This eTwinning project, which lasted over seven months, was realized both on-line and in person with oral ,written and artistic hands on, cooperative activities.
The schools which cooperated for this project were: The Skotoussa Junior High school in Serres(founder), the primary school IV kraljevacki bataljion in Serbia( co-founder), the Gimnazjium Nr 12 Liceum Ogolnoksztacace Grudziadz in Poland.
After getting the parental consent for the participation of the children and their ‘exposure’ through photos, teachers registered all students on twinspace.
The students’ acquaintance -introduction of themselves, exchange of Christmas traditions and warm wishes took place on a padlet digital application.
Teachers had several ‘skype’ or ‘what’s up’ meetings over the months (after announcing them on teachers’ bulletin) in order to agree on and organize every step of the project .They also got to know each other’s school by posting videos and photos on twinspace.
One of the Greek videos: https://youtu.be/Lixpn6wUMDk?t=12
A task assigned especially to the Greek students was the collection of information about the Greek philosopher Aristotle and his theory about Ethos. A comparison between the
meaning of the word ‘Ethos’ in the past and its present meaning was achieved in written form by the Greek eTwinning group and then they shared it with the other participants of the project.
A third task for all the students was a google form quiz with the title ”My lifestyle” aiming at collecting information about students’ everyday life habits and interests at school, at home and in their free time .
The Greek, the Serbian and the Polish groups had the output of this questionnaire in digital pies so that they could draw conclusions about how similar or different students’ lifestyles are.
Particularly, most students of all three eTwinning groups spend much time at school, do their homework on time and practise sports regularly. Few students do their homework sometimes and practise sports a little or not at all. However, they differ on the amount of time they spend on the social media and on reading as a hobby.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rVA3zq9O-OLOHMAXpTNa_xuQmRG1qmz9S7CrDCGdT3w/edit
All the participants were asked to answer a quiz on ‘Pink Shirt Day’ so that they could express themselves and their views about bullying and their own emotional state.
On the 5th of April, the Greek group attended a seminar where a pediatrician of the municipality of Hraklia, Serres talked to them about emotions . The topic of the seminar was ‘I experience my feelings’.
On the digital platform ‘linoit’ all participants of the three schools stuck and shared artistic labels based on the values they wanted to point out as the most precious in their school and social life which determine the emotional evolution of their personality.
http://linoit.com/users/TanjaRadovic/canvases/VALUES
https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-04/20230403_220148.jpg
Later on, the students were challenged to use their writing skills and inspiration in order to write fairy tales or scripts based on any value they prefer. The Greek group wrote a fairy tale on inclusion, another fairy tale on cooperation and a script- dialogue on bullying. The Polish e-Twinning group illustrated the second fairy tale proving how good they are at cooperation!!!
Students’dramatization of the script in the school yard of Skotoussa, Serres ,Greece.
This role-playing was video-recorded ,posted on you tube and shared with the Polish and Serbian groups on twinspace materials.
Greek ,Serbian and Polish students and teachers had a few Skype online meetings over the months during which they talked on a variety of teens’ issues in english.In this way they practised communicating in english. Moreover, they tried to learn some words of the other groups’ native language .
For the dissemination of the project results , the Greek Etwinning group with their teacher presented the project in the school community of Skotoussa. They also posted the eTwinning results on the school site.
The results of the project were also presented at an event -seminar organised by the department of education in the prefecture of Serres for all teachers of english to attend and adopt the idea of creating their own etwinning programmes.The project ended with an evaluation form which all the students -participants of the project were asked to fill out,
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JDTPVsPKt1kLrjYrqyDusnXTw4K01NktHsUucgpjPZY/edit
with a poem of emotions dedicated by the Serbian group and summer holidays wishes!!!
LIFE IS A FLOWER
Life is a flower
So do not just pick it,
Look at its colours
And wonderful leaves,
And think why
It stands here:
To make you happy,
To give you beauty,
To show that love
Is all we need!
Be patient and tolerant
As the flower,
Share your calmness
And pride,
Smell out the wisdom
Of peace and freedom
In the world,
Protect ants and grasshoppers,
Give them food and shelter,
And talk,
Do not tolerate
Violence and arrogance!
Do not turn your head away
When somebody is impolite,
Or unfair,
Or depressed.
Help everyone,
Seduce the cheaters
And lead them
To the right path.
Friendship, family, knowledge,
Responsibility and respect,
Faith and loyalty,
And persistence,
And much energy,
And affection
Is needed to stand
And resist the wind,
To conquer the temptation,
To endure the rain,
To accept the destiny,
To realize that
Other flowers
Are important, too.
Do not feel jealousy
Or hate,
But cooperate,
And talk,
And discuss,
And give birth
To a new plant,
To a new life,
To a new happiness,
To a new joy,
Knowing that
Sadness is around there
Waiting in the foggy nights.
And being lonely,
And unable to move,
Will not destroy you,
But make you
Stronger and better,
Because that is
The secret of life:
Every tear hides a smile,
And every smile
Brings melancholy,
Every light hides darkness,
Every twilight
Brings a dawn.
That is life
And never reject it,
Because it is a game
And you win and lose,
But it is important
To participate
And learn!
‘A recap of the project’ by
Nerantzoula Aivazoglou