week 10 & action!!

Personal & Cultural

It was sad to come back after having a fantastic time in Rome and the weather there made it perfect! We landed in Düsseldorf Weeze around 8pm, was funny to think we had been in 3 countries in one day, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

This week a few of the flatmates were disappearing home for Easter and the Belgian girls even invited us but due to a course we had to take at the end of the week we could not go so it was going to be a quiet Easter here for us! It was sad to see people leave even though you knew they would be returning a week later, it proves that it will be tough saying goodbye!

We had a group trip bowling on Thursday night which was a lot of fun, especially due to the fact that when a yellow pin was placed at the front and you got a strike, your group got free shots from the bar. We had around 4 so it made the night worthwhile. After this we went into town to celebrate Okke, a Dutch student on the CIS, birthday.

Friday was Good Friday and we were unsure if places were to open late or not like back home. Ana, a Portuguese student on our floor, had her boyfriend over for the week and it was his Birthday today so in Portuguese style they prepared a dinner for everyone and it was so delicious, I even challenged myself to eat things I would not dare back home, like Olives! More of the Portuguese students came around for this so it was nice to spend time with everyone even though some familiar faces were missing. We had a good flat party and went into town to celebrate the night away.

Professional Development

On Monday we had a visit to Werkenrode Special school and it brought back memories from my time in Sandleford Special school back in November, it reminded me how I much I enjoyed that experience. I am normally a nervous person in situations like these but from that placement I have overcome the fear and I was looking forward to this visit. As we arrived we had tea and found out about the school from the Principal and it was interesting to learn that some of their students board at the school in special accommodation. The tour was given to us by the students as part of their assessment in English language which was far better than listening to the teachers talk as you could find out what they thought about being at the school. At the question and answer session, the Principal asked them if they had the choice would they rather attend a mainstream school or Werkenrode and it was so difficult to hear that 2 or 3 of the students said they would prefer a mainstream school or reasons like fitting in etc. This got to a few members of our group.

This week also saw the start of the ICA course we have signed up to do in Diversity and Cultural Awareness, similar to the DMU at Stranmillis. For the first half of the course we are thinking about our personal awareness and for the second we are training to become the trainers therefore after the course we shall be qualified to deliver this program which is very interesting. Many members of our group were un-keen to start the course due to the time commitment it required but after my first day I was really enthusiastic and curious to continue to see where the course took us and many others felt the same. The course is good because we have serious discussions and also fun filled activities that get us active in body and mind without realising we are doing so. Many of the activities we do can be carried out in the classroom and will be very beneficial to us when we are qualified teachers or on placement. We cover topics such as prejudice, discrimination, views of society, bullying etc.