IN THE CLASSROOM

Krasnoyarsk threw open its doors to give us a ‘day in the life’ of students from Pre K through primary, secondary and University. This was accomplished with a flurry of excursions (aka tours), visits with administrators and teachers, lesson observations, and even the privilege of teaching a lesson ourselves. So much of it mirrored American education. Yes, the buildings themselves were old, as most were built in the 1930s. But once inside, they came to life with the sights of student projects, smart board presentations and displayed student art work. The halls were bubbling and noisy during passing period, with students on cell phones, laughing, play fighting and dashing to their seats to beat the tardy bell. And the sounds—of dozens of ‘Hallo’s’ and ‘Welcome’s’ in chorus as we headed down the halls to our next appointments. They all wanted to practice their English, as in Principal Ilona’s words, our visit showed the students that “English is no longer a subject—it is an opportunity.” But beyond that, we sensed authentic warmth and hospitality. I will treasure the dozens and dozens of Siberian smiles that flashed my way every day. Pre-K and Kindergarten Kindergarten schools in Russia care for children from 6 weeks to age 6. 1st grade starts at age 7. Few infants are in these schools, however, due to Russia’s generous paid maternity—18 months on average. The school we visited is linked to Lyceum No. 2, our host school. It was a delightful, cheery and colorful place. The care of the children encompassed the mind, body and spirit, as we witnessed an inclusive classroom and Montessori type learning exercise with special needs children, a fully outfitted health facility, an engaging curriculum, and numerous play centers. I just had to take a close-up photo from the transportation center—all the toy airplanes were American. An F-16, a Boeing 747 and a USAF labeled fighter jet! We heard repeatedly, from Moscow and Siberian officials alike, of the critical shortage of kindergartens. This resulted from several merging factors—a perfect storm. First, the decline of Russian manufacturing due to outsourcing to China resulted in widespread closure of factory-sponsored on-site centers. Next, the birth rate has increased significantly as Russian domestic politics and its economy have stabilized in recent years. Russians are optimistic and no longer apprehensive about the future. Krasnoyarsk is addressing this shortage with the building of new schools. It is exciting to see a vibrant city, in the center of Siberia, with cranes in the sky and re-bar on the ground. It is growing and the mood is upbeat. Primary schooling from 1st through 6th grade reminded me more of my own rural elementary school than the schools of the district I teach in. And that was not just because of the age of the facility. Yes, the technology was different from what I experienced in Imperial Grade School during the 1970s, with web-enabled notebooks at each desk, but the demeanor of the students, respect for the teacher, eagerness to learn, and quiet classrooms truly took me back 30+ years. When we entered the room, all students stood at attention, waiting for the teacher to direct them to sit. And that was not done just for guests. This is a classroom management technique common to all grades. We even saw it done in a University classroom we peeked our heads into. Sitting in a seat equated to an attitude of being ready to learn. Starting at about 7th grade, the environment appeared to loosen, with classrooms then more closely looking like American counterparts. Students were often in cooperative learning groups, doing jigsawed presentations, and in a Russian literature class, we even were treated to a mini acoustic guitar concert by two high school girls. After a lesson exploring how Russian music evolved based on the changing historical and political climate of the 1960s-1980s, we were introduced to Tsoy’s LAST HERO, a banned protest song. Family Consumer Science, however, again took me back to the 70s. The junior high girls, in charming head scarves, had us help make Russian (I call them Swedish) pancakes and laid a delightful table for us of mushroom soup, bliny, cabbage burgers and tea. On real china with polished silver. Sewing classes were also in this room. Our hosts told us no boys take these classes, and no girls take wood shop. This was not so in Soviet times. One teacher told us her aunt took shop and welding and could do electrical wiring in her home even today. A word about math (Maths as they call it). My fear was that American students were behind. This does not appear to be true for US students that are motivated and take the tough curriculum through AB or BC Calculus. The lesson that principal Ilona taught (more on that later) to 8th graders in preparation for their high stakes 9th year test was very similar in scope and sequence to a rigorous Algebra I course. For highly gifted students, they are tested and then encouraged to take advanced math and science courses at Siberian University, just around the corner. Similar in concept and practice to dual credit and US AP course offerings. And now for my lesson. I admit that I was nervous about teaching here. Would the lesson be appropriate in rigor, would the students understand my English, would my Russian colleagues think it appropriate? Most of all, would they like it? I had brought a snippet of a lesson I do on Greek and Latin word roots. It’s one of my favorite things to teach and one of the most useful and engaging, judging from my US students’ feedback. I went for it. And I got on Siberian TV! THAT was a surprise. I am glad I didn’t know that going in The students seemed to enjoy it—the lesson was a bit easy for some, and a tad difficult for others. So, with some differentiation, it was probably about right. I hope I gave them a tool for increasing their English mastery going forward. I would have liked to have opened it with the Harry Potter Expelliarmus spell clip from youtube, but as luck would have it, the internet option was temporarily inoperational in my room. Just like in the US.