Photo by Christoph Oberschneider
Two-weeks course for teachers of English in Dublin from the 3rd to the 16th of July, 2022 Josep Maria Companyó Pagerols
Sunday, 3rd of July, my first picture of Green Isle, just a few steps of what will become my new family host during the following two weeks. Admitting that I am ecstatic is getting short to describe my current mood. Eager to meet my hosts, to discover Dublin and to start the course “Effective English language teaching with digital technology”.
Photo by Yzerg
Monday, 4th of July, first day, initial challenge. 7 am, I need to figure out what bus –that in Ireland is pronounce like “boss” xD—should I have to take and which one is going to be my last stopover to arrive on time to my course facilities. Hopefully, our days we have a lot of easy piece tools to easy piece work out these old-days-challenges, I am using one App for the bus time-schedules and another App for live-tracking map, so, chances to get lost are really scarce. By the way, if both are from the same bus company, why do not merge in a single one? Who knows?
Initial introduction, each one of the teachers is doing an introduction, little biography, and expectations. It is going to be an amazing team, it is made with a very diverse range of profiles. There are a lot of different nationalities, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Germany, … Afterwards, we will have the chance to chat together and to make acquaintances with these new colleagues in order to explore new professional nets for possible new collaborative projects. The first lecture: “Irish Educational System”. Thrilling differences between our Catalan system, not everything is better, but definitely, there are some ideas we could adopt, and accountability is one of them.
Outstanding visit to many main sights of this beautiful city, conducted by a passionate woman, Ann Tomlin, a truly lover of History and well-knowledgeable of many many anecdotes and a lot of rich details about all the places we visited. She gave us a wide range of precious details about what we could visit the following days, she answered every question done by us, what an amazing first day in Dublin. So many things to see, so such a short time!!
UK Independent modern foreign languages & technology consultant. Former host of TES MFL forum & short-listed for NAACE Impact Award 2013 for Curriculum Support
Tuesday, 5th of July, the first of the four sessions driven by this committed and devoted former teacher, Joe Dale, currently a consultant around the whole of Europe, about the use of new technologies in the classroom. He shared this document https://bit.ly/3zmWre7 about all the apps that we are going to learn to use and we’ll build a personal project last day of the week to underline which one we consider more useful. There are apps perhaps more adequate for primary schools and others for secondary. But, as usual, it always depends on the teacher and the project in itself. During the morning he shared with us some of his experiences and showed us how to use some of the related apps. In the afternoon we had the chance to practice them again on our own, definitely, it is through practice that knowledge is acquired.
How to get involved in Celtic Ireland roots? Absolutely, one way, through the music. Where could we go? Only one place, one of the most ancient places to enjoy live music every day for the whole week.
The Cobblestone, Tom Mulligan’s traditional Irish music bar and venue. The Mulligan family have been playing Irish music for five generations, no one can remember back any further. Tom’s laid back and friendly pub is built on family tradition – respect for music and culture. Some of Ireland’s finest musicians, including Tom’s brother, the renowned uilleann piper Néillidh, lead traditional Irish music sessions in the bar seven days a week. The music is not put on for show. Musicians and singers hand on songs, tunes and skills that keep the tradition alive. Everyone is welcome. The Cobblestone is in one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods, Smithfield, one minute from the Luas stop and fifteen minutes walk from the city centre.
https://www.youtube.com/user/joedale100
Wednesday, 6th of July, second session with, Joe Dale. He pursued to explain several Apps from the previous document. He gave specific real situations where these apps could fit better. He introduced one of his sourcebooks and he recommended a calm reading when we come back home. He also suggested some bookstores in Dublin where it should be really easy to find it. Luckily for us, it is really easy to get it on the net, Teaching Unplug https://bit.ly/3biEAwK The title already gives us an idea about what is his approach to Education in our time. I have not yet had time to read it, but it is already to be on my list of things to do. Hopefully, sooner than late.
Andreas Gaul, on the right, and Grischa Weber at the bottom. Both into the Old Storehouse, as many of my new colleagues from this course.
The Old Storehouse, evening with friends. After working together now is time for some easy-talk and to share laughing time. Socializing is one of the parts of these programs, a perfect way to improve your skills at the same time you learn other ways to understand life, education, values, … every chance to get into other culture is an opportunity to be a better person and become a real human being. Be always open-minded!
Thursday, 7th of July, third session with, Joe Dale. Hard work with my new colleagues, excited about new tools and a lot of trials and errors. Sharing doubts is a way to growth together. He introduced another of his sourcebooks and as the other one, it has been easy to find it on the net, Translations by Brian Friel https://bit.ly/3JjRA1C We stablished that tomorrow will be able to work alone or with small groups, two o three persons. In my case I am going to work with Grischa and Andreas, yesterday night we talked a lot, comparing the German system education and the Catalan. Besides, they have different backgrounds, Grischa is working in a vocational high school and Andreas is more a “usual” high school. Very interesting for all us.
We went over to the pub called The Church, it really was a church in the past. No anymore!! It was an amazing Irish Dancing Show that our beloved Joe Dale twitted https://twitter.com/joedale/s tatus/1545135551296245760 ?s=20&t=QGgg1vlU31D-wkvX 7oSzwA Dubliners are very friendly, we met a couple, father and son, and shared a long talk.
Friday, 8th of July, the fourth session with, Joe Dale. Andreas is taken the photo and Grischa and me, laughing at the bottom, waiting for him to continue our collaborative work. Any excuse is a good one to avoid hard-working, xD. That was our final project https://bit.ly/3OV7WPu using one of the tools we learnt during the whole week, we decided to build a presentation, similar to this one of Issuu, but the idea was to practice with new tools. If you download it and uncompressed the files you will be able to have access to our impressions about some of the tools we considered more useful. Furthermore, you will have access to some ideas on how to develop in class, in this case, we use the French Revolution as an excuse. Probably it could be improved in some style format, but we were in a hurry to finish in order to make the presentation in front of the rest of our colleagues.
Tribute to Queen, thrillingly exciting, fantastic live performance. That night, my host family invited me, to Swords, to enjoy this fantastic concert. I sang, laughed, chattered, got terrific memories, and even more, practiced a little bit of Gaelic. This is the outdoors of The Chalk Venue, a fancy place to have fun with locals. In the photography everything is empty, on that night, a needle didn't have room on it, xD
Saturday, 9th of July, trip day, visit Glendalough, which in Gaelic means the merge of two lakes or lochs, if we follow the Scottish grammar. I have begun to ask each of the words of towns, places, and squares,... what are they meaning each of them; although it's hard because not everyone speaks Irish. This ancient place full of History, is simply, overwhelming IMPRESSIVE, Stendhal syndrome.
Sunday, 10th of July, free day, visit Trinity College, Kilmainham Gaol, and long walks over Dublin. I decided to book a guided tour at Trinity College, it definitely was the best option. The former student shared a lot of anecdotes and he allowed us to visit some places that usually are off the visit. The Book of Kells maybe it was a bit expensive, in the library worthed it.
Kilmainham Gaol if you are a History teacher or if you are in love with the seventh art, this visit is a must. Furthermore, if you are sympathetic and committed to the freedom of the nations, you will have goosebumps. It was very curious, on my visit, all the people who attended were from the USA, from different states, but more than fifteen people, and only me and the guide from Europe. Left on the bottom, is Saint George’s, in Chinatown.
Monday, 11th of July, in the morning, lecture on Irish History, Culture and Traditions by Ivan Robertson. Exhaustive lecture from the Prehistory to current time in Ireland. In the afternoon, Advance Language Practice and New Developments in the English Language, by Lucy Norris. Excellent talk with innovative techniques among teachers.
New week, some colleagues have already departed their homes. New ones arrive to start this course. Amazing evening in Swords, just a few meters from my host family. Beautiful landscapes, amazing weather.
Tuesday, 12th of July, in the morning, English Language Training by Damian O’Donovan. Practice using some chunks of words and some language collocations. In the afternoon, same topic, by Jonathan Sherling but with a different approach. Great communicator, we learnt and had a lot of fun while he showed us different Irish accents.
After classes, there is still time to visit a city with a lot of History. Dublin’s castle, up, and down the famously known Molly Malone, now behind Sant Andrew’s Church, do you know the song by Dubliners? https://youtu.be/q9 Deeh9n-VI
Wednesday, 13th of July, visit GPO (General Post Office), an iconic building and history museum about how Ireland gained its independence. Below, an incredible 16-story spiral staircase tower for just 5 euros to get startling views of the entire city.
Guinness Storehouse and its views from the top of the building. It is a must for lovers of this black treasure.
Thursday, 14th of July, long walk away on both shores of the river Liffey. Spectacular examples of architecture, Saint Mark’s Mansion House, South Dock, Convention Center, EPIC, … Interesting exhibitions about the current crisis in Ukraine, contemporaneous photographers, painters, … a lot of things that could be done in this lively city. Just taking into account the balance between what deserves to be seen more time and what could be visited again in another trip to Dublin in the future.
IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art has interesting art exhibitions and a plus wonderful gardens outside. At night Abbey Theatre with the play Translations, a huge challenge, some of the dialogues were in Irish.
Friday, 15th of July, last day in our productive, extremely worthy course. It has been amazingly great, for the content, for my new colleagues and friends, for the culture which is everywhere, fun time, … Absolutely, one of the best experiences I will keep in my mind for many years.
The Merchant’s Arch last dinner time with some of my friends. Some of them depart really early tomorrow morning, others still will remain during the whole Saturday, and sadly, I will depart at midday. Last laughs, last hugs, and the promise to see all of us again in some place in Europe.
Saturday, 16th of July, my lovely beautiful host family, Dan and Dinah McCormack. They were refurnishing his home but they took time enough to drop me at the airport and share last smiles and meaningful chatting time.
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Next time, let’s meet together in Dublin!!