MariaVlachopoulou

A few days are left until the beginning of the new school year and every teacher knows every September is a new start! And we all make new (school) year resolutions! And as with all new year resolutions some we keep and some we forget by the end of the first month! However, as Aristotle excellently put it, "Well begun is half done"! That means that much depends upon the beginning. The way I see it, some classroom routines can lead to positive classroom management and classroom atmosphere conducive to learning! I've been a teacher for too many years not to know that you should set the ground for good relationships and establish a safe learning environment for your students from the start. So these are some suggestions for this stressing, but also exciting time of the year!   First things first!  The very first time your students step into your classroom, you should give plenty of time to getting to know each other.  There are many ways to present yourself  and have student

  Happy May Day!  Since May Day is connected with barbecue in the open space and flower wreaths in Greece, we can give ours students some information about the origin of May Day according to Celts, the custom of Maypole Dance and some historical facts about the violent protests by factory workers in Chicago,in 1886. You can choose which of the three you 'd like to focus on and use the guidelines of the respective worksheet. All three contain extensive use of technology but you can adapt your lesson according to your needs.  You can find all the material in the following link: https://wke.lt/w/s/6FT7I9 Good luck!

 Some years ago, I read this amazing book by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, Connected-The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape our Lives. The book as the title suggests is about social networks and their role in our lives. According to the writers, "a social network ,like a group, is a collection of people, it includes something more: a specific set of connections between people in the group. These ties, and the particular pattern of these ties, are often more important than the individual people themselves. They allow groups to do things that a disconnected collection of individuals cannot. The ties explain why the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". During this pandemic I have seen this taking shape in various forms. I have found immense support, encouragement and inspiration in all the groups of colleagues I am part of. Stretching from local to national , and even European level the sharing in social networks is unconditional and the h

Read the poem "I am" on p. 18 here  and write your own poem. You can follow this framework: We write our own poems for refugees… I am _____________________________________ (write a person) I am _____________________________________ (write an object) I am looking for _____________________________ I am hiding from ____________________________ I want ____________________________________ I hope ____________________________________ I am a refugee calling out for rights. Name: _____________________________ You can also draw something. Please upload your poems here :

Some years ago I read a blog post about this book -  Wonder  by R.J.Palacio. I remember the writer described the book as ideal for teaching diversity to children. Although for years on my TBR list, I never got to read it. However, when the film was out I was very curious to see what it was all about. I was so touched! It was indeed ideal to use in the classroom to teach not only diversity but a number of other themes such as bullying, friendship, family bonds, kindness etc. The story is this of a nine-year-old boy who was born with facial deformities and starts school for the first time in his life. It's told by multiple narrators and seen by different perspectives. It's told with humour and tenderness. So I started doing some research on the Internet and what I found came as a surprise to me. Lots and lots of blogposts, articles, reviews both for the book and the film. Moreover, a big number of lesson plans based on Wonder.  It seemed  that it has been the inspiration for

"November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child...Since 1990, Universal Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the declaration and the convention on children's rights...This year the world is going blue! We're asking individuals, schools and corporates worldwide to go blue to help build a world where every child is in school, safe from harm and can fulfil their potential, and we know you do too. Going blue activities include: sharing our promo video for Children's day, signing the global petition and going blue in support of children's rights in social media and much, much more." (Source:  http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/ ) Watch Unicef's promo video featuring actress Millie Bobby Br