Visibility of eTwinning Projects Groups July 2019 Newsletter Newsletter 9 | Page 139

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2019 Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is not only recognition of personal success of individual teachers, but also an acknowledgment of the great achievement of the entire eTwinning team in our school. (https://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/highlights/201 8--2019-etwinning-school-l.htm) (See https://docs.google.com/file/d/1bAOHplYM-Q- MIND_U_0i1O-fRZhiXLGb/edit?filetype=msword). Also published inside: http://academy.schooleducationgateway.eu/web/sh ared-leadership-school-development-alumni- group/curation-results. How were we able to reach such a great award? Starting the journey The eTwinning development in our schools went together with our Erasmus + KA1 “European development plan” for professional and pedagogical growth in an international perspective. The process was basically founded on COLLABORATION, with actions as involving pre- primary and primary teachers in eTwinning and the internalization process, in order to enhance continuity between the two school orders, and develop new methodologies, communicative and digital skills. Our Development Plan was presented at the Thematic Conference in Florence: “A new ethic for the 21st century – the contribution of eTwinning” in September 2016 (http://www.indire.it/wp- content/uploads/2016/10/Badini-EUROPEAN- DEVEL.-PLAN.pdf). At the same time, fostering a shared leadership focused on a common vision, taking into account inclusion, pedagogical innovation, collaborative attitudes and shared responsibility. To reach this goal, a group of 7 eTwinning teachers from the two school orders. with responsibility in the school management, worked together with the head teacher to understand the school needs and how to work on them. They had workshops, planned eTwinning seminars for the teachers and attended online courses, with the aim to arrange a shared leadership school development plan. Becoming an eTwinning school: new challenges Since we received the eTwinning school label, the number of teachers involved in eTwinning has grown. The head teacher and the deputy head teacher attended the dedicated eTwinning Schools MOOC. Additionally, the school teachers became members of the eTwinning Schools dedicated Group. In 2019 the Mission Statement was published: https://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/highlights/etwin ning-schools-mission-stat.htm. The eTwinning team, as a priority, assumed this mission: eTwinning Schools display a strong commitment to collaboration, sharing and team work. To reach this goal, the eTwinning team: - organized a celebration meeting, brainstorming school’s needs and priorities - inclusion, 21 st century competences, new methodologies, CLIL, coding, environment, cultural heritage, Erasmus+ projects, connections with local agencies - in order to enhance eTwinning opportunities; - presented to the whole school community some successful projects carried out in our school, as examples of good practice in collaboration, use of tools, connections with the curriculum; - trained colleagues how to use some collaborative tools, organizing workshops to share them; - implemented the participation in eTwinning projects, events, groups and professional development, also by creating events and some groups for collaboration with Erasmus+ partners; 139