As the title says, I am having one of those days where I am sucking at everything that is not controlled by my autonomic nervous system... and my parasympathetic nervous system isn't working nearly as well as it should! (Did I mention that I'm a nerd?)
Let's start from the beginning.
Germans seem to believe in starting construction early in the day. I woke up at about 6:30 AM because they were jackhammering away across the street, so I stuck in earplugs and went back to bed. Bad idea. I always set my alarm, but usually, I wake up when Dumpling wakes up. His school starts at 8:30, and he's pretty loud when he starts to move around. Today, I did not wake up to his thudding and crashing; I woke up at 11:24 AM. I was supposed to help in an 8th grade class at 10:55 AM. I had set my alarm for 8:00 PM (I have an American alarm clock).
I ran around my room crazily, managed to think clearly enough to grab a DVD, my notebook, and my train ticket, and was even awake enough to notice when Puppy scratched a hole in my jeans. (I went back, changed into new jeans, and now am refusing to play with Puppy for the rest of the day because I'm really annoyed; it was my favorite pair.) I called My Mentor (it turns out that she isn't actually my Betreuungslehrerin, but whatever) twice and eventually texted her a run-on sentence like: "Handy geht nicht, weil ich auf die U-Bahn bin, aber ich habe meinen Wecker fuer abends statt morgens angemacht und moechte mich zu Frau B dafuer entschuldingen, ich komme gleich, bin schon in Wedding" (translation: cell phone isn't working because I'm on the U-Bahn, but I set my alarm for PM instead of AM and wanted to apologize to Mrs. B for that, I'll be right there, I'm already in Wedding.)
I burst into the teacher's room, discovered that no one was there because it was in the middle of the 5th period, and decided that I had time to eat something. I went to the cafeteria, bought a roll with cheese and cucumber, and returned to the teacher's room, where I immediately dropped the cheese and cucumber on the floor. Of course, My Mentor was in the adjacent room when I grumped my way in and threw away the cheese with an utterly dour look on my face.
Then, My Mentor's class was crazy and disruptive for the entire double hour, and it probably didn't help that I still wasn't functioning at a very high level.
And... I got home and discovered that Puppy had eaten one of my apartment-mate's boots.
The only thing that went successfully was apologizing to Frau B, who said it was fine and looked amused that I managed to sleep until almost 11:30. It helped that she knew that I'm currently suffering from a mega case of jet lag. :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
How (not) to deal with Berlin guys
I spent five years at Miami being invisible to guys. I mean, sure, they talked to me in classes and worked with me on projects, but I somehow deterred all of them from flirting or asking me out. It worked out wonderfully.
For some reason, this anti-charm hasn't been working as well in Berlin. I get stopped on the sidewalk and on the U-Bahn on a semi-regular basis... and I don't think I'm doing anything differently. I guess my clothes are slightly nicer than my hoodie and gymnastics T-shirt uniform in college, but I'm not exactly dressing up and primping in front of the mirror before heading out to teach. In fact, it's a good day if I have enough time to throw on moisturizer and concealer before running out the door. (I hit my snooze button way too much for my own good.)
I don't have a lot of things to talk about because I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so I thought I'd write about my most awkward experience with a German guy. Unfortunately, I have multiple stories, but this one definitely wins.
During my first week in Berlin, I spent a lot of time apartment hunting. Around my 6th interview at an apartment, a guy stopped me outside the U-Bahn station and said that he would like to get to know me because I'm very pretty. Whatever. Thanks, I guess. We shook hands and talked while we were waiting for the U-Bahn. Then he tried to insist on showing me his room; he told me I could move in that day so I wouldn't have to keep looking for an apartment. By that point, I was pulling all of the turn-off-guy tricks in my book, and said, "No, I already have friends in Berlin, and I can stay with them." Most people would get the hint, right? He didn't.
After that, I resorted to giving one-word answers, but he thought it was a comprehension issue. I refused to make eye contact and started edging away from him (we were sitting on the U-Bahn by then), and he patted me on the shoulder and told me that I was very polite. He asked me about my friends, and I took advantage of the "Freund" translation (it can mean 'friend' or 'boyfriend'): "Yeah, I have a boyfriend. His name is Alex. He's in law school. We've been together for two years, and I think we're going to get married." (Don't laugh. I was getting desperate.) And then he laughed and said that he could be my boyfriend in Germany, and Alex could be my boyfriend in the US. After all, he has this thing for Asian women. For anyone romantically challenged who may be reading this, let me tell you that those two sentences are really effective libido busters (not like I had any intention of going out with him in the first place). By then, I was sick of trying to drop not-so-subtle hints and just blurted out, "I have no interest for you." (My German gets worse when I'm stressed out.) Then, he pulled the race card and said that I had probably never met a Black person before. WHAAAAT? Don't worry, I let him know that about 45% of the students at my high school were Black and that he was really creepy.
Lesson learned: I need to be more aggressive when turning down guys. Or, better yet, they could stop being creepers.
Another lesson learned: Germans blame many forms of blatant rudeness on translation issues... even if your German comprehension is pretty much at a near-native level. I could use this to my advantage and become a total jerk in Deutschland... or I could just figure out how to turn down guys more effectively auf Deutsch.
For some reason, this anti-charm hasn't been working as well in Berlin. I get stopped on the sidewalk and on the U-Bahn on a semi-regular basis... and I don't think I'm doing anything differently. I guess my clothes are slightly nicer than my hoodie and gymnastics T-shirt uniform in college, but I'm not exactly dressing up and primping in front of the mirror before heading out to teach. In fact, it's a good day if I have enough time to throw on moisturizer and concealer before running out the door. (I hit my snooze button way too much for my own good.)
I don't have a lot of things to talk about because I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so I thought I'd write about my most awkward experience with a German guy. Unfortunately, I have multiple stories, but this one definitely wins.
During my first week in Berlin, I spent a lot of time apartment hunting. Around my 6th interview at an apartment, a guy stopped me outside the U-Bahn station and said that he would like to get to know me because I'm very pretty. Whatever. Thanks, I guess. We shook hands and talked while we were waiting for the U-Bahn. Then he tried to insist on showing me his room; he told me I could move in that day so I wouldn't have to keep looking for an apartment. By that point, I was pulling all of the turn-off-guy tricks in my book, and said, "No, I already have friends in Berlin, and I can stay with them." Most people would get the hint, right? He didn't.
After that, I resorted to giving one-word answers, but he thought it was a comprehension issue. I refused to make eye contact and started edging away from him (we were sitting on the U-Bahn by then), and he patted me on the shoulder and told me that I was very polite. He asked me about my friends, and I took advantage of the "Freund" translation (it can mean 'friend' or 'boyfriend'): "Yeah, I have a boyfriend. His name is Alex. He's in law school. We've been together for two years, and I think we're going to get married." (Don't laugh. I was getting desperate.) And then he laughed and said that he could be my boyfriend in Germany, and Alex could be my boyfriend in the US. After all, he has this thing for Asian women. For anyone romantically challenged who may be reading this, let me tell you that those two sentences are really effective libido busters (not like I had any intention of going out with him in the first place). By then, I was sick of trying to drop not-so-subtle hints and just blurted out, "I have no interest for you." (My German gets worse when I'm stressed out.) Then, he pulled the race card and said that I had probably never met a Black person before. WHAAAAT? Don't worry, I let him know that about 45% of the students at my high school were Black and that he was really creepy.
Lesson learned: I need to be more aggressive when turning down guys. Or, better yet, they could stop being creepers.
Another lesson learned: Germans blame many forms of blatant rudeness on translation issues... even if your German comprehension is pretty much at a near-native level. I could use this to my advantage and become a total jerk in Deutschland... or I could just figure out how to turn down guys more effectively auf Deutsch.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Festival of Lights and a Catch-up Post
For the most part, Berlin is not a pretty or romantic city. As I think I've mentioned before, it lives up to Klaus Woworeit's quotation: "Berlin ist arm, aber sexy" (Berlin is poor, but sexy). However, the Festival of Lights makes Berlin sparkle, shine, and glow-- quite literally.
I walked around downtown with S and T on Saturday night. We started at Alexanderplatz, took pictures of the Fernsehturm, took pictures of the Berliner Dom, walked down Unter den Linden, walked a mile to Brandenburger Tor, saw the American Embassy building, saw a few random hotels, and called it a night after walking to the Bundestag and realizing that it didn't have a light show. (We also ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant that is about a gazillion times better than Chipotle. I got a vegetarian burrito with mole tofu! It was the first dish that I've had in Berlin that was actually spicy!) Then, H Skyped me on Sunday afternoon and asked if I wanted to take pictures downtown... and off we went again! It turns out that some of the attractions had already turned off their lights, but we went to Brandenburger Tor and ended up at Gendarmenmarkt to take pictures of the gorgeous square.
Monday was my first day of classes. I signed up for a German C1 class to refresh my grammar and to meet other international students, and I think it will be really helpful. Even on the first day, the teacher was giving us lists of verbs and synonyms, and pointing out which words are more or less formal. My word of the day is "aufpolieren" (to dust off). For example: Ich habe diesen Kurs belegt, weil ich auf meinem geroesteten Deutsch aufpolieren wollte (I took this class because I wanted to brush up on my rusty German). (I think it's a dative preposition in this case.) I also signed up for a Korean class, which meets on Fridays. Yay for working on my fourth language! (Not that you can really call my command of French a third language... but hey, I'm doing a little French aufpolieren on the side. Give me some credit; I'm an American!) (Wow, I'm using and abusing parentheses today.)
Today was the first day where I felt like my teaching was subpar. Usually, I'm pretty good at controlling classes, introducing terms and concepts in an interactive manner, and all of that fun stuff, but it just did not click today. I made a handout for a Leistungskurs with a fake schedule from an American high school and a list of school rules; I thought that would get them talking. The problem is that I never pushed the discussion beyond the most superficial level, and I really should have emphasized that my high school is not representative of many American high schools. For example, most schools have not banned hoodies due to the possibility of students hiding weapons in hoods. I may have gone to Miami, but I did not attend one of the nicer school districts. In fact, Teach For America places in my school district.
On top of that, the 7th graders were loud and crazy, and only half of them accomplished anything during the period... and then I had to give an introduction to the Great Depression in a Grundkurs. Here's the problem: I really don't know that much about the Great Depression. The sad fact is that we covered it in one day in 11th grade. I was 15 years old. That was seven years ago (oh my gosh, I feel old), and I don't remember anything from that lesson. So, yeah, I knew it wasn't going to be a pretty lesson going into class, and then I learned in the first 10 seconds that the students didn't know the word for "stock market" (Boerse). As I said, it wasn't a good lesson.
Another student konnichiwa-ed at me today. I gave him my teacher glare and said, "I'm not Japanese." Apparently, I'm getting scarier, because he slunk over to me later and apologized.
 |
| Brandenburger Tor |
I walked around downtown with S and T on Saturday night. We started at Alexanderplatz, took pictures of the Fernsehturm, took pictures of the Berliner Dom, walked down Unter den Linden, walked a mile to Brandenburger Tor, saw the American Embassy building, saw a few random hotels, and called it a night after walking to the Bundestag and realizing that it didn't have a light show. (We also ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant that is about a gazillion times better than Chipotle. I got a vegetarian burrito with mole tofu! It was the first dish that I've had in Berlin that was actually spicy!) Then, H Skyped me on Sunday afternoon and asked if I wanted to take pictures downtown... and off we went again! It turns out that some of the attractions had already turned off their lights, but we went to Brandenburger Tor and ended up at Gendarmenmarkt to take pictures of the gorgeous square.
Monday was my first day of classes. I signed up for a German C1 class to refresh my grammar and to meet other international students, and I think it will be really helpful. Even on the first day, the teacher was giving us lists of verbs and synonyms, and pointing out which words are more or less formal. My word of the day is "aufpolieren" (to dust off). For example: Ich habe diesen Kurs belegt, weil ich auf meinem geroesteten Deutsch aufpolieren wollte (I took this class because I wanted to brush up on my rusty German). (I think it's a dative preposition in this case.) I also signed up for a Korean class, which meets on Fridays. Yay for working on my fourth language! (Not that you can really call my command of French a third language... but hey, I'm doing a little French aufpolieren on the side. Give me some credit; I'm an American!) (Wow, I'm using and abusing parentheses today.)
Today was the first day where I felt like my teaching was subpar. Usually, I'm pretty good at controlling classes, introducing terms and concepts in an interactive manner, and all of that fun stuff, but it just did not click today. I made a handout for a Leistungskurs with a fake schedule from an American high school and a list of school rules; I thought that would get them talking. The problem is that I never pushed the discussion beyond the most superficial level, and I really should have emphasized that my high school is not representative of many American high schools. For example, most schools have not banned hoodies due to the possibility of students hiding weapons in hoods. I may have gone to Miami, but I did not attend one of the nicer school districts. In fact, Teach For America places in my school district.
On top of that, the 7th graders were loud and crazy, and only half of them accomplished anything during the period... and then I had to give an introduction to the Great Depression in a Grundkurs. Here's the problem: I really don't know that much about the Great Depression. The sad fact is that we covered it in one day in 11th grade. I was 15 years old. That was seven years ago (oh my gosh, I feel old), and I don't remember anything from that lesson. So, yeah, I knew it wasn't going to be a pretty lesson going into class, and then I learned in the first 10 seconds that the students didn't know the word for "stock market" (Boerse). As I said, it wasn't a good lesson.
Another student konnichiwa-ed at me today. I gave him my teacher glare and said, "I'm not Japanese." Apparently, I'm getting scarier, because he slunk over to me later and apologized.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Weekly Update
A few unrelated thoughts from the past week and a half:
- I'm getting very good at telling off people and animals in German (I practice a lot on Puppy). I snapped at a student who decided to bow, make slanty eyes, and greet me in Chinese. At least it actually was "ni hao" and not "ching chong." If you're going to be offensive, you might as well do it properly.
- I got to teach an entire Leistungskurs! This really shouldn't be so exciting because I've led more than my share of college classes, but it was the first time that I taught a potentially 'touchy' topic. We talked about 'Otherness,' and I used a vignette from The House on Mango Street, which went over really well. What surprised me was how willing the students were to share their experiences and thoughts... and they nailed it. I barely needed to prompt them-- they brought up problematic comments in the vignette; they bounced around ideas about how Otherness reflects dominant privilege (okay, they didn't use the phrase 'dominant privilege'... after all, they're 16, and they're learning English as their third language); and they just plain understood the text. I am no longer in Miamiland-- I am teaching in a school in a low-income neighborhood, where 70% of the students are Muslim, where 70% of the students are not ethnic Germans, and where they are confronted with racism, classism, and xenophobia on a daily basis.
- Are my students perfect? Oh, no, they are not. Anti-Semitism is a significant issue at My Gymnasium. I think one of my future lesson plans will involve parsing the differences between governments and people.
- Fall break is lovely. I went to the zoo with J and spent the entire day wandering around the animal exhibits and walking through the aquarium. German zoos seem to have much less stringent fencing rules-- it's possible to hop the fence and walk into most of the exhibits if you really want to. Also, the lions have individual cages inside (and, of course, an outdoor area), and the cages do not have solid sides. The zoo authorities thought ahead, though, and posted a sign to warn visitors: "Lions may spray urine through the fence." I also went to the botanical garden with J, H, and E.
- I love my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Best recipe ever, I'm telling you.
- I'm getting very good at telling off people and animals in German (I practice a lot on Puppy). I snapped at a student who decided to bow, make slanty eyes, and greet me in Chinese. At least it actually was "ni hao" and not "ching chong." If you're going to be offensive, you might as well do it properly.
- I got to teach an entire Leistungskurs! This really shouldn't be so exciting because I've led more than my share of college classes, but it was the first time that I taught a potentially 'touchy' topic. We talked about 'Otherness,' and I used a vignette from The House on Mango Street, which went over really well. What surprised me was how willing the students were to share their experiences and thoughts... and they nailed it. I barely needed to prompt them-- they brought up problematic comments in the vignette; they bounced around ideas about how Otherness reflects dominant privilege (okay, they didn't use the phrase 'dominant privilege'... after all, they're 16, and they're learning English as their third language); and they just plain understood the text. I am no longer in Miamiland-- I am teaching in a school in a low-income neighborhood, where 70% of the students are Muslim, where 70% of the students are not ethnic Germans, and where they are confronted with racism, classism, and xenophobia on a daily basis.
- Are my students perfect? Oh, no, they are not. Anti-Semitism is a significant issue at My Gymnasium. I think one of my future lesson plans will involve parsing the differences between governments and people.
- Fall break is lovely. I went to the zoo with J and spent the entire day wandering around the animal exhibits and walking through the aquarium. German zoos seem to have much less stringent fencing rules-- it's possible to hop the fence and walk into most of the exhibits if you really want to. Also, the lions have individual cages inside (and, of course, an outdoor area), and the cages do not have solid sides. The zoo authorities thought ahead, though, and posted a sign to warn visitors: "Lions may spray urine through the fence." I also went to the botanical garden with J, H, and E.
- I love my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Best recipe ever, I'm telling you.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wandertag
So far, My Gymnasium has canceled a ridiculously high number of classes. I'm told that this isn't usually the case; I just happened to show up right when everyone decided to have a field trip. :)
To summarize the classes that have been canceled:
1. On my second day at the school, a Grundkurs was canceled due to student elections. I showed up to the room and waited... and waited... and waited... before wandering down to the teacher's room. Apparently everyone else knew about the voting ahead of time.
2. Sportfest! My Gymnasium canceled the entire school day to let the kids compete in 3 events: throwing a ball, running 100 meters, and doing a shuttle run. I heard that the other kids got to do long jump, too.
3. Two Leistungskurse went to the Berlin Literature Festival. I got to go with one class. :)
4. Studientag-- where all of the teachers (well, all of them were invited; not all of them showed up) went to Gransee for a day. It wasn't for a faculty meeting, like I thought-- it was to wander around the lake and visit churches.
5. Today was Wandertag. Apparently the younger kids (10th grade and under) get one day off when the Oberstufe (11th grade and up) takes a 3-hour, subject-specific exam. I think they have quite a few of these tests, so I'm not sure how My Gymnasium picked today (it was originally supposed to be Wednesday), but... well, another day off school! I went with a 10th grade class to Olympiapark, saw a film and an exhibit about the Berlin Olympics and the relationship between sports and politics, and went to the top of the bell tower.
Anyway, enough about field trips, and on to the more interesting things.
I didn't have to go to class on Friday because of test preparation sessions, so I met up with a few ETAs, and we decided to walk around Tiergarten. I think we ended up walking through Moabit and eventually ended up at the edge of Wedding. (One of my students said that she saw me walking down her street!) On Saturday, I laid around the WG and did nothing until 8 PM, when I went to a Fulbright potluck. Sunday was Tag der deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity, 20th anniversary!), which I celebrated with a few other ETAs by going to a local sushi restaurant and walking through Mauerpark. When I got back to the WG, one of my apartment-mates had bought some dessert for us, and she amused us with her wordplay: "Heute ist Tag der deutschen Feinheit! Die Hundies koennen auch etwas Suessiges essen! Es ist Tag der deutschen Gemeinheit! Wir wollen nicht feiern!" (Today is Day of German Refinement! The dogs can eat something sweet, too! Today is Day of German Meanness. We don't want to celebrate!)
One thing to leave you with: in high school, we had songs to remember accusative and dative prepositions. For no apparent reason, I started singing the dative song (to "The Blue Danube") in my head at an U-Bahn station and then cracked up when I imagined the monotone bullfrog "GEGENUEBER" that always concluded the song. The great thing is that in big cities, most people don't judge you.
To summarize the classes that have been canceled:
1. On my second day at the school, a Grundkurs was canceled due to student elections. I showed up to the room and waited... and waited... and waited... before wandering down to the teacher's room. Apparently everyone else knew about the voting ahead of time.
2. Sportfest! My Gymnasium canceled the entire school day to let the kids compete in 3 events: throwing a ball, running 100 meters, and doing a shuttle run. I heard that the other kids got to do long jump, too.
3. Two Leistungskurse went to the Berlin Literature Festival. I got to go with one class. :)
4. Studientag-- where all of the teachers (well, all of them were invited; not all of them showed up) went to Gransee for a day. It wasn't for a faculty meeting, like I thought-- it was to wander around the lake and visit churches.
5. Today was Wandertag. Apparently the younger kids (10th grade and under) get one day off when the Oberstufe (11th grade and up) takes a 3-hour, subject-specific exam. I think they have quite a few of these tests, so I'm not sure how My Gymnasium picked today (it was originally supposed to be Wednesday), but... well, another day off school! I went with a 10th grade class to Olympiapark, saw a film and an exhibit about the Berlin Olympics and the relationship between sports and politics, and went to the top of the bell tower.
Anyway, enough about field trips, and on to the more interesting things.
I didn't have to go to class on Friday because of test preparation sessions, so I met up with a few ETAs, and we decided to walk around Tiergarten. I think we ended up walking through Moabit and eventually ended up at the edge of Wedding. (One of my students said that she saw me walking down her street!) On Saturday, I laid around the WG and did nothing until 8 PM, when I went to a Fulbright potluck. Sunday was Tag der deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity, 20th anniversary!), which I celebrated with a few other ETAs by going to a local sushi restaurant and walking through Mauerpark. When I got back to the WG, one of my apartment-mates had bought some dessert for us, and she amused us with her wordplay: "Heute ist Tag der deutschen Feinheit! Die Hundies koennen auch etwas Suessiges essen! Es ist Tag der deutschen Gemeinheit! Wir wollen nicht feiern!" (Today is Day of German Refinement! The dogs can eat something sweet, too! Today is Day of German Meanness. We don't want to celebrate!)
One thing to leave you with: in high school, we had songs to remember accusative and dative prepositions. For no apparent reason, I started singing the dative song (to "The Blue Danube") in my head at an U-Bahn station and then cracked up when I imagined the monotone bullfrog "GEGENUEBER" that always concluded the song. The great thing is that in big cities, most people don't judge you.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Explaining My Gymnasium-- Part III
My Gymnasium is located in a neighborhood where the unemployment rate is particularly high. A high percentage of families in this area are first- or second-generation immigrants to Germany, and the kids still consider themselves 100% Turkish, or 100% Palestinian, or 100% Lebanese, etc., even though most were born in Germany and have a German passport. Approximately 2/3 (probably more) of my students are not "ethnic Germans," and I'd estimate that somewhere between 60-70% are Muslims. About 1/4-1/3 of the female students wear headscarves; no one at the school wears a burqa. I've surveyed two classes, and I've learned that my students are from: Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Palestine (yes, I know that Palestine currently isn't recognized as a state in Germany or in the US), Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Chechnya (this student was very clear that s/he is from Chechnya, not Russia!), Poland, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Bosnia... and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. It is an incredibly diverse school.
I also want to emphasize that I have experienced ZERO issues from my students about being an American or not being Muslim. Muslims =/ terrorists. Got that? Even the students from Iraq and Palestine, who might have legitimate reasons for resenting my presence, said they were excited about having a real American teacher.
My students are awesome. (Except when they are walking on tables-- then, not so awesome.)
Classes in the Gymnasium are big-- I was told that the average is 32 students. I *think* this is typical for German Gymnasien in general, but the problems might be exacerbated in My Gymnasium due to the limited number of rooms and teachers.
My Gymnasium labels classes by numbers (reflecting the grade) and letters (reflecting the strength of the class). For example, 10a and 10b are "hochbegabte" (highly gifted) classes, and the students are supposed to be stronger academically than the students in 10c, who are supposed to be stronger than students in 10d. The A and B classes skip 8th grade together, so I think they're roughly equivalent to AP/IB students in the US. I haven't noticed a significant difference between the As and Bs, and the Cs and Ds, but there is definitely a difference between A/B and C/D. I'm not sure what the students think of having letters, but it's probably similar to US schools with AP, honors, regular distinctions.
Notice that A/B classes skip *8th* grade. I can't speak for all American school districts, but mine had us skip grades as early as possible. In Grundschulen, classes have a combination of hochbegabte kids, 'regular' kids, and kids with special needs; gifted kids aren't moved to different classes until 5th grade at the earliest. Many US schools actually track the 'gifted' kids into "hochbegabte" classes earlier than German schools!
I also want to emphasize that I have experienced ZERO issues from my students about being an American or not being Muslim. Muslims =/ terrorists. Got that? Even the students from Iraq and Palestine, who might have legitimate reasons for resenting my presence, said they were excited about having a real American teacher.
My students are awesome. (Except when they are walking on tables-- then, not so awesome.)
Classes in the Gymnasium are big-- I was told that the average is 32 students. I *think* this is typical for German Gymnasien in general, but the problems might be exacerbated in My Gymnasium due to the limited number of rooms and teachers.
My Gymnasium labels classes by numbers (reflecting the grade) and letters (reflecting the strength of the class). For example, 10a and 10b are "hochbegabte" (highly gifted) classes, and the students are supposed to be stronger academically than the students in 10c, who are supposed to be stronger than students in 10d. The A and B classes skip 8th grade together, so I think they're roughly equivalent to AP/IB students in the US. I haven't noticed a significant difference between the As and Bs, and the Cs and Ds, but there is definitely a difference between A/B and C/D. I'm not sure what the students think of having letters, but it's probably similar to US schools with AP, honors, regular distinctions.
Notice that A/B classes skip *8th* grade. I can't speak for all American school districts, but mine had us skip grades as early as possible. In Grundschulen, classes have a combination of hochbegabte kids, 'regular' kids, and kids with special needs; gifted kids aren't moved to different classes until 5th grade at the earliest. Many US schools actually track the 'gifted' kids into "hochbegabte" classes earlier than German schools!
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