Sergiu Jelihovschi: eTwinning develops friendships

Sergiu JELIHOVSCHI

English teacher “Mesterul Manole” High School, Salcuta, Causeni

It’s almost 10 years since I started teaching English in the village where I was born and grew up. I am also a priest in the locality. The priesthood is my personal state. It is more like a fulfilment passed from generation to generation. The priesthood is not a job. My job is to teach English.

All these years, since I have been teaching English to the children of Salcuta, I wanted to prove that the possibilities in the village can be as huge as those in the city. Today, our pupils know very well how to use digital technologies. And, in this respect, rural and urban makes no difference. We just need opening the horizons. eTwinning platform gives us this openness. eTwinning helps us to be ‘out of the box’, ‘out of the school’. With the teachers’ help, students from different countries build partnerships.

I am an eTwinner teacher since 2013. The first activity I participated in as eTwinner was a seminar in the city of Galati. I was not familiar with this platform, and I could not imagine how an eTwinning project is running. But we have met eTwinners with an experienced for years. During those three days of seminar, the group I was part of worked out a project that was declared the best project of all. Then I told myself that this is what I need for pupils in Salcuta.

So for almost five years already I launched and participated in educational projects with schools in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, etc. I can say, with a big smile, that Salcuta high school is known all over the world. For example, during this period, we started a social inclusion project for children with special educational needs. Our partner is a school in Greece. I have already carried out one hour of English during which, pupils discussed and told about their country to Greek students through Skype. In turn, the Greeks learned to greet in Romanian language and shared what are their most beautiful traditions. In fact, it was a spontaneous lesson, I allowed children to come up with discussion themes, to initiate the dialogue. This is the charm of this platform. Further, our goal is to unite children with special educational needs and to give them the opportunity to manifest themselves.

Because students, at least ours, are pleased to participate in any extra-curricular activity. These activities develop their communication and oratory capabilities. They come out of the online environment and are live in direct connection with other students from other countries. This makes their school, village, country, culture visible.

But eTwinning is not just an extracurricular activity. The platform also includes the curricular area. For example, XI-grade pupils. I think they need not only to write well to take the bachelor examination, but also to have the ability to communicate in English, which will be of useful for them in the future, maybe even day by day.

I also want to tell you that due to a sustainable partnership with a teacher from Galati district, I participated for four years in a row in the interdistrict regional symposium. And for four years in a row, a minibus full of pupils and teachers from “Mesterul Manole” High School, went to Galati to visit various schools. Teachers and pupils from Galati visited us. Children made friends in Galati.

eTwinning develops friendships!