Erasmus GIANTS during confinement 

The fact that we have been harassed by this coronavirus all over the world is not pleasant and we can find a thousand negative aspects, from the simplest fact that is being confined to the most difficult one, which is the fact of having to deal with the death of someone from our family and friends. 

In schools we tend to be positive and always look for the good side of things. In this case, although it is difficult for us, we can also find some positive aspects.

Boys and girls, on one hand, have spent a lot of time enjoying their families, never neglecting schedules such as the routines of hygiene, meals, school tasks, etc.

Teachers, on the other hand, have had to adapt to a new reality overnight; we have changed our way of teaching in just over a weekend in order to prevent our boys and girls from feeling isolated, and trying to provide, from minute 1, the feeling of normality within this abnormality. ALL teachers have succeeded. We have made teamwork, we have helped each other more than ever, we have created, we have designed and we have made sure that the day by day of our children was not too much affected, obviously within our possibilities. Creating a friendlier and more accessible online space for all children, video conferences so as not to lose the bond between classmates and friends that cannot meet now, online play times, talks between children and teachers to keep the group spirit alive , online work with gamifications, explanatory videos to keep the motivation of our students among lots more, because we can not forget that it is not and never will be the same, to hold face-to-face classes than online. School is not only a space to transmit knowledge, there are other aspects that are even more important than knowledge, which become difficult to transmit if we cannot see or touch each other.

Help from families has also been invaluable; without them nothing of what we have done would have been possible.

That's what our Erasmus GIANTS project is all about. New methodologies, new ways of teaching adapted to the current situation in which we live. Now more than ever, our project has been valuable, as everything started in school related to new methodologies, gamifications, use of ICT, it has taken on the broadest possible meaning and has allowed us to turn this difficult situation into something bearable for everyone and it has also made it possible for everyone to adapt to confinement without loosing the meaning of school as an overall.  

Escape classrooms, educational games, video conferencing with many digital tools, directed work with educational programs or apps and reinforced with explanatory and motivating videos, have been the daily routine of these two and a half months of confinement. Without neglecting all the tasks planned within our project, which we had to redesign in order to carry them out during these months.

Talking about our Erasmus project, we cannot say that everything is done. It’s true that we’ve moved forward in a couple of months, everything we set out to do in a couple of years, but now more than ever, that doesn’t have to stop. We need to keep moving forward and improve on everything we’ve started now, as we have done it and it doesn’t mean it is really implemented within the school. We must continue to work in this same line marked by the GIANTS project and seek improvements, continue researching, continue creating together and continue to move forward in order to be prepared for any situation in which we may find ourselves, without this altering our way of doing things, our way of teaching, Our day to day life within the Salvador Sanromà school, a school, like so many others, that has grown in all aspects during this confinement and that wants, of course, to continue growing with their children, teachers, parents and all the staff who have a relationship with the school. The school, now more than ever, is us, what we do, and most of all what we do together.

Video conference attended by students from the 5 partner countries.