MAKING THE MOST OF A TEACHER TRAINING COURSE

         In July 2003 I had the privilege to take part in a teacher training course Multimedia and the Internet for Language Learning and Teaching at the Bell Centre in Norwich, UK as I had the marvelous chance to be awarded a Socrates grant (Comenius 2).

The course offered me ideas about and insights into the many ways different computer tools, from simple software to complex authoring systems, from e-mail to multimedia and the Internet content can be put to use in building interactive, communicative and creative learning environments.

Moreover, this in-service training course provided me with the possibility of creating international contacts and developing future activities in collaboration with my European counterparts and their students.

         I strongly recommend that you apply for a Socrates grant and attend an in-service training course as you will definitely update your teaching strategies according to the European standards. In addition to this, you will gain a broader understanding of school education in Europe and an understanding of the European dimension of your work.
Now that I am back home I am willing to integrate my new repertoire of ideas, projects and activities into my teaching and share the acquired knowledge on the effective educational use of the new technologies with my colleagues . Thus, I can contribute to achieving one of my institution's policy objectives - implementing new technologies in the teaching-learning process in order to make it more attractive and appropriate to our learners' needs.
                                                                           

 by Andreea Silter - School No.191, Bucharest, Romania

SO FAR, SO GOOD

Summer is winding down and so is our holiday. The school session has started and we are looking forward to facing the challenges of the forthcoming school year. We do hope to be as hardworking and successful as we were in the past school year when we had a lot of achievements that brought us confidence in our own skills and great joy.

Here are some of the activities that helped us become locally and internationally recognized in the past school year.
Our web-based project Discover Bucharest was highly appreciated and awarded the first prize at "Europa 2004", a local competition (organized by the Ministry of Education from Romania) and an honourable mention at the International Schools CyberFair 2004. About 130 pupils from our school (assisted by their teachers, parents, grandparents and community members) worked and learned together by sharing in order to create it by March 2004. We have recently uploaded to it some photos and information about two special events we participated in during our summer holiday. We invite you all to click here and enjoy the photos we took at The Museum of the Romanian Peasant and The Village and Folk Art Museum on 24th June and 16th July, 2004.

Knowing Me Is Knowing You (KMIKY) is another web-based collaborative project we are very proud of. It is focused on cultural awareness and intercultural learning and helps pupils from all over the world to learn about each other via the Internet, thus becoming well-informed global citizens. Since November 2003, many pupils have submitted us their contributions (texts and photos), thus creating a global archive (of personal accounts about different cultures) that aims to increase cultural awareness and foster tolerance and understanding among the peoples of the world. This project has an open enrollment and we would be very excited to add you, pupils and teachers alike to our growing list of schools and friends!

Since last year one of our institution's priorities has been implementing new technologies in the teaching-learning process in order to meet our learners' needs and prepare them for their future careers. From March to May 2004, my colleagues and I took a course in ICT (organized by the Teacher Training Centre from Bucharest) that gave us ideas and insights into the way different computer tools can be put to use in building interactive, communicative and creative learning environments.

Foreign languages have also become one of our institution's priorities due to our pupils and teachers' contacts with their international counterparts. That is why, apart from the usual English classes our pupils will have the opportunity to study this foreign language within an optional course and a club (for the 1st and 2nd graders) as well.

Within the optional course called European Cultural Diversity, my 8th graders and I will keep on working on the activities provided by myEUROPE and Spring Day in Europe 2005. For your information, we have been contributing to the above-mentioned European projects for almost two years. Thanks to them my pupils not only practise and improve their English but also develop their computer skills. Moreover, they learn more about other cultures and make their voices heard in Europe.

by Andreea Silter - School No.191, Bucharest, Romania                                                                   top

NETD@YS 2004

In 2004 Netd@ys took place from the 22nd to 27th November and was a great opportunity for schools, colleges, universities, youth groups and other organisations to showcase their work in the field of ICT. Thanks to its generous and interesting theme "Dialogue between Cultures and Image" (with a special emphasis on the accession to the European Union of ten new countries) the Netd@ys 2004 initiative brought together people of all backgrounds and origins providing them with opportunities to create projects based on cultural heritage and traditions.

The Department of English from our school and all our pupils who study English as a foreign language organised and participated in special activities by and during the Netd@ys 2004 week, 22 to 27 November 2004. Here are some of them.

Using the online application form for the Netd@ys 2004 Label, we registered two of our web-based collaborative projects "Discover Bucharest" and "Knowing Me Is Knowing You" (or KMIKY) and were very glad to hear that our application was successful and our projects were awarded the Netd@ys 2004 Label as they had met the Netd@ys selection criteria.

Moreover, our Web-based collaborative projects were included on the Netd@ys website, too. Click here to visit the Netd@ys project database and see more than 625 projects that received the Netd@ys 2004 Label, a brand name for quality.

We also created a PowerPoint presentation about not-to-be-missed places in Bucharest and Athens together with our Greek friends from Intered Kallitheas Computer School, Athens, Greece.

Apart from the above-mentioned activities we also organised a contest of drawings "The Best European Painter" and a quiz " Are you a well-informed global citizen?".

I was really surprised to see how much of their own time our pupils devoted to participating in the Netd@ys 2004 activities as they found Netd@ys a rich and rewarding experience! Thanks to the Netd@ys 2004 initiative we all learned together by sharing and discovered many interesting facts about our national culture as well as the one of other countries worldwide.

Learning about cultural diversity via the Internet as part of the Netd@ys 2004 initiative provided our pupils with skills for more effective communication in intercultural situations. All in all, the Netd@ys 2004 initiative encouraged and motivated our pupils and their teachers not only to learn about each other using the opportunities offered by the new technologies, but also to develop their sense of awareness of being part of a dynamic, global community.

by Andreea Silter - School No.191, Bucharest, Romania                                                               top