12 Christmas ‘Habits’- Feliz Natal!/Crăciun fericit!
An absolutely amazing activity, with a strong impact on both the Romanian and the Portuguese students involved in it, took place around Christmas. The participating schools were Scoala Primară Carol I from Iași, Romania and Escola Básica Gonçalo Mendes de Maia, Portugal and the activity was coordinated by the teachers Maria Irene Tiago from Portugal and Irina Raluca Ciobanu form Romania. This mini extracurricular project that we incorporated into our main project 12 Habits for Success, was a success in itself, taking into account the enthusiasm shown by both the Romanian and the Portuguese students.
It all started from learning the differences between habit, custom, and tradition. The students made a selection of topics they would like to reaserch on, like: Christmas decorations, food, drinks, family time, folk songs, etc. and gathered into small work groups. Each group made a short presentation on the topic they chose and, on the set day, they delivered their presentations for the children in the partner country.
Not only was this mini project fun for our students but it was also highly informative in a very pleasant, informal and relaxed way and it helped us built on their respect and curiosity for other cultures, on their responsibility as members of team, on their negotiation and creative skills when achieving their presentations and their confidence in delivering them to their mates form Portugal and Romania.
Our students’ positive reactions, their interest and willingness to have more such activities could be the starting point for further collaboration in similarly attractive projects.

