Our ETwinning “Puppets” project: promoting peace and understanding!

 

I’ve always loved working with puppets, in our  English class!

I strongly believe that, puppets play an important part in various aspects of a child’s development. The puppet provides the child with a kind of cover or disguise to hide behind: a timid child finds the courage to speak, to express his/her own emotions and to open his/her secrets to the puppet and through it to the audience. Thus the puppet helps the child to communicate much more spontaneously, avoiding stressed relations, especially with adults. The puppet is an authority selected by the child himself.

Through my experience in working with puppets, I believe in the magical power of the puppet in all kinds of communication with children, enlightening their talents and different forms of their creativity.

In our ETwinning project,this year, we decided to work with FLAT puppets, because, they were easy and cheap to travel in an envelope!

I also thought  that, flat puppets would be important in improving visual sensitivity and orientation in space , especially for my younger students (a translation of a drawing into movement in relation to another animated form).

The use of our ETwinning puppets, actually  resulted in a considerable contribution to a more humane and less stressed teaching environment and the socialization process, with our European peers. Moreover, puppets aroused my students’ imagination and creativity – the best dowry to a child for further development.

Promoting Peace and understanding among kids living in different countries and experiencing different cultural backgrounds ,was also one of my main targets, this year!

Actually, promoting peace was a large part of Dr. Montessori’s career – one of her most famous quotes is “Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.” She thought it was extremely important in her day; today it may be more important than ever…in both Europe and the World!

 

To me, Peace doesn’t mean the absence of conflict. That would be an idealized world in which none of us live. Rather, it’s learning how to deal with conflict in a way that doesn’t put the rights, wants, or needs of one person over the other. It’s learning conflict resolution skills that stress respect for the individual and the group, in our class  and in today’s World.

Let me share some facts…:The European continent is culturally, economically and linguistically very varied and a survey carried out by the Council of Europe revealed an important diversity in the provision for the arts in schools throughout Europe.

In the same study, it was found that arts education provision in these countries, in many cases, also shows an inconsistency with national policy statements. They strongly emphasize the importance of a cultural dimension in education and encourage artistic and aesthetic development in young people, while in reality the status of and provision for arts education appear less prominent. Moreover,  the emphasis on academic and technical education has a tendency to place the arts in the periphery of the curricula encouraging polarities between the arts and the sciences .

It was after I had read those facts when I thought..:Puppetry, is one such form of Art. I should use it to achieve my teaching goals in a fun and meaningful way.

Peace education can vary by age; older Primary School children will naturally be able to get into the history of peace, understanding others  and conflict by studying different countries and cultures. In our project case, they could participate at a higher level by researching and writing about their lives, different cultures,sharing and comparing with their their European friends with the help of  their Puppets.

During our Puppets project, we emphasized respect for the diversity of traditions and customs found around the world and in our European house!

Through the creation of several stories for the puppets theatre in class, students developed their artistic potential as a tool to explore the idea of tolerance and understanding of others.

After all, puppetry has been found to be an excellent tool for the teaching of multiculturalism to children.

First, I had to teach my young students, basic techniques used in creating live puppet theatre to be later able to  use puppetry to incorporate multiculturalism into practice.

A few months later, as my little ones grew in understanding the feelings and needs of themselves and their European peers, their compassionate nature blossomed,too.

More, about this project:

The main goals of the project were  :
• to promote group activities  for tolerance and cultural understanding;
• to strengthen my students’ intercultural competences in order to be ready for responsible understanding of Europe’s identity and common values;
• to develop the European dimension through arts education (puppets) and creativity with the aim to promote multiculturalism and tolerance between students;
• To develop “Out-of-the-box” activities that would encourage mutual support, team building and group cohesion ;
• Encourage personalized learning approaches by acquiring new artistic and pedagogical skills with the aim of developing new ideas and creativity of the students involved in the project.

This old time classic pen pals project, gave a real purpose and meaning to learning a foreign language and helped the students experience education in a different country through European citizenship ,using a new tool: twinspace! The project lasted for about a school year and we had to complete many individual items . We had to create common projects about: ourselves, our school, our country , our town ,our favourite sports and hobbies, our customs and special traditions, our most favourite place in our countries , our daily routine and habits and also ,exchange OURSELVES as… PUPPETS ! We “traveled” to another country as our school and country ambassadors, and experienced life in another class, far away from home, for one school year! Puppet-students, wrote on their twinspace diaries about their adventures. Our projects and letters were both sent to our friends by snail mail and uploaded on twinspace, to share and compare in a different class.

This was a new and innovative partnership for my  school; It was the first time that we had participated in such an innovative an ETwinning project.Both group work and independent research was used  by pupils.

The innovation and creativity of the project is based on the following factors:

• All partner  schools being inclusive of each other, working as one unit on each common project
• That the children felt able to be creative with their audience in the partner school in mind and dare to share and compare
• That the learning from the project was so significant that it will not be lost from children’s minds
• The Puppet-Ambassadors, created by and for the students ,served as a  meaningful pathway towards understanding and learning more about our partners.

Before we started, the concept of Europe was not understood by most of the children, but now they are fully aware of the other  European  partner countries and their ways of life. Citizenship has become a practical rather than theoretical part of the curriculum.

 The pupils were inspired and motivated. They had a great deal of fun working collaboratively .

Students had an opportunity to develop a sense of pride and respect toward other traditions. Our Puppet-Ambassadors, made Europe a more real concept, especially for those students who have never traveled abroad.

The organisation and commitment of the students has been very impressive.

The children showed a great interest in exploring another country and its way of life, as well as demonstrating increased motivation in learning a foreign language. They were always eager to participate, found information themselves, drew pictures, made posters, presented the project to other classes.

As far as my school is concerned, I made sure that almost all our project activities were connected  to each of our English coursebook units. Luckily, our coursebooks , are based on both cross curricular and cross cultural topics quite relevant to our Etwinning project theme! Also, they are based on both creative  project work and group  collaboration which  was  highly helpful in our ETwinning project!

I teach English to  ALL classes in my school! I therefore  made sure that, ALL my 135 students, in all ages and  language levels, took part in our  ETwinning project, something that  proved to be a real challenge!

All in all, a  puppet can be their friend or their classmate, their ETwinning  friend in our case… but at the same time is the child who moves the puppet. This is going to be the key thing while practicing another language and, if we use them correctly, they are one of the best resources that teachers can find and use in their foreign language classes.Not only to teach English but most importantly, LIFE AND SOCIAL SKILLS!

 

An amazing school year, in review !

It was such  a wonderful school year!

I worked really hard with a bunch of amazing students! Among many other wonderful things we did , we took part in four European projects!

The British Council ” Life Skills” project, the “Teachers4Europe – Our European House” project and two awesome etwinning projects : ” PupPETs- Pen Pals ETwinned” and “Our European school newspaper” , together with more that 10 schools in Europe , as well as  Surinam, USA and  Taiwan!

I am really proud of both myself and my students! It has been a demanding school year! There was no financial support from school, therefore, I had to use money from our Christmas Bazaar to run our  projects!

Greece has been in a terrible debt crisis and everybody around me seemed to be  pessimistic about everything… Almost, depressed!

I also had to fight the negativity among my colleagues and received  little  support from most of the parents ,who seemed to wonder ” when I actually teach” and  whether  my teaching methods have  anything to do with the way THEY had learned english at school!!  I made it my personal mission to fight off that negativity and go to work every day with nothing but positive thoughts.

I also had to work long hours every day, both at school and at home! I had to work on my laptop very late at night, when my  kids were in bed! I sometimes went to sleep later than 1 am ! It was exchausting!!

I am used to hard work since I was 20 when I got my first part time job as a “Frodisterio” teacher! But, I have to admit that, the last school year was one of the most productive years in my career ,so far!

It’s almost mid-July, and I am still at home trying to get tasks done , such as work on  my blog posts ( too busy to find the  time to write on my blog during the last few months), put my notes together and create a Prezi presentation for next year’s Tesol conventions and local professional development seminars, in which I am willing to take part as a speaker, find some  time for my three children and my family in general  ,now that I am supposed to be more relaxed and “carefree”, and finally, find some free (?) time for me to  do…nothing else  but read my favourite detective stories,by the sea!! Truth is, it’s rather impossible to do this last thing in my summer-to-do list, mainly because I can’t afford to go on holidays , due to the terrible Greek debt crisis which has affected us all! But, I still believe that I might finally make it to have  some well deserved rest , in order to recharge my batteries and go back to class, with renewed enthusiasm, in September!…

My advice to younger colleagues is this:

Have fun but have fun with purpose. Be intentional about everything. Make memories. These are hard times but they are sweet times.

Live it. Be it. Be noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach on till the last day. Let’s rock!

 

Here’s the link to this school year’s  photo review! Enjoy!

 

Life Skills-a British Council project: Activity 4: Who would you like to live with?

 

This amazing 4th British Council ” Life Skills ” activity is about stereotypes, discrimination, racism, prejudice…

Definitions

Prejudice:

Attitudes or opinions about a person or group simply because the person belongs to a specific religion, race, nationality, or other group. Prejudices involve strong feelings that are difficult to change. Prejudice is pre-judging. A person who thinks, “I don’t want (name of group) living in my neighborhood,” is expressing a prejudice.

Discrimination:

When people act on the basis of their prejudices or stereotypes, they are discriminating. Discrimination may mean putting other people down, not allowing them to participate in activities, restricting their access to work or to live in certain neighborhoods, or denying them something they are entitled to by right and law.

Stereotype:

Oversimplified generalization about a group of people. When people say that all members of a specific nationality, religion, race or gender are “cheap,” “lazy,” “criminal” or “dumb,” they are expressing stereotypes. All groups have both cheap and generous individuals. All groups have individuals who commit crimes. To label an entire group based on the actions of some is to engage in stereotyping. Even when a stereotype is positive, such as when people in one racial group are thought to be superior athletes, the consequences of stereotyping are negative.

Scapegoating:

Blaming an individual or group when the fault actually lies elsewhere. Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory acts can lead to scapegoating.

During this activity, I made sure that children understood  that prejudice and discrimination are unfair. I explained that, no person should be excluded or teased on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, accent, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or appearance.

To start with:

Print the list of tenants (one for each student)
• We tell the story of the Miller family:
“Mr and Mrs Miller live fairly happily in a big house
with their 20-year-old son David. Then, upon their retirement,
Mr and Mrs Miller decide to move to the country.
David lives alone in the family home now and enjoys
a satisfying bachelor’s life until one day he loses his job.
David is no longer able to live alone in the big house.
He uses his last money to split the house into 6 flats and puts
a “For Rent” ad in the newspaper”

Now, imagine you are David and have to choose 5 tenants from a list of people who have answered your ad, in order to be able to keep the house.
• We ask each student to pick 5 tenants from the list
• We ask groups of 5 or 6 students to pick 5 tenants
that the whole group agrees on
• We discuss the following issues:
• Did the group agree on a list of 5 tenants?
Yes/No? Why (not)?

• How did the group work collectively in order to agree on the list of 5 tenants? What did they find hard about it and what easy?
• We discuss the reasons for which
they chose these particular people
• We discuss any potential bias that each one of us may have.
We explain that it is almost impossible not to be biased; what is most important is to understand that it is only bias and that talking about differences and getting to know other people better can change people’s views
List of tenants (for older students)
Who would you share the same house with?

1. An unmarried mother with a 3-year-old child, whose father
is from Tunisia. He occasionally visits his son and sometimes brings around some friends.
2. A family of refugee workers from Pakistan with 5 children
aged 1 to 12. Their father works in a steel mill and their mother will take up the position of concierge at the house.
3. A family with a 17-year-old daughter in the final grade of Secondary School. The father is a bank accountant
and the mother a teacher.

4. A single 70-year-old woman, living on a minimum pension.
5. A group of 7 refugees from Iraq who all work
in the kitchen of a large restaurant.
6. A group of 5 young people who live an alternative lifestyle,
by recycling and only consuming what they need to survive.
7. Three Palestinian students who are political activists,
and often demonstrate for their rights.

Orangito, our guest flat puppet from Spain, took part in all the group discussions!

8. A Roma family with 5 members. The father only works occasionally and is otherwise unemployed. The family belongs
to a broader family which is very close and likes to have parties.
9. An American couple with no children. The wife works for the International Atomic Energy Authority
and the husband looks after the house and their 3 poodles.
10. Two artists, around 40, who lead an unconventional life
and have many artists as friends.

11. A girl who studies the piano and singing at a conservatory,
and has to frequently practice in the evenings.
12. An African American with his Austrian partner.
He is trying to get a permit to work as an engineer.
13. A religious Muslim family which strictly follows the Quran.
The mother will only leave the house wearing a headscarf.
14. A young man in a wheelchair who lives
with his 76-year-old mother.
15. A blind girl living with her dog.
List of tenants (for younger students)
Who would you share the same house with?
1. An unmarried mother with a 3-year-old child.
2. A family of refugee workers from Pakistan
with 5 children aged 1 to 12. Their father
works in a steel mill
and their mother will take up the position of
concierge at the house.
3. A family with a 17-year-old daughter in the final grade of Secondary School. The father is a bank accountant
and the mother a teacher.
4. A single 70-year-old woman, living on a minimum pension.
5. A group of 7 refugees from Iraq who all work
in the kitchen of a large restaurant.
6. Three Palestinian students who are political activists,
and often demonstrate for their rights.
7. A Roma family with 5 members. The father only works occasionally and is otherwise unemployed. The family belongs
to a broader family which is very close and likes to have parties.
8. An American couple with no children. The wife works for the International Atomic Energy Authority and the husband looks after the house and 3 dogs.
9. Two artists, around 40, who have many artists as friends.
10. A girl who studies the piano and singing at a conservatory, and has to frequently practice in the evenings.
11. An African American with his Austrian partner.
He is trying to get a permit to work as an engineer.
12. A religious Muslim family which strictly follows the Quran.
The mother will only leave the house wearing a headscarf.
13. A young man in a wheelchair
who lives with his 76-year-old mother.
14. A blind girl living with her dog.

Our variation was: I asked them to play a game ,when we finished our project : they had to stand up when I read them a sentence with which they agreed or keep sitted when I read them a sentence with which they disagreed! eg. ” All Greeks are lazy”, ” All Roma are thieves” , ” All muslims are terrorists”…It was really interesting to see what there was in their minds  …Stereotypes were there…We have to work hard to get rid of them!

We finally  all agreed that, we should  come closer to  understand other people better !

According to recent studies, encouraging children’s critical thinking ability may be the best antidote to prejudice.

Of course,  all children notice differences. This is developmentally appropriate and, by itself, not a problem; but when negative values are attached to those differences, problems occur.

The students were asked to play a game: they had to stand up when they agreed with what was said or sit down when they disagreed!

Life Skills-a British Council project: Activity 3-Every vote counts

 

Giving our letter to the Town Council President.

Global Citizenship means that as citizens of the world, we have responsibilities to each other and to the Earth itself. Whether through sharing knowledge, volunteerism, advocacy or philanthropy, everyone, including young people, can make a difference.

I always tell my students: “Participate in the global community – take steps to make the world a better place for everyone”.

Our third activity, started a week before the Greek National Elections and it was a great chance for me to teach citizenship and democracy!

Our suggestions to the Mayor….a draft…

In this third activity:

Students  organise and take part in a voting process.
Students:
•  participate actively in various decision-making
and voting processes;
•  discuss what is fair and unfair in different situations,
and realise that justice is fundamental to any democratic society
• comprehend their role in society
Print the role cards.

Our class “town council” !

• We explain that we will be using democratic
decision-making methods in this activity.
We read the following story to the students:
A citizens’ group has sent a letter to your city’s
Municipal Council stating that the atmospheric pollution
has risen dramatically in recent years, making life in the city unbearable. They are therefore asking for traffic arrangements to be made to reduce the atmospheric pollution.

A citizen is talking to the Mayor about the problems our town has been facing!

The Mayor organises a public consultation and invites the representatives of the citizens groups which who made the complaint, citizens who use vehicles in the city centre and disagree with the traffic arrangements, as proposed by the first group, and representatives of environmental organisations. During the public consultation, each group has the opportunity to present its arguments and propose any amendments that will then be put to the vote.
• We split the students into 4 groups. We give each group a role card which they are asked to read carefully and prepare a presentation of their arguments and statements/proposals that does not exceed 3 minutes.
• The Municipal Council group is then asked to initiate the process. We support the setting up of the debate and voting process, but let the students take initiatives and coordinate.

Brainstorming!

• As soon as the debate and voting have ended, we invite the group to discuss the following questions:
a) Do you believe that the voting during the roleplay
was fair and democratic?
b) Did you recognize any real life situations during this activity?
c) How are decisions of this nature usually taken?
Do children have the right to express
their opinion or make choices?
d) In your group, were decisions usually
taken democratically?
Why, or why not?

Working hard to find solutions to problems!

Municipal Council
You are the Organisers of the Public Consultation.
• Set up the venue for the Public Consultation
• Define the order of and time allocated to the speakers
• Keep notes of the proposed statements/proposals that will then be put to the vote. Remember that you will be voting for statements/proposals, not for groups or speakers!
• Try to group the statements/proposals
so that there is no repetition

• Come up with some proposed statements/proposals
of your own, since you also have the right to voice your opinion
and vote as citizens of this town
• Remember! Everyone has the right to vote!
• Don’t forget that, as the Municipal Council, you want to satisfy the majority on the one hand, but are also under pressure from the European Union which, according to European regulations,
is asking for a reduction of pollutants in all European cities
Add your own arguments
and the statements/proposals you are proposing

Busy groups of citizens…

Citizen representatives – Drivers:
• Getting around the city on foot is difficult
• Public transport is not satisfactory
• We pay taxes, so we can thus use the city with no restrictions
Add your own arguments
and the statements/proposals you are proposing:

At the town Council , before the meeting with the Mayor.

Citizen representatives:
• There are several health problems affecting you and your children due to the atmospheric pollution
• Life in the city has become unbearable. There is too much traffic and you see cars everywhere. Parked vehicles even block the pavements.
• The cars’ horns and noise pollution bother you
Add your own arguments
and the statements/proposals you are proposing:
Representatives of environmental organisations:
• Life in the city has become unbearable
• The smog is causing respiratory problems
• Car use increases environmental pollution
Add your own arguments and the statements/proposals
you are proposing

What we added to this project was:

1. Each group wrote two different letters to the Mayor and Municipal Council: one with the problems our town citizens have  been facing and a second one later with all their suggestions about how  to solve each one of them! I wanted to show them that it is much easier just to mention what’s wrong or missing in life than find practical solutions to our problems working collaboratively!

At the town Council

2.We decided to write a real letter with our final suggestions after the elections  and hand them to our hometown  new  Mayor ! We talked with  the  Town Council president and attended a municipal council meeting, too!

 

And here’s the Mayor’s reply letter!! We are so proud!!

 

 

Life Skills-a British Council project: Activity 2- A Social Contract.

As I have already mentioned in my  first post about this amazing British Council project we have been working on with my 5th graders, for some time now…..

We draw a human body on the whiteboard.

 

” about a month ago, I found out that I had to teach in ….Greek ,during the so called “Flexible  Zone”  of the greek primary schools, which has to do with  projects oriented learning , for about 2 hours every week.  I had to think hard before I made up my mind and finally decided to work on a British Council project, called “Life Skills”, which sounded both  promising and challenging! I also  decided ,to do part of the project, in english! ”

The right of education for all!

 

The right to religion! Haha

Br

Playing games to practice the rights vocabulary

 

Life Skills are not something new; they are a set of basic skills
that enable us to effectively manage the challenges and questions
we face in our daily lives. They include confidence, assertiveness,
decision-making, and the ability to stay safe
and healthy.

Schools are uniquely placed to play a key role in promoting
and sustaining young people’s emotional and social health,
as part of their role in providing a rounded quality education which helps pupils to gain the confidence they need to develop into successful adults.

The following second activity, is a copy from the British Council   manual for trainers and teachers with recommended activities !

My students are getting more and more excited every day and ask me to keep working on this project for as long as possible! They seem to be highly enganged and happy working on it! I feel blessed that I was given the chance to work on something so creative with them, this year!…

 

In this second stage, students will create a Social Contract.
Students:
• will discover their rights and obligations through their
own need to live a happy life
• will feel personally responsible for upholding human rights and become committed to safeguarding and claiming them

A piece of cardboard cut into the shape of a tree

1. A piece of cardboard cut into the shape of a tree
2. Coloured paper cut into the shape of leaves
or fruit and tree roots

My students are getting more and more excited every day

• We draw a human body on the whiteboard.
• We ask the students to tell us the characteristics
and traits a person should have in order to feel fulfilled
and happy. We write down the words or draw them on or next
to the human body (e.g. education near the head, emotions
near the heart, food and water near the mouth).

• We discuss with the students which characteristics
and traits we need to survive, which to develop
as personalities and which to make our lives better.

Freedom of speech

 

 

• We draw a tree on a piece of cardboard and stick it on
the wall. We give students pieces of paper shaped like leaves
or fruit and ask them to write on them the human rights related
to the human characteristics and traits we have drawn.
When they have written them all down, we check to see
whether there is any right we may have missed.

• We then explain to them that in order to safeguard
our rights, we all need to fulfil certain obligations as individuals.
We give students pieces of paper shaped like roots and ask them to write on them the obligations that each one of us should have.

Learning the relevant vocabulary in english with the help of posters.

 

 

Using anagrams to guess the english words.

 

Deep thinkers!…

 

A bunch of highly motivated students!

 

 

The characteristics and traits a person should have in order to feel fulfilled and happy

 

Students feel personally responsible for upholding human rights

 

The human rights related to the human characteristics and traits we have drawn

• When our tree is ready, we ask the group whether
it is satisfied and agrees with the result. If the answer is Yes,
we ask each student to place their signature on the tree,
and show in this way that they are committed to respect
human rights, claim them and to undertake their responsibilities.

Actually, I decide to add a few activities to the original ones!

Fisrt, we played a guessing game using drawing and miming with the rights vocabulary both in english and in greek! It proved to be loads of fun!

Later, I taught them all the rights and responsibilities vocabualry in english and played a teams guessing game with them using anagrams!

Finally, we decided to make a collage using our rights vocabulary and simple drawings!

 

Placing our leaves on the tree!

 

We give students pieces of paper shaped like roots and ask them to write on them the obligations that each one of us should have.

 

The tree roots

 

 

We ask each student to place their signature on the tree

They are commited undertake their responsibilities

 

Our responsibilities are the roots of our rights tree!

 

They are committed to respect human rights

 

Coloured paper cut into the shape of leaves

 

Working on our Rights collage.

 

A beautiful collage!

 

The ” Time Capsule ” idea completed

In the beginning of the school year, I shared here, my “Time Capsule” idea..Our english class “Time Capsule” got opened, yesterday! !

I would like to remind you of this idea  now, that it’s complete!

THE TIME CAPSULE IDEA: For this activity, I use a Pringles can.

1) I have the kids write a letter to…. themselves about how they feel being in the 6th grade, what they think they will be doing during the year, what their expectations for the year are, who their “best” friends will be, what they would like me to do during the year, ( how I can best help them) what the most important thing they wish to learn during the year is and anything else that comes to their mind.

I ask my younger learners to write sentences starting with ” I can” , “I will”!

This is what we put in the time capsule ,in the beginning of the school year.

 

2) I put them in a ziplock bag and put them in the Pringles can to be opened the last week of school and reread by the students.

They really enjoy this, particularly knowing that they will be able to open the ” time capsule” at the end of the year!

They tend to forget about the “time capsule” during the school year though, and it’s always a big surprise for them in June, when it’s brought to class!It’s a great  lesson , too: they are  reminded  that, goals setting is important!

So, when the end of the school year  comes, my students are asked to  open the capsule and start reflecting on our start -of- the- school -year goals! This is an example of my students’ work! They wrote their text on the back of the paper which they had put into the capsule 8 months ago!!

How precious is it,  learning about  how to accomplish goals ??

Better than just learning … grammar rules !..

When the time capsule opens, a discussion follows…