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Teacher's diary - Slovenia, Šmarje-Sap Primary School, 2 - 4 October 2024

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Teacher's diary - Slovenia, Šmarje-Sap Primary School, 2 - 4 October 2024

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About Šmarje-Sap:

Šmarje-Sap is a settlement in the Municipality of Grosuplje in central Slovenia. The area is a part of the historical region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Central Slovenia Statistical Region. The distance between Ljubljana and Šmarje-Sap is 18 km.

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Teacher's diary - Slovenia, Ljubljana, Vižmarje Brod Primary School, 2 - 4 October 2024

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Teacher's diary - Slovenia, Ljubljana, Vižmarje Brod Primary School, 2 - 4 October 2024

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About Ljubljana:

Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia, located along a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative centre and the seat of Urban Municipality of Ljubljana. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the area. The city's symbol is the Ljubljana Dragon.

Population: 279 631 inhabitants (2016)

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1.10. we arrived in Ljubljana. After accommodation in a totally retro style,  we walked around the city. We returned to the hotel, had a welcome drink and looked at the retro exhibition.

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Teacher's diary - Finland, Helsinki, 7 - 12 October 2024

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Teacher's diary - Finland, Helsinki, 7 - 12 October 2024

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About Helsinki:

Helsinki is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About 675,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.25 million in the capital region and 1.58 million in the metropolitan area. As the most populous urban area in Finland, it is the country's most significant centre for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 360 kilometres (220 mi) north of Riga, Latvia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia.

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Teacher's diary, Italy, Florence, 21 - 26 October 2024

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Teacher's diary, Italy, Florence, 21 - 26 October 2024

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About Florence:

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 360,930 inhabitants in 2023, and 984,991 in its metropolitan area. Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial centre.

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Teacher Academy, Helsinki,  7-12 October 2024

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Teacher Academy, Helsinki,  7-12 October 2024

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7.10. Start of the course Learning outside the classroom in Finland.

8 participants from Germany, France and Bulgaria.

We presented our schools in short presentations. Talked about school systems in different countries.

Learned interesting facts about schools in France where students stay in schools from 8 am to 6 pm. They have 2 hour breake for lunch. Students in Germany have different systems and it depends on the region where They live. Students in Bulgaria have good vocational schools with a lot of practice.

Finaly we got to see one good example of learning outside the classroom.

We used the app called TAZ and we Had to go out in the city of Helsinki and Look for questions and answer them.

After that we discussed how we can implement that kind of learning activity in our subjects.

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Course: Introduction to the Finnish Education Model, 7 October 2024

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Course: Introduction to the Finnish Education Model, 7 October 2024

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The first day of the course went great! In the course there are 21 participants from 9 countries (Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia...)

Each country had a presentation and ours went great! There are so many differences in curricula around the world, starting from the timetable to the teacher's independency in the curriculum design.

We learnt some Finnish words such as Moi - hello, Ei - no, Joo- yes, Kiitos- thank you, Anteeksi - sorry.

We have also learnt some interesting facts about Finland:

-it has around 180 000 lakes so they eat fish a lot (salmon especially),

-there are around 5.5 million inhabitants,

- the happiest place on earth because of the quality of life,

-teachers are highly respected,

-they like heavy music and lots od other things.

The most famous thing to do in Finland is to go to the sauna and jump into the cold lake immediately.

Concerning the school, their motto is Learning is not for school, but for life! They have free education and prioritize free time over school when it comes to the homework. They have little homework. They have 15 min break after each lesson and always go outside. That's why they walk barefoot in schools.

That's all for now. If you have questions about Finland, type it!

Teacher Tanja

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8 October 2024, the second day of the course, Helsinki

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8 October 2024, the second day of the course, Helsinki

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Fun facts: 9 grades of basic education (7-15 years)

- they learn Finnish (from first grade) and Swedish as official languages (from fifth grade)

- no national exams and comparisons

- special subject in 7th grade: guidance and counselling for highschol

- grading system from 4 to 10

- no grading before 4th grade

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Florence day 1                                   course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Florence day 1                                   course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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First day od course was great. We had some ice breaking games so we could get to know each other.

16 participants from Greece, Malta, Estonia, Poland, Sebia, Cyprus and Luxembourg presented their schools in short presentation.

After a coffee break we started with presentation of Climate Change.

Tomorrow we continue with lecture.

Because of Italian siesta (from 3PM till 7PM) we had early lunch and went to see Piazzale Michelangelo.

Pizzale Michelangelo is a square with a panoramic view of Florence located in the Oltrano district. It is dedicated to the sculptor Michelangelo and has bronze copies of some of his works found in Florence.

After a long walk we had to treat ourselfes with autentic gelato.

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Character strenghts from Finland - which one is yours?

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Character strenghts from Finland - which one is yours?

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Choose one :)

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9 October 2024, visit to Puolimatkan koulu, a Finnish school in Hyvinkää

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9 October 2024, visit to Puolimatkan koulu, a Finnish school in Hyvinkää

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Today we visited a Finnish school that is 57 km away from Helsinki and saw how Finnish education looks like from the first hand. Pictures are worth thousand words.

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Florence day 3                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Florence day 3                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Today we talked a little more about sustainble Development Goals and trough workshops highlighting the main obstacles to change. We did some activities outside in the yard and some in the classroom. It's nice to hear that in every country the problems are very similar and that all have similar struglling with finding solution.

Today we covered climate change from a philosophical point of view and acivities we had are applicable among high school pupils. But it's always nice to discuss on many levels.

I spent the afternoon in Museo Galileo. Museo Galileo owns one of the world's major collection of scientific instruments, which bears evidence of the role that the Medici and Lorraine Grand Dukes attached to science and scientists.

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Helsinki day 2 course Learning outside the classroom

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Helsinki day 2 course Learning outside the classroom

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In the introduction we learned about famous dishes in Finland.

They have wonderful cinnamon rolls, They love lobster and all the Sea Food, They have a famous cheese bread that They Eat with tea and coffee and They let it melt. Their life policy is that They do Not Eat Finnish Food in restaurants Because it’s tastier to Eat it at home. In restaurants They Eat Food from other countries.

We also Had a small tour around the CITY and we played a Game with different cards which contained phrases Like: if you were a statue, write, mime, say or draw their feelings and dialogues. Practicing all the skills by using our surroundings.

In the End we Had a great tour around Helsinki with a tour guide. We visited the CITY Market and cathedral.

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Today we visited a school in a Hyvinka.

We started our tour with the principal of the school and he explained how the school works. We listened for three lessons durring our stay. We presented our country also. Shared some differences and similarities.

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10 October 2024, Phenomenon based learning

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10 October 2024, Phenomenon based learning

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One of the main educational contribution of Finnish Education is the creation of phenomenon based learning. It is a concept that emphasizes the process of learning more than learning outcomes.

There are steps how to implement it: first you need a topic to research, then once you have a topic, you need to collaborate with other teachers and subjects to research it from different perspectives. It usually involves outdoor learning and creativity. We also learned about Finnish schools on the move and how movement can be easily implemented in classic classrooms as well.

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Last day of the course we had our group presentations about what we have learned so far and what things we would bring to our schools later on. Some of the things mentioned were brain breaks, movement activities, character strenghts cards, doing more phenomenon based learning and other things that are possible to implement in our education systems.

We also had a dialogue walk where we had to discuss education issues in pairs outside the classroom.

We had a learning cafe activity where we discussed our week in groups.

Afterwards we got our certificates.

It was a fruitful week and hopefully we will implement some of the activities from the course in our own classrooms.

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12 October 2024, visit to Rovaniemi, Lapland

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12 October 2024, visit to Rovaniemi, Lapland

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Last day we decided to go further away to Rovaniemi, Santa Clause's hometown and learn about Saami culture and thundra in Arktikum Science Centre. Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus and the capital of Lapland, situated on the Arctic Circle.

The number of citizens: 65 000
The number of reindeer: app. 12 450

The Sámi are indigenous people inhabiting northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

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Florence day 2                                  course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Florence day 2                                  course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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On the second day of the course we continued to talk about climate change. We tried to present the roots of the climate change (deforestation, using fossil fuels, overconsuming, fast fashion, greed,...). In the second part of the lecture vi visited Community Garden Orti dipiniti. Teacher Giacomo explained to ua why is Biodiversity important and why are microorganisms good for soil. We learned about organic horticulture and at the end of the class we picked some plants for our tea.

In order to stay in ecology and nature move we spend the whole afternoon in Boboli Gardens.

The Boboli Gardens is a historical park of the city and is designet for the Medici.

it represents one of the first and most important examples of the Italian garden.

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Florence day 4                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Florence day 4                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Today we spoke about Fast fashion. Fast fashion is widely considered to be low-quality apparel produced rapidly to follow current trends in the industry and sold at rock-bottom prices. Although the monetary cost is low, textile workers and the environment are paying a high price. Fast fashion is cheap because workers are not paid adequately. Clothes are poorly made, widely purchased, rarely worn and quickly thrown away. The rise of fast fashion is intertwined with social media and celebrity/influencer culture. A celebrity posts a photo wearing a new outfit, and their followers want it, so fast fashion brands rush to be the first to provide it. The largest fast fashion company is SHEIN. In Europe that's Zara, H&M, Primark, Mango and Bershka.

We had many useful activities that we did in class.

After break we had a lecture about Plastic Problems and Plastic Actions. We found out what microplastic is and in which products it is hidden.

Afternoon i spend at the Uffizi Gallery and admired Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Caravaggio, Tiziano,...

Of course, I can't leave Florence without trying la bistecca alla fiorentina. :)

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Florence day 5                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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Florence day 5                                     course Environmental Education: Learning and Acting for a Better Future

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On the last day of the lecture we talked about Greenwashing. Greenwashing is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or policies are environmentally friendly.

We had a workshop about how to explain our students that it is very important for them to participate in small actions in perserving environment. What we can do to improve and save Food, Energy, Transport, Water, Building or Waste.

After the break we made a small project that we can apply in our schools. We create a Year Challenge poster in which every month we have one activity related to environmental protection.

In the end we recived European certificates and many contacts for further collaboration.

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The European School Munich (ESM) provides multilingual and multicultural teaching from the nursery to the baccalaureate. It is the only school in Munich which teaches the national languages of all 28 Member States of the European Union. From early childhood on, pupils from different nations learn together and from each other. They benefit from the fact that the teaching staff consists of highly qualified and motivated pedagogical experts from all over Europe who contribute their experience.

The top priority in everyday school life is respectful and tolerant interaction.

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Projektni rezultati - rezultati ankete o ekološkom otisku

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Projektni rezultati - rezultati ankete o ekološkom otisku

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Nakon završenog projekta, učenici OŠ Gračani u većini su postali osviješteni o ekološkom otisku koji ostavljaju i koliko je kretanje i očuvanje okoliša bitno za njihovo zdravlje.