Erasmus+ | Teach with a Twist, Engaging your Students with more Creativity

In December 2021 I was offered and accepted the opportunity to take part in an Erasmus Mobility programme in Berlin for 8 days in January 2022. My chosen programme was entitled 'Teach with a Twist, Engaging your Students with more Creativity.' This programme was held in Europass, Rigaer Strasse, Berlin, situated on the very vibrant East side of Berlin. We were a group of 8 students; 3 Spanish gentlemen, 3 Dutch teachers, 1 Hungarian professor and me. Our course was designed to introduce us to new techniques and skills in order to bring our teaching into the 21st century. The material we were to be introduced to centred around encouraging student creativity linked to Task and Project based learning.



Our tutor was a star. On day one we learnt the usual teachers for our course had all taken ill consequently our tutor for the week was a substitute teacher at short notice. He taught the morning and afternoon courses and did an amazing job. Professional behaviour was to the fore to be sure. We were a group of 8 students; 3 Spanish gentlemen and I do mean gentlemen who were teachers of various subject all using English for teaching purposes, 3 Dutch teachers, 1 Hungarian professor and me. It did take us a wee whiles to break the ice but I think is to be expected really.

We were a lovely group once our initial shyness wore off. We became even less shy with each other and more open and friendly after our first tour which was on a freezing Tuesday morning around the city of Berlin and the many amazing attractions and memorials within that city. We covered a lot of different topics over the 5 days. Hard skills, soft skills, The Vark Theory, Bloom's Taxomony, task based learning, project based learning, 7 methods of flipped classroom, describing a picture. However, there were few activities. We received a great deal of information over the 5 days and it was difficult to decide which information was related to the course mainly because it did seem that too much information was being offered. The course culminated with a lesson planning session and each group presenting their lesson to the class. The clear winners for all student's was the presentation by two of the Spanish teachers which was very personal to them. With our partner we chose our own topic for the lesson plan. These gentlemen chose 'Why an Erasmus programme is a special experience.'

The Saturday found my group and me in Potsdam along with the afternoon group of students mainly from Portugal. We had a wonderful day of being guided around a very beautiful wee city which was once the residence of the Royal Family. The sun shone and all was well with the world.

Martha Wareham

Erasmus+ info