Sergiu Ganga: eTwinning is a good and useful experience for teachers to see how others live, what they breathe with and to keep up with the world.
Sergiu GANGA, profesor de Computer Science teacher, “Constantin Stere” High School, Soroca town
Eh, would I have ever thought I would feel sorry that I’ve already reached the retirement age? Each of us, even if we like our job, thinks he / she would like to enjoy a longer vacation, to get rest of everything. But I have been a retired for two years and I continue to work because I am motivated to do so. I am one of the first eTwinning teachers in the Republic of Moldova. I did not hesitate for a moment when I found out about the European eTwinning platform. I decided I wanted to be a member. It was, if you like, a possibility that I’ve been waiting for my entire career.
It’s interesting with eTwinning because it is like a gateway to the world. Imagine the following situation. You sit in the library every day, you have books, you have everything, but you have no one to talk to. Well, on this platform, we have the opportunity to share our ideas and experience with colleagues around the world. I really enjoyed the idea that I could cooperate with colleagues from different countries. And so it was. We have discussed and worked with teachers from Poland, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, even from northern Africa, Tunisia. I remember being in a seminar in Poland when I met my colleague in Tunisia and he knew French better than English. I did not speak English fluently either. So we used one word in French and one in English. But in the end, we understood each other!
This experience is phenomenal. We can see what’s good with us, what’s good with them, teachers from other schools in other countries. We exchange views in certain areas. It is an advantage for each teacher to see what other colleagues do to avoid keeping ourselves closed within the limits of the classroom manual and walls. I can say that I was kind of a mentor for my high school colleagues. I motivated them to become part of the eTwinning family. I understood it is a good and useful experience, especially for younger teachers to see how others live, what they breathe with and keep up with the world. There are about seven eTwinners in our school, four of which have been in experience exchanges in Romania and Poland. By the way, there is no teacher in our high school who does not have a computer at home or in the classroom. The school participated in a project and we got a series of laptops, there were other donations also, and now we are all familiar with the computer.
But the most important is that pupils are at the core of all eTwinning projects. They are active because they can act in groups, in teleconferences, they also develop their communication in foreign languages. We have everything we need at high school to do interesting lessons with other schools in Europe. We only need strength and ambition to help our school to be truly European.
