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Hi Andreas!

I think it is an excellent strategy to include refugees, while learning a new language.
The theme is also relevant because it is a very practical and necessary  matter.
I suggest the development of a dictionary with the new learned vocabulary, and its dissemination and sharing in the blog or school website.

Continuation of the great work!

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I think that this work is good

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Dear Andreas,

Well your driving question is interesting, which is great, I think. I am just interested in project time. How long it will last. For example, I choosed to use 15 academic hours, which is 45 minutes, from my subject practical hours. In all my assessments I am writing the same question becouse I do not understant the choosen period of time. At schools we have set time for lessons: for example, at your Learning Design, section the role play: it is 20, 60, 90 and 10 minutes, so total it is 180 minutes. Does your time has no restrictions.

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Dear Andreas,

Thank you for possibility to review your LD, to look at your lesson (project).

I read it very carefuly. Interesting idea, good activities.it was easy to follow planned activities.

I'd like to give you some advices to organize it more collaborative, to ask students to be more involved into the lesson.

First of all about the lesson outcomes. It's better to write the concrete things students will know or will have done at the end of the project. e.g. Students will:  1. know and use 6 typical and helpful phrases at the doctor's.

2. play a role-play.

The lesson outcomes have to me clear and measurable.

The next thing. When you start the lesson, it's better to start with some video or some pictures or audio file to ask students to think about the lesson outcomes. And then it's better to ask them to write down the lesson outcomes to understand what they have to do.

Good luck with your lesson! It is really good idea!

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Besides self-assessment I have also used group assessment: I gave them a number of points based on my observation during the working process (e.g. 5 students - 40 points out of  total of 50 possible points). Then they had to agree in the group how to distribute the points among themselves based on their individual participation and engagement. This acted out well although I also thought about fights within the group beforehand. So I have to say that the students acted in a very social way.

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Luckily, teachers in Germany are pretty free to assess students - as long as assessment was made transparent for everybody. When you want to assess a student, s/he must know before, what is going to be assessed, especially when it comes to complex tasks, such as group or project work.

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Create your visual business model or SWOT model with Canvanizer, business brainstorming blackboard, modelling tools

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View the interactive image by Kornélia Lohyňová

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As I have mentioned before in my Learning Diary, I'm not trained to teach efugee students in German, but still I'm doing it today. At first everything was new to me and I had to deal with various situations which I hadn't been in before - struggles among the different cultures, teaching German, new school, new colleagues, unpronounceable names ;)
But I knew that going throuh this is the only chance of working as a teacher at all, and so I had to cope with the new situation and after almost 1 year of teaching, everything goes well. Not perfect, but way better than at the beginning.

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Lesson plan is very clear, the aims are clearly displayed. Expected learning outcomes shows up in a structured way. Multiculturalism has risen to well up, could say also the diversity. Personally, I like the implementation of such learning, which is also implemented in learning by doing method.

You are currently using Team Up tool and team-building activity for collaboration, but you have not described how to do it. Obviously you are using the similar procedure as shown in our course material. Good job.

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Hi Andreas

I looked through your Learning Design and it looks well set up and planned.  I can see how it can work in your context.  It's a great idea in fact.

I am not sure about the amount of collaborative work involved in it.  I got the impression that most of the work can be done individually, or at least it does not effect the overall product at the end.  I think one of the important aspect of PBL was to set up something in which all the students had to contribute to the end product.  Will your end product be multiple role plays?  Will they be linked in any way so that one depends on the other?

As I type this, i am realising that even my own work needs to ask these questions, and its not easy to break away from limiting the students to a very closed topic, but let them open up and find their own solutions.

I think that your Learning Design has potential however.  Well done.

Thanks everyone for your kind and very productive reviews. I really might consider your suggestions and change the plan slighly.

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Currently I'm teaching German as a second language for refugee students, ages 11-16. They have been in Germany for about 1 year and have studied the language for almost the same time with me being their teacher. They are from different countries and belong to various religious backgrounds which makes it a multi-cultural mix of students.

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TeamUp

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FCS | Module 1 | Tool for Teaching: TeamUp

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Collaborate with professionals outside school is rather hard for a language classroom unless you teach German as a second language to refugees in Germany, such as I do ;)
So when teaching illnesses and a visit to the doctor's I'm going to ask a nearby doctor to visit us in class or we simply visit the nearby hospital to learn words like "Notaufnahme" or "Operationssaal".
In the further course of teaching I'll try to implement partnerships with schools from other countries that also teach German as a second or foreign language and to collaborate with them on further topics but also to share experience and materials als well as knowledge and other tools for teaching. Etwinning is the perfect plattform for this. I got to know it only about 2 years ago and since then I have been a fan of this fantastic way/tool for collaboration.

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By joining eTwinning, teachers and other school staff will become part of the 'Community for schools in Europe' and benefit from endless opportunities.

Collaborate with and get inspired by other colleagues in Europe

In eTwinning, teachers organise and run on-site and online activities with their students along with colleagues from countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme. They engage in collaborative projects with the support of the TwinSpace environment. National Support Organisations are responsible for validating user registrations for becoming eTwinners, thus keeping the platform safe, providing support and guidance, and recognising teachers' work with National and European Quality Labels. The annual eTwinning book features the most innovative projects. Excellent projects are rewarded eTwinning European Prizes and become part of the project gallery.

Share with peers

The eTwinning community is made up of thousands of teachers and educators who share a vision of inclusive schools, using information and communication technology in a meaningful way, and making the most of 21st-century skills. eTwinners meet and network online, at school, at eTwinning events and conferences, and wherever they can inspire other teachers to better educate students. On the European School Education Platform, the eTwinning area offers project kits, practice examples, testimonials, and an online environment where eTwinners can communicate, create projects, share, and learn together at their own pace in line with their interests.

Upskill together

Lifelong learning is essential for teachers and eTwinning community members benefit from webinars, short and long online courses (including MOOCs), self-teaching materials, conferences, and other on-site professional development opportunities where they meet experts in many fields and improve their skills. These events allow teachers to network, learn together, and feel part of the same community.

eTwinning also provides opportunities for future teachers to get support when starting their careers.

Promote and celebrate

Like all communities, eTwinning has key events. A yearly theme is the focus of two online campaigns - in spring and autumn - where eTwinners share ideas, plan projects, produce materials, and learn together. And every year on 9 May, the community celebrates Europe Day as eTwinning Day with activities that make eTwinners feel part of something unique, wherever they are.

Become a protagonist

eTwinning Ambassadors are the pillars of the community. They are selected at a national level, provide training and support and share their energy and enthusiasm, making eTwinning grow every day. Get information from your National Support Organisations about how to become one of them!

The schools that are awarded the eTwinning Schools Label are models of the principles that inspire eTwinning, shared leadership, collaboration and sharing, students as agents of change, inclusion, and pedagogical innovation. Stay tuned to see when applications open!

Anyone can become an eTwinning Ambassador, and any school can get the eTwinning School Label.

How to join eTwinning

Register as a user today on the European School Education Platform using EU Login ( access here) and request to be validated as an eTwinner by the National Support Organisation in the country where your school is.

What does the eTwinning platform offer?

eTwinners can network, share, and collaborate with other registered eTwinners and schools by connecting through the social networking features offered, and by engaging in Rooms, eTwinning groups, and European projects.

Rooms are micro-groups that allow eTwinners to take part in video-conferencing sessions supported by a forum and a file archive.

eTwinning groups are virtual places where eTwinners meet and discuss specific subjects, topics, or other areas of interest. Featured Groups are groups coordinated by the CSS and moderated by experienced eTwinners).

eTwinning projects include activities on different topics and key competences involving two or more teachers and their students. Each project has its own TwinSpace, a free-to-use, safe platform that is only accessible to other eTwinning members in the project, your selected guests, and your selected pupils.

eTwinners can also join the online professional development opportunities organised by the European School Education Platform. Some of these offers will be tailored to the specific interests and needs of eTwinners and be available exclusively to them:

Short online courses are intense and enjoyable and introduce teachers to a topic, stimulate ideas, and help them develop their skills.

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are 4-6 weeks in length and require 12 - 25 hours of learning time during this period. Participants are free to conduct the activities at a time of their convenience during the duration of the course. A certificate is offered upon successful completion.

Webinars are live one-hour long online video sessions where teachers have the chance to learn about and discuss a variety of themes.

Webinar series are two webinar sessions that are connected by an interactive online activity.

Online conferences and events are designed for and dedicated to specific target audiences and themes.

You are not eligible to join eTwinning?

Only school staff can join the eTwinning community. If you are not a member of staff at a school, you can still enjoy and network in other sections of the European School Education Platform free of charge. Discover all these opportunities here. eTwinners can invite non-eTwinners to specific projects.

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In eTwinning, teachers organise and run on-site and online activities with their students along with colleagues from countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme. They engage in collaborative projects with the support of the TwinSpace environment. National Support Organisations are responsible…

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Unfortunately, I have to admid that my answer to every question of the questionnaire was "No". Thinking about it I can find a reason for it:
When I set up group work in class, then I can answer all questions with "yes", but right now my lessons are mainly teacher-centered and the answers ought to represent a typical situation. As I have mentioned before in this Learning Diary, I'm currently not teaching what I was trained to teach, so everything is also new to me and I have to adapt my teaching practices to this new situation.

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8 Awesome Cooperative Learning Games - TeachHUB

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Getting students to engage with each other while still engaging with content can be tough. Explore our six awesome cooperative learning games.

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The picture below perfectly presents collaboration amongst teachers. It was taken during an etwinning project called "Make me a European" in Gdansk, Poland. Students and teachers from 5 different European countries worked together. The picture shows (unfortunately not all) teachers involved in the project.

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First of all what you are doing is amazing! The question perfectly fits your goal which will be useful in their real life

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Hello Andreas,

I like your driving question very much. I think it is formulated well, because it is non-googlable question, because pupils must learn the vocabulary and identify an illness to come up with the conversation at the doctor's. They will learn the new vocabulary, the symptoms, practice communication and other things.

Well done, Andreas!

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Hi Andreas, nice to meet you on this course. I hope you enjoy it and you will find the answers you're looking for.

Don't worry about your students, even if I must recon teaching is not exactly the same for this culture. I'm sure they'll be able to join you in a PBL and will be exited to work in a diffrent way than they currently do.

I like the theme of your PBL. Disease & illness is a real world problem and a reality for them. I hope you'll be able to bring it to an end.

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Dear Andreas,

good to know more about other teaching contexts. As we know, our teachning practice should be modelled on our students' needs and interests. Since you have in your class students coming from foreign countries, you should of course get to know more about their cultural and educational background and consider it what you teach. But at the same time, I think this should not prevent us from putting into practice new strategies. The students must be aware of the existence of different ways of teaching and you should let them know that there are different teaching strategies, you should describe them the advantages linked to these strategies, the underlying ideas. Not all strategies will be successful, but, if I were you, I would try to implement diverse ways of theaching and PBL too. If the students know more about it, if you present it as challenging, interesting and rewarding, then your students will have a good disposition and will be willing to expose themselves.

Ich wuensche dir viel Glueck!

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Currently I'm teaching German as a second language for refugee students, ages 11-16. They have been in Germany for about 1 year and have studied the language for almost the same time with me being their teacher. They are from different countries and belong to various religious backgrounds which makes it a multi-cultural mix of students.
I would love to try PBL with my advanced course, i.e. students who already have got a good knowledge of German on the topic of illnesses and diseases and what to do then since this comes next in our course book.

My driving question will be something like:
"Imagine you need to see a doctor, what do you think would such an interview at the doctor be like?"

My learning goals are:
- Students know the parts of the human body.
- Students know common illnesses.
- Students know how to express their symptoms.
- Students create an interview 'at the doctor's'.
- Students practice their communicative skills.
- Students from various cultural backgrounds work together on one project.

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How to Write Effective Driving Questions for Project-Based Learning

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Good driving questions are written to help guide the teacher and the student.

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Most challenging are the 2 keys:  student driven and musltifaceted assessment. So far I personally couldn't manage to let go. Teaching time is precious time and during PBL - so far - I'm afraid that I waste this precious time, which is of course no wasted time at all, but it feels like it, because I'm not in control of what happens. And since I'm not in control of what happens, I'm also not in control of what to assess. That is one reason I haven't tried PBL so far, but I'm looking forward to developing myself and my teaching. Tha's why I'm in this course ;)

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Reflecions on our current teaching practice

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Reflecions on our current teaching practice

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As mentioned before, I'm currently not teaching the subjects that I was trained for, so actually all I do now is more or less "trail and error".
Of course, I try to make my lessons as interesting, student-centered and engaging as possible. I set tasks that are pretty straight forward so that no other solution is possible. In language teaching this is just what I'm used to.
So my role is a dominant one in the class, because there is hardly a moment when I'm not around explaining things, improving students' answers and helping.
Students are always involved in some sort of task, sometimes I even think that I push them too hard, but the group is pretty noisy and it is my way of keeping the volume in class low.
Unfortunately I haven't used PBL in this class yet. I would love to but so far I don't know how the students would respond. A lot of my students come from an arabic country where school is said to be pretty straight forward, teacher-centered and without any time or even chance of breaking with the curriculum. So they are not used to this style of teaching/learning.
During this couse I will try some PBL-elements in my classes and see how they respond and interact.

I would love to try PBL with my advanced course, i.e. students who already have got a good knowledge of German on the topic of illnesses and diseases and what to do then since this comes next in our course book.

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The most striking challenges that I can think of are:

- technical equipment at public schools

- fixed time tables that don't make it possible for really complex projects

- teacher collaboration is, unfortunately, still not really happening in Germany

- fair assessment

- curricula are way to full to allow PBL.

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PBL = critical thinking + collaboration + communication

I'm looking for PBL ideas for the language classroom.

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Hi everyone! I'm Andreas Roßt from  Hildburghausen, central Germany. Originally I'm a teacher for English and Russian as second languages but currently I'm teaching German as a second language for refugee students, ages 11-16, at several schools in central Germany.