This blog post is part of my assignment for the UNC School of Education as I explore and learn in Germany.
Was the learning environment more student-centered or teacher/textbook driven?
The learning environment at my placement school, Elbinselschule is a mixture of student-centered and teacher “driven”. I placed driven in quotations because the focus is not placed on the teacher, but she is an integral part in guiding and directing student learning. I would call it teacher “guided” rather than teacher “driven”. I have also observed students sitting in a big circle where the teacher placed a number using tens sticks and ones and they had to identify what number it was. Most of the lessons I have observed are guided by the teacher, but the students are never sitting for too long. The teachers here do a great job of gauging student engagement and know when it is time for students to be actively involved and when it is time for them to listen to instruction. I have been very impressed by the kinesthetic learning I have seen thus far. It is typical to see students spelling words using their bodies, using manipulatives during math, and playing games to learn.
A specific example of the student-centered learning is when students play this fun game that is totally led and directed by them! The game is called “What’s missing?” A group of cards are placed in the middle of the circle. Each card has an English word on it. Students then go through and practice saying each English word. Next, they discuss what the word mean. Then a student will say “Close your eyes!” to the class. It is now their turn to take one of those cards away. That student then says “open your eyes”, all of the students open their eyes and then intently look to see which word is missing. Then the student picks another student to say which word the think is missing. Once a student picks the correct word that is missing that are asked to put that word in a context clue sentence. It is so much fun being in this school and learning so much about how to apply student-centered learning to a classroom while still providing that teacher-guidance that is developmentally appropriate for scaffolding and supporting first grade students.
Did the environment focus on application rather than knowledge acquisition?
Thus far I have seen more of a focus on knowledge acquisition and students reaching the proper product over a focus on application and process. But I have a theory to why this is. Many problems that focus on application and process use lots of words to explain what they want the student to do. Since most of the day is taught in English and students are right in the midst of developing their English vocabulary, I do not think they would be able to work through such complex problems in English. I am not saying they aren’t smart enough, because they most definitely are. What I am saying is that these students are really focusing on basic concepts and words right now. Once they reach a strong level of English vocabulary, then, I believe the teachers will be able to focus more on applying concepts. The language acquisition skills they are developing right now is hard enough as it is. Throwing in these deeper thinking problems would be information overload and quite frustrating for most students.
What kinds of materials did teachers and students use and how do these compare to instructional materials used in North Carolina?
Students work in workbooks in areas of German and Math, which was surprising for me because while at Morris Grove Elementary, I never saw students work directly from a workbook. The students also read many German and English books. In particular, the English books they read independently are the Oxford Reading Tree Books. These books are leveled, similarly to the leveled books we use in North Carolina. The teachers read to the children very often at Elbinselschule, just as I witnessed in North Carolina. I have seen read alouds using Pippi Longstockings by Astrid Lindgren, The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, and The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry, to name a few. SMARTBoards, Computers, and iPads are not used to support learning as is the norm in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
On a side note: Students also get to do centers in Germany as well, but they are done in different way. I watched as students were given a list of 6 tasks to complete in a class period. Thus, students roamed around the classroom. There tasks consisted of:
Was the learning environment more student-centered or teacher/textbook driven?
The learning environment at my placement school, Elbinselschule is a mixture of student-centered and teacher “driven”. I placed driven in quotations because the focus is not placed on the teacher, but she is an integral part in guiding and directing student learning. I would call it teacher “guided” rather than teacher “driven”. I have also observed students sitting in a big circle where the teacher placed a number using tens sticks and ones and they had to identify what number it was. Most of the lessons I have observed are guided by the teacher, but the students are never sitting for too long. The teachers here do a great job of gauging student engagement and know when it is time for students to be actively involved and when it is time for them to listen to instruction. I have been very impressed by the kinesthetic learning I have seen thus far. It is typical to see students spelling words using their bodies, using manipulatives during math, and playing games to learn.
A specific example of the student-centered learning is when students play this fun game that is totally led and directed by them! The game is called “What’s missing?” A group of cards are placed in the middle of the circle. Each card has an English word on it. Students then go through and practice saying each English word. Next, they discuss what the word mean. Then a student will say “Close your eyes!” to the class. It is now their turn to take one of those cards away. That student then says “open your eyes”, all of the students open their eyes and then intently look to see which word is missing. Then the student picks another student to say which word the think is missing. Once a student picks the correct word that is missing that are asked to put that word in a context clue sentence. It is so much fun being in this school and learning so much about how to apply student-centered learning to a classroom while still providing that teacher-guidance that is developmentally appropriate for scaffolding and supporting first grade students.
Did the environment focus on application rather than knowledge acquisition?
Thus far I have seen more of a focus on knowledge acquisition and students reaching the proper product over a focus on application and process. But I have a theory to why this is. Many problems that focus on application and process use lots of words to explain what they want the student to do. Since most of the day is taught in English and students are right in the midst of developing their English vocabulary, I do not think they would be able to work through such complex problems in English. I am not saying they aren’t smart enough, because they most definitely are. What I am saying is that these students are really focusing on basic concepts and words right now. Once they reach a strong level of English vocabulary, then, I believe the teachers will be able to focus more on applying concepts. The language acquisition skills they are developing right now is hard enough as it is. Throwing in these deeper thinking problems would be information overload and quite frustrating for most students.
What kinds of materials did teachers and students use and how do these compare to instructional materials used in North Carolina?
Students work in workbooks in areas of German and Math, which was surprising for me because while at Morris Grove Elementary, I never saw students work directly from a workbook. The students also read many German and English books. In particular, the English books they read independently are the Oxford Reading Tree Books. These books are leveled, similarly to the leveled books we use in North Carolina. The teachers read to the children very often at Elbinselschule, just as I witnessed in North Carolina. I have seen read alouds using Pippi Longstockings by Astrid Lindgren, The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, and The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry, to name a few. SMARTBoards, Computers, and iPads are not used to support learning as is the norm in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
On a side note: Students also get to do centers in Germany as well, but they are done in different way. I watched as students were given a list of 6 tasks to complete in a class period. Thus, students roamed around the classroom. There tasks consisted of:
1) Jump a number on the trampoline!
2) Practice writing numbers in the sand!
3) Use the abacus to make math problems with a partner!
4) What does the number look like in tens and ones?
5) Make your own number riddles and have a partner answer it!
6) Count from 1-20 as you hop along the numbers
I thought this was so cool. The materials used in these centers included math manipulatives, a trampoline, sand, and an abacus! I have never seen a trampoline in a classroom in North Carolina!
2) Practice writing numbers in the sand!
3) Use the abacus to make math problems with a partner!
4) What does the number look like in tens and ones?
5) Make your own number riddles and have a partner answer it!
6) Count from 1-20 as you hop along the numbers
I thought this was so cool. The materials used in these centers included math manipulatives, a trampoline, sand, and an abacus! I have never seen a trampoline in a classroom in North Carolina!