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