FOURTH DAY

The day started with a Modern Greek Language lesson for second grade students who study the branch of science. This subject is compulsory for all the students. The topic was racism.
Dora, the teacher, used a methodology called world café. The students were divided into four groups of six students. In each group, there was a host student who always remained in the group, whereas the other students had to change their group every ten minutes. The teacher posed in each group a hypothetical situation and asked students to discuss about it and answer some questions related to it. Each table was covered by a huge piece of paper in which students had to write their ideas and conclusions. The activity ended with the host students presenting the conclusions and ideas they had discussed with their classmates.

I think this has been an interesting activity to improve speaking skills among students. They are more likely to participate in small groups as they feel more comfortable. Therefore this type of activity fosters participation in a secure atmosphere. I can definitely use this type of methodology with my students adapting the situations.

After that lesson, Lia, an English teacher, gave a lesson about refugees. She has previously worked with the students some vocabulary related to the topic. At the beginning of the lesson, she asked the students about it to check they rememebered it. Then, we watched a short video titled "Syrian refugees: A Human Crisis Revealed in a Powerful Short Film". Here it is.

 After watching it, the students talked about their impressions and ideas. Next Lia talked about Tilos and explained how the refugees were received there. To support her comments, we watched  "The Greek island where Syrian refugees are welcome BBC News". Here you have the video.

 Then the students had to read a text to obtain more information about that topic and had to answer some questions to check their reading comprehension skills. Lia also created group work activities to prepare a role play. For that activity. a student was a reporter who was on Tilos to interview refugees and locals and another student was a refugee who explained his/ her experience on the island.
The last activity was a writing one. After reading Kavafi's poem Ithaca, students were asked to write either an article for their school magazine or a short article presenting the island's refugee integration.
It has  been a lesson that has both motivated and inspired students to do their tasks. I could use it with my students of Practical English. It is a very engaging activity to raise awareness among students about the refugees' situation.

Engaging classroom decorated by students