Week 11

Personal Development

Week 11 has been full of things to do! Due to school starting at 8 am in the morning, I have to wake up just after 6 am to get there on time. Being up so early in the mornings is such a struggle for me (7.30 am is bad enough when on teaching placement at home). I always have the urge to have a nap when I come home from school, but as I always have something planned, I never get the chance. I am sure mum will be glad to hear that! I am enjoying my placement so much and it keeps me busy which means time is flying in!

Even though school is great, I really appreciate the time I have off to meet up with friends and relax. I really enjoy having things to do at the weekend and in the evenings; such adventures this week include a trip to IKEA (which I will not bore you with again - although it has been renovated since last time and now has a new café area – very nice); church on Sunday; shopping and meeting up with friends. On Monday night, Greg, Nicole and I went to see a Northern Irish band, Two Door Cinema Club, play in Copenhagen. We were really excited about going to see a band play in Denmark, never mind one from our country! Mostly everyone in the crowd was Danish so I felt very proud coming from Northern Ireland. The band was really good (especially when they spoke – so good to hear a familiar accent)!

We had our last and best Danish class on Tuesday evening. Instead of being bombarded with new vocabulary and sentences, we had to get into our practise groups and act out part of a Danish lesson we have observed. Rehearsing really bad Danish was hilarious, but it was also good to hear about people’s experiences in other schools to see how they compare to our experiences. Catching up with everyone was great seeing we only have a few more classes all together. Most of the Erasmus class leave at the end of April and so many were planning what they want to see over the next couple of weeks before they leave. It is hard to believe that most of our friends will be going home soon, and it makes me glad that I have an extra month here – I didn’t think I would ever be saying that!

Cultural Development

Last night I went to see a ballet performance at The Royal Danish Theatre, Det Kongelige Teater, with some of my class. We went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream, choreographed by John Neumeier. I had never been to see a ballet performance, so I was very excited to do so. Due to my great skills in organising myself, I did not purchase tickets until I arrived at the theatre. The ‘helpful’ lady told Greg and I that the only two seats together were the slightly dearer ones, which was a bit annoying, but seeing we were getting student discount and ‘lovely seats’ we decided to cut our losses and buy them.

Det Kongelige Teater was designed by architects Dahlerup and Pedersen and opened in 1784. Walking through the grand entrance was really amazing – the building is huge, and I was delighted that our seats were right at the top of the theatre. Climbing four flights of stairs, taking pictures as we went, finally paid off when we got a glimpse of where we were sitting. It made me feel a little dizzy. I got a little snap-happy before the show began so enjoy the pictures below!

The performance was amazing – not only was the story and dancing amazing, but I was just so impressed with the strength and flexibility of the dancers – they looked so elegant, and their costumes were beautiful. My first experience of a ballet performance was very good, apart from the fact that 10 minutes into the evening, I noticed the rest of our friends (who had paid half of the price we did for their tickets) sitting in the aisle next to ours. Thank you for ripping us off ‘helpful’ lady.

Professional Development

This week and next week in school the classes are working on a project. The project is a compulsory part of the curriculum for all grades, and is a key part of the pupils’ assessment. The project will be done in various ways, depending on the ability of the children. The smaller grades will do a whole class project – perhaps a drama or song; and the older grades will carry out the project in smaller groups or even individually. They will then present their project to the teacher after the second week. We are working with grade 7 this week, so the individual projects are carried out in groups of two or three. Firstly, the class teacher, Vibeke, allowed the pupils to get into groups, and then each group used a list of topics to come up with one they would like to do. Vibeke, explained that the class will need to choose one main topic, for example ‘The World’ or ‘History.’ Once the main heading is chosen (our class chose Revolt and Freedom), the pupils will then get to choose a topic within it. As the work is individual, the teacher has very little input into the class project. Vibeke can give advice, but she has to let the pupils be responsible for their own learning, this includes the pupils making their own group contract about how they will work together. One of the groups decided to choose Conflict in Northern Ireland for their topic so Greg and I spent Tuesday explaining a brief history of Northern Ireland as the boys did not know anything about the situation! We are very fortunate to be able to get involved in the project work as it is so new to us. We do not have anything similar in Northern Ireland, and I was really interested to see how it operates. The skills that the pupils are gaining through doing this project are huge, and I will definitely bring some of the concepts back for teaching in Northern Ireland as it would fit in well with the revised curriculum.

We have had many opportunities getting to know the pupils better this week. On Tuesday, we helped out with the class when it was their turn to prepare and deliver lunches to the whole school. Denmark has a company called EAT which operates in schools to promote healthy eating. The initiative is very modern, with pupils or parents/guardians having to order and pay for the meals online whilst the pupils get involved in preparing the lunches. There is one representative from the company, who helps heat up the meals and delegate tasks; and then the pupils sort out the orders, pack the food into takeaway containers, prepare sandwiches and deliver them to the classrooms. This was a great way of getting to know the class better and getting to talk to them in a more social background.

On Wednesday, we went with the class to the nearby park. In Spring of each year, the school will help the council in the area by litter picking. The pupils are surprisingly keen to get involved and think it is a good idea, because they get some money for doing it! This money, we are told, will go towards the school trip. The class was split into smaller groups, and I was helping one of the boys’ groups. Even though litter picking was ‘very fun,’ I really enjoyed getting to talk to the boys about school. They also had lots of questions about Northern Ireland, so it was a great way of introducing them to the education system I was brought up in. Chatting to the pupils has really benefitted my relationship with them all. I feel respected as a teacher in the school, and not just a visitor. Even though I have always been conscious to build up a good relationship with my pupils, it is sometimes hard when you are teaching a class due to other distractions. The practise I have gained from Denmark, however, should make this easier for me in the future.