Interview of Satu Mühlig-Hofmann

We interviewed Satu, because she is our homeroom teacher.

(Written by Paulina Rock, Marie Rivers, Kathy Spoon and Kate Ronney)

What kind of things do you like in your work?

  I like pupils and lessons.

What kind of things don’t you like in your work?

  I don’t like tests and conferences.

Why did you start teaching?

  It was an accident. I started to study languages, because they are so lovely. After five years I thought what I want to do and then I studied teacher’s studies. 

Why did you start just in Pikkola?

 Because there was a place open and I applied that place and luckily I got it.

How long have you been in Pikkola?

  I have been here about ten months.

What’s your favorite color?

  My favorite color is blue.

What’s your favorite food?

  My favorite food is Chicken salad.

Have you got any hobbies?

  Reading and I go to the gym when I have time.

Do you have any pets?

  Yes, I have fish.

What language do you prefer to teach?

  They all have their own good things but it varies really much. It is hard to say.

What language do you like the most?

 The most I like German.

Here is Satu in her classroom.

Poster time (back to the 80s)

Check out the full size version here.

As promised, here are some of the posters the pupils did while travelling through the wonderful 1980s. Be sure to look the readable full size versions via the links! The first one on the left is by Wayne Teller. It's interesting that the game Super Mario Bros hasn't changed all that much in 30 years. That certainly makes the game a classic!

Check out the full size version here.

Talking about classics, these hairstyles on the right don't really fit that category. Then again, who am I to say that. You be the judge! This great poster was done by Mary Rabine.

Check out the full size version here.

This cute pink poster on the left was done by Kate Ronney, Kathy Spoon, Paulina Rock and Marie Rivers. Below you can see another great fashion poster, which was done by Jane Lauper.

Check out the full size version here.

Finally we have another contribution by the BigColaFor21 boys, Max Corvin and Niclas Gaustad. The subject should tell you as much - it's about electronics, computers and space! Viva megalomania!

Check out the full size version here.

 

Comic strips

Alright, here we go again after another two-week break. We spent the last couple of weeks travelling back in time to the 1980s, so that's why there was no update last week (no internet in the 80s, you know). We will later upload some of the fabulous posters we did. There are also new interviews and other interesting things on the way, so stay tuned.

Our theme today was money and spending. We worked on two different texts (the pupils could choose one of the two). Both texts were about how expensive it is to be a teenager. Did you know that in Great Britain, for example, one teen "costs" about 12 000 euros per year (in other words, that's how much their parents spend on their children's hobbies, food, clothes) on average! Have you ever thought about how much your parents spend on you?

Oh, here are two comic strips that our pupils did (actually we only did the text, the fantastic drawings are done by the 8th grade comic course pupils). Two of these are quite fitting for the Christmas season, don't you think!

By Nora Lakeside and Elisabeth Jenkins

By Wayne Teller

By Wayne Teller

Song of the week was chosen by Niclas Gaustad. Actually, he picked the song because it was on top of some music list on Youtube. No, it's not Gangnam Style.

Interview of our principal Ville Vuorisalmi

How old are you? – I just turned 40.

How long have you been in Pikkola? – This is my fifth year, so about four and a half years. I started here in 2008.

What principals jobs are? – Basically I’m sort of a boss of the people who work here and then of course I have some things with the pupils. I’m the head master of the pupils and a boss for the teachers. I have to find and choose the new teachers and organize the substitutes to the teachers. When somebody has any problems I should try to solve them and try to help them. And the same goes with the pupils, if there is something complicated, I should try to manage or solve the problems.

What other languages do you speak? – I studied German in school, and I have been worked in Germany for one summer, so I sort of know how to speak German, I don’t know anymore how to write it, so I just speak it. Same goes with French, I have studied it in France for a half year, when I was about 25 years old. I have to study Swedish as well, so I can survive with that too.

What is the best thing in Pikkola? – The people are nice. That’s the best thing here.

What is the best place in Pikkola? – I think it’s the canteen. It’s the best time of the day, eating lunch.

Where do you live? – I live in Peltolammi, Tampere

What kind of family do you have? – I have two daughters, they are now 8 and 6 years old, and my wife as well.

Do you have any hobbies? – I like to be outside. I used to be a scout and camp a lot. I do it with my old friends, about every year. Hikes and things like that. I like reading, but most of the time I’m a dad for two children.

By Nora Lakeside and Elisabeth Jenkins

Interviews and the 80s

Alright, let's make the short story... even shorter. Today we took a look at teen life in the 80s. The parents of our students have been in their teens around that time, so it was interesting for many of the BigCola21 to see what kind of things were in (or ace as they used to put it) back then. We'll spend more time on the 80s during the coming weeks.

In the coming weeks we'll also do interviews with a number of the Pikkola staff. Of course they'll appear on this blog once they're ready! To get us going with interviews, our warm-up task for today was: Which celebrity (past or present) would you like to meet and what would you ask him? Here are some of the results.

 

I'd like to meet Jared Leto. I'd ask him to tell me everything about making music.

It'd be interesting to meet Adolf Hitler and ask him what sort of dogs he likes.

We'd love to meet Rihanna. The first question we'd ask her is “How are you?” (Yep, that's a polite way to start a conversation.)

I'd like to meet Sauli Niinistö and ask him how you become famous.

Of the many people I'd like to meet, I'd ask Pink what kind of house she lives in. 

So there. Our interviewees at Pikkola aren't multi-millionaire pop stars (not that I know of, at least) but I'm sure the interviews will be interesting anyway. By the way, here's the song of the week by Tiffany. The song is basically about how you become a millionaire. A great choice! We'll be back next Friday!