eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no. 4 eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no. 4 | Page 71

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2014 Newsletter -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And find a way to assess the outcomes and incorporate the results to the students’ marks every term. For example, I assessed the cultural part of the subject through the presentations they made for the project instead of taking an exam. 6 Organize the work and, at the same time, be flexible Let us spend some time planning. It is not very exciting, I know, but if the activities are spread all over the project instead of being concentrated over a short period of time due to lack of organization, there will be fewer things to do at the same time. Every month we had a topic – knowing each other, ruins and settlements near to your city, religion, music and arts, cuisine and banquets, houses, sculptures, buildings, and the final outcome: a calendar – and then we organized the activities in detail. But also be flexible enough to incorporate new activities or outcomes into the project while developing or to take them out if you consider them irrelevant at that moment. This flexibility will allow you to focus on the quality of the project, not on the activities themselves, and you will feel free to adapt the project to your current situation, not the other way round. need to do every single thing yourself. So, talking to some responsible colleagues about joining the project is likely to be a good idea. If everyone is in charge of a small piece of work, all of you will be more relaxed. If not, work alone, organize yourself and avoid lots of problems. That is what Mutlu did in his school. He managed to involve some teachers, such as History, Literature, Arts teachers, and they were assigned a task related to their subject. 8 Give responsibilities to the students The students involved in a project should have some degree of responsibility in it. It will make them more motivated, more independent, and they will consider the project as their own. I think it is a good thing when they can see the immediate consequences of their work, feeling proud or embarrassed about it, as they are going to share it with other people who will judge it in some way. This was one of the best aspects of this eTwinning project for my students. They told me they liked to be teachers for other students and responsible in some way for their learning when we offered every month the language pieces for their workshop, or we translated the recipes into Latin and then they cooked them. For example, our first idea for May was sculpture, but the Turkish students were absolutely thrilled with making models of Roman buildings although it was so difficult to get them in Turkey, so we bought some models in Spain and they spent almost two months building an authentic Roman town. And, as with the teachers, you only have to organize, monitor and supervise. 9 Ask for help You are not supposed to know everything! So, ask for help if needed. Trying to reinvent the wheel all by yourself is a waste of time and energy. 7 Work in teams Sometimes working in teams can be a nightmare but, if it works, you can share the tasks and do not Maybe you can ask your colleagues at school, your partners in the project or an eTwinning ambassador, you can look for training on the eTwinning website or use the project cards to be in touch with your National Support Service and get 71