OUR LAST EVENING TOGETHER

We finished the course at about 3pm and we had lunch with Slava and Gery at the restaurant they had recommended us. Our friends from Córdoba came later too. So probably the destiny wanted all of us to be together again. Lovely meal and lovely talk.

Then we had a little rest in Faros 1 hotel. After that we tried to buy souvenirs in the area of the big port and Sotiros street and finally we went to the old port, which was the first place we had been to when we arrived a week before. We enjoyed the nightlife of Pireus having dinner on an open-air restaurant seeing the quiet port full of lights and the luxurious boats. We ended our Greek adventure having a drink at a bar facing the Mediterranean Sea and with our bagpack full of memories.

Thanks, Dani for sharing this dream with me, for guiding me in the messy streets and for making me laugh and sing!

Old port of Pireus

There are quotes to learn from even at bars far away from home because we are like M&Ms: different outside, equal inside.

CLOSING CEREMONY 12th JULY

Our beloved Betty made us think until the last moment. At the end of the last session, she asked us to make a list of the 5 things we had learnt this week that we would implement in our school.
This is what I wrote:

1. Structured debates (not only discussions)
2. Brain gym (I loved it!)
3. Do some games and activities we have done in these classes.
4. Make students create improvisation games.
5. Work with ethical dilemmas with my students.
6. Ask my students to do mind maps at the end of each unit.
7. Show our workmates what we have learnt with a blog and a presentation.

I realized I had written 7 instead of 5. Now that I am about to finish this blog and after revising all the photocopies we were given and the notes I took, I think I will implement more than 7 things with my students and I realized once again that in order to be a good teacher, you must be a good learner because the more you learn, the less you know.

The human knot

Finally Betty reminded us the question she had asked us on the first session (What are your expectations for this course?) and she asked us: Did you cover your expectations? My answer was: Absolutely! 

This is a lovely gift Betty gave all of us

After that Irene, one of the memebers of the staff in IDEC, came to the classroom with the certificates, small bags with typical gifts from Greece and shots of Mastiha to say goodbye in the Greek way.

And finally the group photo, hugs, kisses and good luck wishes!

Thanks mates for all the enriching moments we have lived together! : )

MIND MAP 12th JULY

Trainer. Betty Aggeletaki
A MIND MAP is a tool that excites and unleashes the potential of the brain. It is a highly effective way of letting your brain release and absorb information. Mind maps have a simple structure that radiate from the centre and use lines, symbols, words, color and images according to simple brain-friendly concepts. Mind maps improve long term memory!
A MIND MAP converts a long list of information into a colorful memorable and highly organized "picture" that reflects your brain's natural way of doing things. We should show our students to make  MIND MAPS with the contents of the units as a creative activity to stimulate their memory. I will do it for sure!

This are the 7 steps to make a MIND MAP

This is an example of a MIND MAP

Betty told us to make our MIND MAPS of what we thought we had learnt in this course and through this experience and this is mine:

INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING 12th JULY

Trainer: Betty Aggeletaki
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING (IBL)
This means seeking information by questioning. Individuals inquiry from the day they are born until they die. Questions generate answers! We should make students ask questions. The power of IBL is that students develop ideas by questioning. And subjects should interrelate. We shold try to go beyond our syllabus and teach EMOTIONAL EDUCATION in a cross curricular way.
You will understand it better if you watch this video and read the slides below:

Betty made us work in pairs looking for the answer to these question: What does respect mean to you? What does it mean to you to show respect and to be respected? We stopped to think and express what respect means to us and then we shared our opinions and took part in a discussion. We learnt IBL from practice. And it really worked.

We want to quote Betty one more time: "Accept that teaching is a learning experience"

We want to finish this post with words in music. One of the most touching songs by Aretha Frankin: RESPECT