Visit to the Dr. Rijk Kramerschool

October 15, 2009 23:08

Today I visited the Dr. Rijk Kramerschool, located in the heart of Amsterdam.  I had quite a warm welcome from the Director of the school Mr. Frank de Witt.  There was an easel with a sign that read “Welcome Michael Parrish From New York”.


I arrived before school started so I was able to join all the other teachers in the staff room.  I had enough time to have a cup of coffee with Eveline, the Group 5 (Third Grade) teacher with whom I would be spending most of the day.  As her 33 students started to enter the room, I quickly realized that the population was very similar to that of P.S. 89.

The children settled in and Eveline introduced me to her class.  They had a bunch of questions about New York.  Some of which I answered then and the rest later when I showed them a slideshow of New York City.  There was also a child that spoke fluent English.  He offered to be my translator when I needed one.
Math was first on the agenda and I noticed that the children were pulling out textbooks.  I asked Eveline if all of the subjects had textbooks.  She said that most did.

The Math period began with a short demonstration on how to get started (kids came up to the SmartBoard to demonstrate ways to solve an addition problem using a number line).  Then the children were asked to complete one page in their workbooks and two pages in their textbooks.



I also had an opportunity to sit and talk with Mr. de Witt later that morning.  I started our conversation by telling him many of the things that I saw and thought were great about the Kramerschool. Every class was neatly organized and the kids really seemed to have a clear sense of what was expected of them.  When I was visiting a younger class, I actually had a five year old explain to me in detail how their choice time worked, what they were allowed to choose from and how many kids could choose that activity (she spoke English).

Here is a photo of the "choice time" board.  The top row is the schedule for the day.  The pictures below are the choices and each dot represents how many kids can do that activity.



I also walked in on a lesson in an older grade that had the whole class jotting down ideas, sharing in small groups and as a whole group.  Every child was enthusiastic about creating a web of words to describe the word “King”.

Mr. de Witt explained to me that I walked in on an introduction to the schools next “theme”.  There is a curriculum titled “Heaven and Earth”.  (I learned earlier that schools in Amsterdam are able to have a religious affiliation). This program comes with books that teachers use to plan lessons for their students.  It is my understanding that the curriculum aims to promote ethical behavior among the students.

I immediately thought that it might be something like our Social Studies curriculum at PS 89 and explained one of our studies to Mr. de Witt.  I did mention though that there is not “teacher book”, and that all the teachers had to create lessons together based on what needed to be taught and the children’s interests.
He restated that the program comes with books and that it is not a project based curriculum.  He said that the children at the Kramerschool study geography, history, writing, etc. as individual pieces of the overall curriculum.  Mr. de Witt has 40 years of experience and finds that there is more accountability with textbooks.  He knows exactly what will be taught from year to year and can trust that there will be no gaps in his students learning.

I can definitely see his point of view, but I have to admit, most of the excitement I get from teaching is discovering new ways to deliver information to my students.  One example would be how I love the challenge of finding ways to teach kids how to use geography to find out about history.

The Job Swap is an initiative of the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation and BKB, in cooperation with the NY400. The Wildcard contest is organized together with newspapers Het Parool (Amsterdam) and AM New York (New York).