lunedì 30 giugno 2014

Literacy, Art, dance, creativity and play activities


I had interesting and good experiences as an educator, trainer and but also as a learner, that I would like to share with you, they are so many and i have to much to say about each one, that I really can't do it, so, I'll select a few that I maybe can be usefull for your own contexts and do a hard sinteses. Dance and literacy are rarely together, but as dance is one of my passions, I try to develop activities on this field and I was lucky to work with choreographers that used as base input poetry, stories and writting activities.

Experiences as LEARNER:

Italian for Foreigners

I had a very good experience on Officina Creativa Interculturalle as a student of Italian for foreigners mainly because they were flexible, sensitive and understandive enough towards the situation of being a foreigner. Our fears, needs, expectations, dreams, particularities and isolation situation, where included as part of the lesson and used as theme for learn italian language. Independent of all ages, cultures, life situations, italian level, we will always start and finish with a simple activity together, which help us to connect with each other, that shared the some common strugle.

The strongest point of this experience was the hosting, the enviorment of open arms, listening, looking, mediator of diferent cultures and gather promotion, and the creative, personal and non formal education methodologies.

The weakest point of this experience was the dificulty to adjust the diferent levels of italian, assure the continuity of evolution between classes, lack of evaluation moments for exchange feedbacks and the certificate of learning that is recognized.



Story Telling Course

On this course we were learning how to tell a story and all the process behind it, that mades each story teller different from another and the same story being told diferently as we put so much of our sensitivity and non verbal language inside but underline. But while we were learning we were listening each others stories repeatly and surprisly I wanted to hear it more and more which made understand how much we connect through these activities.

The strongest point of this experience the quality of the teacher's listening and feedback that made us improve and get more and more to our own style of storytellers.

The weakest point of this experience was that we could only choose the tales we would work.


Dance in community workshop, and course

In this workshop I learn how to connect to many different inputs with dance, from video, stories, choreographies. One example: with the theme weather, from a video of clouds movement drawing without look at the paper, selecting from all those lines shapes, write a story about it, tell it, and then dance it, while some of us do the music for it.

From the children's book of Jutta Bauer's “Screaming mother”, we plan a serie of multicultural dance classes, as the pieces of the penguin went to different part of the world, and we will rescuing his body parts focus the movement atention on those through the diverse local traditional dances.

Research and Dance Composition workshop

From the portuguese poetry of the book of Casimiro de Brito called “Where the body Ends” I learned how to work books both text through movement and dance composition in relation with the architeture of a public space.




Experiences as a TEACHER/TRAINNER:

Multiculturality through Dance workshop

I develop this workshop connecting the body expression with cultural inputs like traditional musics, enviornment, objects, ideas, symbols, history references from participants and common sense knowledge.

The activity was part outdoors so we use as input the architeture and the diversity of the space relating them with the world cultures.

The strong point was the diversity of inputs as impulse to movement, as it could suit the diversity of participants and the possibility to present how to work the diferent aspects of body movement and expression.

The weak point was find the coherence between the complex diversity and reach participants level of understanding.




Portuguese Culture Events

I organized portuguese culture events about literature, music and some particular places as city of porto. The idea is to present, to promote, to enchant, to enthusiast people about it and mainly connect them with a diferent, distant and foreign people and culture.

It was a challenge to get people interested on a language that though very close to italian it wasn't their own.

The strong point of these events were using the interactive art instalation and pathways methodology to present portuguese literature work very well to get people more active on their knowledge exploration and free to explore acording with their own interest.

The weak point of this events was that participants were a bit lost because there were not enough prepared guides and maybe not enough guide lines for the amount of things to explore since that the interactive and active experience is something that adults are not used to and are not expecting on a

event.




Multicultural events

On these events adults were gather to find a meeting of at least two cultures about a theme that would be explored according with these cultures in order to promote a bigger intercultural dialogue on the cultural events and take advantage to involved local foreigners to teach us about their culture.

It was organized one about mythology (with Portugal, Germany, Greece and Holland) and one about Food (with Greece, Portugal and Hungary).

The strong point of these events were the surprising ability to enjoy the process of the activities proposed and the pleasure to find a place where they could connect with strangers through activities different from daily and with culture as mediator.

The weak point was that it was hard to involved them on the reflect process of those activities as they associate event and non formal education activities as a moment to enjoy the company of each other and have fun as priority and as a secondary level learn something and even less to be aware of it.




Workshop of book building “The Book that it isn't”

In this workshop adults, children and persons of all ages were invited to create a book never seen before from waste materials. It had to had a cover where the title, author, date, place and promotor (editor) would be placed, and then its content with some way of organize the pages with story content. The books where placed in the Library together with normal book, with a poster explaining what were they about and a basket with ideas for inviting readers to build at home more of these books, for a month.

The strong point of this activity was a great way to make understand what is behind the process of a book, the creativity required to it's building and the intime and afective connection created by build and sign the book made as the author.

The weekest point of this activity was the small community impact that it had.




English for children through literacy and play activity methodologies

One of the most effective ways to learn to speak and understand a language is the need and the enjoyment of use it.

On the children's English classes I  worked teaching english and literacy through songs, nursery rhymes sculptures, puppet theatre and theatre, dramatic expression, story telling, outdoor traditional games (that included verbalizing english sentences) were included. Besides that one of the biggest focus of my work was the play activities recreating literacy contexts such as: restaurants, supermarket, teddy bear hospitals, pretending travel experience, travel agency, shopping centre and the shops street and hotels. Finally we develop works about stories like art instalations and workshops of building their own books or of English vocabulary (to add to library school). 

The strong point of this classes were that the enjoyment of the kids, how much they learn in paralel about multiculturality and how to play.

The weak point of this project was that it was hard to explain all that was required to understand to develop this activities in english, specially because their if their capacity of attention would be finish after the explanation then to play in english it was hard.


















domenica 29 giugno 2014

My teaching experience . . .

I teach Italian as a foreign language in a private school of Athens. In this school the students have a free choice of a second foreign language among Italian, French, German and Spanish (the first foreign language of course is English). They study their foreign language from the third elementary class until the third class of high school.
            So my students are from 8-15 years old !
            Therefore for the 3rd elementary class the main idea is to get the students close to the Italian sounds, the Italian pronunciation, culture and music. Basically I use flashcards, songs and videos with main educational tool the interactive blackboard.
            For the next classes they learn to write phrases, to decline verbs, to speak. The role-play activity is very constructive and they empower their communicative skills so as to reach at the last class of primary school to the A1 level. The students at this age participate to the PLIDA juniores exams of Società Dante Alighieri and they obtain the certificate of A1 level.
            For the high school I enrich their vocabulary, we improve speaking-reading and writing skills and the students reach at the B1-B2 level (PLIDA exams).
            As a weakness I have to refer that the students study Italian as a foreign language and not as a second language, which is very different. Second of all, in the context of a private school and the language exams of A1-A2 and B1-B2 level it becomes very difficult to find enough space for cultural activities and non formal education. I try to induct cultural stimulus and have a methodology based on a communicative context.


            A small sample of my work:
  • Visit to the Italian Institute of Athens with the students of elementary school. The students had the chance to speak in Italian, participate to an experimental workshop of Italian geography, attend an exhibition of photography dedicated to Venice and taste the famous Italian pizza….



  • Summer Workshop: “Greetings from Europe” where the students of Italian Language create their own postcards from Italy with the technique of a collage among monuments, photos, greetings in Italian and stamps from Italy for their friends. 

  • My body: a small workshop for the small students of elementary school.

















  • My desires: The desires of the 3rd class of high school !













sabato 28 giugno 2014

Few words about my teaching/learning experience

I teach basic IT competence to pupils from different minority groups as well as to adult learners from the area, and I haven’t too much experience in teaching a foreign language in particular.

But I have wonderful observations and experience of learning a foreign language (English), which I’ve gained during my one-year training at the prestigious Telford College in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

There I was able to take a first-hand look at various interactive methods of teaching a foreign language at this college. I was impressed from the way that the college’s teachers approached individually to work with each student, from excellent organization of the training, from provided rich material base to learning students, and the approach based on problem-solving method for every problem in the process of learning.
One of the most important methods were the presence and using of some IT training, personal approach to every student, the model of informal communication, etc. 

Experience gained there was important to me - some of the elements of teaching I’m using when I teach to my adult and young learners. 

As weaknesses I can highlight may be only very intense rhythm of teaching and the presence of very little free time for recreation of students.

venerdì 27 giugno 2014

Town of Novi Iskar

My town - Novi Iskar, is located only 12 km away to the north from Bulgarian capital city of Sofia. 
Town of Novi Iskar, Municipality of Sofia, Bulgaria
It's built on the both banks of the largest river in Bulgaria - Iskar river.
As a town Novi Iskar was declared in May 1974, and today the town has a population just over 15,000 people. 
The city consists today from five neighborhoods: "Slavovtsi", "Kumaritsa", “Kurilo","Izgrev" and "Gniliane”.
Town of Novi Iskar has a rich history. 

Historical evidences indicates that more than 1000 years ago in the same place on which is today’s town of Novi Iskar, there was a life, for which evidenced the ancient Thracian mounds and tombs in three neighborhoods of the city today.
In the town of Novi Iskar has retained traces and scars from the Roman era, as through the town was passed one of the main roads of the Roman Empire - Via Traiana – the Traian road (talking about the I-st ​​and II-nd century A.D.) which was passed at the foot of near Stara Planina mountain.

Today the town is strongly linked with the dynamic economy of Bulgarian capital Sofia, as in the city are developed the retail and services sector, tourism, organic farming etc.

The first word that comes to my mind when I think of my town is: tradition (in Bulgarian: tradicia). Novi Iskar is well known in Bulgaria with preserved and treasured folk traditions of this part of Bulgaria, also known by the name Shopluka region.

mercoledì 25 giugno 2014

EXPERIENCES BETWEEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES



EXPERIENCE CORRESPONDANCE BETWEEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES
Hello my friends,
I would like to share with you an experience at the L2 course (French as a foreign language).
It was a collaboration between two classes of French as a foreign language – FLE that took place this year: the 2nd primary school of Paiania, Greece and the Canadian primary school of Warsaw, Poland.
The project that you can see in the presentation below was part of the
 Virtual e-class community project 2013/2014
Subject: «Voyage en Europe. Arrêts en France et en Pologne»
Children communicate through skype, exchange letters, works, souvenirs,
They describe their schools, cities, school life, interests…
This project developed many skills like
social and intercultural skills as well as the motivation of children to learning.
You can see the presentation here:
As it was a bi-lateral exchange, we managed to have a good contact between the two classes and cultures. It has been one of the best experiences we have ever had in L2 course for teachers and students! 
A second experience I would like to share is the project “ Oh toi, ma Méditterannée”
It was developed with the same class of L2 (2nd primary school of Paiania) this year too.
It was an interdisciplinary project with the collaboration of three teachers: Foreign language, Music and Art course.
The project developed many skills like cultural, ecological, creative writing, singing and of course motivation to learning.
You can see the work in the blog of our school. Listen to the song. It’s worthwhile!
Best regards,
Sofia Lahlou

martedì 24 giugno 2014

"Teaching/learning experience"


       I work as a primary school teacher in Romania, but in a Hungarian-speaking class. Hungarians are a minority here, but they have the right to study in their maternal language. Also it is obligatory for the children to learn the Romanian from the first class as their second language. They have Romanian language classes four hours a week.
My classroom


In the first year the main purpose is to learn how to express themselves, so the orality is very important. That's why in the textbooks we use are many images/flashcards, which help them to learn the basic words, notions, expressions.

                           
My family
We talk about the pictures, we practise dialogues, make role-play activities, I teach them songs and poems too. In the second school year they not only learn the alphabet, but also they have to read and write in Romanian. Now the textbook contains short texts which help them to acquire reading skills and it contains many writing exercises too. 
    In the third and fourth year the children continue to enrich their vocabulary, and also to improve their speaking, reading and writing skills.

lunedì 23 giugno 2014

"Teaching/learning experience"

Teaching is my big passion .The whole procedure of discovering new ways to communicate knowledge to different level of students is fascinating. I would dare to say, the most productive and creative part of our profession. The main desire is my students to love the Italian culture, having as principle tool the Italian language. And this is possible, in my opinion, only through experiential learning. Although the majority of my students is adults, this is not a drawback for having a lesson full of joy and creative activities.
 Based on this theory, my lesson includes audiovisual means, such as videos, music, slides and video recording. A marvelous combination of the Italian culture and language is movies. That’s why they are my student’s and my favorite one. For example, during a lesson, I had removed the subtitles from a part of the movie “la vita è bella” and having divided the class into groups, I asked my students to produce their own version of the dialogue. It was very amusing for them and at the same time, they wanted to learn more information about the director, the actors and the background of the movie.
Another teaching method that we are very familiar with, is role-play activities. This kind of activity is very popular and useful to adults. I have noticed though, that in order that this activity would be effective and the students would participate willingly, teachers should organise the classroom as a theatre team.
To sum up, the material sources and the methods for language teaching are endless. What is necessary is the teacher’s love, eagerness and passion for his/her profession


"my town"





I live near Piraeus, a port city in the region of Attica. Piraeus is the main port of Greece and with a transport of 19 million passengers annually, it is the largest in Europe and third in the world. Piraeus has a long history which dates back to ancient times when it was the port city of classical Athens. Today the port of Piraeus is used only for passenger boats, as it is from there that all tourists and visitors can be transferred by ferries to the islands in the Aegean Sea.
There are many nice places to visit in Piraeus. In the Marina of Zea or Marina Zeas (Pasalimani) one can see parts of the Ancient Walls (Makra Teihi) that connected Piraeus with Athens. The Maritime museum is also situated there. Moreover, visitors can admire parts of the Peiraiki coast.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of my area is “sea”,in greek “θάλασσα”.

domenica 22 giugno 2014

I live in Athens, in the zone of Petroupoli that in Greek means Stone City.


My town is situated in the northwestern part of Athens. It is a high spotted place with a great view; you can see the port of Piraeus and also Acropolis from the hill.
Every summer in my town we have the Petra Festival, a big event with many theatrical and musical spectacles. So this period my home town is very vivid.  


Nearby there is also one of the few parks in Athens, the “Environmental Awareness Park” (Tritsis Park) a gem of simple, natural beauty, a welcome respite from Athens’ booming construction and urbanization.
Unfortunately we have no lakes, bicycles or rivers like the most European cities since Petroupoli is a part of a big modern by now city, but we have great weather, sun, good food, very attractive meeting points in many squares and a very special atmosphere full of energy and positive influence.
Of course the historical center, where the ancient Greek civilization was born is very close and the exploration of it never ends...



The word that comes to my mind is ζωηρός, "spirited" in English.













Hi, I’m Anastasia !



I am Greek and I teach Italian as a foreign language. I studied Italian Language and Literature at the University of Athens and then I had my master in Didattica della Lingua Italiana come L2 at the University of Padova in Italy, where I spend two wonderful years! In Italy along with my studies I was teaching Italian to immigrants teenagers in a voluntary association; an experience that will never forget.
For the moment I teach Italian in a private school, in Athens, to elementary and high school students. This year I also started a new working experience as an educational coordinator of a Life Long Learning Program based on Non Formal Education. I love teaching very much but I also like directing and supervising educational programs.
I had the chance to participate to many European projects like Youth in Action Projects and Leonardo da Vinci Program, so this European experience has offered me great new skills.
I always like to incorporate Non Formal Education methodologies in my teaching procedure and I believe that The Ridef and Forum Theater will offer my new cultural stimulus.
I speak Italian, English and I can understand a little bit of Spanish.
I am very excited for this workshop and I am willing to meet you all ! !