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Affiliation with educational networks
- University of Kardynal Stefan Wyszyński, Warsaw - teacher of English as a Foreign Language
- FRSE (National Agency responsible for Comenius projects) - I have created and coordinated a number of school projects
- Organisation ‘Dzieci Niczyje’ - I have coordinated our school’s participation in the organisation’s campaign on Cyber Safety, including mobility activities such as student participation in international workshops and conferences
- University of Cambridge, ESOL examinations - I have participated in international conferences organised by Cambridge ESOL and have prepared numerous students for ESOL exams
- Nauka Bez Granic (2009-2010) - european educational project, I have assited in implementing project workshops into school’s curricular activities
- Longman and Oxford Publishers - I have implemented in my work course books and other language materials published by these publishers and taken part in numerous training sessions the publishers organise regularly
Work information
Occupation or position currently held
Teacher of English as Foreign Language (beginner to upper intermediate level, primary and lower secondary students)
Techer of Spanish as a Foreign Language (beginner to lower-intermediate level, lower secondary school)
Coordinator of Comenius projects and other international ventures (currently coordinating a bilateral Comenius project ‘The Open Doors of Europe’ with a school in Austria, Laa).
The above mentioned international projects always include mobility acitivities for teachers and students. Preparation for these mobilities often require providing additional language training, assistance in preparation of speeches and presentations, providing a code of behaviour and a cultural know-how to students and teachers for whom an international exchange is a new experience. I have been responsible for organising and implementing the above described preparatory process since I joined the school in 2001.
Translator of English, Spanish and Portuguese, The Warsaw Film Festival
Name of employer
Zespół Szkół Podstawowej nr 10 and Gimnazjum nr 27 STO ; primary and lower secondary schools Ostrobramska 72, 04-175 Warsaw
Country of employment
Poland
Education and training
BA in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (King’s College London)
Teaching Course, Warsaw
Postgraduate course in Interational Studies, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile
Postgraduate course in Translation, PUCI, Rio de Janeiro
Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), Cambridge ESOL
DELE (Diploma de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera), Basic and Advanced level
Certificate of European Project Management
Language skills and competences
Mother tongue(s): Polish
Other language(s): English, Spanish, Portuguese
Contribution to the project
I have always sought to involve both our primary and secondary pupils in all our international projects. The choice of the subject, activities and tasks allowed the participation of students whose language and performance skills varied from weak to excellent. Our aim has always been to make the most of their talents and enthusiasm and encourage them take part in an experience which involved international communication and cooperation. As result the activities involved a highly inter-curricular approach. So far we have embarked on subjects such as environmental studies, human rights, the rights of the Child, child soldiers, national heritage, national traditions, customs and cuisine, folklore, arts, dance, tourism, professional development, migration and effective of methods of learning and teaching.
All projects provided our students and teachers with unique opportunities to develop their language skills by exposing them to authentic communication in a foreign language rather than to the artificial one in the classroom. I am a strong believer in the effectiveness of such an experience in building my learner’s motivation to improve his/her command of the language.
This conviction has lead me to pursue other opportunities for our pupils and teachers that involved mobility and communication in the languages taught in our school. Apart from taking part in regular school exchanges as part of Comenius projects, our pupils and teachers have also participated in international conferences on Cyber Safety and international conferences on Cambridge ESOL examinations. Our students and modern language teachers have been taking part in numerous educational workshops conducted by foreign guests and native speakers of the languages taught in our school. We are also great fans of theatrical plays in their original language.
Among other tools to motivate our pupils to learn foreign languages and develop their language skills, are foreign language certificates (such as Cambridge ESOL exams). Teachers, students and parents see these examinations as a useful method of assessment that is of international recognition. In the times of intensive migration movements, such certificates can be of great value and passports to education and work abroad.
Another means of certifying progress in language learning are Language Portfolios. Our experience shows they are particularly popular among younger learners. Making them more attractive to older learners could a challenge to be undertaken in this project. We are looking forward to sharing our experience in the areas described above as well learning how to maximize further the effects of our professional work.
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