My Experiences

12/4/19

It's been over a week since I last posted but, you know, I'm busy. I'm going to keep up my common structure and post about what I did each day.

Tuesday was English day! I was lucky enough to visit the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes. I gave a presentation about American holidays and our culture around sports. If you're reading this Phil, I taught them that UK is the only basketball team worth cheering for and I taught them the GOOOO C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS cheer. I loved getting to do the presentations and get the know the students through their questions and comments. It is so interesting to see what they ask. After school my teacher took Anne and I to fika at a coffee shop called Babbettes. It was so good; I had a sticky bun of sorts and a mocha latte. We sat and talked for hours with Karin and Gunilla, who is a teacher at a local gymnasium (high school). Then Anne came with me while I ate Swedish McDonalds, or as the college students call it Mackies. It was so good! It was so cheap and I even got ice cream! Mainly because the ice cream machine worked. After that we walked back home.

Wednesday was not as busy of a day for me. I watched the students in PE class. They were creating workout dances to American music. They were songs like Holla Back Girl and Up In the Club; music that a 5th grader probably wouldn't listen to because of curse words or innuendos to inappropriate things. But all the students worked the whole time. They genuinely enjoyed PE, even ones who were not athletic. After that I went to the textiles class again. I was still blown away by the level of fluency with sewing these students have. Then I did a presentation with 8th graders. They were so blown away by things about the American school system and politics and the dress codes. It is all so unknown to them and they were overflowing with questions. I finished my day by sitting in the choir lesson. The students, again, are just phenomenal. They are beginning to memorize music since the concert for Saint Lucia day is coming soon.

Thursday I presented with the other 8th grade class. The result was about the same. The were just so attentive to what I was saying and had so many questions. Then I presented with high school students. The grades are here in Sweden are a bit different so the Upper Secondary Students don't necessarily have a grade because it's like year 1 Upper Secondary School. Anyways, they were a little bit shy. They still had questions and were still really curious as to what I had to say. After lunch and fika, I had 2 English classes with the 5th graders. I am currently helping with a project "Do you think i'm lying?" Essentially they are telling a story and the class guesses if its true or a lie. But It is funny to see how some students are so ready to talk to me and others are still very shy. After school we had conferences. For Sweden, this is the equivalent of of planning meetings. We had fika and it was so interesting. So all of the teachers in the wing, grades 4th-6th, met. They started by chatting about how they are feeling. Some teachers had a great week, others were challenged and ended up crying a little from how they were feeling. It was amazing how open and supportive the whole group was. My teacher explained that teaching is hard and this is how they choose to combat they. They have a strong community where everything you say is safe and you can say how you really feel. Even though it was in Swedish and I had no idea what happened, I was very touched by the moment. Then they worked on the logistics of the school days during the week of the Saint Lucia concert.

On Friday Anne came to visit my school. It was fun to have her experiencing my day because our schools are so different. We visited handcraft, since Anne loves textile type things. Then we helped in the 6th grade English classes. They were working on their speaking skills and talking about American holidays in English. They also were teaching the students American and British English words for things. So, they would translate a word and identify what it means in British English and American English. So like, lift and elevator are the same. Then Anne got to meet some teachers from the gymnasium. During the week, one of the upper secondary school teachers booked me to come present and sent my email to all of the English teachers in the gymnasium. So she got to watch at 3 teachers quickly identified us as American and all made times for me to come speak with their classes. She also got to see what goes on in the presentations I make. Then we visited the 5th grade PE class again. They were still working on the exercise dances. One group finished and the presentation was leading the rest of the class through the routine.

11/25/19

Hey all! This past weekend was absolutely crazy! However, it was a wonderful way to finish my first official week in Sweden.

Friday was such an interesting day! I started my morning off by observing in one of the handcraft courses. In the 5th grade at Folkunga, the students are required to take textile or woodwork handcraft. This helps to develop hand eye coordination, dexterity, and attention to detail. Honestly, it was quite crazy to see what they are capable of. With little adult assistance, the students in textiles were hand sewing stuffed animals. For the rest of the day, I presented to the 4th graders. It was interesting because they did not understand me as easily but they were the most excited to talk to me. Friday night, Anne and I had movie night with some members of the IR. It was hilarious to see how excited they got about finding Shrek in English. They had all seen the movie in Swedish but apparently the the English version is better.

Saturday we ventured out to a Christmas Market downtown. We were able to meet German and Swiss exchange students who are here in Linköping for the semester. We spent the day wondering around all of the booths tasting so many traditional or homemade Swedish food. That night, Lois from IR came and spent some time teaching me traditional Swedish card games.

Sunday was nothing exciting. Anne and I went downtown to see the city in the day time. We spent the day wandering in all the shops. We also got lunch at what will probably be our favorite restaurant downtown. Then we went to ICA (our Walmart) and I bought way too many groceries since I did not do that on our first trip to the store. Sunday night is fika night in my corridor. We had carrot cake and Swedish cinnamon rolls with coffee or tea to drink. Some people think I am missing out on having a host family, but I have loved living with other college students. There is a certain culture to college students here. They have been so welcoming and I love sitting in the common area and talking to them. We have so many meaningful conversations but also joke around and laugh way too loud.

Monday at school was another great day. They have art on Monday mornings, they were working on the class advent calendar. During the English lessons for both classes I gave a presentation about land forms and other elements of nature. The students have an English test on Friday and one element of the test is to describe nature in English. She wanted my help expanding their English vocabulary of these terms. For the rest of the day, I gave a presentation to the other 4th grade class for them to get to know me. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but that is the culture. Their days are not jam packed from start to finish with instruction. The teachers also have a lot of time to rest and recharge between classes. I also got hugs from a few of the 4th graders. I know they doesn't seem like a landmark accomplishment when you consider I was sick for a month straight in the states because the 1st graders kept spreading their germs in the ways of sweet hugs and hand holding in the hall. But the Swedes are more reserved, they don't casually show affection. So the little hugs today were so sweet.

Here are even more differences to get used to:

  • The school does not allow teacher to have food or drink in the classroom. Which is weird because in the US I remember teaching while eating my Cheetos because the teachers had a lunch delay.
  • They don't begin assigning numerical grades for students until 6th grade. Until then it is all performance based. They comment on growth over time.
  • Teachers can leave students alone in the classroom if they have to go back to the office to find something. The students also stay on task and continue working the entire time the teacher in gone.
  • Children are only aloud to have unhealthy food on Saturdays. So today, when we had pancakes for lunch, I was ready for a sticky syrup mess. But no. Syrup is not used. Instead, they had a strawberry fruit puree topping.
  • the 4th grade classes allow all of their students to have something out to fidget with.

11/21/19

At this point in time, I will no longer apologize for not posting very often. I am so busy here and I am just so tired. Tuesday was my first experience seeing English taught as a second language. It was interesting! Because the school takes students from 27 different schools in Linköping, the students have drastically different backgrounds in English. Some students began English classes in grade 3 and others started in grade 1. Some students have a parent in the house who speaks English. Beginning this year was hard, as I have been told, because they were trying to get all of the students to the level they should be at. However, just talking to them all, I never would've guessed some of them only had 20 English words before the school year began. They are all so good with English considering it is their second language. In the English lesson, the teacher was teaching the difference between do/does and when to use it. It was so strange to listen to and think about. When you speak English, we aren't taught the grammar rules like that because we already know them. So when she asked if that was right I completely blanked! I had to sit and run through different examples before I could agree with what she said. I ended up leaving school at noon because I had to go to the University to sign some papers. A 45 minute walk to and from was not my favorite thing ever. It was also so cold! The Swedes aren't bothered by it at all. I saw more people biking and walking than driving a car. That night Lois and Oscar from the International Relations committee took us downtown for dinner. I had the most amazing burger ever. No burger I have had in America even compared to the burger I had here. Then we spent the rest of the time walking around downtown. It is absolutely gorgeous. They will soon have their ceremony to light the Christmas lights that have been hung. I am very excited for that because it is already gorgeous without those lights. I could probably spend hours walking around downtown to just look at everything.

On Wednesday I got to sit through the choir class. Considering this is a profile school for vocalists, I should've had higher expectations. I was BLOWN AWAY at the level the students are at. Considering music education in the states for their age, they are so advanced. They sing so well. Everything is at an unimaginable level for someone who is 11. Their initial and cutoff sounds are so clean and in unison. Their vowels are so pure. Their pitch always spot on. Plus it was sweet to see how much joy all the students had while swinging. So after choir ended (9:30 am), they didn't have another class until 11:35 am. They had all of that time for rast and lunch. They still had more rast as well! It is crazy how much time they spend outside. The students are also self sufficient. They are responsible for watching the time to go into lunch on their own. After lunch, I worked on starting a presentation about elements of nature and different land forms. Their English test covers land forms but their English book doesn't cover them, so I will be teaching the students different land forms. On Wednesday's the teachers have long meetings and all students are dismissed early (2:30 pm). Which isn't unusual. Actually, the students are dismissed at a different time every day. Wednesday night, we met more of the IR committee, we met Tova and Helena along with Lois and Oscar for dinner at the local pub VilleValla. On Wednesdays, the students will come and play board games and spend time together. It was such a good time. The IR students are so sweet. We have a good time laughing at each other for different aspects of our culture. The best part was the played an american game and Anne and I came in last and 4th respectively.

Today, Thursday, I sat through Social Studies class. It was interesting because they were writing essays about what worldly issue is the most important to solve by the year 2030. Many students were writing about climate change and saving animals. Other popular themes were poverty and equality. Then I went to work on another presentation for Tuesday about American culture and traditions that I will share with grades 4, 5, and 6. After lunch, I went to music class. Along with choir, they also have an additional music class they take. The students break into 3 groups and take either keyboarding, djembe (a hand drum), or analyzing music by listening. After that music class, we had lunch. After lunch I worked on a display of 5th sculptures. To go along with their social studies lessons, they went downtown to a professional art studio and made clay sculptures of endangered animals. They were being displayed because different 3rd graders from across Linköping were touring Folkunga as part of their application for next school year. My teacher wanted to show that they are being taught other things besides music. During the English classes today, I gave a presentation about me and my life in America. I also showed them some American money, thanks for that idea mom. They loved looking at the money more than anything. Because the back of the $1 bill had the pyramid with the eye, both classes asked if our government was run by the Illuminati. My teacher was really excited because the students actually understood what I was saying. They also did very well speaking English to ask me questions. I'm hoping that more and more students will be open to speaking English to me now. After school, we had fika and I met with the Wing English teachers to talk about their Tea Party Day on Tuesday where I would be giving a presentation in all of their grades. I have come to love fika. There are always tasty snacks and good coffee.

Here I will list some more observations I have about differences:

  • Most swedes don't hear a difference when saying the digraph th- vs the letter h
  • They also replace ch- with sh- which is very hilarious in words like chat
  • It is common to talk with food in your mouth
  • Teachers will take students to public places often during school time. Tuesday they went to the public pool and as I mentioned they went to a pottery studio during school as well.
  • The students are not escorted to different places
  • Teachers will cycle with the same students for the 3 years they are in a set of grades. To clarify, there are 4 5th grade teachers that teach various subjects. These 4 teachers taught the same group of students last year and will also teach them next year in grade 6. After these students leave grade 6, they will take the next group of 4th graders and teach them through 6th grade.
  • Each student has their own technology device and all teaching materials are shared of apps with the students
  • Here, the teachers will plan within their grade level, but more commonly meet with the same content teachers no matter the grade level. For example, today's planning meeting consisted of the English teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6.
  • The two grade level classes have different schedules. Typically in America, the different classes are almost always doing the same thing or in the same place. They are each in content or in specials at the same time. However here, the 2 5th grade classes have different schedules. One may be in choir and the other in math. Or a class might be out for rast for the other classes' entire English lesson.

11/18/19

I am so sorry for not posting yesterday. Between jet lag and shopping I was just exhausted. Our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was really fun. They gave us all pillows and blankets and offered everyone earbuds and eye masks. We were served a 3 course meal: appetizer, main course with bread, and ice cream for dessert. If you chose to accept, a cocktail was also given. They had TV screens for each passenger on the back of the seat in front of you. They had movies, TV shows, music, books, and games that you could play. After all the food, I took a very short nap and woke up about an hour before we arrived in Amsterdam. Since our Detroit flight was delayed about 20 minutes to make our connection. Amsterdam's airport is HUGE. I mean seriously so big. Each wing had at least 30 gates with flights. It was crazy. We arrived on one side and then had to get to the other side in 20 minutes! Because we were exiting the airport (to fly) we had to do a passport check and the line was about a mile long. Luckily, they were doing an express service for those with flights that were close to leaving. Anne and I made it to out gate in a sweat with 2 minutes to spare. So yesterday at 11:45ish we arrived at the Linköping Airport. Our flight there was so strange. To board, we loaded a bus that took us out the runway and from there we walked up a mini stair case onto the plane. It was a city hopper so the plane was small and greatly affected by turbulence. It felt like a fun little roller coaster. But overall it was fine and we had no issues.

We were met by the International Relations Committee from Linköping University. They took us to our dorm building and then Louis took us around. We went to IKEA first. We were all starved so we needed a meal. IKEA has really great food. We all had traditional Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and lingon berry jam. Louis also suggested we try a traditional Swedish soda that is popular around Christmas. After we left IKEA, we went to the ICA Maxi. Maxi is basically a HUGE supermarket. Think Walmart on steroids. Anyways, we bought tons of practical food and tons of Swedish food to try. We also bought new luggage since ours was pretty much destroyed during our 3 flights. We also bought some Swedish books! We also had many funny moments in the market. We argued over how to say yogurt correctly, what real ham is, why the American section had 6 or 7 items I have never seen before, and so much more. Another crazy thing is that Swedes will open closed packages if they cannot find a single version of the item they want. After about 4 hours we left Maxi and headed back to Flammen, the area where our dorm is. I unpacked, met some more of my flatmates (the people who live on my floor, they use British English), and then had fika. Fika is a huge part of Swedish culture. It is a time to gather with friends, family, or colleagues and have coffee, or tea and eat a sweet treat.Over fika, you just talk about many things. This fika was used to introduce me, talk about America, and talk about the floor upkeep (cleaning and whatnot). It was a good time and so cool to talk to a lot of people around my age. Not long after, I went to bed because I was so exhausted.

When I woke up it was time for school! Folkunga, the school I am placed at is about a 5 minute walk from my room. I was able to sleep in a considerable amount. So I got up, got ready and left for my little walk. Once I got to Folkunga, I got lost because I couldn't find the building. It took me about 10 minutes to find someone who also had good enough English to help me out. I quickly got to where I was going and started my whirlwind of a day.

So my teacher teaches Art, Swedish, and English. Today, she had a professional artist to come in a do a project with the class. So after a quick introduction, they launched into the lesson in Swedish. Since it was a project, I could understand what was going on. I help students glue things, put cling wrap on their paintings, and dried papers with a blow dryer. The students were so curious about me and America, but did not feel very confident in their English to talk to me. However, quite a few mustered the courage to have a conversation with me. They asked about what I like to do, college, my favorites, and different big cities in America. Lunch was so good. My teacher bought me lunch today because it was my first day. So in Sweden, all students get free lunch. Their lunch is a self-serve buffet line with no limit. They ONLY serve white milk and water. They also have hard bread out for students to butter and eat. 3 students invited me to sit with them and tried to teach me some Swedish and laughed at how bad I can mispronounce things. After lunch the students have recess. So my teacher Karin and I went to have fika so she could get to know me. Following fika, we went down to the wing (where my classes take place) so we could talk more about what my days will look like. So, in Sweden they do not teach every subject every day. They hop around. So my teacher may only teach 2 lessons a day. The rest of that time is used for planning or meetings. So, we are beginning to work out how I will hop around with different teachers within 5 different grade levels to assist. In grade 5, I will visit all subject, but in grades 4th, 6th,7th, and 8th, I will only be attending their English class. Subjects like Art and Music are taught multiple times in a week and the students receive actual grades on them. Today, I saw so many students drawing at such a high quality and it is because it is taught. Folkunga is a profile school, so each student applies and preforms a piece in front of two teachers to get in. A lot do not live in the area so they are transported to the school. A profile school is related to gift and talented. But, all the students are identified in the same area. This school is all gifted in choir and I can't wait to be apart of that class. After planning, we flipped flopped and taught the same lesson to a new group of students. I am looking forward to tomorrow!


Weird things I had to get used to:

  • No one says Ms. or Mr. Teachers all go by their first name.
  • The students do not wear shoes inside the classes.
  • The pencils do not have erasers.
  • Kids say curse words, however, in Sweden it is just cultural.
  • Lunch is provided free and students are not aloud to bring candy or chips to school.
  • By 5th grade, the students go outside by themselves for rast (rest/ recess).
  • The students do not move. The teachers move to the students' room.

11/16/19

Welcome back!

9:00 AM

So this past week I finished up my time at Natcher elementary! We had two snow days here in KY! That was so crazy considering it is only November! They were much needed though, I spent the time doing laundry, cleaning, and packing all of the things needed. Well not so much packing as it was gathering. On Tuesday of this week, our wonderful director of professional educator services, Stephanie Martin, coordinated a dinner with exchange students from Sweden! Ellen and Veronica were so helpful to us! Not only did they cook the most amazing traditional Swedish meal, they also answered so many questions about culture and language and all other things.

Yesterday I said goodbye to the sweetest 1st graders and my amazing cooperative teacher. It was such a sad day! I will miss the students but am so glad for this upcoming experience.

Last night, Anne and I had a sleepover so we could leave for the airport together. I am glad she did because we were up until 2:30 packing and repacking all of our bags to make sure they fit size and weight requirements. We finally got it all together! After a quick night of little rest, we are currently in the car on the way to the Nashville, TN airport! Shout out to my parents for helping last night and for driving us today! I think this is all I have to say at the moment. I will post another update when we arrive tomorrow!

5:00 PM

Hey guys! I am currently sitting at the airport in Detroit, Michigan. Our flight from Nashville went so smoothly we arrived early. Anne and I grabbed a quick lunch/dinner at a sushi place. Anne taught me how to use chopsticks, I ate raw sushi, miso soup complete with tofu, seaweed, and scallions, as well as broccoli. If you know me very well, you know this is a BIG deal. Anne is holding to her promise to making me try new foods and we haven't even gotten to Sweden yet. We are having a blast. We even rode the tram in the airport despite that it wasn't close to our gate. If you look at the photo gallery, I will have some photos of the plane ride and airport fun posted!

11/10/19

Hey everyone! Just another quick update:

We are officially less than a week away from leaving for Sweden! Last week I took many shopping trips to get all my odds and ends together. I am so excited and nervous to start my solo week tomorrow and then fly to another country!

10/30/19

This is a bulk post about the process so far, prepare for a longer read. Here are some highlights: application, acceptance, student teaching, homework, panic, excitement!


Back in the Spring of 2019, after many discussions with my mom and close friends, I decided that an experience abroad would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow as a person and an educator. So, I filled out the application to student teach abroad. One of the biggest decisions was which country I wanted to go to most! Eventually I settled on Sweden and completed the application. Then, each candidate for the program interviewed with Ms. Stephanie Martin. After, the waiting began to hear back. I was so excited to hear I was accepted into the Internation Student Teaching (IST) program in Linköping, Sweden! I was paired with one other IST candidate. We had never met before, but Anne Wilder and I became fast friends. After one lunch/coffee/talking for 3 hours day, it seemed like we were friends forever. I am so blessed to have a wonderful new friend coming abroad with me!


My student teaching experience in the states began in August of 2019. I started with 7 weeks at Jody Richards. I was in a departmentalized (meaning each grade level teacher taught one subject and the students visited each teacher) reading class. My teacher was amazing! I learned so much from her as well as the 100+ students I taught daily. Now, I am at Natcher. I am in a first grade class with some of the sweetest kids. I am learning from another exceptional teacher. The 6 weeks here have flown by!


Recently, I completed my Teacher Work Sample. It is a collection of a lesson unit I made and taught. It was a huge project (76 pages at its completetion) that I am relieved to be done with. The homework related to student teaching isn't normal homework. It is lesson plans, observations, reflections, and more. Despite any stress about things, this experience has assured me I picked the right career; each day I fall more in love with teaching.


Now for the panic and excitement.

In preperation for leaving, I have done lots of random things to get ready to leave. I first had to apply to the University in Sweden and also apply for housing during my stay. I have been reading a lot of material about Sweden. The goal is to learn about the culture before I go so I am a little bit more prepared. I went shopping for all sorts of things I would need: special sized sheets, universal outlet adapter, travel accessories, vaccum bags, and other things needed to spend a month in another country. Anne and I text almost daily, mainly to keep each other sane but to also share fun facts we have found out about Sweden. We listened to an orientation from other IST teachers and they shared tips they learned from their experience. I am a bit panicked because I haven't made a complete packing and leaving checklist yet, but it is on my to do list. But mainly I am just so excited to go on this journey to better myself in many ways!


Thanks for sticking with me through this extremely long post! I promise my future ones won't be so extensive!