Autorin: Lisa Stefanie Peer, Eva-Maria Raml
The university was founded on 6 June 1968. It is about 30 kilometers from the center of Barcelona. The campus includes its own residence with 812 apartments, where the students and exchange students of the University live. The Camups offers various entertainment like shops, a cinema, a gym, a park, .....
The campus consists of 3 parts:
Bella Terra: a large campus for teaching, education and research
Sabadell: the campus for technology, health and business
Barcelona: a new campus for health sciences
I studied primary eductaion at the UAB and of course there are some differences. In Barcelona at the UAB it takes the students 4 years to be an primary teacher. Now it is in Graz at the Pädagogische Hochschule 3 years, but it will be changed soon to 4 years as well.
I visited three courses in English and I noticed that the students at the UAB can choose in the second year if the want to be an English-teacher or not. When they decide that they want to be an English-teacher they have to followe some extra courses.
By all of the courses you had to have full attendance.
1. English in the contemporary world: Practices and contexts
Teaching is done in and through talk. Classes are constructed through teacher-student interaction. Therefore, the quality and efficacy of teaching/learning is directly linked to issues of interaction. It is through language in interaction that students/teachers access new knowledge, acquire and develop new skills, identify problems with understanding, deal with ‘breakdowns’ in communication, establish relationships, etc.
Professor:
Her name was Eva Codó Olsina. She was an strictly teacher and always fair. She worked with a lot of effort and also tried to bring some fun in the lessons.
Assessment:
Professor:
Melinda Dooly holds two undergraduate degrees in Spanish and English Studies from Wake Forest University (USA), a MA in Education from Open University (UK) and took her PhD from la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where show now works full-time, specializing in the field of teaching methods and research methods in English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Assessment:
Every lesson we had to prepare something
For example:
critically establish an understanding of the place of PE in the Catalan Curriculum
analyse the potential contribution of PE to long life learning as well as key competences
develop an understanding of PE content in Primary Education
provide practical experiences in body control and awareness, motor skills, motor fitness and skill-related fitness and games. Develop a sense of safe and proper motor learning
introduce a range of teaching, learning and behaviour management strategies in the different teaching environments
provide strategies for designing balanced PE-in-CLIL tasks
introduce a framework for teaching PE through English
enable students to recognise a diversity of needs and understand differentiation
All erasmus students which are studying education have a welcome day together. On that day you can decide which kind of courses you want to take, you see the schedules and how many ECTS has one course. There you also fill in your Learning-Agreeament. Afterwards you will be signed in for the courses directly. In some courses you need the online platform from the University and sometimes you need Moodle for your courses. All this kind of applikations you will get informed and shown by the professor in the course. This is the whole way of enroling a course.
Contact the University:
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Plaça Cívica
08193 Bellaterra
(Cerdanyola del Vallès)
Tel. + 34 93 581 11 11
informacio@uab.cat
Contact the Erasmus office:
coordinacio.gep.internacional@uab.cat
We decided to live in the city center instead of living directly at the campus. This desicion had following reasons:
The Big Flat
La Rambla 73
80002 Barcelona
Spain
The cost of living is nearly the same like here in Austria, but off course a bit more expensive. The room fully furnished and everything included was for €400, which is not that expensive if you keep in mind that its directly in the city center. The metro ticket was for one month around €50 (we had a 3 month ticket) and the food was nearly the same like here.
School:
Escola Ciutat d'Alba
Carrer de Pere Ferrer, 5, 08195 Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
http://www.escolaciutatdalba.cat/
Reflection
Introduction
This is about my practice in Spain at the Escola Ciutat d´Alba and presents my impressions and my new experience there. The section one is about my general practice there and the section two is about the World Water Day.
Section 1
11.03.2014
My first day in practice was very exciting. At first one of the English teachers showed me the whole building. In that school the kids start with 3 years in the kinder garden and the school ends with the 5th class. The school is very nice and not that huge, so I had no problems with my orientation. After that my mentor Lucia introduced me to all the other employees of the building. I was really surprised that nearly all teachers were able to speak English with me, because in Austria is it not that common that every teacher is able to do that. The school
lesson starts at 08:45 o’clock and ends at 16:30 o’clock. During the whole day are 2 breaks, one in the morning for half an hour and one for lunch from 13:30 till 15:00, between 12:30 and
13:30 there is usually our meeting or I prepare some materials for class. The first lessons with kids:
I have to go with two different English teachers, so I have to go to nearly every class. At this
day I introduced me in some classes and I was really surprised about the children. All the kids were able to understand me and to ask me questions. The level of their English is very high, so it was easier for me to talk and to understand myself.
14.03.2014
Last week the children learned about school objects and school rooms, so they already know the vocabulary. We repeat all the vocabulary, to recognize the children about the different words. After that they had to make exercises in the work book. One of these exercises was:
Read the sentences and draw.
“I’ve got a pencil case. It’s green.
It’s in the library.”
So they have to draw a green pencil case which is in the library in the empty rectangle.
17.03.2014
Today there was a theater play “Little Red Riding Hood”. So in the lessons we taught the children the vocabulary which was necessary for the play. We had flashcards like “Little Red”, “Grandma”, “Wolf”, “Mummy”, and so on. After the introduction from the words, we played a Little Red Story on the CD-Player. The kids had to listen carefully. After that they get a worksheet. On that worksheet was the story again. They have to color all the new words.
18.03.2014
Today I had the whole day English lessons. In these English lessons we listened and tried to understand a short story. At first the children have to listen to a story. The teachers were standing in front of the class with big pictures on it. The pictures match to the story, so it was a support to understand the story. After that we talked about the topic in that story and tried to repeat it, so that all children get the point.
19.03.2014
Today we repeat the story again, so the children could recognize the story. After that we played the story with volunteers. Now the children know the story quite well. And we want to create a Minibook. Therefore we gave them 2 sheets of paper with 8 pictures on it. First of all they have to cut out the pictures and bring it into the correct order. – We will finish the book next lesson.
20.03.2014
Next Unit in the Exercise book, and the Exercise book is called “Surprise”. There are some chants and listening comprehensions. In the Afternoon we talked about Gustav Klimt and his tree of life. After that the children had time to paint their own tree of life. We used for that pencils, wax pencils and after that we covered the whole paper with light yellow water colors.
24.03.2014
My first lesson
Storytelling “Eddie, the earthworm”
At first I had picture cards to introduce the words to the children. We played listen and repeat,
point and say the word, what’s missing, what’s swapped.
After that we made a circle and I told the story with story cards.
Then the children went back to their places and I gave them a worksheet with the story pictures on it. They have to put the pictures into the correct order. During that the story will played on the CD-player again. For children who finished earlier they get another worksheet. When all pupils finished the exercise sheet we checked the answers together.
At the end of the lesson we played the game “animal chain”. Every child becomes an animal like 4 cats, 4 bees, 4 dogs, etc. We were sitting in a circle out of chairs. So I began to say “I like animals, I like dogs” – so all the dogs have to go behind me. I can repeat it as often as I want to. But when I say “I like animals, but I don’t like monsters” – the kids have to go back to a chair as fast as they can. The last pupil which is standing (because there is one chair to less) is the next leader of the chain and begins to say “I like animals, I like cats…. “
25.03.2014
It’s a game where you start to count and by numbers who have a four or can divide by four you
have to say “lemon” instead of the number.
Pupil 1: one Pupil 2: two Pupil 3: three Pupil 4: lemon Pupil 5: five Pupil 6: six
Pupil 7: seven Pupil 8: lemon Pupil 9: nine Pupil 10: ten Pupil 11: eleven Pupil 12: lemon
and so on…
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four, five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more.
I also had to correct the math’s homework from the first grade.
26.03.2014
Minibook, Games, Song “Head and Shoulders”
Today I had 3 English lessons in a row and all about Minibook. But the interesting things are the songs in the first lessons.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, *clap clap* - , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, *clap clap* -, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, *clap clap*” – you can repeat the song as often you want to. And after that you sing “Raise your hand, if you know what day is today.”
One pupil can say which day it is. After that we sing all together “Today is Wednesday
(depends on the day), today is Wednesday”
And we also say the right sentences for tomorrow and yesterday. – “Tomorrow will be
Thursday. Yesterday was Tuesday.”
“The weather can be Sunny - Make a big circle over your head with your arms.
Rainy - Wiggle your fingers down in front of you, simulating rain.
Cloudy - Squeeze two imaginary pillows above your head.
Snowy - Move your hands down in front of you in a slow, wavy motion. How is the weather today?
It is cloudy and sunny. It is not rainy, it is not snowy and it is not windy.
27.03.2014
When you come into a class the first song you will sing is:
“Tidy up, tidy up, books in the cupboard, books in the cupboard, Tidy up, tidy up, books in the cupboard, books in the cupboard, please, please, please!”
When the lesson is over:
“It’s time to tidy up and say goodbye”
28.03.2014
I went with the English Teacher to a teacher conference in Sant Cugat – There was a meeting with all the English teachers in the schools. They shared their experience and the material with each other.
Some Musicians came to the school and practice some instruments to the kids.
31.03.2014
Today we did a Science-Game in the class.
The kids where split into groups – I read a little description about a plant or a tree. The kids have after that 1 minute time to discuss which plant/tree I meant – if they have a decision they write in on a sheet of paper. This goes for 10 descriptions.
After that we corrected it and for one correct answer you get 1 point, so the maximum is 10.
01.04.2014
Discuss about new topic – create an Easter Lesson
Song “Head and Shoulders” Game “Simon says”
03.04.2014
Last Day
Song “Scary Monster”
The kids create a painting book for me.
Section 2
World water day - Project
The main focus at this school is about nature. They have a vegetable garden in the school and the whole school is taking care about it. The kids know a lot about trees and plants, animals and of course water. They know the circle of water and know how to behave that you can save energy. They also know how to use water and the importance of water. So on the 21st of March 2014 there was the “World water day” and we decided to create a huge poster. On that poster should the pupils think about a sentence about water and put them on a poster.
How it worked:
At first the pupils get into groups together, each group becomes a small colored poster. We said that they should think about water and create a sentence which water means for them. After creating the sentence, they should show it to one of the teachers, if the sentence is correct and sinful, the children have to write their sentence.
The children have to split the small colored poster into 2 or 3 pieces, depends on the count of sentences. They have to write the sentences on that small colored poster – the kids can be creative. When they finished their small poster, they have to fix it on the huge poster. This was the poster:
For me it was a new idea to make a group work to check the understanding of the kids. The kids really kept to their point and had fun by creating their own sentence.
In my view, we could have cut the colored paper before so it will save a bit time. On the other hand the pupils who finished at first, had to make the title, fix the colored paper on the poster and help the others, so no one was bored. The kids really enjoyed it and wanted to show her knowledge about the topic.
Contact the practice school (address, website ...)
Nadal School, Sant Feliu de Llobregat
School address: C/ Eugeni d'Ors 3 A
08980 Sant Feliu de Llobregat
Email: ceipnadal@xtec.cat
Phone number: 936855243
School mentor: Alícia Olesti
Overview of hours
ECTS to be certified: 12ECTS School hours: 93H
I had to work collaborative with my practice school an my University.
Comparing of school practice:
In this practicum I had the chance to receive expressions from another school in another culture. I saw a lot of new and different teaching ways. Some of them were similar to Austria and some of them completely different.
I made my first experiences in giving marks to children. I had to evaluate and reflect their competences. In Barcelona they have a different system to give marks. The scale is from 1 to 10 and 10 is the best and 1 is the worse.
My mentor demonstrated me, how to teach in English. She gave me a lot of good and useful advises. I definitely improved my teaching in a foreign language and feel more confident, when I stay in front of a class. I realized that it is more than important, to give clear instructions.
Teaching English across the curriculum should get more attention in school. In school Nadal we connected Arts with English. The children didn´t feel under pressure, when they had to speak in English and that´s how it should be. The children receive more confidence and feel free to speak in English.
I made great experiences in the Kindergarten, when I participated on two English lessons. The children in this age, learn very fast und you don´t have to translate everything what you say. When you teach in a playful way, they follow you and pay attention. The director gave me some good tips, how two teach young English learners.
I always felt welcome, when I went to school, because the children and the teachers were really nice to me. At the beginning I was nervous, because I didn’t know what will happen in the next weeks. I also had some doubts, because of my Spanish. I tried to speak Spanish, but it wasn´t always so easy. In the classroom the children saw me as a real teacher and I enjoyed that. The teacher gave me a lot of space. I could practice whatever I wanted and she trusted me. She made me feel confident, when I was teaching.
I really enjoyed the practicum at school Nadal.
Teaching materials/ One of the lessons I have tought
Lesson: What´s the time?
Material: flashcards, exercise paper, clock cards, book (page 39)
Steps:
Step 1: Flashcards
Step 2: Find your partner
Step 3: Ask your partner questions
Step 4: Correct the exercise
Step 5: Cut and join
Lesson plans / Reflections
Now I´m gonna present you some days which i have refelcted during the internship.
17.03.2014
Today I had my first practicum day at school Nadal. I was really excited and curious. I didn´t know what would happen. I spend the morning in the school. At first I went to the secretariat and asked for my timetable. After that, the secretary introduced me, my Mentor for this week. His name was Daniel and he is an English teacher. Every hour we went into another classroom to teach English. The topic which we taught was “food”. My first impression of the school was great.
19.03.2014
When I arrived in school, I figured out that I had to spend the first two hours in the “Kindergarten”. I really liked it, because in Austria I studied to be a Kindergartenteacher. It was a really new and great experience, because it is completely different to the Austrian Kindergarten. The kids start to learn writing and calculating very early in the age of 4 years. The first two hours they had lessons, which impressed me a lot.
24.03.2014
Today I was waiting for Lali (my new mentor, because Daniel was just a substitute Teacher), but she came later, so I followed the Native-speaker John from London. He continued the topics: cities and directions. He did this topic with a different class. In the other class the kids understood it better and they felt more comfortable by speaking in English. I think it was a little bit difficult for the native-speaker to make himself clear. Because I also cannot speak Spanish and so I tried to explain the exercises. The children understood me and knew exactly what they had to do. This day showed me, that you can also teach in another language without knowing the mother tongue of the children.
25.03.2014
This was the first day, where I followed Lali to the English lessons. I was very impressed about her way of teaching. She came into the class and each kid was probably sitting at their tables. They didn´t make any noise and they were very motivated. She was varying her voice (quiet and loud), so that the kids paid attention. I really like her way to teach and I think I can learn a lot from her.
31.03.2014
Today we started with the topic animal. We sang a song about different kinds of animals. The kids loved the song and sang very loud. That was the first time that each child spoke or sang English. Most of the time they feel not confident enough to speak in English, but today they tried it hard. It fascinated me, that the children could write good in English, but they didn´t want to speak. This was the first time that I had to write on the blackboard. The blackboard at this school is very different to my school. Here the blackboard has no lines and you cannot scroll it. In Austria it is very important to write in a structure, but in Spain at this school not. So it was a challenge for me to write on this blackboard.
01.04.2014
Today we continued the Easter eggs made of paper and textile material. We worked the whole morning on the project. The children were effort and loved it. During the lesson they had to speak in English. The children knew that if they wanted to speak with me, they had to speak in English. At the beginning of the practicum, they didn’t do it. But with the time, they wanted to speak with me and they realized that there is no other way. I had the impression that they enjoyed to speak English and that they discovered a new language.
03.04.2014
Lali (my mentor) has her own English room with a lot of useful materials. This morning we spend our lessons in the English room. We created a story with the kids. The title of the story was “The killer in the Villa square”. I think it was very good that they created the story together, because they discussed the topic and how they could write in the correct structure without making mistakes.
04.04.2014
Today I went to the school Vila Olímpica, to visit Larissa. I was curious about the other school and how they teach there. When we (Lisa, Larissa and me) arrived at school, my first impression was that the school was a modern building. At the beginning we went to a first class. I was expressed, that the kids in this age could speak so good English. In this school, they kids have every day an English lesson. Also the pronunciation was very good. The only thing what I didn´t like, was that the teacher was shouting a lot and snipping with his fingers. That made me nervous. I really liked that the little kids were not afraid to speak in English. They really tried to speak English with me and to have a conversation.
07.04.2014
When I arrived at my school today, Lali told me that I had to teach my lesson this afternoon. Normally I should teach it on Thursday. So I had the whole morning time to prepare my lesson. In the afternoon I was excited, because of my upcoming lesson. I taught children in the age of ten. I taught the same lesson in to different classes (grade 4). When I started with my first lesson, the children were attended and motivated. I had attention the whole lesson. The children liked the new games which I introduced them. They had no problems to fill out the exercise. It was good, that we were three teachers in the classroom, because all of us could support the children. My lesson was made for three teachers in the class, otherwise it would be more difficult with one teacher in the class. During the teaching I felt confident and I had a lot of fun. I really missed teaching in front of a class.
Later, when I taught in the second class, it was more challenging like in the first class. It was the last class on this day and they children were not so attended anymore. They also had more problems by solving the tasks, so they needed more support than the first class.
09.04.2014
Today my university colleges visited me at my school, because they wanted to collect different experiences from different schools. This day we had 3 written exams and one oral exam. We made the oral exam with the children. We asked them questions about, how to make different recipes. Most of the children studied very hard. I really liked to hold the exams, because this was my first time that I did it. My university colleges liked it a lot at school Nadal and it was a nice day together.
10.04.2014
I met Alicia (the director) of the school in the morning. I spend the morning with her in the Kindergarten. She wanted to show me, how to teach English in the Kindergarten. The children were 4-5 years old. She prepared a book called “Gruffelo” and a lot of materials (she had a lot of pets) to make it more interesting. She started the lesson with a short movie about the book and then she continued with telling the story. When she explained the story, she varied her voice. The kids loved the story a lot.
11.04.2014
Today was my last day at school Nadal. I was a little bit upset, because I really liked it here. When I arrived in class, I told the children that it was my last day. They children stood up and hugged me. They painted pictures for me and wrote my name. I got some nice presents and I liked them a lot. I also said good bye to all teachers. They welcomed me at the beginning very friendly, so I decided to by some cookies for them. Lali was a great mentor and I thanked her for everything. I learned a lot of new teaching ways at this school and I will take it with me to Austria.
Review Lisa Peer
The academic term was very similar to our courses in Graz. They also have their own group of students and they will have all the semesters together (expect some parts of it). The minimum years here to get the Bachelor of Education is for 4 years (8 semesters). They also have to decide which kind of teacher the wanted to become, for example English Teacher, Primary Teacher or for upper school. In the seminars the professors are very friendly and trying to give their best knowledge to the students. Most of the time you have to write a paper and sometimes you have an exam as well. As I said before, it’s quite similar to our university.
The cultural part is very high in Barcelona. First it’s a big city, second most of the local people are very patriotic. They love their city and their own language, so sometimes you have the feeling if you are not good at Catalan they don’t even want to talk with you. But on the other hand, you have so many tourists, students and foreign people there, that you nearly find all kind of languages if you go through the city.
Most of the time the people here are very social, they always try to help you or just give you good advices. You have to keep in mind, that in Barcelona the rate of criminals, like thieves is very high. So you always have to look at your things carefully, which is kind for every big city. Otherwise, the siesta is still a very common part of lifestyle here, so the day starts around 9 o’clock in the morning and the night ends around 11 o’clock pm, which was also new for me. I’m used to that supermarkets open around 7:30 o’clock, so I can buy me a snack for breakfast or lunch.
Anyways, for me Barcelona is one of the most impressive cities which I visited and I can definitely recommend to go there!
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