23.04.2021
On wellbeing, boredom, and celebrating – Education Inspiration’s online classes
On wellbeing, boredom, and celebrating – these are the subjects of three online classes conducted by Education Inspiration, organized by the EFC Foundation and the ‘School with Class’ Foundation. The online event (free of charge and open to everyone) that took place on 16 April brought together several hundred students and teachers from all over Poland. Classes were addressed to grades 4 to 8, but their message was universal.
We chose the subjects to suit the times we are now living in; we had no control over the government’s decision to close all schools, but we can build a routine of good habits which will allow us to get through that difficult period more easily. That was what the first lesson in our cycle was about: ‘being well – wellbeing’, that is to say – how to take care of ourselves and the environment surrounding us when learning or studying online. The class was conducted by Joanna Stompel.
Can boredom be measured? – that was the question asked by Agnieszka Chomicka-Bosy at the beginning of her lesson entitled ‘Alice in Boredomland’. If we feel bored, it is an alarm signal indicating that something must be changed, but it can also stimulate creativity, help us plan and set objectives. It was absolutely fascinating, especially considering that it was a class on... well, boredom.
Greta Droździel-Papuga, in her class entitled ‘We all have something to celebrate’, talked about all the reasons we have to celebrate things, to see and appreciate ourselves and each other. Celebrating is a way to express our emotions; it can also give us the motivation we need to work, to be more active and creative. We can celebrate small, simple things, our individual successes.
After this meeting, we have no doubt that it is worth creating as many occasions, even excuses, to celebrate things together – in class, at school, in project groups.
We are happy that participants of our online classes turned up in such great numbers. We have prepared summary materials – feel free to download them. Teachers may find them helpful when conducting similar classes with their pupils. Students may find our graphical sketchnotes useful when revising material for exams or tests. We believe that our suggestions will make for a nice and inspiring change.
All three lessons will be shared on our YouTube channel. Release dates: 23 April – on wellbeing; 30 April – on boredom; 07 May – on celebrating.
Education Inspiration is a program implemented by the EFC Foundation in cooperation with the School with Class Foundation. We award grants to teachers from towns of up to 30 thousand inhabitants, helping them implement their original educational projects.