Nordkjosbotn Skole

On February 5th and 6th, 2009 I visited Nordkjosbotn Skole located in a small town (population 1500) outside of Tromsø. The sun has yet to make its appearance this year and it was colder than I could ever have imagined.

I visited four classes: one in each 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grades. I was really excited to work with the 7th grade students and true to my middle level background, it was probably one of the best classes I taught this whole year.

On the first day, I began in the 7th grade classroom. I did the US middle and high school lesson and it worked perfectly. The students were so motivated and excited about what we were doing that it reminded me why I love this age. The 7th graders did much better than some of the older students I have had this year and really took their time to discover small things in the pictures like ID badges and particular books the students reading (one student saw a Twilight book and got really excited because she, too, was reading it!).

The first day I also did lessons of the 8th and 9th graders. I did the textset lesson and have decided that it just is not working. I find it interesting because the Norwegian teachers always say "Oh picture books at this age, that is too simplistic for the students." But then when I have them do the textset activity, it truly is too much reading for them (or it appears that way). I began with the 9th grade and then majorly revised the lesson for the 8th grade. I structured it much more and it seemed to work better. Other than structuring the lesson more (when I say more, I mean A LOT more--including not giving them markers until they read at least one picture book, time limits on everything "you have 2 minutes to ...," etc. ), I also put into the PowerPoint several images of graffiti and tagging. That was a little cultural disconnect in that I assumed they would know what it looked like. They knew what it was (though they call all graffiti tagging) but had not had much exposure to what it looks like. So those things helped dramatically. The following examples are some of the best (most are from the second class, after I made the modifications):

I was also reminded how much the word on the back works with kids. I did it with these two classes as well and I think I will continue to use it, especially in the lessons that are a bit more dull. I like to have one activity per lesson that actually gets the kids up moving around and talking to each other. It seems to make the whole lesson go better!

The second day I started with the 10th graders and did the book-in-a-day lesson. The photos above are from when the students shared their part of the book using post-its. There were only 12 students in this class and they were so serious and quiet. I always have such a hard time with quiet classes. That being said, they did some of the best work of all the students.

The students at the school were studying Sami culture this week, as February 6th is the day Norway celebrates its native people. This included displays in the hall, special events, art projects, etc. For the week long study, the students prepared an afternoon for me to share about the Sami culture (great integration of English and history for an authentic audience!). So after the 10th grade lesson, I sat with them inside a mobile planetarium and learned the Sami story behind the different constellations. I then bundled up and walked with the 5th-7th grade students out to the lavvo (the traditional Sami tepee-like hut). There the students gave presentations on the Sami myths, traditions, and famous Sami people. They also sang songs and counted in both Lappish (the Sami language) and Finnish. The video below is of the students counting 1-10 in Lappish and then 1-10 in Finnish.

The pot in the middle of the video is over the fire and is a traditional Sami soup, beido soup. It contains reindeer meet, carrots, and pototoes and was very good.

After the lavvo they had me try on traditional Sami clothing and attempt to lasso a reindeer. It always amazes me what I would do to entertain students!!

This school was so welcoming. The younger students were excited about me being there and loved to try their English with me. Many of them gave me gifts at the end of the day. The picture below is of just a few of the crafts the students made me as gifts! Even the teachers talked about how they "couldn't get enough" of me and went out of their way to talk with me. I definitely felt well-loved at this school! Though I wish I could say it was me, I think they are just a wonderfully hospitable group and would be like this with any visitor!