E+ Portugal

Iván Seisdedos GonzálezInstitut Lluís Companys (Ripollet)

JOB SHADOWING

Agrupamento de Escolas de Santa Maria Maior

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May

May 7th

I arrived in Porto in the morning and met Diana from CRP, as well as Montse and Helena from La Farga School in Salt. We took advantage of the holiday to visit the city.

A bit of sightseeing

ARRIVAL in PORTUGAL

First day!

May 8th

Second day

Santa Maria Maior (The higschool)

First day at school

On our first day at Santa Maria Maior School, we met Cláudia, one of the responsible persons for the school library. She showed us the school (which was expanded a few years ago) and the library, and briefly explained its functioning and its participation in the School Libraries Network.

Escola Secundária de Santa Maria Maior

We introduce ourselves

Check the presentation!

May 8th

Second day

After a short break, we attended a Spanish class with tenth-grade students (15-16 years old). Helena, Montse, Diana, and I gave a class about some traditions of Catalonia, as well as their education system and language. We organized an activity with the students, where we played the song "Músic de carrer" by Txarango, and gave each student a fragment of the song. Then, they had to group up with other students who had the same fragment and translate it into Portuguese and Spanish. It went very well!

Interview

May 8th

Second day

At the third hour, we visited the audiovisual classroom. The school has a project dedicated to recording a TV program (TV Maior). There, a student conducted a brief interview with us so that it could be included in the next news broadcast. She was as nervous as we were, as it was her first report, but it turned out great! After lunch, we attended a reading club organized by Clàudia with 10 volunteer students. Helena and Montse read a book in Catalan (Sandokay). The rest of the students presented the readings of two different authors: José Saramago and Alfonso Cruz.

After finishing, we went to visit Braga. We did a bit of sightseeing in this beautiful town and ended with dinner in Praça da República.

Sightseeing Braga!

Workspace for students

First floor

Primary years programme books

Dutch children's books

Ground floor

Middle years programme books

First floor

Ground floor

May 9th

Third day

Second day of job shadowing in Viana do Castelo. We began by visiting Do Carmo School, where students attend the first four years of education (from 6 to 10 years old). Nelma and Carlos (the principal) welcomed us and showed us around the school. Then, we attended an English class with fourth-year students. After that, we had lunch with the teaching staff and got to know the rest of the teachers. Finally, we met with Florbela, the school library coordinator, who explained its functioning and some of the projects they are involved in.

FROM 1ST TO 4TH GRADE

DO CARMO SCHOOL

May 9th

When we finished in Do Carmo School, Nelma accompanied us to Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires School, where she is the library coordinator. There, she explained how the library is organized and works, and we were able to observe a French class held in collaboration with the library.

FROM 5TH TO 9TH GRADE

FREI BARTOLOMEU DOS MÁRTIRES

The third library!

Ponto do Lima...

To end the day on a good note, we visited Ponte de Lima, one of the oldest towns in Portugal. We strolled through its streets and gardens and crossed the Lima River over its famous Roman bridge.

May 10th

Fourth day!

Third day of job shadowing. During the first few hours, we attended two Spanish classes, one with 17-year-old students and another with 18-year-olds. We gave our presentation on Catalonia and it went quite well, especially in the second session where the students even sang in Catalan. And speaking of singing, one of the students treated us to a mini live concert (she had a beautiful voice) and told us she was going to audition for The Voice, which would be held in Portugal in August. Next, we attended a Portuguese Literature class. There, the tenth-grade students and the teacher had prepared a presentation on some of the most relevant authors in the history of Portuguese literature. I found it fascinating and took note of some authors that I could work with in the Universal Literature subject.

and studtents

We are teachers

Books in the classroom

After lunch, we headed to the Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires school, where Helena and Montse did a reading aloud to seventh-grade Spanish students. Finally, we ended the day in a citizenship class where we observed the "Book in Hand" project, which involves reading a book during the first 10 minutes of class.

In the afternoon, we went back to Spain! But only for a few hours... We traveled to Vigo, taking advantage of its proximity, to enjoy a walk through the old town and a great dinner.

¡Hola, Vigo!

Workspace for students

First floor

Primary years programme books

Dutch children's books

Ground floor

Middle years programme books

First floor

Ground floor

May 11th

Fifth day!

Although we still have one more day of job shadowing, today is our last day at the school (tomorrow, they have prepared a city tour for us!). We started the day at the Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires School. We attended an English class and witnessed how they work on the "News of the Day" project. They read an article about healthy food and took the opportunity to work on vocabulary related to the topic. After this, we returned to the Maria Maior Institute to attend a book debate at the Maior Library. This debate was part of "Miúdos a votos", a very interesting national project that has the library as its main axis. It consists of groups of students choosing a book to present at national "elections". The group must read and work on the book in depth, create an advertising campaign around it, and defend it in a debate to win the votes of the entire population and become the "best book". The staging of this debate was so well done (with moderators, cameras from TV Maior, audience...) that two Dutch librarians, who were in Portugal observing different library projects, and two university professors from the communications field attended to watch it.

Last day in the school*

May 11th

Fifth day!

Afterwards, since we had some free time, we went to the municipal library to check its size and organization. It was huge! Then we returned to the Frei Bartolomeu School to attend a gardening workshop. It was pretty cool. They let us plant a small tree and gave us some rosemary to plant at home (hopefully it will survive the trip back in our suitcases). To end the day, we met with the rest of the language faculty in the center's library. There, they asked us many questions about our educational system and project-based learning. We also took the opportunity to ask them many questions about their projects. We learned a lot from each other. At the end, we said goodbye to Clàudia and Nelma (we'll see them tomorrow) and thanked them enormously for the great work they did as mentors for this job shadowing. It has been an incredible experience working with them. Unbeatable!

How do the teachers coordinate?

Diocesan Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Santuário do Monte de Santa Luzia).

May 12th

On our last day of Job Shadowing, the twelfth-grade Spanish students prepared a guided tour of Viana do Castelo for us. We met with Huguete and her students at Praça da Liberdade at 9:00, where we started the tour with the first explanations. From here, we went up the main avenue with Santa Luzia at the top of the city. We ended with a visit to the Museu do Traje, where we could see traditional costumes from the area.

Tour for Viana

It's time to say goodbye

Sixth day

May 12th

After finishing the tour, we went to Porto to spend the afternoon visiting some new areas that we couldn't see on the first day. After lunch, we accompanied Diana to the airport (have a safe trip!) and returned to Viana, where we had a pleasant dinner at Huguete's home with her and her son.

In the afternoon...

It's time to say goodbye

Sixth day

May 13th

Last day

Enjoying our last hours

Free time

Last day in Viana... time to start packing because today we fly back to Barcelona. We leave with a mix of emotions. Very happy for the whole experience, as we have learned many useful things and have felt very welcomed at all times. But also, very sad for the end of this Erasmus. Até breve, Viana!

Thanks!

“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”