Dear Kayla, I am astonished, for 25.000 /year a child can get an education in this school. I've observed a class with 20 pupils of 13-14, second language English. I'd love to be a pupil here; an international setting, a personal note book for daily use, motivated teachers, daily physical education and differentiation till you drop! Incredible! 70 different countries are present in this school, special programmes are developed for special needs, and teachers are selected from all over the world. My teacher was a Californian lady, married to a Belgian. She has taught in Norway and France, and was surprised by our visit. She clearly didn't know we were going to observe her class. The pupils were reviewing a website they had made, and oh boy, my blog is boring! An Icelandic boy of 13 has also made a blog, with talking icons... They had a test, and believe me or not, but the pupils were facing each other and none cheated by peeping! The ones that were ready, handed in their paper, and started to read a book, make a drawing or wrote vocabulary words on lists at the wall. 2 went to the library to get a book, and 1 went out and came back without books (toilet visit?). Everything was wall-to-wall carpeted, so not good for dust allergies, but no hard noises of chairs scraping over the floor. Walls of the class room were decorated with artefacts created by the pupils. The class room was the teacher's, the pupils come and go. And no national curriculum to meet, but one made by the school. The school also acts as a comunity compound, where parents and children have barbecues, work outs, gatherings... children don't have to go outside the schoolyard, and that could be looked upon as negative: they could be in Brussels for 3 year, and not experience that. But I am impressed. It's a pity it costs me 3 hours in every direction by public transport, for only 70 km... because I'd really like to be part of this. Pictures follow, as soon as this tecno turkey remembers how to downsize her pictures, because they're too heavy.
Hi Kayla, due to a misunderstanding, some of us, me included, were late in class today. But no worries, we got all the information in a nutshell. There're some tasks ahead, that we will be credited for, and as usual, international groups, please. Interesting topics, pedagogical similarities and differences, and how to start an Erasmus project yourself. To get in the mood, we present our national education systems, and the Irish girls will do it by tomorrow. Way to go, girls!
Dearest Kayla, our group has presented the hippies. As was expected, we used more time than was allowed. But how to present an interesting topic that you've worked on with several nationalities in an interactive way, within 10 to 15 minutes? We had questions for the group, information and a sing-along song. And we had FUN. The other presentations used more time as well, so we were all satisfied. Lovely outfits, well thought information and I forgot to bring my camera. I'll try to get pictures from the other students, and blog them later.
