Integrationsjournal Mai 2013 - Lehrerweb

I-JOURNAL Mai 2013
Roundup of Project 123
The end of the year is coming at such a fast pace. Everyone is in the annual rush to get things finished for
the end of the school year and a well-deserved summer break. Time really has gone quickly, and as I am
now coming to the end of my third year in Project 123, I thought it would be a great time to give an update
on how things have been progressing.
In the last article we spoke of how the project works, various fun and interesting lessons we did, and the
challenges involved in delivering an informative but fun lesson to students with special needs.
Just a Quick Recap
How are things running?
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Project 123 is the brainchild of Mr. Stuart Simpson,
who wanted to introduce the benefits of having
a Native Speaker Teacher to classes with
special needs or to integration classes. Vienna
has a fantastic Native Speaker Teacher infrastructure,
and through this project, we can now
reach these specialised classes as well. The
project is also specifically meant for First Grade
high school age groups or SPZ classes and students.
I took over from him in 2011, and since
then have had many wonderful experiences as
I myself have learnt, adapted and progressed.
Each year within the project different schools
are involved, as needs and timetables change
and classes move on, so there are always many
new faces at the beginning of each school year.
This year I have four schools (as opposed to
last years six) and I move between the four,
changing schools once a day.
In the last two years, I have managed to find
a rhythm with regards to the daily running of
the project. Once I have built up a good communication
with each of the class teachers, the
lessons run very smoothly. As I have mentioned
in previous articles, I do not teach according
to a syllabus, but rather discuss with the class
teacher what approach would be best for his
or her particular students. Sometimes I take a
whole class, sometimes just a few of the integration
students. Most classes I prepare my own
lessons, and in some the teacher prefers that I
follow the themes of the syllabus. So you could
say that the lessons are tailored for each class.