5 grade English class with Mrs.

H
th

Students give teacher food as gifts: politely accept carrots (Bonduelle frische Baby karotten),
corn cereal, apple slices, chocolate covered raisins, etc.
Circle of chairs at beginning of class facilitates instruction and discussion
English (UK) sketches plays/reenactments (upcoming activities)
Pets Projeckt; posters (main work for the day)
Game yellow and green sticky notes on
forehead with name; person asks yes or no
questions (German) to group; 10 guesses;
Pairs: round 1 (Frau Merkel & Justin Bieber)
round 2 (Barbie & Bambi)
Clothing Chicago Bulls hat, animals with hats,
San Francisco, Angry birds, minions, sweaters,
jackets, black/neon; Shoes Nike, Adidas, Fila
Paper cranes fold for students; different colors and sheets of paper; grosser (bigger) =
bonding experience
Hand signal/wait time teacher uses several times; long while before all students
Directives: Say lol ich bin aus America; ich bin Joshua
Read from German book - 1 paragraph; breaks for unknown/long words n German
Students give directions for correct pronunciation of words; repeat/say this:
Student questions: How tall are you in meters? Where do you live [in Hamburg]? How old are
you? Any pets? What does family feed you? Will you come visit again?

Fascination with laptop; different keyboard (no umlauts must

be inserted with Word or copied/pasted)
Student typed following sentence using my laptop: Ich bin
Emily und ich werde in einem monat 11 ja und ich muss
berlegen was ich mache.
Schoolyard game outside with kids for 15 minutes (hide and
seek; safe zone; person counts down, others hide outside and
in blue building, after countdown is complete race back to rail
and say mein corner -1-2-3 for safety without being found
by tagger
Megan the language specialist from Oregon; assists mentor
teacher and Ms. H in English classes; asked questions in
teachers room: are you an undergrad or graduate why Hamburg? what did you study at
UNC? Are there other students from NC at University of Hamburg hope you enjoy your stay!

Next: School Visit from Betsy; met in teacher lounge around 10:35
Multiple attempts with teacher Andreas to find 3 /4 period English class to participate with were
unsuccessful large teacher to student ratio in classes (students did not require help from
guests); this led to a tour of school grounds (pointing out buildings, rooms, subject grade levels
and library)
rd

th

Typical Americans do not speak or understand German well (unfortunate)

Encountered student outside asking for teacher (Lehrer) only fluent in English and German
respectively; unable to be of assistance; language barriers
Andreas (the gracious host) bought Betsy and I tea and hot cocoa; discussion of philosophy,
Steven King book, trip to Berlin (learned Nazis became immediate persecution in days upon
election to power), Betsys dissertation on student teachers learning opportunities from teaching
abroad (what [global competencies] can be learned that is less likely to occur from teaching only
in the US as part of training?)
Grade 13 English Abitur review session with Andreas 3 students came to class
Last week of formal classes spirited and in costumes; from Day 1 of week administrators
insisted celebration needed to end (too wild/distracting)
Students 15 minutes to write and discuss questions you would like to learn more about

Topics: Culture Wars and Crime and Punishment (legal/police relations) in America
Lesson: Josh and Betsy co-teaching; American guests, culture experts and language
specialists
1 question: George Lakrofts Moral Politics theory what is your political affiliation (R/D) and
would you pick up a baby if it was crying at night? (both answered yes, liberal-leaning; student
confirmed alignment to theory and explained rationale conservative answer less likely to pick
up baby leave alone to teach self reliance while liberal response tends to care about the
welfare of different persons)
st

Question 2: What is your stance on Donald Trump? How do elections and nominations in US
political process work? -- > taboo topics in US (religion, sexual preference/identity, politics,
money/class)
- (Andreas) Why might Germany be interested in results of election should Trump become
President?
A: Trump candidacy not originally taken seriously still winning a majority of Republican polls:
Adolf Hitler also regarded as a joke initially before gaining office and power in Germany (scary)?
A matter of perspective.
- controversies of evolution/creationism, separation of church and state, school variation, world
religions and what is taught in schools
U.S. divisions in society what are the underlying causes? (religion, beliefs, values, binaries
and polarization, politics, and media exaggerations)
Wise words from Betsy: The truth is always somewhere in the middle.
Culture Wars is an academic term; not used by everyday Americans, even if general
awareness of issues is present or
discussed
Problems tearing apart U.S. society
push for civil rights and fair and equal
representation [of all people/minorities] in
positions of power, setting conventions,
rules, and expectations that govern society
(institutions of religion, race, politics, class,
gender, etc. social justice)

Police crime and punishment (Ferguson, race riots, brutality, shootings) extreme examples
seized upon and manipulated by media industries (newspapers, radio, televisions) selling
yellow journalism
Andreas: Michael Moore documentaries Bowling for Columbine and Where to Invade Next?
(learning and education about the United States) has not traveled or visited America before
Is the U.S. characterized by a culture of anxiety?
-issues with safety (9/11 and mass shootings), money (financial crisis 2008) security (jobs,
terrorism), accountability all hyped by media scare tactics and businesses selling exciting
stories
Question: The United States and the death penalty (long legal process, prisons, varies by state,
eye for an eye mentality
US education and the world responsibility on student or teacher for learning? Final exams
stress is stretched or spread out over time; not as high stakes as standardized testing (one
size fits all)
Apologies (to students) for speaking fast in English
1:30 2:30 Abitur Exam Review
Detailed notes/student questions 1) how to quote, 2) mediation assignments timed task to
read through documents, analyze with notes, and ideally turn responses to prompts into a single
comprehensive essay/produce
Teacher sample US and Germany gun laws Berlin article (more difficult for Germans to obtain
a weapon); practice mediation by choosing 600 word passage from article and creating own
mediation task (goal to change the genre interpretation, angle or perspective to take resources
and generate an idea for something else new) and sample essay to better understand the
Abitur/A-levels. Must accurately cite various forms of evidence (author, title, date, context
information)
Crime and Punishment unit discussion of philosophy (Andreas = philosopher teacher), crime,
morality, motives, and characters (comparing book and movie adaptations) to interpret authors
purposes
Summary v. analysis, present tense treat like a piece of art and describe what you see; know
what you are talking about before writing; conclude with further steps and inquiries
Parts 1+2 of Abitur (not telling a story) Part 3 Creative Writing (telling a story
Shared/discussed UNC/Hamburg Student Teaching Program with Andreas (journals etc.)

Trip to Landungsbrcken after school U-434 Uboot Museum, St Paulis and Hamburg S.V.
store (new owner of 2 beautiful soccer
scarves for gifts)

Soviet submarine B-515 (bigger/longer than

originally expected or anticipated)
interesting history
Dinner: Luna made Hawaiian toast with
ham, cheese, fruit toppings (pineapple and
peach); Nino - table tennis jacket; games
with neighbor friends
19:00 Uhr Family appointment with dog trainer specialist; learning ways to train and take care
of Joy (who expresses anxiety or aggressions at times when family members leave the room
and close the door)
Conversations for over an hour in German different techniques and instructions
(positive/negative reinforcement; tone of voice; super! nein) for training (prima!, su is fine)
Early retirement for evening, long day

(Images) Bus 12 every 20 minutes in morning: Adolf-Koster-Damm to Heckkaten;

Brecht Schule Landungsbrcken, Hamburg - lots of schools in the area

Gretel Bergmann Schule

Stadteillschule Allermhe