Creativity, innovations in teaching and dedicated work do pay off. International School and Ms Tatjana Koluvija received the eTwinning national award and the Quality label for the project “Mindfulness in teaching”! Thanks to this, International School students will gain certificates which can be a great addition to their portfolio and therefore improve their competitiveness as future university applicants.

Mental techniques for achieving better results and easier handling of stressful situations

For months, Ms Tatjana Koluvija, Global Perspectives teacher and parent support coordinator, has been showing students how to use different mental techniques to enhance their attention span, motivation and focus, and alleviate stress, which helps them achieve better results at tests and prepares them for various stressful situations that await them in further education and career.

Since the Mindfulness club was the most popular club at school, Ms Tatjana decided to upgrade it and promote the project “Mindfulness in teaching” on the eTwinning platform in order to raise the international profile of this approach in teaching.

“Mindfulness in teaching” started in September 2021. The project made a great impact on other schools, which resulted in gathering partners from Belgium, followed by schools from Lithuania and Turkey.

Creating a stimulating environment in the school to support students’ social-emotional improvement

International School organised Mindfulness summits, with more than 50 students, two times in a school year and in the meantime, each school worked on the implementation of mindfulness ideas in the school environment. The project’s aim was to create a stimulating environment in the school to support the social-emotional improvement of the students, especially in the times of Covid pandemic. Also, it teaches students how to respond to stress with awareness of what is happening in the present moment, rather than simply acting instinctively, unaware of what emotions or motives may be driving some decisions.

The project will be continued in the future with the same aims and objectives. This time we will be even more motivated and enthusiastic, since “Mindfulness in teaching” has got the eTwinning national award and recognition due to its quality, importance and impact on the school environment.

We are looking forward to the upcoming school year, as we are sure that it will be filled with creative and innovative ideas. This sure will be the most successful school year so far.