Another busy day!

Today was a really busy and fulfilling day! We visited Lempoinen basic comprehensive school today. This school has about 580 students from grades 1 - 6. The school was recently renovated and has several additions, so the facilities were very nice and spacious. This school seemed to have a calm and mild culture. We were given a tour of the building and had opportunities to visit a number of classrooms.

 This is a 6th grade class learning Swedish. Swedish is the second national language of Finland, so all students begin Swedish in 6th grade. The students had flashcards with activities written in Swedish that they had to act out for their peers to guess in Swedish.

This is a special education classroom. While students are included in general education classrooms, some students do work in self-contained special education classrooms like this one. 

Next, we made our way to a third grade math class. Teachers each select their own curriculum materials. Many of the textbooks are written by Finnish teachers. The arrangement of the classroom seating is very traditional with desks in rows. I have not seen a lot of materials hanging on classroom walls. Most rooms did not have bulletin boards.

The third grade team had their own work room area and small group room. I assume the other grades have similar rooms.

In the lunchroom, the school was experimenting with one day a week of silent lunch, which happened to be today. They heard that another school was having success with this approach and that students were eating more of their lunches, so they are trying it. I was amazed at how quiet it was in this lunchroom. 

The students serve themselves at lunch. They are encouraged to try a little bit of everything and take what they can eat.

We also had an opportunity to visit the woodshop class as well as the textiles and art classrooms. The kids were loving the woodshop! And, yes, they were all using the saws!

Of course, we had to check out the teachers' lounge. It was spacious and comfortable with areas for coffee breaks, talking, and lockers.

As I'm sure you have figured out by now, recess is a huge part of the Finnish school system and students' days. This school had several playground areas with lots of equipment as well as a field area and an ice rink.

 

This afternoon we learned about high schools in Finland. At the end of ninth grade, students choose whether they want to pursue studies at a general studies high school for university preparation courses or a vocational studies high school. Tomorrow we will visit a high school campus so I will share more information tomorrow night.

This evening we joined several people from my program for dinner at a local brewery restaurant. Another delicious meal and a great time to visit!