We should be glad that we do not have the same requirements that the UK has to graduate, or get A Levels, as they call them. These A levels make me think of OWLS or NEWTS in Harry Potter. (PS they also have prefects here! Just like HP!) From what I gathered, one must pass their A levels to continue on to the university. Talk about pressure. Essentially they complete something called controlled coursework for Math and English and then they choose four other subjects of their choosing to complete. They complete these over the course of several years. So what are these controlled courseworks? Well I have the privilege to help with the geography one this week, so I will describe what I have learned. In a period of a week, the students spend all day writing roughly 2000 words on a subject. They have five days to work a total of twenty hours and complete the assignment. The instructor goes through the assignment, section by section, and gives them guidance and instructions in a time called "low control" and then they have time to work on the reviewed section during "high control." They are literally in the classroom all day with only a few breaks. They sit and brainstorm, take notes, and type the paper up. Can you imagine doing this for six classes? They also have practice ones that they take earlier in the year. Not to mention, one's higher education is dependent on this.
So I was in the geography controlled coursework, abbreviated GCSE. For this course, which some elected to take, the students went to a river to take measurements and such. They then write up a lab report. In this report, they must include their hypothesis, introduction, methodology, results, conclusion, etc. Today, we only worked on the hypothesis, a section of the introduction, and the methodology instructions. They are also highly encouraged to use photos and charts within their paper. A student I talked to was taking English, Math, Spanish, French, Geography, and Computer GCSEs. Good luck to you kid!
So today, I went to my same homeroom class, who were extremely rowdy as a result of Euro 2012. Good gracious. Thankfully the teacher was there, but I have them to myself tomorrow and Wednesday. I then went to help out with the GCSE exams. I was assigned to work with a Japanese student who barely spoke English and needed help getting his thoughts on paper. At first I was overwhelmed and daunted at this task. When I first attempted to help him, he did not seem to want my help. He was easily frustrated at not knowing the words he wanted to say and was not open to help. (I was also informed that he is not interested in schoolwork, so that was another issue.) I was stuck without a thought of what to do. Eventually I was able to start helping more with his paper. However, then arose other issues. As a result of not having a working knowledge of English, his sentences were not structured in a comprehensible manner. Even though the majority of his sentences made no sense, I felt bad constantly telling him to fix things. I didn't want him to feel stupid and add to his frustrations. He did, as many of the Asian students do, have an electronic Japanese dictionary. Looking at the other student's notes, I knew we were far behind and did not know how to catch up.
Things improved after lunch. He was much more open to my help and willing to work this go round. We managed to slowly work out a decent starting hypothesis paragraph, that made sense grammatically. We were behind, but making progress as a team. We were also able to bond in a sense. Although I was severely holding his hand (figuratively) throughout this process, I don't really know how else to get him to work. Although today was a challenge, I was glad for it. I really had to work to get him to open up, and my future career will bring students who do not want to open up. I was glad that I worked at it and managed to succeed to an extent. There were other students with language barriers but they managed to work quite well. Besides having a helper work with him, it makes be curious as to if the school has any other programs for students with language barriers. The work we managed was not top mark, so I feel as though there must be other measures taken that helps these students make their way through school.
I think I said this in a previous blog, but I now know that I have been placed her to work with the students who are behind or have learning problems. Although I did not expect this, it's amazing how well that fits into the counseling field. These four days have gotten me seriously thinking about special education. I feel as though knowledge in special education would be quite beneficial. Who knew this interest would be emerging?I am learning a lot about myself, which sound super cheesy, but hey, it's true. I will be working with the same student for the next two days, so we will see what comes of it. I am enjoying not having to switch classrooms and working with one student. I am able to get to know them better, rather than bouncing around all week. We will see what tomorrow brings!
Week Four: Day One: Internship 5
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