As educators of teenager students living in Europe and facing challenges of the 21st century, we – teachers - feel the responsibility to help them acquire basic literacy, digital, as well as transversal skills, develop their potential and self-confidence, teach them to be responsible and active citizens, to dare taking risks and initiatives and value lifelong learning opportunities. Nowadays it is very important to respect diversity and appreciate multiculturalism, to be open to different ways of thinking and acting.Our project focused on the Arts, ICTs and creativity as means to challenge the usual teacher-centered way of teaching and a way to increase performance in relevant school subjects and stimulate activate participation in extra-curricular activities. Successful combination of creative classroom and the Arts/Crafts techniques, such as a role play and improvisation, rhythm, music and dance, painting and creative writing, with the latest up-to-date technologies, tools and apps definitely enhanced our students' self-esteem, helped to involve them in the learning process more actively, strengthened teacher/student bonds, developed our mutual confidence, encouraged active participation and interaction, and stimulated motivation to do and participate.Moreover, we are convinced that active involvement in diverse topic- related workshops and application of interactive learning strategies enriched the process of teaching and learning itself, provoked our students interest, trained critical and creative thinking skills, improved problem solving skills and promoted leadership growth. Literacy, ICT skills and better command of the English language, have also been important aspects of our project.Another significant objective was to work with teachers, involve them in the project activities and to highlight their role as educators. Teachers shared their practices, exchanged ideas and experiences, challenged conceived perceptions of teaching, as well as usual ways of doing things in the classroom.Our profile of participants was very varied, consisting of 6 different partners: a small state gymnasium from Latvia with great experience in music, dance, artworks, digital classroom teaching skills and outstanding results in Robotics; a secondary vocational school with emphasis on ICTs from a rural area of Spain experienced in implementing European projects with students of various backgrounds; an enormous Portuguese school working on improvement of the staff management, educational orientation, school success and educational service issues; a small gymnasium from Greece experienced in drama and creative classroom techniques; a remote school from Finland making all the effort to support all students individually; a multinational school from Italy with high performance in Tourism Management, Hospitality, Culinary, Confectionery and Patisserie Arts.This diversity was highly beneficial to implementation of our project and reaching the targeted results.The activities included practical workshops based on combination of the Arts, modern ICTs tools and apps, and creativity: collaborative poetry, story and script writing, film and video making, creative classroom practices, research on the topic etc. During the workshops students and teachers felt free to express themselves in a collaborative environment, interacted and learnt from each other, produced various digital materials. Apart from that, students learned new ICT tools and apps through tutorials, prepared various PPPs, films about their and their partners' country, participated in the Logo design contest, wrote articles and releases, composed the project song, communicated with each other via social networks, e-mail etc. There was also a website, a project section on Twinspace and the school websites for uploading project materials, photos, videos and reports of the events. Before each trip we tried to learn some simple phrases in a host language, as a result the project glossary in 7 languages was made.The methodology applied in the activities included collaborative team work, creative writing, story writing and telling, drama/theatre techniques such as mime, role play, freezing scenes, improvisation, handicrafts, dance and rhythm, ICT tools and apps. The main principle was equal participation of all partners, tolerance and respect of the different, either related to culture or a disadvantaged background.Through our project we sought ways not only to help students unfold their talents and change the way they view school, but also encouraged our students and staff to become more active members of society. We disseminated our project activities and results via school, local or regional media, various meetings, seminars and events.The project long- term benefits are to enrich teachers' professional development by using innovative teaching methods, promote European spirit in the schools and prepare us to deal with the 21st century challenges more successfully.

"Project ""Essential Life Skills” was conducted in the partnership of secondary schools from Poland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia. The aim of the project was to cooperate and share the knowledge and experiences in the field of practical life skills; to equip teenage students with certain life skills and key competences, in order to prepare them for successful, self-efficient adulthood. The three main areas of life skills the project focused on were: daily living skills, personal/social skills and occupational skills. Those life skills were obtained by the students during LTT activities as well as between them, during their work in the schools’ ELS Groups.ESL students and teachers took part in four LTT events:LTT event C1 took place in Volos, Greece and the topic was: Healthy Nutrition. Main objectives of the mobility were: promoting a “pro-healthy food” attitude among teenagers; making them discover the benefits of healthy diet. The objectives were achieved through: presentations, interactive tutorials; educational visits to local institutions specializing in the “Science Of Food”,demonstrating the basics of nutrition, ingredients and food handling; lectures led by specialists, clarifying notions on healthy dietary habits, obesity and active lifestyle.LTT event C2 took place in Silale, Lithuania, the topic was Career Guidance. Main objectives of the mobility were: Developing students’ career searching and self-knowledge skills, e.g. how to use a job interview to show all good qualities; how to create the best CV. All the objectives were achieved by taking part in lectures and workshops during which the knowledge, skills and know-how were explained to students; action-based learning, working in teams and analysing the results and methods of the job done as well as contribution and process of working of each participant; project-based learning – gaining the knowledge in practical way, benefiting from experience of real businesspeople, the experts in topic areas.LTT event C4 took place in Zilina, Slovakia and the topic was Home economics. Main objectives of the event: teaching project participants to plan home budget; making them understand banking products and right financial decisions. All the objectives were met due to a series of lectures and workshops focused on bank products and home economics and led by financial experts, visits in banks, teamwork on solving financial problems.LTT event C5 took place in Nidzica, Poland and the topic was: Self-development and good manners. Main objectives of the meeting: self-improvement of students and teachers in the following areas: managing stress and fears, developing assertiveness, self-confidence, good manners and polite behaviour. The objectives were achieved through the series of activities, workshops and lectures led by experts such as phD psychologist, personal development coach and visits and workshops in wellness studio Harmonium. Another target group of the project were teachers. The objective was to enrich their personal and professional workshop with new working tools and methodologies. They took part in LTT event C3 in Afragola, Italy and the topic was: How to teach Life Skills. They took part in lectures and workshops on teaching students various life skills. They also created various lesson plans on those subjects that were included in the school curricula and serve as guidance for their peers when it comes to teaching life skills topics.ELS participants also worked actively between mobilities on, e.g. organising dissemination events, such as for instance ELS Days, meetings with students from local schools, organising meetings with their schoolmates and conducting lessons for them to pass newly gained knowledge. ELS Groups’ members were also responsible for creating tangible results, such as ELS Guidebook. Due to all those activities, our students gained and/or developed new digital competences, social and civic competences such as: critical thinking, team work. Students developed sense of initiative and entrepreneurship involving know-how, motivation, creativity, innovation and courage, as well as the ability to plan and perform tasks in order to achieve set goals. They got necessary skills and knowledge on what constitutes a healthy diet, basic rules of cooking and preparing their own healthy dishes. They learnt to understand the finances and financial products, to arrange mortgage, loans, insurance or advantageous financial investment, to calculate the income, make good financial decisions. ELS members developed assertiveness, teamwork, self-confidence, good manners and polite behaviour, they learnt to control stress.Teachers got to know and practice various teaching methods in the topic of life skills. Transnational cooperation gave everyone unique opportunity to cooperate in English which improved participants’ knowledge of English and allowed them to get a glimpse of history and culture of partner countries."

"SKILLS FOR FUTURE WORKING LIFE IN EUROPEOur project aimed at improving the ICT skills and digital competence of students and teachers and at increasing the students' capability to access the labour market at local, national and international level and their knowledge of job and education opportunities. Our idea was that students need to improve their digital skills and their entrepreneurship in order to improve their possibility of success in the labour market.By working with partners from different European countries, the students learned about education and work opportunities in theirs and in other European countries and therefore increased their possibilities to find a career which might correspond to their dreams and passions. By travelling to partner countries the students learned to communicate with people from foreign cultures and realized how demanding and at times also challenging the communication with people from different countries can be. They also gained confidence in international communication for future working life.The first objective of this project was to enhance students' digital skills. This was carried out by using some of the most modern digital tools available and some apps and programs. The project was carried out so that specific apps (Blogger, Prezi, QReader, GPS, Kinemaster, AVS Video Editor) and social media platforms (eTwinning, Pinterest, Europass Platform) were used to carry out research and project work, which, in turn, dealt with the topic of work and professions. Most of these apps and platforms were unkown to our students (and sometimes to teachers as well).The students looked into the world of work by visiting local companies (which could potentially be their future employers), universities, and by building their own blogs (including Europass), which is becoming more and more a valuable asset when applying for work both in national and international scale. These blogs were a concrete outcome for each of the students participating in the project with which they might be able to apply for work. Through specific career counselling activities they also gained a better understanding of what really matters for them personally as regards their future jobs and how they can plan their future careers.Meanwhile, the teachers obtained more confidence and competence in the use of information technology, strengthening the profile of their profession. Teachers also benefited from the Transnational meetings, learning about other European educational systems, sharing their skills and knowledge, different methods of teaching, and curriculum structures.The project involved five partners from Italy, Finland, Greece, the Czech Republic and Spain. The partners were chosen because all of the schools have some experience in the world of partnerships, and all have specific competences in the field of ICT and entrepreneurship. Besides, since the project's main topic was about job opportunities, it was also useful to have countries belonging to very different economic areas (Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe), so that it could be easier to compare these very different situations and learn from each other.The project included six transnational meetings, attended by some teachers and few selected pupils; five of them also included L/T/T activities which enhanced the students' ICT skills and entrepreneurship, improving at the same time self-knowledge, team skills, communication skills and knowledge on different aspects of working life. During all meetings the students visited local employers and companies to see at first hand what kind of work opportunities each country can offer and also by visiting some local educational facilities (universities, etc.) they learned about the opportunities they might have as regards to further educating themselves, both nationally and internationally. The students also had the opportunity to communicate in English and to learn intercultural skills (which are required more and more by employers nowadays).The results include a project website, containing all the activities and outputs of the project, individual resume blogs and Europass CVs. Inside the website it is possible to find a ""dissemination kit"", in which a lot of useful materials (lessons, presentations, videos, etc.) are available for promotion. The results also include a general survey of the potential further education and job opportunities in the local areas, which might be extremely useful for our students and young people in general.Teachers also acquired new digital skills, which are essential in order to take advantage of modern technology in teaching as effectively as possible.The potential longer term benefits are connected to our students' possibilities of success in the labour market, which were improved during the project by giving them some important instruments like new digital skills, entrepreneurship and knowledge of some of the mechanisms which work in the labour market."

Global economy is currently fuelled by rapid development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). STEM fields have experienced continuous growth since the 1990s, and jobs in STEM are expected to grow around 20% in the next decade. However, one of the biggest obstacles to this process is the lack of employees with STEM skills. According to the European Commission, one of the solutions would be to tap into largely unrealised potential of women in this area. In the EU only 24 out of 1000 female graduates come from ICT—related studies, and women constitute just 13% of all graduates of ICT subjects. To address both of these problems – lack of employees with STEM skills, as well as gender inequality in this area, we came up with the project Full STEAM Ahead! It is directed at secondary school students (particularly girls) as well as teachers (especially STEAM teachers) from partner organizations in 6 countries: Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Finland, Estonia and Spain. The project aims at combating the gender inequality gap existing in the field of STEM and promoting STEAM (STEM and Arts for a full and integrated approach) education among students. The project’s objectives are: increasing motivation of students, particularly females, to study STEAM subjects; fighting stereotypes regarding female role in STEAM world; raising awareness of STEAM studies as career opportunities; improving knowledge and capacity in STEAM area, implementing more active, hands-on methods while teaching STEAM; making STEAM teaching and learning fun and exciting; strengthening the profile of teachers by exposing them to innovative teaching and motivating methods. We also want to make our students aware of their European cultural heritage through familiarizing them with famous scientists (particularly women), whose discoveries and historical achievements constitute the basis of modern science and development. We are planning 1 LTT event for teachers only, STEAM Guides, to help them become well-versed in teaching STEAM subjects, show them how to motivate and inspire their students. There will also be 5 LTT events for students: 1) S (Science) - Science Explorers! - activity focusing on Science, including workshops and seminars for students on real-life science applications and experiments (e.g. building photovoltaic systems out of solar cells, molecular cuisine, physics challenges etc.). 2) T (Technology) – Code Breakers! - focusing on Technology, particularly ICT, covering elements of „Introduction to Coding/Programming/App Development” with seminars and workshops focused on coding, programming and app development led by professional experts from ICT area (Learn2code).3) E (Engineering) – Future Engineers! – LTT event focusing on Engineering and Robotics. Participants will practice creating engineering projects, such as building real-life devices. They will also take part in Robotics workshops. 4) A (Digital Art) – Digital Artists! – mobility during which students will focus on the Arts and Creativity. They will work in mixed groups, scripting a story, acting it and filming and finally editing it using software like Photoshop Pro and Adobe Premiere. They will also design and edit graphics and take part in 3D printing workshops.5) M (Maths) – Inspired Mathematicians! – LTT event during which students will develop a new approach to Maths by studying Thales´ circle, Archimedes´ principle or even Pythagorean Theorem with creative, engaging methods like case studies, experiments, field trips. Apart from seminars and workshops, we are planning to introduce students to important female scientists, tech professionals and artists, both past and current, from each partner country, to serve as inspiration, motivation and role models for young people. There will also be STEAM-oriented trips during and between LTT events to technical schools and universities and various Science and Research facilities. STEAM participants will conduct STEAM lessons for their peers. Partner schools will organise STEAM Days to promote STEAM education and disseminate the project and its outputs among local communities. Virtual mobilities for students and teachers will take place around each LTT event to give project participants a richer, more extensive experience and prolong their involvement.Tangible results of the project will be: multimedia materials (instructional videos, slideshows, guides, presentations etc.), STEAM-oriented lesson plans that will be added to school curricula, multimedia newsletters that will include tangible outputs, LTT activity descriptions, photos, etc. The project website and STEAM Clubs will be created in participating schools to implement and disseminate project activities and results. The intangible results will be: increased knowledge and skills of students and teachers in STEAM areas, changed attitude of students, particularly girls, towards STEAM subjects, increased interest and motivation to learn and study them.

Context and objectives:This project addressed the theme of motivation among students from the partner schools. Our main objective placed the role of students studying General Studies in focus and allowed them to reflect upon teaching practices and European educational objectives. Students explored and compared the school systems of the partner countries with regard to improving student motivation so as to confirm the school’s role in forming students to become good and active citizens of the future. 2 main EU objectives set out in the ET 2020 forum formed the backdrop of this project:• Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training.• Promoting equality, social cohesion, and active citizenship.Participants:Sortland Videregående Skole (Norway), Pudasjärven lukio (Finland), Skanderborg Gymnasium (Denmark), Borgarholtsskóli (Iceland).Project leaders: Neil Clarke, Pia Virranmäki, Anne Blum, Kristveig Halldórsdóttir.24 teachers.150 students from the partner schools.72 students on Short Term Learning Activities.Activities: All activities set out in the application were undertaken with the correct amount of participating students and accompanying teachers. These were:Student awareness of the relationship between Family-School -Society:This activity allowed individual school partners to study their school systems. Students began in the present by looking at their school system and charting their course in it. Students proceeded to chart the historical and cultural aspects of what their society expects regarding education. It enabled them to place themselves within a historical context and realize how their school system has evolved.Student Networks:This activity explored the idea that students exist in networks and act accordingly. These networks were found to be; family, friends, hobbies, sports clubs, school, and jobs. Students then vizualized these networks and prioritized them according to motivation.Civic and Social Responsibility:This theme bridged the gap between school and society and allowed students to compare both spheres. It focused on the formation of young people and expectations set out by schools and societies.Motivation and formation:This theme connected the work done in the first 3 themes. Students gathered their ideas concerning motivation and created an ideal school system from what they learned. Methodology:The project included a number of different teaching methods that ensured methodological diversity, guaranteeing varied lessons for students so as to see the matter from different perspectives. Both inductive and deductive teaching methods were used to foster critical thinking, team work, communication skills, digital competence and personal and social responsibility.Results:Both project leaders and the students involved believe that this project has provided a perspective that has helped to Improve student motivation. We believe that it has heightened student awareness regarding their position in the family-school-society network. Specific results:- Teaching packages have been produced as a result of the 4 different themes.-Student empowerment and responsibility has been achieved, seen through the student presentations and workshops that took place during the mobilities.-Increased participation among young people in society has been achieved.-Students, families and teachers have been brought closer together at Upper Secondary School level, allowing a better understanding of education's role in preparing students as future citizens of society.- The project has enabled young people, along with their teachers, to explore the possibility of influencing teaching practice and developing a new, motivational learning arena. This was particularly evident during the last theme where students designed their own 'ideal' school system.- Students have learned life lessons in both traditional and non-traditional ways. By reinforcing the relevance of school curricula and school-based formation in an innovative manner, students and teachers have realized that education can be dynamic and lead to renewed motivation.Long term benefits:Our vision was to help students realize their position in society through the relevance of education and increased motivation. The project has contributed to the formation of good, well-balanced and well-informed future citizens of Europe, who will go on to take an active role in democratic society. The project has been anchored in the partner schools' structure and added to a qualified debate about school enhancement. We still feel that future students will benefit from the project, as it will become integrated in the formation of students to become active, democratic citizens while contributing to innovative teaching practices that can be shared as an open educational resource. This can be seen in the teaching packages that have been produced.