get more from life handbook
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GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-
2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY
CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE
ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE
ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI
KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA
COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013- 2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE
ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE
TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA
COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013- 2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL
GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA
TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY
CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA
COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV
ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL
PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW
GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH
REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE
ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-
2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE
ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI
KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE
TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND
SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS
PARTNERSHIP 2013- 2015 JABLUNKOV
ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO
POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE
TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN
GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-
2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL
PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE
TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS
PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA
TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE
TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND
SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS
PARTNERSHIP 2013- 2015 JABLUNKOV
ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL
PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW
GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH
REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE
ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE
ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013-2015 JABLUNKOV ALHAURÍN EL GRANDE ISTANBUL PALAIKASTRO POIANA TEIULUI
KLIMONTÓW GET MORE FROM LIFE TURKEY CZECH REPUBLIC POLAND SPAIN GREECE ROMANIA COMENIUS PARTNERSHIP 2013
1
INTRODUCTION
Our journey started two years ago when we first found each other on eTwinning.
It was a great chance for us that we all succeeded to be approved by our National
Agencies.
To the Comenius School Partnership Project "Get More from Life", six European
schools got involved. The project has solved the traps of contemporary
consumer society. Through many activities, children from partner schools could
find out how they can get more from life. Project activities have showed the
children how varied life can be when they have some hobbies, do good deeds,
think of people who are worse off than us and when they are trying to help
them, when they have a lot of friends and also the possibility to travel.
Today's children and young people are increasingly surrounded by modern
technology. They are progressively getting used to the convenience, help less
with housework, hardly ever play with friends outdoors and they spend a lot of
time in front of TV and computer. The statistics show, that many young people
are often bored and actually can-not even describe properly their problems or
deal with them effectively. Parents have so many problems of their own that
they do not pay enough attention to children. This is the reason why they look
for their torch-bearer among other children who are in the same position as
themselves.The main goal of our project was to help our students, parents and
teachers to be informed of the threatening risks if we do not try to change the
situation. We have monitored the trend of pathological behaviour within our
students and enabled them to discover the values that will help them enjoy their
lives, the environment they live in, discover more and more things in their
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neighbourhood, which they can appreciate, be proud of and protect them. Our
aim was to improve the educational programme, to find opportunities for the
provision of appropriate activities that are making children's learning more
attractive and are encouraging their after-school activities. Children would often
feel that they are important, that their work, education and language learning is
important, too. Moreover, through this project we have improved the
understanding of cultural diversity and the search for similarities and differences
in the problems arising from the current way of life of young people and families.
Partnership between schools has allowed us to break barriers between us and
achieve intercultural education. In each country, we had a warm welcome and
were suprised by their charming beauty, history, culture and hospitality. Our
parthership helped us to create young Europeans who, by playing and working
together, would become tolerant of each other and be free of prejudice, leading
to mutual understanding and integration. A major contributing factor in our
cooperation was using English as common language.
We would able to visit lots of interesting places, museums, archaelogical sites,
churches and National parks. The project meetings helped us to learn about the
customs and traditions of each country, and we could also try lots of interesting
activities. We´ll never forget visit in Istambul and warm hospitality given by
pupils, teachers and parents in school, ice-breaking activities and childrens'
dancing performances, exploring the salt mines in Poland. During the days we
spent at each project school, we were able to compare our school systems and
teaching methods as well as learn something about our ways of life. The project
has inspired many teachers to promote a healthy lifestyle. In some
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school many sustainable extracurricular activities were created that will benefit
future generations of children. The most important outcomes in our project
were opportunities to make new friends among students and teachers, show
them some places of interest in our countries, regions and schools. We all were
enthusiastic about the cooperation. There were lots of tears when our last day
came and we had to say good bye. We will never forget the days spent with our
new friends and we hope to visit the wonderful countries again in the future. In
conclusion we are here to show our final product. This book was written by the
participants who were involved in multilateral school partnership project
Comenius among six European schools from Turkey, the Czech Republic, Poland,
Greece, Spain, Romania. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the
National Agencies from all countries which allowed our schools to participate
and our sponsors who supported our project. We hope we will inspire some
readers to change their monotonous lifestyle to the life full of experiences. We
are grateful to our colleagues, parents and students who took part in the
activities and helped with the exchange organization.
COORDINATORS
Lenka and Ondřej, George, Maria and Francisco, Urszula, Mariana, Elif and Ferhat
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission, grant
[COM-MP-2013-009.] This handbook reflects the views only of the authors, and
the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of
the information contained therein.
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1. MEET MORE PEOPLE
We do not know anybody who would want to be alone. Project activities gave us
plenty of opportunities to get to know children from different -European
landscapes. Children and teachers had the opportunity to meet peers personally
with whom they were also in contact with through social media - Facebook,
Skype, eTwinning, e-mails, exchanging letters, Christmas and New Year
greetings. Teachers organized videoconference for children, during which the
children learnt about each other, got acquainted with the traditions and
presented their work on the project. Of course, the greatest joy for the children
were from personal meetings. During the meetings they went on trips together
and participated in workshops. Among children warm friendships arised and
when parting we could often see tears. As a result, young people have
cooperated, learnt English, developed key competences, become more active,
creative and tolerant. Thanks to working with other teenagers, they are more
open-minded, outgoing and friendly.
Rule number 1 “Man is a social animal”
“Any new person you meet, it can bring you new experiences, new emotions,
it improves your life”
Skype conversation (Romania & Spain
& Czech republic & Poland) 2014
5
Exchanging letters and Christmas cards
Skype conversations (Czech Republic &
Turkey & Greece 2014)
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2. TAKE UP NEW HOBBIES
We all know that today's children spend a lot of time with modern technology
and certainly every child has ever heard from parents and teachers: "Find
another hobby!" In our project, we do not just say children it, but we invite them
to a variety of creative activities. During activities related to the project some of
us produced traditional products of our region from wood in a special workroom,
they learnt to work with wood working tools, they also wove baskets. Some
pupils started to make crafts, knitting or cooking. Some became interested in
sport activities. A few boys form build wooden things as young carpenters. Older
participants of the project thought younger pupils origami and decorated the
classrooms using it. Many students prepared handmade toys for children and
school guests. The most popular were dancing, singing and playing musical
instruments. Young people enjoyed taking part in the project workshops and
prepared “Dances of the world” - a performance which was presented during the
meetings. Participants of the project workshops also performed world’s dances.
We taught these skills to each other in workshops during our meetings. We met
with experts from the field of psychology, who explains to children how
important it is to have hobbies and a lot of friends. The more hobbies a child,
he/she will have better chances to pick what they like and profession in the
future. We all wish our children would found work which also will be their hobby.
Rule number 2 “Do what makes you feel good!”
“Practicing a hobby helps us maintain a balance “I´m alive”, we´re charged with
positive energy, makes us feel confident because what do we do with pleasure”
Let´s play chess
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Let´s paint on the glass and graffiti
Let´s listen to the advice of experts,
share knowledge with friends
9
3. BE SPONTANEOUS
Run for example to….Istanbul
Of course, at school we don´t have anybody who is able to run to Istanbul, but
when there are many people together, they can even travel around the world.
Children, teachers and sometimes whole families of all partner schools were
included into this activity. Somewere running, others were walking, swimming
and riding bikes. But all together we had one goal - to run the number of
kilometres, representing the average distance from the partner school to school
in Jablunkov. It seems that when there was a specific goal in running children
began to find it entertaining. Thanks to the project some children got a new
hobby. Certainly, pupils and their families have done something for their health.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=0nzhXJfU5co
Parents confirmed elapsed kilometers
Let´s run, surf, swim, walk, hike to
Jablunkov
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Moreover, many participants provided action “Say I love you!” They made many
cards and gave them to friends, parents and grandparents. Pupils became more
spontaneous and friendly.
As part of "Be spontaneous" activity Romanian school collected in six countries
snapshots. Thus from all partners. We conducted an exhibition with them,
showing that a photograph taken instantaneously (rate you yourself as you
spontaneously) can say more about you than classical picture (upright and
looking at photographer).
The rule number 3 “Be spontaneous in everything you do, it brings more creativity and better results”
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4. TACKLE FEARS
Children are like a blank blackboards. They rely on their parents and later on
teachers as their protectors. It´s not always just pretty things happening around
them. A bad environment can have negative effect on children's development.
We focused in school projects and art lessons on this topic. We discussed with
experts on the topic of how not to get hurt, prevention of bullying and leisure.
We organized for children art competition at all partner schools. We sent the
best work to our partner school in Poland, where they organized an exhibition
for us during the meeting in the Polish school. The format and technique of art
works were arbitrary. The finished works were displayed in the school premises.
In the pictures we could see different embodiments children's fears and
concerns, spiders, witches, monsters, but also - especially in older children -
ecological disaster, loneliness, darkness, violence... We believe that it was a good
possibility to discuss the problem with other partners and find the solution
together. We realized, that in spite of the nationality, young people have similar
fears.
Rule number 4 “If you are afraid of something, do not run - face it!”
International exhibition in Polish school
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5. DO THINGS YOU WILL NOT LIKE
We examined the children, to find out which of their daily routines they didn´t
like the most. We found out that among the least popular activities includes
getting up early to school. Children are most looking forward to the weekend
because they can sleep longer. Children don’t like reading set up books and
learning by heart. So, we decided to do some interesting things to make learning
more attractive for students. Older students prepared workshops for younger
pupils to teach them using projects, games and crosswords. They have learnt
practical things and communication between them.
Moreover, students from a secondary school promoted reading among young
people using drama and short performances. Older pupils from Polish school
prepared by themselves a school play about famous book by H. Sienkiewicz. They
made the performance, read the parts of the book and created the special
atmosphere of ancient world. Audience was very glad and fascinated by
modulation of students’ voices and special effects. Younger ones prepared
stories from fairy tales and legends. Thanks to that, process of learning have
become more effective for everyone. Moreover, participants of the action made
the decorations and encouraged others to read books.
Many students discussed the topic of their preferences and things they don’t like
doing. They prepared some interesting presentations, mind maps, albums and
artistic work. Pupils also made some graphs to demonstrate the idea and
increase others interests to do things which are good for our health, body and
mind. The most popular was promoting self-development which influenced on
broadening students’ horizons. Thanks to that action more pupils are eager to
do things that are good but they didn’t like doing earlier.
Some schools prepared activity for pupils that makes better motivation for
getting up early. They explained to the pupils how important it is to start with a
positive thought: "If I welcome the day by doing exercise I will have better day."
They allowed children to attend a morning workout, during which they
performed yoga exercises "the sun salutation - surya namaskar".
It helped children to start the new day together in exciting way even if it was
sometimes difficult to wake up and arrive at school in early morning hours.
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Rule number 5 “You can not say about something you do not like, until you practice it, to discover its usefulness”
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6. TRAVEL
"The world is like a book. Who doesn´t travel, will stay on the first page”
St. Augustine
With our project we allowed children and teachers of six European countries to
travel abroad, to get to know the beauties, culture, language, traditions and
cuisine of six European countries.
At each school there was a huge interest in travelling, so we had to make some
rules by which we selected participants of expeditions according to their merits.
There are reviews from project´s coordinators:
At Czech school we prepared the competition „Travel“ – pupils were suppose to
make presentation called: Where we invite our visitors on a day trip. The place
was chosen by teachers, it was Macocha caves. Pupils had to find some
information about travelling by bus, food, sightseeing and prices. It means pupils
tried to organize the whole day trip for visitors from other countries. They did it
in their free time with the teachers´ help and after that pupils performed it on
the school competition. This work enriched pupils about new knowledge and
experiences, they enjoyed it very much and the winners got award to travel to
Spain.
Lenka
Traveling have helped us to know the places and people, to understand different
cultures and traditions. We were able to know and understandings differences,
learning from experience. Each new country visited revealed differences but also
similarities between nations, relief, culture, traditions, language. We admired
beauties and landmarks unprecedented, but we learned to appreciate more
what God has bestowed each nation individually. We learned to live in peace and
tolerance, to help those in need, let's encourage those who have no hope, we
make life more beautiful for us and those around us.
Mariana
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Judging by the final questionnaire Polish students enjoy travelling. Thanks to that
they met new friends, got knowledge and broadened their experience. Not only
teachers but also students had a possibility to attend the project meeting at
partners’ schools. It was a great experience and a good chance to work together
with other pupils. Participants of the project made also videos about the
meetings. In the project meetings took part 41 students and 15 teachers.
Furthermore, we organizes a few trips for participants of the project. They were
on some trips to the mountains in the south of Poland and to Warsaw, the capital
of our country. Students had many possibilities to visits cinemas, theatres,
museums and attend other interesting actions in Cracow, for example they took
part in workshops and cultural events together with other students. During the
international meetings in Turkey, Romania, Czech Republic and Spain our
Comenius participants visited plenty of amazing places which influenced on their
education and cultural development.
Students arranged also the Comenius corner where have gathered materials
(photos, souvenirs, maps, leaflets) connected with the project meetings. They
made an album “European Challenge” and the project exhibitions at our school
and to present photos, pictures and other project materials to promote
outcomes of the Get More From Life project to other pupils, teachers, school
workers and parents.
Urszula
We visited five different countries during the project - Turkey, Poland, Romania,
Czech Republic and Spain with the participation of thirteen students and six
professors and experienced new places, extraordinary monuments and natural
habitats.
George
7 teachers and 14 students travelled to Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and
Greece.
It was very important to travel in this project for the following reasons:
Exchanging ideas about educational systems and programs with other
school in Europe;
Debating about different methods of teaching or organizing lessons;
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Improving English;
Knowing other countries and cultures;
Finding new friends.
Repairing presentation of their country, town and school for foreign
students;
Doing different and interesting activities for the project;
Meeting students and teachers of other countries in their own school,
visiting schools of other countries and knowing new ways of life of
students of the same age.
Elif
Most students travelling were eleven years old, except a student who was twelve years old. For them it was the first time separated from their parents, so long and so far.
The farewell was very emotional, as both parents and students wept at this departure.
After spending the first night in another country, some of them they missed their parents. But seeing the support of teachers and their own colleagues overcame their fears.
It was understood that such a young students cast forth under their parents.
Before travelling to Prague, we communicate both parents and students that the program would make when we were there.
We asked the students: “What could they provide the Comenius program? What sensations did students have to hop on a plane? What can they learn from new friends?”
They hoped to learn new things about another cultures.
After the question we saw the enthusiasm and desire they had to make this trip. On the way back we could go back to questions about the experience, and students commented that it was a unique and wonderful experience.
Francisco
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Rule number 6 „Do not miss any trip because it is a source of knowledge and
development!“
Meeting in Turkey
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7. ORIENT PURPOSE OUTSIDE YOURSELF
The essence of this activity is to encourage pupils to perceive more of the life
around us, they should recognize people's problems in their surroundings and
within its capabilities, to try to help them. Children could experience the joy of
it, when we do a good deed.
Activities in Czech school:
Pupils and teachers at Czech schools contacted our residents of a nursing home
in Jablunkov. They offered reading books to local seniors. Children also organized
a Christmas party for them and donated homemade Christmas candlesticks. In
our school we also have a long experience with supporting charity activities. For
several years children have been involved in the nationwide collection "Help the
Children!” so that younger children may know how people with disabilities
(collection is also for them) feels, older students organize experiential afternoon
for school club entitled "Chicken helps all". Five posts that were prepared for
children, modelled situations that are normal for us, but for the disabled people
represent a much bigger obstacle. Children tried to look after objects blindly,
drew pictures with their mouth, walked on crutches through various obstacles,
they had to communicate by gestures, or compose simple sentences from
pictures. Everyone finally admitted that life with a disability is not easy. During
the Easter holidays, the pupils of our school went with cash boxes to schools,
offices, Jablunkov streets and to churches to collect money. In 2014 and 2015
they collected 70 818 CZK together. For each financial contribution donors
received small gift- handmade illustration with chicken, whose production
involved nearly the whole school, it means that each student donated his own
time.
Our children are also trying to perceive the problems of other children in the
world, which is confirmed by the project Remote Adoption. For the third year,
our school contributes to education for Christine Yvonne Wangechi from Kenya.
Every year we send about the amount of CZK 18 000. This money covers the
expenses for Christine tuition, clothing, food, medical care and gifts. Christine
sends us photos on which we can make sure that she is doing well, she is healthy
and learns so that she can achieve her dream goal - to become a doctor. Activity
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"Orient purpose outside yourself" not only confirmed, but also expanded the
ability of our students to be aware of their surroundings...
https://prezi.com/_kuh3j-6ou8m/copy-of-copy-of-spend-time/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Activities in Polish school:
Polish students visited disabled people and performed for them a play which
consisted of dancing, singing and playing musical instruments. They also danced
and played together with disabled people. Pupils enjoyed being together
because everyone was very glad and happy. It was a kind of therapy for
everyone. Thanks to it, students could integrate with many disabled people
worked together and observed the life in the House. It was not only a new
experience for our students but also a good example of integration in a real life.
Young people got some information about the organization of the care at the
House and took part in the workshops making some artistic work together with
disabled people. They get some information about physiological aspects of the
illnesses and about possibilities how to work with the people. As a result,
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students could help others who are in need and have some problems in the life.
They realized that around us there are many people who are different, who are
not able to do many things without assistance and service. It was a real lecture
and a real life.
Moreover, pupils are at the same class with physically and mentally disabled
children and teenagers at our school. They have got integration workshops and
classes to work together with them. It has a very positive educational influence
on both ill and healthy young people.
Activities in Romanian school:
With this activity, we taught students to look at the needs of others. We do not need much effort to make others happy. Sometimes a smile or a handshake do more than any gift.
As near our village is a care centre for the elderly, we thought that around the Christmas holidays, everyone would want to have someone close. The children in our school have prepared, together with their parents, small gifts to these elders. Then we went and we offered them singing carols and wishing them happy holidays. This experience has awakened students, feelings of compassion, relief, empathy, realizing how important their contribution was moment happiness of the elderly.
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Activities in Greek school:
The visit in the nursery school was quite unique
since the students had the opportunity to
communicate with young children and enjoy the
innocence and naivity of childhood.
Before Christmas holidays the students of the
school along with the teachers sang the
Christmas carols to the streets of the village and
raised money for the institution for the support
of poor people.
Activities in Turkish school:
We visited and gave some presents to old & homeless people. Also We invited
them to our school for a special day. With this activity our students prepared
themselves for a obtain reason to help others.
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Activities in Spanish school:
One our main objectives have been the cultural exchange to learn more from one another. In addition, students have dresses in the typical suit of each country in Carnival. Carnival is a festive season that occurs in February. Children have learned about project´s partners attractions, its main recipes. The class size has made the typical recipes from the countries that make up our program. All these activities have been motivating. They have learned a lot from each of the countries. Thanks to these activities, we allow many people around us to enjoy carnival season more interesting than usual.
Rule Number 7 “Making others happy, you will become happy!“
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8. ABANDON DEAD-END´S - exit off lifestyle - everything start over again
The purpose of the project
also actively involved children
to work in creating something
that will stay here for the next
generation. Our beautiful
school garden in Jablunkov
with herb beds was created to
serve the children not only as
a decoration, but also as a
place to rest and relax.
Children help with the work and maintenance, learn to distinguish species of
herbs and their use. Herb garden is used by children not only in the afternoon
learning within school clubs, but also school education takes place here. The
garden has also become a source of food for insects. To protect herbs against
insects, we hung several booths on trees where the birds that eat insects are
nesting. The herb growing inspires our children to many other activities. For
example, in woodcarving club they made herbs from wood and they also painted
some herbs in school club. The result of our efforts is a garden - The herb garden
of dreams, which will stay here for other generations of children. In our school
garden we planted a friendship tree - a linden tree, which commemorate March
26, 2015, when teachers and children from 6 European countries met at our
school. Our beautiful school garden with herb beds was created to serve the
children not only as a decoration, but also as a place to rest and relax.
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Comenius clubub in Klimontów prepared
some materials, worksheet and tasks for
younger students from a primary school.
They also provided workshops for younger
students to teach them communication in
English. The materials encourage pupils to
learn foreign language using games,
rhymes, songs and crosswords. Students
have helped to organize a classroom of
English language and European culture
where project workshops and actions are provided. There are many maps,
culture materials, souvenirs and students’ albums.
Participants arranged also an educational garden
where they planted flowers, bushes and herbs
which are useful for people. There is also a good
place (green classroom) where project meetings
have been provided and pupils have regular
classes. We cooperate with some ecological
organizations which encouraged students to take
care about environment, for example, planting
trees and bushes, segregate rubbish, cleaning up
world, saving water and energy, help animals
during winter time and collecting recycling materials. Furthermore, pupils take
care about houseplants in the classrooms to do the school full of greenery.
Polish students took part in the ecological workshops in Cracow and learnt a lot
about biology by observing nature. They get a lot of information by taking part
in scientific expositions and lectures. Participants noticed the results of the
observations and made a calendar.
Students and teachers from all partner schools understood that improoving the
quality of life they have to give up some unhealthy habits, such as sedentary
lifestyle, spending time in front of computer or television, junk food, lack of
friends or enjoyable activities.
So they began organizing meetings to do something to change lifestyle: hiking
through the woods, fun activities, competitions, dancing, volunteering, sports,
etc. They helped pupils' personal development and life quality improvement.
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Rule no. 8. The diversity of activities, enrich your life !
9. ADD SOME SPICE
During the project meetings students practiced to sing the project song Get
More From Life which was created by Spanish partners. Students from all
schools arranged the project song (English and all languages versions) and gave
the presentation to other students, teachers and parents during the meetings at
partners’ countries. It is a great fun for other students who can sing the song and
enjoyed doing the project. Participants of the Comenius Club learnt other
students to sing the song, some try to acompane playing the musical
instruments. Students have developped their talents and interests.
Children from coordinator´s school devised the main protagonist - a cute teddy
bear Pepe, who goes to school and like all boys his age he sometimes has some
problems with friends. We wrote the introductory part of the fairy tale called
“Cute Pepe is on the road”. Pupils completed the story by illustrations and sent
it to pupils in Crete. The story was completed by children from Turkey, Romania,
Poland and Spain gradually. The story of a small teddy bear could run around the
whole Europe and a lot of his new experiences were added.
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It was a very interesting project event encouraging young people to be creative
and get more from life. They also learn English, communication and basic skills.
Because our pupils like playing on performances, we prepared a short
dramatization of Cute Pepe for a meeting of schools in Jablunkov. Mr. René Pilch
– the teacher wrote a script and pupils made set pieces (scenery) on their own.
It wasn´t easy to learn so much of English play script but they managed it at last.
Moreover, thanks to that young people could work together with other teams
and create an interesting story which can be performed in any school and in any
country. It is a good example of project collaboration among participants to do
one thing using ICT and imaginary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl9hKlqlrl4
37
GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – English version
Special thanks to Maria Aragón Cárdenas for her beautiful idea and a video-
instruction for the rhythmic accompaniment of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzFuna8Bd_g
38
GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Spanish version
Tengo mi ticket para una vida mejor
Y algunas nuevas experiencias en el camino.
Y estoy seguro que le gustaría algo de buena compañía.
Únete a mí, ¿qué me dices?
Así pues, aquí vamos, aquí vamos,
Vamos a abrir nuestras mentes, ¿no lo sabes?
Nosotros podemos alcanzar cualquier meta, nosotros podemos llenar
cualquier alma,
Juntos conseguiremos más de la vida.
Yo me tengo a mí y a mis euros amigos,
Ahora estamos aprendiendo mucho más, Polonia y Grecia, España y
Turquía,
República Checa y Rumania, nosotros somos la llave.
Así pues, aquí vamos, aquí vamos,
Vamos a abrir nuestras mentes, ¿no lo sabes?
Nosotros podemos alcanzar cualquier meta, nosotros podemos llenar
cualquier alma,
Juntos conseguiremos más de la vida.
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GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Turkish version
İyi bir yaşama biletim var
Ve yolumda tecrübem
Eminim iyi dostlarım olacak
Katıl sende ne dersin?
Here we go here we go
Let’s open mind dont you know
We can reach any goal
We can feel any soul
Together get more from the life
https://youtu.be/Sfq8bAfNngM
Timing 1:26 – Cups song
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GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Polish version
Z biletem w lepsze życie szybko gnam
I nowe doświadczenia mam.
Chcę przyjaciół nowych poznać też,
Dołącz do mnie, jeśli chcesz
W Europie już kolegów wielu znam
I ucząc się, nie jestem sam.
Czesi, Grecy, Polacy, Rumuni są
z Hiszpanią, Turcją pracują.
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GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Romanian version
Mi-am luat bilet pentru o viață mai bună
Și noi experiențe întâlnim .
Sigur ți-ar plăcea o companie plăcută,
Vino să ne împrietenim!
Deci să începem, să începem,
Deschide-ți mintea, nu mai sta!
Noi putem avea, putem mângâia,
De la viață mai mult vom lua!
Mă ai pe mine și prietenii mei.
Acum învățăm și mai mult!
Polonia, Grecia, Spania ,Turcia,
Cehia, România, suntem cheia!
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GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Czech version
Máme pár lístků na vlak zážitků,
Čekáme, že se přidáš k nám.
Do báglu sbal si dárek pro kámoše, které potkáš,
Všechno ostatní už mám!
REF.
No tak už pojď, no tak už pojď,
Nastav sluníčkovým dnům líc,
Přidej se k partě, která ukáže ti právě,
Jak vzít od života víc!
Evropou vydáme se společně,
Od oceánu k výšinám.
A když se bojíš něčí cizí řeči,
V mobilu já překladač mám!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iykYozT2gpo
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GET MORE FROM LIFE - lyrics – Greek version
Έχω εισιτήριο για καλύτερη ζωή
Νέα εμπειρία με περιμένει
Πα-α-ρέα, να ταξιδέψουμε μαζί
ψάχνω, τι περιμένεις?
Πάμε μακριά, πολύ μακριά
τους στόχους για να φτάσουμε ψηλά
Το μυαλό μας ανοίγει,
η ψυχή μας γεμίζει,
μαζί, θα κάνουμε πολλά!
Το κλειδί είμαστε όλοι μαζί
Τσέχοι, Ρουμάνοι, Πολωνοί,
Έλληνες και Τούρκοι,
Ισπανοί μαθητές
φίλοι, για μια ζωή!
Πάμε μακριά, πολύ μακριά
τους στόχους για να φτάσουμε ψηλά
Το μυαλό μας ανοίγει,
η ψυχή μας γεμίζει,
μαζί, θα κάνουμε πολλά!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQjgcdVt-Tc
Rule number 9 “Add a touch of spice to your life by something that brings you
extra experience.”
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10. WISH EXPERIENCES, NOT MATERIAL GOODS
How many times have we heard how important it is to have good health or that
money can not buy health. But it is very difficult to explain to children in today's
consumer society, that we do not need a lot of money to be happy. Teachers
involved in this project prepared many activities through which children could
experience a lot of unforgettable and spiritually enriching feelings. We did not
need a lot of money, enough good action plan and mainly want to share
experience with children.
Polish project team provided some European workshops in which took part
many children and older students from a lower secondary school. Thanks to that
participants have had the possibility to get knowledge and experience. They
discaverd the world using ICT and prepared many presentations, contests,
crosswords and other materials about project countries. Children worked as
young explores, so they got some information about amazing things in world.
They watched intersting films, took part in some workshops prepared by older
students which help them to learn a lot about geography and history of human
civilisation. Students prepared also a few presentations and posters about
famous people, unusual monuments and things which are worth visiting.
Project participants took part in European workshops. It was a very good work
and a great fun for all participants. They could work together in groups and took
part in some competitions. Thanks to that, young people got knowledge about
European Union and had a good time. They met students from another schools
and could also travel by original English bus. It was a chance for everyone to get
more from life and broaden one’s mind and develop their personality. As a result
young people have become more active, sociable and outgoing. They improve
their communication and basic skills by working in teams and meeting new
people.
Polish team
45
The school in Jablunkov is situated in the valley of the beautiful mountains
Beskydy. Tourism always has been expanded here, but today's families often
prefer to spend free time in shopping malls or watching television. Therefore,
we established our school tourist club and we offered the pupils an activity that
would allow them meaningful spending of their leisure time. Tourism offers
several advantages - active exercise in the open air in the countryside, exploring
the wider surroundings of their homes, making friends, the joy of sharing
common experiences with others. Undisputed plus of hiking is its availability in
our region and financial undemanding. Within the club, eight trips to the
surrounding hills were held, number of participants were 5-15 children
depending on the weather and we really appreciated it when pupils came with
their parents or grandparents. We went up together to hills Skalka, Kozubová,
Filipka, Gírová, Studeničné, Hrčava, Bahenec, Kamenitý and Slavíč. We also
visited the observatory in Kostkov. Each one of us walked from September 2013
to March 2015 about 80 km totally. At the beginning of the activity each member
received a tourist book, which he/she took on his/her trips in the backpack and
honestly wrote down their achieved tourist destinations into it. They also pasted
postcards there and collected tourist stamp. Children can keep the tourist book
because it will remind them of lovely moments which they spent together in the
Beskydy nature. 2-3 teachers participated in each trip, they usually were class
teacher of children who were enrolled into the club. They had a chance to
become better acquainted with some of his pupils and their parents. Tourist club
did not only help to bring new young tourists up, but has also helped to
strengthen relations between children themselves and between children and
their teachers.
Every moment, every meeting took place in a very friendly atmosphere and all
participants enjoyed every second. The project has been a great inspiration how
to increase quality of our children´ and teachers´ lives.
Czech team
46
The students have learned to enjoy every moment.
Hiking is an enriching experience and healthy. Snow is rare in our country and
both students and teachers enjoyed it. They played in the snow, they have
thrown snowballs, they have slipped a bag in the snow.
They have enjoyed the different workshops offered by different countries.
They have played in the park by riding on swings, slides...
Strolling through the different countries, seeing their neighborhoods, parks,
important monuments, churches... have been rewarding experiences.
Thank you all for being able to share this wonderful experience!
Spanish team
The students of our school had the chance to visit the apiary of the region and
they were informed about the marvelous world of bees. They witnessed the
procedure of honey and wax production and tasted products based on honey.
The students were intrigued to take interviews from older people and
discovered a different way of approaching problems, tackling fears and
experiencing life during past years.
Greek team
The project was a complete success and all of us were extremely thrilled from
the cooperation, communication and the life long experiences we gained
throughout its execution. The requested goals were fully achieved and the
participants were completely satisfied from the results.
Turkish team
After all the activities and the two-year project, both students, and teachers,
concluded that more important are the experiences we live, than material
goods. Things are what we are helpful but not irreplaceable. It was broken TV?
You repair it or buy another. Emotions, feelings, experiences through which
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man passes along life, no one can take them. They remain in the soul and make
you richer, the way you react to your peers.
I might reinforce this idea by personal experience I went through.
On returning from the Czech mobility, our van was broken and we were thieves
stole electronics and documents. I lost things, we missed shots, but remained
in the soul beautiful memories, from there no one can steal. This experience
has led more students to cherish the moments, and less things.
We, Romanians, have learned from this project, to be more careful with our
lives. Let's pay attention to lifestyle, to give priority to health, friendship, things
pleasant fellow to help, to love the people around us, to accept everyone,
because we are different.
We learned to get more out of life!
We can be happy, even if we have less.
Happiness comes from the heart and depends on little thing.
A smile at the right time can do more than anything!
Let's be happy that we live!
Rule number 10 „Build memories, not things! Things change, the memories
never die!“
Romanian team
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Absolute rule “Do not just live, but live life to the fullest!”
LET´S TAKE INSPIRATION FROM OUR HANDBOOK
AND
GET MORE FROM LIFE!
Click here for more photos from our meetings.
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