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What did I learn today? One of the most important lessons I learned today is that “life is the real school and the principal teacher”. Many times we forget that, and pretend that learning is only in books and classes and not in the real place where the Magic happens. The true and deep learning comes through experience.
The second big lesson today was to recognise how our identity, that which makes us feel that we belong to a nation, can help us better understand other cultures and other identities. In a globalised world, we need to keep in mind that "we are all drops and, moreover, we are all part of this great ocean".

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My reflection on the first day of the course makes me think about how different people are and, at the same time, how much we are alike. The activity of writing six words about oneself helps us to get to know ourselves. An activity that can help us to get to know and understand our students better. I think that in school there are very few moments when people can speak and be heard. Perhaps we give too much importance to knowledge and not enough to activities like this one

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Today I was struck by the thought that when you learn about yourself and your own culture,  it can turn into learning about others: ”I am ..” develops into ”I share”. I understand this in the way that when we learn about our own culture and cultural identity, we are ready to appreciate the identities, backgrounds and cultures of other nations. I think this is true to identity and understanding oneself in general: when you know who you are and what you want, you are more comfortable with yourself, and therefore more able to recognize and respect others. It is important in teaching as a profession, too; only when you know your own values, you are better equipped to understand and appreciate those of others, whether they are students, families or collagues.

I also learned today that national identity is like a bowl of salad from the buffet: you toss in the ingredients that you find important and suit your taste, then you mix it and season with some spices from life experience. My salad looks and tastes different from Pipsa’s even though we come from same culture and similar background.

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Through my teaching (philosophy), I have already dealt with the concept of "identity" with students in several times. Today, I have once again become aware of the importance of national identity to educate and engage with internationality. The example of Rita with the "two ways of approach" continues to make me think.

The shared international lunch together showed how easy it is to get into exchanges, where there is common ground and where there are new experiences. That is what makes Erasmus+ meetings so special for me as well. And of course the diversified exchange with nice people (during the coffee break, at lunch, afterwards or already on the way to Rita's). :)

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It was great to meet all and start a course! <3 Rita was inspiring and I loved to hear about each persons identity. The photo is from early morning when the sun was rising – as brightly as our knowledge of ourselves :D

On Tuesday the most important thing for me to learn was that human beeings defining their own cultural identities. Even though persons are living in the same cultural environment, they get to choose whitch parts they are interested in and carry along in their national identity. Also the importance of our own culture when investigating different cultures was a good reminder for me to how to talk about nationalism in my classroom.

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Today I learned that although people come from many different backgrounds we're all alike in one way or another.
I was reminded that it's important to know your own identity to be able to appreciate other cultures and their diversity. And to take the time (may it be teaching students or in our private lives) to take that knowledge into consideration when learning about another country or even judging other people's way to live.
I will definitely implement more tasks regarding personal identities in my lesson plan for all my students.

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https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Magnificent_Frigatebird/overview

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What did I learn today?
With regard to our lunch, I learned once again that a „brazilien buffet“, like we call it in Germany, when everyone brings one or two things, is much better then a tree-star restaurant. It was interesting and instructive on the one hand and very delicious on the other hand.

I was very impressed by the speed in which we became a group. Thanks to the introduction of Rita and to the open mindset of everyone, the presentation of ourselves was truly profound.

The thing I never thougt about and which was really new to me was the idea that every single person is part of his and his country’s national identity.