Natalia Demcenco: eTwinning is a virtual journey

Natalia DEMCENCO

Primary class teacher, lyceum ‚Mesterul Manole’, Salcuta, Causeni

I’ve been working as a teacher in Salcuta for 15 years and in all these years I haven’t travelled outside the Republic of Moldova. But day after day, I travel virtually to different countries of the world and learn new things. And, above all, I learn how education takes place in other countries’ schools.

I’ve been on the eTwinning platform since 2013. So far, I’ve been participating in 14 projects that have already been completed. I’m currently part of four active projects. The beauty of this platform is that all teachers and pupils from the lyceum are encouraged to participate in the projects launched. Moreover, it is a quality competition between pupils, involving parents or brothers to create beautiful things. I tell children that eTwinning is an educational platform, and they know that projects help them develop their skills.

A project which is after my own heart is the one whose founder is a teacher of the Romanian language from Romania. This project gave children the opportunity to rediscover themselves. The project entitled ‚Know yourself through non-formal activities’ aims to help pupils become more creative. Children created personal books and magazines about them. They worked side by side with their parents and found out that they especially liked to draw or compose. They also learned to communicate, talk about what is happening in their lives. In some cases, they even learned to communicate with themselves.

The quite special moments are those when I show the pupils the materials posted on the page of the project in which we participate. Every time, they are very curious to find out what pupils from other schools, from other countries do. In turn, I take photos of their creations and post them on the page of the same project. Children are very happy to see that their works are placed next to the projects of other pupils. Their reaction is amazing. They like and are very curious about everything.

Another project to which children and parents were so much dedicated is the one in which they ingeniously made butterflies. Butterflies of children from Salcuta reached schools from different parts of the continent. Those butterflies became postcards, so the pupils communicated and exchanged their impressions and traditions. Of course, butterflies from around the world reached Salcuta as well. Pupils sent their butterflies and received others. They were extremely happy when they had received butterflies. Even parents asked me about that project. And you know, how our parents are – they want to do everything like nobody else.

Beyond pupils’ joy and motivation, recently, at least at our school, we’ve been focusing on fitting eTwinning activities into the school curriculum. This is due to the fact that the tasks that children receive in their lessons are also eTwinning tasks. For example, the STEM subjects are easily learned by primary school children when creative tools are used. In a project about numbers, our school’s pupils wrote fairy tales about numbers, compiled birth certificates, and even illustrated, through drawings, how numbers were born.
For me, eTwinning is always a source of inspiration. I really like autumn schools organized in Chisinau, when coaches come from Romania presenting extraordinary projects that motivate me to be a better teacher.

You know, at our school, the eTwinning platform is so appreciated that we also wrote an anthem, found the right music for it and sang it with all the pupils and teachers.