Up until now I've taught only in public schools in rural (well some urban - but mostly rural) Saskatchewan where traditions are valued, precedents set and followed, and a continued school system behavioural matrix from when I went to school. After 9 yrs of this life what did I decide to do? Travel overseas to a foreign country to perform the same career, teaching, on new turf. What I've experienced is very interesting. Is it typical to Italy? Who's to say. Is it different from where I came from? Yes.
So I'd like to invite you into the world of ISG (The International School of Genoa)....
Our entrance gates
Welcome!
(Front entrance)
Double set of automatic, sliding doors
(second set is locked with reception in between)
What anthem is played at an international school? That's a good question! Each week a new anthem is played. Talk about incorporating all nationalities.
From the gym we proceed to our classrooms for our daily activities. One thing new to me this year is that our school does not have bells. What? I know! Not for class change, recess, lunch or dismissal. All class time changes are based on the teacher being aware of when. It's kind of refreshing not to have the bell, and interesting to see the difference in students - they can tell the time (in grade 3 at least) but are very unaware, for the most part, due to the no bell system.
There's a double flight of stairs I take
every day, and quite a few times a day :p
Recycling is very prevalent in our school.
You can see recycling bins like these for paper, plastic,
cans, etc. all over the school.
Clothing lost and found section.
Our hallowed halls (ground floor).
Snack is a new "concept" to me this year. I am used to students having snack prior to "recess' and doing a read aloud. However, snack here is where students take their snack to the courtyard (all gr 1-5 in the same place at the same time at the front of the school) and walk around, eat and visit. There is to be not running for fear of falling on the rocks and hurting each other. So really, it's a snack time as opposed to what I know as a recess. Thankfully, I only have to supervise this event 3 times a month (it gets quite chaotic when the children finish eating and just want to run).
My schedule is amazing this year though, In Saskatchewan, as an elementary teacher I was responsible for teaching math, language arts, science, social, arts ed (dance, music, drama, visual arts), health, and phys ed. Now while some of these subjects (aka health and phys ed) were taught by others in order to meet prep period regulations, it was still a heavy courseload for many teachers. Here - only math, language arts and IPC are on my teaching agenda (IPC = science/social studies subjects combined into 8-10 wk units). Therefore, I get at least an hour of "Specials" aka prep a day, sometimes more. Now while many would think this lack of instructional time would be detrimental to their class, I'm finding it to work out just as well as previous teaching years for myself. I now have more planning and assessment time and do not feel as burnt out as I have in prior years.
Snack container box - for when "Specials" follow snack time
Grade 1-3 hallway.
Welcome to 3rd Grade Purple
Our beautiful classroom. Student oriented.
I love our school bathrooms! Some history on our school is that it used to be an old monastery. So our classrooms, it could be inferred, were where the monks lived. As for the washrooms, not sure if they are historical or a product of a small renovation environment. There are actually rooms in our school building that are walled off and not in use. The school's goal is to expand in the coming years to provide more classroom space as our enrolment grows.
Sink and drinking fountain.
Toilet cubicles with hand washing stations in each.
So there are no water fountains in the school. Rather, students either a) bring water bottles and fill them in the sink at school, or b) drink from the sinks in the bathroom. In the washrooms, there are cubicles and students can actually wash their hands in there prior to exiting. I really like this concept! Should cut down on germs from the handles.
School runs until 3:30pm here but..... there is no afternoon recess. So after students each lunch and have a half hour recess, it's work time until they are dismissed. For our elementary students, this means 12:50-3:30 without a break. :/ Therefore, students in 3rd grade purple often have a few brain breaks in the afternoons (and we're lucky that we have a few specials then too).
All in all, there are many things about ISG that have taken some getting used to. But it's definitely been a breath of fresh air for me. While things are different and strange, they're not bad. And it's fun to be a "new teacher" while still having the wealth of experience and training that I do.
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