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Placement report - Coggle Diagram
Placement report
Description of organisations
Freiherr vom Stein Gymnasium Kleve - British Council
This is a grammar school in the centre of Kleve teaching students from the ages of 10-19. They offered a wide range of foreign languages to their students including dutch, french, Italian, latin and english.
Freiherr-Vom-Stein Gymnasium ist ein Gymnasium in Kleve. Die Schülern sind zwischen 10 und 19 Jahre alt. Die Schule bietet viele Fremdsprachen für die Schülern und es umfasst niederländisch, französisch, italienisch, Latein und englisch.
SEK International Schools Pontevedra
This is a private international school in Pontevedra. The school is called SEK Atlantico. The school teaches from ages 2 to 19 and is split into infants, primary school and secondary school. The school teaches in Spanish and English and therefore it is a bilingual school.
My role in the organisations
Freiherr vom Stein
Here I was employed as a Fremdsprachenassistentin (foreign language assistant) where I assisted teachers in different language classes. I was in a range of classes from helping out the year 5's (10 year olds) with their english homework after school to helping in Cambridge classes with the older students who were preparing to take their Cambridge tests.
SEK
Here I was employed as an English language assistant where I helped out in different classes. I worked in the secondary section of the school where the students ranged from ages 11-18 and where some of the students were studying for their B1, B2, C1 and C2 Cambridge exams. I mainly supported in helping the students with their speaking practices, but also supported before the students took their English exams in helping them prepare for these. The teachers would send me out with different students and they had a worksheet to get through. If they had any questions, I helped.
Account of work undertaken
Germany
Cambridge lesson with Alina Bonarewitz - I assisted and helped with answers to tasks and when students were not sure of answers, I was there to help. I also conducted one lesson by myself where I was given the tasks they needed to do and we completed them as a class together. They were only slightly younger than me so I made sure I was friendly and approachable and joked with them so that it was more of a relaxed class.
7b with Stephan Trausch - In these lessons I assisted and wandered around the class helping. There was often lots of questions! I usually answered the questions in slow English, however when they didn't understand, I answered in German. There were often lots of questions about grammar. They studied Scotland when I first joined the group and they used a book called Green Line which joined together grammar and culture. A lot of the students had very loud personalities which meant it was very tricky to calm them down, but I learnt some techniques to deal with these particular students.
One problem that occurred here was the students were learning about the passive voice in English. However I hadn't realised that the students hadn't studied the passive voice in German yet. It turned out that they learn the passive in English first and then German later! I overcame this by studying the passive again at home in German so that when I explained it, I could liken it to how they would usually use it in German.
Cambridge with Dorothee Schubert - With Dorothee I often made the starters for her lessons which would then tie into the lesson. We would then split the class into two groups and I would teach one half and then we would change half way through the lesson. One group was B2 level and the other group was C1 level.
5C English with Tamara Kutscher - Here I often sat next to a particular student and helped them. The classes tended to be more group work than individual work. They also used the Green Line book and read stories out of it multiple times to practice pronounciation.
Lernzeit with Angela Lepori - This class was filled with students who chose to do more English work or were told they needed more practice with English. They were given tasks to do which helped them learn in different ways. I walked around and helped the students - the questions were usually about vocabulary so I often asked the students to look the word up in a dictionary first.
Übermittags Hilfe with Angela Lepori - This was for the students who stayed after lunch until 15:30. They spend half an hour fog any homework they were given during the day - I often supported with this. I also tested English vocabulary during these 30 minutes but I also had a small group of girls who always just wanted to chat in English. After this they had an hour to play games - we played Hangman, Stadt, Land, Fuss and how many countries there are.
Q2 English with Tamara Kutscher - One time I did teach a lesson on Nigeria (students read the texts together and we discussed them making mindmaps, writing up certain ideas... etc. I got some really good feedback from both the teacher and the students and also received some constructive criticism to work on.
Spain
1 Eso: In 1st Eso I worked with students who were undertaking the Camridge exams and took students out of the class 2 at a time to do a practice speaking exam with them. I always wrote a little bit of feedback and gave both good and bad points back to them. Furthermore, I also worked in class with one of the teachers (Elena) and helped a particular group of students who were struggling and needed more support. I often worked one to one with a student (Juan). He was a particular challenge as he never liked to work so I tried out a few different encouragement strategies.
2nd Eso: Here I also took students out of the class for their cambridge exams. I often changed the tests up a little and in Elena's class I was given a group again where they had a worksheet to fill in and I helped them when they needed the support.
3rd Eso: Cambridge again - little more tricky as they are at an age where they just want to mess about, but I made sure to be a nice chill teacher with them.
4th Eso: Cambridge again.
1st Bachillerato: I often supported in these lessons by answering their cultural questions about the UK. I went on a trip with them as well around Pontevedra where they found philosophical sites. I also did a presentation for them about health in the UK.
I worked in DP1 as well with the students doing the Cambridge exams.
Cultural issues and challenges
Spain
The language in Spain can be a little tricky to understand sometimes - the Spanish tend to speak very quickly and mumble! To overcome this, I was able to ask Spanish people to please repeat which would allow them to say it in a slower tone.
Germany
In Germany I really struggled with obtaining my visa to stay in the country. I managed to get an appointment at the visa office for November but was then told I wouldn't get it for several months. As this really upset me - I was alone in Germany and wanted to go home for a short period of time - I had to really work on my mental health to get me through the placmement. I even took on knitting ! I went out to cafe's , got really into fitness and just made sure I would be ok. Some days this was easier than others but I still got through it!
Analysis of professional experience and how these relate to development of academic knowledge
TEFL training: I made sure that I never just gave the students the answers. I would often explain the answer in slow English or I would prompt the answer from them.
leadership, project management, creativity, communication and problem-solving skills?
Working with ukrainian refugee in germany.
Analysis and critical evaluation of operational practices and assessment of personal growth
Current strengths and weaknesses and how I will improve upon these
Reflection on relationship between placement and future aspirations (transferability of skills)