"Teaching digital natives is a significant challenge for teachers, and secondary school students are most certainly digital natives, with a huge variety of devices and tools at their hand in order to access, process and create information and content. The use of visual media is on the rise, nevertheless writing is still the primary means of communication. However, it is getting more challenging to teach this skill in a way that it is interesting, engaging, useful and productive for the students, not to mention teaching the smart use of tools that facilitate writing: word processors, spell checkers, translating tools, etc. Teaching 21st century writing skills is difficult because teachers themselves are at a loss facing the huge variety of tools available; additionally, they intend to teach the appreciation and production of valuable pieces of reading and writing. Therefore, there is a growing demand for learning 21st century skills and literacies, creative and critical thinking in order to succeed in the abundance of digital media available. The project ""Write Your Future"" intends to tackle these issues by embarking on launching a teen literary journal in four participating institutions, with additional editions of national language and English, focusing on particular genres. The participants agree that while writing tasks at school are usually disliked by students, alternative literary genres are on the rise, such as slam poetry, fanfictions and young adult literature, all of which already enjoy academic attention. Many young people are clearly motivated to consume and produce pieces of writing, and the involved teachers would like to benefit from this by engaging students in creative writing and translation, and through these teach also the use of digital writing tools. The participants would like to give back the prestige of teaching literary and written materials by involving students in their production, and we would also like to give the opportunity to talented students to publish their writings, and thus achieve success, gain attention and feedback. By implementing the SELFIE tool in the process, teachers will be able to improve their digital skills. Moreover, the project aims at involving students in the process of publication. Reviewing, proofreading, editing and translation of the texts will be the responsibility of a team of students, who this way will gain practical experience and learn the use of online publishing and translation tools. Furthermore, the Central and Eastern Europe based project will bring together four countries of the region by translating and sharing pieces of writing by each-others' renown authors. The goal of the project is also to reform the teaching profession in two ways: firstly, it provides more autonomy for the students and thus making it possible for teachers to be facilitators who monitor and assist the learning process; and secondly, the participating teachers explore and share the digital writing tools available for educators. In order to teach the conscious and confident use of these instruments, teachers also have to learn, and it can be usually uncomfortable for teachers to feel at a disadvantage when using IT tools. Nonetheless, the project will give the chance to learn together and with the students, and thus eliminate the disadvantage. The teachers will become familiar with the tools that students use, and thus establish a common ground with the students. Translation and proofreading done by learners will raise awareness of accurate language use, and the translators and reviews will also give useful peer-to-peer feedback to the writers. The project will, in this way, give meaningful context not only for the use of digital tools, but also for reading and writing. A relevant concern of teaching productive skills, such as writing, is that it is aimless, and students as a result do not feel motivated to make an effort in reading and writing. However, translating, proofreading and writing for publication is a real aim, and it is also something that some students do outside of school context. We would like to channel skills and talents back to the educational institution by organizing creative writing clubs and workshops and encourage students to write to a real audience, not to mention the fact that several students have outstanding foreign language skills and are even motivated to write in the target language, English. The students who create quality writings deserve the opportunity to publish and gain recognition, which will further encourage them to pursue academic careers. Feedback and audience are the biggest motivation, and the project will make students evaluate each-others' writings. All in all, the project will get students to read, write and translate, and it will get teachers to give students more autonomy and it will give the opportunity to appreciate works created by students which are not intended as school assignments."

Context and background:Technical Progress leads to the extinction of workmanship and mechanical skills. Because of the digitalization of our everyday life there is a growing desire for haptic work (e.g. “Burgenländischer Blaudruck” – a regional printing technique.) to compensate for too much brainwork. Old crafts and trades are becoming extinct but progress must not be denied – past and future must be combined.The project should primarily be supported to …… enable intercultural exchange of specific regional crafts and present it to an international public (manufacture and presentation of products among the project partners).… motivate young people to acquire new skills and to learn to think and act in an entrepreneurial way – cultural heritage as impulse for future employment.… combine old crafts and trades, entrepreneurship and digitalization and to create new possibilities for innovative mercantilism.Our motivation for this project is to secure a European surplus on a personal, intercultural and entrepreneurial level. Targets, results and benefits:Aim of the project is to motivate students to deal with old and fading manual skills, to acquire their techniques and subsequently develop innovative new products and market them in an entrepreneurial sense.The result should be a transfer of knowledge that secures the conservation of the cultural heritage “altes Handwerk” and delivers practical results in the form of newly thought manual products.The long-term benefit will be corporate learning and the mediation of entrepreneurial spirit as well as the inclusion of people with special needs in economic life.Due to the fact that the students of the Greek partner school and some of the Portuguese school are people with special needs (Asperger syndrome, ADHD, Down syndrome, learning disorders etc.) inclusion will be a major challenge in our project which has to be considered at all levels (organizational, with regard to contents, methodical, etc.).The development of the skills of single students shall be supported; self-designed and handmade products will help to foster confidence in their own creative abilities.The benefit will lie in the development of basic skills and key competences of the single student.Intercultural exchange results in a row of specific products of certain regions. The long-term benefit focusses on the European idea, especially on the social and pedagogic values of the regional cultural heritage.Experience shows that old crafts and trades are mainly performed by people with traditional attitudes and of higher age. The project aims to connect this generation with young people and their experiences. This confrontation on manual, sociocultural and diverse-age level results in mutual learning. Transfer of knowledge will be a central outcome of the project.The benefit will be an intercultural and generation crossing education as well as life-long learning.Sustainable learning through discrete organizing and independent acting is one of the major aims and will improve the quality of training institutions by using alternative methods of teaching (hands-on mentality), which can also be seen as a benefit.In the course of our project entrepreneurship focusses on the acquisition of cultural, social, manual and entrepreneurial competences. In addition to the previously mentioned results the process of learning (the “Entrepreneurial Journey”) will be documented by each project team with a short film, the products will be presented on a trade market (2.0) accompanied by a summary product catalogue which will be published both in print and digital form.In this way social and educational benefits will come to the fore.The project is divided into the following activities:C 1. Kick off, research, selection of project partnersC 2. Creation, design and prototype of a new productC 3. Preparation of production and marketing of the manufactured productsC 4. Implementation of marketing materialsC 5. Market – concluding project presentation in form of a touring exhibitionThe methodology used in the realization of the project will be based on “do-it-yourself” and “hands-on” to allow the involvement of practical and creative activities of the students at the best. Participating schools:Agrupamento de Escolas da Maia (Portugal), Enieo Eidiko Epaggelmatiko Gymnasio - Lykeio Katerinis(Greece), Colegiul National Samuel von Brukenthal (Rumania), Grobinas gimnazija (Latvia), HBLA Oberwart (Austria)These are higher schools providing general education and higher vocational schools.

"Nesen visā pasaulē ir notikušas daudzas izglītības sistēmas izmaiņas. Skolas mēdza būt zināšanu ieguves avoti, kurās bērni tika izglītoti vairāk vai mazāk bez vecāku kontroles. Skolas mēdza sagatavot studējošos eksāmeniem (gan gala eksāmeniem vidējā izglītībā, gan eksāmeniem iekļūšanai universitātē). Tādējādi , mācīšanās lielākoties bija gatavošanās vai trenēšanās eksāmeniem, īpaši vidusskolu pēdējais gads.Divdesmit pirmā gadsimta skolēniem ir vajadzīgas inovatīvas mācību procesa metodes. Skolēni saka, ka viņi ir motivētāki īstu reālās dzīves problēmu risināšanā. Viņi bieži labāk dara nekā klausās. Šajā gadsimtā:•Mācīšanās sasniegusi autentiskuma līmeni, jo tā liek studentiem aktīvi strādāt ar abstraktiem jēdzieniem, faktiem un formulāriem augstā sociālā kontekstā.•Kritiskā domāšana ir kļuvusi par nepieciešamību mācību procesā•Skolēniem jāprot izmantot dažādus resursus•Sadarbība ir kļuvusi par neatņemamu mācīšanās daļu•Skolēnam ir jāatspoguļo gan sava individuālā, gan komandas mācīšanās•Izglītībā ienāk starppriekšmetu skatījums•Studentiem jāsaņem integrētu vērtējumu. Kas atspoguļo reālās dzīves izvērtējuma procesu•Studentiem jābūt konkurētspējīgiem globālajā darba tirgū.Šis prasības liek skolotājiem mainīt stundu un ārpusstundu mācību metodes, jo mācību metodes attīstās un rodas jaunas, inovatīvas metodes.. Katrai projekta sadarbības skolai ir laba pieredze, kā ieviest jaunās metodes skoltāju darbā un ir nepieciešamas 21.gadsimta skolā. Projekta “Kā padarīt mācību procesu pievilcīgāku 21. gadsimta pusaudžiem” galvenie mērķi ir:•Uzlabot sadarbības skolu personāla kapacitāti, balstoties uz 21.gadsimta prasībām•Modernizēt mācību procesu•Izstrādāt “ Mūsdienīga skolotāja rokasgrāmatu”, kura sastāvētu no inovatīvām starppriekšmetu mācību metodēm•Izmēģināt kolēģu izveidotās stundas visās dalībvalstīs•Identificēt un analizēt sadarbības skolu skolotāju labās prakses•Stiprināt Eiropas tautu savstarpējo sapratni caur dalībvalstu kultūras iepazīšanu.Projektā piedalījās 6 partnerskolas -Grobiņas ģimnāzija (Latvija), Bartuvos proģimnāzija (Lietuva), Stadtteilschule Mümmelmannsberg (Vācija), IIS Liceo ""Bocchi-Galilei"" (Itālija), 4 Gymnasio Thessaloniki (Grieķija) un Kavaklidere Ortaokulu (Turcija).Katrai skolai ir savas stiprās puses un labās prakses, ar ko padalīties. Projekts darbojas divos virzienos – dalīšanās labās prakses pieredzē un inovatīvu metožu, kas padara mācību procesu pievilcīgāku, aktualizēšanu.Sešās apmācību, mācīšanās un mācīšanas aktivitātēs skolotāji mācījās, kā nodarbībās pielietot radošās un dalījās pieredzē par sešām augstākminētām tēmām ar kolēģiem no sadarbības skolām.Skolotāji stāstija un demonstrēja inovatīvas un interesantas mācību metodes dažādos mācību priekšmetos, kas tiek izmantotas viņu stundās. Metodes tika izmēģinātas starptautiskajās stundās, kurās piedalījās 18 skolēni no katras dalībvalsts. Pēc ktarsa stundas skolēni novērtēja pasniegto aktivitāti ar emocijzīmju palīdzību. Pēc mācīšanas/mācīšanās aktivit;ates skolotāju piedāvātās aktivitātes tika izmēģinātas un novērtētas visās sadarbības skolās. Ja radās nepieciešamība, aktivitātes autors uzlaboja savu radīto stundu. Izmantojot inovatīvo metodi, skolotājiem bija iespējams novērtēt skolēnu zināšanas, prasmes, kā arī motivācijas uzlabošanos priekšmetā. Rezultāti tika ievietoti projekta mājas lapā www.erasmusgrobina.lv Kā projekta rezultātus var minēt :•Skolotāji organizētajos semināros dalījās ar zināšanām un pieredzi par to, kā padarīt mācību procesu interesantāku un iepazinās ar jaunām idejām dažādos mācību priekšmetos.•Projekta laikā tika izveidotas, novadītas un nofilmētas 36 stundas•Skolotāji izveidoja radošu ideju materiālu “Mūsdienīga skolotāja rokasgrāmata”, kura radošas idejas var izmantot dažādu priekšmetu skolotāji visā Eiropā.•Skolēni, piedaloties mācīšanas/mācīšanās aktivitātēs, varēja piedalīties daudzās sešu Eiropas valstu skolotāju vadītās internacionālās stundās•Visi dalībnieki ieguva zināšanas par partnervalstu kultūru.Kā ilgtermiņa ieguvumu var minēt šādus faktus:•Skolotāji ir kļuvuši pārliecinātāki par savu mācību metožu kvalitāti•Visi dalībnieki, caur projekta aktivitātēm, vairāk ir kļuvuši par Eiropas pilsoņiem•Skolēni ir kļuvuši ieinteresētāki mācību procesā, pielietojot interesantākas mācību metodes•Izveidotais materiāls “Mūsdienīga skolotāja rokasgrāmata” būs pieejams kā didaktisks materiāls dažādu priekšmetu skolotājiem."

"Education of the 21st century must be visionary and future-oriented, in the face of stunning scientific and technological innovations and changes. The students of the 21st century are digital natives. They are skilled with technology and comfortable with global and intercultural communication. That means modern web applications have to enter study process more energetically. The objectives of the project "" Get SMART!"" were: * to improve the capacity of the partner school staff based on the needs of the 21st century to apply modern online teaching tools * to identify and analyze good practices of the partner schools in the field of web applications that can be used in different subject lessons * to broaden students' knowledge on different important European discoveries and treasures, * to try out 100 website applications on different treasures (scientific, language, historical, cultural, gastronomic and nature) treasures * to compile lesson plans where web applications are used * to raise students' skills of team-teaching * to raise teachers' technology skills corresponding to the needs of the 21st century • to strengthen mutual understanding among European nations through getting to know different traditions of the participating countries * to compile a booklet "" Get SMART!"" where all the created web applications will be gathered. All the planned activities gradually lead to achieving all the planned project objectives. * During C1 activity teachers acquired knowledge and shared good practices on web applications in a workshop and thus raised their professional skills and were informed about the technologies our students are well aware in a workshop * During C2, C3, C4,C5 learning/teaching activities students created web activities on different treasures and got to know different traditions of the partner countries* Learning/teaching activities C6 and C7 were cancelled due to Covid-19, but instead learning/teaching activities C8 and C9 were organized in October and November 2020 and all the planned tasks were carried out online * Between the learning/teaching activities the created applications were tried out at schools during the lessons and school activities. Teachers and students worked as a team. The direct participants of the project activities were 110 participants including students aged 12 – 16 and different subject teachers (ICT, geography, literature, biology etc.). Indirectly also the parents and town councils participated as well as some project activities were organized as community activities. The learning/teaching activities were organized following the scheme: * the partners presented their study on some treasures in their country * there was a practical workshop where the students applied the knowledge they had learned using some web application * a culture festival - Easter traditions around Europe, Christmas traditions, gastronomic festival, history quiz contest, etc The gastronomic festival which was planned during learning/teaching activity C 6 was replaced by online festival where all the partner schools filmed how they prepare national food for Christmas. During learning/teaching activity C7 it was planned to a photo exhibition on nature treasures in each country. That was replaced by online exhibition through Facebook platform. At the end of the project all the created materials were compiled in the manual “ Get SMART!”"

"In the schools of the 21st century, there has been a significant change - from the place where students were trained for final examinations and admission to higher education institutions, schools have become a place where problems in the real world are addressed. In this century:• Learning requires students to actively work with abstract concepts, facts and formulas in a real and highly social context.• Critical thinking has become a necessity in the learning process• Students must be able to use different resources• Cooperation has become an integral part of learning.It is therefore important to train teachers and pupils to address nowadays teenage issues. The project ""Healthy Minds for Healthy Europe"" focused on implementing a range of interventions in partnership with healthcare institutions to tackle various addiction problems at schools. It is very important for teachers and healthcare professionals in different European countries to share their experience in dealing with these problems. Each country has its own practices and methods of trying to prevent youngsters to become addicted to bad habits.The main objectives of the project were to:• Improve the capacity of partner school staff based on the needs of the 21st century• Identify and analyze the situation with addictions in partner countries• Share success stories in the field of addictions in n each school • In co-operation with healthcare institutions, develop course program and lesson and activity plans ""How to prevent different types of addiction at schools""• Try out the created lesson and activity plans in partner schools.• Strengthen mutual understanding between the peoples of Europe by getting to know the cultures of the partner countries.The project worked in several directions: 1) studying the situation in all partner schools and countries concerning different types of addiction; 2) getting to know good practice on fighting addictions; 3) creating a study programme, lesson and activity plans for preventing various addictions and promoting a healthy lifestyle. 4) organizing seminars and simulation games on various topics on fighting addiction:• How to work successfully in a team• How to reduce addiction to mobile phones and video games and replace them with more appropriate activities• How to limit the time spent on social networks• How to learn to eat healthily • How to convince peers to quit smoking• How to restrict the use of alcohol and drugs among young people.5) writing success stories on fighting with addictions.Teachers and healthcare workers worked together to create a study program, lesson and activity plans ""How to prevent different types of addiction at schools"". During the simulation games, students had to play different roles – the one of a psychologist and an addict, trying to persuade the addicts to turn to a healthy lifestyle. All the materials created during the project were posted on the project website www.theserasmus.wordpress.com and the brochure ""How to Fight Addictions at School”. During the project, 2 project meetings and 3 teaching/learning activities took place as well as 3 teacher teaching / learning activities. During the first project meeting, project coordinators in Latvia elaborated a plan for implementation of the objectives set out in the project, divided the tasks, discussed result dissemination activities and project finance issues. In the second project meeting in Greece, a seminar was held where the progress of the project and the created materials were analyzed, the planned result dissemination activities in each school and the sustainability of the project were discussed as well. The final project report and the publication of the brochure were also analyzed."