Teaching Observation in Denmark, First Week

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.