It was incredible! They prepared us a welcome party with typical dances, songs and presentations of the school. We realized they had been working for a long time for our visiting. We also introduced to all of them giving thanks for their welcome. You can see it here!
Also, students had brought to the school some things they had at home from Spain and they wanted to share with us. They called it “El rincón español”. Here there are some pictures of it.
3rd Day: “Carnival day”
I spent the first part of the morning with Alenka, an English teacher who was my tutor. We prepared some carnival decorations with children before the parade.
Alenka explained me how they usually work in class and typical activities they usually do during the year.
Then, we went to the break, I tasted a typical carnival bread roll and we went to the main door. Everyone was disguised, teachers, students, even they lent us some costumes. Also they have hired a group of people who dressed up like “kurent” a famous costume in Slovenia. Finally, all together filed through Lovrenc.
After the parade, we went to the gym, because there was a costume competition for all the students.
Also, this morning the major visited us at the school and Maria (the headmistress) translated us everything. He was very polite and he expressed his gratitude to us because of our choice to come to Lovrenc na Pohorju. Also he gave us some presents from Slovenia.
Finally, before going home, at the school they gave the prizes to the winners who had more votes.
4th day: “National teacher strike”
This day, we didn’t have any lesson because there was a national teacher strike. They called for a protest in Liubliana and the teachers went there. We were invited to join them and when we arrived to Liubliana, some teachers guided us for the city. It was so beautiful, there are lot of old buildings, we also visited the castle which was at the top of a hill and finally we walked by the river. During the visit we exchanged with them our educational systems, how we worked in Spain, etc.
5th day: “Typical Spanish food/ Famous sportpeople”
A special day! For the first lesson which was cooking, we prepared two Spanish recipes: Spanish omelette and torrijas. They had a kitchen where teachers usually can cook their meals but also students use it in these lessons.
A few days ago we told to Irena the recipes in English and also the ingredients that we needed to cook it. They translated them to Slovenian to make it easy for the children. In class we made groups to elaborate the two different recipes. Alberto and I cooked Spanish omelette and Mari Carmen and Almudena cooked torrijas. It was an amazing class, students helped us a lot and they understood everything we explained them in English. Also they were asking us some questions about words in Spanish and we also practice the same words in Slovenian like a “cooperative learning”. They were so curious and very participative.
Then, we went to another class where I taught them some words in Spanish related to sports because I am a physical education teacher. I showed them lot of pictures about famous sport players and a vocabulary related to courts, equipment, etc. They had to guess each sport people like Rafael Nadal o Mireia Belmonte and also words like balón, pista de tenis o piscina. We learnt it like a game and they enjoyed a lot.
After this lesson, we went to the gym to watch a physical education lesson. It called my attention because in Slovenia boys and girls don’t do the class together. There were two teachers, one for girls and the other one for boys. In my opinion this is not a good idea because if we want they can play together or work together when they are adults, we don’t need to separate them in physical education. If we do it, we send them the next message: “Women and men are not equal, they don’t should be together or play together because boys are stronger, faster, etc…”.
Finally, we went with teachers who helped students with special needs. They showed us how they work with them and their class. It was curious because they usually spend some hours inside the class with the rest of the partners and they help students who need special attention. Also, it was interesting because there were 3 teachers for special needs and they have more hours with each student than in Spain.
6th day: “Reading spanish”
This day we started with a Slovenian class where we could appreciate how they learn to write different letters. The most I like is that they work a lot in circles, just talking and listening and then, they go to their desks to write or review the contents they have learnt.
In the next class, we taught to the oldest student to read some texts in English because it is useful to know different pronunciations. They practice with lot of languages to improve their accents.
After this lesson, we went to a physic class. I loved it because the students had elaborated lot of games related to the unit they had finished just to practise in class the lesson before the exam. There were lot of different games, crossword, memory games, quiz, etc. They were playing all the hour and also the students were the coordinators of the activities they had done.
Finally, we went to a computers lesson. They were learning to program, something that I think nowadays is very important and useful for a digital society.
Before coming back to Maribor, Irena and Maria carried us to see the association of beekeepers of the town, association with a long tradition that makes honey and other products of the bees of the zone. They also invited some times to students to see how they work there. We saw the facilities and tasted some honey biscuits and honey cider. It was delicious! Also, the woman who received us gave us 2 bottles of handmade honey as a present.
7th day: “Tourism in Bled”
This weekend was to visit some cities that Marija and Irena have recommended us.
At last a sunny day! It was the first day we could see the sun in all the week. It was fantastic because we visited the castle of Bled which is on the top of a hill. It was very nice and also from the top of the castle we could appreciate the lakes and the island which is very famous there.
Later, we visited the Bohinj lake, with a lot of beautiful landscapes and we had lunch in a traditional restaurant.
8th day: “Postojna caves and Predjama castle”
Again a snowing day! It didn’t matter the weather because both the postojna caves and predjama castle were incredible. I loved them a lot! The caves had a spectacular tour inside the mountains. They are huge and the state of them is great. I strongly recommend them to everyone.
Then, we went to the Predjiama castle, which was inside the mountain too. It has a very curious history and we spent there at least 2 hours before coming back home.
9th day: "Sled day!"
During the morning we were in an English lesson. I liked it because students who had better results could prepare some activities for their partners. This day a girl had prepared a song with blanks that they had to complete. After the song, they practiced the irregular verbs with memory games in groups, something that in my opinion is more motivating than the exercise I did when I was young. In Slovenia they use a lot games to learn and I think this is one of the best ways to teach teenagers.
Then, we had a geography lesson and my partner Alberto made a presentation with some information about Spain and the main differences between Spain and Slovenia. To finish, he made a kahoot, an application that is like an online game where they need a mobile phone or a computer with the internet. It was so funny because there were about 20 questions and they had to answer in less than 20 seconds. It was a competition between all of them because they play at the same time. They really enjoyed it!
In the afternoon we went to ride the sleds with some teachers. At first I was a little scared because it was in a road and there were lots of snow but finally, I liked a lot and I did it again. It was an unforgettable experience!
Before going home, the major had invited us to have dinner with him. So, we went to a restaurant in Lovrenc with the rest of the teachers. The meal was delicious; there was a lot of food, everything typical of the town.
10th day: "Choir day!"
To start great the day we had a choir lesson with students who were part of the choir. They were rehearsing “despacito” song and they wanted we helped them with a part which is really fast. It was funny!
Then, we were in some English lessons and in a p.e. lesson. Afther them, we were practicing ski cross country and rode a snowmobile. It was funny too! Besides, students helped us with the ski cross country because it is an activity they practice at school.
11th day: "Sport day!"
This was a special day because there were a lot of sport activities. At the beginning students climbed at the gym. They also let some teachers try it and I did it, I liked it although it was a bit difficult.
After climbing we went to the fitness centre and students weight trained, made elliptical and treadmill.
Finally, we went to the swimming pool and children played different games there. Inside the swimming pool we could see the landscape with all the snow because the walls were made of glass.
12th day: “Staff meeting”
This day we had maths, it was interesting because they used a lot the new technologies to learn every subject, even maths.
Also, we were in another math lesson and the teacher spent a while with each student at the blackboard to review the contents which were more difficult for each one because they had an exam the next day. The rest of them had a lot of exercises and they chose the ones they needed to practice more. In my opinion this is a great method that we could use in our classes.
This morning there was also a basketball competition between 3 schools. It was nice because there were a lot of people in the stand cheering. The school lost the final but they played well.
In the afternoon we had a meeting with all the teachers to exchange our impressions of the visit and also to explain them how the education is in Spain and the main differences we had found in these days.
13th day: “Goodbye Lovrenc”
It was our last day at school. It was good and sad at the same time. The students were very grateful with us, some of them gave us a present.
We started the morning in a math lesson. It was about geometry, and one more time they learned it playing with different pieces making different geometrical shapes and analyzing their areas. In my opinion they saw it like a challenge so they were really focused on the task.
Finally, we went to the gym and we made different activities to say goodbye each one. We also sang “despacito” with the choir to the rest of the school. I enjoyed a lot but it was hard to say goodbye because they had behaved very well with us.
So, it was time to take the train and went to Graz because our flight was the next morning from Graz to Madrid.
To sum up, I would like to say that it was a very good experience where I think I have improved my English, and also I had learnt more tools to use in my classes to make my lessons better.
Thank you Slovenia, see you soon!