Today was our last day at our host school. 😔 A month is a short time, so I expected to learn a lot while at my host school, but I did not expect to become attached to so many of the students and teachers.

Libby and I began our day in music class with a familiar group of seventh graders. I loved sitting in this class, seeing students play to their strengths and support one another in a collective effort. The teacher, Mr. S (a different one from Wednesday), did a great job keeping things moving while also being supportive as well. The students are pretty talented, too, so it was an entertaining experience overall. The benefits of staying with one class for such a long time during one’s school career were really evident in this class; these students know one another’s talents and know how to help one another better than most students I have seen.

We then attended a biology class with the 11th graders we have often observed. All around the room, there were stuffed hawks, owls, and other birds; fifteen different sets of mounted antlers; a huge alligator skin; and other once-living things. The topic in biology today was climate change and the greenhouse effect and the enhanced greenhouse effect. This class with Ms. G was structured much like an American class room with structured group work followed by groups presenting on what they learned and sharing their notes via SmartBoard. The teacher also led some discussion from the front of the room. The class was attentive and focused, and I think the students (and I) learned a lot during this class period.

After school, Libby and I went to the Bergedorf Farmers' Market, which is only held on Tuesdays and Fridays. We put together our own FischBrötchen with Dorsche (cod) since we didn’t have a chance to go to the Hamburg Fischmarkt. We also got Sommerkranz (a circular pastry with jam and some other stuff in it) and had ourselves a nice little picnic.

Bergedorf Farmers’ Market

We had our FischBrötchen and pastries on the benches around this fountain!

DIY FischBrötchen

Here is another photo of Bergedorf just because it is lovely.

We also stopped in a cute little coffee shop for Nutella macchiatos. I don’t usually drink coffee, but Nutella called for an exception.

We were supposed to meet with our mentor teacher after this to ask some questions about teaching in Germany, but he was sick unfortunately. Instead, we talked to Ms. S (of 7th grade English & Lüneburg) about how schools in the U.S. differ from those in Germany in terms of inclusion, parents, teacher workload, and so on. We were sad that we were not able to say goodbye to our mentor teacher, but it was nice to be able to talk to Ms. S as well since she has been so friendly to us and we have spent a lot of time in her class.

Before leaving, Libby and I took some photos of our host school (and us) to have some memories of our time here! We had a great experience, and I am grateful for the sense of welcome and openness that we found here and for everything that we learned.