Implementation of “A person is looking for an author” (SOI-HR-329)

Author: Doroteja Vojedilov, English and German teacher

School/Organization: Primary School Višnjevac, Višnjevac, Croatia

This is a story of implementation of the learning scenario ‘A person is looking for an author’ (LS-HR-719) written by Marijana Trinajstić. It was performed in the seventh grade of a primary school in a small place in Croatia. There were twenty-three students in class that day who actively participated in all planned activities. The students were supposed to make a few assumptions, to use their prior knowledge on the topic, to answer the questions, to present the results of the activities and to evaluate the work that we all did. 
Why did I choose this scenario after all? While I was going through so many great scenarios on Europeana, this one seemed to have a very interesting title that caught my attention and as soon as I read it carefully, I was sure it was the one. There are many simiral activities that I do with my class in order to help students to get to know each other better and to see their classmates’ qualities. Therefore, this learning scenario was a great sequel to those activities.

The importance of guidance

The learning scenario ‘A person is looking for an author’ was used with thirteen-year-old students during two lessons of English language, which they have been learning for seven years now. The class consists of nine girls and fourteen boys which is also important to mention because throughout the lessons it became obvious that the girls showed more empathy for their classmates, while the boys were pretty harsh on some of their friends. 

This is the age when students are quite self-centered, which is normal and expected, but still they need some help and a guide in order to become responsible young people who will also be self-confident and open-minded. Besides their families, the teachers are those who can have a great role in achieving that goal. Talking about mental health, which is the main topic of this scenario, can help teenagers in their everyday struggles. 
The students used Europeana last year so they were already familiar with this platform when I introduced this learning scenario. This fact saved a lot of time and made it possible for us to finish all the activities within the two planned lessons. 

Evoking interest

At the beginning of the lesson I discussed with the students if they remembered Europeana: when did they use it and how much did they learn from it. The students showed interest for the new topic because they had a great time when they used this platform last time. 

How much can you guess?

For the start, the students observed a photo from Europeana collection and wrote what they saw in this photo. As I expected, the most of the answers were almost the same: the lady was singing and she felt happy. Only a few students wrote that she was eating something. The aim of this activity was to make assumptions about the person in the photo and to show that a picture does not always reveal the whole and the true „story“ about what we see. However, I would now say that this photo was too obvious and that it is the reason why the most students had the same answers. Next time I would definitely choose another photo which does not show so much and which would evoke students’ imagination much more. 

So much fun

The best part of the whole scenario was surely the part when the students wrote answers on the paper on each other’s back. Here I had to make a slight change. As the weather was rainy, we had to stay inside. We used the school hall and the problem was that the music was too quiet and the students could not hear when it stopped playing. That is why I used the bell to stop the walking and ask the questions. This is the part of the lesson where the teacher has a very important role: to explain the students that the answers may in no way be offensive and to seriously think about what they were supposed to write.  

Walking in the hall, by Doroteja Vojedilov, CC BY

Writing observations, by Doroteja Vojedilov, CC BY

Surprise, surprise!

The main learning outcome of this implementation was to show that a picture is not always worth a thousand words. After we see something, we usually immediately express our opinion or the view of that thing or a person, which very often does not need to be true. The students were really surprised to find out what their classmates think about them: they did not understand where it came from and what part of their behaviour resulted in such observations. This is the part where the teacher has to explain the following: we are who we are, we should not change according to other people’s beliefs, but build our self-confidence and show our abilities and talents. Everybody has their qualities which may be hidden at the moment, but with the time we will show them to others and be valued for who we really are, and not who we pretend to be. 

The most of the students said that the activity in which they wrote answers on the paper was really interesting, that they felt excited and curious about what others wrote on their back, but that sometimes it was difficult to think of a good anwer for some students.

Students’ observations, by Doroteja Vojedilov, CC BY  

            Presenting personalities, by Doroteja Vojedilov, CC BY

A half of the class presented their personalities (as seen by their classmates) and expressed their opinion, whether they agreed with the answers or not and why. All the students successfully found a photo on Europeana which was based on the observations of their friends, and added it to Padlet. 

Padlet results, by Doroteja Vojedilov, CC BY

I would like to advise other educators who might use this learning scenario to be really careful about giving clear instructions, which they should repeat as often as possible: no rude words for other students and listening to each other during the presentations. The students who presented their personalities showed a lot of courage and it should be appreciated. 

The students also completed the evaluation form which showed the following results:

– they listened to each other very often;

– we constantly checked that everyone understood the material;

– we very often checked that everyone felt good

A great lesson to all of us

By choosing this learning scenario, I wanted to give my students a chance to find out more about each other, but I also had a wish to get to know my students even better. In addition, this kind of activities help students become stronger and build their self-esteem which is very important for their future life. They should leave their comfort zone from time to time and see the things from different points of view, but always in a controlled situation.
I would definitely suggest other educators to use Europeanaresources as much as possible. We can learn so much from it and also get great new ideas from other participants which we will then wisely and effectively implement in our work. It is essential that everybody who uses Europeana carefully chooses the topic and materials for the planned outcomes and for the group of people they are intended for. In that way the activities will surely be successfully completed.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? ‘A person is looking for an author’, created by Marijana Trinajstić

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Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

CC0 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Finnish National Gallery.

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