School 69

School 69 is a typical city school in Siberia.  There are two shifts: one in the  morning  and one in the afternoon.  If School 69 does not break up their day like this, there is no way to accomodate the swarms of students in one block.  I have heard that in other locations that there can be as many as three shifts!

Morning shift begins at 8 AM and runs until 1.  Afternoon shift beings at 1:30 and runs until 6:30.  Teachers might teach both shifts. 

As far as I can tell, there is no union representation for teachers.

 I saw evidence of great pride in schools and respect for teachers.  Again, students rise when we enter the room.  They plied us with gifts as we made our way through the school to visit classrooms and to answer questions about America.  I am now quite happily familiar with Russian chocolate!

They all wanted to know if students wear uniforms in the US.  This is clearly a detested policy for students.  Like our dress code, teachers find it difficult to enforce.

Everywhere we go, we see vestiges of Sochi and epic Olympic pride.  School 69 in Barnaul was no exception and we admired the decorating on the walls.

 

I love the below idea.  

School 69 houses a museum on campus.  We've seen this in many of the schools that we've visited but this one was particularly well done. The school archivist (a history teacher) has unearthed all kinds of artifacts including the canteen and helmut from World War I.

World War II or what the Russians call The Great Patriotic War is similarly represented in the museum.  I thought it  might be meaningful to recreate something like this for BHHS--especially while we're still lucky enough to have greatest generation grandparents who served.  

What if one of our students took this on as a Service Learning Project?  I hate to say this, but what an impressive, initiative demonstrating project  for college applications. 

Do I have any takers?

The below  picture depicts the first lunch shift of the day at 9:40.  A bit early, no?  While we observed students at lunch--like students anywhere--a little girl ran up and hugged our student guide.  This was was our guide's sister and it was clear how much they adore each other.

We saw many classes that were similar to what we'd seen at other schools:  language classes for older kids, primary classes for the "youngers".

I want to emphasize how small language classes are here.  I have not seen any classes with more than 15 students.  

The photo below depicts  Girls Technical Arts.  Notice the  sewing machine in the foreground.  We saw ovens, ironing boards and stovetops.   Dresses that girls had made in past years lined the classroom closets.

The teacher assured me that boys could take the class if they wanted to do so.  Girls could also take the Boys Technical Arts if they wanted (this includes topics such as woodshop).  But she shrugged as if to say,  "Why would they want to do this?" 

The teacher proudly held up a dress that students had sewn.  Initially it appeared to be covered with large gold beads.  On closer inspection, we saw that it was really constructed from gold painted pasta.

Time and time again, students popped up at attention and wanted to ask us questions about our preceptions of Russia.  We asked the same about America.  We have said over and over again that there was no question they could ask that would shock or offend us. 

For the very first time a student asked us what our perceptions were of Crimea. 

We had a nuanced and careful discussion.  Opinions here in Russia have not deviated once.  They view an historical wrong being corrected by government actions. Everyone tells us a story about someone that they know in the Ukraine. There is no ambivalence that I can see about the government actions.

I look forward to discussing this with you when return.  

As I said, over and over again students wanted to know about school unforms: do we have them?  What are they?  These kids  hate wearing uniforms and some reject them with no repercussion.  We know at BHHS that dress code is hard to police.  Students want to be individuals and clothing is one of the ways in which they express this.

The first three girls in the photo below are wearing variations of the school uniform.

Girl number four was a conscientious objector.  She said that wearing a uniform doesn't allow her to express her originality.  

She sounded like one of our kids.  

 

We met with English teachers over tea and biscuits and discussed what makes our systems different.  

(I am loving tea time here).

Time and time again, foreign language and literature came up as subjects  that the Russians are doing really well.  American schools offer more extracurricular and sports (as far as I can tell, there is none of this in most Russian schools). We provide many more student services such as counseling and ROP.

 Discipline seems not to be an issue here.  One teacher said she can raise an eyebrow and silence the class.  We know teachers like this but in general, American atomosphere is more playful and relaxed.

Teachers here express shock that we kneel or crouch to help students with work.  Teachers here do not physically lower themselves  in front of students.

Teachers distinguish between real knowledge and applied khowledge.  My sense is that training and application in the US emphasizes process much more than knowledge.

Teachers  asked about parent involvement.  There appears to be less parent involvement here. 

We wanted to know if their students ever try to argue about grades.  

Apparently, arguing about grades is part of the international language.

State examinations are stressful both in the US and in Russia. As far as I can see, teachers here are also tempted to teach to the test.

Later in the day, students wanted to see pictures of how our students live and what they do on the weekend.  They cannot believe that kids get to drive at 16.  People cannot drive here until they are 18.

Later, we went back to the Baker Street School and met with Tatyana's English students.  These kids are smart and saavy: just like my kids.  Alina, the girl below, showed me her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.  Sound familiar?  I'm pretty sure that she was carrying an Ipad and that she had wireless access.

And how they loved the BHHS Basketball Jerseys.

These girls are getting their orange on and loving BHEF's generosity!

I could see the attraction of teachingin another   country for awhile.  There's a whole other level of education that happens for both student and teacher when we are allowed to explore culture.

Tomorrow is a three hour session with teachers from all over the Altai  territory who have come to hear us speak about US schools.  

I haven't been bored yet.