success story – description of the dissemination events
However, apart from the products we designed, the most important were bonds of friendship and the inspiring environment we were able to create. Thank you for being with us.
As the common product of the 3 years long project, whose aim was teaching how to create and maintain good habits, how to adopt new ways of life, manage our stress level and make our schools better, more approachable and pleasant places We decided to share the resources which were made throughout the duration of the project. This is a collection of presentations, worksheets, quizzes and other resources. Obviously, the building itself plays the essential role, but it is the teacher, his or her attitude, creativity and his or her stance on how to approach students, is the vital element of the process of learning. Here, all the collected materials can be used to make lessons more inspiring and interesting.
You need a special license to drive a car. How come you aren’t obliged to pass an exam to become a parent? To help some parents who feel they need some guidance on bringing their children up, the psychologists from our school organized the workshops. Parents, who attended the course wanted to learn how to accompany children as they grow up, how to build mutual trust and prepare their offspring for tackling problems.
The objectives of this 30-hour course:
studying the different developmental stages of children
teaching how to build a strong and secure relationship
teaching parents how to set boundaries
teaching how to shape their children’s sense of self-worth and competency
showing how to create an environment in which understanding, trust, and respect can flourish
demonstrating strategies for solving conflicts
teaching how to deal with a failure
helping how to handle anger safely and healthily
The parents who took part in the workshops were really satisfied as the content lived up to their expectations.
A collection of rules for traditional games still played, from time to time, in our countries, was prepared as a common product, presented and tried out during a students’ exchange in Portugal. The students explained the rules of the games their parents enjoyed playing outdoors when they were at their children’s age and they had fun together.
The objectives of the activity:
encouraging children to spend time outside
developing language skills while delivering instructions
acquiring social skills and peer-to-peer relationships
improving physical health
boosting creativity
strengthening motor skills
learning about other cultures
showing respect for traditional games as cultural heritage.
Here is the summary of this year activities compiled by the students of IC Diotti school from Casalmaggiore. Because of the situation in they region they didn’t take part in mobilities but that does not mean they didn’t work hard trying to:
implement healthy habits
learn how to manage anxiety
develop connecting to others emotionally, being proactive, communicating effectively,
overmaster goal setting and working towards them
improve speaking skills outside the class by encouraging communication with foreign friends
build group cohesion by facing tasks that need researching online or in class, taking action or making common decisions
To get prepared for functioning in the society and be accepted children should know their roles, rights and a scope of responsibilities. Responsibility generates maturity and increases self-esteem, as the children recognize that they become capable. The sooner they understand their rights and their ability to take responsibility for their actions and behaviour the better, although it is individual based. Teens can provide emotional and practical support to their family and friends and, in this way, build their sense of importance, self-esteem and well-being. To understand how to achieve autonomy and gain social skills, the teens prepared short recordings about how they contribute to their households and how they develop their sense of independence. They were all collected in one digital poster.
3rd Grade students from Italy reflected on what makes them feel good and reduces stress, they give a thought to the importance of physical activity but also consider how they manage time and focus to achieve objectives. Here is a padlet with their short oral presentations on healthy living.
Exposure to nature gives us a great number of benefits, such as improved attention, lowering stress, better mood and last, but not least, it may turn out preventing and treating certain vision ailments as we flex eyes’ muscles trying to focus on objects off in the distance. Exposure to UVB rays triggers the release of dopamine and circulates vitamin D in the body. All these processes help to preserve good health and a positive attitude.
To understand a connection between nature and our well-being and realize our responsibility to protect and sustain the Earth, our students took part in classes during which they discussed the habits they can adopt to save the Earth. They created cartoon strips and illustrated their own obligations to change their habits. We organized also going out to adventure parks and the beach in order to promote active ways of spending free time outside.
As the project intended to develop activities concerned to the well- being of students, such as doing sport, developing strategies to manage stress in their life and having a right diet, the activities in Portugal, more specifically in Amares, were focused basically in sport and mindfulness. All activities were based in an expository, questioning and active methodology, which means that students tried a practical experimentation most of the times. During the short-term exchange of groups of pupils, Portuguese, Polish and Spanish students, 38 in total, presented their traditional games and shared their features using ICT tools. Next they developed creative writing creating haiku poems and learned some strategies for relaxing, making specific noises and movements. The day after, students visited the Stadium, the Museum and Sports City of Sporting Club of Braga, a very important team in Portugal. They had the chance of taking photos in the VIP room, walk around the pitch and sit in the ends. While at the Museum, students were able to be acquainted with the club history as well as admiring the cups the team has won through the years. Then, they walked to the club Sports City, whose aim is to prepare young boys/girls to become successful footballers. The students visited the facilities and enjoyed a fantastic view of the city, from the building terrace. The club provided a guide, who kept the students’ interest in the visit, by informing them of some fun facts and curiosities about the club history, football players or even about the building. The students also visited INL (International Nanotechnology Laboratory) a highly considered laboratory
After this visit, students observed how water can be an element that helps to move a funicular by pushing it up and down on the hill of Bom Jesus. On Thursday, students went to the mountain of Gerês and tried traditional games developing a competition, photo paper (a kind of game of adventure and hunting of the picture inside the nature), Adventure camp (tree climbing) and visited the museum of Gerês, where it was explained all the specific areas of Gerês as well as all biological species and different rocks.
How did the participation in this activity benefit the involved participants?
Participants benefited from a very comprehensive experience in the field of sport, well-being and health. In fact ,experimenting mindfulness practices, as a strategy to manage stress in everyday life, exploring and performing simple traditional games, which are suitable for family time and nature, learning about the techniques of vitamin improvement in food processing, finding out about writing and painting strategies aiming relaxation, allowed them to realize they have a wide range of activities to choose from, as a means of managing their well-being, whether in their school or family life.
During mobility C3 students were taught how to practice mindfulness and encouraged to do it. They were invited to listen to a song and read its lyrics as a mindful moment. After that they made two groups and danced with the orientation of a Physical Education Teacher, who is an expert in mindful activities. Students had the opportunity to learn some strategies for relaxing, making specific noises and movements. They also learned how to paint Mandalas, as a relaxing technic, and created a colourful panel.
The objectives of these activities:
improving a sense of well-being
learning how to focus your attention
being more able to observe one’s own thoughts, emotions and physical sensations
understanding the causes of the stress and learning how to be able to manage, stress, anxiety and low mood
benefitting from informal mindfulness practices like mindful colouring, walking and listening
