Four teachers of English at St. Stanislav’s Institution, The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium – Alenka Battelino, Eva Pišljar Suhadolc, Valerija Lah Peternel and Lily Schweiger Kotar – attended a CLIL course (Content and Language integrated learning) for secondary teachers from 20th-25th April 2015, which took place in International Project Center, Exeter in England, as a part of KA1 learning mobility of individuals . The group was joined by another History teacher from Jerez, Spain. The purpose of attending such a course was to acquire knowledge and specific know-how from good practice in the UK and with an enthusiastic and understanding teacher, develop our own competences and increase the relevance of our teaching. Last but not least we wanted to increase knowledge of social, linguistic and cultural matters as well.
During the entire week we tried to grasp the implications for the CLIL classroom, which include critical and creative thinking, code-switching, collaborative and active learning as well as including the so-called lower order thinking skills (LOTS) and higher order thinking skills (HOTS).
Taking part in the course meant constantly implementing CLIL elements in our everyday work as well, which resulted in a practical demonstration of skills acquired by the teachers involved. One group of teachers presented a science task including features of CLIL, the other group presented in a similar way female British writers set in different historical, social and geographical context. The acquired skills and language teaching methodology were implemented to regular schoolwork at home, informing first other teachers of English at school, the headmaster and the School Development Team. One of the most beneficial aspects of CLIL’s approach is teaching language and content at the same time as you have to pay attention to language as well as content. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/
On 4th March 2015 the DCG students and their mentors participating in the project Erasmus+, Art nouveau-Art Renouveau went to see the exhibition entitled New Art and Nature in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana. The exhibition is a part of an international network of Art Nouveau European cities, with Ljubljana being a part of this group.
The founders of Art Nouveau movement observed and researched natural parameters and motifs and included them in their art, thus establishing a new artistic expressiveness. The nature was considered as a sanctuary and was depicted and interpreted with numerous symbols.
Observing nature and interpreting its symbols is part of the Art Nouveau – Art Renouveau project and therefore we were extremely pleased to have the possibility to see the results of the observations of the Art Nouveau founders from 1900.
The first transnational meeting took place from 26th November – 1st December 2014 and was organized by the coordinating school of the project, Wellington School from Ayr. In spite of rather gloomy weather, partner school coordinators and participating teachers were warmly welcome by the organizing Wellington team. We got to know each other and discussed the tasks and timeline of the project. We found out that we all look forward to researching the similarities and differences of the Art Nouveau movement in each country respectively and enjoying artistic ideas that will be a source of inspiration for everyone involved.
The mentor of this Erasmus+ project at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium is Alenka Battelino, teacher of English.
The teacher of German in St. Stanislav’s Institution, the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium Irena Bolta participated in a course on methodology and German language teaching, which took place from 18th -29th August 2014 in Regensburg. The objectives of the course were to refresh oral and listening skills, update one’s knowledge in current German affairs, improve methodology skills and didactics in teaching German, and to benefit from the exchange and share best practice with colleagues. Six teachers had lessons from Monday to Friday (9.00 to 12.30 & 13.30 to 15.30), which included working with pictures, texts and films, talking about songs in the classroom and German products, thus getting acquainted with the youth and street speech. Besides that, there was additional programme in late afternoons and evenings in which we were expected to take part: a guided city tour, a Regensburg quiz, an excursion to Walhalla, a visit to a local brewery and the cathedral.
I benefited a lot from the course. I discussed different ideas with other participants and got plenty of useful teaching materials. I will try to apply these materials in the classroom as often as possible, especially with the advanced groups of learners. Some examples include various topics such as characteristics of the German language, healthy food, travelling, living in Germany as well as other useful materials for teaching grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.
I had a presentation of my two-week stay and the course in Regensburg at a teachers’ meeting at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in October 2014, another presentation followed in November 2015 at the International German Teachers’ Conference of Slovenia held in Rimske Toplice. Furthermore, I share my experience and the materials with my colleagues at my school and other German teachers in Slovenia I meet on different occasions. /Irena Bolta/
