It felt so good to be back in the classroom and having that interaction that I love. The students were great. Not only were they extremely respectful and well behaved, but I was very impressed by their language skills. Their teacher does not allow them to use Italian in the classroom and she does not speak in Italian when teaching. I know that this is not the case in many English classrooms throughout Italy, and even throughout Rome for that matter, but this school happens to be one of the best schools in Rome and it is extremely evident. The classes I taught were year five students (they are in their last year of high school), so if I were in America they would actually be first year college students based on their age. Since today was my first day, I introduced myself and then they asked me any questions they had. The types of questions they asked me ranged from “What is school like in America?” to “What are the major social and political problems in America?”
Cultural Notes: 1. The expected attire of a teacher in Italy is not formal. There were many teachers wearing jeans and a basic top. It’s like casual Friday everyday.
2. Students have the same exact courses every year. They do not have electives. There are slight changes from year 1-2 than from year 3-5 but not major. For example, at this school they take geography only in year one and philosophy only in year 3,4,5. When talking to the students about the differences between school systems, they found the flexibility in the American school system to be the most interesting.
3. Each lesson lasts one hour; not 40 minutes.
4. Americans call each class a ‘period.’ Italians call each class an ‘hour.’ It’s not “first period, second period, third period,” it’s “first hour, second hour, third hour.”
5. When a teacher enters the room all of the students stand. It doesn’t happen in all schools, but it happens in the one I am teaching at.
6. It’s very interesting how, on a whole, the youth in Italy are very aware of the political climate and many of them get involved in political affairs. In America teenagers don’t really pay that much attention to politics. This really interests me because I don’t know the reason behind it. I asked the students about it today, and got a few different responses. One student said that when there is a lot to be fixed, you get involved. Another student said that the youth don’t actually know, they just root for politics like they root for sports. An adult said that it may be a historical factor in the sense that Italians always congregated in a piazza to discuss issues and it lead to a sense of communication among people that lasted through the years.
Highlight of My Day: My cooperating teacher doesn’t want the students to know that I speak/understand Italian, let alone that I am an actual Italian teacher in the States. If the students were to know, they would not push to speak English and this would defeat the purpose of me being there. My cooperating teacher and I had decided to say that I am an American literature teacher. When the students asked the inevitable question of what I do for a living in America I basically had to lie to their faces. It was pretty funny because I am so not an American literature teacher and it was strange hearing it come out of my mouth. They then started to ask me who my favorite American authors are and I had to dig deep into my memory to think about classic American authors I learned about in high school. The first person who popped into my head was J.D. Salinger. My cooperating teacher and I were laughing over the whole situation afterwards.
Ultimate Sound: The school bell (la campanella). I was in the teacher lounge when it when off the first time and I thought it was a fire alarm. It lasted a good 30 seconds and I was wondering why no one was evacuating the building.
Impara con me! pagellino- progress report
