Last term I brought my class in the elective subject “International cooperation” to a local high scool called “Sandvika Videregaende” to learn more about their teaching methods and to get an impression about how it is to be a student at this high school.

We met with the English teacher Ann Michaelsen. She was central in last year’s Connected Educators Month #CE14 activities in Norway. You can get an impression of her work on her blog Connected Learners.

My students participated in one of her English lessons, sitting side by side with her senior students while they were blogging about the upcoming election in Scotland at the time. Ann Michaelsen does not use textbooks in her classes, and their topics are real world events.

This visit was so inspiring for me. My class got to do an outdoors activity and visit a high school which is very innovative regarding the use of technology, and we saw what a lesson could be like with authentic learning with real world events. My students loved the trip, and that they could speak with the seniors 1-1 and ask any questions they liked.

This was a great inspiration for me too! You can find Ann S. Michaelsen on twitter if you were inspired too.
Sandvika videregående is situated next to the lovely Sandvika river.