Rugtvedt Skole

I visted Rugtvedt Skole in the afternoon of November 10, 2008. This school is a first through tenth grade school and has around 350 students. One of the teachers told me that the enrollment has continually decreased and they are struggling to have work for all the teachers. The enrollment problem seems to be similar to many small towns in that as the students graduate they typically move to the larger towns and do not return.

I taught two tenth grade classes in the afternoon. The first class was the Extra English class. When the students enter Ungdomsskole they can choose to begin learning a third language (in most cases this is German, French, or Spanish though there is a growing trend to learn Chinese, Arabic langauges, and Turkish) or the students can choose to go more in depth in English. The Enrichment English was meant to offer students who might be intersted in studying English in the videregående or in university, it has turned into more of a remedial class for students who are struggling in English. This was the first time I was invited to speak to an Extra English class and I did see a dramatic difference in their language confidence though not much in terms of their language abilty (though it was difficult to tell because they were so quiet). The Extra English class barely talked at all and when they did many turned bright red in the face and spoke so quietly I often had to ask them to repeat themselves which only made matters worse.

The other class I taught was absolutely adorable. They were chatty and funny and made some really great comments about the US and the inquiry stations. For example:

• America seems like a really great place, because any place you travel theres something to see. [sic]
• They have nice nature, funny movies, different people, lots of sports, and good food. [sic]

And my personal favorite:

• It’s many people and they like to eat and fight. Everything they have is big and every one like to party. [sic]

This group aslo asked some really great questions. They started with questions about education in the US:

• Er det uniform på på skolen? (Do they have school uniforms in the USA?)
• Are there strict rules for behavior in the schools?
• Hvor lange går de på skolen i USA? (How long do you have to go to school in the USA?)
• What do the cafeterias serve at American schools?

They of course also asked me about Obama:

• Have you ever met Barack Obama?
• Do you think America will be a better country now that Obama is in charge?
• Do you think Obama is in danger of being killed?

And then just some random questions about the US:

• What do you think about Americans non-healthy eating?
• What happens if you are really ill and need surgary and can’t pay for it?

The host teacher at this school was super sweet and showed me the textbooks the students use in English. I was suprised to see Romeo and Juliet as one of the reading assignments. When I asked her about that, telling her that this age group in the US reads the text as well and often struggle with it, she explained that there are some groups that she chooses to just skim the play as it is very difficult for the students. That her goal is for them to be aware of the play and how the language sounds.

She also showed me a two-page sheet that gets sent home with the students each week (see scanned image below). This sheet explains what the in-class and out-of-class work is for the week and what the students should know by the end of the week. The students then can self-evaluate themselves to determine if they accomplished the learning goals for the week. I loved this and felt like it was a great idea to take back to the US.