Learning as an Exciting Journey
By
Martina Law
Published 2004
There are not a lot of schools out
there that describe learning as a
journey, let alone an exciting
journey. And I dare to say that
there are not a lot of students
that would portray learning that
way, either. The Evergreen School
just north of Seattle and its
students, however, claim exactly
this. Learning can be exciting,
especially if its curriculum is as
creative and innovative as
Evergreen’s.
The
school’s Language Department is
considered one of the strongest
and most diverse primary and
middle school foreign language
programs in the Puget Sound area.
To
learn more about the Evergreen
School and its unique educational
techniques, I decided to talk to
Renate Brendler Grant, an award
winning and talented German
teacher and one of the school’s
many staff members with excellent
credentials.
I met
Renate in her classroom, where she
was teaching German to a small
group of 11 and 12 year olds.
Renate told me that classes are
kept small to maintain flexibility
and allow for individual
attention. The classroom resembled
a cozy niche in a library. The
walls were covered with posters of
Germany and projects that had been
done by the children. The
bookshelves were heavy with books.
The atmosphere in the class was
relaxed. A few students worked at
the computers; two others were
working on a project about the
European Union.
Jennifer and Laura, both age 12,
told me that they had already been
taking German for seven years. “I
thought it would be cool if I
could talk to my German
relatives.” Laura said. Both
students have pen pals in Germany.
Jennifer went on: “We are also
learning about the geography of
Germany as well as of Europe, its
capitals, languages and flags.”
A few
of the other students told me that
they had recently enrolled in the
Evergreen School. Asking why they
decided to take German, answers
varied. “German sounds
interesting.” “My father is a
little German.” “German is
definitely a challenging
language.” “I switched from
Chinese to German and I really
like the language.”
After
class, once the students had
stormed out, I finally had a
chance to sit down with Renate and
learn more about the school and
its emphasis on learning a foreign
language. A brochure given to me
by Renate read “Through learning
language, we learn about cultures.
Through learning about cultures,
we learn tolerance for others.
Through learning tolerance for
others, we can hope for peace.”
The
Evergreen School offers French,
German or Spanish by Kindergarten.
Mandarin Chinese is introduced in
Grade 4. Renate explained that she
and her colleagues don’t focus
entirely on the grammatical
structure of a language. Children,
especially in the beginning, learn
by listening to their teacher and
imitating simple words and
phrases. Renate also told me that
the Evergreen School normally only
accepts highly intelligent and
creative children. The school’s
goal is to nurture these children
through an enriched curriculum,
and at the same time to teach them
self-esteem and independence.
“But
the school is not right for every
child.” Renate added. “Each
subject is taught by a different
teacher; therefore children have
to switch from teacher to teacher.
Some children don’t tolerate it
that well, and (learn) better in a
single-teacher environment.”
Renate
went on that she is currently
trying to find a partner school in
Germany to organize an exchange
program. This task is turning out
to be quite difficult. She praised
the GAPP program but added sadly
that it’s only meant for high
schools.
Towards the end of my visit I got
to see Renate’s youngest German
students, her 6- and 7-year-olds.
I met Kevin, Laura, Brendan,
Michaela, and Mathew, just a few
of these amazing little children.
One of them is even a national
chess champion. I was lucky that
he didn’t challenge me; it would
have been pretty embarrassing.
After
their initial shyness disappeared,
they enthusiastically told me
about all the entertaining games
they play during their German
lessons. “Hutchie – putchy” they
giggled. I’d never heard of that
game, but it sounded like fun.
There are more games, some with
marbles involved, and others with
squares, but all for the main
purpose of learning a foreign
language in a pleasurable way.
Renate
also reads stories to them. I was
curious to hear what they had
learned so far: “Danke” one of
them said. And then more German
words trickled out of their
mouths. ”Guten Morgen,” “der Igel,”
“Deutschland,” “Katze,” “kleine,”
“Hund,” “gross.” Last but not
least a little girl said “Guten
Tag”, and just to make sure I
would get it right she added: “It
means hello.”
©
2006 All content property of European Weekly unless where otherwise
accredited
