CIDRE Portfolio

Name: Seema (See-ma) Anand (Aa-nund)

Born and brought up in India 

Immigrated to the United States in 2000

Teaching has been my profession always 

Taught in India for 14 years and completed 21 years in the US

A lifelong learner and a plant lover

A science teacher first and now a gifted specialist

Written Reflections:

1. Teacher Training System in Austria       

Initial Teacher Education (ITE)


ITE Providers: Institutional Setting 

     21 public colleges

     13 private universities

     21 universities of applied science

     14 university colleges of teacher education (PH) categorized on 4 geographical regions

    (NE, SE, Middle, and West)

University Innsbruck responsible for German, Maths, and Physics and PH Tyrol for vocational orientation, nutritional or technical crafts.

I also wanted to point out the differences between the teacher training system in the US and Austria. 

The minimum length of study for a teacher training program in Austria is for 4 years (bachelor's degree) plus 1-1.5 years (masters degree) while in the US some universities offer 5 year program masters degree with one year co-teaching alongside an expert teacher of a 1-year teacher residency.

Another difference is that in the US, there is a separate pathway for special education program while in Austria, there is no separate program for special teacher education, since inclusive education is an important aspect of all courses offered. 

However, students of primary teacher education may choose ‘Inclusive Pedagogy’ as a major field of study from the fifth semester, while students of secondary teacher education may do so from the first semester. The objective is to avoid exclusion of learners with special needs and to provide all teachers with the competences needed for teaching in a comprehensive school environment.

(Source: https://www.european-agency.org/country-information/austria/teacher-education-for-inclusive-education )


2. Woman in Gold - released in 2015, Genre: drama, director: Simon Curtis, Topics: Art and Dance, History, Run time: 110 min., Rating: PG-13, 

A fast paced movie of a holocaust survivor Maria Altmann (acted by Helen Mirren), who in 1998 decided to file a restitution case for art that hung in her Vienna apartment and was stolen by Nazis. With the help of her attorney Randy Scheonberg, the lawyer son of a family friend (and grandson of Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg),  Altmann sues Austrian government to return five paintings, mainly Gustav Klimt's famous portrait of her aunt Adele Blauch-Bauer 'Woman in Gold' painting. The movie shifts between legal and historical settings of legal campaign and Maria's memories - both sweet and scary - of her family, home, and Vienna before Nazis changed it forever. The flashbacks shift from Maria's childhood in the 20's to her wedding reception a year before the Anschluss brought Nazi rule to Austria. 

The characters have been depicted well and Maria sounds very much like an immigrant Austrian with her accent, her dress sense, and mannerisms. Randy Schoenberg (acted by Ryan Reynolds) could have been done better in the sense that the humor he portrays was not required in the character he played in the movie. 

Watch this interesting movie if you want to know what happened to the painting of 'woman in gold' and where is it now? 

I learned some Austrian words used in the movie - 'mutti' for mother, 'ja' for yes

Questions for students:

1) Why does the subject of holocaust continues to fascinate filmmakers and audiences? 

2)  Why was handing over the Klimt such a difficult decision? What did the piece mean to Austrians?  How can you find out more about this story?

3) How accurate do you think the movie is? Why might filmmakers be tempted to tweak facts in movies based on true stories?

4) Do you think Maria Altmann should have donated the paintings instead of selling them? Why do you think so? Justify your opinion.

3. Only Woman in the Room: Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up


Number of Pages: 254


Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres


Sub-Genre: Biographical, Historical, Women


Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc


Format: Hardcover


Author: Marie Benedict


Book theme: World War II


Language: English


Street Date: January 8, 2019

TCIN: 53996312

UPC: 9781492666868

Item Number (DPCI): 059-01-2492

Origin: Made in the USA

The only woman in the room written by Marie Benedict is a historical fiction novel about the legendary actress Hedy Lamarr (maiden name Kiesler then Mandl), who was much more than a beautiful face but also invented a torpedo guidance system. Lamarr acted in many movies from 1930's - 1950's but was born in 1914 to rather affluent Jewish parents came of age when Hitler was coming to power, which shaped the rest of her life.  At the age of 19, she married an amunition mogul and a controlling man Fritz Mandl. Through the social events her husband hosted, she was introduced to many political figures, including Mussolini, and privy to confidential conversations. One of the last conversations she overheard was Hitler speaking about eliminating Jews from German society. During this time, she also developed an interest in the technical side of her husband’s munitions business. 

Hedy fled her marriage in 1937 because her husband was an abusive control freak. She was discovered in London by Louis B. Mayer and signed a lucrative contract with MGM studios. In Hollywood, she acted in a lot of movies and ran through a lot of men. She also socialized with other European-born actors, who shared news from their homeland. She felt tremendous guilt for not telling the world about Hitler’s plan for the Jews. This guilt provided at least partial motivation for Hedy to design the torpedo guidance system, which was initially rejected by the military but later adopted. 

The novel is an easy read and entertaining but it gets very technical at the end when Hedy is involved in inventing torpedo guidance system. The novel lost me at the end due to technical words. Benedict has done true justice to Lamarr's character and I would highly recommend this book to those who love reading historical fiction. The author does not discuss Hedy's character that much as she does the other things around her like her beauty, her parents attitudes towards her. Some facts stated are not researched and stated correctly. The author focuses more on her glamour than her intellect. I would give 3.0/5 for the book. 

4. One Documented Waypoint - Arnold Schönberg-Haus - Arnold Schönberg house in Mödling is referred to as the birthplace of 12 tone music due to the compositional method developed there. A permanent exhibition with pictures, display boards, videos, and audio stations as well as original furniture and instruments gives an idea about the musicians life and work, his time in Mödling, and the history of the Schönberg house. There is no fee to see the house. The house was close to being demolished as it got unnoticed till early1970's when an initiative by Walter Szmolayn and Elisabeth Lafite listed the building as a historical monument. The image on the left is a portrait of Arnold Schönberg made by him in 1910. 


5. Two Visual Thinking Analyses

The artist of this painting (Crescent of houses II - Island Town) is Ergon Schiele. His paintings really appealed to me as he uses geometric shapes and patterns that create symmetry and seem easy to draw from the point of view of a person who is not good at it. In this painting he has changed the topography of the city by making it what appeals to him. The color scheme looks different from what you would see in a normal Austrian city as the roofs are mostly red in color rather than what the painter has painted. 

When we visited Brno I was able to visit an ossuary for the first time. I had not known that a place like this existed. It is underground and costs t had bones and skulls and the place was full of it. It was rediscovered in 2001 in the historical centre of the city, partially under the church of St. James. It is estimated that the ossuary holds the remains of over 50 thousand people which makes it the second-largest ossuary in Europe, the first one being in Paris. It's been open to the public since 2012. There is a ticket at the entrance of 160 CZK (Czech Krona) which is equivalent to $7.50. 

6. Four Cultural Insights Posted as WhatsApp Texts

Video on windmills before you land at the airport. Austria has invested in windmills to produce energy. It accounts for 12% of Austria's total installed power generation in 2021.  

Linzer torte is considered to be the oldest cake to be named after a place in the world and is an Austrian classic. It is sort of shortcake filled with raspberry jam and is served with whipped cream to balance the sweetness of jam. 

The film festival in Vienna is held every year in the month from July to September in the heart of the city near Rathausplatz. The festival offers cultural attractions free of charge and offers variety of food options from different cuisines of the world. 

The cemetery at St. Florian has a unique style as it has the family or the couples buried at the same place. The space has place for flowers to be grown that may have been their choice to the people buried there. 

7. One Travel Writing Piece (Site-Based or Experience Based)

Based on my theme, some of the places that impressed me were Vienna's green museums depicting sustainability. These museums are world famous and are unique and green. They are noted for their resource efficiency and are environmentally friendly. 

The following requirements must be met for certification:

Vienna also fosters community garden concept. The sustainable ideas are seen everywhere in the city of Vienna and in other cities as well. It clearly shows that the country has embraced the concept. You can find bicycle racks everywhere, You can look for trees, plants, and flowers all around the city. I also observed a conscious effort being made by the businesses - using wooden spoons, a gelato place having chocolate spoons, and saving on water by charging for it. Public transport is huge in the country and connects to all the major cities and countries around. People are encouraged to take their bicycles on the trains without inconvenience. Windmills are all around on the outskirts of the city. The country seems to have invested in solar panels as you can see them all over Austria on houses - big and small. The restaurants and businesses offering lot of plant based options and using fresh ingredients to make them gives the food a delicious flavor. 

Fresh plant based food options - here a chanterelle mushroom gravy with plant based dumplings

Bicycle racks of different kinds are seen all over the city to promote use of bicycles.

Chocolate spoons that are edible help in reduced use of plastics

Solar panels on the roof of houses can be seen everywhere which seems that it is an affordable option in Vienna as compared to the US.

8. One Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan - covers all contents (Math, Science, ELA, Social Studies in a middle school setting) as I work with all content teachers and want to share my experience with all subject areas.

9. Three Technical Projects on Selected Cultural Theme

In place of this paragraph, insert a short description about the cultural theme you will be studying in Austria and why it interests you. Is there some connection to the content area you teach that you hope to learn more about?

The theme I selected is 'sustainability in the community'. I am gifted specialist previously a science teacher and work with all contents. My background is Science and at Culbreth, we used to have recycling program but after one of our teacher retired, the program ended. I want to bring it back and am looking for measures that can be taken to do so. We have started growing produce at school, composting, and using cover crops to save the surface soil. But I would be interested in promoting some other measures - like saving unused food from the cafeteria for composting and students taking ownership of that, planting winter crops, having parents as helpers for promoting composting and gardening etc.

The Google map shows the sustainability efforts taken by Vienna, Austria to rank it the first greenest cities in the world. The map shows three different waypoints - 

1) Places/facilities exemplifying sustainable measures being taken 

2) Use of renewable energy sources to create a sustainable environment

3) Local Parks and Places including farmer's market and in the buildings around the city

This is an example of a Google Maps project imported to this page by dragging over a "Map"Sustainability in the Community  block from right and importing a My Maps project built in Google Maps. I was able to check out these places in Vienna that are perfect examples of "being green" and how the community fosters these measures all over the city.  

The third digital project I did is 'observations in Vienna that promote sustainability'. I did this project in Canva as it gives me the option of adding images and then displaying them for however much time I want. I have given the transition for 2 seconds with titles that help to understand the sustainable steps seen all over the city.