Working days: Monday-Friday, March 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th  

Time: 09:00-17:00

Duration per day: 9 hours

Attendees: 36 participating students and 20 accompanying teachers

Agenda: Overview of the aims and structure of the LTTA1 of the “My Smart School” project.

Executive Overview: The LTTA1 of the “My Smart School” project was hosted by SSOU ”Mosha Pijade”- Tetovo, Macedonia from the 12^th- 16^th of March 2018. The partners in this project are: Italy (the coordinator), Poland, Portugal, Turkey and the host of the event Macedonia.

The goals of the exchange were:

1. to involve students in their own learning with a view to attaining better results and becoming more motivated;

2. to develop students' transversal skills - computer literacy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability;

3. to develop intercultural understanding and acceptance;

4. to develop communication skills in English;

5. to promote European values and develop cohesion among European citizens.

The exchange presupposes two parts:

1. Introduction and team building

2. Topic-related activities using ICT tools (PowToon)

Introduction and team building

First day

1. Visiting village of Leshok

2. Welcoming the guests by the School Principal

3. Presentation of the project (coordinator)

4. Presentations of partners (school, education system, city and country)

5. Team building activities

6. Public speaking

Topic-related activities:

Second day

1. Workshop with PowToon and similar tools for presentation

2. Sightseeing- visiting the attractions of Tetovo

Third day

1. Working on presentations using PowToon
2. Team Meeting

3.  Visit of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia

Fourth day

1. Visit of Lake Ohrid

2. Working on presentations

Fifth day

1. Working on presentations using PowToon
2. Groups giving presentations
3. Selecting winners
4. Certification
5. Farewell party

DETAILED MEETING MINUTES - FIRST DAY (MONDAY, MARCH 12TH)

Introduction and team building

First day

1. Visiting village of Leshok

2. Welcoming the guests by the School Principal

3. Presentation of the project (coordinator)

4. Presentations of partners (school, education system, city and country)

5. Team building activities

6. Public speaking

The first day of the LTTA1 started with a morning session of visiting the village of Leshok, due to the late arrival of the Polish partner team. The afternoon session was opened by the Principal of the SSOU ”Mosha Pijade”, giving a warm welcome speech for the guests. Following was the coordinator of the project, Michelina Di Rienzo, who thanked everyone for their cooperation and gave a brief description of the project My Smart School.

Next, all the partner schools gave short presentations of their schools, education system, city and country.

After the break, all the participants were introduced with the daily working agenda. The participating students of all the partner countries attended Team building activities held by the English professor Verica Nikoloska. The purpose of the activities was for the students to become acquainted with each other, to cooperate as a team, to socialize and develop their communication skills in English. The games that were applied are the following: Group Juggle, Pass the hoop, Connecting circle and Catch Triangle Tag game.

The working session of the first day ended with a public speaking training activity. The training was held by the coordinator of the Macedonian partner school Nebojsha Trpkovski. The activity was aimed to teach students how to deliver their presentations more effectively and efficiently, to overcome their fear, to improve their communicational and social skills and increase their self-confidence.

The participating students were satisfied with the teacher training activities, they very cooperative and showed a genuine interest for learning, sharing their ideas and contributing for the effective completion of the working session.

DETAILED MEETING MINUTES - SECOND DAY (TUESDAY, MARCH 13TH)

Topic-related activities:

Second day

1. Workshop with PowToon and similar tools for presentation

2. Sightseeing- visiting the attractions of Tetovo

The second day of the LTTA1 started with the introduction of the daily agenda activities. The coordinator of the Macedonian partner school Nebojsha Trpkovski initiated an activity of selecting numbers for grouping the students into teams. The students were divided into 5 heterogeneous groups with representatives from each of the partner countries and 2 groups with the rest of the hosting students. The first 5 groups were each assigned with a topic- to create a digital lesson/presentation for one of the partner countries, whereas the remaining 2 groups were assigned with the topic of Erasmus+ projects and the European Union.

All the groups were required to work together on a name and logo for their group and later on present it in front of everyone else.

After the break, the students attended a workshop with PowToon and similar tools for presentation held by the IT professor Ilcho Vitanovski and the English professor Verica Nikoloska.

First, students were presented how to register and all of them created an account. Next, students were introduced with the general use of the PowToon – Animation Presentation Software. They were given a comparison with the Power point tool, already familiar to the students, in terms of using new and more creative tools for creating digital lessons and presentations. Students were required to apply all the presented elements of the digital tool PowToon and were assisted in any case if needed. The second working session ended with the students eagerly participating in the workshop, creating a sequence of slides, applying the newly acquired knowledge to prepare for the activities of the following day.

Following was a sightseeing activity, a tour of the city and visiting the attractions of Tetovo.

DETAILED MEETING MINUTES - THIRD DAY (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14TH)

Third day

1. Working on presentations using PowToon
2. Team Meeting
3. Visit of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia

According to the agenda, the third working day was planned to be held on the campus of SEE University and started on time.

The IT professor Ilcho Vitanovski and the English professor Verica Nikoloska started by dividing the groups of students into two classrooms to ensure a more comfortable working space.

The students were given handouts with instructions and evaluation criteria that will be used later for the evaluation of the final product- the group presentations. During the working session, the students were also given guidelines of useful information to include in their presentations, assisted and helped by the professors where needed.

Students in each of the groups assigned roles for each other for teamwork and to have equal opportunities to contribute in designing the presentation. They were required to use all the elements presented the previous day including: attractive colour schemes, photographs, animation, video, music and other to make their presentation educational and attractive. 

After the break, the students continued with the morning working session.

In the meantime, the teams of the partner schools held a team meeting on the campus of SEE University.

Attendees

• Nebojsha Trpkovski (Coordinator of the Macedonian partner), Verica Nikoloska (English professor)
• Michelina Di Rienzo (Coordinator of the project), Marco Soragnese (IT professor)
• Paulo Capela Marques (IT professor), Isabel Cristina Cardoso Costa Santos (English professor)
• Edyta Gołek (Principal of the Polish school), Joanna Glas (English professor), Andrzej Micor (IT professor)
• Gülistan Aykal Acar (Coordinator of the Turkish partner), Harun Kılıç (Principal of the Turkish school)

The agenda discussed on the meeting was the following:

Agenda:

1. Departure time
2. Euro pass
3. Invoices
4. Agenda
5. Evaluation of presentations and winners
6. Online questionnaires
7. Reports
8. eTwinning
9. Justification
10. Workshop
11. Dissemination grid
12. Number of students participating in following LTTA’s from Turkey
13. Facebook page
14. Date for LTTA3 in Portugal

Concerning the first point of the agenda, all the partners confirmed the departure time and were informed about the time and place of the arranged transport and the contact person assigned to help them.

The coordinator of the host partner initiated the need of the Euro pass for the students and all the partners agreed to check for the Euro pass number with their national agencies in order for the documents to be completed on time.

The third point mentioned were the invoices for all the partners. The host arranged for all the invoices for the transport and accommodation to be given the last day.

The following points were the agenda activities for the subsequent days and the selection of the winners. For the purpose of the competition, the partners were presented with the criteria for the evaluation. It was unanimously agreed that after the presentations the students will be pointed out and remarked on their mistakes and at the end all the students will be declared as winners.

The sixth point to discuss were the questionnaires and after a short discussion it was agreed by all the partners that the questionnaires are too long and need to be reduced for better efficiency and effectiveness.

Next, it was pointed out that the reports should be written every three months to report the activities and outcomes.

The eighth point to cover was the eTwinning platform. The Portuguese partner agreed to deal with creating the eTwinning space of the project, uploading the necessary documentation, and register the students.

The following point covered the justification of the project including the necessary documentation: participants’ lists, certificates of attendance, meeting minutes, agenda, final products of the students and pictures.

The tenth point discussed was performing the workshop and the required documentation for justification covering the agenda, the participants’ lists, pictures and materials used.

The host partner offered to put the dissemination grid on Google drive and share it with all the partners. It was discussed and agreed by all the partners that the dissemination grid offered by the host was an effective and efficient sample. The host also offered to send a sample of the Final Report-Declaration of honour.

Concerning the preceding issue with the number of participating students from the Turkish partner, all the partner countries decided that the number of participants should be equal and limited to 5 students per country. The decision was made for the purpose of having equally balanced groups for the following LTTAs.

Important point that was also covered was the creating of Facebook page for the project. The Macedonian team volunteered to deal with the FB page whereas Portugal was appointed as administrator for the FB group with a note that there will be an administrator from each partner to check the information before it is published.

Finally, the last point discussed on the meeting was information about the following LTTA2 in Poland and the date for the LTTA3 in Portugal. There was a proposal for the LTTA3 to take place from the 30^th September to 6^th October. The proposal date needs to be confirmed upon the arrival of the Portuguese team and the consultation with their coordinator.

The meeting covered all the points of the agenda and was successfully finished.

In the afternoon, followed the visit of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia with a guided tour of the city and the tourist attractions.

DETAILED MEETING MINUTES - FOURTH DAY (THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH)

Fourth day

1. Visit of Lake Ohrid

2. Working on presentations

The fourth day was appointed for sightseeing, visiting cultural and historical monuments and tourist attractions of the host country as a part of the intercultural understanding and acceptance process of the exchange. The agenda of the day covered:

• The visit of Mavrovo’s Monastery of St. John the Baptist
• The visit of the city of Ohrid and Lake Ohrid

• The church of St. Sophia, the Ancient Theatre of Ohrid, National Ohrid Museum- Robevci House, Church of St. Clement and St. Panteleimon on Plaoshnik, Tsar Samuel’s Fortress, Church of St. John of Kaneo, Monuments of St. Naum and St. Klement of Ohrid and Monuments of Saints Cyril and Methodious, Bay of the Bones Museum, National Park Galicica and the Monastery of Saint Naum.

The guests were given a tour with a professional guide that covered all the above attractions and filled their hearths with pleasant memories of beautiful landscapes and unique opportunities of socialising and experiencing different cultures.

Upon the return, all the participating students were assigned to continue working on their presentations with their hosts at home.

DETAILED MEETING MINUTES - FIFTH DAY (FRIDAY, MARCH 16TH)

Fifth day

1. Working on presentations using PowToon
2. Groups giving presentations
3. Selecting winners
4. Certification
5. Farewell party

The last day of the LTTA1 started with a morning session of the students continuing with their work on the presentations. Students were helped and advised by the appointed teachers where needed. They were given guidelines for performing the presentations and all of the members in the groups were also encouraged to present a certain slide they were working on.

The presentations were performed in the afternoon session. А commission was formed with representatives from all the partner countries for evaluation of the presentations. The Principal of the host school, Afrdita Dauti-Hamiti and the representative of the municipality, Ahmed Qazimi were also present on the performance of the presentations.

As it was previously agreed upon during the team meeting, the selection of the winners was conducted according to the given criteria sheet. The coordinator of the host country Nebojsha Trpkovski pointed out and remarked on the mistakes done during the presentations and at the end announced all the students as winners.

The Principal of the host school, Afrdita Dauti-Hamiti and the representative of the municipality, Ahmed Qazimi presented all the participants in this project with certificates of attendance and the students with their rewards.

At the end, all the participants of the project celebrated for the hard work and successfully completed activities by performing dances from all the partner countries. This event has proven as a memorable exchange of practices and an exceptional socializing experience for all the participating students and the accompanying teachers.

The coordinator of the project, Michelina Di Rienzo once more expressed her gratitude for all the work done by the partners and the host country and thanked all the participants for their effort and job well done.

The LTTA1 hosted by SSOU ”Mosha Pijade” held in Tetovo, Macedonia was successfully and effectively completed.