Strand Skole

In the afternoon of the 25th, I visited Strand Skole in Osen, which is a small town of about 1300 people. The school itself was a 1st-10th grade school of about 110 students. I did a two hour lesson with the 8th and 10th graders combined (about 26 students in all). There were two parts to the building (and yes that is a mini rock wall on the left hand side of the building in the picture above).The older students meet in the separate smaller building shown below.

The lesson I did for the students was the "Who is Barack Obama?" This group was extremely good and I enjoyed the entire 2 hours presentation. There English was strong, the were engaged through the whole lesson (they even chose not to take a break), and their final products were some of the best. I am wondering though if some of it had to do with my scaffolding. This time I gave the students a glimpse into what we were going to do before they went into the stations so they had a purpose for the note taking. I also slowed down the directions and took them step by step through what I wanted rather than gave it all at once. It will be interesting to see if this is the difference or if this group of students was just really strong. I will be doing the same presentation next week so I can test my theory then.

Here are some of the examples I got from the students:

The two illustrations above are actually the closest to what I was wanting from the students this whole semester. They created an image that had several facts that they brought together from what they learned about Obama today.

I really liked this one for many reasons, but mainly because when the girls stood up in front of the class to describe their picture they said the one negative comment I heard this whole year about Obama. They said, "we put the 'Yes I can' phrase above his head because we think that with all this attention he might get a bit full of himself."

This illustration like the other 4 also included several facts that they learned and this particular caricature was interesting.

In general I had a lovely day working with great students. The teachers at Strand Skole made a hot lunch for each other. So I had a delicious carrot, tomato, onion, and celery soup. Apparently they are trying to lose weight and this soup helps. They gave me the recipe so I may have to try it at home. Regardless it was very pleasant sitting with the teachers over a bowl of warm soup while it snowed outside. Days like this make me think that teaching in a little school would be exactly what I would love to do the rest of my life.

I did email the White House office and shared some of the experiences I have had here in Norway and offered to share some of the pictures the students drew as well. It will be interesting to see if I get a response. I would love a letter from Obama to the students here, but I didn't outright ask for one which was probably not a good idea. So I will just have to wait and see.

Vik-Bessaker Skole

On February 25, 2009, I visited Vik-Bessaker Skole in Bessaker, Norway. Bessaker is a town with the population of 200. So it is not surprising that Vik-Bessaker Skole has a total of 15 students. Because of the population, this school has 3rd -7th grade this year. I met with both groups of students: the 3rd-4th and the 5th-7th grade. I did the Regions of the United States lesson for both groups.

Both lessons went great. The students were very quiet, but they enjoyed the read aloud (which is not surprising since they could look for objects in the illustrations) and they liked drawing the pictures. However, I did have one little boy in the second class (5th-7th) who chose not to draw anything at all. He could not think of anything to draw and did not seem to like any of the ideas his fellow students or I gave him.

Here are some of the drawings the students made about the US. Remember the prompt was one thing you know about the US:

3rd and 4th grade drawings

A big city with a McDonalds on the corner. This one was done by the Latvian student who just moved to Norway this summer.

This was after I introduced myself, but I thought it was cute that the girl drew it for me!

5th, 6th, and 7th grade drawings

I love these small schools and the multiage classrooms. There is something more personal about there education. It seems more like a family and less like a cattle herding.

Brandsfjord Skole

On February 24, 2009, I visited Brandsfjord Skole which is a small town outside of Bessaker. Brandsfjord Skole has 36 students from grades 1-10. They are divided in multi-age groups of 1st -4th grades, 5th-7th grades, and 8th-10th grades. I met with all three groups and had a really nice day.
I started out with the 1st- 4th grade students. I had to create a new lessons for them as all of my other lessons would have been too advanced. So I began with a read aloud. I had planned one book, ordered it from Amazon, and it never came in. So instead I used American Adventure by Michael Garland.

The story is of a young boy who is on a scavenger hunt around the country to see the sites. He travels to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge to Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. However, on each page there are different things to find in the illustrations, things like Uncle Sam’s hat, a bald eagle, and a coin. There are other more advanced things to look for, but I focused on those three and had the students look for them and then point them out when they saw one of those three. As all kids (no matter the age) love to be read to this was a great way to start out.

I then gave each student a map of the US and we colored the regions. I had a PowerPoint that had the map, the regions colored, and the states found in each region. I started with the West and the students repeated the state names after me and then colored in those states on their maps. I then had pictures from the region. I did this for each of the 5 regions (West, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast). After the students colored in the map, I had an envelope for each student with 5 different sites, one from each region and then the capitol. I then had the students glue the sites onto the right region. I put a 1st grade example and a 4th grade example below. I did find it interesting that the teachers (there were 3 in this class of 12 students) would come up behind the younger students and help color their picture. This was something I don't think most US teachers would do. I did go around and put a slash on the states that should be colored in a particular region for some students who were struggling, but I did not go in and color the edges like these teachers did.

4th grade example 1st grade example

After we finished the maps, I played for the students the song Fifty Nifty United States (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpUBvOeD1s). I left the song and the lyrics with the teacher and they are planning to learn it later.

All in all first grade was not as scary as I had thought it would be. The teachers were helpful in translating, the students were excited about working with me and vey diligent, and the lesson was fairly innocuous that the students were not overwhelmed. At the beginning of the class the students had all told me their names and one thing they liked to do. They also drew me pictures of one thing they knew about the US. Here are some of the pictures the students drew:

I got a lot of American flags. Though several students had to get out a picture of the flag to draw it. I got several flags that were slightly backwards (the stars were on the wrong side) and one 1st grader said, "Oh shit" when his teacher told him not to color the stripes blue.

This is a picture of Mrs. Obama created by a 3rd grader

This is Obama and his family (and yes this 2nd grader thought it up on his own!)

Another 2nd grader and his picture of Obama.

This was a 4th grader and her illustration of Mini Mouse.

This was a 3rd grader who illustrated 9-11

This has to be my favorite. First off this was done by a 1st grader who came up with drawing Obama (in case you didn't recognize him) all on his own. I think the part that makes me laugh more than the hair, is the anatomically correct depiction of Obama.

After I visited the little ones, I moved to 5th-7th grade. I guess I am just a middle school teacher at heart, because even though I thought the little ones were cute, I felt like the best work came from this age group. It might be just because I know what makes 11-13 year old click, but regardless I thoroughly enjoyed this class—though they quickly reminded me about how smelly this age group is. Even though the snow fell all day, we had to open the windows to air out the room a bit! I did the “Who is Barack Obama?” lesson with this group and they only needed a little translation (mostly the youngest girl, the 5th grader). The students did a great job with the stations (actually better than the next class of older students). I did find it funny how this age group just flipped right over the somewhat nude pictures in the magazines that generally stop of the older students!

They then created great portraits of Obama. They wanted more time, so the teacher gave up part of the next lesson so the students could continue to work on them. Here are their portraits:

The last class of the day, another lesson on Obama, was the 8th-10th grade students. This group, too, was incredibly well behaved and a good group. They worked well together and even though they were not as motivated as the 5th-7th grade group they did okay when it came time to share their work with the rest of the class. Their production of English seemed much more fluid and they seemed more confident. Here are the portaits of Obama that this group drew:

I really love the small schools. One of the teachers explained to me that she loved her job because even though she has to often create 3 math lessons, for example, for one group of students, she feels like she reaches all the students. I liked this way of thinking. Because the students were on different levels (mainly because they were 3-4 grades all in one classroom) the teachers had to differentiate their teaching. But rather than think of it has a deteriment, they saw it as a way to reach all students. It is almost as if the multi-age classroom forces teachers to meet students where they are rather than getting stuck in what all 7th graders should know.

The school had a small common area that the students played ping pong and blared American music during breaks. But they also climbed into their snow gear and headed out into the downpour of snow. Some kids went outside to play a modified form of baseball. They did not have a pitcher, instead they had someone who stood next to the batter and tossed the ball into the air so the batter could hit it. It was quite a good system as everyone seemed to be getting hits and there did not seem to be the complaints about bad pitches!

The students at Brandsfjord Skole were delightful. They were well-behaved and kind to one another. I was only there for a short time, but I did notice that the teachers were more hands-on in terms of the lessons (walking around, translating, helping kids with the spelling, etc.) and I noticed that there were rules posted in the classrooms and on some of the desks. I wondered if this school just has better handle on discipline or if being in a small school makes it more manageable?

Sortland Ungdomsskole

I returned to Sortland Ungdomsskole on February 18th and 19th to work with the 8th and 10th graders. I originally was scheduled to work with the 9th and 10th graders a month ago, but due to traveling problems was only able to get the 9th graders. Since I was returning, I suggested that I meet with the 8th graders as well. The school took me up on it and requested an easier lesson as the 8th graders struggled a bit. Little did I know what I signed myself up for!

On the first day I was scheduled to do five 55 minutes lessons for the 8th graders with an hour break for lunch. I chose to do the US middle/high school lesson as the students seem the most interested in that particular subject and required the least amount of English. The first group of students was pretty typical and had a lot of energy. However, the second class the teacher left 15 minutes into it and as soon as the teacher left the students shut down. They would not quiet down to hear directions, they talked back when I asked them to do something, they jumped on each other, said rude things to one another, etc. It was unbelievably the worst class I have had. I actually even told the host teacher about it because I felt that the students should have some accountability even if it is just their teacher lecturing to them the next day. The first class after lunch was just as bad, but with a teacher present (which always amazes me that the teachers allow the students to act in this way). I can’t tell if this more permissive classroom culture is because teachers feel that their hands are tied in terms of what they are allowed to do to students (i.e. after school detentions are not allowed) or because they just don’t see the behavior as disruptive. However the last 10 minutes of the class, the teacher finally pulled out the group of four who were the worst culprits. These kids had talked loudly through the whole class, called each out to each other “hey bitch,” and refused to do anything. One girl actually tore up the paper I gave her and threw it under the table. Yet after those four had gone, I realized how great the rest of the group was. One boy told me the whole class was saving money to give brain surgeries to the four that were taken out because he said they had mental problems. He was joking, but the rest of the students were seriously nodding. I am not usually so frustrated with kids in a classroom and I don’t know if it is me or them.

Paper thrown under the table

Here is one of the two airplanes I had to confiscate during the day.

Picture on the back of one of the handouts that had only a few words scribbled on the front (though the words were in English!).

This one wasn’t too bad, however I think this student would have preferred it to me worse. When she found out I was collecting the sheets, she started to mutilate the paper more!

I always say that when kids misbehave look at the teacher, so I know part of it was me in that I don’t know the students so it is hard to modify a lesson to meet their needs. But I also think I need to really rethink my stand on discipline. There has to be a happy medium between US and Norway’s philosophy. I do think US teachers go too far to the other extreme.

The last two classes were better but both had teachers who had a much stronger hand in terms of discipline, but even with that there were students in each class who chose not to participate, but they were much less disruptive.

With all the disruptive behavior it was hard to focus on the students who were participating. But when I did I found those students (who really were the majority) to be so sweet. Several were interested in going to high school in the US, asked tons of questions about schools and high school students, and about the US in general. Here are some examples of their work:

(These are really here to boost my ego for fear you will all think I am actually not teaching anything!!)


Interestingly enough, in the past most of the students always said that Norwegian schools should get warm food in the cantina and more sports and the US schools should have more breaks and more healthy food options. These comments were prevalent here as well; however this time I had quite a few students say that Norwegian schools “can increase the discipline” which I found quite appropriate considering my problems that day!

The second day I presented five 55 minutes lessons to the 10th grade on short stories. It is hard to get through the whole short story lesson in 55 minutes, but the students did a great job. They were not able to read the whole story but were still able to get some of the big ideas from the stories. I have them read the stories and come up with a thesis statement about the US from what they read. Here are some of the better examples:

• There is a lot of violence in America.
• In America some teens have to fend for themselves.
• In America, it is difficult to be Native America if you don’t look like it.
• You have to be someone to be accepted.
• It’s too easy to get guns in the US.
• Teens in the US are similar to teens in Norway.
• Its not easy being different [in the US].
• In the US you only get one chance.
• There is a lot of bulling in the US and it is not okay to be different.
  [The US is] the land of opportunity. (This one is actually funny in that it was in relation to the short story Seventh Grade in which the main character is trying to impress a girl.)
• You can’t always see what is going on in someone’s head.

And yes, since I did start with the best of the choices from today. I will also include some that were not as good:

• Only in the US are there Native Americans.
• Football is important to people in the US.
• There are a lot of fucked up people in the US.

In general the 10th graders were really pleasant. So it was a great way to end my visit at Sortland Ungdomsskole. They all participated in the lessons, were charming, attentive, and just generally enjoyable. One kid did ask a funny question: Is there a lot of moonshine where you live?

Some observations about teaching: I did talk with a teacher who was Iraqi and who has been in Norway for 8 years. This was nice to see, but I have still not seen any African or Asian teachers (other than the ESL teacher). The other observation I found interesting and I might have noted previously but teachers do not dress up for work. They often wear jeans and boots or sometimes corduroys and boots. One of the teachers explained that on Friday everyone often dresses up because they go out for drinks after work. I found this interesting only because it seems to be the opposite of our Casual Friday policy in the US.

And the last side note on this blog: The article below is an article that appeared in the local newspaper about my visit. Since it is in Norwegian I figured most of you would not be able to read it, but the quick version is that it just describes my visit and what the students thought (which they were very positive about it). If you actually want to know what it says you can email me and I will give you the more literal translation.

Rosten Skole

On February 11, 2009, I visited Rosten Skole in the "suburbs" of Trondheim (population 150,000 and the original capital of Norway). Notice the sun!!! It was beautiful in Trondheim the few days I was there and was such a welcome relief from the gray overcast skies I have had since I returned from Christmas! Rosten Skole houses 200 8th-10th grade students. They used to have 1-10th grade, but recently moved to being just an ungdomsskole. The teachers said they missed having the little ones around and hope in a few years they will return to a 1st-10th grade school.

I did three classes of 9th grade students and all three lessons were about US middle/high schools. I really enjoy this lecture the most because the students are really interested in it; they have a lot of opinions about schools from High School Musical I, II, and III; and the engagements I have planned makes them feel like they are having fun when in reality they are learning and talking English. Some of the things the kids focus on in the pictures is the fact that the students all wear IDs, that in one picture a teacher is handing out candy, that there is a TV in the classroom, that the classrooms are very cramped and untidy, and that the kids take a limo to prom, and that there is a weight room in the high school (which they wondered how Americans can be so fat if all the high schools have a weight room). Here are some of the final projects the students created with my comments next to them:

I just loved this picture!

Such an important point that international students pick up from our media.

A lot of the students pointed out the need for more space in US schools.

I liked the idea that US schools should "fade away the sad punishment." The strict rules in US schools are something that the students are always amazed at.

I liked this one because of the bottom picture. The student is dreaming of a school bus and all he has is a taxi. I bet there are a lot of kids in the US who would prefer a taxi to school than a school bus! The two boys who presented this were really funny in their presentation, too, so I had to include it.

I liked this one mostly because they drew a lot from their note taking sheet from the picture pass, but I also liked the fact that they though US students should learn more about Norway.

So I made the mistake of talking about PDA. The kids LOVED this term and thought it was so funny that many US teachers don't allow students to have PDA in the school. So there were several posters that dealt with the fact that US students should be allowed to touch one another and even encouraged to touch one another!

I liked this last one because in the presentation the student was so funny. He said, "The US just needs to show some love!" I thought, How true is that in more ways than one!

Some of the other posters that were really cute were:

This group of kids was really interesting in that their English was really strong (which is not unusual in a bigger city, but I have been in so many small towns recently I have forgotten that point) and there was a bit more diversity than I have seen in many schools. One of the teachers told me that the area around the school was called "China Town" because so many Vietnamese have settled in the area. The irony was not lost on me. Norway is just beginning to deal with massive waves of immigrants into an otherwise fairly homogenous country. This was really the first time I noticed (shame on me) that all the teachers I have seen thus far in my travels around Norway have all been "ethnic Norwegian" which is what they call non-immigrants or those who are not born of immigrants. When I asked a teacher about it today, she told me that there were some teachers who are not ethnic Norwegian, but they usually are part-time and come in to teach their native language. All of this was brought to my attention after a taxi cab driver in Oslo shared with me the entire cab ride about the systemic racism that exists in Norway. He argued that it was not as violent as Germany or the US in terms of blatant racism, but it was in the system. He said it was hard to get a job if you are not an ethnic Norwegian and therefore he was driving a cab and counting the days until he could move to Australia. This is something I am interested in finding more about as Norway is beginning to see their immigrant population boom.