Interview with the principal of Norman North High School, Dr. Gray

(from Ludwig and Sina)

L.: So our first question is: why did you choose to work as a principal?

P.: Well, I´ve been in education for about twenty years now. I started as a Maths teacher and as I worked more with kids I really wanted to move into a place where I could have more of a broader impact with working with teachers and students and especially with students who are going through things that they´re struggling with; and that kind of naturally led to being a principal.

L.: And for how long have you been a principal?

P.: This is my first year in this position. But prior to this I worked at the district level with gifted and talented and advanced placement programs. And then I was an assistant principal here and also US Grant High School in Oklahoma City. So I guess in total I´ve been in what you would call administration for about seven to eight years now.

L.: What do you do all day long?

P.: Oh goodness. You know what every day is a new adventure in this job. It kind of goes everywhere from working with students who have accomplished some great things and teams to working with teachers to working with students that just maybe didn’t make a great choice and we´re working through those consequences and how to make a better choice moving forward. Really in this job you deal with a lot of things we need to work on and improving. You know people tend to come to you whenever they have a concern.

S.: Would you say that this school has advantages that others in Norman don´t have?

P.: I would say one of the biggest advantages we have are just so many options. You know being the largest school in Norman and with so many great programs. Really a kid can find what they´re passionate about and be in a program that is strong you know not just a program that shows up, any of our programs they compete. So I think that’s a true advantage to kids. And that’s personally one of the reasons why when my husband and I were deciding where we wanted to live and where we wanted our kids to go to school. We wanted them to have opportunities to really be involved in something that they´re passionate in and to be able to compete in the level they wanted to compete at.

S.: What would you change in the system to make it better or is it already “perfect” for you?

P.: You know when you have 2600 people in a building it´s never perfect. I think one of the things we struggle with is some of our educational issues in the state of Oklahoma. And we are currently in a teacher shortage and so what that means is that we sometimes struggle with finding highly qualified teachers and our applicant pole isn’t always how we want it to be so that is something that if I had the power to change I absolutely would because it´s a lot about the adults you have in the building. When you have passionate, knowledgeable, caring teachers, then that makes all the difference in the classroom. And you know my goal is to have 200 of them.

S.: What formation do the teachers get to be able to start working here?

P.: All of our teachers are required to have certain degrees and certain certifications. And then we do different levels of training based on what their content is. Based on also their level of experience, so like teachers that are brand new to teaching have some additional supports because you don’t really know what you`re getting into until you get into the classroom. So we have mentorship at the district level, we have professional development trainings. Our brand-new teachers are paired up with others teachers to kind of mentor them. They also have more support with the administration, so we´re in their classroom more to give advice and those kinds of things. So it´s really very layered depending on their experience.

L.: Would you support other German students to go to school here for half a year or an entire year?

P.: Oh, absolutely, yes. In fact, we normally only accept so many kids because of the size and capacity things like that, but I still went and accepted this one student because he really wanted to.

L.: Yeah, ok, so that’s it.

S.: Thank you very much.

 

P.: Oh, yes, you guys are very welcome!

 

Interview with a student from Norman North High school

(by Lars and Tim)

Lars: What do you like about Norman North?

A: I like Norman North because it has quite a few excellent teachers that are really helpful and most of the students are really nice. The school itself is pretty nice and the school assemblies most of the time are really great to go to. We are really fortunate to be able to go to a school that modern and with so many possibilities of courses and things to learn.

Tim: Is there a problem with 2000-3000 students in one school?

A: There really aren’t many problems with there being 2500-3000 other students in the school. Most of the time it is pretty good, but during passing period certain parts of the hallway can be extremely crowded and hard to get through.

Lars: Do you like the American school system and what do you think could be better about it be changed?

A: I like the American school system, but I would change some things…, like I would increase the funding and do more about people vaping in the bathrooms or people being on the phone during the lesson.

Tim: How long does it take you to go to school?

A: Usually someone of my family takes me to school. It takes me about 10-15 minutes. Most of the other students also need about 15 minutes to go to school. We can’t go to school by bike or walk since it is just too far away.

Lars: What does a typical timetable look like for school?

A: My typical schedule for this semester is that in the morning I have, in order: Algebra, Media, and U.S. History and then after that is lunch and after that for my afternoon classes is English, German, and Geology. Sometimes on Thursday for advisory there will be an advisory class I have to go to between 1st and 2nd hour and the other classes are shortened throughout the day by 6 minutes. So basically it is three classes. 4th hour is lunch and then another three classes.

 

Tim: At what time does school start and end for you?

A: At the beginning of the day school starts at 9:00 and at the end of the day it ends at 4:05.

Lars: What type of sports can you do at Norman North?

 

A: We are really fortunate at Norman North since there is a lot to choose from. We can take basketball, soccer, American football, volleyball, golf, baseball, softball, wrestling, and a lot more. It is really cool to have that much since everyone can pick what they like and isn’t forced to pick anything. 

 

Family Interviews 

We asked two of our host families some questions about Germany, the exchange and also wanted to know about their opinions on Germans. Thanks to the families for their honest answers! – Amelie and Kilian

 

What is a typical German like for you?

First family: So before you stayed at our house we thought that Germans are very serious and strict, but we also think that Germans are very efficient.

Second family: For us it`s beer, a deep voice, blond hair, fun, good food and the Oktoberfest.

Do you know any German dishes?

First family: Yes! Because we have some German roots in our family we know some, e.g. Springlings (Springerle), Strudel of course, Eierkuchen and a lot more.

Second family: Yes we know Spätzle, Schnitzel, fried potato and German chocolate.

What is your impression of Germans after meeting some?

First family: I think that there`s no real difference between Germans an Americans in a good way. And another thing we realized was that Germans really say what they think.

Second family: We`re impressed about their English skills, that they are similar to Americans and that they have the same shows and films we have. 

Have you ever been to Europe or especially to Germany before?

First family: Yes, we`ve been to France a long time ago, when we had no kids yet.

Second family: We`ve visited Germany before but no other place in Europe.

If you could visit Germany, to which area would you like to go?

I don`t really know but I would prefer a more open and natural place, so maybe more in the north of Germany. But I also would like to visit Bavaria.

Second family: To the Oktoberfest, maybe a road trip through Germany and to the house of our exchange student.

Would you host a German or foreign exchange student again?

First family: Yes, for sure, because we all learned a lot and it was a great experience.

Second family: Yes, easily!

Did your prejudices against Germans change in any way?

First family: We didn`t really have prejudices, but I would say that we think a lot more positive of Germans.

 

Second family: We didn`t have any, but I like them more now.

Vergleich unserer Lebenswelten – heute

Deutschland/Stuttgart region

USA/Oklahoma

Food 

  • much traditional food (often several centuries old traditions)
  • comparatively much fruit and vegetables
  • at night often cold supper
  • most of the time you eat at home and cook meals yourself (going out for lunch/dinner is relatively expensive)

Food

  • much fast food
  • often fried things and less vegetables
  • soft drinks: free refills almost everywhere
  • lunch at school: often a sandwich
  • usually warm dinner
  • going out to eat pretty often

School system

  • Kindergarten/pre-school (usually age 3-6)
  • elementary school (grades 1-4)
  • “secondary school“ (grades 5-10/12): three different types of school (with different qualification levels at the finals): “Werkrealschule”, “Realschule” and “Gymnasium”

School system

  • Kindergarten
  • Primary School (grades 1-5)
  • Middle School (grades 6-8)
  • High School (grades 9-12 with terms like at college: “Freshman”, “Sophomore”, “Junior”, “Senior”); same qualification for all

School (Building)

  • classrooms are used by different teachers and classes: teachers and classes move around
  • technological progress not that far: just starting to get more common
  • usually several floors
  • often no gym that is only used by the school
  • parking lot usually only for teachers
  • only some schools have lockers or water fountains (sometimes you have to pay for the water) 

School (Building)

  • every teacher has his or her own classroom: he or she can furnish it the way they want, only the classes move around
  • digital media is already strongly established: every student has a laptop of his own
  • mainly only one floor
  • school has its own gym and parking lot for students
  • lockers in every hallway and many free water fountains 

School (lessons)

  • in general you´re in one class together all the time, so you have all lessons with the same people (system with different classes only in the upper grades of “Gymnasium“ )
  • weekly schedules
  • several different subjects (about 12 to 15)
  • education is more extensive
  • extracurricular activities take place after school
  • many student attend clubs
  • teachers are in general stricter: usually no phone/food allowed during the lessons, teachers pay much attention on their students doing their exercises very conscientiously and properly
  • distant and “cold” student-teacher relationship

School (lessons)

  • recital of the anthem on special days, flags in the classrooms, Pledge of Allegiance every morning during Morning Announcement
  • all the time a system similar to the one the upper grades at “Gymnasium” have: students can take and choose different classes
  • different people in every class
  • also many different subjects that are inexistent in Germany (e.g. “Marriage & Family Life“)
  • daily schedule
  • only up to six or seven classes
  • education is more focused on future career plans
  • extracurricular activities are included in the daily schedule
  • most students do sports or music at school
  • teachers are less strict: in many lessons the students are allowed to eat or use their phone whenever they want, some don´t check on the exercises too much
  • teacher-student relationship is closer 

Free-time activities 

  • many go to clubs to do sports or special schools to learn how to play an instrument 

Free-time activities

  • sport and music often at school

Famous sports

  • soccer
  • handball
  • winter sports (e.g. skiing)

Famous sports

  • American football
  • baseball
  • basketball: big obsession with teams (especially really big and good college/ high-school teams)

(Public) Traffic

  • many people use public transportation to get to work, especially (college) students
  • in big cities there is much public transportation, but also in more rural areas
  • more traffic, also outside of big cities
  • frequent traffic jams, esp. during rush hour

(Public) Traffic

  • not a lot of public transportation (outside of big cities)
  • highways are very big
  • less traffic on the streets because everything is bigger and farther apart
  • people often have to use cars because of far distances

Family Life

  • often still traditional idea of the family
  • different ways of living are getting more and more popular
  • more people live on their own nowadays
  • an average German woman/ family has less kids (1 to 2)

Family Life

  • “different” ways of living are already more common than in Germany
  • families/ women have more children than Germans (2 to 3)

Supermarkets

mainly groceries, only some electronics, toiletries or clothes: you have to go to many different stores

Supermarkets

e.g. “Target” or “Walmart”: big range of goods in every field of shopping

Religion

  • two big religions denominations: Catholic and Protestant
  • there are several churches, but most of the time only those two types of Christian churches
  • churches are often very old
  • many different religions (esp. Islam) because of immigrants

Religion

  • Christianity is quite common
  • people are in general more religious (it´s more common to go to church, for example)
  • many different Christian churches
  • churches look more modern 

Gun Control

  • really strict: many rules if you want to get a gun (hard to get one),
  • nearly nobody has a gun at home if they´re not a hunter, for example 

Gun Control

  • not that strict, many/ some people have guns at home
  • you can buy guns at Walmart

Landscapes

  • more woods and hills
  • throughout Germany there are many different landscapes: also lakes, high mountains and oceans 

Landscapes

  • in OK: many wide and big and yellow fields
  • almost no hills/ only very small mountains
  • only man-made lakes

Economy

  • much industry (esp. car industry)
  • some agriculture
  • lots of technology industries

Economy

  • in OK: oil/ natural resources: in Germany almost none at all
  • some agriculture

Political System

  • small federal states, are not as big or important as the several American states
  • some politics is nation-wide and some only concern the federal state
  • voting is different: more directly
  • numerous parties 

Political System

  • states have more power and people feel more connected to them
  • voting: people elect representatives 
  • two big parties: Republicans and Democrats

 

 

 

 

Vergleich unserer Lebenswelten – früher

Deutschland/Stuttgart region

USA/Oklahoma

In the 19th century people started to leave Europe and went to America, before that:  

Land Run 1889 the first settlers came to OK, before that:

One and the same people lived in Europe: no “Natives” and few “new” settlers, Industrialization in Europe and Germany started

Native Americans, Trail of Tears and Settlement of the West 

Different smaller countries in Europe have existed in a similar way as today only throughout modern 19th-century history

America was made up of several different peoples, so they have today still more cultural diversity in one country/state

People lived in medieval villages and towns in hierarchical societies

When settlement began: people didn’t live in cities: cowboys & farmers

In Germany and Europe there were still a lot of monarchies  at that time 

1776: Declaration of Independence: America became an early type of democracy

Industrialization started earlier

Industrialization started later, but grew faster

Shortly after the time of Nazi Regime (and also today): because of history not too much national pride 

National pride is common and important: anthem, flag, Pledge of Allegiance at school, …

Cold War: 

Germany got separated into “West” and “East”

Cold War: 

America was in it, fighting for the West but from further away