Shopping and a School Visit (with tea and cake!)

This morning after breakfast, Sara and I headed back to the old town area to do some shopping, since it looked like it was the only time we might have. I found a lovely water color print and a traditional decorated egg that will make a beautiful ornament on the Christmas tree. Sara found some neat traditional toys for her kids and also purchased some of the decorated eggs. Then we hoofed it back to the hotel with five minutes to spare in order to meet Matheusz and Stan who were to take us to visit a school today.

The school was on the outskirts of the city and was much like Blowing Rock School, in that it was designed for multiple grade levels (1-9 grades, about ages 6/7-15) and was brightly colored on the interior. We found out that teachers were allowed to choose their paint colors, since the school was newly built in 2000. (They have already outgrown it, so they plan to add on in the near future.) This is one of the more affluent areas around the city, so students are very well motivated. The teaching style in this school, like much of Poland, is the more traditional lecture style where students simply memorize facts. You'll notice in the pictures that the classroom is arranged to be teacher centered, and very little group work occurs between students, even though they may share a table.

As has been typical, we received a warm welcome from the head teacher (she works as the administrator while also carrying a full teaching load; teachers in Poland often work two to three jobs in order to have enough money to live on, which is why there is great turnover in the profession here) and then toured the school. A lovely lunch was prepared for us (breaded chicken, potatoes, red cabbage (like what I loved in Germany), salad, and gurkin soup) by the cafeteria staff and we discussed the role of the cafeteria in the school while we ate. In Poland, students go to school from 8-2 at the elementary/middle school age, so the cafeteria is used for a 10:00 tea/snack time and for faculty, but does not serve a hot lunch to students, since lunch is eaten between 2-3 traditionally. So, the cafeteria is rather small and only staffs one or two cafeteria workers.

After lunch, we toured some more of the school and visited a class, where the teacher teaching was engaging the students using an interactive white board, much like a SmartBoard. Students were very willing to volunteer answers (though this may have been a show for us) and were very well behaved. This particular teacher was interested in partnering with us, so she came to our meeting after school to discuss the future of the project and where her classes might fit in. It is our hope to define a plan and structure for connecting students in Poland and NC before we leave on Sunday morning, so that the teachers know what to expect after we leave. During this discussion, we showed some of the activities we have designed in Teleplace and also discussed the support role of university faculty and doctoral students. The town mayor and vice mayor also joined us during this discussion, which was held over tea and cake.

When we finished the meeting, we took a few photographs of the group beside the statue of the patron of the school and town (a queen who championed education in the area well over 1000 years ago), and said our good byes, with expressions of how thankful we were and how much good we hope will come from the collaboration. Then, Matheusz took our small group to the petrol station (he'd ridden all the way there with the light on, which worried some of us) and then back to the hotel.

After changing clothes, several of us ventured out to the trolley to find another place for shopping, which ended up being a mall that Stan had suggested. Here, I found a pair of brown leather boots for about 70 zylotz, or about $25 dollars. I hadn't planned on coming back with another pair of shoes, but they were too comfortable to pass up. (The Polish women are all so fashionable... I don't think I've seen anyone wearing a sweatshirt and jeans looking like they just woke up. So, I had to come back with some fashionable piece.) I also found some rose hip jam, which reminded me of the dessert at the perogie restaurant. I think I'll make jam thumbprint cookies for Christmas with it. And I found some chocolate for my students (it's German, I think... but it'll still be from the area.)

The trolley ride back was uneventful and we ducked into a pizzeria a few minutes after returning for something that wasn't quite a meat and potatoes meal. We all ordered several smaller pizzas to share and ended up paying the equaivalent of about $5-$7 a piece for a wonderful dinner. (Sorry, no pics of the pizza... I forgot.) So, that pretty much wraps up our day. I'll do a little reading tonight, and then off to bed for an early morning tomorrow. We're leaving at 7:15 to tour three more schools.