Short-term mobilities 2 from the sight of participating teachers of Gymnázium Jihlava
Mr. Pavel Suk, the director of Gymnázium Jihlava, has participated like accompanying person together with projects coordinator Barbora Voldřichová. He got to know the facilities of Spanish school which we have been cooperating with since 2009 and now we are implementing an Erasmus+ project which lasts two years.
This mobilit of students and accompanying persons was not scheduled in grant application. It was implemented by using the saved funds from the short-term students exchange which took place according to plan in the first year of the project. The director could see students in the last grade high school behaving in a foreign environment and communicating in the language they have been studying like the second language after English.
The days spent in IES Valle del Arlanza were dedicated to schools visit, paying particular attention to the schoolrooms for teaching technical subjects (analogy to work activities which are taught at elementary school in the Czech Republic), Informatics and Physics because of the approbation and focus of the director of Gymnázium Jihlava. They spoke about subjects filling, evaluation system, work in the classes, students creations and they compared circumstantes of Czech and Spanish school. They talked about the works option with students who live in Lerma‘s area, they go to school but the Spain isnt their mother tongue. The discussion about the above topics was between the director of the Spanish school in Lerma named Salomé Lozano, Raquel Araus who teaches the technical subjects and Spanish coordinator named Adolfo Retamero who teaches English. Mrs. Barbora Voldřichová, the projects coordinator and Spanish teacher at Gymnázium Jihlava, interpreted it.
The work on projects website and the activities preparation which will be realized during the stay of Spanish students and teachers in March 2016 in Jihlava were on the programme too. Meeting of project cooridnator, headmaster of Gymnazium Jihlava and headmaster of IES Valle del Arlanza with the parents of three Spanish female students, who are in Jihlava on a long term mobility from January, was also held.
There was even enough time for short trips around a Lerma. The goals of these trips were linked with the projects theme- music. The meeting with councillors of Lerma and knowing the new mayor of Lerma, Mrs. Celia Izquierdo Arroyo who supports the schools cooperation like her predecessor. The students of Gymnázium Jihlava were almost everywhere playing the role of translators. Because they are future high school grade it was a great experience for them, because they could check their language skills.
Written by Barbora Voldřichová and translated by Aneta Bočková
One week in Spain
On January the 17th we travelled to Spain. We were 10 people – 8 students, our Spanish teacher and our school headmaster. We left on Sunday morning from Václav Havel airport in Prague, and we flew to Madrid airport. All in all, we spent seven days in Spain. First of all, we spent two days wandering in Madrid, and then five more days in Lerma with our host Spanish families. We saw many important landmarks. In Madrid, we usually walked, but we occasionally used the underground to go faster and see more interesting places. For example, we saw El Parque del Buen Retiro, La Puerta de Alcalá or some more interesting squares. We went from Madrid to Lerma by coach.
The Czech students lived in the Spanish families and the teacher and the headmaster stayed in a hotel near the Spanish school. Every student lived in a different family in Lerma or in a village nearby. Every morning, we walked to school or took the bus. We were also in some school lessons and we could try how people study in Spain.
We visited the historic downtown of Lerma with the Spanish students, but we also travelled outside of Lerma. We visited the city of Burgos with its cathedral and some other things referring to the project. For example, the town of Santo Domingo de Silos. During our stay in Lerma, the teacher and Adolfo, the project coordinator in the Spanish school, sorted out several problems about the project, for example, the activities that the Spanish students will do in our country, what we have to prepare,... and we helped with the setting of the project website and we spent a long time with our Spanish friends.
The last day, the families organized a farewel party for everyone and so we could taste one of the most typical Spanish meals – seafood paella. But every day in Spain we met something new and all the visit was very useful. We communicated with the Spanish students, with the members of the families and we enjoyed daily life.
The whole week was ok and we had a great time.
Written and translated by Kateřina Střechovská
