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DAY 1 - March 9th
Today, 20 teachers from different parts of Castile and León traveled to Lisbon. When we arrived, it was already night time, giving us time to explore the city and meet all the Erasmus group.
Tomorrow, we will visit the Do Monte de Caparica Secondary School, where we will have talks led by AlmadaForma, the Training Center for schools in the Municipality of Almada.
DAY 2 - March 10th
We begin our first visit to the Escola Secundaria do Monte Caparica, a training system in Portugal.
We began with a meeting with Jose L. Diogo about School Association Teacher'Training Centers (the Portuguese Case). He explained these organizations, their components, competencies and functions and the programs that have been carried out in recent years.
In the afternoon we had two talks, one by Rui Baltazar, The digital transformation in Portugal: A new era in education, where he explained the organizational, pedagogical and technological/ digital dimensions in AlmadaForma.
The final talk was given by Lina Costa, who explained Portugal's Law 55/2018 on Curricular Autonomy and Flexibility. All schools must implement it to achieve inclusive schools, to improve learning, and to ensure a flexible and contextualized curriculum.
Finally, we were taken on a tour of the Secundaria Do monte de Caparica, a modern school with 1045 students.
DAY 3 - March 11th
We visited the Spanish Institute “Giner de los Rios” in Lisbon, located in the municipality of Oeiras. It's a center approved by the Portuguese Ministry of Education that provides, according to the Spanish educational system, education in the levels of kindergarten, Primary, Secondary and High School.
Since 1932, the Spanish Institute of Lisbon has been developing its pedagogical work, with more than 10,000 students, not only Spanish and Portuguese, but of many other nationalities, having passed through its classrooms. This diversity is one of the most enriching features of the Institute.
Nowadays, there are more than 1,000 students and around 70 teachers in this institute.
The director of the center, Oliver Jurado Pérez, gave us a guided tour of the facilities, through the three main buildings.
The building that most caught our attention was the so-called noble building. It is the Quinta São João do Rio Palace with patrimonial value, from the second half of the 17th century, whose style follows the parameters of the tastes of the Portuguese aristocracy for their recreational villas. Today, the Center's administrative services and management and the Noble Hall are located in this building.
Microsoft Training Session 1
Visit to Microsoft and Microsoft + AI training
We visited Microsoft's headquarters at Lisbon, walking around the modern work areas and break rooms designed to make workers feel comfortable and to enhance their performance.
Rui Lima from Monteflor Private School leaded the training. He is an innovative Microsoft expert educator who has published two books: "Scratch and Kadu: Introduction to Programming in Elementary School" and "The School We Have and the School We Want."
In this session, we worked with the following tools: TEAMS (Reflect – Tasks with Reading and Math Learning Accelerators – Insights) – Copilot – Microsoft Design – Vocal Remover – Suno – Audacity.
DAY 4 - March 12th
In the morning, we had free time to explore the city. We strolled through downtown Lisbon, visiting Rossio Square, the nerve center of the city. It is the lower part of the city, located between the Bairro Alto and the Alfama districts. The name Pombalina refers to the Marquis of Pombal, who rebuilt the city after the Lisbon earthquake.
We also visited the Belém neighborhood, home to the Discoverers Monument, built as a tribute to Portuguese navigators.
We also visited the Belém Tower, a jewel of Portuguese architecture. Dating from the 16th century, it was built as a defensive structure for the Tagus estuary.
Finally, we visited the Jerónimos Monastery, a Manueline-style building dating from the 16th century. It has been a National Monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
Jerónimos Monastery
Belém Tower
Rossio Square
Monument to the Discoverers
Microsoft Training Session 2
We continue with the second session of Microsoft Training, focusing on content creation and learning through games. During this session, the importance of fostering creativity in schools was highlighted, discovering how digital tools also contribute to this goal, specifically through the use of PowerPoint, ClipChamp and Blooket.
DAY 5 - March 13th
In the morning, we went to Lisbon Oceanarium.
It's the largest indoor aquarium in Europe. It was built by architect Peter Chermayeff as part of Expo 98. Surrounded by water, it simulates a floating harbor and it's located in Lisbon's most modern area, the Parque das Nações neighborhood.
In the afternoon, Rui Lima welcomed us to Monteflor School. It's a private kindergarten (ages 0-5) and primary school (ages 6-10).
As most schools in Portugal students have lunch at school. On Thurdays' afternoons they hold curricular workshops were students learn not through subjects. We were able to assist to 9 different workshops in small groups.
THE WORKSHOPS. Students choose 3 workshops each year, one per term:
Creative Engineering
Survival
Home Management.
Spanish
Experimental Sciences
Drama
DIY
Sewing
Fine Arts
DAY 6 - March 14th
On Friday morning, we visited the Fernao Mendes Pinto Secondary School.
There are 769 students enrolled, representing 16 different nationalities, 28 teachers and two senior technicians, and a total of 30 assistants: 21 operational and 9 technical assistants.
The headmaster explained us how this public school works.
Among the facilities we visited they were:
- The multipurpose room, where we attended the celebration of the number Pi day.
- The library, where we found the "knolling" space, where students choose a book and make a visual representation with different elements of their choice.
- The LED classroom, where the 3D printers, Chroma, and robots were being used.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, we visited the Antonio Gedeao Elementary and Secondary School.
It's a very modest school, but as its director says: "The school isn't the facilities, it's the people who make it up."
It has 2,023 students. They have a unique project in Almada: two semesters. In the first, they prepare, and in the second, they consolidate their learning. They have many collaborations and projects in journalism, English, Spanish, art, film, and more.
They showed us workshops and activities the students do:
LED: We see mold and chloroplasts under a microscope, explained by high school students.
Bit-block design: Ultimaker Cure 3D printer.
Nature club: Ribbons hold by students represented an ecosystem and their connections. Microbit boards that function as a compass, a thermometer and to measure light intensity or volume.
Math class with a scientific calculator.
Two classrooms for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One has 8 children and the other 9 with different levels of language skills. They worked with a psychologist and different therapists including a language therapist. They attend activities outside of school, such as swimming and petanque. They take part in cooking workshops, where they pretend to go to the bank and then to the supermarket. They cook after reading the recipes with visual elements. They also hold a flavor workshop.
This week's immersion in various educational centers in Lisbon has enriched us culturally and professionally. It has also allowed us to acquire new knowledge about the Portuguese educational system, its organization, and the application of new methodologies in Lisbon schools.
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