Day 2

Well, my pillow sure did feel great last night! Somehow, though, I woke up at 0321 and guess what - it was getting light already! Gotta love the northern latitudes!
After a great breakfast, we headed to the Ministry of Education in Helsinki to hear about the changes the Finnish system has undergone, and will continue to undergo as they prepare for a new national core curriculum in 2016. There's so much to say about the differences between our system and theirs, and yes, even some similarities, that it's best if I leave that up to another time.
We then went to visit a Finnish comprehensive (grades 1 through 9) IB school and heard from two panels - one made of teachers, including 2 American teachers who are teaching in Finland, and also a panel of administrators - the principal of the school, another from a neighboring High school, and a representative from the Helsinki Education system. Fascinating how well- respected the profession is here, but how difficult it is to enter.
Touring the school, we all found it interesting that students and teachers get a 15 minute break every hour or so. This is seen as a time when teachers can meet and discuss curriculum and students, and students can go outside and have play time, which is so very highly regarded here. Also,  though it depends on the grade, students may attend school from 8:00 until 1:00. If you factor in lunch and breaks, teachers maybe have a 5 hour day!
After a brief tour of the city and dinner (ate my first reindeer), we took a ferry ride to Suomenlinna Island, I fell again into bed, tired from the day's events.