Dear all,
I hope you're doing fine. I suppose you must be very busy with your papers and the coming exams.
Just to make things clear: I suppose those who didn't submit their papers in "Courants Pédagogiques" (due beginning of February) will take this exam in August.
Ditto for "TIC": the comenius students who didn't submit their papers will have to submit them in August as well. Could you all confirm that, please?
Thanks a lot!
I wish you all the best,
V Henin
jeudi 27 mai 2010
lundi 17 mai 2010
Here is Alinneke's message :-)
Hi everybody!
I came back on the 30th of April. I wasn’t that sad because I’m going to see the family in July again but now that I’m home. I can say that I really miss them.
I also miss the pupils and staff from both schools. It was such a nice atmosphere there! Compared to now, every morning my first thought is: “how many days before the holidays?”
My last week was wonderful! On Tuesday I visited a farm and I witnessed two lambs’ birth. On Wednesday I helped the year one teacher, we went to a leisure centre with the children and we played different sports. That was fun! And on Thursday my family organised a surprise party for me. That was lovely! I will never forget this week! And the others too of course… ;-)
I really enjoyed this experience; it allowed me to find out a bit more about the English culture and their teaching system, which is so different from ours! And I think much better…
When I’ll be a teacher I’ll try to apply some methods I observed in England. Because I do think that even small details could improve our courses. I think, for example, about a little but important thing, the classroom decoration. If you compare Belgian classrooms with English ones, the differences are important! The English classrooms are colourful; the teachers really emphasise the children’s work. One inside the classroom you really want to look at them. And it’s the same with the entire school too! I’ve never really noticed that in Belgian classrooms/ schools.
I can already observe some changes with myself. I feel more self-confident but I still have a long way to go! I think every experience we live has an impact on our life.
I wouldn’t change anything to my experience because everything, even the more negative points, taught me important things and values. We shouldn’t only live for positive experiences because the negative ones teach us more that we even think!
I would do this every year if I could! To finish I’d like to quote an Albert Einstein: “ The only source of knowledge is experience.”
See you soon,
Alinneke
I came back on the 30th of April. I wasn’t that sad because I’m going to see the family in July again but now that I’m home. I can say that I really miss them.
I also miss the pupils and staff from both schools. It was such a nice atmosphere there! Compared to now, every morning my first thought is: “how many days before the holidays?”
My last week was wonderful! On Tuesday I visited a farm and I witnessed two lambs’ birth. On Wednesday I helped the year one teacher, we went to a leisure centre with the children and we played different sports. That was fun! And on Thursday my family organised a surprise party for me. That was lovely! I will never forget this week! And the others too of course… ;-)
I really enjoyed this experience; it allowed me to find out a bit more about the English culture and their teaching system, which is so different from ours! And I think much better…
When I’ll be a teacher I’ll try to apply some methods I observed in England. Because I do think that even small details could improve our courses. I think, for example, about a little but important thing, the classroom decoration. If you compare Belgian classrooms with English ones, the differences are important! The English classrooms are colourful; the teachers really emphasise the children’s work. One inside the classroom you really want to look at them. And it’s the same with the entire school too! I’ve never really noticed that in Belgian classrooms/ schools.
I can already observe some changes with myself. I feel more self-confident but I still have a long way to go! I think every experience we live has an impact on our life.
I wouldn’t change anything to my experience because everything, even the more negative points, taught me important things and values. We shouldn’t only live for positive experiences because the negative ones teach us more that we even think!
I would do this every year if I could! To finish I’d like to quote an Albert Einstein: “ The only source of knowledge is experience.”
See you soon,
Alinneke
mardi 11 mai 2010
Aline's message for you to enjoy
Hello everybody and welcome in Belgium
to Louise, Lulu, Alex and Alineke !
I must admit that seeing time flying doesn’t make me think
about the end of my Erabel.
I don’t think about it.
Looking at the calendar, seeing the days flying,
just makes me think about the end of the year,
about the end of our adventure at the ISPG,
about the end of that so special atmosphere…
Because each of you have brought
me something during those years together,
I hope we’ll stay in touch and will see us again
with our teachers and talk about our
memories, our career, …
Do you feel ready to stand on your own two feet ?
I must confess that I’m afraid… Will I be able ?
About my Erabel at the Ehsal, I haven’t learnt anything special.
And I find it’s quite a pity.
I haven’t changed. How would I have ?
The pupils I met were quite unpleasant and the teachers cold.
So, I’m disappointed.
There was no discovery, no social approach…
I’m just happy to have done my teaching practise
here in Mater Dei, because I liked it.
So, if I had to do it again,
I wouldn’t because it hasn’t really brought me anything.
I think I would try to go abroad then
(but I don’t know if I would be able to).
According to me, the pupils who went abroad
must have experienced much more things,
unforgettable moments and
I hope they’re going to tell us everything !
I’m really proud of them, to have dared.
Kisses to all of you,
Aline D.
to Louise, Lulu, Alex and Alineke !
I must admit that seeing time flying doesn’t make me think
about the end of my Erabel.
I don’t think about it.
Looking at the calendar, seeing the days flying,
just makes me think about the end of the year,
about the end of our adventure at the ISPG,
about the end of that so special atmosphere…
Because each of you have brought
me something during those years together,
I hope we’ll stay in touch and will see us again
with our teachers and talk about our
memories, our career, …
Do you feel ready to stand on your own two feet ?
I must confess that I’m afraid… Will I be able ?
About my Erabel at the Ehsal, I haven’t learnt anything special.
And I find it’s quite a pity.
I haven’t changed. How would I have ?
The pupils I met were quite unpleasant and the teachers cold.
So, I’m disappointed.
There was no discovery, no social approach…
I’m just happy to have done my teaching practise
here in Mater Dei, because I liked it.
So, if I had to do it again,
I wouldn’t because it hasn’t really brought me anything.
I think I would try to go abroad then
(but I don’t know if I would be able to).
According to me, the pupils who went abroad
must have experienced much more things,
unforgettable moments and
I hope they’re going to tell us everything !
I’m really proud of them, to have dared.
Kisses to all of you,
Aline D.
lundi 3 mai 2010
And Alex's message...more things to enjoy! :-)
Hell-O
I am posting my comment quite early today as I will be too busy later to be able to do anything else than teaching.
I am experiencing a terribly busy period right now... But it is worth the investment. I assure you.
First of all, Anisa, I want to tell you that I read all posts carefully, but your last comment did arrest my attention.
I have learnt a lot of vocabulary here since I lead oral production classes. I taught names of animals and I tried to find a list of animal noises (for my personal culture) but did I not manage to find anything interesting...
I know Professor Van de Putte expects a lot of improvement with relation to my linguistic competence... So next time she asks ''Wat is het geluid van de koe'' I do not want to be the only dumbo who shouts ''Moeeeeeeeee!...''
Do you get it? I want you to share your knowledge with me...
So next time we see each other, you will have to tell me all what you know about animal noises... Agreed?
Thank yowl very meow.
(And if you do not agree, it doesn't matter... I´ll see to it.)
Secondly, I want to tell Caroline how happy I am to read that you recovered. Nice.
Good to see that Caroline is back on line. (Saw any pun? Or alliteration?)
I am also proud to read that you got ''Flamish'' thanks to the Flemish.
You will be nicknamed Flemish Carbo-line! (Saw the other one?)
Finally, I want to thank Shirley for trying to help me. I appreciate it. XD
I learnt a lot about the Dutch culture. I think I have enough information to write a book.
But you don't want to read any book right now on this blog, do you? Anyway, most of you know quite a lot about the Dutch as well. Our beloved neighbours...
Hey, we had Dutch culture classes after all...
So I won't tell you anything about the way they speak, cheese, peanut butter or windmills... I'll put forward a slice of Dutch pedagogy. A little aspect of it that really shocked me.
--> In the Netherlands, when a student is badly behaved or simply not very studious, teachers automatically diagnose a clinical or social pathology.
Look, if you get a mark below six out of then, you will be ADHD (hyperactive), dyslexic or... autistic! No choice. So I am actually teaching in some kind of psychiatric clinic. Cool...
I am caricaturing the whole thing, but this is what I felt.
The fact that you sleep in class does not make you sick, does it?
This is in my opinion a real cultural clash. Teenagers will be teenagers. Sometimes they are just lazy. This does not necessarily mean that they have any medical or social problems.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot, the most difficult aspect to deal with was the fact that almost everybody sees the Belgians as a dumb people (like I explicitely proved it a few weeks ago.)
Well, I realized that victims are generally people who do not speak Dutch the way the Hollanders [...] do. Therefore, it is not that surprising that the Belgians suffer from this lack of respect.
So they have jokes about the Belgians but also jokes about the Dutch (only those who have a strong accent, though.) Sometimes they even make jokes about both nations.
Just to give you a little example, I went to Maastricht last Friday, and I read the following joke: ''What happens when a Belgian goes to live in Maastricht? The average IQ of both nations rises.'' Duh!
Besides, the Dutch treasure French culture, just like the British.
People, I am afraid we live in a world full of jingoists... (Maar de wereld draait maar door...) Life goes on...
Still, the Dutch are not mean... Just a bit naive.
Okay, I won't tell you everything, guys. I am saving some good ones.
So far for today. It is time for me to teach now.
Oh, by the way, Hilversum (a.k.a. Media Stad) was great. Jopke Veenman from NICAM arranged a meeting just for me. I had a private presentation of the Dutch movie classification and rating system, with tea and stroopwafels. So cool. So Dutch.
Haiu (as they say here)
Alex (Aalekzandè)
I am posting my comment quite early today as I will be too busy later to be able to do anything else than teaching.
I am experiencing a terribly busy period right now... But it is worth the investment. I assure you.
First of all, Anisa, I want to tell you that I read all posts carefully, but your last comment did arrest my attention.
I have learnt a lot of vocabulary here since I lead oral production classes. I taught names of animals and I tried to find a list of animal noises (for my personal culture) but did I not manage to find anything interesting...
I know Professor Van de Putte expects a lot of improvement with relation to my linguistic competence... So next time she asks ''Wat is het geluid van de koe'' I do not want to be the only dumbo who shouts ''Moeeeeeeeee!...''
Do you get it? I want you to share your knowledge with me...
So next time we see each other, you will have to tell me all what you know about animal noises... Agreed?
Thank yowl very meow.
(And if you do not agree, it doesn't matter... I´ll see to it.)
Secondly, I want to tell Caroline how happy I am to read that you recovered. Nice.
Good to see that Caroline is back on line. (Saw any pun? Or alliteration?)
I am also proud to read that you got ''Flamish'' thanks to the Flemish.
You will be nicknamed Flemish Carbo-line! (Saw the other one?)
Finally, I want to thank Shirley for trying to help me. I appreciate it. XD
I learnt a lot about the Dutch culture. I think I have enough information to write a book.
But you don't want to read any book right now on this blog, do you? Anyway, most of you know quite a lot about the Dutch as well. Our beloved neighbours...
Hey, we had Dutch culture classes after all...
So I won't tell you anything about the way they speak, cheese, peanut butter or windmills... I'll put forward a slice of Dutch pedagogy. A little aspect of it that really shocked me.
--> In the Netherlands, when a student is badly behaved or simply not very studious, teachers automatically diagnose a clinical or social pathology.
Look, if you get a mark below six out of then, you will be ADHD (hyperactive), dyslexic or... autistic! No choice. So I am actually teaching in some kind of psychiatric clinic. Cool...
I am caricaturing the whole thing, but this is what I felt.
The fact that you sleep in class does not make you sick, does it?
This is in my opinion a real cultural clash. Teenagers will be teenagers. Sometimes they are just lazy. This does not necessarily mean that they have any medical or social problems.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot, the most difficult aspect to deal with was the fact that almost everybody sees the Belgians as a dumb people (like I explicitely proved it a few weeks ago.)
Well, I realized that victims are generally people who do not speak Dutch the way the Hollanders [...] do. Therefore, it is not that surprising that the Belgians suffer from this lack of respect.
So they have jokes about the Belgians but also jokes about the Dutch (only those who have a strong accent, though.) Sometimes they even make jokes about both nations.
Just to give you a little example, I went to Maastricht last Friday, and I read the following joke: ''What happens when a Belgian goes to live in Maastricht? The average IQ of both nations rises.'' Duh!
Besides, the Dutch treasure French culture, just like the British.
People, I am afraid we live in a world full of jingoists... (Maar de wereld draait maar door...) Life goes on...
Still, the Dutch are not mean... Just a bit naive.
Okay, I won't tell you everything, guys. I am saving some good ones.
So far for today. It is time for me to teach now.
Oh, by the way, Hilversum (a.k.a. Media Stad) was great. Jopke Veenman from NICAM arranged a meeting just for me. I had a private presentation of the Dutch movie classification and rating system, with tea and stroopwafels. So cool. So Dutch.
Haiu (as they say here)
Alex (Aalekzandè)
Laurent's message... enjoy! :-)
Hej !
I hope everything’s all right with you all. Me, I’ve got to say that I’m quite torn between two sentiments. In 4 days I’m gonna be back in Brussels, and tomorrow will be my last day at school, because on Friday, it’s a huge holiday here, especially for students – it can be compared to the “Saint-Verhaegen” at the ULB or the “24h vélo” in Louvain-la Neuve, but in the whole country here in Sweden – and I’m not ashamed to say that I will make sure I can enjoy myself one last time before I leave, even if it involves a major hangover on Saturday and Sunday . I must say if feel quite happy to come back in Belgium, because I missed my family, my friends and – way more – my girlfriend so much during these 13 weeks in the “Capital of Scandinavia”. But on the other hand, I loved my stay, Sweden and my school so much that I can’t help but feel really sad about coming back to Belgium – and our blessed governments and politicians didn’t help me feel another way…
Last Thursday, after Yves Leterme gave our King is third (fourth? fifth?) resign in 3 years, the teachers asked me to give a 45 minutes “conference” to themselves and the 9th graders (15-16 years old) on the problems which are happening in our beautiful (I’m not being ironic here!) country and why our government resigned this time. After this improvised conference, I had the feeling that ¾ of my audience didn’t understand a thing about it – even the teachers couldn’t quite understand what I was explaining – but I told them it was logic, because even Belgians don’t know quite well why the Flemish and the Walloon communities fight that much in such a small country. When a teacher told me that he couldn’t believe that was happening in such a small country in the heart of Europe, I gave him the stupidest answer ever : “Well, that’s Belgian surrealism, I guess…”.
Back to the task we are asked to do, I must say I didn’t experience a real culture clash here, and that the Swedish culture and mentality is not that different from ours, but there are still some differences and some things that were weird to me when I arrived in Sweden.
First, the way the Swedes eat is different than our way. They usually have a really early breakfast (around 7AM) – a bit later during holidays – and have their lunch between 11 o’clock and 11.45! As the school food is free, and as I didn’t want to eat alone around 12.30, I had to adapt myself to this lunch time, which was kind of difficult in the beginning because I wasn’t hungry at that time. They also eat their dinner quite early (around 17.30), but it wasn’t a real problem to me, because I could eat whenever I wanted as I am living alone. Another weird thing – well, it’s a question of taste, but still – is that most of the Swedes, until 30-35 years old, drink milk with their hot meals! As I only use milk in cereals and coffee, you could imagine how bizarre that was to see that.
Another thing which is different is the mentality of the Swedes, is that they are way more ambitious than the average Belgian. Everybody wants to set high goals to reach in their life, and work hard to reach these goals – even 12-years-olds. They are also quite proud about their Swedish factories and inventions – Volvo, Metro (the free newspaper), Ericsson, … - and feel it’s a huge failure when one of their factories goes bankrupt. For example, when Saab when almost bankrupt, you could see that it was a national drama and that they were really bumped and sad about it.
Finally, something I realized is that they are quite formal when they in their gesture towards each other. Some of the teachers here are really good friends, but they never hug or kiss each other, not even a handshake! They usually say “Hej” or “Godmorgon” in the morning when they arrive and say “Hejdå” when they leave, and that’s it. On the other hand, they are less formal towards the hierarchy. They don’t use any “Sir” or “Mister”… they call each other by their first names, and that’s it (even pupils call their teachers by their first names). I guess that if I had to move here, I would have to adapt myself to that!
Well, that was all for this month - it actually was already way too long - but I'll be able to explain it all way better next week, since I'll be back in Belgium. See you pals!
Laurent
I hope everything’s all right with you all. Me, I’ve got to say that I’m quite torn between two sentiments. In 4 days I’m gonna be back in Brussels, and tomorrow will be my last day at school, because on Friday, it’s a huge holiday here, especially for students – it can be compared to the “Saint-Verhaegen” at the ULB or the “24h vélo” in Louvain-la Neuve, but in the whole country here in Sweden – and I’m not ashamed to say that I will make sure I can enjoy myself one last time before I leave, even if it involves a major hangover on Saturday and Sunday . I must say if feel quite happy to come back in Belgium, because I missed my family, my friends and – way more – my girlfriend so much during these 13 weeks in the “Capital of Scandinavia”. But on the other hand, I loved my stay, Sweden and my school so much that I can’t help but feel really sad about coming back to Belgium – and our blessed governments and politicians didn’t help me feel another way…
Last Thursday, after Yves Leterme gave our King is third (fourth? fifth?) resign in 3 years, the teachers asked me to give a 45 minutes “conference” to themselves and the 9th graders (15-16 years old) on the problems which are happening in our beautiful (I’m not being ironic here!) country and why our government resigned this time. After this improvised conference, I had the feeling that ¾ of my audience didn’t understand a thing about it – even the teachers couldn’t quite understand what I was explaining – but I told them it was logic, because even Belgians don’t know quite well why the Flemish and the Walloon communities fight that much in such a small country. When a teacher told me that he couldn’t believe that was happening in such a small country in the heart of Europe, I gave him the stupidest answer ever : “Well, that’s Belgian surrealism, I guess…”.
Back to the task we are asked to do, I must say I didn’t experience a real culture clash here, and that the Swedish culture and mentality is not that different from ours, but there are still some differences and some things that were weird to me when I arrived in Sweden.
First, the way the Swedes eat is different than our way. They usually have a really early breakfast (around 7AM) – a bit later during holidays – and have their lunch between 11 o’clock and 11.45! As the school food is free, and as I didn’t want to eat alone around 12.30, I had to adapt myself to this lunch time, which was kind of difficult in the beginning because I wasn’t hungry at that time. They also eat their dinner quite early (around 17.30), but it wasn’t a real problem to me, because I could eat whenever I wanted as I am living alone. Another weird thing – well, it’s a question of taste, but still – is that most of the Swedes, until 30-35 years old, drink milk with their hot meals! As I only use milk in cereals and coffee, you could imagine how bizarre that was to see that.
Another thing which is different is the mentality of the Swedes, is that they are way more ambitious than the average Belgian. Everybody wants to set high goals to reach in their life, and work hard to reach these goals – even 12-years-olds. They are also quite proud about their Swedish factories and inventions – Volvo, Metro (the free newspaper), Ericsson, … - and feel it’s a huge failure when one of their factories goes bankrupt. For example, when Saab when almost bankrupt, you could see that it was a national drama and that they were really bumped and sad about it.
Finally, something I realized is that they are quite formal when they in their gesture towards each other. Some of the teachers here are really good friends, but they never hug or kiss each other, not even a handshake! They usually say “Hej” or “Godmorgon” in the morning when they arrive and say “Hejdå” when they leave, and that’s it. On the other hand, they are less formal towards the hierarchy. They don’t use any “Sir” or “Mister”… they call each other by their first names, and that’s it (even pupils call their teachers by their first names). I guess that if I had to move here, I would have to adapt myself to that!
Well, that was all for this month - it actually was already way too long - but I'll be able to explain it all way better next week, since I'll be back in Belgium. See you pals!
Laurent
lundi 19 avril 2010
Aline asked me to publish this...Enjoy!
Hi everyone :)
How are you ?
I’m really exhausted, completely dead… So much work and no real rest…
Two weeks ago, Shirley and me attended a “cultural week” with the other students from the Ehsal. We visited Gand, Anvers and had some debates and discussions about the different religions and cultures in Belgium.
I haven't much to say about the culture of the area I'm staying in, because it's Brussels
So, no real differences with the place where I live (except that where I live it’s more country !).
BUT, I've things to tell about the Dutch students I'm working with at the Ehsal.
Unfortunately, it's not really positive...
Except two or three girls, nobody speaks to us (to Shirley and me). They all look at us as if we were nasty and stupid Martians :/
I know I’m called Alien, but… hey… it’s a joke :D
They often tell jokes about French speakers, but we can feel these jokes are mean. They consider us (the French speakers) as lazy and quite stupid people. I don't understand their way of thinking because French speakers are funny and don't have anything against Dutch speakers...
I'd never thought it would be like that. The majority of Dutch speaker students don't like the French speakers.
I find it's a real pity. We all live in the same country, that's the most important.
This week, I haven't been to the Ehsal, because I had to go and help at Mater Dei (the school where I did my teaching practise a few weeks ago).
In fact, during the week just before Easter, there are courses with some pupils in difficulties and I had to help them in Dutch.
I had a group of 8 pupils, 3 girls and 5 boys, all in the first year.
I did a bit of grammar, a lot of vocabulary in crosswords, in riddles... and... a lot of games I took back from the festival of languages :)
Fortunately for the pupils, I was more dynamic than before :p
Everything was fine, except that I had some problems with a boy who suffered from behavioural problems (he suddenly began to shout or to grumble etc.) I felt really sorry for him, I didn't understand why this child was in this school. Teachers like us aren't prepared and formed to such situation. And he often came to me, looked at me and said "Je suis malheureux." What could I say ??? What could I do ??? I tried to integrate him with the group as much as possible, but it wasn't always easy...
I hope everything is okay for you all.
Even if you love the place you’re staying in, don’t forget to come back !!!
Kisses to all of you (and big kisses to Shirley, Mariam and Louise ;)
Aline D.
How are you ?
I’m really exhausted, completely dead… So much work and no real rest…
Two weeks ago, Shirley and me attended a “cultural week” with the other students from the Ehsal. We visited Gand, Anvers and had some debates and discussions about the different religions and cultures in Belgium.
I haven't much to say about the culture of the area I'm staying in, because it's Brussels
So, no real differences with the place where I live (except that where I live it’s more country !).
BUT, I've things to tell about the Dutch students I'm working with at the Ehsal.
Unfortunately, it's not really positive...
Except two or three girls, nobody speaks to us (to Shirley and me). They all look at us as if we were nasty and stupid Martians :/
I know I’m called Alien, but… hey… it’s a joke :D
They often tell jokes about French speakers, but we can feel these jokes are mean. They consider us (the French speakers) as lazy and quite stupid people. I don't understand their way of thinking because French speakers are funny and don't have anything against Dutch speakers...
I'd never thought it would be like that. The majority of Dutch speaker students don't like the French speakers.
I find it's a real pity. We all live in the same country, that's the most important.
This week, I haven't been to the Ehsal, because I had to go and help at Mater Dei (the school where I did my teaching practise a few weeks ago).
In fact, during the week just before Easter, there are courses with some pupils in difficulties and I had to help them in Dutch.
I had a group of 8 pupils, 3 girls and 5 boys, all in the first year.
I did a bit of grammar, a lot of vocabulary in crosswords, in riddles... and... a lot of games I took back from the festival of languages :)
Fortunately for the pupils, I was more dynamic than before :p
Everything was fine, except that I had some problems with a boy who suffered from behavioural problems (he suddenly began to shout or to grumble etc.) I felt really sorry for him, I didn't understand why this child was in this school. Teachers like us aren't prepared and formed to such situation. And he often came to me, looked at me and said "Je suis malheureux." What could I say ??? What could I do ??? I tried to integrate him with the group as much as possible, but it wasn't always easy...
I hope everything is okay for you all.
Even if you love the place you’re staying in, don’t forget to come back !!!
Kisses to all of you (and big kisses to Shirley, Mariam and Louise ;)
Aline D.
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