Hello, my name is Annika. I am currently in my 9th semester of studying special needs education, focusing on intellectual disability. I like the challenge of explaining the world in an easy way, trying to make knowledge accessible to everyone. My studies aim for teaching older students in secondary school levels. I’m passionate about languages and cultures which is why I’ve added a certificate in teaching German as a second / foreign language, I hope to be able to go abroad as a language teacher.
One experience that immediately came to mind: When I was homeschooling three children in Haiti after graduating from school, I asked one of the children a question as part of the lesson and he just stared at me. I repeated the question and eventually got upset with him for not answering in any way – or so I thought. It turned out he was saying “I don’t know” by using a hand gesture that I hadn’t been aware of. I tried to be more patient and observing from then on and also asked him about common hand gestures.