Vecka 43

Greetings from the Germans

… and in Mariefred!

We have been here for six weeks now and can’t believe how fast time is passing – that is why we would like to let you know who we are and what we have experienced so far!

We both study in Würzburg, Germany, to become teachers for secondary schools. Our main subjects are English, sports and educational science and Tina is also studying Spanish. We are in our 4^th year of studies now and although we have had practice periods at home we came here to gain more experience in teaching. We also wanted to get to know another educational system – and Gripsholmsskolan is the perfect place for this since it combines the best of the Finnish and the Swedish system.

We both have two classes in which we assist most of the time. Tina is with Jessica in class 3 Björnar and with Christel in class 5, and Lisa is with Linda S in 3 Vargar and with Stefan in class 4. Of course, English and sports are the subjects we can help most, and we often split classes and teach half of the pupils. We did a Swedish language course in Germany and practice a lot with everybody at Gripsholmsskolan, so we also help in other subjects such as maths or arts.

Some of the Gripsholmsskolan pupils also benefit some more from the German students: We teach two students in German hemspråksundervisning, and we also have a German class on Wednesday mornings. The students in class 4 and 5 could choose between German, choir and guitar (elevens val). Up till now we have learned to speak and read our first German sentences, got to know German songs and noticed that Swedish and German are not so different after all!

Sports with the boys.

Acrobatics in the classroom.

By now we really feel at home in Mariefred and at Gripsholmsskolan and that is because everyone here – teachers, children, staff and parents – made us feel welcome from the very first day on. We also made new friends at badminton and innebandy! During the weekends we mostly use the time to get to know more of Sweden: We have already done the sightseeing “classics” in and around Stockholm and are also planning to go to Estonia, Finland and Norway.

We are staying until Christmas (20^th of December), so after höstlovet we will have seven more weeks to stay at Gripsholmsskolan. We are looking forward to everything we are going to experience!

Kram från

Lisa och Tina

In Stockholm with Hannah.