2:00 am in Gothenburg!

Hi Westside!

I think the jet-lag caught up with me last night. I went to bed at 8:00 p.m. and just woke up at 2:00 a.m. I decided to "skype" my family in Gretna and they were just finishing up dinner. My own children were surprised that it was Tuesday night for them and Wednesday morning for me already.

The school we visited yesterday was very interesting and different from our own, but similar in many ways. The students were very talkative with us and their number one question Mr. Mosier and I got was, "How old are you?" I'm not sure why this was so important, but maybe it was just an easy question to ask in English.

In many ways, we are ahead of them with our 1 to 1 initiative, but I found they have different ideas of how students should be able to use their laptops and even their cell phones.

Attendance for the teachers is an interesting process.

They have to remember who was absent in their class and then go to a completely different room to write their attendance down for the day. (Thank goodness for PowerSchool!) Another interesting fact is that they keep all doors locked to main classrooms, teacher's offices, and staff bathrooms. The teachers seem to use a key everywhere they go in the building. We also found out that due to all education and health care being free in Sweden, they actually have both a nurse and a doctor at their school.

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The school also builds in 20 minute breaks for their students where they can go and play, use the restroom, use their "mobile" (cell) phones, or take care of other things.

The 6th grade class that we visited was very nice and the students were very excited to show us their i-movie that they had created. Most kids who are in 6th grade here are a year older then our 6th grade students (12 to 13 years of age in Sweden)

The computer laps are smaller then ours, but seem to be more open then ours.

Better go for now!

Mrs. Vester