This means that students are always with the same classmates rather than having different class groups each period. They a;sp have the same class group all three years of junior high school. This allows students in Taiwan to get to know their classmates really well! They will go to different parts of the school for classes that need special rooms like PE, music, or cooking. They also eat their lunch in their classrooms so the room is their home for the school year!
One last big difference is that students in Taiwan wear a school uniform. Each school is unique but all ages from elementary through senior high school wear the uniform of their school. My school’s main uniform is a yellow shirt and navy blue pants or shorts. When it is cold, they also have a navy blue jacket they all wear. They can wear extra layers of clothes if they get too cold, which they often do in the winter. Though winter in Taiwan is not nearly as cold as winter in the places I have lived in the USA!
Some of my favorite differences are the classes students get to take and the structure of the school day. For starters, in Taiwan, the school day is longer than it is in the United States. At my school, students arrive by 7:30 in the morning to do their chores. Schools in Taiwan don’t usually have a janitor who is responsible for mopping, cleaning up trash, and tidying the classrooms, offices, and hallways. Instead, students clean the school every day. At my school, students have seven to nine classes per day. In the morning, sometimes they have a culture class with me where I teach them about American culture and holidays, and other days they use that time to study and do homework or have an assembly. They have four 45-minute class periods before lunch.
