Diary in Poland

Students from Greece are also coming, so we will share accommodation and the school experience with them. We were the first to arrive; after lunch, our colleagues from Crete arrived. 

Monday, March 11th: second day of stay in Poland.

Today has been an intense day. We had our first encounter with Szkola Podstawowa nr4 im.Tadeusza Kosciuszki school with a spectacular reception. First-grade students sang and danced three types of songs in English, Greek, and Spanish.

All together, Polish students hosting us, Greek students from Tsikalaria, Catalan students from Joan Casas, and teachers from the three schools, we moved to the cultural centre of the town where the mayor and local television awaited us. After speeches from the mayor and the school's director, they presented us with a splendid welcome pack. Here you can see the report. LINK

After a tour of the entire school, we conducted two workshops, one dedicated to 3D design and printing, and the other to Scratch programming. 

After finishing lunch and spending some time with the families, the school organized a cultural visit to the Familoki: houses built to accommodate miners and their families 150 years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century. They are currently a UNESCO heritage site for their historical and architectural value. There are 121 houses, each one different from the others. Here are some photos. 

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As you can see, we made the most of the day. We had time to socialize, get to know each other, and enjoy the day. Here you can find the link to the photo album of the day. 

Tuesday, March 12th: third day in Poland.

Today started early, with a rainy and foggy day. First thing in the morning, we had a visit planned to the nearest coal mines in the area - Knurów. A host family father, a mine worker, acted as our guide, so we got a first hand experience of the miners' daily lives. It was a very authentic and real visit, as you can see in the photo report. As an anecdote, these mines reach up to a thousand meters deep with over a hundred kilometres of tunnels.

At the end of the visit, the mine director greeted us and gave us a bag of sweets and candies. 

After the visit, we went straight to school, had lunch, and had a robotics workshop with Dash and Dot. These are two programmable robotic devices for block coding. The Polish students gave us a choreographic demonstration to the rhythm of Michael Jackson. 

We received theoretical lessons on how the devices function and their possibilities, and then we put them into practice. We programmed them and engaged in a football match. The students paid close attention to the explanations to be able to transfer the knowledge to their classmates when they return. 

In the afternoon, the families organized a horse-drawn carriage tour through a nearby forest, Horse Carriage Palowice. A ride in horse-drawn carriages by the lakeside! The feeling was spectacular.

We had planned to have a barbecue outdoors with a campfire, but due to the constant rain, the families organized a dinner at the school. Here are some pictures. There was a sense of brotherhood and good camaraderie throughout the day.

Thank you very much to everyone for the organization and effort that this day has represented. We have spent three days, and they haven't stopped surprising us. Teachers, families, and students have been fantastic.

Hre, you can have a look to the pictures of today.  LINK 

Wednesday, March 13th: fourth day in Poland.

Today was an intense day. Promptly at 8:00 a.m. at the school, we had a full-fledged robotics session: Photon session. These are Polish robots that include 11 sensors to detect movement, obstacles, sound... and they synchronize with each other, so many combinations can be made. They use three programming languages so they can adapt to different educational levels. The students were very enthusiastic, focused, and engaged in reproducing actions explained by other students.

The second session was dedicated to learning about another type of robot: Ozobots. These robots allow for creating circuits with instructions based on colour combinations: red, blue, green, and black. They can be used on established circuits assembled like a puzzle or by drawing directly on paper.

We went to our host families' homes for lunch and quickly returned to school because two different workshops awaited us at 4 o'clock. In the first one, we worked on augmented reality, with activities related to atoms. It was great; we got to know special glasses and asked Laura, the director, to buy some for our school. We loved it! 

After finishing this session, we changed classes because we had been divided into two groups, and we had to do an escape room related to Saint Patrick's Day and its connection with the number PI, as tomorrow is International PI Day. We managed to solve all the clues by working as a team and escaped before the bomb exploded.

At the end of the two sessions, each one went home, but that doesn't mean the day ended here… Here is the link to the photo report we made during the day.  LINK 

Thursday, March 14th: fifth day in Poland.

Today, on a rainy day, a bus awaited us at the school to visit the city of kings: Krakow. It's a truly wonderful, majestic, and monumental city, which becomes even more beautiful when visited with our classmates. Once in the city, a guide awaited us to explain the history and legends that fill the buildings we visited. You can see the photos we took of Wawel Royal Castle, followed by Krakow Cathedral and St. Mary's Basilica.

After buying souvenirs for our families, we returned the headphones and met the figure of Eros, one of the mythological gods of Greek culture. Eros Ἔρως "is the god of love, hence the figure is blindfolded, symbolizing that love is blind.

La guia nos ha llevado a pasear por el centro histórico, lleno de tiendas de Bretzel, típico pan de Cracóvia. Hemos visitado un mercado de souvenir y hemos aprovechado para comprar regalitos de recuerdo para las famílias. 

We had lunch at a place you can find in any country, without a doubt, and the most beautiful thing was that the host families invited them to lunch. They continue to surprise us with everything they are doing for our students, unparalleled! 

The week has been a dream; we will find it hard to forget this entire adventure. Here is a photo of our complete team. 

Here is the  LINK to the photo report we made during the day.

Friday, March 15th, sixth day in Poland.

Today, the last day of our stay at the Szkola Podstawowa nr4 im.Tadeusza Kosciuszki school, we had a day dedicated to experimental science. The older students of the Polish school taught our children 9 experiments related to physical and chemical phenomena. They prepared 9 experimental corners in the gymnasium:

After learning about each station's work, we received a visit from the younger students from a nearby school. This time, our students were responsible for teaching the experimental process, acting as teachers while guiding the processes. We were all surprised by the importance of empowering students in peer-to-peer teaching and learning.

After our students demonstrated experiments to the younger students from the first grades, we had the last robotics workshop, where we could practice with Lego WeDo 2.0. With the help of Polish colleagues, we built a robot that had to overcome different obstacles, following the construction instructions for different robot models with mobility, climbing ramps, dodging objects, etc. 

To conclude the session, our students presented our school's characteristics, where we are located, and what we do, to the Polish students through a presentation. They were quite nervous because they didn't have enough time to prepare for the meeting, but they really made a brave effort and did great. 

At the end of the morning, they gave us the keychains we had made with the 3D printer, and we began the farewell that didn't end until well into the afternoon. After lunch, we gathered for the last time in the school hall where the children searched for Easter eggs in the nearby park, all prepared by the teachers. 

Then they could participate in making Palm Sunday palms, Easter eggs, and prepare a typical Polish meal. To end the day, the families treated us to a grand dinner prepared by themselves. 

They have taken care of us, accompanied us, and made us feel at home. Both students and teachers will never forget the magnificent stay in Poland. An ERASMUS+ project shared with students and teachers from Greece, Poland, and Catalonia that has united us in experiences, learning, and emotions.

💛Thank you so much for everything, families, teachers and coordinators.💛

Here you have the  LINK of the photographic report that we have done during all day.