Drama workshop in Prague

On Monday, a Czech drama teacher Tana Tobolova involved our international group of students in her interactive drama workshop. The main goal of this workshop was to prepare the students for their filming, to make them feel relaxed, to get rid of shyness and to learn to improvise quickly. First, there was a short breathing exercise. Then, students pantomimed such difficult things as a soap in a bath, chair in the theatre, a carpet, a sausage on a frying pan or a seed of a carnivorous plant. Then, the students got into small groups where they were rehearsing a short scene, an internationally well known fairy tale of their choice such as Cinderella, Sleeping beauty or Little Red Riding Hood. We discovered a lot of tallented actors! Thank you, Tana!

Prague Castle, Kampa and Charles Bridge

On Sunday the students were divided into 6 international groups and spent the whole day outside - in the area of Prague castle and Charles Bridge. Here they filmed their first shots for their movie. Students in their inernational groups chose their own sub-topic and genres for their films. There were a lot of love stories around. Some groups have done excellent work!

Prague - Czech and Polish presentations

In April 4 - 11, our mobility in Prague took place. Our guests from Poland, Italy and Turkey were hosted in the Czech Republic. On Saturday we all met at Táborská elementary school in Prague. There were many activities to get to know each other. Then, the Czech and Polish students presented their towns. In their short films and presentations, they showed us a typical day of a student in each country. Here you can have a look at the work the students have done:

Project strategies and objectives in practice

Here are some of the strategies we aim to involve in our project work: 1. Learning communities – international students from each country are brought together for shared learning, discovery, and the generation of knowledge. Within a learning community, all participants take responsibility for achieving the learning goals. This is the best process by which individuals come together to achieve learning goals. There are numerous non-formal learning methods - workshops, outdoor activities and excursions during our mobilities. 2. Mobile learning – during the mobilities the students have the opportunity to learn also at different places abroad. Students get to know family life flow in a different country. 3. Social networking tools – use of Facebook, Google hangouts, Skype, Twinspace. We involve the pupils in updating the websites, posting evaluation and messages on the website as well as on the Twinspace. 4. Team based and collaborative learning – students work on the films in their international groups. 5. Games and competitions - not only during our mobilities but also online, there are and will be competitions displayed each semester, created by particular partners. 6. Critical thinking – the process of film-making is a collection of mental activities that include the ability to intuit, clarify, reflect, connect, infer, and judge. It brings these activities together and enables the student to question what knowledge exists.

Nataly from the Czech Republic talks about her Sicilian experience:

In February we visited Italy, specifically Sicily. I've had there a really great time. Everyone in Sicily were acting very kind and nice to me, actually to all of us. Before I went to the plane, I was really curious and full of expectations. This exchange trip met all of them. From first day, when I met my host and her family, I knew that I don't have to be worried anymore and that everything is gonna be awesome. We saw a lot of very interesting things, like the mount Etna or Agrigento and I met there a lot of new people, which were adorable by the way :) We had to do some video recordings too and that was very funny, because we had to speak English and we had a couple of spoiled shots. I really enjoyed the food there, because I love pasta, I love pizza and everything tasted delicious there. I liked even the teachers there, because they were all very friendly (unlike some of our teachers :D) and they were helping us and chatting with us. But the thing which I liked most was definitely the school orchestra concert, which was just awesome. I remember one thing, that was a lot different from the Czech Rep. And that was how chilled out were all people there. I was very suprised, when I saw, how kids are crossing the street out of the zebra crossing and every drivers were like "Yeah, just go I have time enough." You can't do that here in Prague :D People in Italy are laughing or at least smiling all the time and that is one thing that I miss here in the Czech Rep. But I'm really excited to show Italian, Polish and Turkish people this country anyway.

Comenius Sicily Report from Turkey

Our group arrived to Italy at 23:00 to Catania Airport and reached to San Cataldo at about 24:00 and met with the hosting families. On Monday the students got together at school and started to meet with the other groups. The teachers at the same time had a small meeting with the Headmaster and the other teachers in the school. In the afternoon all the group had a nice walk through the city. In the evening the students were in circle and they introduced themselves to whole group. Then they were divided into international groups and they were given the task for their filming the other day. Every group had a presentation of their day in their country and the way of life to the other students. On Tuesday the group went to Palermo and with their theme the students started to shoot film in various parts of the city. All students worked in their international groups and started to work. On Wednesday the students started to work together in the IT room to edit their film, they added some music and if there was a missing part they tried to shoot some parts again. In the evening the host families made a very nice gathering and the students met at a shopping centre and they all played bowling. On Thursday there was a trip to Mount Etna and Taormina where they were given the topic ‘Lost in Italy’. The students worked in their international groups and made up a story about the theme. On Friday, the students worked on their second film, they edited and finalised their video. On Friday all the groups showed their video and there was a small talk afterwards. On Saturday the hosting and the guest students shared and talked about their experiences. The teachers also got together and talked about the procedure and set up a plan for the mobility to Prague. The students were given a Language booklet and the Italian group prepared a small quiz about the simple Italian language and the other students tried to say the same words in Turkish, Polish and Czech as well.

Ola's Diary - Sicily

24.02.2014 (Monday)- trip to Italy At 6:30 we left for Warsaw by a mini bus. About 12:30 we were at the airport- at the same time Polish fast skaters arrived from Sochi- they had done a good job there. Unfortunatelly I didn't see them because I had to check-in, but the other girls went to see them. Next, security check and then boarding. Flight wasn't as amazing as I expected- it was my first flight so I had thought it would be something special. We flew only 2 hours 20 minutes. During the flight, we got a snack and a drink. After we landed in Rome, we had to wait for some time again and there was another flihgt from Rome to Catania, which lasted an hour and 15 minutes. At the airport we took our luggage and we waited for the bus (which was a little bit late) then we drove to San Cataldo. There Italian families were waiting for us and welcoming us cordially. They took us home, where during the dinner I met Sanem- Turk. 25.02.2014 (Tuesday)- Palermo We woke up early, ate breakfast- mainly cookies and we drove to Palermo. First we visited the Cappella Palatina (the Palatine Chapel) - a small, compact masterpiece hidden away inside the Royal Palace. Everything was so beautiful - the Byzantine mosaics and the wooden Arabic honeycombed ceiling. Later we went to a garden, which was also very pretty- the best thing there- for me was mandarin tree. Next we went to a place, where view of a garden was enchanting. After it we had a big dinner and we went to visit the best place in Palermo- the theatre Massimo It is not only the largest theatre in Italy, but also one of the largest in Europe. Our last destination in Palermo was beach, where we made our videos in internacional groups with Turk Sanem, Czech Lukas, me and Italians: Domenico, Marta and Marika. After we did our 'job' we went for an ice cream and we drove back home. 26.02.2014 (Wednesday)- school Lessons started at 9:30. First our Italian hosts took us on normal lessons, It was about Italian constitution. Later some students came and took us to IT class to show our presentations. Next we went home for a lunch and and after the meal we came back to school. There we worked in international groups again and we had to edit our videos. My group's movie was about lifestyle in Sicily and we made it as a local news. When we ended we came back home, but only for a short time because our families took us on bowling! Unfortunately I lost (like always). After fun we ate a pizza and we went home. 27.02.2014 (Thursday)- Etna and Taormina We left San Cataldo early to visit Etna! When we got there, we could see small, black stones everywhere- it was dried lava. We were making second video- the subject was 'Lost in Italy'. Then part of our group went higher by a rollercoaster. Two hours later we droved to Taormina for dinner. The weather changed and it started to rain! We had some time to visit shops and make photos for our videos. Then we drove home. 28.02.2014 (Friday)- school and Agrigento Until lunch we were at school and we were editing our videos. We came back home and for lunch, we also had some free time at home. Then we drove to Agrigento to see one of Sicily’s most famous historical attractions - the Valley of the Temples . We also could see beautiful views there! In the evening we drove back to San Cataldo. 01.03.2014 (Saturday)- school and free time In the morning we went to school, because summary of the project took place there. Participiants of the project expressed their opinions about the time we spent there. Everybody enjoyed the time in Sicily, both visitors and hosts. We said goodbye to our new friends and we took photos with them. We went home, ate dinner and we spend rest of the afternoon there. In the evening we went to restaurant- Gusto for pizza. We couldn't stay late there, because we had to left San Cataldo very early in the morning. 02.03.2014 (Sunday)- trip to Poland (by Alexandra) And we were giong to Poland :( We left San Cataldo at 4:30 in the morning. During saying goodbye with my family I cried a lot, I didn't want to go home. Rest of the journey wasn't complicated- bus to Catania, then plane to Rome, plane to Warsaw and bus to Suwalki.