The last day- the day of departure

After breakfast we all met to had a conclusion of  our course and to say goodbye to each other.  I was really thankful to Roland, Jana, Heiner and David, because they welcomed me into the group. They really took care of me!!! They invited me to join them wherever they went! It was a pleasure to be part of their group! They are all so nice people!!! The course was great and the people was great! It was such a nice experience!

The fourth day of the Math and Game course.

On the 4-th day we prepaired a lesson in pairs. First we chose a game, and then made a methodical and didactic preparation for a "lesson". Me and Andreja, a teacher from Slovenia, chose the game NIM, a game with matches. NIM is a game of strategy  in which two players take turns removing objects from distinct heaps, and may remove any number of objects provided they all came from the same heap. The goal of the game is not to be a player to remove the last objects.  At the beginning we put the matches in four rows with 1, 3,5 and 7 elements. The first player removes any number of matches from a row which he choose. The other players takes one or more matches from the same or another row....and so on...until there is only one match left, so the next player is losing the game.

With game NIM, pupils improve counting to ten, adding and subtracting single-digits with totals to 10,...After the presentation we had discussion about different use of game.

Others chose a game MILL. It is a board game for two players.  Each player has 9 tokens or pieces. Tokens are usually coloured black and white.  The board consist of a grid with three squares and four lines. Squares and lines together make twenty-for intersections or  points. The intention of the players is to form »mils«.  That means, three of their own tokens in the same colour lined horizontally or vertically. If you »get« a mill, it allows the player to remove an opponent's toke from the game immediately, and it is obligatory.  A player wins by reducing the oppnent to two tokens, where he can no longer form mils and thus is unable to win, or by putting him in a position where he is unable to move within the rules.

With this game pupils can learn counting reliably up to 9, read and write numbers up to 9, order and compare numbers up to 10, adding and subtracting with totals to 10.

The third day of the course

In the morning we went to the Euro–Math and Science conference, which took part on the same date and the same place as our course. Our trainer had a lecture about the Math and Games project. After lecture, we acquainted with a new game-  Checkers (Dammen).

Checkers is an abstract strategy-game where players move disc-shaped pieces across an 8 by 8 cross-hatched (checker) board. Pieces only move diagonally forward and only one space at a time. Only the dark squares of the board are used.  If player can move one of his pieces so that it jumps over an adjacent piece of his opponent  and into an empty space, that player captures the opponent's piece and removes it from the board. The capturing is mandatory.

The goals are: counting reliably up to 12 items, reading and writing and comparing numbers up to 8,

adding single-digit numbers from numbers up to 8, multiply from 2-8....

More about game we can find on : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvuYRVDPNWRN05SwQIRre4g

 After the coure I went to the Coral bay and the King's of the thombs.It was such a beautiful day!

The second day - a day of playing games

It was the day for playing games. We had 1 hour and a half for each game.....
It is important that pupils first play the original version of the game and then a teacher give them an adjusted game to learning math with.

The first game was Scrabble. It was pretty fun, because we should found and built words in English. And then we play the game in mathematical version »Math-scrabble«. The idea is to put construct equalities instead of words.  We put digits and symbols of  4 mathematical  operations and symbols of equality on tiles.  Each player has to construct validnequalities on a boars, vertically or horizontally, using the tiles that he/she has or ones that are already on the board, like Crosswords. Each tile carries certain points and the players are trying to use them in order to collect as many points as possible.

I realized that for my pupils there should be only two mathematical operation, or even better, only + and later - .

The second game was Connect 4. We have knew that game before, but i never thougt about it in mathematical way.  The goals to achieve are: count relaibly and  sort numbers up to 10 items, understand coordinate systems and find positions, understand line, line section  and distance and improve child's attention. For children with special needs, the goals are to improve attention, and to count reliably.

The third game was Combination 9. It is a game where you should find the right number- the sum of four numbers must be equal to the number in the big circle. There are 4 big circles and 9 smaller, where we put the digit.  At the begining you get 9 numbered pawns.

With this game pupils can practice summation of single-digit numbers up to 30 and adding numbers, items or amounts for producing a sum, reading and writing numbers up to 30, logical thinking.

For children with special needs we should choose only one of the squares, with only one summation of 4 digits.

More information about game Combination 9:
http://detstvoto.net/index.php?newsid=2101

After the course, we had lunch and then I went to the harbour by bus. It was going to rain but I wanted to see the archeological park and buy some souvenirs!

It was magical! The storm was comming, the sea was rough, there was some strange, orange light in the park! But at the end it became dangerous-  I was running or beter escaping in the last second. I found a shelter in a small pastry shop, so it was necessary to order a cake!:)

The first day of the course Math and games

In the morning, before the course stared, I was full of expectation. About the course, group and the food. First there was breakfast! I was astonished! What a choice! What a food! I could stay at the hotel restaurant the whole day eating!:) 

Than I went to the course! A little bit nervous. You know, the mathematicians, you never know what to expect!:)

But the group and the trainer was simply the best! Nice people!

First we had an introduction (who we are, where we come from, the area of our work). Than the trainer introduce the programme and the project Math and Games....And at the end WE ATE POTICA!  

And at the evening we had dinner together! A great dinner, with a great company!

It was a really nice day!

My Erasmus experience by the group of cheerful Germans!

The day of arrival to the Math and Games Course on Cyprus

I arrived to the Larnaca Airport and there was taxi waiting for me, to drove me to the Paphos. I really enoyed  while I was taken to the Paphos, because nature, landscape was so special, and I didn't have enough time to visit other parts of the island. So this was somehow a short sightseen of Cyprus. After check in I went for a walk to the Harbour, along the coast.  It was really nice, but I had new shoes, so after 1 hour of walking I got blister and  I couldn't walk any further,  so I stopped at the restaurant, had a dinner and went back, eventhough that I had only 1 km to reach the Harbour and the castle. That was the most painfull walk of my life!But afterall I was on a beautiful island, after 14 hours on a way, surrounded with nice people, in a very good hotel!

Day 6 - The day of departure

Unfortunately, I Couldn't go to the Island Gozo, because, I had to go to the plane before the trip was finished. But I had plenty of time to discover St. Julian's. So I went to the seaside (it was just 100 meters away from the hotel, but everything is so built-in that you don't see the sea from the street). So I set in the bay for an hour, and then i realized that my face is burnt (it was so windy, I couldn't  realize the power of the sun). Then I  was walking around the city for 2 hours and it was quite interesting. I found the "Cat village", where abandoned cats found a shelter. I saw all these bars, where 60 shots costs only 25 euros (who  can drink 60 shots?!!!?!). And I found out that Malta is nice, the inhabitants are nice, but i would never go there for a Holiday.
Cities are so crowded, there are no beaches, just a hotels. OK, the old part of Valletta and Mdina are really beautiful and these archeological remains must be really interesting in the nature, but i still think that Malta is a way too much touristic destination for my taste.
But at the end, the course and the destination were a really nice experiences!