School Number 11

Mrs Every and Anna A infront of School Number 11

Wow, what a day!  Today was our first day to get into schools, and boy did I learn a lot!  Some things do not change between schools from different cultures...

- The teachers from both Russia and America need help from their students to run the technology.
- There are students who can be naughty in both Russia and America.
- Students are expected to learn, participate in class, and be respectful in both countries.

This morning we started off with a second grade class in music!  Right up my ally!  Imagine my surprise when one of the first things they did was to study the instruments of the orchestra.  Can you believe it?  I just finished this unit in January before I left!

Then they got out instruments to play, and the first instrument that the teacher passed out was lozhki.  Through a grant our school has a set of these, and all of our students have played them!  This is my first attempt at a video upload - hopefully it works!

Next we observed a 5th grade class in English.  You would not believe their skills, I was very impressed.  So far from what I can tell the English classes at the younger grades includes a lot of vocabulary that students would need for traveling on vacation, choosing a destination, etc.  They also have a lot of texts that include popular media.

Harry Potter reading passage

Batman, Harry Potter,  Lord of the Rings

Then we got to observe a fabulous art teacher in 2nd grade.  Would you believe they're studying butterflies just like our second graders do?

The finished product.  We loved the backgrounds too, which were completed in a previous class.

After some other English classes, we ate lunch.  The teachers were impressed to hear that our younger students are independent enough to go through the lunch line by themselves.  The cafeteria sets full meals on the tables for their students!

Wait until you hear what the students get to do for PE - I didn't get a picture today, but you're going to be impressed!!!




A couple more interesting facts for teachers:

There are 10-15 minutes between classes here, and the hallways are basically like recess.  Imagine North Woods with no carpet, nothing on the walls, and then students freely running, tumbling, and basically doing anything they want.  Quite a difference from No Talking When Walking!

Each teacher is a "class mom" for a group of students.  In speaking with Irina, this teacher is responsible for all attendance and learning concerns.  It seems like she gets at least 5 calls a night from parents letting her know that their child will be sick the next day, or that he/she needs to sit in the front of the class, etc.  In speaking with Anna A, it seems that this teacher also decides the uniform for the group - one class all had grey sweater vests, another had every student had all girls in white shirts with blue jumpers.  There are no jeans allowed, all must be dress clothes.  The 10th grade girls here today said they own one pair of jeans!