We light up the world: Advent, Christmas and New Year traditions 2015: Students report from around the world

A week before Christmas Eve students and adults from different countries around the world are meeting in a videoconference to express cultural similarities and differences concerning their Advent, Christmas and New Year traditions. Some of these reports and celebrations are done by students. Coming up with time differences some single teachers from foreign continents do a very good job to let us take a view into their traditions over there.

At this conference students of different ages meet and represent their local traditions as ambassadors.











Most of the classes present their slides while they tell us about their traditions. Some of the classes present some Advent or Christmas songs as well.






The grade 10 students from Mumbai/India share different traditions from Goa as well as from Kerala.




Joe McNulty from the United States gives us the opportunity to have a look into his private living room at home very early in the morning.






Anne Mertschin is talking about Christmas traditions in Australia.









Students from France are singing a Christmas Carol in French most of us know in our local language as well.










Some impressions:

New Year traditions in Turkey !!!

Comments and pictures from St. Molaga School, Ireland

Thank you all for joining this very interesting meeting. The presenters are (in order of their appearance):

Anne Mertschin, Hawkesdale College, Australia
Monika Uppal and her students grade 9- 11, Archana Tyagi, India
Yvonne Dalqvist and her students grade 5 and 8, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
Sophie Gaiffe and her students grade 6,  , France
Gabi Wahle and her students grade 8, Realschule Sundern, Germany
Cliona Brennock and her students grade 4, St. Molaga School, Balbriggan, Ireland
Patricia Liguori/Rosaria de Luccio and their students grade 8,  , Italy
Ulrica Karlberg and her students grade 6, Vareskil school, Sweden
Joe McNulty, Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA
Elena Guseva and her students grade 5, Uljanov, Russia
Meryem Unsal and her students grade 10, Istanbul, Turkey
Catherine Mongis and her students grade 8, Martinique
Reinhard Marx and his students grade 7, Realschule Sundern, Germany

etwinning Quality Label 2015 for the project "Beautiful Places On My Island"

In October 2015 the project "Beautiful Places On My Island" receives the German etwinning Quality Label 2015 to be a best practice project given by the National Support Team NSS of the European Commission.






" ... eTwinning Quality Labels are granted to teachers with excellent eTwinning projects. They indicate that the project has reached a certain national and European standard. 
... The NSS apply 5 specific minimum requirements in granting the Quality Label to a project. All 5 requirements must be met:

1.    The project must have common goals and a shared plan.

2.    It must be finished, or in its last stages.

3.    The applying teacher must have made a significant contribution to the project.

4.    A certain degree of collaboration must appear. 

5.    Project results must be visible.

Once these 5 requirements are met, the project is then evaluated on the six criteria required.

A project has to broadly achieve excellence in the following areas: 

(1) Pedagogical Innovation

(2) Curricular Integration

(3) Communication and exchange between partner schools

(4) Collaboration between partner schools

(5) Use of technology

(6) Results, impact and documentation ... "

Only 46 schools in whole Germany receive this extraordinary label this year. The description of "The Beautiful Places Of My Island" project has convinced the members of the independed panel of educational experts to award this project unanimously.

By this award the project will automatically take part to the German etwinning Award competition in winter 2015/2016.

Those of you who didn't take part to this project or you just want to remind yourself about what had taken place in spring this year in different countries around Europe and abroad you should visit the following websites:

English Presentation "Beautiful Places On My Island", Part 1
English Presentation "Beautiful Places On My Island", Part 2 & 3 & 4
Final Polish- German English Language Presentation "Beautiful Places On My Island"

Thank you so much to all of you, the local and the foreign members of this project (schools, teachers, students, administrations), especially to Liina Truu from Estonia, who set up this project originally. I know that you all had taken strong effords to realize this project with such a great success.

European Day of Languages 2015

Hundrets of students from different countries and of different ages met in a seven hours' video conferencing marathon accompanied by several guests from outside Europe.

This statement could describe that great event between 6am GMT and 1pm GMT on 24th September 2015. The meeting was dated two days before the official European Day of Languages because of local issues here in Germany.
We were very happy to gather students from the French Overseas Departments into this great European students' family that day, too.



It was its great goal to express multilingualism in Europe on one hand and to point out that we all live in a great community- the European Community. All participants expressed these goals by introducing their country and giving an example of their local language presenting a poem, short story or a traditional food. One grade 5 class from Bulgaria let us all view into their regular lesson live while the students did their final preparations for their presentation.

Weeks before I set up a schedule using Google Drive tools where teachers and guests had the chance to register for a certain time slot. I offered one slot in German and seven slots in English language. EFL- teachers and GFL- teachers had the chance to embedd this conference into their regular lessons.

We all learned a lot about Europe and met new friends. Especially our guests from outside Europe, from Australia, India, Argentina and Brazil took their chance to get to know Europe a little better.








Thanks to all of you who took strong effords to prepare their presentations or being a member of a fantastic audience. These were:

* ZS Bakalovo Nab. 8, Brno; grade 8 students; teachers: Pavel Hodal, Gabriela Cizkova; Czech Republik
* "Mityo Stanev" Secondary School, Stara Zagora sity; 3rd grade students;teacher: Rositsa Mineva; Bulgaria
* ICS "G. Marconi" di Battipaglia, Battipaglia (SA), Classi 3/ Prof.essa Liguori/ prof.essa Di Luccio; Italy
* Alneskolan, Örnsköldsvik; class 8c; teacher: Mrs Yvonne Dahlqvist; Sweden
* Srednja škola Zabok, Zabok, grade 10/11, teacher: Ljubica Savic; Croatia
* Zespół Szkół w Węgoju, grade 8, teacher: Justyna Stysiek, Węgój; Poland
* Bokn School, Bokn; class :8-10; teacher: Stine Waage; Norway
* School 72, Ryazan; class: 6; teacher: Yelena Volina; Russia
* Breiðholtsskóli, Reykjavík; 9th class; teacher: Gudny Adalsteinsdottir; Iceland
* Collège Petit Manoir, Le Lamentine; grade 8 students; teachers: Catherine Mongis, Daniel Julien; Ile de La Martinique; France
* Realschule Sundern; class 7- 10; teachers: Gunhild Beckmann, Reinhard Marx; Germany

and guests/teachers (audience):
* Anne Mertschin, Hawkesdale P12 College, Hawkesdale; Australia
* Sebastian Panakal, Edupreneur, Cochin, Kerala, India
* Sabrina Espasandin, Instituto San Martín de Tours, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Athalo Carrao, Lagoa Santa (MG), Brazil
* Shibi Ottuvazhickel, Kerala, India