland; in fact, I enjoyed them so much that I’ve considered opening a private Swiss-style school in the US (when I have a lot of teaching experience and money of course). I’ve considered opening a school like that because I think there’s a lot of things the Swiss schools accomplished that many US schools could not. There are however some instructional practices I will be able to include in my years of public traditional school teaching, such as: frequent ten-minute breaks, and multiple subject integration. Some of the practices I think would be difficult to achieve in an American public school are longer lunch breaks, more open classrooms, and less money being spent on technology.
One of the instructional practices I observed in Switzerland that I really liked was the structure of the schedule. The school in Wadenswil had 45-minute lessons then 10-minute breaks after each lesson. The amount of lessons depended on the day, but the 10-minute break seemed to really refresh the students after every lesson. Then during the lessons, the students were focus and ready to work hard. Students in the US would likely gain similar benefits from having a school structure like this. Another practice I think could be effective in the US is integrating multiple subjects. For example, while teaching English, art was integrated into the English lesson. To be honest, the integration was so flawless that I wasn’t sure if English was being integrated into art, or art into English. The result was positive for both subjects, the students had good English and nice artwork. This could be done in US schools with many subjects I think.
A few practices I thought were great but would struggle to be implemented in the US were longer lunch breaks, more open classrooms, and spending less money on technology. Longer lunch breaks would be a good practice because they made the day seem less stressful and draining. School sometimes feels so long and exhausting in the US and I didn’t feel that way in Switzerland; school might become more enjoyable for students if they don’t feel so drained at the end of the day. The classrooms in Switzerland had so much natural light that sometimes I felt like I was basically outside. Which again, adds to enjoyment of the school day. Requesting for less money to be spent on technology seems odd at first, but the schools in Switzerland seemed contempt with having chalk boards, but having more resources for music and art. I’d personally rather have a piano in the room than a smart board. Spending money and time on art projects like sewing also teaches students patience, which is much better than technology teaching students to be impatience.
An important self-reflection I had while in the German school in Wadenswil was that while I do enjoy the German language (I’ve been trying to learn some!), I love speaking English so much more. After observing several lessons taught in German and trying super hard to figure out everything that was happening, I realized how truly frustrating and difficult school must be for English Language Learners in the US. Most of the time, even though I was trying to concentrate, I would zone out during lessons simply because I did not understand. I have a lot of respect for ELLs that can successfully learn in English speaking classrooms in the US, and I don’t mind them speaking their native language when they feel like they need to. One of the students in Switzerland whose native language was English told me that she was glad Olivia and I were there because “she was encouraged to speak English again,” because usually she wasn’t allowed to aside from English lessons. This made me upset for her, and I realized that I never wanted to tell my ELLs to stop speaking their native language again. I’ve definitely been more conscious of my ELLs since I’ve returned from Switzerland.
