Marli Backhaus

Overall Experience

I had the privilege to student teach abroad in Rosendal, Norway. I taught at Malmanger, a 1st-7th primary school in Rosendal with about 115 students total. I worked with the 3rd-7th grade in math, PE, and primarily English. I lived with four other girls in an apartment less than a block from my school. Truly the perfect set up! At Malmanger we had school from 8:30-2:10 Monday through Friday, with four, hour-long classes and recesses in between. Students at Malmanger are not given formal grades at the elementary level and spend at least 80 minutes outside every day.

Learning experience

The most valuable learning experience was learning how to teach ESL students, which I had not previously taught. I created various English lessons from scratch to connect student interests with English vocabulary. Malmanger prioritizes oral English, so I planned lessons and activities accordingly. Some of my favorite lessons were making family trees, traveling to the US to see famous places, and comparing schools in Norway and the US. My most entertaining lesson was allowing 7th graders to come up with their own small group skits!

Memorable experience

The most memorable experience from teaching in Rosendal was having the opportunity to meet and teach two of my fourth cousins! I knew I had ancestry in Norway, but didn’t know my family was from Rosendal until arriving. Rosendal is a small town of about 877 people, so I was shocked to learn that my family was actually from here! My grandma’s maiden name is also the name of a beautiful, local waterfall, since her grandparents’ last names were from the land they grew up on before immigrating to the US (Hattebergfossen - Hatteberg Waterfall). My great-great grandma’s house is still in Rosendal, behind the Barony.

What did you not expect?

One thing that surprised me about studying abroad was how quickly Norway became like home, despite being thousands of miles away from everything I’ve ever known. I lived in a nice apartment with girls I got along with in a very quiet, but lively town. While it took more time to adjust to being in an international school, I became comfortable living here very quickly. Moving forward this will help me with being able to quickly adapt to change, whether that is in the classroom or in my personal life.

What advice would you give?

For others who would like to teach abroad, see what you can learn from students while simultaneously teaching them. Most students at Malmanger spoke Norwegian as a first language, so when I was teaching them English words I would ask them what it would be in Norwegian. This is a great way to flip the script and allow the students to be your teacher while also forming connections and laughing along the way. At our apartment we had a word wall on our fridge to hang up post-its with new Norwegian words we learned each day. The students also had so many life skills for me to learn from, like whittling and filleting fish. Take advantage of trying new things because not everyone can say they did a cold plunge in a fjord, went to a sauna on the water, were in a cave, or went skiing or hiking in Norwegian mountains.

How has this experience impacted your life?

In all areas, this experience has pushed me to be more independent and connect with people in new ways. I have never been in the minority, so it was very nerve-wracking to enter a school as the only native English speaker. Teachers and students alike took some time to warm up to me and build confidence with speaking English. They were shy at first because they didn’t want to mis-speak, which is why I had to focus on opening up first to encourage them to open up to me. Once they were more comfortable with me, they were willing to speak English knowing that I would try my best to understand.

How did you learn about this experience?

I learned about this opportunity in my Introduction to Education class my first semester at Iowa State. That class opened my eyes to the different possibilities I had while pursuing an Elementary Education degree.

International Connections