Introduction & Initial Orientation

Right from the start of our stay, we were warmly received by Mrs. Schoeneich and introduced step-by-step to the school environment as well as local life. Over the course of the internship, our responsibilities evolved significantly. While we primarily observed, assisted, shadowed, and familiarized ourselves with daily school routines in the beginning, we increasingly took over independent teaching segments, planned projects, executed instructional units, and participated in school events as time progressed. This allowed us not only to expand our pedagogical skills but also to develop a deeper understanding of how to design lessons within a multilingual, culturally diverse, and often highly heterogeneous learning environment.

The first few weeks were primarily characterized by arrival, orientation, and cultural adjustment. In addition to arriving in Los Angeles and moving into our accommodation in Fountain Valley, we gathered our first impressions of California early on through visits to Huntington Beach, Los Angeles, the Old World Village, as well as various Christmas markets and school-related events. Working at the German School Campus booth during the Christmas season particularly facilitated our initial conversations with parents, children, and visitors. Through this, we gained insight not only into the school’s operations but also into the significance of the German language and culture for families in Southern California.

Although this early phase was demanding at times, it was simultaneously crucial, as we had to adjust to new routines, longer commutes, a different everyday culture, and the American environment. Over time, we found our bearings better and better. The support and advice provided by Mrs. Schoeneich were especially helpful in making us feel more confident in our daily lives and within the school context. The invitation to spend Christmas Eve with Mrs. Schoeneich was not only a kind personal gesture but also a milestone moment in our settling-in process. The shared church service, dinner, and welcoming family atmosphere made us feel increasingly at home in a foreign country.

Teaching at the German School Campus

Instruction at the German School Campus formed the central core of our internship. It was incredibly valuable for us to work with diverse age groups, proficiency levels, and instructional formats. On Mondays, we were frequently involved in teaching the younger students. The focus there was on playful language support, reading, writing, vocabulary building, creative assignments, and occasionally mathematical word problems. The learning groups were regularly divided into differentiated tracks so that individual students could receive targeted support corresponding to their learning pace. This form of internal differentiation clearly demonstrated to us the vital importance of individualized support in foreign language education.

Particularly with the younger learners, we realized how effective playful learning methods can be. Language games, memory formats, movement-based tasks, visualizations, and creative materials helped the children not only to passively absorb new words and structures but to use them actively. It was highly noticeable that the willingness to learn increased whenever tasks were designed to be action-oriented. This observation was immensely valuable for our own future teaching practices, as it demonstrated that motivation and learning progress are intrinsically linked.

On Wednesdays, we frequently worked with older students who were preparing for exams such as the ÖSD, AATG, or AP exams. Here, the focus shifted toward exam-oriented competencies such as reading comprehension, listening comprehension, writing, speaking, grammar, and cultural studies. We supported the learners with practice exams, explained task formats, practiced strategies for reading and listening comprehension, and helped improve linguistic precision. The exam preparation process especially highlighted the necessity of clear structure, transparent assignment objectives, and targeted feedback.

Another essential component was online instruction. There, we were able to observe how language lessons can be effectively implemented in a digital environment. Various units covered grammar topics, presentations, giving directions, regional cultural studies, and exam preparation. We noticed that online teaching demands a particularly clear structure and the active engagement of learners. Interview sheets, presentation assignments, Kahoot quizzes, and role-plays proved to be useful methods for encouraging students to speak and actively participate digitally.

Development of Our Pedagogical Competencies

Over the course of the internship, we were able to steadily solidify our roles as future educators. While we primarily acted in a supporting capacity at the beginning, we later assumed greater responsibility. A particularly important milestone was independently conducting a lesson unit on grammatical cases and sentence components. This lesson was originally planned with a rigid structure but had to be spontaneously adapted due to students arriving late. As a result, we learned firsthand that lessons do not always go exactly according to plan and that flexibility is a core competency for teachers. Despite the organizational deviations, we succeeded in working through the material together with the students and bringing the lesson to a meaningful conclusion.

Team-teaching was also highly instructive for us. When we conducted lessons together, we could distribute tasks, support students more individually, and react flexibly to difficulties. Simultaneously, we learned how vital communication, clear role distribution, and a shared understanding of goals are. These experiences helped us project greater confidence and better structure our lessons both textually and organizationally.

Further progress was evident in our ability to align lessons more closely with specific learning objectives. At first, we focused primarily on executing tasks correctly and helping students when problems arose. Later, we paid closer attention to why a specific method was being deployed, what learning objective was attached to it, and how learning progress could be observed. Consequently, our perspective shifted from mere lesson execution toward pedagogically reflective planning.

Project Work as a Core Element

The various classroom projects constituted an especially vital part of our semester abroad. They enabled us to combine academic content with language support, creativity, and intercultural learning.

• The Metrics Project: A prime example of action-oriented learning. The goal was to provide students with foundational skills in handling the metric system. For younger children, terms like “long,” “short,” “heavy,” or “light” were introduced using puppets, animals, and physical objects. For older students, the topic was deepened through workstation learning, where lengths, weights, and volumes were measured, compared, and documented. The subsequent “Measurement Olympics” provided additional motivation.
• The Bee Project: Particularly successful from a pedagogical standpoint because it linked multiple learning areas. The students explored the life of bees, created lapbooks, worked on reading and writing tasks, manufactured candles from beeswax, and were able to observe a real beehive. The combination of theory, hands-on activity, and creative design kept the children highly motivated and made the content tangible in a sustainable way.
• The Migration Project: Created by Manuel, this established an important bridge between subject matter instruction, cultural studies, and language support. The students engaged with German migration to the USA, spanning from the “Krefeld 13” to contemporary German influences in America. Alongside historical content, methodological competencies such as source and image analysis were integrated.
• Lucas’s Computer Science Project: Blended digital education with language instruction. Students were taught the functionalities of their school accounts, software applications, AI features, and aspects of password security. The project highlighted how relevant digital literacy has become to daily school life, allowing the students to not only develop technical skills but also apply specialized vocabulary in German.
• The Asterix and Obelix Project: Combined historical education, film analysis, and oral presentation skills. The students were first provided with historical context regarding Rome, Caesar, and the Gauls. Afterward, they worked with character sheets, took notes during the film, and prepared presentations, effectively connecting listening comprehension, note-taking, cooperative teamwork, and public speaking.

Exams, the Reading Competition, and Support

Another core area of our internship was supporting testing procedures. We accompanied AATG, ÖSD, and AP-related preparations, assisted with organizational routines, proctored examinations, and worked target-specifically with individual students on their test performances. The high level of importance these exams hold for the learners was deeply impressive to us, as they can facilitate certifications, academic advantages, or even college credits.

Through working with exam candidates, we learned to view instruction through a more competency-oriented lens. It was not just about reviewing content, but specifically preparing for concrete requirements: How do you read questions correctly? How do you structure an oral response? How do you manage time pressure? Which strategies assist with listening comprehension? These questions accompanied many of our classroom hours and helped us better understand the utility of targeted learning strategies.

The school’s internal reading competition was also an essential component. The students practiced reading aloud regularly, were evaluated based on criteria such as intonation, volume, reading flow, and comprehensibility, and were able to make their progress visible. It was particularly interesting for us to observe how competitive elements can act as motivators, provided they are embedded in a pedagogically meaningful way. Honoring the winners at the graduation ceremony demonstrated that such formats validate learning achievements and boost self-confidence.

School Events and Extracurricular Activities

Alongside classroom instruction, school events were an essential element of our internship. Right in the first few weeks, we helped out at Christmas markets, did crafts with children, and engaged in conversations with visitors. Later, we assisted with Carnival, the Easter celebration, the Open House event, the Home School Fair, the German Honor Society, and finally, the graduation ceremony. These events demonstrated to us that a school consists of much more than just classroom lessons—it encompasses organization, parent relations, public relations, and community building.

The Easter celebration highlighted how critical planning and flexibility are during large-scale events. We assisted with the setup, managed activity stations such as can knockdown, egg-and-spoon races, sack hops, egg painting, and face painting, and helped with the egg hunt. Despite occasional chaotic moments, the festival as a whole was a major success. While this day was highly exhausting for us, it was equally educational, allowing us to experience firsthand how pedagogical work, organization, and supervising many children simultaneously mesh together.

The graduation ceremony ultimately formed the highlight of the school year. It was themed around the bee project and made visible everything the students had learned over time. The younger children showcased a performance in bee costumes, older students performed a play, winners of the reading competition read from their books, and successful exam candidates were honored. This celebration was a special moment for us because it illustrated how classroom instruction, project work, exam preparation, and the school community were brought together in the end.

Insights into the American School System

A distinct highlight was our visit to Claremont High School. There, we were able not only to observe classes but also to teach ourselves. Manuel presented content from his migration project, while Luca introduced segments of his computer science project on Artificial Intelligence. This enabled us to test our teaching materials in a new school environment and receive direct feedback from American students as well as from Mrs. Tsai.

The visit also allowed us a detailed look into the American high school system. The significant weight placed on course selection, credits, extracurricular activities, and mental health was highly conspicuous. The school possessed numerous resources, including sports, drama, retreat spaces, and designated contact persons for personal struggles. Simultaneously, differences from the German school system became apparent, such as room organization, exam fees, or the impact of college credits. This comparison helped us view schooling systems with greater nuance and critically reflect on our own preconceptions of what a school should be.

Museums, Travel, and Cultural Learning

Outside of the academic sphere, numerous museum visits, road trips, and cultural activities shaped our semester abroad. Early on, we visited historical sites and museums such as the USS Midway, the USS Iowa, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, the Getty Museum, the Natural History Museum, the California Science Center, the Grammy Museum, the Hsi Lai Temple grounds, and other cultural landmarks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the surrounding regions. These visits substantially expanded our historical, cultural, and societal understanding of the USA.

The Presidential Libraries, military history museums, and scientific exhibitions especially offered us diverse perspectives on the history, politics, science, and cultural self-perception of the United States. The Getty Museum opened up an art-historical avenue, while the Natural History Museum and the California Science Center conveyed scientific and historical content in an illustrative manner. The Grammy Museum, in turn, demonstrated the immense weight of music and pop culture in the USA.

Our travels into California’s nature were equally transformative. Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the Santa Monica Mountains, Yosemite National Park, and Sequoia National Park made the country’s landscape diversity tangible. Events such as the San Diego Rodeo, the Pow Wow Festival, the Swallows Parade, Chinese New Year at the Hsi Lai Temple, and the Newport Beach Boat Parade were culturally spectacular. They showed us how diverse American culture is and how strongly regional traditions, immigration history, and societal identity are intertwined.

Personal and Professional Learning Progress

Looking back, it is clearly evident that we made immense progress over the course of this semester abroad. At the beginning, many situations were entirely new: the daily school routine, the different learning groups, the organizational protocols, communicating with parents and staff, as well as living in a foreign country. Over time, however, we became more confident, assumed more responsibility, and were able to implement our own ideas with increasing independence.

Pedagogically, we learned to plan lessons with more nuance and to align them more tightly with target groups, learning levels, and concrete competencies. We observed that younger students benefit particularly from playful, visual, and action-oriented methods, whereas older learners benefit more from clear strategies, structured exam preparation, and reflective task formats. At the same time, we became aware that good teaching depends not only on specialized knowledge but also on relationship-building, flexibility, motivation, and clear communication.

On a personal level, the stay pushed us forward as well. We learned to navigate a new cultural environment, take ownership, handle unexpected scenarios, and actively contribute to an established staff. It was especially valuable that we were not merely spectators, but became part of daily school life over several months. This allowed us to observe development in students, accompany projects from planning to presentation, and reflect deeply on our own roles as future teachers.

Conclusion & Acknowledgments

The semester abroad at the German School Campus in Newport Beach was an extraordinarily enriching experience for us that went far beyond a conventional stay abroad. We received comprehensive insights into instruction, testing formats, project work, school management, parental collaboration, and cultural education work. The numerous projects, in particular, demonstrated to us how versatile and effective action-oriented, interdisciplinary, and project-based teaching can be.

Simultaneously, the museum visits, travels, and cultural events broadened our understanding of the history, society, and diversity of the United States. Furthermore, the visit to Claremont High School allowed us a direct comparison between the American and German school systems and helped us view school as an institution from a broader perspective.

For our development as future teachers, this internship was of immense value. We were able to plan, conduct, reflect upon, and adapt lessons; we learned to accommodate varying learning paces; and we gathered experience in interacting with children, teenagers, parents, and colleagues. Most vital was the realization that instruction must always remain flexible, and that sustainable learning occurs above all when students are actively, creatively, and meaningfully integrated into the learning processes. Ultimately, this semester abroad has left a lasting impact on us academically, pedagogically, culturally, and personally.

We extend our special thanks to Mrs. Schoeneich for making this opportunity possible for us.

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