Teachers of English on the Buzau Valley
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Dor de Eminescu - Missing Our National Poet (a creativity workshop dedicated to Romania's National Culture Day 2025)
Tuesday, 7 January 2025
Monday, 30 December 2024
The eTwinning project "All Together for a Global Celebration" - The results of the initial questionnaire for pupils (December 2024)
In December 2024, the initial questionnaire for the pupils selected to participate in the eTwinning project "All Together for a Global Celebration" revealed promising results.
43% of the project participants, 34 pupils aged 9-12, come from Greece and 47% , 45 pupils aged 7-13, come from Romania.
For the majority of the project participants, 54/79, this is the first eTwinning project they are participating in.
For fifty-six pupils, the most important project objectives are learning about and understanding social, environmental, cultural and economic issues promoted by World Days and developing positive attitudes such as respect, solidarity, friendship and empathy for the people or issues honored or supported by World Days. A number of forty-one pupils are interested in using ICT tools creatively and critically to share positive ideas and messages fostering international collaboration, teamwork and the development of civic and cultural awareness and expression competences while only thirty-eight participants are looking forward to developing the ability to solve problems and discuss different perspectives and approaches related to World Days.
Sixty-five participants are already aware of the importance of online safety, but fourteen participants are not sure they understand the rights and responsibilities of being online citizens.
The key-competences for lifelong learning the participants hope they will develop or improve during the project are: multilingual competence in English - sixty-one participants, personal, social and learning to learn competence - fifty-nine participants, digital competence - fifty-six participants, cultural awareness and expression - forty-nine participants, citizenship competence - thirty-nine participants and literacy competence in Romanian or Greek - twnty-eight participants.
Sixty-two participants would like to improve their learning skills (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication), forty-one participants would like to improve their life skills (flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, social skills) and thirty-eight participants would like to improve their literacy skills (information, media, technology).
The project results the participants are most interested in contributing to are:
- the collaborative padlet (49 participants);
- the collaborative digital book with stories poems and articles written by the project participants (46 participants);
- multimedia presentations of World Days (38 participants);
- visual arts and drama workshops (36 participants);
- a virtual exhibition of virtual posters created by transnational teams (29 participants);
- a collaborative acrostic poem inspired by the project title (28 participants).
Based on these findings, we are confident that the project has a strong foundation for promoting cross-cultural collaboration and building interpersonal and digital competences.
In order to address all the project participants’ needs, additional emphasis will be placed on: online citizenship and safety training, fostering problem-solving skills and diverse perspectives and incorporating activities that have the potential to enhance life skills and citizenship competences.
As coordinators, we are aware that most of the participants have shown clear preferences for creative, collaborative activities, suggesting that these should be central to the project’s implementation.
Monday, 23 December 2024
The first online meeting within the eTwinning project "All Together for a Global Celebration" 23/12/2024
On 23 December 2024, the eTwinning project coordinators met online to discuss the implementation of the project "All Together for a Global Celebration".
The first online meeting of the eTwinning project "All Together for a Global Celebration" was a highly successful and inspiring experience, providing further motivation for our collaborative journey.
Key conclusions from the session
- Shared vision and goalsThe participants, representing the three schools involved, reaffirmed the importance of promoting global solidarity and cultural exchange through this eTwinning educational project. The teachers emphasized the value of fostering positive attitudes and values through meaningful, interactive, and celebratory activities.
- Atmosphere of inclusivityThe meeting created an atmosphere of inclusivity, respect, and mutual understanding, which has laid a strong foundation for future collaboration.
- Project review and adjustmentsBased on insights from the initial evaluation questionnaires, the coordinators revisited the project activities and timeline to better meet the participants' expectations, preferences and needs.
- Global celebration eventsTogether, we planned three key global celebration events - 20 January 2025: International Day of Acceptance, 17 February 2025: Random Acts of Kindness Day and 21 March 2025: International Day of Forests - and discussed strategies to integrate digital tools and resources for collaboration, ensure curricular integration, and exchange pedagogical practices and effective teaching and learning methods and strategies.
- Positive outlookThe meeting concluded on a high note, with the participants expressing enthusiasm and commitment to achieving the project's objectives.
As Christmas approaches and the New Year 2025 draws near, we eagerly anticipate a fruitful collaboration that will celebrate international cooperation, solidarity, and mutual respect.