VONITSA, 24th - 28th April 2012
The objectives of the third meeting in Greece were established at European level and dealt with:
Familiarizing with the particularities of the Educational system in Greece;
Presenting the activities done at institutional level from February to May 2012
Objective analysis regarding the degree of the project impletentation at institutional and European levels;
Uploading the site of the project- http://letsmeetunderthespots.weebly.com- with materials resulting from specific project activities done in each school, as well as those resulting from cross-cultural mobilities;
· Re-discussing the calendar of mobilities in the second year of project, considering that Italy is no longer a partner country;
· Establishing the period of the next mobility;
· Analysis of the newly created texts from each country;
· Setting the deadlines for dramatizations of the newly created texts;
· Analysis of the application form and discussions in order to catch up with the delays;
· Knowing the town and the community by means of the thematic visits;
· Understanding the elements of Greek cultural identity, elements promoted by literature – the theme of the project;
· Improvement of skills regarding communication in English, the language of the project.
During the third meeting within the project “Let’s Meet Under the Spots”, the activities have been continuously connected to the objectives of the project as follows:
The first day in the calendar of activities (24 th of April 2012) debuted with the arrival of the European teams of teachers and students, meeting the host students and accommodating the guest students. When all the participants arrived, the group made a town tour, including a tour of Koukoumitsa islet.
On the second day on the program (the 25th of April 2012) all the European groups visited the school- “Geniko Lykeio Vonitsas” and were welcomed by the management of the institution, as well as by members of the local community (the mayor, priests, media reporters, parents). The joy of co-working in a European project was obvious. The mayor’s speech focused on the joy of hosting teachers and students from four European countries, the importance of European projects in rural areas as a chance for Greek students to prove their skills and talents, the opportunity of promoting tourism.
In the same festive setting, the headmistress of Vonitsa high school gave the audience an inspirational speech presenting the participants in the European project, its objectives, the advantages of implementing such cooperational work for teachers and especially for students.
The host school displayed a power point presentation of Vonitsa, emphasizing on geography, history, culture, tourism, religion and important community events.
In order to better know the local background, the organizers prepared an artistic program with traditional Greek dance and music, performed by the students in vonitsa high school. The participants also had the opportunity to taste traditional Greek sweets.
On the same day, the teachers from the countries involved int he project took part in a working session which focused on analysing the implementation progress at institutional and european levels.
Thus, the coordinator from Turkey, Ms Neslihan Koroglu, brought up the following aspects:
- The official withdrawal of Italy from the project, fact that leads to reorganizing the mobilities in the second year of project; in this context the fourth mobility will be held in Romania, during 15-19 th of October 2012;
- Announcing the National Agency from each country about this aspect;
- The delay regarding the fairytales exchange;
- the delay regarding the administation of the project web site;
- clearing up some inconsistencies regarding the newly created texts and ways of improving the texts;
- setting the deadlined for dramatizations;
- organizing, during May-June 2012, a festive day - Open Comenius Day, in order to present to the local community the european project Let’s Meet Under The Spots! Romania proposed that this day should be held on the 9th of May, Europe Day;
- the coordinator asks for a work meeting in which all the teams should discuss about the materials that need to be uploaded on the site of the project.
The second day ended with a visit to the Venetian Castle, a great opportunity for all the participants to acquire new information about the history of the community.
The third day of the meeting (the 26th of April 2012) was a day full of didactic and thematic activities. In the morning, all the countries displayed their presentations required by the host organizers. These Power Point materials were presented by students in order to show their peers and everyone present the most important aspects of geography, history, culture, and lifestyle.
The guest students had the opportunity to take part in classes with their Greek friends while the teachers had the second work meeting.
The coordinator analyzed objectively the four newly created texts from Croatia, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania, but pointed out that the Czech story did not have the elements from the original texts. The coordinator asks for a new story in a week time. The Coordinator also asks the Greek team to change the names of the characters in the newly created text.
Some new and old materials that had been previously omitted were posted on the website of the project: http://letsmeetunderthespots.weebly.com-.
On the same day everyone made a thematic visit Ancient Paleros/Modern Paleros. We visited the ruins of the old city Paleros as well as the new Paleros, situated by the Ionian Sea.
On the fourth day of the project (the 27th of April 2012) the organizers offered the participants the chance to visit the town of Mesolonghi. This thematic visit included a guided tour in The Garden of Heroes. Thus we found out the history of the place, we understood the sacrifice of the ancestors and learnt why Mesolonghi is considered the second sacred place in the world after Mecca. We could also see the ancient ruins of Iniades theatre.
The day went on with meeting the Mayor of Vonitsa who offered us the guide of the town, a touristic leaflet, and local culinary products..
The project meeting finished on the 28th of April, when the European groups left Vonitsa.
The results of this project meeting are obvious. Firstly, I would mention communication in English all along the mobility and after finishing it. A step forward is students’ increased interest for literature and reading. Then the desire to discover new cultures and civilizations is a reason for students to be involved in the project.
The dialogue among the members of the groups is another advantage on the list.
The fact that the students were hosted by their Greek peers led to beautiful friendship.
Next, I would mention the newly created texts as the results of cooperation, the creative dimension of being the high point of all the work.
Photographs, students’ testimonials, travel impressions, newly acquired cultural and literary information can be mentioned as other fruitful results of this project meeting.
The objectives of the third meeting in Greece were established at European level and dealt with:
Familiarizing with the particularities of the Educational system in Greece;
Presenting the activities done at institutional level from February to May 2012
Objective analysis regarding the degree of the project impletentation at institutional and European levels;
Uploading the site of the project- http://letsmeetunderthespots.weebly.com- with materials resulting from specific project activities done in each school, as well as those resulting from cross-cultural mobilities;
· Re-discussing the calendar of mobilities in the second year of project, considering that Italy is no longer a partner country;
· Establishing the period of the next mobility;
· Analysis of the newly created texts from each country;
· Setting the deadlines for dramatizations of the newly created texts;
· Analysis of the application form and discussions in order to catch up with the delays;
· Knowing the town and the community by means of the thematic visits;
· Understanding the elements of Greek cultural identity, elements promoted by literature – the theme of the project;
· Improvement of skills regarding communication in English, the language of the project.
During the third meeting within the project “Let’s Meet Under the Spots”, the activities have been continuously connected to the objectives of the project as follows:
The first day in the calendar of activities (24 th of April 2012) debuted with the arrival of the European teams of teachers and students, meeting the host students and accommodating the guest students. When all the participants arrived, the group made a town tour, including a tour of Koukoumitsa islet.
On the second day on the program (the 25th of April 2012) all the European groups visited the school- “Geniko Lykeio Vonitsas” and were welcomed by the management of the institution, as well as by members of the local community (the mayor, priests, media reporters, parents). The joy of co-working in a European project was obvious. The mayor’s speech focused on the joy of hosting teachers and students from four European countries, the importance of European projects in rural areas as a chance for Greek students to prove their skills and talents, the opportunity of promoting tourism.
In the same festive setting, the headmistress of Vonitsa high school gave the audience an inspirational speech presenting the participants in the European project, its objectives, the advantages of implementing such cooperational work for teachers and especially for students.
The host school displayed a power point presentation of Vonitsa, emphasizing on geography, history, culture, tourism, religion and important community events.
In order to better know the local background, the organizers prepared an artistic program with traditional Greek dance and music, performed by the students in vonitsa high school. The participants also had the opportunity to taste traditional Greek sweets.
On the same day, the teachers from the countries involved int he project took part in a working session which focused on analysing the implementation progress at institutional and european levels.
Thus, the coordinator from Turkey, Ms Neslihan Koroglu, brought up the following aspects:
- The official withdrawal of Italy from the project, fact that leads to reorganizing the mobilities in the second year of project; in this context the fourth mobility will be held in Romania, during 15-19 th of October 2012;
- Announcing the National Agency from each country about this aspect;
- The delay regarding the fairytales exchange;
- the delay regarding the administation of the project web site;
- clearing up some inconsistencies regarding the newly created texts and ways of improving the texts;
- setting the deadlined for dramatizations;
- organizing, during May-June 2012, a festive day - Open Comenius Day, in order to present to the local community the european project Let’s Meet Under The Spots! Romania proposed that this day should be held on the 9th of May, Europe Day;
- the coordinator asks for a work meeting in which all the teams should discuss about the materials that need to be uploaded on the site of the project.
The second day ended with a visit to the Venetian Castle, a great opportunity for all the participants to acquire new information about the history of the community.
The third day of the meeting (the 26th of April 2012) was a day full of didactic and thematic activities. In the morning, all the countries displayed their presentations required by the host organizers. These Power Point materials were presented by students in order to show their peers and everyone present the most important aspects of geography, history, culture, and lifestyle.
The guest students had the opportunity to take part in classes with their Greek friends while the teachers had the second work meeting.
The coordinator analyzed objectively the four newly created texts from Croatia, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania, but pointed out that the Czech story did not have the elements from the original texts. The coordinator asks for a new story in a week time. The Coordinator also asks the Greek team to change the names of the characters in the newly created text.
Some new and old materials that had been previously omitted were posted on the website of the project: http://letsmeetunderthespots.weebly.com-.
On the same day everyone made a thematic visit Ancient Paleros/Modern Paleros. We visited the ruins of the old city Paleros as well as the new Paleros, situated by the Ionian Sea.
On the fourth day of the project (the 27th of April 2012) the organizers offered the participants the chance to visit the town of Mesolonghi. This thematic visit included a guided tour in The Garden of Heroes. Thus we found out the history of the place, we understood the sacrifice of the ancestors and learnt why Mesolonghi is considered the second sacred place in the world after Mecca. We could also see the ancient ruins of Iniades theatre.
The day went on with meeting the Mayor of Vonitsa who offered us the guide of the town, a touristic leaflet, and local culinary products..
The project meeting finished on the 28th of April, when the European groups left Vonitsa.
The results of this project meeting are obvious. Firstly, I would mention communication in English all along the mobility and after finishing it. A step forward is students’ increased interest for literature and reading. Then the desire to discover new cultures and civilizations is a reason for students to be involved in the project.
The dialogue among the members of the groups is another advantage on the list.
The fact that the students were hosted by their Greek peers led to beautiful friendship.
Next, I would mention the newly created texts as the results of cooperation, the creative dimension of being the high point of all the work.
Photographs, students’ testimonials, travel impressions, newly acquired cultural and literary information can be mentioned as other fruitful results of this project meeting.
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Photogallery