Imagine! You know a lot of teachers from abroad. Most of them live very far from you. Sometimes you have the chance to meet some of them (your "neighbours" mostly!) at a conference. Or you travel to them visiting them at their houses like I did during my last summer holidays this year when I was in Austria and Hungary to meet my "neighbours" from the HLW- Skypers'- teacher community.
However. This week a very unique opportunity of international collaboration came through. Two of my teachers' friends from the very far Siberia (Russia) who some of my students had met sometimes by videoconferences taught my students directly at school in front of their classes.
Working and researching at a German university, 1.5 hours by car away from me only, Anna Alexandrowna Bukhtorayova and Mikhail Sergejevitsch Buhktorayov from the Siberian Federal University in Krasnoyarsk travelled to me staying at my home. Great talks, common dinner preparations for traditional Russian food.
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| Borschtsch tastes really good |
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| Blinies: a traditional food, here: filled with salmon |
On Thursday, 2nd October, all students from the connected classes (grade 7- 9) at my school took their chance to be taught by a powerful, enthousiastic Russian teachers' team.
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| Students created a padlet with questions about Siberia |
Most of the students attended a presentation about Siberia and its stereotypes that morning. These stereotypes were the basis for further questions Anna and Mikhail answered directly. One question during the last lesson about traditional Russian dancing let to a small dancing course.
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Anna is talking about Tobolsk, the city,
where Mr Mendeleev was born. |
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| They reported about the life of Mr Mendeleev |
At a 9th graders' chemistry class, whose students are studying about the Periodic Table actually, they spoke about the Siberian scientist Dimitrij Mendeleev.
After they, as Russian university teachers, had got a deeper view into Russian literature sources my students got a lot of further information of this genius person.
Thank you very much, Anna and Mikhail, for your support. Hopefully we will meet again very soon.
Dear Reinhard, we thank your great school and your lovely family so much for this wonderful experience!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is John O’Hara, and I am a graduate student at University of Maryland, University College, USA. I am earning my Masters of Education in Instructional Technology. One of my current courses is entitled Integration of Administration of
Technology: Global Perspectives, and requires students to reach out to experts in other countries in order to learn more about classroom technology around the globe.
I have chosen to learn more about this topic for Germany.
I would greatly appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete a virtual interview via email. I have written the interview questions below, and you can return them at your earliest convenience.
I understand that your time is valuable, and I thank you for considering my request. Perhaps if you are unable to complete this interview, you might be able to refer me to another expert that may have the time. You can reach me at john.p.ohara@gmail.com.
Thank You,
John P O’Hara
Interview Questions:
1. Please tell me about yourself and how you fit into the German education system.
2. How do you feel Germany compares internationally in regards to using instructional technology (like computers, interactive white boards or tablets) in classes that are not technology classes?
3. What unique challenges are posed by the structure of German education regarding instructional technology?
4. What kind of professional development or teacher training is available to the typical German primary and secondary teachers regarding their use of technology in the classroom?
5. In general, who makes the purchasing decisions for technology in German classrooms? Who is consulted?
6. What (if any) bureaucratic obstacles exist for teachers or schools looking to use a new technology in their classrooms?
7. Please add any other thoughts regarding the use of instructional technology in German classrooms:
thank you.its a wonderful experience
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great article, I would like to take the chance for inviting Russian tutors and students who are looking for russian teachers skype to view this wonderful website that offers Russian Skype classes http://preply.com/en/russian-by-skype I am currently taking Russian classes there and the quality presented is Excellent and satisfying
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great article, I would like to take the chance for inviting Russian tutors and students who are looking for skype Russian language lessons to view this wonderful website that offers Russian Skype classes http://preply.com/en/russian-by-skype I am currently taking Russian classes there and the quality presented is Excellent and satisfying
ReplyDelete