1.1. Hamburg (GER)

1.2. Kaunas (LIT)

1.3. Reykjavik (ISL)

1.4. Rovaniemi (FIN)

1.5. Rzeszow (POL)

2.1. summary

2.2. joint activity reports

2.3. evaluation

3.1. feedback

3.2. peer evaluation

3.3. diary

3.4. photo evaluation

3.5. diverse

4.1. SEFES meetings 1-6

4.2. individual visits

6.5.2005 | 14:30

Iceland 

Web getting going again

Helllo everyone!
While invigilating I've been working on some ideas for the front page of our web - and I think it might be a good idea to create some kind of graphical scheme to make our mission & ideas visual. I've been very impressed with what's been going on in Germany and hope to hear about what the others have been doing! We have a meeting scheduled with our leaders here next week and we are really excited about that - you'll hear more soon, cheers, Ármann

Ármann Halldórsson

26.8.2004 | 15:15

Iceland 

Starting again!

Hello everybody!
I hope we will get into the habit of looking at the website every once in a while, that way it will become more interesting and we may have more ideas as to how to use it... I find beginning school to be a bit overwheling, exhausting and exciting! So many new faces with names to match!!

I have made a decision to change some fundamental aspects of my teaching and move in the direction of the humanistic and comminicative approaches. This is in many ways difficult in my school because some of my colleagues are seriously conservative! Since we need to have the same test for everyone this is a problem: my solution for now is to teach the same material; grammar rules, vocabulary etc. in new ways.... more on how this goes as the year progresses!

I bought a big stack of books for the project recently. I will bring those I find interesting to the meeting and report on some of the others. That's all for now, now I will put Sabine's report on the web. Soon I'll also put Rima and Asta's pictures from Poland in (that takes a bit more time....) cheerio, Ármann

Ármann Halldórsson

30.6.2004 | 10:45

Iceland 

Summary of summer situation!

Well - I must say that I find my former contributions here less than interesting, but I guess that's part of this form of writing - you let things out there and don't edit too much! Anyway, I hope you're not too disappointed with my work on the site. I have been having some trouble with it, specifically with the picture aspect ; and also with getting hold of Hjörtur who is the Web-guy. Sometimes I wander if it is was a mistake to adopt this system here, but, since they will be using it next year at Versló and Sólveig is now in on the project it seems to me quite clear that it was a good idea. Furthermore I think it is important to support growth in our countries so it's much better to use things made here than to do business with some corporations from America !

I have to say that I'm sorry how late the report on the meeting was in coming on, but I felt odd editing Jón's document because I wasn't there. If I continue in this capacity of maintaining the web I feel that it's imperative that I attend all the meetings and barring some extraordinary events nothing will stop me from that! I won't be moving again for another 100 years!!!! :-) it really drains you I must say...

In the beginning of June I was at a course with my fellow English teachers in Iceland with Hanna Kryzewska who teaches English in Gdansk , Poland ! It was a great experience and I got a lot of interesting ideas there. We worked in the areas of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and Multiple Intelligences among other things - approaching language through the different senses and intelligences. It was also interesting that we always took time to evaluate - but as the end drew nearer and there was more stuff to cover we got less and less time for this.

I plan to use some of the activities - I have yet to decide which - and I will definitely use that as a basis for my diary here. This might also be part of developing subject specific activities for our project which I think could be a good idea as we get going....

Now I am sure that we will all work hard on our goals next year and that there will be a flurry of activity on the web and that we will start to see some real changes in our classrooms as a result of all this as time goes by.

Best regards to everyone and I hope you enjoy your holidays, Ármann

Ármann Halldórsson

13.1.2004 | 13:38

Iceland 

Discipline

It occurs to me that in Iceland we have some problems with discipline that our continental colleagues might be unfamiliar with. I have now in 3I started a program whereby all those who show up without books must leave immediately. This seemed a little harsh in the beginning, but the funny thing is that they seem to be getting the message and in a class of 27 only 2-3 students have been bookless. In a way they also seem to be more attentive and organised after I put the rule into force.

Some teachers are stricter than others, and I must admit that I have tended to be in the more relaxed group. In some cases it would be good to have a clearer over all policy that would be backed more forcefullly by the school administration....

Ármann Halldórsson

8.1.2004 | 23:47

Iceland 

My first blog

Well - I have chosen the topic of my diary - a group called 3I: a 1st year English group who have just gotten the most miserable score I have seen in my life on their midterms... oh my god... Well: my diary will revolve around efforts to turn things around; in the spirit of movies like 'Stand and Deliver' and 'Dangerous Minds'. As I start thinking about this and writing it strikes me how extremely complex a process this job of ours really is - how many aspects it has and how much is really going on... My philosophical tendencencies (I originally studied philosophy, still teach it, and I work with the philosophical society in Iceland) nevertheless tell me that we should examine what we do: and self evaluation is of course nothing else than reflection on our professional lives; and like Socrates said: the unexamined life is not worth living...

Another problem is to what extent we should spend time explaining our own school systems or educational cultures. There is a certain risk that what is written will not be understood, and on the other hand the risk that what is written will be horrifyingly boring... I think we should keep explanations to a minimum and explain things as we go along as needed - as I'm not sure this will be properly saved I'm not going to write any more now: but I promise to write regularly from now on!

Ármann Halldórsson