I was invited to teach a 5th grade class about 5th grade in the United States. Having never taught 5th grade, and having no clue about what the typical day is like, I agreed.
Fortunately, one of my equestrian girls from ISU now teaches 5th grade so I asked the Finnish teacher the things her students wanted to know, sent them on to Danielle, who asked her students, and then created the presentation with the information they gave me. I had a lot of fun putting this presentation together and finding lots of pictures to help the kids understand.
The school is located in the town of Espoo, which is about 30 minutes outside of Helsinki. I ended up arriving early to the school. The first thing I saw was recess (#1) in progress. The students, all 1st graders, were outside, playing ice hockey on a "rink" that the school had created by flooding part of the grounds. I stood and watched as 1st graders, boys and girls, skated and played, happily, without helmets or any other protective gear. Pretty sure you would never see that in the U.S.
I went in the school and found my teacher. She was very happy to meet me and we spent some time talking about the school and the classes I would be visiting. I asked her about the ice hockey and she explained that children learn to ice skate as soon as they can stand; they are quite good and no one worries about them getting hurt. And, if they do, they do. Kids play and kids gets hurt. (Again, try putting this in a U.S. context).
Since I was early, there was time before the English classes. Jaana, my teacher, asked if I would like to see a 2nd grade maths class. (FYI - in Europe it is called maths - short for mathematicS). She told me they were practicing their hundreds that day. I explained that I needed help with my numbers in Finnish, especially those hundreds, and that it would be perfect. Indeed, it was. I spent the class period helping students and they helped me as well. It was a lot of fun.
After maths, it was time for my first English class. They were such a great group! They were interested in the presentation and were fascinated by the cafeteria food choices in the United States. I had to spend some time explaining that you could buy your lunch or bring it from home. They found this very strange since lunch is provided for free to everyone at school. One girl asked why all of the foods I showed (answers provided by Danielle's class) were in stick form, such as pizza stick, cheese sticks, etc. I had no idea but guessed that it was probably because 5th graders in the U.S. like to eat with their hands. Have no idea if that is true, but it sounded good. :)
The one thing they could not believe was recess in the U.S. The students and teacher were horrified to learn that the students had one 40-minute recess for the whole day. In Finland, students get three 30-minute recesses everyday. They also don't start primary school until the age of 7. The idea is that children need to play as much as possible because it is good for them physically and encourages creativity. Hate to repeat myself, but again, put that into an American context.
After the first group, it was time for lunch, which I shared with the two English teachers in the cafeteria with the kids. It was nice to talk to them about school and what their days were like.
My second English class was the class one of the day. It was a smaller group but they were just as wonderful and very curious. They had prepared all kinds of questions for me. One boy asked what my favorite thing was to order at McDonald's. When I told him I don't eat there, he had a hard time understanding this. He assumed all Americans eat there. Every day.
Overall, this was another fantastic experience and certainly a new one. Jaana drove me back to the bus station and I had a nice ride back reflecting on the day.
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