Getting to know each other in Skopje

Getting to know each other in Skopje

Written by Maria Nighbert

Our first “Find-your-balance”- Meeting took place in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The students and teachers from Germany arrived first at the airport in Skopje, where they were picked up by the teachers Frosina and Maja and the lovely host-families, who were waiting with signs for their guests. It was the middle of the night (Saturday to Sunday) when the German students and teachers arrived, so everyone was happy when they got to go to bed and sleep in the next morning. All German students had the advantage of having a nice relaxing Sunday in Skopje. The host-families went with their student on trips and introduced them to traditional Macedonian food. The students and teachers from Estonia and Poland arrived a little after midnight on Monday. Their host-families waited for them at the airport as well and gave them a warm welcome. After traveling for so long the students and teachers from Poland and Estonia were happy to fall into their beds.

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Tartu Veeriku Kool

The 17th Primary School of Tartu was founded on September 1 in 1987 as a bilingual school where 528 students started studying, 93 of them had Russian as their first language. In the beginning, there were 29 teachers. The first headmaster of the school was Valentina Ritsing and her substitute was Reet Pärn.

Since 2004 the school has been run by headmistress Ruth Ahven and the director of studies Carmen Luts. The reorganization of Tartu’s school web has caused the number of students to increase: 2013 – 424 students, 2016 – 619 students, 2017 – almost 700. This has also increased the number of teachers. A lot of new classrooms that have been renovated to support modern studying have been taken into use.

Tartu Veeriku School won a national ICT use competition. The school incorporates digital devices into everyday work and it has become a standard for the students. On the other hand the school is linked to a project which aims to get the pupils moving during lessons and the breaks.

Our teachers linked to Find Your Balance:

  • Astrid Salumets – project coordinator in Estonia. A teacher at Tartu Veeriku School since 1987. Subject: English. Forms 4-9
  • Aili Kadaste – teacher at Veeriku School. Subject: English. Teaches in forms 4-9.
  • Liis Leilop – a teacher at Veeriku School since 2015. Subject: English. Teaches in forms 3-9.
  • Reet Tallo – a teacher at Tartu Veeriku School since 2002 Subject: handicraft, art. Teaches in forms 4-9
  • Priit Pensa – teacher at Veeriku School. Subject: geography.

Osnovno uciliste “Krste Misirkov” Skopje

Osnovno uciliste “Krste Misirkov” Skopje

Primary school “Krste Misirkov” Skopje is open for innovation and creating 21st century students. It is located in the municipality of Gazi Baba, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. It is a medium school with around 750 students and 50 teachers. We have students from 6 to 15 years old. The teaching language is Macedonian. We are continuously trying to develop communication and collaboration skills for our students based on respecting each other regardless of their ethnic, culture, religious or any other basis.

 

Our teachers and students are open for innovations and implementation of new approaches in teaching and learning with the aim to develop students’ 21st century competencies. We are always trying to involve technology in everyday teaching because we know that technology is very important issue that can motivate students, make learning more interesting, developing very different skills at students. Our students are familiar with new technology so they need to be thought using that technology. That is the main reason why all teachers are trying to implement some new ICT tools in the classroom.

At the same time we know that students spend too much time in front of the computers so we pay a lot of attention on physical education. Our students participate in different teams playing basketball, football, handball etc. They have a lot of extra curriculum activities connected to physical education like training, competitions, etc.

All these are reasons why our students are satisfied with the teaching in school, they are highly motivated to participate in a lot of activities that are held out of school. They have already participated in projects conducted through e-Twinning platform with the students from different countries. Our last e-Twinning project was awarded by European Quality Label and we are very proud that teacher from our school is e-Twinning ambassador. Our students are familiar with the possibility and importance of lifelong learning in continuously developing their skills which are necessary for living in this modern society.

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Zespol Szkol Publicznych w Mysiadle

 

The Polish Olympians Elementary School in Mysiadło is a new organization, founded in 2013. It is located in the municipality of Lesznowola, Piaseczno, Poland in the building of Education and Sport’s Centre in Mysiadło.

For the last 3 years the school has been facing challenges connected with a growing number of students (over 900) and teachers (over 120). The students are 6-15 years old.  The teaching language is Polish.

The main areas of activity for the school in Mysiadło are:

  •  development and implementation of forms of non – formal grading for all age groups of students
  •  development and implementation of teachers’ assignment
  •  development of the ICT methodology in every subject
  •  development of practical activities for young students (11-13 years old) preventing mobile phone addiction

The use of ICT is a very important area for the school in Mysiadło. There is a whiteboard in every classroom and every teacher is trained how to use it. Most of the teachers use many applications in order to make learning more accessible, attractive and effective. Over the last few years, a group of teachers conducts lessons with the help of iPods and WebQuest.

The Centre of Sport, located in the same building as school in Mysiadło, as well as the County’s Cultural Centre, situated nearby, offer a wide range of physical, cognitive and academic activities for students and adults of the Lesznowola county. They have a lot of experience in attracting young people and  share it with the project team.

Students in our school  are involved in numerous sports teams, they play basketball, football, handball, do judo, karate or even take part in dancing competitions. They have a lot of extra curriculum activities connected as well with physical education as with learning. Our students also participate in e-Twinning project “Movie of the Month – February to May” with the students from Spain and Sweden.

 

Key persons involved in project

Karolina Kasperska – the coordinator of the project, has been working in the Polish Olympians Elementary School in Mysiadło since the beginning of the school. She is an English teacher who has successfully applied for the Comenius funding and attended a teachers’ training in Cambridge, in 2013, regarding blended learning and usage of the new technologies in the classroom. In 2017 Mrs Karolina Kasperska applied for the funding of a workshop: “EU Project cycle Management” in line with the Key action 1, in order to get a proper preparation for this and further projects at school. Karolina Kasperska is a coordinator of international projects and an English teacher of students 11-13 years of age. Mrs Kasperska has an experience of participation in different school projects where students refine their skills connected with the use of English in communication and team work. She is also a German language teacher.

Agata Cieniek – is an English teacher in Mysiadło’s Polish Olympians Elementary School. She teaches students who are 9-15. Mrs Cieniek is also a French language teacher. She has experience in co-organising Comenius and e-Twinning projects at schools she has worked previously. Mrs Cieniek succeeds in a constant broadening of her teacher’s skills and tools by taking part in numerous workshops and trainings used afterwards in her work with students.

Gymnasium Loxstedt

Gymnasium Loxstedt is a Grammar School in the north of Germany. We are a small school with 360 students and 30 teachers. Our teachers teach us in German, English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, French, Latin, Music, Art, P.E., and Politics. Besides our regular classes we have different clubs we can attend in the afternoon, like drama club, where we practice new plays which we like to perform for guests; loxfactory, where we learn new skills on the computer; bee club, where we produce our own honey; Erasmus+ where we prepare our trips and work on our project “Find your Balance”; paramedics and 1st Aid club, where we can become real paramedics and sailing club, where we learn how to sail. Our school is not just located in a nice community, we are also an amazing community. We enjoy our school days with our friends and we all love our wonderful yearly events. There are athletic events like soccer tournament, hockey tournament and the Bundesjugendspiele, where we can get a sports badge if we accomplish good results. Other amazing events are the Christmas ball, where we get to dress up nicely and then dance with our friends or bicycle training day, where we make our bicycle license. Our school is also famous for our international projects, which include trips to France, England, Denmark and with the Erasmus+ projects we also have the chance to travel to Macedonia, Estonia and Poland, which we are really grateful for and excited about.

 

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