Working, working and relax;-)/Prace, prace a zaslouzeny odpocinek;-)

Having spent such a busy weekend we have to start working on our final paper- we´ve chosen the topic "Testing and evaluation in Denmark in comparison with the Czech Republic"- we´re finished on Wednesday and we spend the rest of the week walking through the town, shopping and enjoying the last couple of days that we´re having here...On Friday there is the trip to a nearby island Arö with Jette..we´re using a local small ferry to get there..it looks like there are no people inhabiting this small area separated from the penninsula..there is peace and calm everywhere..and beautiful nature..our impressions are a bit spoilt after we try to get to the sea through marsh and the result? Mud in our shoes, on our trousers and despair in our eyes...but it was still a nice day..:-)
In the evening we are invited to Jette for a dinner..it´s a great time being there with this nice woman and her friendly husband.. and we start to realize that our three month stay here is coming to its end and we feel sorry for it..:-(
We end the day at "galla party" at school (a kind of ball of students of the 3rd year from the seminarium) dancing, drinking (happy hour- 2 drinks for 20DK!;-))and saying goodbye to Thora and others who we won´t see anymore here.. and of course we can´t leave out our "old good" Friday Café where is the afterparty till 4 am. That was a perfect day...

Po nabitem vikendu je cas na praci..mame tyden na pripravu nasich finalnich prezentaci a sepsani zaverecne seminarky- s holkama jsme si vybraly tema: "Testovani a hodnoceni v Dansku v porovnani s CR"..ve stredu praci dopiseme a zbytek tydne travime relaxem, bloumanim po meste, nakupovanim..V patek vyrazime na posledni vyletek se skolou/Jette na nedaleky ostrov Arö..plujeme i malym trajektem..ostruvek je malinkej, nevidime zivacka, jen vsude rybarsky lodky a roztomily domecky..Projdeme ostruvek krizem krazem, potkame zvlastni kravicky Highland cattle (takovy chlupaty obri..) a mame v planu i odjit k majaku..cesta k nemu se ponekud zdramatizuje potom, co odbocime ze silnice a mirime si to k pobrezi..koukame ze se to pod nama zacina nejak podezrele propadat a najednou mame boty plny vody a blata (ja navic totalne spinavy kalhoty)..k tomu zacne poprchavat, takze pro nadavky si nejdeme daleko..:-) ale majak nakonec vidime, ale nejspokojenejsi jsme, az kdyz se muzeme v klidu usadit a rozdelat si nas "package lunch"(obidek)..cestou domu se dozvidame, ze je dnes tzv. "Crazy Friday" v Haderslevu, obchody maji otevreno do 22h, po celem meste jsou ruzne akce, ochutnavky, propagace vseho moznyho, na namesti koncerty a v obchodech vyprodeje!;-) v rychlosti to obehneme, vecer jsme totiz pozvany na veceri k Jette..ma krasnej velkej dum, usmevavyho manzela, kterej se k nam taky pripoji... a clekove ten vecer moc hezky utika..clovek si zacina cim dal vic uvedomovat, ze uz se blizi konec..:-( Po vece jeste padime na gala party do skoly (jakejsi ples 3. rocniku, pripomina to ty americky stredoskolsky plesy, jak to clk zna z tech teenagerovskejch americkejch filmu..) ..tancujeme, popijime (nevyuzij toho, kdyz jsou v "happy hour" 2 drinky za 20DK, vid!:-)), ale taky se uz loucime s Thorou, kterou uz do konce pobytu neuvidime...to je smutny..:-(pak se presouvame jeste do naseho staryho dobryho Friday Café, ktery ma dnes vyjimecne otevreno do 4 do rana..je to skvelej vecer...

Busy weekend/Vikend na roztrhani

Friday is a public holiday in Denmark (the Great Prayer Day- 17.4.) and we´ve planned a dinner for our teacher Jette, our buddies and some other Danish friends to say to them how grateful we are to them for all they´ve done for us here...We Erasmus students meet in the afternoon to make everything ready and start cooking for the evening...
The menu consists of pasta salad, salmon with spinach, meat balls with rice, cheese, "drownies"(utopenci:-)), salad, deserts (chocolate mousse, fromage blanc-cream-fruit desert), crisps etc.

We had a very nice evening not only chatting but also playing "activities" in two teams;-) On Saturday we´re going to the centre to buy some more presents for our buddy Thora since it´s her birthday today..the overcrowded shopping street assures us again that Saturday is really the most important "shopping day" in Denmark, which also seems to be a kind of "social event" and occasion to meet other people...In the evening there is the celebration party in Thora´s flat where we meet some of Thora´s friends too. Sunday and our compensate my "eating sinns" from the last night. The beginning of the new week means start working on our final presentations that will take place the next week. We discuss our topics we´ve chosen for our final paper as well as the general course of our presentations..and we can´t wait till evening because we´re having a special plan- bowling and buffet!;-)a Our taste-buds come into their own (frikadella, salads, chicken, French fries, fish, ice cream,..)and after we finish our "gustation" I simply think I will die because my stomach has never been so full before...:-) The first minutes of bowling are quite hard considering our present "overfull state" but we still enjoy this time..;-)

Tak nam skoncila praxe a jsou pred nami tri sladky dny volna, protoze v patek je tu svatek (Velky modlitebni den-17.4.)..vecer nas ceka spolecna vecere, kdy varime pro nasi koordinatorku, buddies a par dalsich danskych studentu, se kteryma jsme se tu seznamili..vsechny tyhle lidi jsme pozvali, abysme jim vyjadrili jakysi "dik" za vsechno, co pro nas udelali, takze je to v podstate i jakasi rozlucka s nima..sejdeme se odpol, abysme vcas stihli navarit- na menu jsou zeleninove a testovinove salaty, masove kulicky s ryzi, losos se spenatem, nase ceske syrecky a utopenci od Kati, jako dezerty coko mousse, jogurt.-smetan. dortik s jahodama, kuskus s ovocem a dalsi dobroty..po poradnem nadlabnuti se si zahrajeme "Aktivity"- je to sranda.., ostatnim dame taky ochutnat nasi Becherovku a slivovici od Kati, nestaci se krenit (takovou silu asi neznaji:-)).. a celkove je to prima vecer..V sobotu dopol jdeme s holcinama dokoupit posledni darky pro Thoru, ma narozeniny..ulice jsou precpany, si pripadam jak na Vaclavaku..to nam jen dokazuje, ze soboty patri v Dansku k hlavnim nakupnim dnum..zda se, ze do ulic vyrazi i cele rodiny, jakoby tenhle volnej den byl pro ne jakousi spolecenskou udalosti, kdy maji prilezitost potkat se se znamyma, prateli atd. (v tydnu clovek nema sanci potkat v obchodech tolik lidi..)vecer jsme pozvany na oslavu Thorinych narozenin (23:-)) k ni do bytu..sejdou se tam i nekteri jeji kamaradi, tak se tak ruzne povida, rozebiraji se videoklipy v TV a samozrejme se papka..:-) V nedeli uz bezim do posilky, abych odcinila sve hrichy z vecera..Zacatek pracovniho tejdne je pro nas doslova zacatkem prace, kdy se mame pripravovat na nase zaverecne prezentace, ktere probehnou pristi tejden..s Jette rozebereme nase temata, ktera jsme si vybrali pro nasi seminarku a celkove zjistujeme, jak ten celej "teatr" bude vubec vypadat..a pak uz hura do prace! Jeste ze se mame vecer na co tesit, mit pred sebou jen povinnosti, to je hrozna predstava.. a coze nas to na konec dne ceka? BOWLING S BUFETEM! hodujeme celejch 90 minut a ze toho casu poradne vyuzijeme..na konci mam pocit, ze umru z prezrani (takhle nafoukly "bruch" jsem snad jeste v zivote nemela:-)), ale musime vydrzet, protoze ted nas ceka samotnej bowling! prvni minuty jsou docela krusny vzhledem k nasemu stavu, ale pak uz to jakztakz rozdejchame a cely dve hodky hrani si uzijem..

Teaching Practice 3rd Week/3. tyden praxe

The last week of our teaching practice..During the Danish lessons in the 3rd class the children are reading aloud their "log bog" /kind of a diary/ that they are supposed to keep..It practises not only their ability to write a longer text but also reading it aloud develops their "performance skills"..(some of the children seem to be quite shy doing this activity but more practice like that will remove this later on..;-)) In Music lesson Ann- Mari tries to work with children on the development of their sense of rhythm through songs, playing flutes, dancing and some activities that involve music and motion at the same time.. On Wednesday we´re having a farewell party with the small 3rd graders in their classroom..and what does such a morning party mean?;-)Children bake small scones (Ann-Mari has prepared the dough before), we play some games with the chidlren ("A stoke has lost its cap. Which colour does it have?"; "Fox"; "Mime an animal"; song: "Old McDonald has a farm..") and when the scones are ready we help Ann-Mari to serve them to the chidlren (either with butter or with chocolate pieces, or both..:-))..We also taste them..(it´s delicious, still a bit warm..:-))we bring the small ones some candies and chocolate and thank Ann-Mari for her perfect lessons! She´s really an amazing teacher (we noticed that already during the very first lesson, remember..- look into the "old posting" in the weblog:-)) and she says goodbye to us with words : "Remember that you´ve chosen the best job in the world" (meaning of course the job as a teacher..:-))
And what about English lessons? In the 3rd class pupils keep "working" on description of a house, in the 4th grade children listen to a song "Going to a zoo" and start a new unit in their textbooks- "Invitations to a party" (Else asks us to read the dialogues for the class..Do you remember, girls, who was Heavy Duty, Brains, Rita etc.?!;-))..in the next lesson they read these dialogues on their own and I must say they´re really good at it (I´m really nicely suprised), then they colour pictures in their Activity books according to what Else dictates/says..An finally the 7th graders and the first lessons of our own teaching here in Denmark! The first lesson is on Monday and Jette comes too to see us..We´re a bit nervous not knowing what to expect, what kind of children the pupils are, will they cooperate etc.? We start the lesson with a short crosswords (revision of irregular verbs)- solution: London (topic we´re going to talk about with them in the following 3 lessons)..brainstorming/thought shower about London follows (children name mostly some of the sights, but they also know who a "bobby" is, or they put "baked beans" on the blackboard too..:-))We show them our Powerpoint presentation we´ve prepared for them (introducing some of the most visited sights in London, sth about London transport, symbols and famous Londoners.. Children seem to be a bit shy, they don´t react so much to our questions, but it´s ok, we´re quite strangers for them and they´re still curious about us...We´re giving them the homework for Thursday to prepare a project about London in groups..On Wednesday we´ve got small problems with technique (internet connection) but finally we manage and the rest of the lesson runs smoothly (warm up activity- scrambled letters- revision of the sights; Mr Bean movie; Powerpoint presentation- Royal Family- what a coincidence: the Danish Queen celebrates that day the 16th April her birthday!:-)) and on Thursday it´s up to children to present their work (many of them didn´t do their HW so they´re given some time at the beginning of the lesson to finish it- they complain that 15 minutes it´s not enough..-but there is probably some reason why we called this task as a homework, isn´t it?;-))..We listen to their presentations (some of them have chosen the topic "Harrods", the others "Madame Tussaud´s ")..pupils aren´t so active as we expected, they laugh most of the time while standing in front of their classmates and make them speak a bit more is being quite a hard job..:-)We say to them goodbye with a package of biscuits and talk about our teaching experience with Else (we also come to "topics" such as "class register"- they aren´t used in this school!; each class has its own rules that are set through an agreement between a teacher and pupils; and what is specail about this school is a "telephone room"= a room where you can use a phone indeed but this room also serves as a place where children having misbehaved during the lesson are sent to take a "thinking break"...:-)) During the break we´re offered some rolls that are served because of a coming bank/public holiday in Demark (18th April- "the Great praying day"- nobody is supposed to work that day, origins in a "bakers´ story"). The 3 weeks at Kristne Friskole were really nice and I can´t miss here the mention about the kindness and friendliness of teachers in that school who were incredibly nice to us all the time..THANK ALL OF YOU!

Treti a posledni tejden nasi praxe...tak zacnu u nasich roztomilejch tretacku...v hodinach danstiny se ted zabyvaji svym "log bogem" (neco jako jejich denicek), ktery si maji psat- predcitaji ho nahlas ostatnim...docela fajn aktivita, myslim, uci se tak nejen psat delsi souvislej text, ale tim, ze ho musi i precist pred ostatnimi, si trenujou i vystupovani "na verejnosti"...(nekteri jsou docela stydlivi, ale to se casem "obrousi"....-))v hodinach hudebky na zacatek zase zpivaji, trenuji "muzikalovou pisen" na jedno vystoupeni, cvici rytmus na pistalach, a tancujou...Ve stredu s nima a Ann-Mari mame naplanovanou rozluckovou "party".. a co takova dopoledni party obnasi?;-) Deti pecou mini housky, pak s nima hrajeme hry ("cap ztratil cepicku", "pantomima se zviratky", "liska", zpivame "Old McDonald..") a kdyz je upeceno, pomahame Ann-Mari mazat detem housticky maslem a cokoladou..my taky ochutname..prineseme detem nejaky sladkosti a s Ann-Mari se rozloucime..je to skvela ucitelka, coz uz jsme poznaly hned prvni hodinu (mrknete na starsi postu do meho weblogu;-))..rozlouci se s nami se slovy: "nezapomente, ze jste si vybraly nejlepsi praci na svete" (tim samozrejme mysli praci ucitele:-))
A co hodiny anglictiny? V 3.tride pokracuji v tematu "muj dum", ve 4. tride zacinaji lekci s nazvem "pozvani na vecirek"...Else nas "vyuzije" k precteni dialogu z knizky (zajimave postavicky- "Tezka povinnost", "Mozek",..:-)). Pristi hodinu ctou samy a jak jim to jde, nestacim zirat! Pak vybarvuji ve svych pracovnich sesitech podle diktatu, co Else rika...no a 7. trida! Tenhle tyden to znamena nase prvni uceni tady v Dansku! Prvni hodku mame pripraveno na rozjezd krizovku (opakovani nepravidelnejch sloves, tajenka:Londyn), pak "brainstorming"(co deti napadne, kdyz se rekne "Londyn") a nase prezentace (nejnavstevovanejsi pamatky, neco o doprave, symbolech, znamych Londynanech..), na konci jim zadame ukol- pripravit vlastni prezentaci o Londyne nebo o vybrane atrakci..druhou hodinu na zacatku rozcvicka- prehazena pismena- opakovani pamatek z minule hodiny..pak kratkej sketch z Mr.Beana (jak se setkava s kralovnou)- navazali jsme na to prezentaci o britske kralovske rodine..no a posledni hodku uz byla pozornost soustredena na deti a jejich prezentace..i kdyz to mely za dcv., dali jsme jim na zacatku hodky nejakej cas na dodelani, i tak drzokovali, ze nestihaji, no ale nejak to zvladly..upovidany zrovna pri prezentacich nebyly, takze to byla docela fuska je donutit rict nejaky souvislejsi vety, ale i tak si myslim, ze docela dobry...otrkavaji se vystupovat pred tridou a v 7. tride se snazit povidat o Londyne je myslim docela uspech..Ten den se zrovna dozvidame, ze slavi narozeniny danska kralovna (16.4.), proto vyvesene vsude vlajky.. a dalsi svatek, tentokrat pracovni volno, je hned nasledujici den, slavi tu tzv. Velky Modlitebni den, takze u te prilezitosti na nas ve sborovne zase ceka mensi obcerstveni:-)
Tak to byly nase 3 tydny praxe na danske skole...ze to ale uteklo...bylo to fajn, clk se dozvedel nejaky zajimavy info a poznal strasne moc mili lidi..z ty jejicj vstricnosti a pratelskosti jsem byla fakt odvazana (byly jsme s holkama vysokovany, kdyz jsme posledni den odchazely ze skoly, tak se na nas vrhly dve ucitelky, s jednou z nichz jsme za cely ty tri tydny neprohodily ani slovo!, a zacly nas objimat a loucit se s nama..dojemny.:-)

Active Weekend with Thora/Aktivni tejden s Thorou

Friday night is spent in front of the laptop screen when we´re watching a typical romantic movie Sense and Sensibility (lovely Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet..)..On Saturday I´m going for a short walk through the town to come back to flat on time to pack my stuff because in the afternoon me, Sylva nad Thora are going by bus to Vojens to a local swimming pool!;-) We use a punching card (min. deposit must be 100DK and one buys different number of "punches" for a journey depending on the distance, i.e. to Vojens we pay 20DK for a single trip=2"punches")..the admission in the swimming pool is 30DK and we can stay there how long we want..we can use not only swimming pool (surprisingly quite warm water..), but also a switchback ("tobogan"), a whirlpool bath, a sauna..It´s really wonderful having this relaxing time and the two hours run so quickly...In the evening we meet at Thora´s place for "the movie night" (Moulin Rouge, Save The Last Dance) and after midnight we´re falling to beds pleasantly tired with the image of the new day that we´ll spend on travels..It´s Sunday and we meet Thora again, this time the plan is to visit Vikings´graveyard, waterworks and the mill in the village called Törning Mill. Lasse is accompanying us on our trip with his small cute car...:-) In the afternoon I follow my "exercise plan" and set off to the gym...in the evening we discuss coming Friday dinner and our teaching practice on Monday..

Patek vecer stravime pred obrazovkou pri sledovani klasicky romantiky: Rozum a cit (od Jane Austen)- neco pro nas holky (Manu prisel pozdeji, i tak se tech zbylejch par minut nudil:-))..pak na chvili dolu do hospy Ras..v sobotu dopolko si udelam mensi prochazku do mesta, musim se vcas vratit, odpolko totiz mame domluvenej vyletek s Thorou do nedalekyho bazenu ve Vojensu. Tentokrat frcime busem (doprava je tu draha, tak aspon vyuzivame "punching card"- nabijeci karta, s min. vkladem 100DK, na kazdou cestu se pak "spotrebuje" ruzny pocet jakychsi bodu-kazdy v hodnote 10DK- zalezi na vzdalenosti dotycneho mista; my do Vojensu platime kazda za jednu cestu 20DK/asi 8km; je fajn ze ta karta je prenosna- muze ji vyuzivat vic lidi najednou..)V bazenu zaplatime jednorazove vstupne 30DK a muzeme tam byt, jak dlouho chceme...takovej mensi bazen (docela tepla voda), virivka( az moc tepla:-)), tobogan, sauna a mensi bazenky pro deti...je to uzasnej relax zase se jednou po dlouhy dobe natahnout ve vode (uz se tesim do hradeckyho plavecaku;-))..dve hodky utecou jak nic a frcime dom...vecer jsme domluveny, ze se sejdeme u Thory na nejaky film, nakonec vybereme Moulin Rouge (Nicole Kidmann) a Save The Last Dance (amricka romantika s tancem)..po pulnoci padame do posteli s vidinou dalsiho nabityho dne..je nedele a zase se schazime s Thorou, tentokrat uz brzo rano- v planu je vyletek po okoli- hroby Vikingu, "vodni dila", prochazka v Tönder Mill..prijemne to utece, vracime se kolem 13h, rychle do sebe hodim obed a padim do posilovny...vecer s ostatnima diskutujeme patecni veceri (kterou budeme varit my Erasmaci pro nase buddies a ucitele) a s holcinama pak jeste nasi pondelni pripravu na praxi (London Powerpoint)..

Teaching Practice 2nd Week/Praxe- druhy tyden

The second week of our stay at Kristne Friskole is more or less very similar to the first one, we observe the same lessons, meet the same people, but we can´t say it wouldn´t be interesting...there´s still a lot to find out about the Danish school system etc. What I´ve still got in my mind is the English lesson in the 7th grade that was on Monday..We know from Else that Monday is a "presentation" day for this classroom so everytime there are some pupils ready to give a speech about some topic they´ve chosen (pets, hobbies etc.) and they present it in Powerpoint..this time we´re listening to an interesting topic: "Children in Tanzania" presented by two girls, one of whom lived for 6 years in that part of Africa. The presentation is based on plain facts that are more than startling and impressive in a negative way..The girls did a good job looking up different numbers/statistics that compared the life in Denmark with the one in Tanzania (e.g. in DK there are 360 cars for 1000people x in Tanzania there is only 1 car for 1000people!; interesting slide about what you can buy in Tanzania for: e.g. 1DK= 10oranges)..I found this info very useful and practical and hopefuly it made the girls´ classmates think about it a bit also afterwards, even if they were quite shy reacting to Else´s questions that asked them about their opinions about the presented topic. We also get to know some more info about the way Danish pupils are evaluated here...from the 1st up to the 7th grade children get their evaluation in the form of letters, each indicating the frequency of separate skills (A= almost all the time, B= most of the time, C= sometimes, D= hardly ever)-e.g. in English it means that a pupil is given a sheet of paper with following writing: In English I´m good at:
B....understanding
B....reading
B....speaking
From the 8th grade pupils get marks (1-12; 0-5= failed, 6-12= passed).
This is quite different from our country, where pupils get their marks much earlier (the scale is only from 1-5). The parents´ meetings take place only once a year, however there might be also some individual meetings with concrete parents whose children have various difficulties at school..
The 3rd graders are cute as everytime we meet them during their English, Music or Danish lessons..In English they revise vocabulary (house, family members)- through their models of houses, teacher´s puppets, chants and motion (jumping over the skipping rope when saying a rhyme)..In Music they learn the rhythm when playing musical instruments (rather than playing is better to say trying to figure out what´s the right time to clap with their sticks on their instruments:-)) and finally Danish..I really enjoy the idea of going with these small ones to the school library every Friday and then let them read their books in the classrooms..teachers here seem to pay a considerable amount of attention to "practical skills" (e.g.reading) rather than to forcing pupils to memorize some useless facts they can find quite easily on internet..I suppose, we could bring some of this to our Czech school system too.

Druhej tejden praxe neprinesl dvakrat nic novyho, chodime poctive na vsechny hodiny, ktery mame v rozvrhu naplanovany k naslechum a cekame, jestli nas v nasledujicich dnech snad neco prekvapi...:-) Co mi tak utkvelo v pameti z tohoto tejdne byla hodina anglictiny v 7. tride.. bylo pondeli, coz, jak nam rekne Else, je den urceny pro prezentace..deti si vyberou nejake tema, o kterem si maji pripravit Powerpoint prezentaci na 5 minut..dneska je tematem "Deti v Tanzanii" (jedna z holcin, ktere si tohle tema vybraly, zila s rodici 6 let v Tanzanii)..je to docela zajimavy a hlavne zarazejici, protoze holciny si daly tu praci a vyhledaly ruzny statistiky, ktery porovnavaji zivot v Dansku s tim v Tanzanii, takze treba si na "slidu" muzeme precist, ze v Dansku vychazi na 1000lidi 360 aut, zatimco v Tanzanii je to jen jedno jediny auto na tolik lidi...nebo porovnavani cen, co si clovek muze koupit v Tanzanii treba za 1DK (10 pomerancu)..myslim, ze tohle bylo celkove uzitecny tema, takovy ze zivota (ne klasika na jakou jsme zvykli u tehle deti, treba popisovani domaciho zviratka, ze:-)) a zdalo se, ze to na spoluzaky mozna i trochu zapusobilo, pozorne poslouchali, i kdyz na konci, kdyz tu prezentaci meli hodnotit, tak byli zdrzenlivi a k reakcim se moc nemeli...(ze by mi to pripominalo hodiny z nasi domoviny?!;-))..Jinak se dostaneme i do reci s Else, tak se dozvime par faktu o danskem skolstvi, hlavne teda jak tady hodnoti vykony...od 1. do 6. tridy pisou kazdymu zakovi "znamky" z jednotlivych predmetu, "znamky" jsou v podobe pismen (A= temer vzdy, B= vetsinou, C= nekdy, D= malokdy)..na praktickym prikladu tzn.ze na papire je napsano: V anglictine jsme dobry v :
B.....porozumeni
B.....cteni
B.....mluveni
Od 7. tridy dostavaji znamky, v rozmezi 0-12 s tim, ze aby prosli, musi mit 6 a vys..
Jinak rodicaky se tu konaji jednou rocne, ale zase tu maji docela rozjetou tradici individualnich setkani s rodici, kdyz maji jejich deti nejaky zvlastni problemy s necim...
No a co nasi roztomili tretacci?:-) V anglictine opakuji slovicka o dome- pouzivaji svoje modely domu, co si celej tejden vytvareli, uci se cleny rodiny (i kdyz uz je davno znaji)- Else se snazi ozvlastnit to nejakymi rymy, dokonce i pohybem- vyzene je ven a tam skacou pres svihadlo a rikaji pri tom rikanku o rodine..Else ma narozdil od Ann-Mari trochu problemy s udrzenim kazne ve tride, asi to bude tim jejim neprilis raznym pristupem a deti se pak nudi a svadi je to k vyrusovani...jinak v hudebce se tentokrat uci naposlouchat rytmus (zasednou ke xylofonum, nejsem si vubec jista, jestli se ten nastroj tak jemnuje:-).. a snazi se do nej klepnout v pravou dobu, podle not..)..nakonec danstina...jako vzdy vetsinu casu nemame paru o cem je rec, ale co se mi fakt libi je, jak chodi kazdej patek do skolni knihovny a pak si muzou ve zbytku hodiny v klidu sami cist..(u nas by jim to bylo dany asi za dcv., mozna se uz ale casy zmenily, nevim..)..proste se mi zda, ze tady kladou vetsi duraz na tyhle praktictejsi veci (viz. cteni, prace s pocitacema atd.), nez na nejaky vysvetlovani gramatickejch slozitosti nebo vubec na odrikavani faktu, ktery si muzou kdekoli najit...
Jo a mimochodem, uz jsme se zminovala o te hezke tradici, co na tehle skole maji?;-) Pokazde, kdyz slavi nektery z ucitelu narozeniny, nebo naopak odchazi a ostatni se s nim louci, je o velke prestavce pripraveno pro vsechny obcerstveni- housky, syry, ovoce... a tenhle tejden byly hned dve takove prilezitosti!;-)

Ugly party, lighthouse/"oskliva party", majak

The time is running..the first week of our teaching practice is over and we can enjoy the two free days...and the plans are already settled..On Friday night we´re heading to the Friday Cafe..tonight there is supposed to be an "Ugly party" so we´re all curious what it all will be about...we get to know shortly after we enter the cafe..everyone is dressed up in funny dresses to make himself/herself the most ugliest person in the club..and the following competitions are also somehow connected with the word "ugly"..(eating a cake and drinking a glass of beer in the most ugliest way:-), we cheer Manu but unfortunately another guy wins this contest..)We all enjoy the evening a lot, we might already realize that it is one of the last parties we´re visiting here:-( the night is still young so around 1a.m. we decide to go Ras where the group Edge is singing and we end up chatting in Huset..perfect night..
Saturday- another busy day because today I´m going with Kate nad her two friends Honza nad Lukas for a trip to Odense and afterwards to a lighthouse on the seacoast..The 12-km long walk along the seashore is something unforgettable and I can´t tire of the beautiful nature around us in the sunset..the day was long but it was one of the most interesting days I´ve spent here..
Sunday and relax in the gym (I overcome myself and ride a bike for an hour even if I can still feel the yesterday 12-km walk in my legs:-))..and in the early-evening work on our PowerPoint presentation about London (for our teaching next week)...

Cas tady posledni dobou primo padi, uz mame za sebou prvni tejden praxe a pred sebou dva dny nicnedelani..Na patecni vecer uz ale mame plan..ve Friday Cafe se kona "Oskliva party", tak se rozhodneme "ocekovat", o cem to cele bude...dozvime se to vzapeti, jen co vejdeme dovnitr..vsichni prevleceni do silenejch hadru s jedinym cilem: byt dnes vecer co nejosklivejsi a vyhrat tim padem nejakou cenu! Mimo to se celej vecer tak nejak nese v duchu slova "osklivy"(treba soutez sporadat kus dortu z tacku a zapijet to pivem a to cely "provadet" co nejodpornejsim zpusobem:-))Je to bezva vecer, dorazi i Katcini kamaradi z Cech Honza a Lukas, popijime, kecame, a cvicime nase tela u "limba"(podlezani pod tyci)..kolem 1 se ve Friday zavira, ale nam se jeste nechce razit domu, takze dalsi zastavkou je Ras, kde hraje skupina Edge. potom se presouvame do Huset (skoro samej chlap, jeste ze tam mam "svy bodyguardy"- Jesper, Tim. ...:-))..jj, super noc, skoda ze jedna z poslednich...
V sobotu jsem s Katou a klukama domluvena na spolecnej vejletek do Odense (sice uz jsme tam o Velikonocich byli, ale tak treba tam tentokrat objevime neco novyho..;-))..dopol si jeste projdeme Haderslev a necekane se nabastime, pres celou nakupni ulici se totiz tahne dlooooouhatanskej stul s obcerstevnim (housticky s maslem a konvice s kafem)- promo akce mistni pekarny...takze samozrejme neodolame a napakujeme se timhle krasne krupavym pecivem..mnam..:-)V Odense nechame kluky samotny si projit mesto, my s Katou vyuzijeme tenhle cas k prozkoumani tamnich hadrovejch kramu, pak spolecne zajdeme do "Baresso Cafe"- retezec kavaren po Dansku a vyletek zakoncime nadhernou prochazkou k majaku, kam teda musime nejdriv dotapkat po svejch a ze to neni jen tak nejaka sranda- 6km tam a 6km zpet, ale stoji to za to...ta priroda vsude kolem je krasna, k tomu zapad slunce, ticho, more, no proste balzam pro dusi..fakt skvelej zazitek..
Nedele je ve znameni relativniho odpocinku (kdyz budu povazovat hodinovou jizdu na rotopedu v posilce za relax:-)) a prace na powerpoint prezentaci o Londyne, kterou pouzijeme pristi tejden pri nasem uceni...

Teaching Practice 1st week/Praxe 1.tyden

Me, Sylvie and Charlotte are going to spend the following three weeks together- in the Kristne Friskole, just opposite our college( We already know this school from our last visit a few weeks ago)- the reason?- our teaching practice. We start on Monday at 10a.m. when we meet a very nice English teacher Else Wiwe, who´s going to "lead" us through the coming weeks in this school. We´re following her to the class of 3rd graders (that´s the first year for pupils when they learn English in Danish schools)..The classroom is comfortably furnished, children´s desks are set in "U" layout, pictures on the walls, cushions to sit on..There are only 12 children in the classroom...At the beginning they sing a song "Red bear, what do you see?"( saying different colours and animals), then the teacher plays with a small puppet Sophie and asks the children their names and we are also involved! Today the pupils should practice the vocabulary about a house (roof, chimney, window, door) through pictures (on the blackboard there´s a picture with a number of various houses of different size and with different numbers of windows etc.- the teacher is describing one of them and children are guessing which is the right one)..afterwards their task is to create their own house- they are given sheet of cardboard paper and are supposed to colour it, draw parts of the house on it, then to fold it, cut, stick and finally build a house...each of us is helping the small ones..I like the way Else is explaining to them what they should do..she tries to speak in English when giving the instructions and that´s nothing easy at all to be able to choose the really basic and simple words so that the English beginners could understand..she uses also drawings on the blackboard and the children seem to catch the point..perfect..It´s so enjoyable to observe these small kids so "dived in their work"..I can´t see any bigger difference from the Czech schools in that moment until one of the children is addressing the teacher with her first name.. That´s something we´re not used to in our schools, because teachers are always addressed as "Mr/Mrs. teacher"...and I find this "Danish way" better (I think it helps to create more relaxed atmosphere in the classroom and to develop friendly relationship with the teacher)..
English lesson in the 7th grade is next. We´re told by Else that today she begins with the pupils the "reading project" (also in the 4th grade) that will last two weeks..she´s brought some books into the class (e.g. Robinson Crusoe, Mr. Jealous, Smile Please etc.) and pupils are suppoosed to choose one book, read it and in the end write a book report about it..afterwards they are allowed to pick up another book and go on reading with the same "outcome"..Else is speaking all the time in English, that´s fine, and when children don´t understand she tries to say it a bit differently in English and the final possibility is of course Danish..The chidren are left to read silently on their chairs and I´m quite positively surprised that they respect their task and don´t disturb at all and really follow Else´s instructions..In the end of the lesson the teacher suggest pupils to read their books for a half an hour every day and asks them if it´s OK with them.. (the child´s agreement is important too as we can see)..
Next days we also participate in the Danish and Music lessons in the 3rd grade led by a very friendly and energetic teacher Ann-Mari Nielsen..Even if we don´t understand Danish we´re enjoying it..actually especially in the Music lesson one doesn´t necessarily need to speak the native language to be able to take part in it, does he?!;-) I appreciate the large music room with a lot of space...and we have the chance to use it (after singing some Danish joyful songs) because we´re gonna dance together with children! They don´t seem to be distracted with our presence at all, on the contrary they take it quite naturally and are very helpful to us bringing the chairs for us etc..:-) By the way I find these children quite self-dependent being precisely aware what their tasks are/what is needed without having been told by the teacher..And I really love Ann-Mari´s attitude towards the small ones...It´s quite obvious this woman simply enjoys her job! E.g. As we can see later on she has no problems skipping over the skipping rope along with children during the breaks and she acts with "her children" as a friend and educator in one person the whole time...That´s very important especially when teaching such small ones..The Danish lessons with her..there we´ve got the opportunity to see how familiar these small children already are with computers! We can´t believe our eyes to see the 9-year-olds carrying laptops into their classrooms and quite confidentally working on them! Amazing! Well, we live in the world of technology, never mind if we want it or not...The school has about 20 laptops and the teacher always has to book them beforehand to be able to use them with her/his pupils...What the small ones actually do with those PCs? Try to write about their hobby and that´s seems to be a difficult task for them but they try really hard..;-)
In the breaks we meet other teachers in the teachers´ room to have a chat and eat our snacks there..I wonder that the teachers don´t have their own rooms where they could keep their stuff for their lessons and do thier preparations...As we get to know from Else not having these own rooms is one of the things teachers miss here..Well, another difference from my country where teachers have this "luxury" to occupy their own "space" (besides the common teachers´ room)...
The rest of the week we observe and partly participate in other lessons, esp. English in the 3rd grade (they´ve got 2 lessons a week)- Else keeps speaking only English during these lessons...in the 4th (2 lessons a week) and the 7th grade ( 3 lessons a week)we just observe because children work on their reading project..I find it quite smart to read the books in the lessons, fine that the teacher really finds the time for this project and lets the children work on it...(I suppose in my country the teacher would rather follow his/her lesson plan teaching pupils grammar or working with the textbook than "wasting time" reading books when pupils can do that at home..I might be wrong but these are my memories of my English teachers from the time I attended the basic school, the time might have already changed in this way...)..I would be really happy to be in the position of these children to be able to say already in the age of 10 that I´ve already been able to read an English book..that´s fantastic..and how helpful for the children to perceive the foreign language through reading...
Forcing the children to read books is apparently a big deal in these days and teachers try to find the right ways to make the books attractive for children...We witness this also in the Danish lessons...every Friday Ann-Mari goes with her 3rd grades to the school library where they pick up books to read during the weekends..Denmark is participating in the "reading programme" IBIS that is said to run all over the world as support of development of children´s reading skills..
We´ll see what other interesting news the following week will bring!

Od pondelka nam zacala praxe na mistnich zakladnich skolach. Cekaji nas celkem 3 tydny naslechu a taky naseho vlastniho uceni! Jsem spolu se Sylvou a Charlotte na zdejsi soukromy krestansky skole, hned naproti nasemu seminariu..my s Charlotte uz skolu trochu zname z drivejska (byly jsme tu asi pred mesicem a pul jen to tak jit omrknout, viz. muj weblog)..na rozvrhu, kterej dostaneme predem, mame napsany hodiny anglictiny ve 3., 4. a 7. tride a taky hodiny danstiny a hudby ve 3. tride..celkem 14 hodin, z toho 7 hodin anglictiny...seznamime se s Else Wive- ucitelka AJ, moc mila zenska, kolem padesatky..hned s ni jdeme do 4. trid, ale hned nam oznami, ze nasledujici dva tydny pro nas budou asi nudny, protoze prave s detma ve 4. a 7. tridach rozjizdi "cteci projekt", kdy deti budou v hodinach jen cist anglicke knizky, ktere si v hodine vyberou a pak na ne musi napsat "recenzi"- jak se jim kniha libila atd..to se mi libi, ze deti maji na cteni cas primo ve vyucovani a ucitel je tak donuti cist, protoze, ruku na srdce, tezko by se tak donutily cist doma..takze taktika dobra..u nas na skolach si ale myslim ze by neprosla..jen tak nechat decka cely hodiny cist a nic jim nevykladat (to by nektere nase ucitelky AJ zamereny hlavne na gramatiku asi tezko prezily..:-)ale tahle "zdanliva ztrata casu" si myslim na konci vyplati...prece jen neni nad to dostavat do sebe cizi jazyk skrz cteni, coz se dost casto podcenuje...neni to super moct rict uz v 10 letech, ze jsme precetla anglickou knizku...:-)..trochu vic se zamestname ve 3. tridach, kde deti umi rict jen par anglickejch slovicek..ted je aktualni tema "dum", vytvari si vlastni domecek, vystrihuji, lepi, kresli a my jim asistujeme...je to sranda, jak se nam snazi neco rict, ale my na ne bezmocne koukame, pze jaksi nase danstina neni zas tak dobra, ze...:-)ale jo, rukama nohama se to nejak zvladne..Else na ne celou dobu mluvi anglicky, pouziva zakladni slova, kresli na tabuli, deti to berou...
Jinak hodiny danstiny jsou pro nas trochu k nicemu, nerozumime skoro nic, vzdycky tak nejak hadame, o cem tak muze byt rec, ale energicka Ann-Mari nam obcas neco prelozi, takze jsme zas na chvili v obraze...tahle pani kolem sedesatky je naprosto neuveritelna, vitalni jak dvacitka, ale s tim svym zapalenim by kdejakou takovou mladici predbehla...je na ni videt, ze zije pro svou praci, pusobi na me jak hodna babicka, ktera vzdycky pomuze a deti se s ni musi citi naprosto uzasne...fakt k nim ma moc hezkej vztah, jak kdyby byly jeji vlastni...porad usmevava... a vubec na tyhle skole jsou ti ucitele takovi prijemni, mozna to bude tou pokorou k bohu, kterou kazdodenne vyjadruji pri rannich "bohusluzbach", kdy se sejde cela skola a zpivaji se pisne z Bible...ale jako jinak zadny naznaky nejakyho sektarstvi ci dogmaticnosti, je to jinak uplne normalni soukroma skola...
Zpatky k danstine..jsou to hodky ve 3. tride...bavi se o svych konickach, a jednu hodku nas dostanou...na chvili nekam zmizi a pak je vidime, jak si nesou v podpazi kazdej jeden malej notebook! sebejiste s nim zasednou do svych lavic a uz jedou...neverime vlastnim ocim! suverenne si ho spusti a zacnou cvakat ve Wordu..9-lety spunti!Ann-Mari nam rekne, ze na skole maji asi 20 takovejch prenosnejch pc a kdyz je chce nejaky ucitel pouzit v hodine, musi si je predem zamluvit...vedel toho maji jeste celou pocitacovou ucebnu...chapu, ze zijeme ve svete technologii, ale uz ve 3 tride pracovat s notebookem me fakt dostalo..:-)Vubec ty deti tady se mi zdaji takovi pohodovejsi, samostatnejsi, praktictejsi, nestydlivi...ale to asi taky zalezi na konkretnich detech...kazdopadne zatim dojmy jen pozitivni...uvidime co prinese dalsi tyden!;-)
jo jeste jedna zvlastnost, takova mala poznamka...o prestavkach se tu ucitele schazi v jedny mistnosti- sborovne, nemaji zadne sve vlastni kabinety..to mi prijde zvlastni a neprakticky..Else rikala, ze jim to opravdu chybi, aby si meli kam dat materialy na hodiny a taky kde by mohli delat pripravy atd. no ale zase kdyz se takhle po kazdy hodine schazi, utuzuje se tim pracovni kolektiv, ne..vsechno ma svy vyhody..;-)