Today begins my fifth month of teaching at Michaeli–Gymnasium München and Gymnasium München Riem, so I wanted to look back at my fourth month of teaching. Every additional month I teach reminds me of my love for the profession. I love spending time with my students in small groups and in larger lecture settings. The students surprise me with their questions and their curiosities, regardless of what grade they are in or if they care about their English classes or not.

I have fallen back into a more regular schedule this month at Michaeli-Gymnasium München after a month of working alongside whichever English teacher needed support in their classroom. My schedule at Gymnasium München Riem has changed after returning from winter break (Dec. 22 until Jan. 8) due to an English teacher going on maternity leave. Most of the English classes were moved to Mondays and Fridays, while I only work at that school on Thursdays. My Michaeli-Gymnasium München will also alter in February to help cover a teacher on paternity leave.

My new lecture topics have included:

• Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement
• Gun violence (specifically the Perry, Iowa, shooting that occurred in the first week of the year)
• Poetry
• The Hunger Games and Reality Television
• The world of Panem in the Hunger Games and the juxtaposition of the Capitol and the Districts
• U.S. and British Christmas and New Year’s traditions/celebrations
• The Past Progressive tense
• Adventuring and outdoor vocabulary

I spent less time in the classroom this month due to there being two weeks of winter break from Dec. 22 until Jan. 7. I also opted to take a day off on Monday, Jan. 8, to travel home.

One of the hardest things I have taught about was the Perry, Iowa, school shooting that took place on Jan. 4. I was about five minutes late to school (the only day I’ve been late) because of train issues and walked in while my students were watching the NBC News coverage of the shooting. If you haven’t taught, it is incredibly hard to get an entire class of 30 tenth graders to focus on something without side chatter. When I said my parents lived 40 minutes away from the school and my dad grew up there, the entire room quieted immediately. Perry was my grandparents’ home when I was growing up and it was clear that my students had not met anyone affected directly by gun violence in the states. It was an interesting and important conversation, but it was still difficult to wrap my head around and explain how the shooting happened based on what we knew. After the short discussion, we peeled off into smaller groups to work on poetry, but some students were still curious about gun violence, so I also let them ask additional questions there.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite things to teach has been grammar and the past progressive. My sixth graders have now played four Kahoots and I created a vocabulary game that required my students to explain a vocabulary word and then use it in a past progressive sentence (if it was a verb or noun) or to tell the antonym (if it was an adjective). It may not be my students’ favorite English topic, but they are learning and that’s all that matters.

Working with a variety of teachers over my first three months has improved my teaching style significantly and I have enjoyed trying new techniques over my fourth month. There is still room for growth, but I am figuring out what works for each class and implementing the best strategies for each group of students.

Schedule changes

As I mentioned, my schedule is changing pretty drastically as I jump into month five. While I love my regular classes, I’m excited to help educators who are out because of maternity and paternity leave.

It is hard to not teach my regular students and to jump into classes I have not prepared for, but it offers a new and exciting challenge for my Fulbright year. It is also allowing me to be a more spontaneous person and challenging my on-my-feet thinking. I am hopeful that the experiences will continue to be positive over the next month.

Amerikahaus

An odd experience happened last Tuesday when I helped take students in a seminar on the U.S. 2024 election to Amerikahaus, “the Bavarian center for transatlantic relations” used to inform younger generations about international relations between Germany and the U.S. I signed up to volunteer with Amerikahaus in its “Ask an American” program. I had yet to actually volunteer with the organization, but I was waiting to hear back on specific dates.

When we arrived on Jan. 16, we started with a Kahoot about what people know about the U.S. and its election systems. A fourth of the way through—before we jumped into the simulation of an election cycle—one of the two leaders of “Ask an American” appeared behind my chair. I honestly thought I had elbowed her in the head when I turned around, so I can only imagine how startled I looked. She said there was an “Ask an American” Zoom session going on upstairs and the volunteer had not shown up. Since we were not in the simulation yet with my seminar kids, I opted to go up and let the students ask me questions for the last 15 minutes of their class. It was the first time a volunteer had not shown up, so it was quite an odd experience.

The students were expecting someone from Chicago, so I was asked about the Bulls and had nothing to add for that particular student. I did teach the other students the beloved, Midwestern card game “Trash.” I had a lovely time and headed down for the rest of the seminar’s time at the house.

We proceeded to be divided into teams (there were a few students who were sick, so I was slated in to help the Republican team and the other teacher there (Verena) was a swing-state Republican. The Republican and Democrat teams had to select a party platform and try to win the swing states’ votes. We dealt with funding issues and Super PACs. It was quite fun to see my students putting everything they could into politics and understanding a system I’ve been familiar with my entire life. We ended up in a tie, due to our limited number of states, and it seemed like everyone had fun. I enjoyed the experience and hope more schools in München continue to use the Amerikahaus as the great resource it is.

Monthly overview

As I return to my regular schedule following winter break, I am reminded of how much I love my schools and my job. The pupils are so kind (most of the time) and curious. The teachers are lovely and offer lots of feedback on teaching. I am excited for the second half of my grant now that I am far more comfortable in Germany.

I will also have a few Meet U.S. meetings over the next week, where I will venture to other schools in Germany and teach their students about specific topics. It will give me more time to perfect my teaching skills and explore the country while getting paid a slight stipend for my travels. Bis später!