JENESSA
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
JENESSA
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
43 days, 7 countries, 10 cities, and countless memories later...my time in Europe has come to an end. For those of you who don't know, I decided to extend my IPDS Germany trip by 4 weeks and travel Europe with friends and family. After visiting Berlin, Stuttgart, and Munich, I traveled in Prague-Czech Republic, Vienna-Austria, Budapest-Hungary, Paris-France, Colmar-France, Lucerne-Switzerland, and Barcelona-Spain. My time abroad was filled with the most incredible experiences, food, laughter, and life. I am so thankful for my time abroad, but boy am I happy to be back in Buffalo. After having several weeks to reflect on my time in Germany, I was able to truly decipher what I felt benefited me the most. The one aspect of this experience that I talk about the most when people ask me how my trip was is my host family. My time with my host family was amazing, and I have formed relationships that I will have for the rest of my life. I am so thankful for the IPDS Germany program for giving me that opportunity. I also have learned so much from being in the classroom in Germany, and in my evaluation I talked quite a lot about how much this experience impacted me. It taught me so much as a future educator and as a person. I have been a teacher candidate in several schools and I have witnessed ELL Students and have seen their struggle but never really understood it. For the first time in my life, I was the person in the classroom who was disoriented by the different language. I was the one with the pounding headache trying to decode every single word that they were saying. I was the one who was frustrated for not being able to understand what they were saying. Finally. I understand what it is like to be a student in a classroom who struggles to understand what the teacher and their peers are saying. I now know what it is like, and understand why they have to put their head down in the middle of a lesson and need to escape. It is because of this experience that I believe I am more capable of working with ELL students. I believe I could create a nurturing, fulfilling environment for them where they won't feel frustrated. This was by far my biggest takeaway from the entire experience, and it is a lesson that I will never forget. Of all the excursions and cultural experiences, it is the classroom that prevails. I wish I had more time with those students, and more time to learn from Tanja's incredible classroom management techniques. I filled an entire journal in my five days in her classroom. Her techniques and ability to run a classroom are inspiring to say the least. She makes me want to be a better teacher, and makes me excited to have my own classroom rather than daunted by the task. I could go on forever about this experience, and honestly, I'd like to. But to keep it short and sweet, I am so thankful for this experience and everything that it taught me. I will forever encourage others to partake in an experience like this, because it truly is life changing. You do not understand the impact and benefits that come from a study abroad program until you participate in one. The relationships, memories, and lessons that I have made throughout this experience are ones that will stick with me for life. I am so excited to share about my experience, and am thankful that I had this opportunity. Thank you to all who have supported me, read my blogs, and encouraged me to participate in this program. I will always be grateful! Vielen Danke!
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My last days in Germany were well spent to say the least. I learned to make every second count, and gained a better understanding of how precious time is. From having dinner in a castle, to making my own chocolate bar at Ritter Sport Chocolate Museum with my host family, I left Germany feeling extremely fulfilled. My last day in the classroom was more emotional than I expected it would be. Tanja thought it would be best to not tell the students that it was our last day with them, so at the end of the school day, we received our usual hugs from the students and "see you tomorrow", however that wouldn't be the case. When Tanja came home from school the next day, she told us that the students were in tears because they were so upset that they didn't get to say goodbye. The bonds that we made with these students over such a short period of time were amazing. Of everything that we did, I truly think that the most beneficial part of this opportunity was being able to be in the classroom with Tanja. I learned so much about the German education system, as well as so many classroom management techniques that I could bring into my future classroom. I gained such a strong appreciation for teacher-student relationships, and the importance of creating a nurturing learning environment.
On the last day with my host family we went to the Ritter Sport Chocolate Museum. We had to pretend to be under 17 because that is the age limit for creating your own chocolate. In a room surrounded by six year old children at a birthday party, I felt a little ridiculous, but spending that hour with my host brother making our own chocolate bars, it was so much fun. Almost everyone in attendance spoke German with the exception of me and a few others, so it was very challenging to listen to all of the history in directions in another language. However, I do feel that at the end of my two weeks in Germany, my ability to understand German increased immensely and I was really impressed with myself. I felt proud that I was able to understand the majority of what they were talking about, and no longer got a headache from trying so hard to process it all. Those last few hours with my host family were so incredibly special. On our last night, I bought the fixings for tacos--ground beef, taco shells, onions, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, black beans, corn, etc. and made my host family a true Sheridan-Style taco night! They had so much fun with it, and we all enjoyed it so much. It was nice to bring a little piece of home to Germany, and I was so glad that they enjoyed it. They told me that they had never made tacos at home before, so I was happy to introduce them to it! We spent our last evening around the dinner table, sharing tears and a lot of laughs too. We talked about how we would come back and how they would come visit us too. We took pictures out on the balcony and laughed at our dysfunction. It was such an amazing experience. Hugging my host family goodbye was extremely emotional. Mostly because it is not certain when we will see each other again. The love that I have for my family is uncanny, and I never knew it was possible to fall in love so fast. I am so thankful for the opportunity and everything that I learned along the way, even if it isn't something related to the classroom, I learned about love and life too. I will hold these memories near and dear to my heart forever. Thanks for the memories Germany, until next time! |
About the AuthorI am a third year Early Childhood Education major at Buffalo State College. I am hoping to attend Rochester Institute of Technology for my masters program to study American Sign Language. I am looking forward to my experience abroad to learn more about my field, German culture, and myself as a person and future educator. ArchivesCategories |