Usually teaching the week before a school vacation is hellishly annoying, the kids don't want to be there, they just want to play games or watch movies, not learn new things or discuss a current topic. Not to mention the other teachers, who are just as ready for a break as you, but are determined to teach something, whether the students want to learn it or not! This week was not one of those weeks. I think it probably has something to do with the fact that we JUST had Christmas break, and now we're having the semester break (a week off between 1st and 2nd semesters).
A few weeks ago I was teaching a 5th form at Bad Vöslau (about 15 yrs old) of mostly boys and I had some games for us to play to review for their test. This class is really rowdy and hard to control, and that day was no exception, in fact it was to the extreme. They took the two games I had planned, and made them all about sex and bodily functions; I know that boys in this age have their brains permanently stuck on these topics... but I've never had to deal with this while trying to teach. One of the games involved some drawing, so I'm sure you can imagine how those turned out. Anyway, the class got in trouble with their usual English teacher and their class teacher (like a homeroom teacher); they were told that if they didn't behave themselves the next time I came that I would no longer teach their class. Their teacher told me that the class (mostly the girls, who were well behaved and embarrassed by the boys) wanted to apologize to me for the class behavior. I was in their class again on Tuesday, and they were very well behaved. They even handled themselves appropriately when talking about Valentines day and writing about their ideal Valentines date.
That night I went to see STOMP in Vienna with a group of 5th and 6th form students from Bad Vöslau. One of the other teachers invited me to go with them, and it was so much fun! The show was in a big long theater in the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna. We were sitting pretty far back (see the last picture in my photo drop), but we could still see and hear everything they did on stage. If you've never seen/heard of STOMP it's a really cool show where they play (mostly percussion) music with everyday items like brooms, buckets, pots and pans. They also dance and play out sketches while making music, and they also used themselves to make music (as in clapping, slapping their legs or chest, and stomping). It's really entertaining, there were lots of comedic moments and audience participation.
I've been getting more chances to really talk with my students (not just an in class discussion) lately, of course they all want me to speak German, and I do gladly! Today for the first 15 minutes of a class there were only 5 students there (the rest were at an English book fair with the teacher), so we just chatted in German about life, foreign languages, and Austrian dialects. The students all insisted that I'm fluent in German, but most of the time I don't feel that way, although I am getting better at using the "formal you" forms (which is hard since it's a totally alien concept in English). It was fun talking about and mimicking the different dialects around Austria (and some from Germany as well). They were saying that people from Tirol always add an "ee" sound (or something similar) at the end of their words, and I pointed out to them that people around here add an "l" at the end of everything. They had never noticed it before, but as soon as I said it they couldn't help but notice it too.
My other class today was good, but it was sort of a hard topic. Earlier this week the teacher came to me with an article from ORF (Austrian news) about "Law and Order" in US Schools. It came off as very one sided and extreme to me, and I noticed that they got the news from The Gardian in London, which according to Liz is a pretty right-wing newspaper. I went and read the original British story, but I couldn't finish the article I was so frustrated. It was also extreme, sensationalized and totally one sided. A lot of news here about the US puts us in a pretty bad light, because they don't look at the fact that the US is huge, and that most of our daily lives are governed by the state and not federal government, so whats happening in Florida isn't the same as what's going on in Oregon. In this article they looked at schools in Texas where some schools have taken having police in their schools to the extreme, and made it seem like in all schools across the US students could be arrested for something like throwing an airplane or putting on perfume. The teacher wanted me to do this article with them, but there was no way I was doing that, I couldn't even finish the thing myself! Instead I asked them what they knew about American schools from TV and movies and I told them about my experiences (as a student and a teacher) in Wisconsin schools. We discussed a bit of what was in the article, how they need to be aware of what source they're getting their news from, what biases there might be in the news, and also that the US is huge and made up of 50 different states, each with their own constitution, laws and policies (not to mention smaller local governments).
Now I have to go pack for my trip to Hallstatt and Salzburg! It's going to be cold (it's been a cold week here!), so I bought winter boots and I'll be packing my long underwear. You might think I'm crazy, since I could've gone south to someplace sunny and warm, but I want to see snow in the Alps, plus Hallstatt is one of my favorite towns in Austria, and I've never been there in the Winter. I'll be back home in Baden on Tuesday to post my pictures and adventures.
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