e TWINNING PROJECTS- MULTICULTURALISM AND VALUES
TWINOPIANS is the name of our eTwinning project that our school got involved in 2020.
The countries that took part in were : Romania, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine.
Our educational objectives were:
- to get the peers to collaborate on the same subject synchronously
- to learn and raise tolerance about other cultures
- to improve ICT and language skills
- to have some fun together
- to enrich our knowledge through exchange with others, both students and teachers
- to enrich theprinciple of friendship and trust in one another, both students and teachers
We used different approaches : individual work , pair work, group work, TPR, Observation, Interviewing students , Informal consultations, Creation of a trusting classroom, risk – taking and participation . We wanted to build student confidence in their ability to use language, we tried to improve learners cognitive processing scaffolding. We also used Brainstorming, portfolios, games, videos wall pictures .
We took the constructivist attitude in our endeavour, Our students were actively involved in the activities of our project.
` TWINOPIANS ` is an excellent example of collaborative approach . We and our students cooperated a lot. We also used inquiry-based learning , our students were actively involved in the activities of the project. We also used integrative approach and reflective approach.
With very young students , I motivated them by group work and brainstorming, by visuals, by using their skills in drawing and art crafts, by involving them in webinars with children from other countries.
As an English teacher I had 5 th graders involved in this project. I am their coordinating teacher, too. This project was an excellent opportunity for me to consolidate and to develop the English knowledge my students have . They had the chance to practice English not only in reading and writing activities, but in speaking, along our online meetings with students and teachers from other countries.
We covered a lot of topics that are in our national curriculum at English ( hobbies, festivals, free time activities , family, relatives, physical description. ) Students also used English grammar in their work. The values and the principles that we have to develop with our students within so called `coordinating lessons` have a great use in this project. Students are taught to be respectful, friendly, cooperative, communicative, reliable, honest, open- minded. affectionate, outgoing.
I tried to integrate the project into our existing curriculum and I followed a multidisciplinary approach. We had a multidisciplinary approach because we spoke about cultural, historical, political, religious stuff., sport . I consider that the project ` TWINOPIANS ` was a very good opportunity for me to get the objectives in the curriculum and to practice the pieces of knowledge from the English lessons
On this fantastic planet there were 6 regions called Twineras . Teachers and students from different countries , rulling each, hosted their guests from other twineras every month by preparing colourful activities , challenging games, puzzles, texts, presentations, projects, video meetings , collective videos. We kicked our goals with a remarkable cooperation and hard work together. Of course, we had a lot of fun together .
All the partners used technology a lot. We helped each other, we helped our students and so , the activity in the project was very rich . Teachers indicated the tools they used and shared the content with other teachers. Students found Web.2.0. very entertaining and participated in the activities with pleasure.
a) How we achieved the set of objectives I appreciate that I achieved all the objectives of the project despite the Covid 19 pandemic. We ( teachers and students ) collaborated on the same subject synchronously .
I learnt and raise tolerance about other cultures . We were different religions, different mother tongues, with different history, but we loved this. We felt very similar in this diversity. I improved ICT and language skills . Definitely, with this project , I improved my ICT skills because all the activities needed computer knowledge. Clearly, I and my students enlarged our computer skills. We also practiced English a lot. We had a lot of fun together. In this project we had a lot of activities , we got to know each other very well, in fact some teachers and students were partners in other projects , some were new partners. We got on very well together, we were friends. It was a place where Everybody came with her experience and shared with others , so , finally, the general background was a very large one, based on imagination, teaching knowledge , teaching experience , and involvement.
We enriched our knowledge through exchange with others , both students and teachers. Speaking about ourselves, about our schools , about our cities and countries, we found out a lot of information about other cultures. It was a great opportunity for us all, teachers and students , to enrich our knowledge about traditions. It was like trips to other countries. We based on respect , friendship and open- mindedness.
b) Evaluation of our project. We had different tools of evaluation and we used them in different moments. We had a final survey for teachers , with results. We had a teachers progress survey. We had a teachers starter survey – with results and very nice charts and diagrams and analysis. We filled in Answer Gardens about the progress of the project. In the end , we wrote about ` What has changed between pre – and final surveys. We had an Evaluation Padlet ( for teachers, students and parents ).
Twinopians e-Book is a very good and expressive outcome of our work. We had certificates for students, parents and teachers.
c) dissemination and the project outcomes. We created a project blog where we uploaded our activities. We had a facebook page. We had an Instagram page. We announced our project on a page of Project News.