A healthy diet can help you maintain a proper body weight, reduce your risk of certain diseases and improve your quality of life. However, there is no universal diet, common, easy to follow and recommendable for everyone, regardless of their place of living, gender, daily activity and likings. We have to know the rationale of each diet, their pros and cons and it is important to choose a diet plan that fits our goals and lifestyles. During the mobility in Alquerias, in Spain, the students developed the rules for some, most popular diets. They discussed their does and don’ts, as well as benefits and risks and designed leaflets.
Because of an epidemic situation in Europe none of the countries is willing to take a risk and organize a mobility. That’s why we decided to set up virtual mobilities. All the details were agreed on during a virtual meeting of all the school coordinators and the Italian team offered to organize the first one. Since it was supposed to concern relationship, emotions and their positive influence on our mental health, we decided to organize it in Christmas spirit just before the Christmas holiday. Before the meeting students uploaded some short information about themselves on the common padlet and they made collages presenting things which make them happy.
During the meeting we took part in the following activities organized by the Italian team:
quizzes about relationships, naming the stages of relationships
discussing reasons for our feeling emotional
making ’emotional alphabets’
brainstorming for qualities which are crucial for being a loyal friend
shortlisting the essential traits of a good friend
considering possible causes of anger issues
checking how well we know our Christmas customs by playing a Kahoot quiz on which we all collaborated
Both the teachers and students were happy to see their friends and listen to them. Technology this time was almost on our side so we were able to participate fully in the planned activities. We finished the two-hour long meeting wishing each other Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
After agreeing on the date and length of the meeting to suit each of the partner schools, we decided to organize a video conference. Each school gathered a team of 8 – 12 students eager to meet their friends from other countries. Google meet platform was used to get in touch before and set up all the details and for the meeting itself, taking place on 20thof May 2021. The schedule of the video conference looked as follows:
Schedule of activities
Introducing teams
Taking group photos by the padlet
Healthy habits – brainstorming
What do you know about the country the wheel decide picked for you
Name 5 – a team contest
What have you got for breakfast? Interviewing partners.
Kahoot – a general knowledge quiz (each country prepared the questions)
Draw your lunch and breakfast using Jamboard
Healthy tips – how important are they for you – discussing ideas and uploading them on Mentimeter
Unfortunately, due to technical problems and safety regulations at schools we were unable to let our students interview each other as we had planned before. Nevertheless, students could see each other, take part in games prepared together. They could confront their conceptions of healthy lifestyle, find out what they knew about their partner countries, compete in quizzes. We could compare what we conceive of breakfasts and school lunches as all the participants were expected to draw them and label them on the common virtual board. First of all, however, it was a two-hour distraction from the school routine and a chance to ties bonds between the partners.
It was strange Christmas this year. Socially distanced, with masked Santa, without older relatives, without meeting friends or singing carols together. We did what we could do in these specific circumstances – we designed Christmas cards and shared them together on one board wishing each other health, peace and coming back to reality soon.
Starting the project we thought about counteracting the typical amount of stress we live with. Nobody expected a worldwide crisis like the one we have been experiencing since the epidemic outburst. It is difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle when we are in the middle of a havoc like this. The uncertainty, feeling alone, deprived of social contacts and family worries disrupt our routines, our lifestyles, motivation and mental health. The flow of disturbing information from all over the world increases our sense of anxiety. Stress is a normal response to these types of situations. In order to maintain the contact and give a sense of going through the same difficult situation, as we share the same need for support and belief it is going to be better one day, we decided to design card reminding us of those basic human needs – kindness, affection, good will, warmth and finding pleasure in petty things.
The event we created to showcase the impact of our project and the experiences of us, as the beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ Programme, was an online partners meeting, during which we summed up the activities and results of the first year of the project and adjusted the previously planned actions to the Covid 19 sanitary requirements.
Another event we organized was a video conference for teachers from the neighbouring schools, who also coordinate Erasmus+ projects. We exchanged views about online solutions we have been applying to perform our activities in the changed circumstances, we discussed the benefits of mobilities; displaying photos, products and films we highlighted our projects’ achievements, and showed the impact of Erasmus+ funding. We also discussed the benefits which sharing good practices brings to schools and how life long learning shapes us, teachers, making us more effective.
As to sum up all the activities performed this year we made a film highlighting all the most important events and undertakings which have taken place. We started from the first meeting of the teachers, during which we got familiar with each other, established the rules of the cooperation, and made a schedule of the activities. Next, the first exchange of students followed and afterwards, since no meetings could be organized due to the Covid 19 regulations we present in this video some of the tasks which we were trying to do online.
Regular exercises cause remarkable changes to our body, our metabolism, our spirits and well being. It has a unique capacity to boost one’s stamina and rest at the same time, as it provides both stimulation and calmness. In order to promote sports each of the school prepared a dictionary of sports. Each of the team was in charge of one specific area, Italian – olympic sports, Spain – water sports, Portugal team sports and Poland – winter sports. Students had to brainstorm for terms, after that they had to design their dictionaries, find photos illustrating the disciplines, places where these sports are performed, name athletes and provide the examples of the necessary equipment. Next they swapped their dictionaries letting other students provide the words in their native languages. It allowed for collaboration, learning English words and comparing words in different languages.
We have had the visit of a nurse of the local NHS, who made an oral presentation to all the students of the school talking them about how to follow a healthy lifestyle, specially in terms of food and diet. She provided them with the key factors that compose a healthy diet and gave them tricks to make it as easy as possible for them and helped them when answering all the questions the students had for her. They were curious and enthusiastic about this activity! Specially those who are taking part in the project, as for them it was a really interesting opportunity to go in depth in its objectives and it was another source of motivation for them.
The objectives of the activity:
understanding the role of nutrients in the body
classifying nutrients, their functions, and food sources and compare the nutritive value of various foods
assessing the effects of nutritional intake on health, appearance, effective job performance, and personal life
understanding the neccesity of reducing fat and calories in food intake
We are proud to announce that the logo of the ASAP project has been chosen. The winning logo was drawn by an Italian student – Costanza Allodi from IC Diotti in Casamaggiore in Italy. Congratulations! Each school submitted 5 best logos designed by its students and afterwards, both students and teachers voted for one depicting in the best possible way our common ideas, objectives and intentions.
