INTERNATIONAL CPD DURING THE MFL MEETING
Susanne - Finland
During my stay in Sweden I visited three different language classes; German, Extra English and English. The group consisted of about 15-20 students. The classrooms had new, adjustable desks and chairs which were arranged in pairs or groups. The students had their own iPads which they used in every lesson I observed. Most of the work I saw was pair or group work.
One nice example was to write a presentation of a family, then describe their hometown and house and plan their holiday trip. In this particular project the students were given clear objectives for low, medium and excellent grades. In another lesson the teacher used to stand in certain spot in the classroom when she wanted the students to sit quiet and listen to her. I also saw this same teacher use real resources both to motivate the students and to search for information. These were very useful examples for me because I have been planning to do larger projects with my students.
It was also interesting to discuss about the differences and similarities in curriculum and assessments in different countries, too. I learned that Finnish teachers have more freedom to choose the topics and methods of teaching according to their own individual preferences. I also learned that e.g. in England they have set ability classes so there is not so much need for differentiation as in Finland. Also, the assessment is different in different countries and in Sweden, for example, they use much more presentations and oral test as a part of their assessments than we do in Finland.
However, the most important thing I learned was that I like this kind of international co-operation. It is motivating, inspiring and refreshing and would like to continue it in the future too.
Andrew - Ounsdale
During the Erasmus + visit to Sweden, it was really interesting to discover and discuss the differences between the English, Swedish, Finish and German school curricula with regards to MFL. Whilst in Sweden overall guidelines and goals are clearly set out, how these are achieved and the topics taught are at the discretion of the school and individual teacher. Similarly in Finland expectations on teaching of phonics is set out but topics and skills development in other areas are at the discretion of the school and teachers. I also learned that ability setting is less evident in Sweden, Finland and Germany and so differentiation in class is a greater focus.
Through being able to watch lessons in MFL (French and English) in the two Swedish schools, I was able to see this more varied approach successfully practiced. I was fortunate to observe a French lesson in which a key grammar point was practiced and then to give a different focus a song was explored in the target language. This was clearly enjoyed by the children and will certainly be an approach I will try to get in my teaching in the future. In an English lesson I also saw how genuine resources in the target language on Europe could be explored by the students to generate quizzes in Kahoot using IPads. Again, the students really enjoyed the activity and showed a good understanding of the topic and the English related to it, I can certainly see how this will be useful in my own practice in the future.
Susann, Germany. Teaching modern foreign languages – my impressions
During my stay in Sweden I visited three MFL classes; one lesson of German as second foreign language in Year 8 with Sandra in Köping and two lessons of English as first foreign language (Year 8 and Year 9) at Hammarskolan.
In general, I found out that the technical equipment at both schools is excellent, which makes it easy to motivate the students to do research on the internet with the help of their own Ipads or by using the Whiteboards. There are no school bells so it was possible to complete all tasks without any interruption.
The topic of the German lesson I saw was “Eine Familie” in Year 8. The students were asked to write an essay and prepare a presentation. They should invent a typical German family (with names, traits of character, jobs, hobbies, pets…), find them a place to live at (city-town-village, should describe the house or flat and the landscape) and send them on a trip for one week around Germany (sights, places of interest, activities).
Actually I liked the lesson very much. The pupils worked in pairs or small groups. I recognized a very relaxed relationship between teacher and pupils – also supported by the fact that the pupils are allowed to call the teachers by their first names which makes the relationship very familiar. The task was given in Swedish, furthermore the students talked about the results in Swedish which is a big difference to the language approach in Germany where the classroom language is expected to be the foreign language (as far as possible).
The topic of the first lesson of English I saw was “Europe”. The pupils were asked to study a workbook and to prepare at least 10 questions for a quiz with four answers, one of them correct, three of them wrong. (e.g.: What did the Ancient Greeks give us Europeans? Where did the Vikings live? Then the class used the “kahoot”- App to find out about the winners of the quiz. The pupils were very active and participated well.
In the last lesson of MFL I saw (English, Year 9) the class introduced a film they had prepared for another COMENIUS- exchange and asked us questions about the German school system and our own school.
During the Erasmus+ visit in Sweden we, the teachers, also used the opportunity to discuss the differences and similarities in teaching MFL in English, Finish, Swedish and German schools. It seems that the curricula in England, Sweden and Germany are quite strict and the goals are clearly described while the guidelines in Finland only require teaching phonics. The teacher there can decide on the teaching method and on the topic or media himself which can be good but also difficult.
After all I can say that I liked the stay in Köping very much because it was interesting to get to know colleagues from all around Europe and investigate new teaching methods. Furthermore I really like to thank all the other participants, especially Andrew, for the management of the student’s project work on the ideal European school.
Izzy - Pershore
I watched a language lesson where pupils were working collaboratively to create a Kahoot and develop questions on the topic of the European Union. They needed to include information that they had read about in a booklet they had as homework. The groups worked well together and they had the freedom to be creative in the design and formulation of the questions. The class then play the finished quizzes together as a way of assessing their learning.
Susanne - Finland
During my stay in Sweden I visited three different language classes; German, Extra English and English. The group consisted of about 15-20 students. The classrooms had new, adjustable desks and chairs which were arranged in pairs or groups. The students had their own iPads which they used in every lesson I observed. Most of the work I saw was pair or group work.
One nice example was to write a presentation of a family, then describe their hometown and house and plan their holiday trip. In this particular project the students were given clear objectives for low, medium and excellent grades. In another lesson the teacher used to stand in certain spot in the classroom when she wanted the students to sit quiet and listen to her. I also saw this same teacher use real resources both to motivate the students and to search for information. These were very useful examples for me because I have been planning to do larger projects with my students.
It was also interesting to discuss about the differences and similarities in curriculum and assessments in different countries, too. I learned that Finnish teachers have more freedom to choose the topics and methods of teaching according to their own individual preferences. I also learned that e.g. in England they have set ability classes so there is not so much need for differentiation as in Finland. Also, the assessment is different in different countries and in Sweden, for example, they use much more presentations and oral test as a part of their assessments than we do in Finland.
However, the most important thing I learned was that I like this kind of international co-operation. It is motivating, inspiring and refreshing and would like to continue it in the future too.
Andrew - Ounsdale
During the Erasmus + visit to Sweden, it was really interesting to discover and discuss the differences between the English, Swedish, Finish and German school curricula with regards to MFL. Whilst in Sweden overall guidelines and goals are clearly set out, how these are achieved and the topics taught are at the discretion of the school and individual teacher. Similarly in Finland expectations on teaching of phonics is set out but topics and skills development in other areas are at the discretion of the school and teachers. I also learned that ability setting is less evident in Sweden, Finland and Germany and so differentiation in class is a greater focus.
Through being able to watch lessons in MFL (French and English) in the two Swedish schools, I was able to see this more varied approach successfully practiced. I was fortunate to observe a French lesson in which a key grammar point was practiced and then to give a different focus a song was explored in the target language. This was clearly enjoyed by the children and will certainly be an approach I will try to get in my teaching in the future. In an English lesson I also saw how genuine resources in the target language on Europe could be explored by the students to generate quizzes in Kahoot using IPads. Again, the students really enjoyed the activity and showed a good understanding of the topic and the English related to it, I can certainly see how this will be useful in my own practice in the future.
Susann, Germany. Teaching modern foreign languages – my impressions
During my stay in Sweden I visited three MFL classes; one lesson of German as second foreign language in Year 8 with Sandra in Köping and two lessons of English as first foreign language (Year 8 and Year 9) at Hammarskolan.
In general, I found out that the technical equipment at both schools is excellent, which makes it easy to motivate the students to do research on the internet with the help of their own Ipads or by using the Whiteboards. There are no school bells so it was possible to complete all tasks without any interruption.
The topic of the German lesson I saw was “Eine Familie” in Year 8. The students were asked to write an essay and prepare a presentation. They should invent a typical German family (with names, traits of character, jobs, hobbies, pets…), find them a place to live at (city-town-village, should describe the house or flat and the landscape) and send them on a trip for one week around Germany (sights, places of interest, activities).
Actually I liked the lesson very much. The pupils worked in pairs or small groups. I recognized a very relaxed relationship between teacher and pupils – also supported by the fact that the pupils are allowed to call the teachers by their first names which makes the relationship very familiar. The task was given in Swedish, furthermore the students talked about the results in Swedish which is a big difference to the language approach in Germany where the classroom language is expected to be the foreign language (as far as possible).
The topic of the first lesson of English I saw was “Europe”. The pupils were asked to study a workbook and to prepare at least 10 questions for a quiz with four answers, one of them correct, three of them wrong. (e.g.: What did the Ancient Greeks give us Europeans? Where did the Vikings live? Then the class used the “kahoot”- App to find out about the winners of the quiz. The pupils were very active and participated well.
In the last lesson of MFL I saw (English, Year 9) the class introduced a film they had prepared for another COMENIUS- exchange and asked us questions about the German school system and our own school.
During the Erasmus+ visit in Sweden we, the teachers, also used the opportunity to discuss the differences and similarities in teaching MFL in English, Finish, Swedish and German schools. It seems that the curricula in England, Sweden and Germany are quite strict and the goals are clearly described while the guidelines in Finland only require teaching phonics. The teacher there can decide on the teaching method and on the topic or media himself which can be good but also difficult.
After all I can say that I liked the stay in Köping very much because it was interesting to get to know colleagues from all around Europe and investigate new teaching methods. Furthermore I really like to thank all the other participants, especially Andrew, for the management of the student’s project work on the ideal European school.
Izzy - Pershore
I watched a language lesson where pupils were working collaboratively to create a Kahoot and develop questions on the topic of the European Union. They needed to include information that they had read about in a booklet they had as homework. The groups worked well together and they had the freedom to be creative in the design and formulation of the questions. The class then play the finished quizzes together as a way of assessing their learning.