Leuven, oooh Leuven!!! :D

Our first time in Leuven (October 2009) remember? :)

Hi, J

I don’t really know how to explain what my feelings are. I’m pleased to have gone to Leuven. I have absolutely no regrets about it; Leuven is really a beautiful city with a lot of kind people.

Initially, it is not always easy to be in a new environment; but by the time you’re used to it, it’s time to leave. That’s why I can’t say that I’m happy about coming back to Brussels. I know that I won’t be there anymore. But who knows? J

I liked Leuven. During my stay, I travelled to other Flemish cities to visit some universities and I didn’t discover much about their system since I already knew that, in Flanders, you could choose to study Biology and English, or Maths and “PKV” (Arts).

I have learnt a lot more about the methodology the teachers there use. I never attended a lesson in which the teacher didn’t use a PowerPoint or the internet. I think that most teachers in Flanders often use the internet during their lessons. The students who will, within two years, become teachers at secondary schools also use the internet and PowerPoint during their micro-lessons. For each micro-lesson they prepare a PowerPoint related to their topic.

I think that the use of the internet in class is really interesting, because you can let your pupils listen songs, check lyrics or watch documentaries.

I’m sure that if we used this during our lessons, our pupils would find it really cool and would be interested in it because they aren’t used to it yet. Flemish pupils are probably more used to this type of material.

When I had to give lessons with a Flemish student from Mechelen (Britt Cools), I prepared my lessons like everyone in our class, without thinking about using the internet or other media. Then, we found out that we had to give a two-hour lesson in the computer room. Britt suggested watching the DVD “Madagascar” because the theme of our lesson was about animals. This is what we decided to do and you could see that she had already worked with this type of material and her worksheets were extremely well prepared.

I think this whole experience (staying in Leuven and training) was really something special to me. I wouldn’t have found anything better than this.

I’m pleased and, if I had to do it again, I certainly would do it again. But I would find a student room in Leuven to avoid taking the train every morning and to fully enjoy the student life in Leuven. J It would have been great if we had had time to go to a B&B, but unfortunately we didn’t.

I’m not sure I have changed much but I know that I have some projects in mind which I hope will come to fruition.

I’m sure I’ll always keep this experience in my memory. I won’t forget this adventure with Sarah and Romain. We had a lot of fun there. We took pictures and took part in projects and that’s why I won’t forget it.

We will share more information about our experience on the 31^st of May… J Be there! J

With love,

Céline