Schooldays

I came across the school yesterday, it was my first time in Germany, and it made me able to see the light about the roots of a country that has never ceased to amaze me.
The German education system is different in many ways from the one I used to be, starting with the fact that in my country the level of classroom content is far much lower. Here, the system produces high-performing students who graduate with almost a university level of knowledge, and makes possible for all kids to keep studying or working, regardless of their families' financial status.

The school works like a university... there are specific classrooms for each subject and even for each teacher. You can choose the subjects you are interested in, and attendance is taken individually. You can go in and out the room wherever you want. The arrangement of breaks is quite similar to ours, they have 45-minutes-long modules and breaks of 5 minutes and 15 minutes each time (these last are called Pauses).10 If the subject takes two modules, the students stay inside the rooms and eat food they bring from home. Some pupils drink coffee they purchase in the school cafe. During long breaks, they go downstairs and meet in a common room where they can gossip, play around or flirt with their partners. Approximately a thousand students attend dialy to this institution.

My first class was Musik. What a coincidence! The teacher welcomed me. Brief description of the room: a grand piano in the front, blackboards with staves, a score projector, the tables arranged like an U, sound equipment. We had to analyze a musical composition and recognize the different types of variation. I was surprised that everyone could read music, and it was a Schubert's piece of music, not anyone.

Concerning to the infrastructure, they have for example boards that slide up and down on a unit so the teachers can write without bending or being on their toes... All the rooms have it own overhead projector and I have not been in any class in wich teachers have not used it. To hold the chalks and write with them there are a kind of plastic covers so teachers don't end the day with their hands full of white powder. Every room have a sink and a tap to wet the dusters so whiting does not spreads. Well, these are the things that more attracted my attention, I think I will discover more wonders as time passes. I deeply believe that the education has to do with the development of a country, and Germany is a prime example of what I am talking about.