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After a six-week break, the tenth graders returned to school in Berlin and experienced one morning amid joy and chaos.
At Friedensburg High School in Berlin-Charlottenburg, school operations resumed for the first time after the Corona crisis began.
The door opens around 11 a.m. Mrs. Ottow is in the classroom. You have something important to share. That comes directly from Mr. Zimmerschied, the director. From now on, anyone who does not comply with the distance rules during breaks will be “suspended” and will no longer be able to attend school for the time being. Several students had already been warned this morning. “It doesn’t work that way.” Silence In normal times, the possibility of not having to go to school would be a source of joy for many students. Now seven tenth graders sit disappointed at their tables and say nothing. The school ban has recently sounded like a threat.
It is the second day after the end of the crown closure at Friedensburg High School in Berlin-Charlottenburg. After a break of more than six weeks, a small proportion of the students returned to class this week. High school graduates write their exams in a side wing and tenth grade students are taught in the front building.
Students are guided by the school; only a few follow the signs.
7:45 a.m.
The noise reaches a level as if not only Leos, Lauris, Seynabs, Saras, Amalias from tenth grade were returning, but also all the other 1200 students. In the hallways it smells like cleaning agents. The school administration had colorful markings taped to the mouse gray PVC floor to guide students on the tracks. Here it goes up the stairs, down there, but nobody sticks to it this morning. Teachers look for their classes, students for their teachers. Hardly anyone wears a mask, and if so, just because it fits the gangster’s appearance. Of course, the types of leaders are also back. When asked what they would have done on “vacation,” they reply “relax,” “watch Netflix,” and “play.” And they have new sayings: “Digger, come out, you have Corona.” At a safe distance are those who may not be so wrong about distance rules, brainstorm their task, and look at each other with concern.
8:00 am.
Amaryllis Nerger faces class 10.11. – At least before a part. Seven students sit in a semicircle on orange plastic chairs. The school management has divided the classes into small groups so that it is even possible to keep the rooms separate. For the next three lessons, the 30-year-old teacher will teach the same math classes three times, once for each group.
“Do you have a computer and a quiet workplace?” Nerger has sent homework to students in the past few weeks. They only had contact through a special school messaging service. Some of the students seem to have to settle for a smartphone. One of them says he has to share his room with his brother, who teased him while studying. Another student says that she couldn’t focus on homework because she had to take care of her younger siblings. The mother works in the home office. And then there is the father of his brothers, with whom he does not get along.
It’s quiet in the classroom now. Nerger fights for an answer. “Do you know that you can write to the teachers if you have problems at home?” The group nods. Nerger will later say that she is powerless in such situations. “We cannot intervene in the family structure.” Although he also wrote emails to his parents, the situation often did not change anything. “Then I found out that most of them themselves are not satisfied with the situation and do not know how to help their children.”
Teacher Amaryllis Nerger struggles with the pitfalls of daily school life.
9:00 am.
Pause Nerger takes a deep breath, expecting more. With all the questions, there was hardly any time for the prepared material. Nerger is concerned that some of his students may lose touch. Friedensburg High School is an inclusive school. Students from all walks of life should learn together here. There is a focus on Spanish and two so-called welcome classes in which refugee children are taught. Schoolchildren who do not speak German at home and cannot learn independently are particularly affected by the closure, says director Sven Zimmerschied. “It is a waste of time for these children.”
10:15 a.m.
Frustration increases with Nerger. What was it like when the students collected the worksheets? Did you get too close? Are homework assignments adequate? Some students report that they can do it in two hours a day, some need seven hours. To learn more, you would have to speak to individual students in peace, but there is hardly time for that.
Nerger rushes to the next classroom. In the middle: exhort, arbitrate. Students are fools in the hallways, they go to the bathroom in pairs, although only one is allowed. “You should also stay in the classroom during breaks.” Nerger tries to stay calm, other teachers are already in the nervous red range. “Hey, it’s not a meter and a half, what are you doing?” But such announcements fail as soon as teachers are no longer in sight.
Meanwhile, the next drama is looming in the teacher’s bathroom. The soap dispenser only dispenses drops. Nerger is upset. “Someone could have filled the soap.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a package of disinfectant wipes. The school office has not provided disinfectants. Chemistry teachers at the school, therefore, played some during the closing. But where are the bottles now? You do not know
11:30 a.m.
Zimmererschied is too colorful. He sent Ottow to class to clarify the distance rules. The small threat is very useful, “they want to come back”. Of course that doesn’t mean that wrong. Zimmerschied seems to be the friend among school principals. Meanwhile, the soap problem has also come to your office. The situation is even worse than expected. In fact, he expects the cleaning staff for lunch, but he just canceled. The director is angry. It is not the first time this happens.
Now what? The new hygiene plan stipulates that classroom tables and door handles must be cleaned in the middle. As the director of a school, you would have to pay a fine of up to 10,000 euros if you did not comply. In any case, it was difficult enough to implement the hygiene plan. The Berlin Senate only sent it last Friday. “It can’t work at all.” I had heard of schools where teachers now clean themselves. This Tuesday at Friedensburg High School, however, no teacher reaches for a mop and Zimmerschied pulls the emergency brake. Cancel the afternoon classes. Just three hours after class started, it was all over again.
What will happen in the coming weeks? Zimmerschied has no idea. He doesn’t even know if he can continue teaching 10th graders after that day’s experience. If the Senate decides to admit more classes before the summer break, the teacher shortage should become an issue. Nearly 40 percent of the teachers at his school were in the risk group and are not allowed to teach at all.
However, chaos has a good thing, says Zimmerschied. The crown crisis has demonstrated the importance of the school as a place of learning. Education is more than just acquiring knowledge. It is argument, exchange, joy. You can’t do that on the computer.
