This week I taught my first Dutch class in Ulenhof College. I was given the opportunity to take two science classes. Luckily enough the classes are taught in English, therefore language will not be a problem. However, I was anxious about the experience as I was unsure if the pupils would find my accent hard to understand. Yet, the main dilemma was that the classroom I was teaching in had no smart board. Reflecting on my previous experiences of teaching in Northern Ireland I have always had the luxury of a smart board and I would always create a PowerPoint for each lesson. The ‘no white board situation’ will be a challenge and it highlights the extent to which I have relied on technology in the past. Nonetheless, I think it will be a good experience to help me embrace activities that don’t rely on ICT.
To begin the lesson I thought it would be worthwhile to introduce a few key points about Northern Ireland. The pupils really enjoyed the personal touch and got really involved asking more questions about Northern Ireland. One of my pictures of Northern Ireland was of Rory Mc Ilroy, I couldn’t believe that not one of the pupils in either of my classes, nor the teachers, knew who he was. Just shows that golf isn’t such a big sport in the Netherlands. Teaching in a Dutch classroom was quite similar to home; the pupils in my class are really well behaved which made the classes easier to teach. In the lessons, I taught three experiments that I had never done before. Luckily enough they were all a success and no one managed to set anyone on fire. Overall the classes went well and I received thumbs up from the teacher, so I was very pleased. Next week my class are on a school trip to London and therefore I do not to have any lessons next week. Yeah!!
Out for dinner with the flat mates
This week we had a flat dinner party in a lovely Italian restaurant in Nijmegen, I had lasagne washed down with some fine wine. It was good fun spending some time with all the flat mates. Over the past two months our flat has grown so close, we’re like a close-knit family now. I would never have expected to get so close to people from all different cultures. The experience is priceless and I know it’ll be hard saying bye to everyone at the end of this experience. We’ve already started planning summer visits to ensure we all keep in touch. Time is really flying here and I’m determined to make the most of it.
This week Rachel and I also joined the university gym. I’m proud to say that we’ve already been twice this week. However, I’m not so sure how long we’ll keep it up but if all else fails at least the cycling will keep us fit.
Celebrating St. Patrick's day with all our Erasmus friends
This Saturday it was St. Patrick’s Day. We decided to celebrate it in style by having a pub crawl around Nijmegen. We gathered up all our Erasmus friends and we went to a few famous pubs in Nijmegen. Typically we ended the pub crawl in the Irish pub, where we watched England play Ireland in the rugby. Unfortunately we lost 30 to 9; nonetheless we still had a great St. Patrick’s Day with all our Erasmus friends.
Rachel and I with our Guinness hats.
At the second bar of the Pub Crawl.
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