Zug

I had to take down pictures of the students so I removed the one of Anna and I.

Today we went to the International School of Zug in Zug, a town about 45 minutes by train from Lucerne. They took us on a tour of the school, which used to be a monastery. This school has almost 700 students grades pre-k through 8th. They use a method called "Inquiry" in the primary school, which focuses on the student and the teachers' desire to create life-long learners. It is centered on student initiative, meaning the students come up with a lot of their projects and research the questions they have. They also focus on "internationalism"; everything is about embracing world cultures and each individual student from the different cultures within the school. Art and projects cover every wall and window. It's very colorful. It's amazing what students can do when teachers hold a high standard. The students always meet or exceed their expectations. In 5th grade they have an exposition. They are put into groups with a mentor and they come up with a way to help the community--they raise money, do acts of service, or anything they can come up with where they see a need.

My quest is to find out how to apply what I learn here to my future classroom. I love the idea of a student-centered classroom, where they students have lots of choices and class is fun for them. I want to teach underprivileged students about the world even though many of them have never been outside of their city or neighborhood. After talking to Dr. Wiese about my ideas, I've decided I will do that through world literature split up into units based on each continent. Based on the unit, I will incorporate art, poems, writing, music, and the culture of the area to our study.

My other goal is to break stereotypes. I don't want to just have food days when we eat Mexican food and color the Mexican flag. I want them to really understand and appreciate other cultures. If they can't travel the world, then I want to bring the world to them in a very authentic way. So far this trip has been very motivating and inspiring. I will have to adapt numerous things, especially considering they don't have standardized testing in these schools, but I think that my mind has been open to new concepts. I have noticed that many American classrooms are teacher centered- do what the teacher says, exactly the way she wants it done, many times without any creativity or thought put into what appeals to the students. What are they curious about? What will make them love learning? Where do they excel? When my students leave my classroom, I want them to be able to feed themselves with knowledge, not regurgitate everything I have spoon-fed them. There are still a lot of things for me to learn, but I think with time and the grace of God, those things will come. I want to be a learner along with my students and that's exactly what I will be.


After our workshop, Kacy and I went into town. We went to the Picasso Museum and then shopping. The museum was mostly pictures OF Picasso. It was interesting to see how quirky he is and to see pictures of his workshop. That was pretty cool. I was really excited that we got in free to the museum because of our youth train pass.


Well, I need to go to bed, but I put some more pictures on Flickr. If you scroll down and click on the little box with the pictures in it on the right of the screen it will take you to those pictures. Love to all.