There have been quite a few differences that I've noticed between school in the U.S. and school here, both positive and negative:
-There isn't much school spirit. No mascots/school teams or games
-There are more classes, and less time for each class. Sometimes I feel like I'm being whisked from one subject to another taking fast notes and trying to stay on top. There is less in depth learning with projects: we take a lot of notes, and study for a test that a lot of people don't do very well on!
-I'm not tired at school here. They know how to vary a schedule to keep it interesting. School doesn't start at the crack of dawn and some days it doesn't start until 9:20! It feels wonderful to be on a more natural sleeping schedule, especially when it's cold outside.
-You get an hour for lunch, so I never feel rushed to eat, a problem that I always had at school in the U.S.!
-There is a real gym class and we are expected to really run. It actually feels really good to have that exercise break during the day.
- School is much more "proper" here. iPods are not allowed after tests, I have only seen one girl wearing sweat pants this year, you stand up when the teacher comes to class. Writing and note taking tools are much more important here as well. Everyone has fountain pens, and you must use them on tests. It is much more likely that you will see a student taking notes with pen rather than pencil (even in math!)
-And my favorite: Ink erasers!! It is this little tool that looks like a double sided pen: one side has a white tip marker that erases (yes, completely erases, it really is amazing) fountain pen ink. The other side has a blue pen that cannot be erased by the white end that you use to write over your corrections. The kids thought it was so funny that I was so amused by this!! The first couple days that I had one I took to drawing pictures with my fountain pen and then erasing them. Little did I know that this is what the other two American exchange students were doing in class as well... :)
I love having this experience of European school, I didn't know it would be so different!!!
-There isn't much school spirit. No mascots/school teams or games
-There are more classes, and less time for each class. Sometimes I feel like I'm being whisked from one subject to another taking fast notes and trying to stay on top. There is less in depth learning with projects: we take a lot of notes, and study for a test that a lot of people don't do very well on!
-I'm not tired at school here. They know how to vary a schedule to keep it interesting. School doesn't start at the crack of dawn and some days it doesn't start until 9:20! It feels wonderful to be on a more natural sleeping schedule, especially when it's cold outside.
-You get an hour for lunch, so I never feel rushed to eat, a problem that I always had at school in the U.S.!
-There is a real gym class and we are expected to really run. It actually feels really good to have that exercise break during the day.
- School is much more "proper" here. iPods are not allowed after tests, I have only seen one girl wearing sweat pants this year, you stand up when the teacher comes to class. Writing and note taking tools are much more important here as well. Everyone has fountain pens, and you must use them on tests. It is much more likely that you will see a student taking notes with pen rather than pencil (even in math!)
-And my favorite: Ink erasers!! It is this little tool that looks like a double sided pen: one side has a white tip marker that erases (yes, completely erases, it really is amazing) fountain pen ink. The other side has a blue pen that cannot be erased by the white end that you use to write over your corrections. The kids thought it was so funny that I was so amused by this!! The first couple days that I had one I took to drawing pictures with my fountain pen and then erasing them. Little did I know that this is what the other two American exchange students were doing in class as well... :)
I love having this experience of European school, I didn't know it would be so different!!!