I had the absolute honour of receiving a bursary from the Okanagan Learning Foundation to help with my professional development. I am a language teacher and love sharing my passion with my students. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to teach on of my favourite languages, German, in recent years. I wanted to teach it again at my school and put in a course request. Happily, the class was full and I would be teaching it at my school.
However, after not having used German in a few years, my abilities were no longer where I would like them to be. I applied for and received a grant from the Goethe Institut for a German Teacher’s Course in Germany. I then had to pay for my flight there and I applied for and received a grant from the Okanagan Learning Foundation. I was then able to accept and attend the course in Dresden, Germany.
My new friends and colleagues from around the world!
I travelled to Dresden at the end of June and was there for two weeks. I was in a German language teaching methodology course with 15 other teachers from all over the world! I spoke only German and worked on improving and enhancing my oral German language skills. We did many cultural and interesting activities and travelled around Saxony (the area in Germany where I was staying).
The other teachers and I got to know each other very well and, as German was our only common language, we spoke only in German. We learned about our different learning situations and shared different resources that we felt benefited and enhanced our teaching. We got to know each other personally and formed lasting friendships. While there together, we formed a Whatsapp and Facebook group. To this day, we still communicate and share resources with each other. I find it invaluable and heart-warming to be able to communicate in German with people from Algeria, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Indonesia, Georgia, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Spain, and Namibia.
At the Goethe Institut in Dresden.
If I had not received the professional development grant from the Okanagan Learning Foundation, I would not have been able to take part in such an amazing and beneficial training program. I was able to use, improve and reinstate my German language abilities, which will in turn make my teaching more effective and efficient. While in Germany, I was also able to purchase and gather many different resources that are very difficult to find outside of Germany. (Easy German readers, workbooks, posters, etc.)
I am beyond thankful for the opportunity that the Foundation provided me, which was everything and more that I hoped it would be. I am reinvigorated and ready to give my students an excellent and relevant introduction to the German language. I can’t wait to be back in the German classroom with them and am excited to get to work!
Me receiving my certificate of completion from my instructor!