Ms. Marshall

Wow, what a week.  I’m not really sure where to begin, so I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.  On Monday, I got to go on quick trip to Stockholm.  All the new teachers from our school boarded a train at 6:00am and traveled across the country to hear from the folks at headquarters.  I should probably pause and explain that the school I am teaching at is part of a larger company which is setting up English schools around Sweden.  (All the schools in this company are public schools and accept students on a first-come, first-serve basis.)  The trip to Stockholm was intended to give us new teachers an introduction to the culture which the company tries to instill at its schools.  Probably the highlight of this trip was meeting up with Ryan, another teacher who was part of the same science program I went through back at the U of M.  Ryan will be teaching at a school in Uppsala.  While I spent most of the day inside a school building, the glimpses I saw of Stockholm were lovely so I will definitely need to find time to get back and explore the city a bit more. 

Having been out all day Monday, my return to school on Tuesday was met with an extensive to-do list.  The excitement in the hallways was palpable as teachers busied themselves with last minute lesson preparations.  The day went by quickly, and in the evening, all new students and their parents came to visit the school.  It was at this point that this job finally started to feel real.  The names on my class lists started to have faces and little personalities.    

And then it happened.  Wednesday came.  The first day of school. As I rode Lena (my bike) to school, I reflected back on a conversation I had several years ago with a teacher in New Zealand.  The first day is unlike any other in the school year.  You have to be harder on the students, otherwise it will be an uphill battle the rest of the year.  My success for the rest of the year depended on this one day.  Gulp.

I arrived at school plenty early, fastened my name badge neatly on my shirt, and got myself a cup of coffee.  (I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but in Sweden coffee seems to be the only liquid refreshment available.  To say that the Swedes love their coffee is a gross understatement.) 

I like how my name tag is one of those magnet kinds. No holes
in my shirts.  Sometimes, it's the simple things that count.

At five past eight, the students began lining up outside the classroom door.  At ten past eight, the students filed into the classroom as I greeted them one by one.  Good morning.  Good morning.  Good morning.  At twelve past eight, the students all stood behind their desks, waiting for me to begin the lesson.  Good morning class….Good morning Ms. Marshall…..You may be seated.  And so the day began.  (While this start-of-lesson routine is customary in the school, I still can’t say I’m fully accustomed to it.)

The rest of the week sailed past as I moved from lesson to lesson.  This year, I am responsible for teaching three sixth grade science classes, two seventh grade math classes and an elective.  Each class meets for three hours a week (with class periods being roughly one hour long).  The schedule has definitely taken a little getting used to.  Some classes last 45 minutes.  Others are an hour and ten minutes.  There are no school bells, and it seems none of the clocks in the school agree with each other.  For now, I’ve decided it is best if I just pack up all my things in the lovely red shopping basket I acquired, and head off to class about ten minutes early to make sure I am ready to greet the students when they arrive for lessons. 

Here is my best friend--my schedule.

With each new class, it has been so amazing to meet the students.  To round off this blog post, here are a few snapshots from my first days of being Ms. Marshall...

• Every day, I find that the students surprise me.  For example, on Thursday when I passed out textbooks to my math students, nearly every student said “thank you” when they received their books.  I was speechless.  What a polite bunch of kids.
• In addition to the more pleasant surprises, sometimes the surprises are more…surprising.  About halfway through my first math lesson, one student’s cell phone rang in class.  However, his ring tone was not just any ring tone.  His ring tone resembled that of a fire drill alarm.  Yes, I nearly evacuated the entire class on the first day. 
• This week, we started learning about the human body in the science classes.  I have really enjoyed hearing all the questions students have.  “Ms. Marshall, if we didn’t have skin, would everything fall out?” “Like, how big are our nerves?” “If I could touch the intestines, would they feel wet?”  I love sixth graders.  Such a great age. 
• On Friday, I asked a class if they could describe what it means to “digest food.”  One boy raised his hand and said, “It’s kind of like melting.”  I smiled and replied, “Yes, some of the food does melt.”  Later in the day, I learned that the Swedish word for digest is “smälta maten” where the word “smälta” means “to melt.”  Hopefully, I begin learning Swedish soon.

Well, that’s all for now.  I apologize that this post is so long.  In case you are wondering, I think I’ve decided that I will update the blog about once a week because I’m too tired on weeknights to write anything coherent.