Second Week of Teaching Practice

The second week of our teaching practice was about me and Katka teaching English to the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th grade. After the first week of observing we knew very well that it is possible to have all lesson in English and the pupils would understand. We weren't quite sure about the 5th grade because Rebekka did not use much English when teaching this class but we tried.
To sum up activities we did:

• 3rd grade: We used computers to make the lesson more attractive for pupils. They usually use www.manythings.org but we found another website: www.britishcouncil.org/kids and taught them a song: "I Can Sing a Rainbow". Moreover, we played some icebreaking games such as: Saing names as quick as possible, Simon says and How much do you like. Next lesson we also used computers for about 20 minutes to introduce the fairytale about Little Red Riding Hood to children. After that me and Katka played the fairytale using puppets. Some children really loved this activity. We made them more active by giving them puppets and everytime they heard the name of the character they were holding they had to raise their hand. I think that teaching English to the third class was a succes and we made it without difficulties. We also managed to use computers in our class but not for whole 45 minutes because it would be boring both for pupils and teachers.
• 4th grade: Teaching English to this class was a kind of challenge because there were 23 pupils. Some of them are already very good at English. However, some of them refused to talk to us. Because of the big number of pupils and not enough space in the classroom it was difficult to use some movement activities. We chose the topic: "Birthday" and "Parties". In the first lesson we taught pupils some new words and they also learned a birthday song: "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". They also created a birthday invitation and it was quite a nice lesson. Next lesson we wanted to teach them some verbs concerning preparing a party. We intended to use Total Physical Response but it did not work in the end. The mood in the class was not suitable for this activity so we had to change our plan on the spot. This lesson lacked a moving activity, so it was a bit boring, although we prepared it carefully.
  
• 5th grade: Altough pupils from the class are not used to having whole lesson in English, we hade to do it in English because our Danish really sucks.:) Surprisingly, nearly all pupils understood our instructions without difficulties and everything worked well. We talked about food with this group. We used a drawing activity (pupils had to draw their favouritte meal and others had to guess), we played: "How much do you like", we sang" Five Fat Sausages" (without the music because the recording did not work :), and played another game which included clapping. Our next lesson was supposed to be about learning a pancake recipe and practicing cooking verbs. We really planned it carefully but however the lesson was canceled because of a concert. So we went to the concert instead. The last lesson with the 5th grade was about preparing pancakes and milkshake. We gave pupils instructions in English and they were also given a handout and they worked very well. We were amazed at how nice pancakes they prepared.:)
  
• 8th grade: Teaching English to the 8th grade was wonderfull. All pupils were very nice and friendly and it was a pleasure to teach them. We did not do much grammar with them but a lot of speaking activities. We talked about stereotypes and images that represent certain countries. We used role play and they really enjoyed being "someone else". We also talked about travelling and searching for a holiday destination and we had some jokes as a conclusion of our teaching. We also revised adjectives derived from countries.
  

To Sum Up: Teaching English to Danish pupils was a wonderful experience. Due to their good level of English it is easy to have all lesson in English only. I specially enjoyed teaching English to the 3rd grade because the children were very sweet and keen on our activities. We could also use activities that we cannot do with adult learners because it would be too childish for them.
Else was also satisfied with the job we did and praised us a lot, which made us happy.:)
At home I will try to use English more when teaching beginners because I could see that when you use very simple English and help yourself with gestures and mimics they can understand you very well.
It thrilled me that there were mostly 15 pupils in each class. It is ideal for language teaching because pupils have more opportunities to talk.
It was also to teach in pair with Katka. We complemented each other very well. While I was asking pupils, she wrote on the greenboard and vice versa. Also planning lesson in a pair was much easier and funnier.

First Week of Teaching Practice

The first week spent at Haderslev Kristnefriskole was about watching, observing and getting to know each other.
We have seen English classes in the 3rd, 4rth, 5th, 8th and 9th grade.

What surprised us in:

• The Third Class:nearly all class was taught in English and pupils could understand the instructions without difficulties. Else used a lot of gestures and mimics to intensify what she was saying. All the activities were playfull and very funny and children enjoyed them thoroughly. Else uses a lot of songs, chants, poems and games to make children engaged in the class.
• The Fourth Class: It was very similar to the Third Class. Else also uses games, chants and songs when teaching English to this class. Moreover, the pupils are used to working on computers during the class. They use webpage www.manythings.org with plenty of games and excercises focused on English grammar, vocabulary, spelling and listening. It was quite shocking for me that each child has got a notebook. It is quite unusual in the Czech Republic.
• The Fifth Class: This class is taught by Rebekka, who is not a qualified English Teacher. She does not use English a lot when she talks to her pupils, although her level of English is pretty good. The majority of the lesson is in Danish. She does not use a lot of warm-up activities and there was also no summary in the end. Therefore her classes were not very beneficial for me.
• The Eight Class: Else is really great with small children but she seems to me a bit hopeless with teenage pupils. She is extremely kind but when teaching English to older pupils, she should me more strict and energetic. I also suggest that she use more activities to make pupils busy. When they are busy with taks they have no time to be naughty and loud.
• The Ninth Class: Surprisingly, there are only girls in this class. The ninth class is supposed to take a major English exam. Therefore, the classes we saw were focused on practising for the exam.
  

To sum up: I really like Else's teaching style when she teaches English to children. She knows a range of different activities to make her classes interesting and funny for children. However, when it comes to teaching teenagers, she is not energetic enough to make pupils work properly.
Rebekka is a nice teacher too, but she should use English more in her classes. When 80 % of a class is in Danish, you cannot call it an English lesson.

Teaching Practice at Haderslev Kristne Friskole

On Wednesday 7th we had the last session with Iben and we talked mainly about our teaching practice and how to get prepared for it. We came to the conclusion that we don't have enough ifnormation and we do not know what we are expected to do, which is quite a stupid situation, especially when you don't know the language the pupils speak. But on the other hand it's a serious challenge. :-)
On Thursday 8th we visited our teacher-trainer Else Wiwe at Haderslev Kristne Friskole. She's such a nice person, very friendly and kind. She gave us some information about her English classes at Haderslev Kristne Friskole and about her pupils and then we visited an English lesson in the 9th class. We became part of the lesson as we were in groups with students and talked with them about the Civil War in the USA, stereotypes, national identity and racism. Such difficult topis but we were amazed how good English some students can speak. Wonderful!
Else also invited us to the children performance in the gym and we were happy to go there. The performance was really funny, there were two choirs - one from Haderslev, one from another school and we really enjoyed it, no matter we didn't understand a word in Danish.:-)

Visit to Favrdalskolen

On Wednesday 11th we visited Favrdalskolen together with Bodil, our Special Needs teacher. At first we had some difficulties with geting up and finding the right building but we made it in the end:-)
The school consists of many huge buildings and it reminded me of a maze. I wonder how pupils can find their way there.:-)
We were guided by the headmaster himself, who was very nice, friendly and informal. In the Czech Republic headmasters are usually very formal and they also wear suits.

The school was nicely decorated with pictures, paintings and drawings. All teachers we met were very nice and most of them were really young.
We were lucky to see an excerpt from a children's performance and we also saw2 blind children (a girl and a boy) being engaged into normal classes.
We also visited a class taught by an English native speaker named Tim. He told us that he usually teaches one class for all day and next day they have another teacher.
Tim showed us what he did with children. It was a magical calculator - 7 sticks covered with numbers that enable you to multiply. Incredible.
The school is very modern, though built about 25 years ago. There are many computer labs, a library, a big gym and a theatre hall. They have special classrooms for cooking lessons and for woodcrafting, too.
To sum up: The atmosphere in the school was really relaxed and we all liked it a lot. One visit to a school is 10 times better than one day spent at university.

Teaching Practice

On Thursday we visited Kristne Friskole in Haderslev. I and Katka took part in 3 lessons - a Math lesson, a Science lesson and an English lesson. Each of them was taught by a different female teacher.
What surprised me during Math was the fact that there was an assistent present during the class. He helped the children with their tasks and also kept an eye on them so that they should pay attention to the teacher. The teacher had a microphone, because of her weak voice and I think it's a bright idea. On the other hand, there was no motivation in the first part of the lesson and also no summary and greeting in the end. When the bell rang, the teacher just went away.
The Science lesson was a way interesting - the teacher wanted to explain how water is being purified. That's why she prepared 3 experiments for kids. However, it was mainly she who was active in the lesson. Children sometimes helped her, but that was all. In the end they had to cut out some pictures and stick them into a sheet with the water ring on it.
The last lesson was the best. The teacher was extremely friendly and helpful and she spoke just in English. She told us that the children are allowed to speak in Danish, but just when they ask or explanation. Otherwise, they need to speak in English. I, Katka, Margherita and Viki became participant in the lesson because we joined the groups of children and pupils were to ask us questions. Then they presented the information they discovered. After that we sang a childish song from our country and than we listened to an English prayer sang by the teacher and her pupils.
After the practice we had a seminar in which we discussed what we had experienced. The seminar teacher told us that they DO NOT TEST CHILDREN in Denmark and the main principal is that they let children do what they like to do. Teachers are also not limited in what they teach as there is no curriculum. All of these facts were quite surprising for me and I must say that I do not like them a lot. I'm used to the Czech system of education which is rather formal.