Life in Austria: Teaching

So, I knew I'm pretty bad about writing blog posts, so hopefully this next series of posts will make up for things. Now that I've been here almost two months, I want to write a series of themed posts about my “life in Villach.” This post will be about teaching.

So what are they paying me to do anyway?

I am employed here as an English teaching assistant. This means I go around to different Austrian classrooms and present lessons and activities on various topics. The main goal of this is to engage the students and get them to talk and communicate in English.

I present almost no grammar lessons and am not responsible for grading any tests or assignments. The techers are also always present in the classroom, but usually don't interfere. Some of the topics I've talked about include:

-Diversity in Florida

-Halloween

-Fracking

-Discussing an assigned play

-Discussing assigned articles

-The American school system

Though it was a little difficult at first figuring out if something was too boring/difficult/confusing, I feel like I caught on pretty fast as to what worked and what didn't. Occasionally a lesson will work GREAT with one class, and just okay with another.

Planning the lessons has also been a lot of fun. I end up going on internet research tangents about stuff I'd never look up otherwise. I also learned just how many different ESL resources there are out there.

Who are my students?

I am one of the lucky TAs who is only assigned one school. I teach thirteen hours a week. Some classes I have every week, and a few I have every other week. So, all together I am assigned 16 different classes. I've met over 300 different students, so, unfortunately I have almost NO chance at remembering more than a few names.

I teach at a Gymnasium school which means it is a high school more geared toward academic study at a university. Some other types of high schools students can attend include a HTL, one geared toward architecture and engineering; a HAK, geared toward business; a Tourismusschule, geared toward tourism and hospitality, among other types.

Age- and grade-wise my students are between 14 and 18, their grades equal to that at an American high school. The numbering system is a bit different though:

5^th form= 9^th grade

6^th form= 10^th grade

7^th form= 11^th grade

8^th form= 12^th grade

At the other types of high schools the numbering system is still different, and many students attend high school for 5 years instead of 4 at other schools.

Other “fun facts” about School

-The students all take the same classes together, and have their own classroom for most subjects. The teachers move around instead. This means each class really has its own personality, since the students have been together for so long.

-Since teachers don't have their own classrooms, they all share a Konferenzzimmer and have a spot at a table where they do lesson planning. Students aren't allowed in.

-Students have to wear house shoes, or slippers, inside.

-They don't have the same classes everyday. Most subjects are 1-3 times a week. The students' days also end at different times every day

-There's no real cafeteria. There's a place to buy sandwiches, pizza, salad, fruit, etc during the 5 or 15 minute breaks between classes, or during free periods. Some students also leave campus in the afternoon if they have several free periods to go home (if they live close) or to the nearby supermarket or Kebap restaurant

-There are no “school zones” students pick which school they want to attend. This means a few people commute from really rural villages—or even from the next town over. The other American TA's flatmate attends a HTL, lives in dorm-style housing during the week, and goes home on the weekends.

-Classes also have some pretty epic field trips. One class I didn't meet until my third week teaching because they were in London for over a week.