Today was dedicated to the ETAs and their cooperating teachers. It was a day to get to know each other, share our goals and teaching ideas for the coming year, establish expectations, and other things of that nature.
Cultural Notes: 1. The Italian Ministry of Education is pushing to enforce a methodology called Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). It aims at teaching a content course using 40% Italian and 60% English. In this way, the Italian student will have the opportunity to be exposed to English in one other subject aside from his English language class. At my school in Rome I will be assisting in a geography class and possibly a science class later in the year.
2. After middle school the Italian student must choose what type of liceo or high school he wants to attend. There is a range to choose from: liceo classico (classic high school- focuses on latin, greek, and literature), liceo scientifico (scientific high school- focuses on math and science), liceo linguistico (linguistic high school- focuses on the study of foreign languages), liceo artistico (art high scool), and the list goes on. Historically there is a hierarchy among the different schools, some breeding better students than the other. For example, a liceo tecnico (technical high school) is typecast as being on the lower end, but according to what many of the Italian teachers were saying, there is no longer this large differentiation. It comes down to the individual student and not the school.
Highlight of My Day: Being around teachers who are interested in delivering quality education and enthusiastic about working with us.
Impara con me! stiamo divagando- we’re getting off track/ off topic
