Contemporary Literacy in Contemporary Kids

Tartu Tamme Gümnaasium

As our school is the coordinator, the activities we’re doing are richly varied. On the one hand, we’re responsible for overseeing the actual implementation and execution of the work of all partner schools. On the other hand, we contribute towards achieving the project goals like everyone else does.

September 2015. We communicated the beginning of the project to the whole school and started our little but effective project team of six students and four teachers.

October 2015. We did some research into the topic of contemporary literacy, carried out a workshop and designed six thematic posters to be shown on the school Erasmus+ project display. We spent a lot of time preparing for the kick-off project meeting in Tartu.

November 2015. We hosted our partner schools from Denmark, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey. Basically, the whole school was engaged to help us succeed. Many thanks to the senior management, colleagues and students for their contribution!

December 2015. Our six project team students wrote six opinion articles to provide their own perspective on the topics of the project.

January 2016. We were preparing for the first transnational Learning, Teaching and Training Activity in Portugal. Our two students compiled a nice presentation on Estonia, and the teachers summarised numerous online articles on digital and technology literacy to build some background knowledge.

February 2016. Right upon our return from Portugal, we shared our learning outcomes on several in-school occasions, and we communicated our project on the school website.

March 2016. We reported on the progress of the project at a staff meeting, and we updated the school Erasmus+ display. Four different student groups discussed digital world in their lives and shared their ideas in writing in their English classes.

April 2016. The project team spent time preparing for the project website and the e-book.

May 2016. Two students belonging to the school project team shared their experience with the whole school and community.

June 2016. We disseminated our project internationally at the FIPLV Nordic-Baltic Region Conference in Tallinn. We discussed new  ideas intoduced at the international foreign language teachers’ conference in Tallinn The Language Teacher and Teaching at Crossroads.

July 2016.  We kept working on the contents and design of the project website and the e-book.

August 2016. We disseminated our project nationally at the EATE Summer Seminar.

September 2016.  The team of two students and two teachers prepared for the second learning, teaching and training activity in Romenia. Two case studies and a presentation introducing Estonia, Tartu, our school and the project team were created.

October 2016.  We presented our project  to other Estonian schools at an Erasmus+ seminar organised by the Estonian NA.  Also, the Erasmus+ project display was updated.

November–December  2016.  Our ten-graders learned more about the EU, as well as discussed the importance of being both Estonian and European citizens. During a number of CLIL classes, they developed their English skills along with teamwork, media and public speaking skills. On December 20, the groups successfully delivered their presentations on the EU, Estonia, Tartu and Tartu Tamme Gümnaasium.

January-February 2017.   The students attending the European project course now turned their focus on information literacy. They learned how to be globally knowledgeable, how to ask good questions, how to seek information, and how to present their findings. The three topics chosen were Students”, “Sport” and “Politics”.  The students also designed six posters to illustrate their presentations, which are currently posted on the school Erasmus+ display board for everyone to enjoy.

March 2017.  The Estonian project team prepared a presentation on Estonia.   

April 2017. We disseminated our trip to Denmark in form of illustrated travel notes.                         

May 2017. A student project work The Royal Houses of England and Great Britain was completed.

June–August 2017. The project members worked on finalizing the website and the e-book.