“MATHS IS EVERYWHERE!”
2014-2016
COLLECTIVE EVALUATION
REPORT
For the
second transnational project meeting in
Balikesir,
Turkey. May 2015
Areas
and Activities Discussed/ Presented
During the meeting we presented/ discussed the following:
- Discussed activities
completed so far.
- Discussed
dissemination for the project
- Visit to and
discussions with the mayor and the Director of Education about the project
and importance of intercultural exchange.
- Discussed
dates and activities to be presented in Romania in October (5th
-9th)
- Proposed dates
for UK
– (May 16th -21st
2015)
- Use of project
management budget
- Contacting
National Agencies about interim/ progress report
- Turkish
students presented Activity 4 – Maths and Art and research on famous
mathematicians.
- Discussed
e-twinning and chat rooms for pupils to evaluate activities
- Confirmed
Evaluation teams for each school
- Schemes/ Plans
to be compiled to show all activities undertaken for one topic – to be
made available in all languages if chosen as a popular activity.
- All group/
co-ordinator meeting photos to be shared in Dropbox
- Introduced to
some Turkish history, traditions, food and culture.
Concerns
arising
- Still no example of mobility
tool or mid-term report
- Any queries prompt
different answers/ comments from national agencies and the need to ask own
agencies independently.
Joint
staff project
- Combined staff project
reflecting Activities 1,3 & 4
- Ebru Art marbling
Team Comments
UK Team
Evaluation
of the meeting:
As always there was the invaluable
professional development of meeting with teachers and pupils from other
countries and to see how other schools operate. There was an unexpected
opportunity to have informative sessions with both the Mayor and Director of
Education and they gave very positive endorsements of the project.
The presentations by students at the welcome concert and the smaller
presentations about the various aspects of the project demonstrated how
the project has been embraced by the whole of the school in a wide variety of
curriculum areas, very clearly illustrating that Maths is
everywhere!!! The impact of the project is being clearly shown by the
enthusiasm and commitment by pupils and staff, indicating there
is a genuine desire to share what they have learnt and all are eager
to participate in the project and have a thirst to learn more and
share with the partners what they are doing. Staff and pupils are very proud of
their achievements and rightly so. The entrance and walls of the school display
aspects of the project proudly. It is also valuable to see how other schools
have interpreted the topics and to see such fantastic energy and interest in
the project. Everybody was very welcoming and friendly and it was an
honour to share in this project and see first-hand the pupils'
enjoyment and positive attitude to maths and how it was being
provided in creative and diverse ways.
For us, in particular, our hearts were left in the SEN classroom. The
pupils were amazing and happy to engage even where language
was a barrier and took delight in showing us a traditional
dance and sharing their interests with us. This visit made us so appreciative
of the resources and funding that are available to pupils in the UK with
learning difficulties.
Romania Team T
Evaluation of
the meeting:
The meeting in Turkey was extremely
productive. On the one hand, we had the chance to see all the wonderful
activities organized within the school, as a result of our project, present on
all the halls and classrooms of the school, as well as the open-minded attitude
of the students as to these activities, the enthusiasm with which they
presented their work. The activities organized within the school focused on
some of the most important aspects of the project. The students had the chance
to present their work, giving us a new perspective on some of the activities
already organized by each school. By means of mathematic, we were also able to
explore some of the cultural aspects of Turkey – the show focused on Maths and
Songs, whereas the activities in school on Maths and Art or architecture.
On the
other hand, the teams got the chance to evaluate and plan activities to come.
Our discussions focused especially on evaluation and the report to come. There
were also worries concerning the mobility tool. Our meetings gave us the chance
to look back at all the wonderful work our students did throughout this school-year
and experience first-hand to think of new ways of improving the implementation
process of the project.
Another
important part of the meeting was preparing the future meetings and carefully
planning them so that the project can run smoothly.
We are
especially thankful to our Turkish partners who did their best to make our stay
a very pleasant and constructive one. They managed to share part of their traditions
and also give us insight in the Turkish school system, by being all this
extraordinary team.
Team Comments
Italian
Team
Evaluation
of the meeting:
The visit of
the Italian partners in Turkey has reinforced and deepened our relationship,
previously installed with other colleagues of the project Maths is Everywhere!
The welcome from the Turkish team was very warm, especially from the students
hosted in Italy. The show involved all the students, including the ones with
special needs, gave us the opportunity to know the school system and traditions
of the host nation. The activities proposed for task no. 4 were both
appropriate and involving.
Our team
appreciated the opportunity to share opinions about the scholastic, educative,
political and religious system, with political members of Balikesir. Among all
the activities proposed, we enjoyed visiting the handcraft laboratories. The UK
team showed us a film of the European project, with all the activities and the
stay in Italy. Special thanks to the English coordinator for her great support
in resolution of some doubts and in planning of the future meetings.
Team Comments
Poland Team
Evaluation
of the meeting:
The Polish team enjoyed a successful, enjoyable and
inspiring visit in „Balikesir Karesi Ortaokulu” school in Turkey . We met wonderful students,
teachers and staff
and they made us very welcome. We were introduced to a different school system
and teaching methods and thus created a learning environment for personal
experiences. Although we had a busy educational timetable, the Turkish teachers created a respectful and
comfortable atmosphere for an inter-cultural group communication, work and a
rich cultural experience.
The programme was nice, intense
and we learned much about Maths and Turkey. Our stay in „Balikesir
Karesi Ortaokulu” school in Turkey was a great international learning experience and we will never
forget it. We practiced our English and compared our habits. The students and
teachers presented
us with a great range
of activities connected with our project “Maths is Everywhere!” Erasmus+. Turkish students
presented Activity 4 – Maths and Art and research on famous mathematicians. The
teachers discussed e-twinning, activities completed so far and chat rooms for
pupils to evaluate activities, confirmed Evaluation teams for each school,
dates, activities to be presented in Romania in October (5th -9th)
and dissemination for the project.
We saw the involvement of Turkish students, teachers and staff engaged
in the preparation of the visit. We felt that they did their best. We must say that
the Head, staff, teachers and students made every effort necessary for us to
get to know and appreciate the extraordinary diversity of Turkish culture,
customs and traditions.
Our hosts
Evaluation
of the meeting:
It was fantastic to organize
such a meeting. We, as the project team worked with harmony and tried our best
to ensure the comfort of our colleagues from four European countries. I saw
that everyone in the team was really behind the project. It was also fun to get
prepared, we laughed a lot, we made jokes about everything, even the things
that didn’t go according to plan and this also improved our friendship between
the team members.
It was exciting to meet all
the delegates from the countries in front of our school. We started with the
“Welcome Meeting”. We tried to show every aspect of our culture to our guests.
Our students prepared shows for them, also with the support of our municipality
and sister schools, there were shows of Mehteran Team and Whirling Dervishes.
Then we came to school and I
saw that our students were very welcoming to our guests, which made me very
happy. They were always smiling in a friendly way. Especially the students in
the project team did their best for their comfort.
Our project team presented our
project work about dissemination of the project and the activities Maths and
Art, Maths and Music.
We also worked about the
evaluation of the project, about Twinspace, we set up the dates of further
meetings.
We visited coastal towns of
our city and also Assos where one of the greatest philosophers and
mathematicians lived.
It was very nice to share 5
days with the project team. I enjoyed every minute of it, I wish it could have been
longer. Now we are looking forward to meeting in Romania. We are very happy to
be a part of the “Maths is Everywhere!” team.
