during all the different lessons was an enrichment for the pu- pils, because they learned so- mething new as well as for my- self, because I got an enlarged view to a lot of German topics. I also learned that not eve- rything in school is always per- fect and pleasant, but I also learnt a lot from suboptimal moments. Finally I found out once more, that I like the work in school, with the pupils and colleagues, because the teachers‘ work is challenging, diverse and worthwhile. And in all beginnings indwells a magic for guarding us and helping us to live My assistantship in Ljubljana was a very interesting time for my professional career as well as for myself. During the six months in the primary school Majde Vrhovnik, I got a deep insight in the daily schoollife. I had the possibility to observe, to teach, to try different methods, to assist, to go to school excursions. Con- nected with and during this duties and responsibilities I found out how complex the work of a teacher is. Even if I was aware of that fact during my tertiary education, I have now that knowledge in step with actual practice. I‘m sure that I can use my experience I‘ve made at the Majda Vrhovnik school for my 18 month interns- hip in Germany, which begins in May this year, and furthermore. The assistant-time was inte- resting for me, because I beca- me acquainted with the school system of Slovenia. In my opini- on, it‘s a big advantage to know other school systems in Europe, so that in the future a coopera- tion between the schools in the European Union can start. To share my knowledge about Germany with the pupils Altogehter we are eleven Co- menius-Assistants from all over Europe in Slovenia. Two of them, Cecilia and Gesche, are staying as well as me in Ljubljana and most of the trips I did with them and our clique, with my Mentor and friend Nina Grum and her husband Miha Grum or my friends/family from Germany who came to visit me. Comenius-Assistent Mela- nie Heyer—Bild wechseln Summary about my time as an assistant in Ljubljana IN THIS ISSUE school talk 9th grade 2/ 3 German library 4 German clubs 5/ 6 German production 5 Presentati- ons 6/ 7 School ex- cursions 9 OŠ Ledina, OŠ Vide Pregarc 10 Impressions about and trips in and around Slovenia OSNOVNA Š OLA MAJDE VRHOVNIK , LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA My Comenius-Assistentship from the 1.9.2011-2.3.2012 in Ljubljana, Slovenia OS MAjde Vrhovnik 15.2.2012 MELANIE HEYER TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE german les- sons german clubs projects in school visits in other schools my experien- ces reflexion of my as- sistantship trips ans special days
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Transcript
during all the different lessons
was an enrichment for the pu-
pils, because they learned so-
mething new as well as for my-
self, because I got an enlarged
view to a lot of German topics.
I also learned that not eve-
rything in school is always per-
fect and pleasant, but I also
learnt a lot from suboptimal
moments.
Finally I found out once more,
that I like the work in school,
with the pupils and colleagues,
because the teachers‘ work is
challenging, diverse and
worthwhile.
And in all beginnings indwells a
magic for guarding us and helping
us to live
My assistantship in Ljubljana was
a very interesting time for my
professional career as well as
for myself.
During the six months in the
primary school Majde Vrhovnik,
I got a deep insight in the daily
schoollife. I had the possibility
to observe, to teach, to try
different methods, to assist, to
go to school excursions. Con-
nected with and during this
duties and responsibilities I
found out how complex the
work of a teacher is. Even if I
was aware of that fact during
my tertiary education, I have
now that knowledge in step
with actual practice. I‘m sure
that I can use my experience
I‘ve made at the Majda Vrhovnik
school for my 18 month interns-
hip in Germany, which begins in
May this year, and furthermore.
The assistant-time was inte-
resting for me, because I beca-
me acquainted with the school
system of Slovenia. In my opini-
on, it‘s a big advantage to know
other school systems in Europe,
so that in the future a coopera-
tion between the schools in the
European Union can start.
To share my knowledge about
Germany with the pupils
Altogehter we are eleven Co-
menius-Assistants from all over
Europe in Slovenia. Two of
them, Cecilia and Gesche, are
staying as well as me in Ljubljana
and most of the trips I did with
them and our clique, with my
Mentor and friend Nina Grum
and her husband Miha Grum or
my friends/family from Germany
who came to visit me.
Comenius-Assistent Mela-
nie Heyer—Bild wechseln
Summary about my time as an assistant in Ljubljana
I N T H I S
I S S U E
school talk
9th grade
2/
3
German
library
4
German
clubs
5/
6
German
production
5
Presentati-
ons
6/
7
School ex-
cursions
9
OŠ Ledina,
OŠ Vide
Pregarc
10
Impressions about and trips in and around Slovenia
O S N O V N A Š O L A
M A J D E V R H O V N I K ,
L J U B L J A N A ,
S L O V E N I A
My Comenius-Assistentship from the
1.9.2011-2.3.2012 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
OS MAjde Vrhovnik 1 5 . 2 . 2 0 1 2 M E L A N I E H E Y E R
T O P I C S I N
T H I S I S S U E
german les-
sons
german clubs
projects in
school
visits in other
schools
my experien-
ces
reflexion of
my as-
sistantship
trips ans
special days
S E I T E 2
A clipping of
questions
the pupils
asked me at
the speedy
end of my
assistentship
:
I firstly recognized
abroad how impor-
tant the german
language in Europe
is. A lot of slovene
School talk (part I)
German as a foreign language My most important and regu-
larl job was to organize the
German lessons in the 8th
and 9th grade together with
the German teacher Nina
Grum.
That was very interesting and
a good experience for me,
because I had the classes for a
longer term than during my
practical trainings in Germany.
In both of the German classes
there are around 8 pupils, so
it was a very nice experience
to work with a small group.
At the same time the work
was challenging, especially in
the 8th grade. But to expe-
rience very close that school
doesn‘t exist without trou-
bles, was an important ear-
ning for me.
German is—especially at the
beginning—not a very easy
language, because the learners
have to study a lot: the rules
and forms, the articles for the
nouns...
The pupils are aware of the
importance of the German
language nowadays, just a the
Slovene economy is connec-
ted with the German one.
I could gain a lot of teaching
knowledge and experiences:
it‘s important to find an ac-
cess to the pupils, to be fair,
to be strict and at once to let
the pupils know that they are
concerned for me, to be fle-
xible with the lesson-
preparations.
In the following it is given a
summary about what Nina
Grum and I did in addition to
the German lessons…
E N J O Y
ne for you?
Typical slovene for me is
home-made food, generous
people and a very good
knowledge of foreign langua-
ges. I had often the experien-
ce that I asked people:
„Oprostite, ne razumen slo-
vensko. Tu ali govoris angleš-
ko?― - „Yes, a little bit.― (...and
then they startet to speak in
perfect english)
Do you like our
school?
Yes, I like your school, becau-
se I went every day willingly
to the school and I was most
of the time motivated to be
there. I enjoyed the communi-
cation with the teachers and
the pupils and I like the com-
fortable atmosphere in
school, because the class-
rooms are friendly.
What is your favouri-
te slovene dish?
My favourite slovene dish is
Sarma and Linojka.
Which city are you
from in Germany?
My hometown is Wittlich
near Trier. Trier is the oldest
city in Germany.
How was your first
day in Slovenia?
My first day in Ljubljana was
kind of sportive, because I
went with my mentor Nina
Grum and her husband Miha
to Šmarna Gora.
What are you missing
from your hometown
in Slovenia?
Of course I miss my famlily
and my friends. But apart
from that I really don‘t miss
important things. Sometimes I
miss the different kinds of
bread we have in Germany.
Do you like our sea?
I like it a lot and in summerti-
me I enjoyed it often.
At the end of my assistant-
time the pupils consolidate to
build questions. We played
several communication games
and afterwards they asked me
a lot of questions about me
and my time in the Majde
Vrhovnik school. In the follo-
wing are some of the questi-
ons:
How do you like living
in Slovenia?
I like Slovenia a lot, because I
felt good, which is also due to
all the people I‘ve met here
and the work in school. I‘m
also fond of small countries,
because of the short distances
between two points and the
fact that it is possible to
explore a lot of the country.
After seven months I have the
feeling that I have seen a lot
of Slovenia: Ptuj, Kamnik,
Velika Planina, Postojna Cave,
Piran, Portoroţ, Izola,
Črnomlje, Tržič.
What is typical slove-
M Y C O M E N I U S - A S S I S T E N T S H I P
INTERVIEWS
9th GRADE
School talk (part II)
S E I T E 3 M E L A N I E H E Y E R
To get to know what the pupils
think about and how they evaluate
a german native speaker in the
function of an assistant in their
german lessons, I asked them se-
veral questions. The answers are a
mutually satisfactory result. Given
that the pupils answered the
questions in english, they are
published here unaltered:
How was the the expe-
rience for you to have
some parts of the the
German lessons with a
native speaker?
I think that it is very good because
we can learnhow to pronounce
different words. Now we discove-
red their accent.
For me it was good to have a
native speaker, because you learn
more language and accent.
For me it was a difficult but fun
experience, because the best way
to learn a language is the hard
way.
It‘s very good to know German,
and the German lessons with a
native speaker helped me to im-
prove my German.
Did it motivate you? Why?
Why not?
Yes, because we can talk with no
fear to say nothing stupid.
Yes, because you have to speak in
German.
Yes, I am very motivated because I
see now what I have to learn.
It is different if you speak with a
slovene teacher German or with
German people.
Do you trust yourself to
speak now more german
than before?
Yes, I trust more myself to speak
German.
Now I think I got more used to
the words in German.
Yes, I would like to use my konw-
ledge in every day life.
Did you get a deeper in-
sight in the German cultu-
re?
I think I know now more about
their culture and about their ac-
cent.
Did you get by and by
accustomed to the lessons
in German?
I got used to it and now I un-
derstand more.
I get used to ir, but sometimes it
is hard to understand
Where do you come -
beside the school- in
touch with the German
language?
In the cinema and in the german
library.
In the holidays, music or games.
With my hobbies, [because the
construction guidance for model
airplanes are in German]
In the German library, in the tele-
vision.
Do you now understand
more German?
Yes, I understand now more Ger-
man, because sometimes I didn‘t
understand every word, but I got
the meaning of the context.
I think I do, because you learn
some new words by hearing them
and asking more about them.
Yes, especially the every day Ger-
man.
„For me it was
a difficult but
fun
experience,
because the
best way to
learn a
language is
the hard
way.“
S E I T E 4
German library
Cinema showing
Explore music made in Germany Popular music from Germany?
From HipHop to pop to clas-
sical music? And all this in
German? Is that possible? A
few questions and just one
answer: It is possible.
German music has a wide
variety to offer and therefore
it is easy to find something
the pupils like. The topics of
the songs can be used for a
conversation topic. We liste-
ned to serveral songs with the
titles Kompliment
(compliment, Sportfreunde
Stiller), „Meine Stadt― (my
hometown, Die Toten Ho-
sen), „Alles nur in meinem
Kopf― (anything only in my
head; Andreas Bourani).
The visual content of the
music videos are helpful to
support the understanding of
the lyrics. In that context it
was easier to implement
Grammar and vocabulary
exercises, because the liste-
ning comprehensions motiva-
ted the pupils.
Being engaged in German
music makes sense because of
the knowledge the pupils
acquired and because it was
fun. And that is what really
matters, when it comes to
learning.
nification. Good Bye Lenin
tells a family story in the con-
text of the recent German
history. It is one of several
films to deal with the fall of
the Berlin wall and it‘s impact
on East and West Germany.
This topic was new for the
pupils and they were keen on
watching the film, rieviewing
and discussing the film. The
Good Bye Lenin descri-
bes a section of the
everyday life in the
German Democratic
Republic. The film is set
in 2003 in Berlin and
plays a short time befo-
re and after the col-
lapse of the Berlin wall
in the year 1989. The
film ends with the reu-
pupils became aware ofwhat it
meant for people to be sepa-
rated and which differences
where there in East and West
Germany at that time. The
pupils transfered the film
content and mentioned the
restrictions of free travel
nowadays. The pupils who
had seen the film liked it be-
cause of it‘s implementation.
man library as books, dvds,
cds, magazins, newspapers.
The german library has
also a wide book hol-
ding for german as a
foreign language.
I had the impression
that it was interesting
for the pupils to see,
that there is a german
library and they will
hopefully use it in the
future.
Near our school, in the Can-
karjev Dom, is located the
german library. It is a modern
library for German-speaking
readers for all age groups.
On two mondays Nina Grum
and me went with the eighth
and ninth grade to the german
library and had a short intro-
duction by the head of the
library. Afterwards the pupils
had time to become acquain-
ted with the offer in the ger-
a
German
film
produc-
tion:
M Y C O M E N I U S - A S S I S T E N T S H I P
German afternoon activities
S E I T E 5 B A N D 1 , A U S G A B E 1
On three afternoons, from mon-
day till Wednesday, I had different
German clubs in the afternoon:
„German hour“ for the beginners,
„German hour“ for ‚advanced‘
learners and the „German produc-
tion― for German native or Ger-
man for a second language spea-
kers. The German hours attended
together around 30 kids and in the
german production club were 4
kids. I liked these hours a lot,
because it was a challenging expe-
rience to teach german to kids
who mostly can‘t read or write
yet. I never worked bevor with
small children and it was inte-
resting to see how motivated
they can be. To hear and to
experience a foreign language
playfully can work. I was most
surprised to see how much
vocabulary they rembered.
The pupils and I presented their
parents our work. This time was
very motivating for me, because I
got lot of positive feedback, which
In the last hour of the „German
production― I made for the pupils
and the parents an exhibition
about what we did in this club.
really made me happy.
I got –same as the children—a lot
of motivation from these hours.
productive, so that we could make
an exhibition for the parents and
grandparents of the pupils, where
the pupils could present what they
did in the „German Produktion―.
I liked these hours very much,
because I could try a lot of things
out. That was the only hour in the
week in which I was alone respon-
sible for the process.
Although the language proficiency
of the kids is unequal, it was no
problem to balance this fact. The
pupils spoke in the „German pro-
duction― only German, just in case
they needed a translation for a
slovene word they didn‘t know in
German. The kids are very helpful
among themselves. The hidden
compliments „Why is the produc-
tion already over?―, „Can we stay
in contact together?― showed me,
that the kids liked the „German
production―.
Noami, Ilarija, Alfred und Ţiga are
the kids in the German producti-
on.
We read fairy tales from the Brot-
hers Grimm, from famous German
children‘s book writers, worked
with poems, wrote our own po-
ems, drew our own comic-strip of
the Bremen Town Musicians―,
read short stories, and witch-
stories. Altogether we were very
German-production-club
Exhibition with the „German production“
„The hidden
compliments
from the kids
showed me
that they like
these one
hour“
S E I T E 6
German clubs
Presentations …
Story-Exchange with a German primary school
With a friend of mine from
Germany, who is working in a
primary school, we made a
story exchange between my
„German production“-club
and her pupils in the fist grade
in Germany. We sent
them the fairy tale „The
Bremen Town Musicians―
in the form of a comic-
strip. In return we got the
St. Martins story ap-
propriate to the St. Mar-
tins feast. Not all pupils
had known this legend and so
they learnt more about the
german feasts and traditions.
St. Martin is a feast which is
celebrated at the 11th of
november in many cities in
Germany, mostly with a latern
procession.
I did some presentations
about German topics.
These presentations I did in
different classes und subjects,
in the English, French, Slove-
ne, music classes and the
grades 1-4..
I liked these presentations
because it could tell the pupils During my time as an assistant
interesting things about Ger-
many, e.g. the German school
system, talk about similarities
between English and German
or German and Slovene
words, German composers,
German Rock and Pop music,
German songs for the small
children, my hometown Trier
etc.
German language there aren‘t
many gestical expressions
(like e.g. in the Italian langua-
ge), so I tried to speak with
tooth and nail. Beside the
songs we learned vocabularies
from several topics: animals,
carnival, autumn, colours,
toys, school supplies. I liked
these hours because the pu-
pils aren‘t pressed for time
and they have the possibility
to make a first playful contact
with a foreign language.
The earlier, the better, if the
teaching methode is appropri-
ate for children.
In the german clubs I sear-
ched out a lot of my own
children songs which were
simply to remember and
which could be sang with
dancing. My younger sister is
a kindergarten teacher and
she also gave me useful and
new ideas.
It‘s impressive how fast they
can learn and remember
words. Sometimes I held the-
se hours alone and even I
didn‘t speak Slovene, they
figured out what to do. In the
My hometown Trier
with the sight
„Porta Nigra“
M Y C O M E N I U S - A S S I S T E N T S H I P
The pupils play „The
Caterpillar Insatiable“
… in the english classes
S E I T E 7 B A N D 1 , A U S G A B E 1
In the English classes, mostly in the
8th or 9th grade, I introduced the
german school system, which is in
many parts different from the
Slovene school system. One aim
of the Comenius-Assistantship is
to become acquainted with other
school systems in Europe and to
compare them with the own one.
In my opinion it‘s better to sepe-
rate pupils after the 9th grade and
not after the 4th grade like in
Germany. Also the integration of
pupils with disabilities is more
advanced in Slovenia than in Ger-
many. Nowadays there is a big
integration debate in Germany and
the UN-convention says that from
2011 on seperation is forbidden.
But the change unfortunately
hasn‘t arrived yet in schools.
Another presentation was „Learn
English-Lern Deutsch―, with which
I wanted to show that there are
many similar words between both
languages, because of the same
origin, the west-germanic roots,,
e.g. book-das Buch; bread-das
Brot, beer-das Bier, arm-der Arm,
vase-die Vase.
Another presentation was „Learn
English-Lern Deutsch―, with which
I wanted to show
that there are ma-
ny similar words
between both lan-
guages, because of
the same origin,
the west-germanic
roots. E.g. book-
das Buch; bread-
das Brot, beer-das
Bier, arm-der Arm,
vase-die Vase.
In the Slovene classes, in the 6th
and 8th grade, I showed the pupils
Slovenian dialect words, which are
also German words. In conclusion
I wanted to call the pupils‘ attenti-
on to the fact that they now alrea-
dy more German words than they
probably think. Here are some
examples:
Although the pupils don‘t use
as much as their parents the
dialect words, they knew a lot
of them and it was interesting
for them to see the similarities
between the same words in
two languages. The similarities
are owed the to Austrian and
German influence.
about Beethoven and contempo-
rary German rock & pop music.
The observations, especially in the
music classes, were interesting for
me, because often German com-
posers or influences (e.g. expressi-
onistic) were mentioned and dis-
cussed.
During the christmas time I also
had the great chance to listen to
the school choir and the pupils,
who sang the song „Oh Tannen-
baum― (Oh Christmas Tree).
In the music classes I had the great
possibility to give talks on the
German and European anthem,
… in the music classes
… in the slovene classes
New German Wave Born in Vienna, Austria1978 he assumed the stage name FalcoHis appearance: short hair, a suit, sun
glasses1981: Nr.1 Hit: „Der Kommissar“The single „Rock me Amadeus“ made Falco
to the first German-language pop star to top the American charts
He incorporates rap techniques into his popand rock music