What happens when DSD preparation leaves the desk and gets students moving, talking, creating and thinking as a team? You get days packed with active learning!
Our 5-day DSD Summer Intensive Camp, “DSD – Active for Success,” was designed for teenagers aged 13 to 17. The workshop brought together students preparing for DSD I and DSD II in a highly engaging and stress-free learning environment.
Day 1: The Exam Detectives
Students became exam detectives and worked together to hunt down tricky multiple-choice traps and uncover the strategies behind successful reading comprehension. Teamwork, movement and plenty of detective work included!
Day 2: The Audio Lab
On day two, it was time to listen, speak and create! Students explored listening exam structures and produced their own mini podcasts, putting their German communication skills into action.
Day 3: The Sentence Buffet
Writing an essay does not always have to mean staring at a blank piece of paper!
Students physically built their texts using modular building-block cards, experimenting with sentence structures, organizing ideas and creating stronger essays step by step.
Day 4: DSD Speed Dating
Students took part in quick rounds of speaking practice, simulating DSD exam interviews and using visual aids to guide their conversations. With each new round came a new partner, a new conversation and another opportunity to build confidence in speaking German.
At the end of each day, students shared their thoughts and feedback on Post-it notes, giving us a colourful snapshot of their experiences so far. And judging by the feedback, active learning is definitely hitting the mark!
Active learning requires fuel:
A delicious daily breakfast, lunch, healthy snacks, fresh fruit, and drinks were provided at no cost thanks to the funding of ZfA (Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen).
Day 5: The Diplomatic Gala
Day 5 was all about putting everything the students had learned over the previous four days into practice during a full dress rehearsal of the DSD exam experience. But there was one important difference: no exam pressure.
Then it was time for the Diplomatic Gala!
To welcome the guests, our students prepared a small exhibition showcasing the activities of the week and demonstrating how they had reached their learning goals.
We were honoured to welcome the Consul General Dr. Susanne Olberg, who presented our students with their workshop participation and completion certificates.
A proud and memorable moment for everyone involved!
This entire workshop was built on the vision, creativity and incredible dedication of our DSD teacher Tanmay Joshi, who created an experience that showed DSD preparation can be active, collaborative, engaging and confidence-building.
A heartfelt thank you also goes to Fachberaterin Irene Mrázek of the ZfA (Zentralstelle für Auslandsschulwesen) for supporting this workshop with her experience and dedication from beginning to end.
