Languages at the American Overseas School of Rome

I came to Rome without knowing the language fluently, so I was happy to be placed in an English language school. The school I am teaching at is an American school called the American Overseas School of Rome. They follow an American curriculum and the students speak (or are supposed to speak) only English in the classroom. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I entered my fourth grade classroom for the first time mid-September. I didn't know if the teachers or students would really know English fluently, if the curriculum would be so foreign that I wouldn't be able to contribute, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to communicate well with anyone. All of my fears were quickly put to rest as I became immersed in the culture of AOSR, and I am happier there than I could have imagined.

My cooperating teacher is American, but has taught in elementary schools all over the world. Because her husband travels for work (I believe he works for the UN) she has taught in almost every continent, from South America to Asia. She is an incredible classroom role model because of her vast experiences, and I love hearing about all the different places that she has taught in. The students in my classroom are also very well-traveled. About half of them are native Italians, a fourth or third are American students who have lived in many different places (some have never even lived in America for more than a few months) and then the rest are a mix of students who originate from places like Israel, Russia, Chile, China, and Korea. I LOVE having such an eclectic group, and it amazes me how much these students, many of whom have gone through so many moves and life changes, are able to do.

Almost all of the students speak English fluently. All but one student have been there for at least two years (one Italian girl, Alissa, just started in September) and have grasped the language incredibly quickly. There is one boy named Francisco who grew up speaking Spanish in Chile, moved to Rome at the beginning of third grade, and now speaks fluent conversational Italian (most of his friends in the class are native Italians) and fluent English. It completely amazes me!!! He is trilingual by age 9, and he has only been speaking the last two languages for less than a year and a half.

The native Italian students speak English at varying levels, strongly correlating to how much they speak in general. One boy, Lorenzo, does not write in English very well and speaks with consistent mistakes, because he is always speaking Italian during class to fellow students. On the other hand, Angelica, who has been at AOSR the same amount of time, is a huge talker in general, and usually speaks English in the classroom, so her written and spoken English is nearly perfect. When she speaks English she doesn't even have a noticeable Italian accent, and she says words such as "like" and "um" between thoughts, just like an American would.

I think it is so incredible that the native Italians are bilingual at such a young age, though it is nothing special to the students themselves, just part of their normal schooling. The ease of which they view bilingualism is perfectly demonstrated by a conversation that I had on my first day with a fourth grader, Vittoria. She asked me where I was from and what language I spoke. I said, "I'm from the United States of America and I speak English". She replied, "Right, but what else do you speak?" She assumed that since most of the people around her easily spoke at least two languages, I would too. I almost felt a little silly telling her that English is my only language, while her and all the other students speak multiple languages very well!

Most of the teachers are also multilingual. My cooperating teacher speaks Portuguese because she taught in Brazil for many years, while the long time teachers speak fluent Italian, and others who have been there for less time are taking classes. Most teachers are native English speakers, from America, Australia, or the UK. Many of the teachers also do not stay for a long period of time, like my cooperating teacher who has been there for three years but knows that she will have to leave for another country in two more years. Most of them have experience teaching in different countries and different languages, so it is very interesting to hear them all talking about the different experiences they have had. One of my favorite parts of the day is lunchtime (and not just because I get an delicious and free Italian meal), because every week I hear a different conversation between different teachers who come from all over the world, with unique perspectives to offer the school.

I am about halfway done with my placement, and I continue to be incredibly impressed with all that my students can do and accomplish in English, whether they are native speakers or, more likely, not native English speakers. I hope that they all are able to keep their bilingualism through life because it is a great ability to have. I am certainly learning this, being an American in Rome who does not fluently speak the language!

Halloween Lesson in France

     This week at CIPEC I taught the students about Halloween again! They loved my presentation last week so this week I read two more books and taught them a few Halloween songs.  I conducted my lesson outside in the forest because all of the students associate Halloween with the small chateau where the witch “lives”.  Even though we were outside and there were so many distractions, the students were all extremely attentive.  Even though they often have small outbursts, I’m always so impressed by how well behaved my group of 3-4 year olds are.  I taught the students vocabulary such as ghost, witch, goblin, pumpkin, jack-o-lantern, costume, trick-or-treat, and scary.  They all though jack-o-lantern was a terribly funny word and insisted on calling in the Jacques pumpkin because our bus driver’s name is Jacques.  He definitely got a kick out of hearing that story.

            After teaching my lesson, the students had free time outside.  This gave me a chance to get to know the students better. I asked many of the students if they had siblings and what their siblings’ names were.  Many students had demi-siblings who were much older than them or didn’t live in their house.  I didn’t realize how many students were from mixed families and found it so interesting that the students always made sure to decipher between their demi siblings and their biological siblings. 

I also had the chance to talk to Marie-Christine about the students in the class. During my lesson one of the children started talking about his grandmother and before I knew it, everyone was talking about his or her grandparents.  One student said that her grandmother’s name is nonna, which Marie-Christine explained is the Italian word for grandmother.  After my lesson Marie-Christine explained that this student was French “but she was actually Italian”.   She pointed out a few other students who were “French but more something else”, excluding the international students.  I found this extremely interesting because nationality isn’t discussed in this way American classrooms.  Because everyone is a different nationality in America, no one is singled out for being different.  Marie-Christine was of course not discriminating against these students in any way.  The way she talked about them not being French was so matter of fact and seemed like basic facts I should have already noticed.  Besides talking with Marie-Christine about nationality, I also encountered an interesting situation regarding racism with a student.

On the bus ride home I was sitting behind two Indian boys who were fighting.  One boy was yelling at the other boy for being “too brown”.  He told the other boy that he was better than him because he was lighter and that the other boy “disgusted him”.  I immediately broke the two boys up and was so shocked by how they were speaking to each other.  In America, for the most part, everyone is very careful to be extremely politically correct in public.  Here in France, I’ve noticed that political correctness is not a priority.  Through conversations I’ve had with my host mom and with French students I’ve realized that this is simply the way their culture is.  Of course the two boys were wrong to say the things they did but they probably picked up those phrases from their parents or by walking around Aix. 

Teaching Reception in Bath, England

I am so incredibly excited to share my experiences at Widcombe Infant School in Bath, England! I have been placed in a Reception (the British equivalent of Kindergarten) classroom with 30 amazing students and my CT Mrs W. Most of the students are age 4, although there are a few who have just turned 5. Although the class is large, the school as a whole is relatively small with only 6 classes of 30 students each. Because it is an ‘Infant’ school it includes students from Reception up to Year 2, after which they will move up to the neighboring Junior school.

Every Tuesday morning I walk about 25 minutes from my flat to school and arrive around 8:30. I spend most of the day just as I would in any classroom: doing activities with small groups of students, assisting during class lessons, working with individual students, helping out during lunchtime, and reading to the class during story time. Mrs. W usually teachers two whole-class lessons (one literacy and one math) each day. Students are also pulled out frequently by the teaching assistants or myself to work in small groups or individually on letter recognition, blending, or writing. Otherwise, they are given lots of free time to explore and choose their own activities in the classroom.

My first general impressions of the English education system were that it was relatively similar to the United States’ (and in many ways it is). However, I very quickly began to see and understand many of the differences as well. For example, all of my students wear uniforms, even though Widcombe is the equivalent of an American public school. Another aspect that I found drastically different from the American public school system is that in England, religious education is taught as part of the National Curriculum (England has had one since 1988), and is usually Christian-focused. The presence of religion however, can range drastically based on how it is addressed within each individual school. I also noticed that the ethnic makeup of the classroom and the wider school is different than I have encountered in America, especially among ELL students. While the most common language of American ELL students seems to be Spanish, the majority of ELL students in Mrs. W’s classroom are Middle-Eastern or Asian. It is very different for me to be in a classroom where students are speaking a much wider range of languages from Farsi to Vietnamese.

The daily routines throughout the school day also speak to some of the differences between American and English schools. Mrs. W begins each day taking attendance by individually saying ‘good morning’ to each student and expecting them to reply with ‘good morning Mrs. W’. The students also attend a weekly ‘celebration assembly’ in which a student from each class is awarded for doing a particularly good job in school that week. Students are also given certificates for behaving well during lunchtime (one week a year-two boy was recognized for ‘using his fork and knife well during lunch’). Lunchtime in general is more formal than in America. For example, students must raise their hand and ask permission to eat their pudding (dessert) only when they have finished the rest of their meal first. It is clear that learning good manners is very important in an English school!

Overall, I would have to say that my favorite part of my experience so far is getting to know all of students, their individual personalities, and listening to all the little things they have to say. I am excited to be teaching my own lessons and attending a field trip to the local children’s theater in the upcoming weeks! I am also looking forward to learning even more about the English education system and how it compares to the United States’.

Colegio Highlands Classroom Management

Again, sorry I'm so far behind! 

Classroom Management

This week I’ve been noticing the different classroom management strategies Miss Anne (3^rd grade) utilizes in with her third graders. The classes are divided into boys and girls so boy-girl partnering strategies have been left at the door. This group is particularly chatty and not very good listeners. I’m not sure if it’s just that I’m unused to teaching this young of an age-group, or if it’s a reflection of this groups study skills, but I find that Miss Anne and I are constantly repeating directions and yelling for quiet. The students take a long time to take out their supplies, transition between subjects, and haven’t yet been able to work in silence. Someone always takes it upon himself to be the class clown. They also have the habit of when either Miss Anne or I call someone out on not behaving properly 10 other voices start yelling the culprits name. We are working on trying to get them to understand that this is not helpful.

            Miss Anne has a rewards system in her classroom where students receive little laminated cards for good behavior, good study habits, and important milestones. They say things like “used English during playground” “turned in all my homework this week” “lost tooth”. The students collect them on a little ring and when they have five they can trade them in for a reward like choosing their classroom job for the week, having Miss Anne eat with them and their friends at lunch, or bring in a show-and-tell item. The school also has a system in which students can receive either good or bad notes home in their homework diaries for their parents to see.

            One of the strategies used at Colegio is to send misbehaving students to the other classroom. So if the boys are in Miss Anne’s English class that day, she’ll send them across the hall to Miss Angel’s where the girls are having their classes in Spanish. I have mixed feelings about this because the third grade boys can be incredibly disruptive. They ignore all of the warnings Miss Anne gives them, and continue to talk and not listen even if she moves them to sit alone in the front of the classroom. And it’s not just one or two of them, but 8 or so of the 24 students. For every hour, Miss Anne typically only get 20 minutes of instruction in. But also when the students are told to leave the classroom they miss the content. It’s frustrating because Miss Anne is a very good and creative teacher, but she’s spending her whole time yelling for the boys’ attention.

            One of the other hard things is Miss Anne has tried to keep the students in during playground, but at Colegio extracurriculars like soccer practice are built into the lunch hours. Parents often get upset when the students miss the activities that they pay for the child to attend.

            One of the things I have been impressed with though is both Miss Anne and Miss Monica’s ability to weave in larger life lessons into their lectures or scolding. This week, a number of students had lost their supplies and didn’t have either their pencil or eraser and Miss Anne had the student’s laughing as she described their parents going into work and saying, “yeah that laptop you gave me, I don’t know where it is. Can I have another?” But they got the point and Miss Anne, plus Miss Anne isn’t being overly generous in giving out extra school supplies. And Miss Monica lectured her fifth grade boys this week about problem solving for yourself. If you forgot your notebook, what do you think you should do? Just sit and not copy the notes? Can you ask for an extra sheet of paper and then what are you going to do tonight? Miss Anne said it well, that the content is important, but the habits they need for life are just as if not more imperative. 

First Day

I had some trouble with the blog so I'm really behind! Sorry guys, here is my reflection from my first day in the classroom!

September 10, 2014

Today, I had my first day at Colegio Highlands Los Fresnos, a bilingual private catholic school in the suburbs of Madrid.  In Spain, schooling is mandatory beginning at age 3. This is different from the United States, where although we have acknowledged the importance of preschool education, it is not compulsory nor is it accessible for everyone.  The school teaches students up through grade 7.  Despite being a secondary ed/English major, I’ve been placed in third grade and fifth grade boys’ English & Science bocks, but the whole staff has been incredibly welcoming and the students are wonderful. I’m sure I’m going to be learning lots this semester!

One of the things I was immediately made aware of was that beginning in second grade the students are separated into boys and girls classes and then they merge together again in secondary school. For example, on one day the boys will be with the English teacher and have English, Science, and the next day be taught Spanish and History by the Spanish teacher. It creates an interesting dynamic. The class sizes are not always consistent for one. In some classes there are significantly more boys than girls or visa versa. I’ve been told that separating boys and girls isn’t all that typical in Spain, and especially not in public schools. It seems to be a strategy more specific to Colegio Highlands, than to Spanish schools.   Having one group that is smaller than another possesses challenges for the teacher in delivering enough individual attention to students. In one of the classes I am in, where the boys out number the girls by almost twice as much, the teacher is constantly trying to catch the boys up to the girls. The girls move at a much faster pace one because there are less of them, and two because with this group of students the boys are much less focused and more rowdy. A lot of time is devoted to quieting the boys down, focusing them, and reiterating directions. One of the teachers I spoke with lamented that some of her brightest students were girls and she wished she had them at the same time as some of her lower-achieving boys so that could be both good examples and help her other students. On the flip side, this separation allows teachers to cater to the learning styles and interests of the boys and girls.

            Another surprising difference is how students address their teachers. Teachers are called by their first names always. At Los Fresnos the students add the title Miss or Mr., but this is considered formal and is a catholic school tradition.  The students refer to me as Miss Amanda, but at most schools I would be just Amanda.

Content wise however, from what I’ve seen the students learn similar topics at a similar pace to students in America. The teachers use textbooks and workbooks, the students keep notebooks and worksheets, and have to write their assignments down in their homework diaries. All things I remember doing as an elementary school student. The teaching style too seems to be very similar. The teachers combine lectures and note-taking, with hands on projects, and visual and audio materials. One new development in terms of resources is that the school just had projectors installed in every classroom.

I’m excited to get to know the students and staff and am planning some opening review activities for Monday!