Monday 5/4/15
For class today we actually went to a real school and classroom! To learn about education in Sweden today we visited the Karl Oskar middle school. It was a unique experience…Sweden in the last couple years has been slipping when it comes to education whereas Finland one of the top for education in the world. Private, for profit schools are very common in Sweden like the Karl Oskar school. In Sweden there is a certain amount of tax payer money that follows each student wherever they study whether at a public or private school. Therefore if the school cuts corners or is good at finances they can make money off of running a school.
Usually the charter schools have some specific focus that draws students. The Karl Oskar school has many programs with local sports teams, so the type of students that attended the school preferred soccer over science. Also the school's philosophy was grounded in the use of technology in school. All of the students had laptops and carried their phones around. I understand using computers in class for certain exercises but most of the students were surfing the internet, playing games or whatever else but listening to the teacher. At one point a student called the pencils they have 'shit' and we explained that you would go straight to detention in the US for that. The Swedish teacher said he can't give detention and the students know that. It was an extremely stressful situation for all of us. We were really uncomfortable with the lack of respect for the teacher, for us and for learning.
Tuesday 5/5/15
Today we met Carl Linnaeus! or at least his impersonator. Carl Linnaeus is a famous Swede who invented the binomial classification system for plants, animals and minerals. He is why everything has two latin names for its official scientific name. He was born in 1707 in Småland, Sweden and taught botany at Uppsala University. Since we are studying sustainability quite a bit this semester Linnaeus's quote "if a tree dies, plant another in its place" is poignant.
Linnaeus was a brilliant and determined man with a pretty large ego. He referred to himself as the next Adam, in charge of naming nature. He had student teachers that traveled around the world doing research. These students were called his apostles or disciples. For example, Per Kalm was sent to the United States. Linnaeus had the habit of naming plants after his apostles and other people. One apostle was traveling back to Sweden from Finland. On his outward journey he had gotten seasick sailing to Finland so he decided to walk all the way up and back down the large bay extending his journey by weeks. Linnaeus named the plant Tillandsia after him because it is a plant that can't tolerate damp climates. Siegesbeckia Orientalis is named after a rival professor at the university who often criticized Linnaeus. This particular plant has a nasty odor and is rather unattractive. Linnaeus also brought the first banana to Sweden and the queen had the honor of eating the first banana.
For class today we actually went to a real school and classroom! To learn about education in Sweden today we visited the Karl Oskar middle school. It was a unique experience…Sweden in the last couple years has been slipping when it comes to education whereas Finland one of the top for education in the world. Private, for profit schools are very common in Sweden like the Karl Oskar school. In Sweden there is a certain amount of tax payer money that follows each student wherever they study whether at a public or private school. Therefore if the school cuts corners or is good at finances they can make money off of running a school.
Usually the charter schools have some specific focus that draws students. The Karl Oskar school has many programs with local sports teams, so the type of students that attended the school preferred soccer over science. Also the school's philosophy was grounded in the use of technology in school. All of the students had laptops and carried their phones around. I understand using computers in class for certain exercises but most of the students were surfing the internet, playing games or whatever else but listening to the teacher. At one point a student called the pencils they have 'shit' and we explained that you would go straight to detention in the US for that. The Swedish teacher said he can't give detention and the students know that. It was an extremely stressful situation for all of us. We were really uncomfortable with the lack of respect for the teacher, for us and for learning.
An inspirational poster in the hallway
Hard crafts room where they were making stools
An english learning game the 6th graders played. Paget is helping a girl in the background.
We ate lunch with the students. Anna and Amelia chatted with the sixth graders.
Recess! Sidney and I played four square but with our feet.
Becca, Pat and Hannah played a soccer game called '21'
Pat attempting to play soccer (he should stick to hockey)
Hannah in the goal protecting her face from a fierce kick!
When someone gets to 21 points all the players must race to touch the net. I caught Becca's mad jumps.
For some reason everyone had to kick the ball at another kid's behind...
Tuesday 5/5/15
Today we met Carl Linnaeus! or at least his impersonator. Carl Linnaeus is a famous Swede who invented the binomial classification system for plants, animals and minerals. He is why everything has two latin names for its official scientific name. He was born in 1707 in Småland, Sweden and taught botany at Uppsala University. Since we are studying sustainability quite a bit this semester Linnaeus's quote "if a tree dies, plant another in its place" is poignant.
Linnaeus was a brilliant and determined man with a pretty large ego. He referred to himself as the next Adam, in charge of naming nature. He had student teachers that traveled around the world doing research. These students were called his apostles or disciples. For example, Per Kalm was sent to the United States. Linnaeus had the habit of naming plants after his apostles and other people. One apostle was traveling back to Sweden from Finland. On his outward journey he had gotten seasick sailing to Finland so he decided to walk all the way up and back down the large bay extending his journey by weeks. Linnaeus named the plant Tillandsia after him because it is a plant that can't tolerate damp climates. Siegesbeckia Orientalis is named after a rival professor at the university who often criticized Linnaeus. This particular plant has a nasty odor and is rather unattractive. Linnaeus also brought the first banana to Sweden and the queen had the honor of eating the first banana.
Behind Linnaeus is the house he grew up in.
Amelia, Sidney, Pat, Zach, Britta, Erin and Rolan in Linnaeus's living room.
Linnaeus with his 'antique' IKEA umbrella on the nature reserve by his house.
Hannah and I in front of a Linden tree, or the farmer's tree.
Sidney milking a fake cow.
IKEA was founded in 1949 by Ingvar Kamprad. The first two initials of IKEA are his initials and the E stands for his farm name and the A is his village in the Småland region of Southern Sweden. Ingvar was a business man who saw a need in the community for cheap furniture so he went for it. The design aspect of IKEA came a decade or two later. IKEA opened its 300th store in Russia in 2009. Today the store is a symbol for Swedish culture as modern and innovative.
Becca outside IKEA
Laura, Erin, Hannah and Britta eating Swedish meatballs in IKEA
Each IKEA has a playground named Småland which is the region Ingvar came from.
Adam and I have this shelving unit in our bathroom!
The IKEA book cases are called Billy which is short for billig which means cheap in Swedish.
The exhibit shows the furniture IKEA sold when it started. Huge contrast to the merchandise today.
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