Pictures of the trip!
KIEL
First time in Kiel, first impression is that city is beautiful, and I’m excited to start tomorrow in the teacher development program, and meet everyone!
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Here I will add a daily reflections about our activities and the studies we have during the week in Kiel!
Day 1
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Monday 6th of May, 2019
First day was really exciting, got to see the Kielline! And it was a pleasure meeting everyone. I had some enlightening conversations with many of you, and I understood some different points of view that I did not consider in the past. I have also learned a lot about exchange programs that has been done all around the world, however, I do not believe it is something I can actually implement in my hometown as it is difficult to set it up due to cultural differences, and the traditions of my hometown. But I think many aspects of it can be adapted in a way that does not cross the cultural background, and proves to be a positive experience for students. But I cannot deny the positive experience and the results of it for language acquisition, and not just language learning. Which for me personally is the way I learned English! That is why if I can figure out a way to adapt it, then I definitely will. Additionally, the creation of an outline helped me actually clear my own thoughts about my CALL project, and talking to others about their own projects gave me some ideas and insights that I might be able to implement to my own project as well. In the end, it was a very productive day! |
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Day 2
This day was spent learning how to produce videos and how to incorporate them perhaps in language classes. It was very interesting to learn it as it is very new to me, I know I have a long way to go, but someday I’ll get there! We have produced as a group a video of language learning using videos, and it was just a short video, however, thinking about it we realize that there are many ways in which we can utilize video making skills in language classrooms, our video is not perfect as we are beginners, but it was a fun and interesting beginning, considering it was filmed and edited in only 30 minutes!
Link to the video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ft3T3GE7Am0VNtScaKgaW3G-p5j-GCfx/view?usp=drivesdk
We also got to ask questions about eTwinning and learning about using technology to learn more about languages. Where students learn by interacting with other students from other countries.
Link to the video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ft3T3GE7Am0VNtScaKgaW3G-p5j-GCfx/view?usp=drivesdk
We also got to ask questions about eTwinning and learning about using technology to learn more about languages. Where students learn by interacting with other students from other countries.
Day 3 ! School visit
Today was by far my favorite experience, I got to see the way students learn in Germany, and I realized how different things are between Germany and my country. It was not that different, however it was the small things that made me think how I can benefit from learning more about it. We got to see a Spanish class, and even though I did not understand the content of the class itself, I still understood a lot about the interactions between the teacher and the students, and I actually understood a lot about the class, from body language alone, as I don’t understand Spanish. It was interesting to see the way the teachers lounge had a screen with the teachers schedules and any susbstitutions they will need to take over during the day, which is a small thing however when I compare to my hometown, and that they simply send notes to each department telling them about any substitutions at the very last second, it makes sense how this simple technology can make things easier for both the teachers and the administrators.
We also talked about the differences between the German education system and our respective countries, which gave us deep insights into how it is actually very different from one country to the other and how culture and tradition plays a part into the educational system.
Below you can see our immediate impression about the class, taken right outside the school!
We also talked about the differences between the German education system and our respective countries, which gave us deep insights into how it is actually very different from one country to the other and how culture and tradition plays a part into the educational system.
Below you can see our immediate impression about the class, taken right outside the school!
Day 4!
I think this day was an added bonus, as we got to visit another school, and observe more about the way the teachers in Germany run their classroom. It was also a Spanish class, and even though I couldn’t understand most of the class, I still got a pretty good idea of the teaching itself. As the teacher’s way of interacting with students did not get hindered by my lack of understanding of Spanish. What was good about it is that the teacher incorporated the use of her iPad, on the projector. Which was, when I think about it, a really simple idea, and I can easily adapt it in the future while teaching at my hometown. It just never occurred to me!
Another activity we had was the international seminar! The seminar was a mixture of people from all over the world, and all speaking and/or teaching in a variety of languages, such as Spanish, English, Arabic, Swedish, German, Italian, and Chinese! Which brought us many different perspectives of the education system from all around the world. It was very fun, and enriching experience. For instance, I would not usually have a colleague visit my class and observe. It would usually be a mentor or a supervisor. But when we discussed it more I realized that I can actually learn from the observation of others, as I can never have a perfect class, and maybe my colleagues will benefit from my class and adapt something to their own classes. So observation is not always necessarily a negative aspect as it can be used positively.
We also used Socratic in the seminar, and I am very interested in using it, as it is a simple way to get feedback from students and know their answers, that saves a lot of time and energy, and I will definitely be using it in the future, and also I might include it in my CALL project!
Then we ended that day with a delicious dinner at Jack’s Kitchen!
Another activity we had was the international seminar! The seminar was a mixture of people from all over the world, and all speaking and/or teaching in a variety of languages, such as Spanish, English, Arabic, Swedish, German, Italian, and Chinese! Which brought us many different perspectives of the education system from all around the world. It was very fun, and enriching experience. For instance, I would not usually have a colleague visit my class and observe. It would usually be a mentor or a supervisor. But when we discussed it more I realized that I can actually learn from the observation of others, as I can never have a perfect class, and maybe my colleagues will benefit from my class and adapt something to their own classes. So observation is not always necessarily a negative aspect as it can be used positively.
We also used Socratic in the seminar, and I am very interested in using it, as it is a simple way to get feedback from students and know their answers, that saves a lot of time and energy, and I will definitely be using it in the future, and also I might include it in my CALL project!
Then we ended that day with a delicious dinner at Jack’s Kitchen!
Day 5 =>
The last day!
Glad to have been part of this project, and I have learned a lot about many technologies and tools that I can use both in the future as a teacher, and in my studies at Newcastle University!
Glad to have been part of this project, and I have learned a lot about many technologies and tools that I can use both in the future as a teacher, and in my studies at Newcastle University!
