Greetings from the Pliensauschule in Esslingen! The pliensauschule is the name of the elementary school that I was so gratefully given the opportunity to visit. Mentally prepare yourself because this blog is going to highlight the many things I've learned while a guest there. Let's dive in! -In German schooling, not everyone goes to High School. Their schools start from 1st grade and go up to 4th grade. Once you've reached 4th grade, your parents and teachers collectively decide whether you should go to middle or high school. Middle school would be for those students that may not have performed as well in school and need a fast route out into the working field so there, they would learn a trade or a specialized education for a work field. In high school you would basically be educating yourself further in preparation to attend a university. Those students would be the more academic types. Which my host and I agreed is a lot of pressure to put on a ten yr old but in the long run doesn't necessarily effect things like pay wage but instead sets a plan of action sooner. If you take the middle school route you can always take a test to get into high school or university if you so wish so the paths aren't set in stone but I found this to be an interesting difference.
-In this specific school their was two language prep classes for those students who may have immigrated and weren't ready to dive into complete German language courses. There was a 1 yr preparation class for those student who may not have language delays but any delays such as fine motor control or attention deficits. There were no special education classes or really any students with disabilities in this school because inclusion is relatively new in Germany. The school has 1 social worker. -They color code their classes by paper color so Science worksheets would be green and English worksheets would be blue. This is to help the students keep track of their paperwork because their coursework mainly consist of worksheets. -The school is very old fashioned, their is little to no technology use, they write on chalk boards and the wall colors are mainly pastel, cool or plain which adds a calm tone to the environment. There are school bells to signify when students can enter and exit the building. -Their playground consists of wooden equipment, slides and jungle gyms. They use woodchips for loose material and the rest is made of a red tarry substance which adds a spongey element in case of falling. During break which their are several in a school day, the students MUST go outside and play and this is carefully monitored. -The students learn things such as cursive writing and cartography at a young age. -The schools separate waste by paper, plastic and compost. -The students wear boxy backpacks that are supposed to be beneficial for posture and they mainly wear clothes that states English remarks because English is fashionable although they don't know what it says. -There is no AC in schools or really anywhere in Germany. Many of the students live within a five minute walk of the school so there really isn't any transportation to school either. -They have a LIBRARY BUS. Its like a tour bus that has been renovated inside with book shelves so a few times in the year the bus comes to school and the students get to go on it and pick books. Which I thought was neat because they don't ever really have to go far. While there, they also had a sports day which is the equivalent of our field day in which we walked about five minutes to a big field and played games. -In regards to teaching, the students have to raise a finger to be acknowledged where we raise a hand. The teachers use a lot of direction cards to signify the plan for the day and also use objective maps which depict their starting point (preknowledge) and their end goal. They then place the activities they complete during that unit along the path to show students how they got there. Their school days begin at 730 and their periods last about an hour. Depending on the number of classes a teacher or a child has they may leave early. They too, have after school programs similar to the boys and girls clubs in Buffalo. I hope these bits of information give you a small taste of all that Ive learned while being here. Till next time, Cheus!
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AuthorGreetings! My name is Wynter and I am currently a senior studying Early Childhood Education. I enjoy working with children of all ages and backgrounds and it is for this reason that I am eager to travel to Germany. I'm beyond excited to experience the German way of life in and outside of the classroom and share with you the sights and wealth of information gained from this extraordinary opportunity. Archives
August 2019
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