Another Exciting Day Draws To An End

It was another wonderful day in Sweden and at Bergsjoskolan School. Today we were able to visit our newly formed friends in the sixth grade classroom. The teachers Kerstin Thoren and Linn Kamgren allowed us some time at the beginning of class to share with students about our school.One thing we learned today that was interesting was that Kerstin has been with her students for six years. In Sweden, it is common for teachers to stay with their students for three year chunks (1-3,4-6, and 7-9). I used Google Earth to let students see an aerial picture of their school, and watched it zoom out of Sweden and fly across the Atlantic and zoom into our school.I also showed students on Google Maps, where Gothenburg Nebraska is located.We were able to share with the students pictures that Mrs. Vester took of our own Westside Middle School Students at Westside Middle School. The students were amazed by the shear number of students that are at our school, compared to their school. They really enjoyed seeing the pictures and had lots of questions. In Sweden, they are a lot more informal. Students address their teachers by their first name, which is very different for us American Teachers. Students had time to work on their Bird iMovie and were all very excited to talk with us. The students really want to learn about our American Culture and how we do things in the United States.Students are very much like ours, and I found out today from talking with a young lady whose parents immigrated to Sweden from Mogadishu, Somalia that there is an Amusement Park. This place is called Liseberg and has rides and roller coasters that the students really enjoy. I showed students the Six Flags theme parks and told them that my family also enjoys these rides. We had a very nice conversation. Mrs. Vester and I also played basketball out in the courtyard with some of the boys which was a very fun experience.

We met with Niclas Lofgren who told us about their Student Health Team. This is very similar to our SAT team at the middle school. In this area of Gothenburg the city has invested a lot of money to hire staff such as a school psychologist, what we would call guidance counselors, and a community counselor program that really try to work with the students and the parents. Niclas really stressed that students with special learning are really tried to be included in the school as much as possible.

After lunch we had a chance to visit some of the 8th grade students in their English class. Students were working with Kerstin Lindsten who is a phenomenal teacher. Students were working on an iMovie project were they had to narrate in English and had to talk about an English Speaking Country (such as Great Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and of course The United States.) Kerstin and her students set up the expectations of the project together and even settled on the deadline, which is this week Friday. Students who are not done on Friday, would not be able to turn in their work late and will have to take a zero. Students had an opportunity to show their work to their classmates to get feedback to help them strengthen their projects before they are turned in. It was very interesting listening to students describe our country from an outside perspective. It really made me think of the

geography projects I have had students do about a particular country and how it would sound to a native of that country. It was a very “surreal” moment.

In the afternoon we were escorted by two of Kerstin Lindsten’s students to a nearby school Backegardsskolan. I will let Mrs. Vester talk more about this experience. It was very cool what we did with the sixth grade students. Mrs. Vester and I also had a very lengthy conversation with two teachers (a 5th grade and 6th grade teacher) about Blackboard and PowerSchool. The teacher’s were absolutely amazed by the technology that these two programs provide for our students, parents, and teachers. The city of Gothenborg is getting close to launching their online platform called Harntorget. One of the teachers we talked to just

received his computer and next year his students will be getting laptops to use in school. He had lots of questions for us about using the computer. He felt that Westside was a lot further along on our use of Technology than their school, but I think that they are heading in the right direction.