Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter 8 Visibility of eTwinning Projects Newsletter 8 | Page 61

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2018 Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ eTwinning award ceremonies, where we unite all our eTwinning classes and hand out the National Quality Student Labels, inviting, if it is possible, even students’ parents. I also create funny behind- the-scenes videos of various instances during the project duration. It is really very rewarding for students, but let’s face it, even for us teachers who work hard for innovation of our schools through eTwinning projects! The project can be viewed at this URL: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/57067. Angela Capezzuto is a teacher of conversation in English and an eTwinning Ambassador in the south of Italy. She has a Science Honours degree from the University of Sydney, Australia. She has been working with eTwinning since 2008. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our imagination as a tool in eTwinning: "eTwinning Castle Stories" by Christiane Meisenburg and Xanthi Chouliara Imagination and education According to educational philosopher Kieran Egan (Judson, 2016) imagination is situated at the heart of all learning. The imagination represents the ability to envision the possible in all things. It is something that we can educate; we can enrich this capacity in our students as they learn all aspects of the curriculum (Young & Annisette, 2009). Overall, an imaginative approach to teaching can be useful for teachers, teacher educators, staff development professionals in a great extent. No matter whatever style of teaching suits one best, the suggested teaching techniques can help teachers all age groups and all subjects, to plan their lessons in a more creative and imaginative way (Egan, 2005). Dealing with the cultural heritage of Europe With the project "eTwinning Castle Stories" the students of schools from Germany, Greece, Portugal, of Ukraine and Georgia, who already knew each other from past eTwinning projects, explored castles in their surroundings from different perspectives. The project aimed to create a student profile that knows the value of the natural and cultural treasures of its own countries in order to preserve and protect the natural and cultural heritage of its own country. This project enabled the students to establish a strong link between history and the future, and heightened awareness of the salvation and cultivation of cultural and historical values. This project promoted social responsibility so that students could learn more about their countries and their sights and develop their cultural identity. To do this, the groups created presentations, videos, and games. Her work shows both the history and the current use of the buildings. Imagination plays an important role: as a tool in eTwinning Another approach was the creative cross- disciplinary engagement in art education, mother tongue teaching and English lessons for writing and creating stories. The pupils were able to get creative in invented own narratives and painted pictures. The education plans provide across national and cross-class, to teach students the joy of using the written language. It should be given narrative events that are to be translated into written narration. That way the students can unfold their individual potential. After all the texts were written together, the best stories were selected and illustrated by other students. This type of altercation rarely takes place during normal lessons and so it was a highlight of the project. The implementation: learning by doing The pupils of the German school chose a vampire at the center of their stories, as every year tens of thousands of bats hibernate in their chosen castle. They are shown in guided tours to the visitors. The scary factor of this place was a special write incentive to their stories. The class from Georgia also chose vampires as leading figures. Legendary figures of their hometowns and stories formed the basis of the stories from Ukraine and Greece. Finally, the stories were put together in a joint presentation as a story book by the German partner class. The vampire drawings with the speech bubbles were created by the students together with an online tool and awarded (https://youtu.be/DFkuif9eSS8)! The results At the end of the project we succeed to: - Give our students confidence about preparing and presenting - share ideas - involve our pupils to create teams - make common decisions - plan and implement together 61