While education is the same everywhere, there are many differences between schooling here and in the US. For me, the biggest difference is the schedule of classes. My school in the US has a rotating schedule so that the same teachers don't always get stuck with us when we are half asleep in the morning or distracted because we are hungry for lunch. Here, I have the same schedule every Monday, every Tuesday, etc. We have 8 classes a day here for 40 minutes each with a 10 minute break in between each and an hour break for lunch. The school day goes from 8-3:20 everyday.
Different classrooms have different emphasises that determine which subjects they take and with which frequency during the week. There are science and math, social studies, and maybe one other focused classrooms.
I am in a science and math focused class and I have 16 subjects total. They are math, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, literature, philosophy, religion, history, PE, English, German, art, Turkish (grammar and writing), Entrepreneurship, and guidance. We have all of the sciences and Maths 4 times a week each as well as English 4 times. We then have other classes anywhere from 3 times a week to just once a week. Some other classes have geography, astronomy, and maybe a few other classes.
Other differences in my new school include uniforms, just one classroom all day, and the teaching styles.
For the girls, our uniforms consist of a white polo and a plaid skirt in the school colors, although we can wear black pants if we want. We also have a long sleeved red shirt for when it's cold. The guys wear the same shirts and gray slacks. My school is not super strict about the uniform though, so often you see people in regular shirts with their skirts or jeans. We are also technically not allowed to wear jewelry or make up but that is very much not enforced.
This is from my first day of school. The super cute uniform on full display.
At my school, there are 6 classrooms per a grade and you generally stay in the same class and with the same people for all 4 years of high school. I am in 11-A this year and the kids in my class are basically family to each other after 2.5 years together. We also stay in our same classroom all day with the teachers switching rooms. There are three rows of desks in the classroom and we each share a desk with one other person. It can get kind of boring staying in the same classroom all day, but I've gotten used to it and I look forward to going to my little classroom every day.
The front of our classroom.
Our desks. These are not overly comfortable to sit in for long periods of time so we all take advantage of the breaks to stand up for a bit.
The teaching style here is also very different from what I am used to in the US. Class tends to consist of our teacher reading from the textbook for 40 minutes. Homework is not overly common and projects and writing papers is pretty much unheard of. Grades are made up almost entirely of grades from the exams they take twice a semester. It tends to be extremely boring for me to sit and listen to a teacher lecture in Turkish for 40 minutes straight, but I have also gotten used to that.
The school building. There is also a courtyard and garden with basketball courts that we can hang out in during the breaks.
School here is much different than what I was used to, but I enjoy going most of the time, especially because it is always great language practice. Seeing the ways that school looks different here has been very interesting for me and has certainly made me appreciate the system in the US, even if it isn't always perfect.
As always, thanks for reading. Have a good week!
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