Special Needs: Profesional thoughts

In my previous entry I described what special needs meant for me based on my personal experiences. But now, I’d like to talk in this entry about my point of view as a  future special needs teacher student.

 I’ve been attending special needs lessons at the university for three months now. I must admit that it was challenging to understand most the literature provided by the teachers during the course. Luckily, my teachers have been professional and caring and they have made sure everyone understood what it has been taught. I remember one day I approached my Special needs professor and shared with her my concerns about being my capacity to be a special needs teacher. She understood my frustrations and explain to me that many people feel the same when they get started in this field. If I compare how I felt at the beginning of my lessons and at the end of the course. I can indeed tell that I feel less overwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I have now the tools and knowledge to understand what special needs takes.  I think when you del with special children you need to be very accurate with your decisions in regards of teaching plans.

I have had the opportunity to visit schools where they look after children with learning disabilities. I visited for example, the Kompetencecenter Kalvehave in Vordingborg Kommune. Here, I have to say, teachers do a great job. I was impressed by the teachers' dedication and commitment. 

Jeppe's studying place on the left. Julia's desk on the right.

Being committed to the job. The teachers at 7/24 committed to the students. They ensured that all children received what they needed. For example, personalised teaching plans and special working places.  We, as teachers definitely have a significant influences in pupil’s life. One can see the special bond that teachers and students have a this place. 

How can we teach special needs in international schools? I don't intent to answer this question. In fact, this is one of my main concerns as international teacher education student. I believe, that it’s easier to deal with children in a homogenous context. Because of the language and cultural background.  This reminds of a case that I saw during my teaching practice. I met a Chinese student. His name was Jai, he was in the 7^th grade. He recently moved to Portugal but he didn’t speak Portuguese or English. He was having some problems to fit in the class. He lacked of social skills, he couldn’t concentrate and he preferred to play with his I-pad. How can I help him if there are cultural differences between him and I.? How can I help him if we cannot even communicate? The teacher who was in charge of his case did an amazing job. She was totally committed to Jai. She used extra of her work shift to prepare teaching material for him. She treated him with respect and surprisingly she never showed a sign of being tired or frustrated. That’s why I have great admiration for those teachers who always find the way to make sure that no child if left behind. I remember one day I approached my Special needs professor and shared with her my concerns about being my capacity to be a special needs teacher. She understood my frustrations and explain to me that many people feel the same when they get started in this field. If I compare how I felt at the beginning of my lessons and at the end of the course. I can indeed tell that I feel less overwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I have now the tools and knowledge to understand what special needs takes.e of the language and cultural background.  This reminds of a case that I saw during my teaching practice. I met a Chinese student. He was in the 7^th grade. He recently moved to Portugal but he didn’t speak Portuguese or English. He was having some problems to fit in the class. He lacked of social skills, he couldn’t concentrate and he preferred to play with his I-pad. How can I help him if there are cultural differences between him and I.? How can I help him if we cannot even communicate? The teacher who was in charge of his case did an amazing job. She was totally committed to Jai. She used extra of her work shift to prepare teaching material for him. She treated him with respect and surprisingly she never showed a sign of being tired or frustrated. That’s why I have great admiration for those teachers who always find the way to make sure that no child if left behind. 

Special Needs

 Personal Thoughts

Havsalt √ Havesalt --> Doesn't Exist 

I'd like to start this entry by sharing some random thoughts about this topic. First of all, I must admit that i just recently found out how unconnected I was with the topic until I began my Special Needs lessons at the university. In fact I didn't have any knowledge before about the topic until I attended and observed some learning support lesson during my teaching practice. This made reflect on what the meaning of having special needs is, or at least what it meant to me. Well, I tried to come up with my own definition by thinking in personal experiences. And I can tell you, that I'm not too far away from having a special need. Am I diagnosed with a special need? No, I'm not. Do I have any relative having special needs? no, I don't. Have I ever felt different from everyone else? yes, for instance I'm left-handed and I struggle a lot doing crafts especially when I use scissors because most of the crafting tools on this earth are made for right-handed people. Therefore, it takes more time for me to cut a piece of paper than everyone else. It might sound silly for some people but for me it's an issue and actually it can be frustrating.  Do I experience things in my daily life that make me feel different from everyone else? yes, I do. For example, When I attempt to speak Danish and nobody understands me. Last week, for example, I went to three different stores asking for sea-salt (havsalt). No one seemed to understand what I was asking for. I did my best to use proper and well pronounced Danish. Therefore, It didn't make any sense that no one could tell me where this basic product could be found. However, I didn't realise what it was really happening until I went to the fourth super market and a sweet lady approached me and explain to me that I was mispronouncing the word sea-salt in Danish. She said that I was saying garden-salt (havesalt), instead of the right word seasalt. The two words for me sound very similar in Danish, that is why I have a hard time memorising new vocabulary.  So, I can tell you that not being fluent in a language is indeed a special need. It changes the way one perceives the things that surrounds him. It changes as well the way one approaches people and how one interacts with them. In other words, having a special need is directly linked to the circumstances that you made you feel that you can't cope with things that for others might be normal or basic. My perception of being disable has changed completely, because I have come up with the conclusion that everyone has a special need, everyone behaves and acts differently according to the context they're in. 

Teaching Practice in Portugal

       A couple of weeks I had to share my teaching practice experiences during the annual international week at UCSJ. It made me reflect in on all the cultural challenges I faced during 3 intensive weeks at Carlucci American International of School of Lisbon. I had the opportunity to participate in three different classes.

Carolina on duty at CAISL 

• Spanish IB: This was my first time teaching Spanish in an international setting. I was surprised of the high Spanish proficiency level students had at this school. My Spanish class have been learning for two years Spanish and I could have a conversation with them, without telling whether they were native speakers or not. I was amazed by the fact that Asian students who usually struggle the most with specific Spanish phonemes were able to say complex words with a good pronunciation. I tried to find an answer that explains the reason why students were so good. Firstly, The teacher was totally committed to her job. She actually was not a native speaker, therefore I assumed that it helped her to understand her students needs because she has been in the same position before. Secondly, there were indeed motivated students, who were eager to learn about Hispanic culture and thirdly the demands of the school regarding the academic level. (IB curriculum)

• American History. This was the second subject that I had to teach during my teaching practice. Wait, WHAT? yes, a Colombian student teacher who had to teach American history to 8th graders from more than 8 different countries. I could say this was the toughest subject I had ever taught. I love history but I never thought I had to teach something that I barely know like American History. Then, two main challenges came across. 

This is the course book I used to plan my lessons
about the French-Indian war

1. How to teach something that you don't feel culturally identified? I don't have any  American cultural background. I never had American history lessons when I was in high school. In order to understand someone else's culture, one has to reflect on how other's culture can be similar and different to your own culture. One has to think how other's culture has an effect on one's life.
2. How to explain a historical content without offending someone's cultural background? The homeroom teacher explained to me that sometimes you have to let pupils to construct their opinions about certain topics. She told me as well that as international teachers, we must always find the balance when giving our points of view. We provide facts and create spaces for discussions but we never give the final answer. In few words, teachers need to play a neutral role. I think this was my golden key to teach history. 

• Learning Support: This subject is also known as Special needs class was "the Spot on" of my teaching practice. I must admit I was really nervous to participate in this class because of my zero knowledge about the topic. However, after three weeks observation and one attempt to teach a lessons for ADHD students I can say this field is more complex that I thought. In fact, I could say that now I got more questions than answers regarding special needs teaching. One of the challenges for international schools in regards of special needs is the language learning. Being an non native English speaker is already a special need in an international setting. That's is why  learning support is an essential class for those pupils that are having behavioural and learning problems. The other challenge is the curriculum for special needs. Since all pupils have different cases, it's almost impossible to designe a curriculum that covers everyone's needs. What impressed me the most was the versatility of the teacher to include everyone in an activity in spite of the fact that they were around 6 pupils with totally different learning problems. I think teachers in this field need not only to develop creativity skills to prepare accurate teaching material but also develop caring skills that allow them to understand pupils needs. 

This was an overview of teaching practice experience. I must admit that this experience was a brand-new for me. The three subjects I taught and observed were undoubtedly fruitful not only for my professional but also for my personal development. In my next entry I would try to link my observations during my teaching practice and the theory given in my university.

Fake it Until you Make it!

Brenda Petersen

This are some thoughts about Brenda Petersen. She is an American Lecture who works at a prestigious boarding school in Næstved. She has lived in Denmark around 14 years and I can tell you that   I felt totally identified with her! I could undoubtedly relate to her personal experiences. What it meant for her to be a foreigner in Denmark, to be married to a Dane, to work in an international setting (in my case to study). I learnt so much from her personal experiences. She talked about what an authentic teachers is like. I think in fact she is indeed one of them. Anyway, it takes some years of experience before you can reach that level. You need to try different classrooms, different schools before you can define yourself  as authentic.  I am wondering now what does the term classroom discipline mean to her. She seems to be so relax and I strict at the same time. During her presentation, Brenda gave us a lot of tips that I will keep in mind. She mentioned that we should have a network. Keep classmates phone-numbers emails addresses  You never know when you might need them! and The most challenging one. "Teachers need to be neutral". Oh god! I don't know if I am able to do that. When you teach you're giving a piece of yourself to your pupils. It is not possible to be neutral. I think it will take some teaching experience before I can change my opinion. I could be fun to read this blog within 5 years to see if I still think the same. This is it by now 

My EFL CLASROOM!

For writing this blog entry, I had to sit and close my eyes for a while in order to imagine what my EFL classroom is like. First of all, I picture myself working in the primary school. I think it is a nice age where kids are willing to try new things and they say what they think or like. It is a fact that my teaching experience in Vordingborg has influenced alot my thoughts about teaching.
Second, I have to say that the main principle in my class would be: "For learning english it is necessary to be motivated and willing to learn new things". In my class it is relevant to use authentic materials because students need to see that language happens in real contexts. Besides that my class will include corporal expression, I think it is important that while you learn you can have fun by dancing or playing an active game. As a teacher I would ensure that all children are learning and participating. I would have into consideration that each kid has a learning style however, I can not promise that I will prepare a class for each one of them. Finally, regarding language skills, I think it depens on the class level. As teacher you observe students' needs and then prepare class to help them to improve whatever is needed.

Reading of "Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching" by Larsen-Freeman helped me to define which tecniques I will probably use when teaching L2.

What is my approach to teaching???

I was asked by my education studies teacher to write about my approach to teaching and I think this is the first time I reflect on it. When I have been in teaching practice I have been focus on how the classes are developed (activities and language learning process). Think this is a good opportunity to reflect on my approach to teaching not only a in foreign language teacher but also in my style and praxis in general.

I would like to start by saying that, when reading the chapter four from the book Approches to teaching by Fenstermacher & Soltis. It answered many of my questions about the teaching field. It helped me to understand different teaching ways and besides that, I could find myself identified with the Liberationist Approach. According to the authors, this kind of teachers have as a main goal to make the students to liberate the mind to wonder, to know and understand, imagine and create using the full intellectual inheritance of civilized life (2009).


I think when studying you do not only learn something as the executive teaching would expect but you also develop your human side as the facilitator approach has a main goal. I think there must be a balance between both. Therefore I would dare to say that knowledge is needed and human side as well to develop a critical person.

Through my teaching, I want my students to be aware of the knowledge I am offering but this doesn’t necessary mean that I fall within the traditional models, because on the other hand through the knowledge I want to offer something to make their lives different. I want to offer the key for them to begin to dream and be themselves.

Maybe at the end of the semester I will have clear ideas and therefore I will be able to ask myself about my approach. The teaching practice will influence for sure my ideas and opinions. This is indeed a good exercise to reflect on our professions.

Me & the English language!

English and I have a kind of relationship. Our first meeting was when I listen for the very first time a song called "Don't speak" by No Doubt in the 1995. I loved Gwen Stefani's voice, even though I didn't understand what she was saying. The language she was using to sing and I, had a kind of connection. With this, I began to be conscious of how much I enjoyed to listen to a different language. I found English language as the key to understand a new world.

Since any relationship has to be cultivated with love and perseverance in order to keep the relationship alive and inspired, I decided 10 years later that I really wanted to be an English teacher, therefore I signed up in the foreign language faculty in Cali, Colombia. Later on, I got my first job as teacher assistant in a bilingual school so I began to work and study at the same time. My world was basically in english even though I was living in a spanish speaker country.

As a average couple we have also experienced nice moments and sad moments: I remember once I had a job interview, and the interviewer said that my english was not good enough due to my latin american accent :(. but instead. I had an unforgettable trip to USA and I could meet the man that nowadays is my lovely husband. There was period where the english and I had a kind of crisis, it was when I began to attend danish lessons and I was so focus on it and besides that I began to work in Copenhagen as a spanish tour guide. Anyway I'm back, it has been a month since I began my university studies again, so English and I are both happy attending classes in Vordingborg, it has been very nice to meet new people and to be able to talk to them, it has been nice to keep on learning what I like the most.