The project "Write your Future
The idea of the project comes from the necessity to give a meaningful context for writing in the digital era, in order to promote this skill and raise awareness of its importance, while using the interests and talents that students have and channel them towards the school context. Writing is a very important means of communication but its use is usually arbitrary and random. During the project we will explore student’s use of the digital media in terms of reading and writing in order to adapt teaching practices to trends, and and explore digital and online tools for creating, translating, editing, publishing and enjoying texts, and thus developing a critical eye towards written products and materials. The international cooperation will provide context, motivation, audience and the necessity to use foreign languages and making translations. The project will rely on the students’ abilities and give them the chance to learn to proofread, translate, edit and publish using online tools for the
purpose. The participants location is also significant: since it is a Central and Eastern European cooperation, it will bring these institutions closer together and will provide an opportunity to become familiar with each-other’s culture and literature. Since this region of Europe shares a fairly similar cultural and historical background, we will promote the translating and reading of outstanding national writers and poets, earlier and contemporary, and thus allow students and teachers to strengthen their sense of belonging. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of teachers, on the one hand they will have the possibility to share their existing good practices for writing, moreover they will cooperate with students in a purposeful way by being facilitators and just assisting the publication process, and thus give students more autonomy. The idea is to create an environment that resembles to a workplace, where teachers moderate and assist the students’ work, but the students also rely on each-others’ experiences and knowledge to complete specific tasks on the area of proofreading, translation, edition and publication. In the meantime, the teachers will be responsible for the writing clubs that will provide the materials for publication. On a weekly basis students can go to writing workshops where they can present their writings, comment on each-others’ works and learn strategies for perfecting their skills. The writings created during these sessions will be submitted for
the editors and translators who will prepare the writings for publication. The project enhances the awareness of the importance of writing, allow students to perfect their skills and motivate talented students to write for an international audience, while for others it will be a chance to gain experience and knowledge that will be useful during their academic and professional careers as well.y.
Aim of the project
The project has three main aims, among others. Firstly, its purpose is to introduce teachers in the use of digital tools for teaching writing, translating, editing and publishing in order to provide them with expereince and confidence in using these tools, and to measure and assess the circumstances and improvements on the field of the use of these digital tools by registering to the SELFIE tool, and use it throughout the project. Secondly, from the viewpoint of the students it aims at providing relevant experience and motivation for reading and writing by involving them in the management of the website of the website of the project and in the edition of the national and international issues of the literary magazine. Thirdly, its goal is to provide opportunities for publishing for students who are intersted in writing, and cultivate and polish their skillsby offering regular writing clubs and the chance to meet writers and authors. Since our priority is to find new and innovative practices, we would like to create a meaningful context for the teaching of writing through establishing a literary journal in each school, and an international edition as well. In order to achieve that, both teachers and students will need to immerse in digital and online tools for proofreading, translating and publishing, and in the meantime they will gain 21st century skills, meaning the ability to filter, process and share information, and create quality content in writing. The project's goal is to improve a basic skill, writing, and explore its relevance and uses in the digital era. The project will naturally contribute to the
empowerment of teachers, and will involve not only English teachers, but also teachers of the national languages, literature and culture. It will put empahsis on national values and culture and will provide the ability to share it. For teachers, the significance of the project, on the one hand, is to motivate students to write by giving a realistic aim and providing audience; moreover, the teachers will have an experience to work together woth students cooperatively, through sharing responsibilities, which engages students even more, and it will place the student-teacher relationship on a new foundation. The project promotes a comprehensive approach by bringing together reading, ICT skills and writing, and teaches these together.