School Environment

I visited many schools during my time in Kazakhstan and all were very new. Children from Kindergarten to high school all attend school in the same building.

In most classrooms the desks are arranged in rows, like this:

Most classrooms have chalkboards and smartboards.

In some classrooms, the students have computers at their desks.

Smaller children have classrooms with beds for nap time.

Often the walls show off certificates that students and teachers have earned.

Here are the walls in my partner teacher's classroom.

When I was interviewed by the Aktobe newspaper, they asked me my main goal as a teacher. I told them that I wanted my students to develop the skills that they needed to be successful in the working world.

The journalist asked, "It's not to give them knowledge?"

My response was that,  "The next best thing to knowing the answer is knowing how to find the answer." I added that I wanted my students to be able to use the skills they learn in school to be able to answer their questions about the world. My partner teacher smiled at me and said that in Kazakhstan they provided their students with knowledge. To me, this moment showed a big difference between how Kazakhs and Americans view the role of school.

Here is a link to my newspaper interview. If you open it in google, it will offer to translate it for you.
 http://diapazon.kz/aktobe/aktobe-face/37491-otkrytki-iz-aktobe-poslala-amerikanskaja.html

Student Life

Students in Kazakhstan wear uniforms. The style of dress varies between schools.

Which uniform would you rather wear?

When students first get to school, they make sure that their shoes are clean. Kazakhstan is a muddy country, and they don't want to get mud in the school.

Next, students leave their belongings in a coatroom like this one.

Since students go to the same school from kindergarten to 12th grade, they often have the same teachers. For example, my partner teacher has taught English to every grade in her school during her career. This is nice for her as she gets to know the students well and see them grow from small children into adults.

Testing Woes

When students are in 11th grade they take a test that is very important. It is called the ENT test. There are four subjects on this test, each with only 30 questions. The test is worth 120 points total. Students who score below a 50 are not allowed to apply for college. Students who score above 110 are often offered scholarships.

Students only get one chance to take the test - no retakes! This means that 11th grade is a very stressful year.

My host teacher, Natalya, stated that some questions on the test seemed unfair. For example, in the English section, one of the multiple choice questions was, "How many rooms are in Buckingham Palace." Not only does this question not prove that someone can speak English, as most English speakers don't know the answer, but when Natalya looked on the official website for Buckingham Palace, the number of rooms listed was not given as a choice on the exam. She wrote a letter of complaint. They replied that the question was still valid because in the 9th grade English textbook, a number of rooms for Buckingham Palace had been given. This seemed unfair and stressed to me how much memorization students in Kazakhstan were expected to do.

I could relate to tests being unfair as a few years ago my students had a test focused on a listening passage called Lydia's Lasso. It was about a girl lassoing cattle. The student scores decided a large part of their promotional criteria and ranked me as a teacher. However, as New York City students, most of them had no idea what a lasso was nor had ever seen a cow in real life.

I guess that testing woes are somewhat universal!

Let's Engrish!

Here are some funny English signs that I found in Kazakhstan.

Ask permission before entering the chair.

 

  Does anyone need another lady for their collection? This store is for you!

This menu featured many interesting items including:

Raw- smoked horse meat

Crunch "Pringles" under the teeth 1 portion

Dried caspien roach

Below is my favorite. The sign reads, "WC for Muslim Prayer."

When I opened the door, it was just a toilet!

Inspiring Global Perspectives in My Classroom

My students really enjoyed learning about and connecting to Kazakhstan.

While I was in the country, I sent them all postcards. As the postcards arrived at their homes, the students were excited to tell me that they had received them.

Students used this blog to jigsaw the information they learned and present it to the class. They also left comments.

We had a Taste of Kazakhstan day, when students were able to try some of the foods.

On the menu were the following:

Chechel (braided smoked cheese)

Halba (sunflower seeds ground into a sweet, grey paste)

Sunflower seed bars

Chocolates filled with peanut nugat

Dark chocolate

Milk Tea

My students examined a touch kit of items I brought back from Kazakhstan to help them learn about the culture.

I created a school to school match with a Peace Corps volunteer living in the village I had visited. Our classrooms became connected through World Wise Schools. My students created this sign to greet their new international friends.