Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter 6 2016 | Page 54

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2016 Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEN students . What I have learnt is the importance of collaborating and working with other teachers from my school as a team ; the necessity of using interdisciplinary approach ; to include activities which develop graph-omotor skills , attention , creativity , concentration in my lessons ; that digital inclusion of SEN students is as important as their social inclusion . Above all , I leant how to teach so that my students learn in a fun , enjoyable and meaningful way .
Here are some benefits of using eTwinning with SEN students I have discovered during the project : � eTwinning provides children with special needs with greater understanding of European cultural diversity ;
� helps them understand how Internet works , how to use social media to connect with people and how to use technology to bring community into the classroom ;
� encourages cooperative learning and enables students to work together towards a common goal ;
� promotes European integration for children with special needs ;
� helps in adapting conventional teaching methods ; � stimulates interest in learning ; � enhances learning experiences and helps to improve communication and computer skills .
Being a teacher is a lifelong learning process , and working together with like-minded , passionate and dedicated colleagues is the best professional support a teacher can get . I am thankful to my wonderful partners from CPEE La Quinta – Natalia , Maria and Sara , for making me realize that .
Olivera Ilic teaches English as a foreign language in Primary School Sveti Sava in Pozarevac , Serbia . She has been a passionate and enthusiastic member of eTwinning community for over a year . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Peace Song by Andrea Ullrich
“ Europäischer Wettbewerb ” http :// www . europaeischer-wettbewerb . de / ( European Competition ) was organized for the 63rd time this year . Since 1953 students in Germany have had the chance to explore European culture , values , history in a creative way .
Each year a new topic students can work on is presented . There are tasks in four age categories ( up to 9 ), ( 10-13 ), ( 14-16 ), ( 17-21 ) and a special task , which is not linked to an age group . This year ’ s motto was “ Live Together in Peace ”.
Since 2012 eTwinning has supported the European Competition , thus opening it to other countries . Teams of up to five countries can now work together and create a collaborative entry for the competition . There is just one requirement : you need a German partner , who will apply when the deadline is due in March .
Already last year I was approached by European partners to run a project for the European Competition together , but I had to decline as I only join a project when I know I can really work for it . In my opinion it is better to say right from the beginning that you won ’ t have the time or energy instead of joining projects and letting your partners down later .
As a kind of compensation I offered a project this year – in the only category I thought I could handle : the special task . So partners from Germany , Poland , Portugal , Romania and Spain set out to create “ Our Peace Song ”, and won a prize .
54