Comenius Partner Finding

How to Find Comenius partners  

The hardest part of Comenius projects starts with partner-finding. It is hard but not impossible . You should be very patient, though. Never yield even if you can’t get any answers for a long time. Keep up searching and sending emails explaining your intention to as many schools as you can. We hope that schools in existing European partnerships will add new partners for a new Comenius application.

There are some ways that can be useful for finding partners : 

Contact seminar

Contact seminars across Europe are run by all the  national agencies and they are intended as partner finding events. Funding is available to cover your travel by your national agency. Moreover, contact seminars are really fun to attend, you meet 20-30 or more colleagues from different countries who come to the seminar to find project partners. You are usually given a corner  to show posters, souvenirs, pictures, etc., to introduce their country, school and mostly their Project  on the exhibition and they lobby and also discuss their Project plans after a kind of ice-breaking party. You also have a chance of city tour for sightseeing and dinner- parties so you have a nice time with fun and work together. 

Global Gateway

This is also for international partnerships. If  you register on the Global Gateway and include details about your planned Project and put Comenius into the keyword search, you will see that there are always schools looking for Comenius contacts, global partners.You can be one of their Comenius Contacts.

Personal contacts

You can search new partners and contacts if you, your family, friends, colleagues or admins know teachers abroad. Local or regional authorities may also have some other close contacts with other European Schools and provide you to be in touch with them.

European Schoolnet

This is an active forum where teachers in the EU advertise for project partners. It is possible to get lots of ideas right across the curriculum, many are for Comenius partners. 

www.europeanschoolnet.org/eun_org_pforum/index.cfm

PartBase

Register your school and project with the Comenius partner-finding website or browse schools who have already registered.

http://partbase.eupro.se/frameuk.htm

eTwinning

This is a popular program in the UK because eTwinning website hosts a forum for teachers looking for eTwinning partners - project based European partnerships between two schools. There are project templates and good support available.

• eTwinning is a good way  into Comenius - suitable for initial projects before you decide to apply for Comenius funding, and a very useful project space to help run your project. If you find your Comenius partners on eTwinning, you will have funding available to arrange a Preparatory Visit to meet your partner schools. www.etwinning.net

 You see you are supposed to make use of every opportunity to run int’l links in your school!
   http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/default.aspx?page=1557 is a good link to get the info above.

This is for making use of the rain water  

  

COMENIUS SCHOOL PROJECTS

European Union Comenius Projects

Comenius Projects are part of Lifelong Learning (LLP) programs of European Union for Preschools, Elementary and Secondary Schools.
Comenius 1 is for school partnerships.You share your project ideas and plans with other schools of EU in order to find at least 2 or 3 partner schools to carry out the project which will last 2 years. Preparation period is almost a year.Your National Agency will provide you financial support if you are the coordinator school and  if you are a partner school of the project.The fund they give is based upon the type of your project and the number of mobilities.  The rules and principles may vary in 3 years' time period in general so you should follow the updated news at www.ua.gov.tr ( or your "national agency" website address) if you are a Turkish partner. Although Turkey is not a member of EU, its partnership was accepted in 2004.
The main objective is to improve the quality of education. Partner Schools learn a lot from each other in terms of modern techniques of teaching and learning, language and cultural differences, being tolerating and moreover, getting pleasure of diversity.
I have had the opportunity of participating in  a lot of Comenius Projects since 2004.Your "letter of invitation" to the partnership of your project or to be a partner of a school's project are the first but hardest steps of this event.
In other words, you have to find a school seeking a partner for their project or you prepare a project subject and present it to look for partner schools.
So your conditions, project theme, target age group, but on top of all, your "word power" are the crucial points to find an appropriate partner school or schools ."Word power" here is your capability of persuasion. It is getting harder and harder to find a partner or coordinator school each year.
At the beginning of my work in 2004 before we were accepted, a group from Denmark came to the private school which I was working for those times and wanted me to be their partner for their Language Project. And wondered if our students were able to do this project in English.I was studying with a group of students to participate in Harvard Model United Nations so I called  a few of them immediately and wanted them to see by themselves by making conversations with them .They liked them and told me as we weren't a member of EU we were supposed to wait and gave me their card and went away. A short time after this event I saw Turkey at the end of  list of eligible countries who can participate in Comenius projects and madly I looked for the card they gave me.
Oh my Gosh! I couldn't find it. I was so desperate  but they sent me an email to give the good news right away. Imagine: they offered me this partnership.They thought Turkey was an interesting country to learn about.
Later in 2007, so many amendments were made. I remember I was writing 30 or more mails to find a partner for my school. I also sent a project plan to draw the attention of candidate partners.
This went on for a long time, no sooner had I lost my hope than I got an offer from the UK.
What I am trying to say is it was  easier to find a partner in the beginning, but now it is terribly difficult. However, if you start a job or project ,"consider it done".To start a job means half of it is over. As an experienced project coordinator at different schools, I can say that mobility Comenius Projects really play a very important role to maintain good human relations by raising awareness to be respectful for diversity of all kinds through crosscultural activities. I think I am one of the lucky people who have lived this experience many times.Thanks a lot for all my partner schools  in Norway, the UK and Wales, Denmark , France, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuenia and so on.Thank you, my National Agency  for giving us this wonderful opportunity.And thanks my project group of students, their parents, teachers and admins.

These are the photos taken in Wales '09  while the students were trying to study life in the ponds.They totally focused on their research. They didn't even notice the cam.

I hope everybody lives this wonderful opportunity and believe it or not, it is far more fruitful than limited lessons in classroom environment.

THE WILL- FUTURE

THE WILL- FUTURE TENSE

We use the will-future for predictions, assumptions, promises and when we do something spontaneously.

We use the going to-future with planned actions.

Form

will + infinitive(basit mastar hali )

Examples:

Affirmative sentences:

He will play football.

He'll play football.( contracted)

I will be back soon.

I’ll be back soon.(contracted)

Negative sentences:

He will not play football.

He won't play football  or He'll not play football.

Questions:

Will he play football? Yes, he will. (Or No, he won’t.)

 Use of will-future

The will-future is simple future tense. There are other future tenses, like the going to-future, the Present Progressive, the Future Progressive/Continuous and the Simple Present.
We use the will-future:

1) Future actions happen without the speaker's intention (birthday, weather, etc.)

The sun will shine tomorrow.
Tom will be 21 next Tuesday.

2) Predictions, assumptions (I think, I hope, I'm sure, I'm afraid)

I think Sue will arrive in Paris this evening.
I hope you will win the match.
I am sure she will pass in Math.
When there is evidence of some kind , “going to” is used.
Oh Gosh! Black clouds. I think it is going to rain.
She got 3 out of 4 in the final exam. I am sure she is going to pass.

3) Spontaneous actions (not planned)

Hang on! I'll have a word with you.
Come here. I‘ll show you something.
OK. I'll come with you.

4) will-future – Special: Shall/ Shan’t

We sometimes use shall instead of will in the British English in the first person singular and the first person plural.

In spoken (and in written) English more and more will is used in affirmative sentences nowadays.

We frequently use shall in questions as an offer: teklif durumlarında soru şeklinde kullanılabilir: yapayım mı ?

Shall I carry this box?

Shall we... is also an offer and the question form of “Let’s .....”

Shall we dance?/or Let’s dance.

Will is also used for polite requests/offers usually with please:

Will you dance with me, please?

Will you marry me ?

Help me , will you ?

Come here, will you ? ”will you” burada “ne olur/ lutfen” anlamındadır.

We use the will future in written language (especially in newspapers), where in spoken English we often use the going to-future.

spoken:

The headmaster is going to close the old gym.

written:

The headmaster will close the old gym.

Short forms in the will-future

We often use short forms of the auxiliaries. The will-future is formed with the auxiliary will, so short forms are very frequent, contracted WILL(’ll) is not used in short forms.

Example:

-Who will help me?

 - I will.

-Give my regards to your mom .

-I will.

Future Time Expressions

Tomorrow, next ...(week ) soon( in a short time), later ,..

Exercises

Put in the verbs in brackets into the gaps and form sentences. Use the will-future.

Example: The weather ______ nice at the weekend. (to be)

Answer: The weather will be nice at the weekend.

1) Tomorrow it in the north-west. (to rain)

2) My friend 12 next Monday. (to be)

3) Hey John! Wait a minute. I a word with you. (to have)

4) She her boss next week. (not see)

5) I think you this job. (to get)

6) They at about 6 pm. (to arrive)

7) The teacher this exercise. (to explain)

8) He the bottle of water. (to drop)

9) Lots of accidents in that weather. (to happen)

10) She if you show her the spider. (to scream)

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    1.will rain  2.will be   3.will have  4.won’t see  5.will get  6.will arrive 7.will explain  8.will drop   9.will happen  10.will scream

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