ERASMUS MOBILITY- KA1
"JOB SHADOWING IN CRETE"
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw
During a week, we were in Rethymno (Greece-Crete), being part of a Job Shadow Program with Mrs. Chompi at high school Piramatiko Geniko. We were exploring new ICT methodologies in teaching English as a second language, Flipped Classroom and Blended Learning. Honestly, it has been a great experience, not only in the teaching area, but also the immersion in a foreign educational system. In this diary, I gather some of the most relevant learnings.
CRETE, GREECE
Greek Culture
Rethymno - city in Crete
Crete - cultural heritage of Greece
TUESDAY 07 DECEMBER
In fact, we arrived in Crete on Monday 6th. However, our first day at the high school started on Tuesday. Mrs. Chompi, our teacher, had a very funny arrival in a taxi.
It was so exciting arriving at a new high school by taxi. Actually, we could not stop looking around because Crete is very different from what I had expected. Rethymno is chaotic, but charming.
Our arrival at the school was fantastic, many teachers came to greet us during the first class. That was fun too! On the one hand, Amalia was teaching English with some ICT methodologies, and on the other hand, we were there chatting and meeting other teachers.
Amalia kindly shared her knowledge with us about:
- Blended Learning
- The use of open platforms such as Openclass
- Design Flipped Classroom Activities
Welcome to Crete!
Rethymno High School
WEDNESDAY 07 DECEMBER
Our second day, Mr. Foteinakis (Head Teacher) introduced us to the Greek educational system and the functioning of the high school.
Luckily, we could attend other classes, apart from Mrs. Chompi's. In this school German and French are also taught because foreign languages are highly valued in Crete. Tourism is one of the main sources of income, therefore, the level of foreign languages is very high (much higher than in our country)
Finally, we had a presentation of pupils’ school dropping out and inclusive education policy.
THURSDAY 09 DECEMBER
Thursday was a mixed day. We experienced a very interesting class with senior students about apartheid and Nelson Mandela. The group was small and very interactive, many of them were Barcelona football supporters and we were discussing about football and politics.
It was our turn! We presented our school, Spanish/Catalan educational system, pupils’ school dropping out and inclusive education policy in front of teachers and students. Many interesting questions came up!
Lectures given by Mrs. Chompi:
- Designing Flipped Activities. Games and Quizzes
- Collaboration and Discussion
Bea (my colleague) and me
Inclusive Education Policy
FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER
Last day in Rethymno.
Firstly, we attended a class where students are working on verbal tenses by using a program called Quizlet. After, they were analyzing tenses from a real-life video from Fox News.
The second class of the day was focused on speaking skills. Students had to look up a text on the Internet about crime and report it to the class.
Finally, we attended more lectures given by Mrs. Chompi:
- Choosing blended good practices. Foreign Languages Curriculum in Greece
- Job shadowing assessment. Signed agreements and certificates distribution.
Final part of the day
- Walking tour in Rethymno. Basilio (the history teacher) kindly gave us a tour around the Old Town.
- Farewell Dinner. Fun dinner in a typical Cretan restaurant. Our experience ended dancing and singing traditional music from the island.
MY LAST THOUGHTS
We hope to see them again at our high school.
Amalia and us
Walking tour with Basilio
Traditional Cretan Restaurant
MIREIA CASASSAS VILA
Email: mireiacasassas@callisvic.cat