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I can not forget the information, that slavery was here until 1969. And the size of whips... Such a great nature, but how can we people be terrible to one another. And the information that all inhabitants were because of Europians who thought they had to concer all the world... I am sorry to write about that, but it really touched me. And when I am walking along the streets here, and compare the cottage they are living in with a car, parked in front of it, it does't go together in my head...
Topics, like identity today, reminds me, that my charaterisc make me who I am and define me. But also the other way around, with my every day work, relationships, reactions etc. makes my characteristics. We forget sometimes about characteristics that defines us and its good to think about them, to work on them and with them and to be proud on them.
With my characterics I influence each day on my family, friends, students, colleagues and when you add also their families the impact is unimaginably huge.
I found out that I can do also a bit really basic poetry, because I actually managed to put the sentences about how my name tastes, feels, which colour it is and how it sounds together. And at the end I found out that I did good, the descriptions suited my personality.
The quote of the day: What I say in my classroom this year has an impact on 18*3*4 at least... I have such an influence it scares me a bit...

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Today I got to know a very amazing place and people! The location of today was great and it allowed us to work in positive atmosphere. I always enjoy to be in nature and all these ideas and new information give me new inspiration.
The facts and theory about national identity and not only that but also all the values that we discussed made me think a lot. I will be able to share it with my colleagues in methodological sessions that we have in Adazi.
Since I have studied geography in university, it was especially interesting to find out about the island. It gave me plenty of information to me personally as an individual.
The lunch together was great way to get to know national dishes and snacks. Everybody contributed something interesting to taste. Also, talking to my colleagues from Finland, Germany and Slovenia was great practice for my English. Plus, first phrases in French also were great to learn!

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Today was the first day of the course! The chosen location revealed the best of the island and we were welcomed by the amazing organizer and the perfect weather.
The sessons were aimed at getting to know each other better, learn more about the meaniing of our names and get into details about national identity, as well as internationalization process.
Rita told us facts and stories about the geography, history and also geology of the island and that was very informative and exciting. I am particularly keen on all these topics and always bring them into my classroom engaging my students in as many variuos ways as possible. This information was very useful and essential for the introduction of this new experience. This will allow to pass on new knowledge to my classes.

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The location today was perfect as the first meeting was on a beach. At a place like this that is the best choice.

Rita explained the connection between your personal identity, national identity and international co-operaton. It made me see the importance of knowing and treasuring your own roots. I think that I learned something to give to student for possible ka1 project and preparation.

Internation lunch was nice and gave a climpse of food culture in Guadeloupe and other countries. I learned new things particularly about Latvian and Slovakian kitchens. All the food and drinks were very delicious.

After practicing some French basics I feel I am more confident trying to use the language at a shop and a restaurant from now on.

I am looking forward to the rest of the course and I am sure I will learn a lot about international work, the culture here in Guadeloupe and the language.

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I really liked the approach we had today: we discussed many theoretical concepts such as identity, national identity, internationalisation and culture but the very tangible tasks and examples Rita gave us will be easy to put into practise with students too.
When you are asked to choose only a few things that are essential to your identity, you choose the most important ones and at the same time reveal your values. It was a great task to get to know each other.
Also, the task of disentangling our names was illuminating: playing along, using imagination, being a poet is something we adults should do (more often).
Local traditions and customs are always interesting to learn. Respecting one's ancestors by sharing the first glass with them is a habit I'd like to have in my culture too!

Quote of the day: à nous mêmes!

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Today was a good day. I learned a lot about how everybody has her/his own identity trough belonging to something. The Fact that we as Teachers can influence to so many people by our work opened my eyes. The other important thing what I realized was that indentety chances all the time. And how Rita said to change the World, you have to change first yourself. It was interesting to actually see my own values by writing down the words which make my identity. I also started to like the word Culture because of it’s meaning - care:)

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Today was a fun day. I really loved the way how we got to known each other; while I was learning other course members identity backgrounds, I noticed similarities to other group members.  At the moment those six words of myself and my identity are totally different that I woud have been written 2-3 years ago. I`m changing, the way I influence to other people also change. The more than you see in your life and the more than you meet new people, more openminded you will be. Change is for the good.

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„Everything starts with one person.“

I like this sentence as it shows how much influence an individual can have. Think of Greta Thunberg or Melati Wijsen, who - together with her sister - managed to get Bali free of plastic bags within 5 years. We as teachers have a great impact not only on our students, but also on the people they get in touch with. We should be aware of that.

Furthermore, I learned that oranges in Guadeloupe are green instead of orange. So shouldn‘t they be called greens here?

Talking about names. If I had been born in France, I would have been named „Epiphanie“. I hadn’t really thought of the number, taste and colour of my name before, so that was quite challenging.

Concerning the learning environment I very much appreciated our open- door classroom which showed me once again how narrow our school buildings usually are and how much better students could develop in a more open space.

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Today I got to reflect on culture, identity and internationality. Learn a little about traditions on Guadeloupe as well as all the other countries.
It was interesting to reflect on the background and meanings of our names. I hadn't really thought much about my name before or what it means to me or how it is connected to identity.  I found out during the name task, that my name means victory, which doesn't really reflect at all my personality as I am not a very competitive person. I hadn't heard before that in France you had to name your child according to the name calendar, I would have been given the name Habib :D
How I see identity has always been very connected to language.  I noticed that in the identity task I had noted down three things connected to language: bilingual, French and language teaching. Sometimes it feels like the language you are speaking shapes how you act and are, for example, the tone of your voice, the gestures you use etc. I have a Finnish, Swedish, French and English Laura who are all slightly different.
I think it was interesting to realise that all change usually starts from one person.As a language teacher I have a chance to impact the openness and world view of my students. I have a chance to open discussions in class about different cultures and our own, what do we have in common with others? What can we learn from one another? What does national identity even mean nowadays, do we need to identify ourselves with the same traditions as our grandparents did?
Quote of the day:
C'est la vie !

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Olli

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My biggest take from today was the impact that one person can quite easily have in a large group of other people. I have thought about this before, especially when working with Erasmus+ KA2 project. Someone might ask what's the point of those projects if it only concerns a small amount of stuednts in each school.

We have six schools from six different countries. In two years, every school hosts one week when they invite 10 students from each other school. During this week 50 foreign students work together with 50 host students. That makes 6x100=600 students that are directly affected. This alos means 600 families in six countries. Then you can add all other students in the host schools, that are somehow affected. And their families. And of course teachers, appr. 60 travelling with the kids, at least the same amount working with the kids in host countries. And so on. So you can easily see, that within KA2 projects you can quite easily affect quite many people during the two years.