Teaching in Macedonia was the topic of our class today. Being that that would not be my expertise, Mirjeta did most of the teaching today and we just compared the realities in Macedonia to America. This was a class where I was able to learn more about the educational system in Macedonia. Mirjeta brought a guest speaker, one of her former students who is now a teacher at two schools here in Macedonia. One of the schools is a newer facility in Tetovo, and the other is old and in a village. Her experiences although her own, seem to be very common here. There are not enough resources: books, chalk boards, paper, copies, etc. The teachers have to pay for their own copies of things if they want them for their class. I know that some of our schools in America also have poor conditions! Its just a stark contrast from what I experience in Nebraska.
I asked more questions about the elementary schools and how they organize themselves with sharing space. The schools go morning and afternoon, however it is the same school name and same principal, but the teachers are different. A very interesting concept. I think my next question will be, if you as a teacher wanted to, could you teach both groups? I am curious because the guest speaker that we had taught at two schools. I didn't think to ask at the time if this was by choice or if she was not allowed to teach at the same school all day.
I was also able to see some of the standards for here in Macedonia. It was interesting how they are organized similarly to our in the US, there are units and themes, but it does not get into as much detail as some of ours do. These gave topic and suggested activities. Some of our guides go all the way to what we teach which days. We also discussed the differences in testing- which were big. Most of the students had not heard of standardized testing... lucky kids! There are tests but it does not seem to be nearly has high stakes as ours are. Very interesting to start comparing two very different countries!!
No interesting pictures to share today, but new knowledge about the schools!!
I asked more questions about the elementary schools and how they organize themselves with sharing space. The schools go morning and afternoon, however it is the same school name and same principal, but the teachers are different. A very interesting concept. I think my next question will be, if you as a teacher wanted to, could you teach both groups? I am curious because the guest speaker that we had taught at two schools. I didn't think to ask at the time if this was by choice or if she was not allowed to teach at the same school all day.
I was also able to see some of the standards for here in Macedonia. It was interesting how they are organized similarly to our in the US, there are units and themes, but it does not get into as much detail as some of ours do. These gave topic and suggested activities. Some of our guides go all the way to what we teach which days. We also discussed the differences in testing- which were big. Most of the students had not heard of standardized testing... lucky kids! There are tests but it does not seem to be nearly has high stakes as ours are. Very interesting to start comparing two very different countries!!
No interesting pictures to share today, but new knowledge about the schools!!
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