week 14 - Proffesional and cultural (First week at Fridaskolan and Trip to Riga) 14/04/12 - 20/04/12

Quentin, Enrico Megan and I.

This week has been very busy and exciting as we went on a Cruise to Riga the capital of Latvia and the Baltics with the majority of the Erasmus group from Trollhattan. It was an early start as we had to take the train to Stockholm where the boat departed from.  When we arrived in Riga we explored the town, one area which I particularly enjoyed was the charms of Riga's Old town and the stunning architecture of the city especially the wooden crafts. I visited many places including the Freedom Monument, The City Dome Cathedral and The House of Blackheads.

The House of Blackheads.

The Dome Cathedral

Freedom Monument

Whilst exploring the city we found TGI Friday’s and decided to eat lunch there with the Italians and French. I ordered the house burger special and definitely appreciated the good meat. After, we made our way back to the boat where we stayed awake to watch the sunrise in the early hours of the morning. It was a fun filled trip to remember.

TGI Fridays

Lorenzo, Amuary, Rebecca and I watching the sunrise.

When we arrived home we were all very tired resulting in me nearly missing the bus to Fridaksolan the next morning, my very first day of placement. Teaching practice in Fridaskolan is a great opportunity to see how Independent schools differ from the majority of the Municipal schools here in Sweden. When I arrived at the school I was introduced to the staff and my teachers, who were extremely welcoming. I was then introduced to my class which was Grade 6 pupils aged 12 – 13, equivalent to first year students in Northern Ireland. As I am doing a  primary teaching degree this was the oldest class I have ever been placed with but a challenge and an experience that I was delighted to have been given. 

The lovely building of Fridaskolan

 I told Karin our coordinator that I was interested in PE and teaching English after completing the TEFL course. She kindly  placed me with the PE and English teacher for Grade 6. Grade 6 consisted of 72 pupils split into three classes however, the teachers see the year as one big group. There are three teachers who work together to teach Grade 6 pupils. Each teacher has 2 main subjects which they teach to all three classes. Victoria the PE teacher for Grade 6 and Grade 9 said that badminton was one of the sports the children had been learning. Due to the fact that I have my level 1 coaching certificate she organized both Grade 6 and 9 classes for me to teach during PE for the following week. I am really looking forward to this and experiencing teaching the same lesson to a variety of classes and age groups.

 
I was surprised at the standard of their English considering this consists of only 2 hours of English lessons per week. I found that some pupils were extremely shy when speaking to me in English for fear of being wrong. The teacher said that my presence in the class was a wonderful opportunity for the pupils to speak English throughout the school day, as they were just about to take their National English test. The children asked me did I speak Irish or could I speak any other languages. I was slightly embarrassed and they were very surprise when I told them that I could only speak English as most children in the class could speak at least two languages. After spending time in Fridaskolan I think there should be more emphasis on languages in schools in Northern Ireland. This again reinforces my desire to learn another language.