Visiting classes in the Lithuanian school

During the meeting in Lithuania, we had a very busy and interesting program. We had some technical sessions at school, where we planned the schedule for the second project year. We discussed details about the end products that have to be finished this year.

We visited the school and the teachers of English from partner countries held some English lessons with the Lithuanian students based on a plan our hosts prepared. Each teacher was required by the coordinator to write her/his activity and impressions from the classes they visited. There were also some school headmasters, who exchanged best practices in school management. Here are their comments about the classes they visited and what they saw:

George Ivanov, Vice-headmaster from Bulgaria: I visited a lesson of Russian language. I met the teacher of Russian language and her students. I took the students on an imaginary trip to Bulgaria, using the map and the PPT presentation I had prepared, about the history, geography, economy of Bulgaria and about the school where I work, V. Levschi secondary school from Ruse. After that, I wrote some words in Bulgarian and Russian languages on the blackboard. The children could find some differences between the two languages. I also explained to them the importance of our Comenius project “Ethno Treasure Hunt” and invited the students to learn foreign languages to be able to find friends around the world and communicate with them. The lesson was a good example of friendship between the two countries: Bulgaria and Lithuania within the Comenius project.

Rosa Crupi, Headmistress from Italy: Our hosts offered us a very good welcome and organization of activities. I noticed that they have a very calm school atmosphere. The students are attentive and they are interested in learning. I have seen very interesting creative hand wrought activities at school. The end results of the students’ activities were exhibited in the school hall. The school structure is very suitable and equipped. The civil authorities (from the city and region) are very attentive and get involved in organizing the cultural activities of the school. The families got actively involved in the activities organized for the hosting of the project meeting.

Joanna Wilczyńska, Teacher of English from Poland: Me, Dorota and Ȫzgür attended a lesson with the 12^th grade students. It was an English lesson during which we communicated in English. The Polish team presented the Lithuanian students with a quiz about Poland. Later on, we evaluated this and gave prizes to the winners of the quiz competition. We also distributed leaflets connected with our city Lodz and taught them a few Polish tongue-twisters. The second part of the lesson was devoted to the introduction of Turkey by Ȫzgür. He asked the students what they knew about Turkey and its religion, culture and traditions. Later on, he played some Turkish traditional tunes on his recorder. The students were eager to respond, co-operative and their language competence was far beyond our expectations. We produced a nice friendly motivating atmosphere among them and encouraged them to study other foreign languages. We also presented them the advantages of working in the Lifelong Learning Programme: Comenius, Erasmus and Grundtvig. I assessed the students highly and reported on the lesson to their class mistress, Rasa. All in all, the lesson was a great success and pleasure for both students and teachers. Later on, together with Dorota and Lucian Paul (from Romania), I participated in an English lesson with the 5^th grade students. Although the students are young, they were very active and communicative. They responded to our requests, answered questions well and politely. The discipline was astonishing. Their positive attitude towards teachers and motivation to work were amazing. We made a Polish – Romanian knowledge quiz. Most students had a good command of English, but some things about our countries were new to them. We conducted a feedback after the quiz and passed to a game activity to familiarize with the kids and teach them a cultural element. They responded tremendously great and were happy to play the game. During the game, Dorota checked the quizzes. After the game, teachers disseminated the results of the quiz and awarded the students with hand-made prizes. All the kids tasted Polish candies and received leaflets and bookmarks presenting the city of Lodz, where the Polish teachers came from. In general, the lesson was wonderful and the goals were achieved.

Ozgür Boyacı, Teacher of English from Turkey: I visited 3^rd, 5^th and 12^th grades. In 3^rd grade class, the teacher of this class showed the students some information about Turkey on the data projector. He told the students where I came from. (As the teacher (Jonas) and the students are interested in folk dance, I showed them pictures of folk dance groups from Turkey. And I played some tunes on my flute. In the 5^th grade I was with the Romanian teacher, Daniela. I sang songs with the kids and played my flute for them. In the 12^th grade, my partner Joanna, made a quiz for the students. I lectured them about my country, the climate, the religion and our culture, to raise their awareness about Turkey. And I also played some Turkish melodies with my flute.

 Seval Ilemin Yontem, Teacher of English from Turkey: First, I was in the 7^th grade with Daniela. It was really a great experience for me because this was my first time to be with such young students. They enjoyed the songs Daniela taught them. It was also different for me, as I learnt a new way to play with my 11^th & 12^th grade students. Then, Semra and I joined the 9^th grade, which was more familiar to me, as I am used to lecture grades 10 to 12 in my school. The Geography teacher of that class prepared a slide show about Turkey and had shown it to his students before our visit. That was well prepared and it showed our main cultural characteristics. Then, we showed our slides about our traditions, culture and history. After that presentation, we handed the students some worksheets with crossword puzzles about the main points of our presentation. They enjoyed it, and it was amazing for us to see that they had no difficulty in finding the correct answers about Turkey. That was really beneficial for the students and hilarious for us.

Semra Malhatun, Teacher of English from Turkey: It was a great experience with the Lithuanian students. In the fourth lesson, Seval and I had a chance to have a lecture with some 9^th grade students. The Geography teacher gave them some basic information about Turkey, in order to warm them up. Then, he let us show our slides. We tried to teach them some things about the Turkish tradition, cuisine, origin, etc., through these slides. The students were very eager to learn about these and this made us and them feel joy. After the slide show, we handed them a crossword puzzle and the students did it successfully. It was a great pleasure for us to be with them.

Nina Morabito and Domenica Crupi, Teachers of English from Italy: We went to three classrooms and our aim was to make students communicate and exchange information about both our countries: Italy and Lithuania. Students were interested in Italian culture and tradition. They asked about Italian teenagers, about what they do in their free time and the subjects they study at school.  Talking about sports, we learnt that Lithuanian students prefer to play basketball comparing to Italian students who are crazy about football. We appreciate the work of the Lithuanian teachers who made their students involved in this Comenius project and made them aware of our culture and traditions. Our headmistress Rosa Crupi and another teacher, Linda Cigala, visited 2 classrooms in the primary school in order to exchange experiences and best practices. Rosa congratulated the students and teachers for the organization of the institution and for the involvement of the students in the project and the activities planned.

Daniela Buda, Teacher of English from Romania: Together with Seval, from Turkey, I went first to meet a 7^th grade class. They did not ask too many questions about Romania, as they hosted the Romanian students visiting them and they knew some things about our country. Two of the students from this class, Ieva and Jovita, had visited Romania during the first project meeting, in November 2010, and they told their colleagues some things about our culture. They asked a few questions about Turkey and Seval answered them. Then I taught them some songs in English and they had a lot of fun. I always teach my students songs in order to motivate them to learn English. They also sang some songs in Lithuanian and my students joined them, as they, too, knew those songs. It has been a new experience for Seval, too, as she has never taught younger students. She has only worked with high school students so far. The next lesson I attended was with a 5^th grade class, together with Ȫzgür. In the first part I showed the students where Romania lies on the map of Europe and where Baia Mare lies on the map of Romania. I also showed them the drawings my students made for them, representing a traditional house, traditional costumes from Maramures region, and some drawings representing the celebration of Christmas in Romania. Ȫzgür told them some information about Turkey. Then I taught them some games and songs in English and Ȫzgür played some Turkish tunes on his recorder. In the end, we offered the students some Romanian sweets I had brought with me. The students enjoyed learning about the Romanian and Turkish cultures and also learning some English songs that made the lesson more fun. I think my objectives were achieved for both lessons and the students learned how important it is to learn foreign languages.