Discovering empathy through stories: A book about learning difficulties

 

Reading has the power to open our minds and hearts — and a collection of short stories about learning difficulties can do exactly that. The book “Help them shine! – 4 short stories on learning difficulties” invites readers to step into the shoes of children who face challenges in their learning journey, helping us see the world from their point of view.

I wrote these stories to shed light on different perspectives, as explained in detail in the foreword section, and foster empathy for all learners. The stories don’t shy away from the frustration or misunderstanding that often come with learning difficulties, but they try to celebrate resilience, kindness and inclusion. Teachers, classmates and families are shown not as perfect but as people who can learn and grow, too. The ultimate aim is of the book is not to provide an in-depth explanation of learning difficulties, but to nurture the power of empathy in readers.

EU code week October 2025

 

In October, some classes took part in the European Code Week, a Europe-wide celebration of creativity and digital thinking! Although the activities were unplugged, students had the chance to explore the basics of coding through pixel art, discovering how simple patterns and logical steps can bring images to life in a fun, hands-on way.

Let’s code food!

This activity acquainted learners with the idea of art in pixels so that they could realise how digital pictures are created bit by bit and how each pixel represents one specific colour. 6^th grade explored the theme of food, a sub-topic within the shopping unit in their coursebook while celebrating World Food Day, which is observed on October 16^th.

Bit by bit, they decoded colourful, food-themed pixel pictures — from juicy fruits to delicious pizza— uncovering how digital images come to life through colour coding.

But that wasn’t all! Along the way, they explored a list of fun and surprising facts about the kind of food they were decoding. From quirky fruit trivia to astonishing snack secrets, each student chose the fact that impressed them most and shared it with the class.

Draw just like Mondriaan

Younger learners were introduced to the idea of pixel art and coding/decoding in order to realise how a picture is digitally created. At the same time the acivitiy aimed at acquainting them with Mondriaan's art and the primary colours he used.

The learners decoded animals painted in the famous Dutch painter's style, realising how a number corresponds to a specific colour on paper and seeing the image revealed in their eyes "pixel" by "pixel". At the same time they cultivated their logical, observational and aesthetic skills, while consolidating colours, animals and shapes in English.

“S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” at the 2nd Pedagogical Conference of the Directorate of Primary Education of Western Thessaloniki

As part of our commitment to the goals we set as an eTwinning School regarding wider dissemination of eTwinning projects, we shared our eTwinning project “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” at a thematically related conference which took part at the Cultural Centre of Ampelokipi and the Auditorium of the 12th Primary School of Ampelokipi. Specifically, on Saturday, October 11, 2025, we participated in the 2nd Educational Conference organised by the Directorate of Primary Education of Western Thessaloniki, titled: “Teaching and Learning – Education and Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Reflections.” There, we had the opportunity to present our students’ creative work, which focused on promoting the 14^th Sustainable Goal titled ‘Life below water’. We also shared ideas and educational practices, attended interesting presentations by colleagues and engaged in a creative dialogue that helped us enrich our teaching methods through innovative ideas and practices.

 

National Quality Labels for both our eTwinning projects implemented during the school year 2024-2025

 

2024-2025

We are absolutely thrilled and proud to share that our eTwinning projects, “Do you need me? Because I need you” and “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” have been honored with the National Quality Label!

This prestigious recognition celebrates the hard work, creativity, and teamwork our students poured into these projects throughout the 2024-2025 school year. The National Quality Label isn’t just an award—it’s a stamp of excellence, highlighting the innovation, imagination, and collaborative spirit that made our projects stand out.

A huge round of applause to our amazing students for their brilliant ideas, relentless enthusiasm, and extraordinary dedication! This achievement belongs to everyone involved, and it fills us with energy and inspiration to continue creating, learning, and reaching new heights together.

Tapping into Learners’ Creativity through Poetry

 Tapping into Learners’ Creativity through Poetry

When learners are given the chance to play with words, poetry becomes a doorway to creativity itself.

Poetry is not just about rhyme—it’s about voice, imagination, and seeing the world through fresh eyes. When learners are invited to create simple yet powerful poetry forms—like cinquains, list poems, 5W poems, or two-voice poetry, to mention but a few—something wonderful happens: their creativity awakens. Suddenly, words become paint, and the classroom turns into a canvas where ideas and feelings take shape.

By connecting these poetry activities to themes from the curriculum, students discover that poetry isn’t something extra or separate: It’s a way of living their learning! They also realize that such kind of poetry writing isn’t something unfeasible.  A description of the characteristic parts of their neighbourhood or city can transform into a flowing cinquain; Romeo and Juliet’s story might inspire a two-voice poem between the legendary figures; even a list poem about items in their wardrobe can bring out the wonders of new vocabulary in a foreign language.

The benefits are countless:

·         Creative Expression: Students find personal, imaginative ways to engage with classroom topics.

·         Language Development: Playing with words enriches vocabulary, structure, and fluency.

·         Critical Thinking: Condensing big ideas into short forms promotes clarity and focus.

·         Confidence: Even hesitant writers manage to  contribute as they see that poetry can be short, simple, and still deeply meaningful.

·         Joy in Learning: Poetry taps into emotion and playfulness, making the curriculum come alive.

At its heart, poetry empowers learners to see that knowledge is not only something to be studied—it is something they can shape, reimagine, and express in their own words. And when that happens, learning stops being a task and becomes an adventure.

Below you can have a look at a presentation of various types of poems that have been implemented in my classes from 3^rd to 6^th grade. They are followed by the worksheets that the students were provided with and a couple of samples in each category regarding learner output. The majority were carried out over the school year 2024-25 with the exception of some, which were carried out one or two years earlier.

Take a look and let the ideas spark new adventures in your classroom!

Prompting young EFL learners to write poetry από Theofani Iatropoulou

Distinction for Our School at the Bravo Schools Awards

 

We are proud to share that our school has been distinguished in the Nationwide School Competition Bravo Schools for its active participation and contribution to the promotion of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)!.

Our project was one of the 60 that stood out among approximately 800 entries from schools across the country for showcasing the values of acceptance, empathy and peaceful coexistence through the collaborative efforts of students and educators.

Our project has been recognised as  the best educational approach for the promotion of the 3rd goal, namely Good Health and Well-Being, and this award is not only a great recognition of the creativity, collaboration and passion of our whole school community but also a powerful incentive to continue towards building a better and more sustainable future.

Congratulations to all those who contributed to this achievement!

eTwinning “ S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” - Part 7

 

May was a month of intense activity, as we worked on our final products.

We began by compiling a poetic anthology featuring various types of short poems, either celebrating the beauty of the Mediterranean or highlighting some of its problems. To achieve this, we worked in transnational teams, with each school tasked with illustrating poems from the other countries according to the students’ interpretations.

Look at our worksheet, which we shared among all partners:

Poems about the Mediterranean - Worksheet από Theofani Iatropoulou

Read the complete anthology below:

Read this book made on StoryJumper

We also created a virtual exhibition of students’ artworks, created under the guidance of our art teacher, using “treasures” from the beaches, such as shells, pebbles, sticks, and even plastic bottle caps, as a form of upcycling. The goal was to showcase the beauty of our sea.

Visit the complete exhibition below.

Browse the exhibition catalogue below.

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/d8345705d9.html

In addition, we co-authored a transnational story-fairytale about the Mediterranean, aiming to highlight its issues and inspire people to take action. This story was illustrated with the help of Artificial Intelligence tools, with learners providing appropriate prompts.

Eventually it was turned into a video, narrated by AI.

You can watch it by clicking on the link below:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqgMq3X7M/XaXQe5GMFNcQ7uyqB-XQpw/watch

We also held our final online meeting. After the usual greetings, each school sang two songs about the sea or its islands in their mother tongue, offering students a rich experience of cultural exchange and multilingualism. The excitement was palpable, and we said goodbye in an atmosphere full of joy. 

The songs were recorded, and videos were made with English subtitles so that everyone could understand and enjoy them. You can have access to them below:

The eTwinning project showed us what we can achieve when we collaborate, share, and dream together. Even though it has ended, it has left a deep impression on all of us. After all, every ending is simply the beginning of a new creative adventure!

Flip through the memory book of the eTwinning program “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” by clicking the link below:

SOS Save Our Sea

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

read.bookcreator.com

eTwinning “Do you need me? Because I need you” – Part 7

 

May was a month bursting with creativity, filled with a wide range of collaborative activities that brought learning and imagination together reflected in our final products!

Forming transnational teams with our partner schools, we created a collaborative storybook about pets: one school would generate an image using Artificial Intelligence, and a school from another country would write a story inspired by it.

We also wrote acrostic poems about pets - in transnational teams again - in another shared book, with each school starting an acrostic, which was in turn completed by another, demonstrating true teamwork across borders! 

 

A further activity involved participation in Code Week, during which we took part in pixel art activities that encouraged computational thinking. Students had to crack the code in order to reveal the pet hidden in each design.

Another highlight, which was the culminating product, was the creation of transnational “TV interview with a pet.” Students from one country posed the questions, while their peers from another provided the answers according to a set schedule that specified the transnational groups. At the same time, AI-generated images were created by the learners through provision of proper prompts in order to illustrate the interview. Finally, we recorded the voices of students from the participating schools and turned the whole project into a video. You can watch the video of the interview below:

To wrap things up, we reflected on our experiences i and everything we had achieved during this project and carried out an evaluation through online questionnaires.

Although our eTwinning journey has now come to an end, the experiences, friendships, and bridges of collaboration we have built will stay with us for a long time. We will carry with us the smiles, the knowledge we have gained, the creativity we have shared, and above all, the belief that learning knows no borders.

European Code Week May 2025 - Pets in Pixels

 

Alliances for Code Week can be formed throughout the year, allowing schools, teachers, and students to collaborate on creative coding projects at any time. This ongoing cooperation strengthens digital skills, promotes teamwork, and builds a sense of community across Europe. This activity was organised within the framework of the eTwinning project “Do you need me? Because I need you!”, which aimed at promoting animal welfare and responsible pet ownership while developing multiple intelligences and digital skills. The learners read the code of a picture in pixel art in order to “break” it and recreate the picture. Every picture revealed a different pet and the learners had to give clues to their classmates so that they could name it. Through pixel art the primary school students were introduced to the basic concepts of coding/decoding in an entertaining and creative way. This enabled them to develop logical thinking, which constitutes a basic decoding skill, promote their computational skills and ultimately reinforce their problem-solving skills.

eTwinning “ S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” - Part 6

 

The month of April was marked by an online meeting between all partners to play the Kahoot quiz game simultaneously. This quiz had already been created with contributions from students of all schools, based on the environmental videos each school had studied and then shared with the other partners through their collaborative presentations.

Before the meeting, all students had reviewed the presentation material in order to answer the questions correctly and quickly, aiming for high scores. Our students were divided into six mixed teams, including learners from both participating classes, and each team received one tablet.

At the start of the session, following the customary greetings and a brief discussion of recent news, the winning project logo was announced. It had been chosen through voting by students, parents, and teachers from all participating schools. The announcement was met with sustained applause, as this logo had received exceptionally high preference compared to the other ones.

The signal to start the game was then given, and the students, after entering the special game code, began answering the questions displayed on the screen simultaneously, consulting with their team mates for each answer. They showed great interest and focus, competing to climb as high as possible in the ranking. The winning team came from a school in Spain, and their victory was celebrated enthusiastically by all schools, demonstrating how passionately everyone had engaged in the game.

The conclusion is simple: a playful approach stimulates students’ natural curiosity, ignites excitement, and gives real meaning to learning!