Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter 2017 No. 7 | Page 126

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2017 Newsletter
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eTwinning is inclusion
by Clara Elizabeth Báez
As we know, the 2017 eTwinning theme is about
the topic of Inclusion. I should like to explain how
the methodology of ABP in eTwinning helps me to
reach this goal by improving inclusive education.
I teach Spanish in six classes and in every class I
have an eTwinning project – I like to call them in
Spanish “hermanamiento” for me it seems closer to
brotherhood.
Through eTwinning I have the opportunity to let all
the students to feel special and unique. In every
class the projects give me the opportunity to help
the pupils to become active, open-mind and to
accept and respect difference and diversity.
In Italy from June 2013 every school must organize
a PAI (Piano Annuale dell’Inclusività – Annual Plan
of Inclusion) intervention strategy for pupils with
special educational needs and territorial
organization for school inclusion. I should like to
underline that eTwinning is included in the PAI of
my school “ITE R. Raffaele Piria” (Reggio Calabria-
Italy) together with Erasmus+.
This year my experiences were varied: in a class we
have a student with autism spectrum disorder, for
him the visual support is very important. Our
project, that shows photos of the trip of a pet in
different towns, was a success for him and the
class.
The project became a socialization strategy in an
appropriate environment, once a week we went to
the technology laboratory, it was not beneficial only
to him but also to his classmates.
eTwinning additionally helps me with other
students; an example: one of them, with a selective
mutism. He used the TwinSpace to present himself
and to create his own “product” in group and after
to show it to the friends, that means to be part
active of the class and finally to improve his
attitude toward the teachers.
To all our students and for them with Special
Education Needs and learning disabilities eTwinning
becomes motivation of learning in an unusual way,
to approach the classmates and a new reality, to be
interest and part of the community. It is my hope
to continue on the path we have been on.
For us teachers it is a challenge, a place to develop
ideas of projects, to communicate and collaborate,
to find colleagues in different groups, to have the
occasion to exchange suggestions and opinions, to
improve our skills and to understand better how we
can approach in different situations.
Clara Elizabeth Báez was born in Montevideo,
Uruguay and is a Spanish teacher in Reggio
Calabria, Italy. She has been an eTwinning
Ambassador since 2009. She is also a mentor of
teachers and the representative for the region
Calabria in the “Settimana del Rosa Digitale” 2017.
She has authored several didactic articles in
Spanish.
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