Projectwoche, Part I: Dinosaurs and Unexpected Occurrences

So, this past week was Projectwoche at my school, when every class has an individual theme with which to work over the entire week; thus, there are no actual classes.  Given that there naturally wasn't going to be an English-themed project, I had initially thought that there wouldn't be much use for me.

I was wrong.  Oh, how wrong was I.

What do you to with an E.T.A. who is great at teaching English and making True Aht, but couldn't really do anything useful on German themes without a week of preparation?  Well, Frau Doehrmann had invited me to help out with 2a's dinosaur theme, seeing as I know the class well and can, as aforementioned, make art magically appear with little to no notice.  This theme is fitting in many ways:

1.)  Dinosaurs are kind of cool.

2.)  You don't have to have a degree in Archaeology to make German kids teach you about dinosaurs and which ones are the coolest.

3.)  One of the nicknames I have earned may or may not be Jenasaur.

I happily gave up my free day in order to work with this class throughout the entire duration of Projectwoche (which actually didn't turn out that way; whoo, foreshadowing, whoo), and it was easily one of my most enjoyable weeks at the Grundschule.

So.  Let's begin.

On Monday, I actually performed the task I was assigned to do: help the children with art.  Unexpected Occurrence No. 1 arose when I discovered what the art project was: making our own fossils.  Cool and fun?  Yes, of course.  Difficult to mix the Gips and water to the correct consistency?  Hell, yes.  Though I did not really get the hang of it until almost everyone was finished, I would call this a success, as the "fossils" (made from seashells, toy dinosaur footprints/corpses, and the like) turned out fine and the kids had a fun time.

Adorable aside:
Dylan:  "Good day.  I've brought an English book about dinosaurs.  Come, come!"  (trots off)

Tuesday was spent largely helping out with the kids' worksheets, as Silke had set up workstations for the kids to work on all week, so they would acquire a fairly solid knowledge of the dinosaurs they were studying.  I would say that the only noteworthy thing about this day was that I helped Nele and Martha, two of my sweetest students, with Dino-Domino, and Nele kept insisting I read aloud the clues.  Afterward, the kids built their own mini-Dino-Park, complete with moss, a bird's nest, shells, and a triceratops skeleton.

After work, I had a nice chat with Steffi, and it's comforting to know that I will leave Germany with the fact that I could speak German very well to at least one person.

Wednesday brought about Unexpected Occurrence No. 2.  As I entered the building, the main teacher for 2c, Frau Peters, spotted me and wondered if I could do her a big favor.  Being the wonderful and benevolent person that I am, I consented; the favor being that I could help 2c, whose theme also centered on dinosaurs, with the fossil Aht.  Being a seasoned Gips artiste by now, things went smoothly.

Unexpected Occurrence No. 3 actually highlights my amazing powers of the astute, as I happened to notice for the first time that Frau Peters is pregnant.  Visibly so, which means that she has been for quite some time.  I see this woman four days a week.  Erk.  Astute.  That's me.

Unexpected Occurrence No. 4 came immediately thereafter, as while the kids were working on their own worksheets, Frau Peters invited me to come along with 2a and 2c for their trip to the Dino-Park in Muenchehagen on Friday.  Knowing that I have only a couple of more weeks with these children, I accepted the role of Hapless Chaperon No. 4, thus concluding a day full of improvisation and minimal dino-stomping.

But was this to be the end of unexpected occurrences, which is a ridiculously long title to keep typing out?  No, of course not, for this is my work, and my work is full of these things.  That morning, as I came into the teacher's lounge, I noticed on the substitute's plan that I was scheduled to work with 4c for four hours (Unexpected Occurrence No. 5).  The woman who plans these things told me I was to help with art, so I (grudgingly) trudged upstairs to deal with GKH's most difficult class, thinking grumble-y thoughts and darker forms of punishment for unruly German children.

Elisabeth was already there, working with the students on an Erinnerungsbuch, or memory book.  In the fourth class, many things go on with the students, as this is the grade where they learn which of the three schools they will attend: Gymnasium, Realschule, or Hauptschule (ranking from best to worst), which will essentially affect what kind of jobs they will be able to get when they graduate, or if they'll be able to realistically go to university.  My students discovered which schools they were going to this past week...which actually makes the rest of the school year kind of pointless, in my opinion.  Regardless, this memory book was more of a "dream job" book more than anything, as it just consisted of every student's desired future occupation.  As most of these students are going to Realschule, I really do hope that they will be able to eventually upgrade to Gymnasium, as many want to become doctors and the like (considering if this was not just a cop-out job for those who were lazy).

So, why was I there?  To help binding these said books.  Who doesn't know the binding techniques that these students learned in their textile class?  This E.T.A.  Not to worry, though; mainly, I was there to keep the class in check and be available when there were questions about the other stages of the book-making process, along with being there to chat with Elisabeth as she vented out her frustrations concerning that gosh-darn 4c: the class everyone loves to hate.

I feel sorry for them, really.  The kids are fine, but as a whole...they are not fun to teach.  They are sarcastic (mockingly, not endearingly, so), loud, and slower on the uptake, and the main reason my coworkers give is because these students come from "a different level of society."  This makes me uncomfortable, and I'm sure my faithful followers can imagine why.  And I think that because their teachers--every single one of them I've talked to about them--have this sort of attitude toward them, the students naturally live up to this expectation.  Six of the twenty students are going to Gymnasium, but that's partially because their teachers had that expectation for those particular students from the beginning, I'm guessing.  But, getting back on track, the kids like me well enough, and they have fun chattering to me and learning random bits of (clean) English.

As they were finishing up their books, I noticed that Elisabeth told Gianna to make another one, which the latter dutifully spent the rest of the time making.  I had a feeling what was coming, so this doesn't count as Unexpected Occurrence No. 6; she had made a book for me, and all of the students had signed the front page.  It was presented to me at the end of the day.

No, this wasn't Unexpected Occurrence No. 6, but here's what was.

They got up and sang me a song about being underway.  About leaving and saying goodbye.  And they did it without mocking me, or anything like that.

That was perhaps the most unexpected thing this past week.

Sure, the sendoff was a bit early, since I don't leave for three weeks.  But, it was sweet all the same.  And though I know they'll be back to being little hellions for the next couple of weeks, I'm okay with that.  They are what they were expected to be, and I can't take their memory back with me with any resentment because of that.  Sure, I'll still moan and groan about them, but they are good kids.  And I wish them luck in the future, when (or if, rather) they look back on their Erinnerungsbuch and see if they have become what they initially set off to be.

Whew, this is a longer post than I had intended.  I think it would be better if I reserved the Dino-Park extravaganza for a separate post, just so my two fans can breathe a bit.  Be back shortly.