Farwell ISL

What an absolutely amazing experience these last 3 weeks have been.  I will miss these diverse students and welcoming school environment a lot.  Today they all gathered up and surprised me with a book, card, and some Belgian chocolates to say 'goodbye'.  It was very sweet.

Here we have all the students in the school (minus two on holidays), my main host teacher, and me.  I've come to know them all so well and be so excited by their progress - I can't believe my chapter in their learning has come to a close.  10 countries represented in this photo! Talk about an environment that prepares you for real life!

Permission has been granted for public posting of their children's faces associated with ISL (by parents)

Each child & staff member wrote a farewell note. And it is accompanied with photos of everyone! So nice!

My time may be over, but my reputation as "the most organized person in the world" (- my host teacher) will hopefully live on for a while after I'm gone.  Here are some of the systems I was able to put in place in the Grade 1/2 class.  With my teacher's trust, I was able to employ almost any idea that came to my mind!

  

Symbols accompanied text to support students with lower literacy abilities.

Systems of organizing paperwork to help my host teacher.

  

Five different seating groups allows for mixed-ability & single-ability students to interact and learn from one another in different academic settings.

Job charts to increase student responsibility and teamwork skills.

I definitely feel I have had the opportunity to be useful at ISL.  From day one the staff respected my ideas and the different type of expertise I was bringing; I felt comfortable to take initiate wherever I could.  There was an honest and genuine relationship between staff that is unlike anything I have experienced in a school before.

ISL will hold a place in my heart. And to think, it's only been three weeks.

I can't imagine how much I'll value and miss the students and staff I work with over the years as a teacher.

xo

ISL Newsletter!

Each week at ISL the school sends out a newsletter and posts it on their website.  At the end is a section of photos that capture the weeks activities.  This week I made an appearance!  

Here I am working with a Grade 1 Italian student on the International Primary Curriculum unit called "That's Shocking".  I am explaining the basic premiss of electrical circuits, which we later acted out with another student using props from around the room.  Lots of fun!

I didn't blur out her face, as it is posted with permission on a public website already

The diversity of learners we have in any of the classrooms at ISL is fascinating.  Some challenges seem obvious, such as language barriers (as the children learn a new language).  But there are also some unexpected challenges.  

With students coming from around the world, they have all been apart of different education systems.  These systems follow different curriculum, instructional focus (ex. play-based, reliance on drills), approaches to math or science (ex. the way we do division), etc.  The students often move around a lot so any student may have been a part of multiple systems in different countries.  Two students joined the primary class in January, one at the beginning of March, and one will join next week.  This brings the total students in the class up to eight.  But as you can see four students were in different systems within this instructional year.  This leaves gaps and repetition in the topics they have covered.

The teachers are so great at trying to piece it all together, but it brings a whole new meaning to concept of differentiated instruction.

This has been such an interesting experience so far and I still have 1 week to go.

Jaunt to Gent!

On my Wednesday afternoon off, Scott and I took a train to the city of Gent.  We explored some of the famous sites and soaked up some sun.

Gravensteen Castle

  

    

A local artist had set up an exhibition in one of the dungeons and we were able to talk to him about his work.  That photo shows him with the city he made out of cardboard.  It took him over 300 hours!! …. And Scott almost knocked it off its "stand" of toilet paper rolls.

View from the top of the Castle over the city!

Tierenteyn Mustard Shop

An amazing little shop making mustard since 1790.  You can see it being poured into a jar for Scott.

   

St. Nicholas Church

We couldn't have timed our visit here better.  As we walked towards the centre of the church, the organ player began to fill the church with beautiful music!

It is one of the oldest landmarks in Gent, as construction began in the 13th century!

St. Bavo Cathedral

No photos allowed, but I snuck a few.  They don't capture how massive and elaborate it was!

     

Around Town!

   

My Allergies are in Full Bloom.

This unseasonably warm weather has been great for the plants and trees to begin blooming, but my sinuses are not feeling as beautiful.  I tried some Belgian medicine, but it has not helped.  So I have switched to some Reactine that Mark kindly gave me from Canada.

This is a tree 1 block from Jeremy and Scott's apartment.

Overcast Saturday

This morning Scott, Jeremy, Mark (friend of theirs) and I had breakfast at the apartment.  Jeremy and I went to buy some cheese at the grocery store and some fresh bread from a "warm bakery".

Later, Jeremy headed to the office and Scott and I went exploring.

We saw some baby lambs at Keizersberg Abbey which also had breathtaking views over the city.  I can't imagine how beautiful it will be on a sunny day.

 We also saw the Leuven Karnival (all 50 floats)!

       

We caught so many random things that people on the floats threw onto the streets. Candy, apples, pins, napkins, and of course a Belgian waffle.

My favourite photo of the week:

  

Wednesday Afternoon!

The school bell rang at 12:15pm, and class was over at ISL for the day.  I can definitely get used to this Belgian practice of Wednesday afternoons off.  I spent a few hours of the afternoon hanging out with Curtis, then I walked with him to his class.  I took a quick photo on my iPhone of the KU Leuven Undergraduate Library and famous Totem statue before starting a sightseeing jog.  It is much easier to jog around these beautiful streets then get on a glum treadmill in Canada.  And I am very happy for the unusually high temperatures!

I hope you are all enjoying your Wednesdays! The week is halfway done.

xo.

Curtis' Kot

Curtis' mystery man cave is finally revealed. Just for you Brenda.

       

The main floor has 2 bedrooms (1 is where Curtis used to live), the kitchen, bathroom and terrace entrance. The first picture is of the second floor hall.  The bottom staircase leads straight to Curtis' door and the top one leads up to one more room upstairs (where Curtis dreams to live).  The second picture is the first glimpse into Curtis' Kot.  It costs under $400 Canadian each month with utilities, internet, everything included.

  

I even took some creeper shots of the bathroom.  There are two rooms at the back of the house, one for toilet and one for shower.  The toilet room has dutch-english translations on the wall.  I guess that's where they practice… lol

  

       

And at last Curtis, getting ready for class after an afternoon of cooking and cleaning.  It is his friend's birthday tonight so he is having a few people over before heading out to a party.  As he is in class his Moroccan vegetarian dish is brewing in his crock pot.

International School of Leuven

It's just approaching 10:30pm here and I am about ready for bed.  Tomorrow will be my third day at ISL and I am already deep in the different experiences offered by this alternative practicum.  

For starters, I only go to school until noon tomorrow!  The Belgian education system still honours the historical practice of Wednesday afternoons off.  Students used to attend their local parishes during this time for religious education, but its function has changed to a time for sports or family.

I have spent the majority of my time in the primary (Grade 1/2) classroom.  There are 7 students in the class, representing 6 countries around the world; United States, Poland, Vietnam, Japan, India, and Italy.  And the teacher is from England.  So it is a very diverse place to be.  The students follow the IPC (International Primary Curriculum) which has been an interesting point of comparison to the Ontario Curriculum.  They are all very well behaved and can move along fairly quickly with the small class size. 

Today I taught my first "lesson" to the two students studying Grade 2 math, where they were learning multiplication and division.  It was very last minute so I relied on the notes in the textbook and basic use of manipulatives (linking blocks), but the students were still very engaged.  I predict I will be continuing to teach these two students math for my time here, but with a little more planning next time.  I am really enjoying my time in the class. "Miss Cathy", the classroom teacher, is very friendly, flexible and trusting of the support that I can offer the class.  I am sure there will be a lot for me to learn in the primary class!  And hopefully I will have some things to offer them.  To that end, I stopped by the hardware store today.  For 2 EU$ I bought some pieces of pipe to make a "whisper phone".  We use these things in Canada to help early readers hear themselves (increase fluency and comprehension; especially when sounding out the letters) without disturbing the class.  One student in the class is considerably delayed to her peers' literacy abilities.  I hope that this common "tool" from the Ontario elementary classroom will help her.  We shall see!

Monday afternoon I had a short experience in the Kindergarten classroom, which also has 7 students.  The teacher is new to the class (taking over a maternity leave) so I was just offering extra supervision support outside.  The only other class at ISL is the Junior (Grade 3/4) class, which has 2 students!  So with 16 students and 3 full-time teachers it is a small school but full of opportunities.  As the ISL building is built, they share facilities with a local Dutch school.  So during my yard & lunch duty I have been exposed to those students as well.

This photo is outside of the ISL gates.  On Sunday we biked over to the school so I could get to know the area.  It is about 15 minutes from Jeremy and Scott's apartment by bicycle, but until I get more organized I have been taking the bus (also 15 minutes).

Good night! xo

Leuven Beginnings!

        

Jeremy picked me up at the airport and led me by train and foot to the apartment.  We walked through Leuven and I got my first peak at the beautiful city.  Above is Jeremy (wheeling my suitcase.. yay!) and the other photo is of City Hall.  Later that day I tried to fight my jetlag; Jeremy, Scott and I ventured around Leuven and the surrounding areas on a 5 hour walk.

Jeremy & Scott's living room with great views.  We can see St. Gertrudes church, which is praticularly beautiful lit up at night.

  

The famous "Totem" statue.             I also found Curtis! Will see him more later this week!