LTTA Romania,
14-20 October 2018
Sunday, 14th October 2018
Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1, Independenta is the host of our third LTTA. Teachers from Italy, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, UK and Croatia arrive in Romania, to spend the first night in Bucharest. Before going to Independenta all the participants will go for a cultural visit to the Romanian capital.
Monday, 15th October 2018
In the morning the bus is waiting for all the participants in front of the hotel in Bucharest. We go for a cultural tour around the city centre: Romanian Athenaeum, Central University Library of Bucharest and Carol I statue, National Bank of Romania, Odeon Theatre are some of the landmarks we visit. The last part of the visit to Bucharest is dedicated to the most famous landmark of Romania: the Palace of the Parliament, the second largest administrative building in the world. In the late afternoon we set off to our destination, the easternmost part of Romania - Galati.
Tuesday, 16th October 2018: Welcoming programme; Teacher meeting; Art workshop
After spending the night at the hotel on the bank of the beautiful Danube River in Galati, it is time to visit the host school - Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1, Independenta. At the entrance there are students wearing traditional clothes, serving bread and salt - a traditional Romanian custom expressing hospitality, showing that the guest is welcomed. What a lovely way to get to know about Romanian tradition! Pairs of Romanian students take guests around school. We all have a chance to visit each class and greet with all students and teachers.
After the school visit the headmistress Mihaela Mihailescu takes guests for a visit to a local museum, presenting exhibits from life in the past of the village.
Everybody is looking forward to a welcoming ceremony, taking place at the local culture centre. After the opening speeches by the headmistess of the host school, Branka Lamza, the project coordinator and the representative of the parents, the show begins. The hosts have worked hard to prepare a welcoming programme consisting of songs, dances and traditions from all the participant countries. Congratulations!
After the welcoming programme we head for a meeting with local authorities. The mayor shares with us information about the village, stressing the importance of the role of Scoala Gimnaziala Nr 1 in the local community.
The afternoon is reserved for the coordinator meeting where the plan for the following year is discussed. The coordinator presents the outline of activities, reminding partners of their tasks. In some countries partners have to submit the interim report, in some there is desk monitoring. All the activities go well, according to the plan. There is one more LTTA, taking place in Cyprus in March and the final meeting in Poland.
After the meeting teachers participate in the art worshop led by Italian teacher Monica Foschi. The task is to take a paintbrush and watercolours and gather around a painting canvas. The workshop leader starts playing the music as the participants paint whatever the music inspires them to paint. When the music changes, each participant must move one place to the right and continue painting what the previous participant had started. A very inspiring activity!
Wednesday, 17th October 2018: Lesson observation - teaching by Romanian, Cypriot, Croatian, Italian and Polish teachers
Participants are divided into groups to observe lessons by teachers from five countries: French, Maths, English. From each lesson there is something new to learn. After lunch there is an interesting workshop held by Adriana Lefter, a teacher trainer, eTwinning and Scientix Ambassador in Romania. The topics are Scientix platform - STEM resources; STEM in primary school; How teachers use STEM methodology in daily school life? and STEM in eTwinning projects. After interesting workshops all the participants head for a guided tour around Galati, to get to know landmarks of this beautiful city on the banks of the Danube.
Thursday, 18th October 2018: Lesson observation - teaching by Portuguese and English teachers; Teacher training activities - Multiple Intelligence Theory
Participants are again divided into groups to observe lessons, this time an Art lesson by Theresa from Portugal and a Maths lesson by Emma from the UK. Again two very interesting lessons, with a lot of new teaching ideas. Today the guest at school is Octavian Patraşcu, a school inspector at the County School Inspectorate and a teacher trainer. The topic of the workshops is the Multiple Intelligence Theory. Teachers get actively involved in drama, writing and construction workshops, acquiring ideas for their future classes and projects. The workshops are followed by an interactive presentation and panel discussion about the Romanian school system. It is very interesting for all the participants to compare educational system in their coutries to the Romanian one. After the day at school we all go for a boat ride on the Danube River in Galati, learning about natural treasures of the region of Moldova.
Friday, 19th October 2018: Lesson observation - teaching by Romanian teachers; Teacher training activities - Digital Handbook
Participants are again divided into groups to observe lessons - this time Romanian teachers Daniel Michalache, Angelica Strinate and Laurențiu Lorga teach Geography, English and Technical Education and share some new ideas.
After classes there is the last worshop of this LTTA. Irina Zamfirescu, a Techsoup Association representative and teacher trainer, holds a workshop called Digital Handbook. Teachers learn about two interesting Web 2.0 tools: Kahoot to create interactive quizzes and Stop Motion Studio, to create stop motion animations in a very simple way.
The LTTA in Romania finishes with closing plenary, evaluation and handing in certificates.
Saturday, 20th October 2018: Departures
We're leaving Romania, full of positive impressions of natural and historical landmarks and most of all, the big heart of its people. We are very proud of having a chance to visit this country in the year when it celebrates 100 years anniversary of the unification with all its historical provinces. Goodbye and thank you for everything!
Photos: Marian Ochianu, Branka Lamza
In the previous part you read the report by the Croatian coordinator. Now, let's find out about the other participants' impressions...
CYPRUS
Three teacher went to Romania (Zoi Kaouri, Elli Constantinou and Koula Kyriakou). The trip to Romania was a unique and unbelievably beautiful life experience. We loved every moment of the perfectly organized meeting. We enjoyed the beautiful welcoming event that the students and teachers prepared for as. We gained knowledge from the lessons we attended. The workshops we took part were very useful and constructive. We will always remember the trip to the Danube River and the excursion to Bucharest. Thank you Romania team. Thank you Mihaela.
POLAND
Time spent in Romanian school provided further, very valuable experiences: lessons, observation of lessons taught by other teachers, workshops with active participation of all teachers taking part in the meeting. An extremely beautiful event was a concert prepared by students, which consisted of dances and songs performed by them. We also had the opportunity to get to know a bit of Romanian history by visiting Bucharest and Galati. The warm and cordial atmosphere of the meeting is the merit of all school employees, but special words of gratitude should be directed to Mihaela.
PORTUGAL
Going to Romania was such a wonderful experience. The Romanian Team (especially the Coordinator, Headmistress Michaela Mihailescu) was so warm and organized an extraordinary welcoming moment on our arrival day and at Independenta. We truly got to know a little bit about the history of Romania, the capital and its most cultural and architectural spots. Travelling to Galati was a bit tiring but the 3 portuguese teachers (Coordinator, Angela Gordino, Teresa Pacheco and Maribel Barbosa) found it was worth it. The School in Independenta, the Teachers, the students, all the staff were marvellous in welcoming us and making us feel that everything was perfect. The workshops at school were quite interesting (dividing the teachers in groups and each visiting different classes was great, for we shared opinions), learning together about the school system in Romania and experience different methodologies of working was great,and for last, but not least, teaching for Romanian students was a wonderful experience. Visiting Galati and getting to know more about local food, crafts and traditional clothes was very good. Thank you Romanian Team for all the wonderful dinners and the celebration for the 1st year of the project.
ITALY
Three teachers from ”Istituto san Rocco” travelled to Romania for this meeting. From the very beginning we realized that everything was perfectly arranged by Mihaela, who has been a perfect host for the whole week. On the first day we visited the capital city, Bucarest, with an interesting guided tour. We spent the rest of the week in Galati and Independenta, where the school is. We met the school staff and local authorities. Every team from the different countries proposed some activities to the pupils of different classes: art, geography, coding, maths, English. In this way we could also attend to other teachers’ classes, as an opportunity of professional development and sharing. We also attended some workshops: STEM methodology, application of The Multiple Intelligence Theory, Use of Digital Tools at school and the Romanian school system. They were really interesting because beside the theory, we had the opportunity to work in small groups and try some activities that we could also propose in our classes. In Romania we had both an interesting professional experience and a pleasant stay with our colleagues from the partner countries.
UK
We were very lucky to begin our second year of the project with a visit to Romania. Three members of staff went and couldn’t fault the effort and organisation of our Romanian hosts. Everyone was very friendly, accommodating and we were able to take away so many learning experiences. We got the chance to experience the Romanian culture, but more importantly spend time with the students in school and learn from each other. When teaching our Geography lesson, we were very impressed with how hardworking the children were and how they were always prepared to ‘have a go’. A big thank you to Mihaela and her Romanian colleagues.
