Our project aims to motivate students to study German language and strengthen the teaching profession's profile through a renewal of the teaching methods. By improving teaching methods, we are trying to increase motivation for learning the so-called ‘small languages’ (in our school: German, French, Russian, Latin). Partner school teachers are convinced that the German language in our region continues to play an important role both in the economy, and the field of education. The partner schools were selected from high schools in Central Europe, with similar experience and traditions so that we can jointly progress in this area. We were looking for a partner school in Germany as well, since working with them in partnership may increase motivation for learning the German language in schools. It is also important that the German schools have a great deal of experience in teaching German as a foreign language, and also in teaching youth, that has just migrated into Germany for a few years. To achieve the objective of our project, each partner school will provide good methodological practices (good practice). At the end of the project we will put together a teaching aid with 10 lesson plans (A2-B1 language level, IKT tools, with differentiation). At the beginning of the project we realize the short-term joint staff training event, the preparation and monitoring of the project, where we work out the tasks in detail, discuss deadlines and responsibilities, plan the detailed dissemination of the project, the student mobility program and its organizational tasks. We will create an eTwinning platform, where the participants hold a connection status with each other and jointly plan and realize the project activities. Each school will realize short-term exchange of groups of pupils in 5 days period, with the participation of three students per school, where the previously assembled 2-2 lesson plans will be tried, discussed and finalized together. Of course the experience and assistance can not exclusively be used in teaching the German language, but also in any foreign language. This aid can be downloaded and applied by any teacher, so the methodological and digital competences of teachers may grow in a wider circle. During the project, not only the students' language skills, but the intercultural competencies of the participants will also improve. The project also aims at understanding the cultural / natural values of the regions of partner schools. As one of the schools is UNESCO school, and the other partners are also interested in this network, we also included an additional aspect in our project. We want to pass on our European identity to our students, therefore we will show them the cultural / natural values under the protection of UNESCO world heritage of the partner countries. We believe that teaching a language not only means mastering that language, but also learning about a culture, which may further increase the success of language teaching. Other results of the project: - We shall create a website for the project, where all the information about participating schools, the project activities will be published, also displaying presentations, articles, pictures, posters, reports, coverages, and all other material, completed during the project. This website will keep promoting our activity towards the public, it shall also serve as the sufficient asset to monitor the realization and verification of the project. - Presentations of UNESCO world heritages, partner schools and cities of partner countries - Workshops in partner schools to display working together to the students of the school, parents and teachers - Trips: we will seek out a world heritage site in each country - Making of photo gallery and Erasmus+ map to display co-ordinator school activities, habits and meetings.
The goal of our project was to increase students' motivation to learn German and to strengthen the profile of the teaching profession by renewing educational methods. By the educational methods development, we aimed to increase the motivation to learn "small" languages. The teachers of the partner schools were firmly convinced that in our region (Central Europe) the German language still has a very important role, it cannot be avoided in the economy or in the education system. In our area, the language teachers have the same experience and traditions in the field of foreign language education, so together they were able to find new solutions in this area. We found a partner school in Germany also, cooperation with the German school can increase the motivation to learn German in partner schools and can give a new perspective in teaching methods. In order to achieve the goal of the project, all partner schools transferred their good practices. As a common product, we compiled a teacher's manual with 10 lesson plans (A2-B1 level, with differentiation, using ICT resources). At the beginning of the project, we carried out joint short-term training for the employees for the preparation and follow-up of the project, where we worked out the tasks in detail, discussed the deadlines, defined the responsibilities and planned the project distribution. We have defined program and organizational issues with the planned student mobilities as well. We designed an eTwinning project where the participants could stay in touch, as well as plan and implement the activities. A short-term exchange of ideas took place in all partner schools, in which the previously compiled 2-hour plans were tried out and determined after consideration. The teacher's experiences and materials found in the manual can of course be used not only for German, but also for other foreign languages and be incorporated when learning other foreign languages in class. The auxiliary material can be loaded and used by any teacher, so the methodological and digital skills of teachers can be developed in a wide range. During the project, the students developed not only digital and language skills, but also intercultural skills. The aim of the project was to get to know the cultural/natural values of the environment of the partner schools as well. Because one of the partner schools is a UNESCO school and the other partners are interested in that school network, we wanted to take into account a second aspect: In addition, we wanted to coney our European identity towards the students, therefore they learned about the cultural heritage of Europe in all UNESCO partner countries in the form of world heritage sites. According to our concept, teaching is not only about learning a language, but also about getting to know a culture, so the success of language teaching could significantly increase. Further results: - We have created a Google site for our project, and here we are placing all the information About the participating schools, activities carried out during the project, presentations, posters, articles, photos, and materials from project meetings, as well as reports. - Presentations of the visited countries were given on the UNESCO world heritage sites for the students from partner cities and schools. - Workshops were organized to present the cooperation and results in schools of the region for students, parents, and teachers. -We visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites in every country to learn about the cultural/historical/geological values of the partner countries and strengthen the European identity. - Photo galleries were created for the visited UNESCO World Heritage sites and the cities, costumes, schools, and activities encountered during the project. In the coordinator school even an Erasmus + card was made. - We created an eTwinning project where the participants could keep in touch, and they could plan and implement the activities. Here we uploaded all information about the participating schools and the activities carried out during the project.