Week 11 - 6th-12th April 2012
The last two years of teaching practice have taught me that
no two days will ever be the same, and to expect the unexpected! This has been
no different during teaching practice so far here in Denmark!
The main classes I am to be in are Maths for second grade
(aged 8/9) and English with 4th and 5th grade (10-12).
Our first day began with a maths lesson with a class we have visited before and
here I knew that although I was not going to be able to actually teach anything
due to my limited vocabulary and their lack of English, I was going to be able
to work as a type of classroom assistant for these two hours. Using different techniques and the little
Danish I know I was able to help the children with any problems they had with
their work. Although this was challenging, I felt proud at the end that we had
been able to cope and to help the children, and some of the girls even managed
to learn the words “You are very good teachers, thank-you” in English to say to
us at the end of the class!
On Wednesday, Kai, the teacher who we follow the majority of
the time had told us he was taking his 4th grade class on a trip to
visit all their houses and their pets! This seemed a little strange to me,
especially when he explained it was for a Science lesson, but I thought it
would all become clear on the day. Having witnessed a totally different attitude
to learning inside the classrooms than what I am used to seeing at home, I was
intrigued at how this walk would work, especially when it came to crossing
roads and arriving at the children’s houses! It was a totally different
experience to what I expected, the children ‘followed’ Kai as we walked,
although they were often running ahead, lagging behind, climbing trees or
walking on the other side of the road from every-one else. It was a complete
contrast to what I expected, or what you would witness in Northern Ireland
where consent forms would have to be signed, children would be paired up and
counted continually during the walk, instead Kai just had faith that the
children would follow him, or at times even lead him to where we were going.
Although this was an interesting experience, I felt jumpy and nervous the whole
time, constantly wondering if all the pupils were with us, or were walking
safely. Education here is totally different and has a much more relaxed
atmosphere which it is definitely taking some time to get used to! I kept
thinking how a walk like this would go down at home, some parents didn’t even
know the whole class was going to turn up at their house!
I have also had the opportunity to do small group work
exercises with a 4th grade English class, just basic conversation
skills encouraging the children to try and work together to figure out words
they didn’t know and to ask and answer questions. I really enjoyed this as I
got to work with three different groups and it was nice to finally be able to
communicate and get to know some of the pupils a bit better as this is
something I am finding strange as we move around so many different classes each
day.
Overall I am enjoying the beginning of these two weeks, and
although it is pushing me out of my comfort zone in the classroom, it is a
challenge I am keen to face. Teachers may not know where all the pupils are,
they may not know what they are going to do each day, but somehow the whole
system seems to work, and with a relaxed atmosphere meaning the pupils can
enjoy themselves. Next week brings a whole new challenge as we embark on a
project week, so I look forward to seeing what new challenges this brings!
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