Today was
the first day of our teaching observation. We went to the Isolinge School here
in Vordingborg and observed a class of 6th graders. It was first class of the day and lasted for 90 minutes, there were no breaks.
The first
thing I noticed was the position of the seats in the classroom, the seats faced
the walls and there was a table in the middle. This organization of the seats
made it easier for the kids to sea the teacher and vice versa.
The teacher
and the pupils were speaking in Danish, but the teacher helped us understand
what was going on in the class.
Students
read a story about animals in African savannah, and they were answering the
questions without a time limit. While reading the story and the doing the
assignment students were free to work anywhere they wanted. They could go to
the library or work in the tables at the corridor. Most of the kids worked in
small groups or in pairs. The teacher also told us that the students didn't
have homework. I was really surprised to hear that. I can't even imagine not
having homework in Turkey. The students looked focused on their assignment, it
can't be hard to imagine what motivated them. Students were asking questions to
the teacher when they needed help. This also could be beneficial for the kids
which their parents can't help them.
The students
called the teacher by her first name. The pupils and the teacher had a good
communication.
The schools
in Turkey are quite different based on my first day observations in a Danish
school. In classrooms in Turkey the seats are lined in rows, students are not
allowed to move around without permission. Calling the teacher by her/his first
name is considered extremely rude. There are lots homework, some of the
homework include writing pages of text after reading the texts in the
lesson book.
There was a
really comfortable atmosphere in the classroom that we observed. The students
could feel right at home at the school. This can be a big motivation for pupils
to study.
