Placement and University classes continued again this week with a short trip to Norway!
During my time in placement the teacher is encouraging me to teach more pre-school lessons with the children. I think this is because she is pleased to have a native English speaker in the setting and I am very happy to do so as it is all good professional experience. There does not appear to be as big an emphasis on lesson planning here as there is in Northern Ireland, and I hope to discover if this is a true reflection of other pre-school’s (or schools for that matter) in the city.
Therefore I taught an unplanned lesson about clocks and time this week. This activity included group activity sequencing numbers on the clock (the teacher provided me with a wooden clock where the numbers could be slotted in). I moved on to encouraging the children to create a group comic strip on the blackboard where they created a story, thinking about the times that things happen during the day. The children were engaged and listened well and we ended the lesson with an independent worksheet on time.
In addition to this, as Turku is the ‘European Capital of Culture 2011’, pre-school children in the city had been invited to see an orchestral play in the concert hall (free of charge). I attended the trip helping to supervise the children and enjoyed my first experience of a Finnish play. Although performed in Finnish, I was able to understand the plot. The concert hall was full with pre-school children and teachers and I think this was a lovely experience for the children.
With regard to University my Service System in Finland course has ended and I have some final online submissions to complete. I have enjoyed this learning experience as it has developed my knowledge of the systems in Finland in which I can compare to Northern Ireland. There seems to be a more relaxed relationship between students and tutors in all classes that I have attended compared to Stranmillis. For example, a one-week extension for some work was given for what seemed no reason, whereas back home there is a protocol for students to request this. The method of submitting work here is all through returning it online which I find strange but have adapted well to. On return to Stranmillis I think it may be a challenge for me to re-adapt to submitting hard-copy assignments and adjusting to the old routine, however I look forward to this!
· In addition to the above I briefly visited Norway with four other exchange students this week, and discovered that it is an expensive country yet very beautiful. Not only was I impressed with the surrounding scenery and lovely city of Oslo, but the Norwegian’s appeared to be more openly welcoming, helpful and friendly – seemingly different to that of the Finn’s. I was somewhat surprised by this as they are close neighbours. The people were also more inclined to speak and share a joke than the Finnish. Visiting this country was an expensive however excellent experience!
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