Bringing together partner students and teachers form the aces project “ Diversity and Human Rights” 2009/2010 in order to get to know each other and the partner schools.
• Working on Participation, Citizenship and Empowerment
• Taking part in workshops on participation as well as on the other topics of the project.
• Reflecting on project aims and planning further steps for the common implementation of the project.
Working methods and language:
When preparing the Meeting the organisers jointly set up the following
principles that were crucial with regard to the event:
• It should be informative and interactive.
• It should make participation visible and enable reflection
on the different roles we have or might have.
• It should foster (virtual) team building and it should be fun.
Thus, a big variety of working methods was used – such as lesson observation, presentations, quizzes, group work, outdoor activities and workshops. The composition of groups changed in the different working sessions: mixed groups of students and teachers, country teams, groups according to personal interests. The settings allowed a creative and dialogue-oriented interaction and a fruitful exchange between the participants. Further, it encouraged self-directed learning processes.
The common working language was English.
Pleasure & Leisure Team:
As the group of participants comprises people with different interests and
needs, this team offered various activities during the free time and in the evenings, including Halloween party, sightseeing, shopping,games,and much more. The aim was to make it even easier for the students to get to know their peers, to interact and to feel “at home” .
Conference participants:
Altogether 70 participants attended the project meeting (see annex List of Participants)!
• Delegations from 3 schools involved: 10 teachers and 60 students from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary
• Special guests from the United Kingdom- Mrs Margaret Cooper and Mr Charles Cooper, former project partners.
Impressions and Outcomes of the Meeting
- Summary and photo documentation of the meeting.
- Each day of the meeting had a different focus .
- According to these day-themes the programme was designed and sessions were carried out.
Arrival-late in the evening
After presenting the project aims and activities and active participation in the kick-off meeting we chose carefully the host- families for our partners. Two girls and two boys from grade 8b and 8V agreed to host aces students. We asked the families to come at the central station and meet the Romanian students and teachers. At 21.30 we all were there .We all were very excited and happy to meet our friends from Bucharest. My colleague Dobrinka Petrova and I introduced our students and parents and then went to the hotel with the Romanian teachers. We could book a hotel very near the school, so they needn’t take any busses in order to get to school. As it was very late we didn’t go to any restaurants in the evening.
Friday 30.10.2009
After the breakfast we were ready to show our partners the school. The deputy head teacher told them about the most important events at school and invited them to visit the school museum. We are proud of the museum, because the school is one of the oldest schools in Sofia and Bulgaria and many famous people studied and worked at this school during the centuries. Although it was first a school for boys there were some women teachers at this school at that time. There are photos, books, certificates and the school flag of that time.
The other important place in the school building is one of the art rooms where students draw when they have art or when they have special classes and draw icons on the walls. Our partners had the opportunity to see the school exhibition and enjoy the work of students.
The newest place in the school building is the swimming pool. It was built last year and the students have just started learning how to swim with a professional swimmer.
After the short walk our partners were invited in one of the computer rooms and we started the meeting with the introduction of the schools and presenting the participants.
At lunch time we went to the school canteen and had lunch there.
We had some free time and we went to the Russian church and to Alexandar Nevski Church. The school is in the city centre and it was possible to walk there.
Later we were again at school and continued with the workshops and lessons. The Bulgarian school has classes in the morning and in the afternoon. The secondary students had lessons in the afternoon.
Our partners from Romania told us about their work on the project, about the game”4 Islands” and the results of the questionnaire. They showed us the new website of the project and we tried to work together on it.
Later the Hungarian teacher showed us some presentations about Hungary and its capital city. He told us about their school system and his job. Bulgarian students had 2 presentations about Bulgaria and a film about the school. There were too many presentations and we decided to stop for some time and start with some games which the Hungarian teacher prepared for us. The students were very excited. They liked the games, because of the movement and the opportunity to play together with the partners.
Later the students had a party-lesson about Halloween. Most of them were wearing scary costumes. It was 30 October but it was Friday and the school was celebrating the event. There was a show and a quiz too. At the end of the lesson our partners had to decide whose costume and mask was the most interesting and the scariest. It is not a Bulgarian tradition but we respect all traditions and decided to prepare for the evening and enjoy and have fun with all the participants in the evening.
After the presentations and the lessons the aces teachers had a workshop on the topic of the project. We talked about our activities and our results. We exchanged ideas and handouts. We talked about the new activities and the opportunities to put everything on the website. We talked about the cultural and ethnic diversity and the problems we face in our society. We left school after 8pm.
Saturday 31.10.2009
Although it was Saturday and there is no school on that day we decided to work on the project. We were happy because our students agreed to come and participate in the meeting. We started at 9 o’clock. Students from grade 8 with intensive art and English and the Aces students and teachers came in time and started drawing on the topic of the project. Our Students worked in teams. There were students from the technology class with their class teacher and later arrived our guests from the United Kingdom. The working sessions were interrupted by some games, presented by our Hungarian partner Zoltan. We all enjoyed the games and the drawing. When the drawings were ready we gathered in a circle and evaluated the students’ work and participation. Our students tried to define the word diversity and explain the ideas they wanted to present through the pictures. Then we tried to make a sculpture with our bodies. We were 4 teams. Some students were very creative. With very little equipment they managed to express the ideas of diversity very convincing. Then we had a new student- a balloon. We had to be imaginative and accept this strange student. We all talked to him and told him how much we care no matter how he looks like. It helped our students to understand the ideas of diversity better and to be more tolerant to difference.
Zoltan involved us in many other games. We played the RAIN GAME. 1. First you silently rub your fingers together, and the students do the same. Then you rub your two hands together, making a very soft sound, and the students follow.Next you very softly clap your hands together while the students follow, it should still be quiet.Then snap your fingers. Now go back to clapping and clap a little louder than you were snapping. Then a little louder.Then clap loudly. Then stamp your feet and clap, making a lot of noise. Now do it in reverse until it is silent again.This game signifies a rainstorm starting soft, getting louder and louder until it is pouring, with lightning and thunder, and then the calm after the storm when it is quiet again.
Students and teachers together played also the card game in several teams. Although the explanation was clear, we played using different rules. Most of us were confused because of the different rules in the teams. We analysed the game and the rules and evaluated our participation. The conclusions were clear.
We finished our meeting at 2oclock.We wanted to continue but the school guard had to close the school. Our students decided to go sightseeing with the partner students. The day was sunny and warm. Later in the evening we invited our partners at a restaurant near the hotel.
Sunday, 01.11.2009
We were at school at 10.15 in the morning. Our partners and the students from grade 8b and 8v together with their class teachers and the guests from the UK went to Bulgaria Concert Hall, where there was a school exhibition and the school concert. The school concert was with the participation of parents, students and teachers. It started at 11 o’clock. We all had special invitations for the event. It was organized by the school but many people contributed. We were very happy to celebrate the school anniversary with our partners and to finish the meeting with all students, teachers and parents together. There was a lunch at a restaurant but unfortunately our partners had to leave. I was with my laptop for final decisions and evaluation. We wanted to continue our work but we didn’t have time. The meeting was over.
It was great to meet our partners, to work together and to motivate students for better work and participation. And the most important we became friends, we enjoyed being together. We will continue working together.
Monday, 02.11.2009
Parents meeting for the students from grade 8:
All the parents of the students from grade 8 were invited to a parent meeting on Monday 2 November.It started at 18.30. One of the main reasons was to present the results of the project meeting and to evaluate the project work. We had an interview with some parents. They were very happy about the project. Their children were very excited and took part in all the activities. They spent the whole weekend with the partner students and became good friends. We feel parents’ support and are very happy with the results so far.
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