The UK NSS accompanied 5 language teachers to the sunny side of the Alps from 19-22 April. Getting there was very straightforward and had the added bonus of arriving in Trieste Italy and then crossing the border into Slovenia. A slight panicky moment ensued when we realised that all passports had to be showed at the border control. As we approached one passport was still somewhere in a bag way at the back of the minibus... If you've seen the film Little Miss Sunshine you'll appreciate the hysterical comedic moment.
On the first evening we listened closely to a little history of how Slovenia came about during the turmoil of the early 1990s. An extract of their new friendly national anthem was read aloud proudly to demonstrate how things have moved on in a spirit of cooperation. Then we shared traditional food and drink from all around Europe. Oh...a word of warning, the potent alcohol from central Eastern Europe is not for the faint hearted. After trying all the European delicacies we returned to our hotels for a good night's sleep. Well earned after a getting up at 4am...
The next day we had a good introduction to eTwinning from Anne Gilleran of the CSS. It was explained where eTwinning fits in to the new life long learning programme. It was very apparent that Comenius school partnerships and eTwinning work very, very well together. Next came the highlight of the workshop. Ewan McIntosh got us all fired up with a superb presentation 'Tomorrow's teaching is today' on how to use emerging technologies in the classroom. You'll find more details on his blog from 22 April and further ideas and resources for language teachers can also be found at Learning and Teaching Scotland's Modern Foreign Languages Environment.
The next 2 days continued with a range of interactive workshops. Learning by Blogging, Podcasting and Moodle were very popular. The last afternoon gave us the opportunity to take in the turquoise blue Soca Lake before stopping off at delightful Kabaj winery. The combination of the super workshops, interesting people from all over Europe and warm hosts made this a great experience. You can find the report made by the host NSS CMEPIUS on their website.
I loved Slovenia - the second, but certainly not last time that I'll go there.
Here's a direct link to an MP3 and notes that closely resemble what I was able to offer the MFL teachers in Slovenia. If only I had an iRiver with me at the time to record that version ;-)
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | April 27, 2007 at 07:45 PM