The ''LET'S STEM IT'' partnership has been conceived against the background of the current crisis and the lack of growth and youth’s unemployment that have been upsetting strongly Europe’s society in the last 5 years. Education is therefore called to respond to the urgent need of highly skilled engineers and technologists and labor supply must match demand as recognizsed in the Flagship initiative “An Agenda for new skills and jobs” in the EUROPE 2020 strategy of the EC. The General objective of the LET'S STEM IT project is to guide increasing Europeans' interest and skills in STEM and to provide the schools with the necessary tools in order to engage their students, teachers and other actors, in related activities.The project aims to develop teachers’ and educators’ competences - especially integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) teaching skills, based on collaborative problem-solving (CPS) - sharing experiences among countries involved in the project (the project was compatible with PISA 2016 aims to evaluate students’ performance in mathematics, science and financial literacy; performance in problem-solving and reading). Specific Objectives of the project: -Offer teachers collaboration in creating innovative STEM school curricula-Contribute to developing and implementing innovative STEM education in order to enhance the quality of science teaching and learning –to develop teachers’ and educators’ integrated teaching skills, based on collaborative STEM education.-Develop a student-centered approach to STEM education, facilitating inquiry-based teaching, collaboration and active learning.–To explore new forms of teaching, learning and assessment of students achievements–To guide teachers and educators, how to motivate children and inspire their passion for discovery and learning–To share experience of good practice on increasing students' interest in STEM and technical creativity; developing students’ skills of logical and critical thinking The ''LET'S STEM IT'' project is focused on the fact that the level of employability, competitiveness and wealth of our society will depend on the ideas and skills of its population. These have always been the EU’s most important assets. As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of these national assets will be determined in no small measure by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the EU. STEM education will determine whether Europe will be able to solve immense challenges in such areas as energy, health, environmental protection, and national security. It will generate the scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians who will create the new ideas, new products, and entirely new industries of the 21st century. The target group of the project - teachers and educators, who are not afraid of challenges and are seeking quality of teaching and learning and higher learning achievements of students in STEM education, are open-minded, communicative and collaborative, and are ready to provide meaningful learning experiences for 21st-century students. Participants will be science, mathematics, ICT, technology and design teachers from schools and directorate of educations(local authorities) and academics and lecturers from partner universities. Our main target group are teachers, of course also pupils, but also, school Principals, Policymakers, STEMcenters, parents, other institutions related to the school education.The Final beneficiriars will be the students who will carry Europe further.The main activities will undertaken: - 5 short-term joint staff training events - 2 Trans-national project meetings - Seminars-Local Trainings-Dissemination-E-conferanceMethodology to be used in carrying out the project: The training comprises 8 hours of lectures and demonstrations and 15 hours of hands-on workshops. These sessions will be framed with field trips and hands-on outdoor activities that will regard innovative ways for creating links between schools, research centres and non-formal learning settings. Careful analysis of the present situation in terms of attractiveness of the STEM disciplines in the concerned partners at all levels of school education. This includes a collection of data, Inquiry-based learning, short-term joint training events within the involved corporate.Potential longer term benefits include the skills acquired by the students such as critical thinking and ICT skills will make them more employable in STEM related areas in the future. Innovative teaching resources created during the project will be available online after the project is finished for use by other teachers. LET'S STEM IT project will strengthen European integration by increasing cooperation across different institutions, and by bringing together different cultures. It will also promote the idea of European citizenship and the extended local community.

"The number of reports on science education indicated that in many EU countries, unlike the number of young people entering universities is increasing, studying in the scientific field is decreasing. Students often describe science is interesting, despite their positive attitude; they do not like learning science at school, and the number of students lack basic skills in science.STEM education has emerged as an innovative approach in recent years, appears to be a remedy for the problem in this area.According to need analysis conducted in our schools, we have faced with the inconvenient reality; most of the students are unsatisfied with the relevance and success to math and science courses. Because of this reality, the project mainly focused on increasing our children interest STEM subjects and to make science and math education more relevant and meaningful for them in the ways of respect, beliefs and cultural diversity. In the line of the main aim of the project, we have established a partnership to;•develop key competencies and basic skills on STEM education•increase science literacy and student interest in STEM•improve attitudes toward STEM fields and careers•acquire 21st-century skills•engage and support girls in STEM fields•make students excited and enthusiastic about the natural world, learning about ecology and protect the environment•understand the ""Nature of Science"", how science and scientists work and how science affects society•develop innovative and research skills•lead science beyond school time and involve students into scientific activities with head, heart and hand•Improve teacher competencies and increasing their awareness of pupils’ needs and difficulties in learning science.•broaden our curriculum, making it more international and more relevant to children’s lives•have a positive impact on our wider school communitiesAt the beginning of the project, we have investigated the STEM Ed. models. in order to ensure a common understanding of STEM Ed., a teacher training course organised.15 participants, 2 teachers from each partner school and one administrator, took part in the teacher training. We have investigated STEM Ed. models in the literature then shared our knowledge. After the course, we have developed STEM lesson and activities for implementing. Developed STEM activities aimed to enhance our children cognitive, affective, social and physical skills. They worked as an engineer/scientist in their team. In this way, collaboration and cooperation, communication in native and English skills of children were improved. Due to its nature of STEM Ed., students learned by doing, used math skills and technological tools, understanding the relation the connection of disciplines. In the second phase of the project, developed STEM lessons/activities implemented in each school and during the LTTA’s in order to realize our objectives.The common activities: -Afterschool STEM Ed.program-Robotic courses designed for children from 100 of 20 from each partner -Stem career days organised (invited STEM professional met with the children)-Led Jewellery/Fashion of STEM activity organised only for girlsDuring the LTTA’s students participated in STEM activities in the formal and nonformal context. They observed ecosystems in nature and build its models, presented their STEM project during the science fair, participated fossil hunting, visited the factory to see how robots are working in real-life, dissected fish with scientist, investigated rock formation in natural area, participated astronomy lesson in planetarium and attendant experiments and activities science centres and museums. In this way, they have found a chance to meet STEM professionals and scientist in their working place and understood how engineers and scientist work.From 100 of 20 participants from each partner participated in LLTs. Overall 350 students directly participated in project activities. Participation provided by taking into consideration the conditions of the students who are at risk and lacking in activities especially economic and social obstacles. The outputs of the project are as follows:-The project website, facebook groups and e-Twinning page created.-STEM lessons/activities book created for teachers-Women scientist in EU digital book created-Slowmation/slow animation DVD created-Led Jewels built and exhibited-“If a scientist writes a fairy tale” DVD’s createdWe conducted a survey to evaluate students’ attitudes towards STEM fields at the beginning and end of the project. To evaluate the project impact open-ended questions and interview conducted on students and teachers from each partner schools. The results indicated that the project has positive effects on students and teachers. We have shared our findings in two international conferences as an oral presentation and a poster in ESERA2019 conference. An article about the detailed results will be published in a scientific journal."

"“Welcome to my Family” is an innovative inter-cultural project that involved participants from Estonia, Turkey, Romania and Italy. The project idea is based on the understanding that the more diverse the society gets the more complex the relationships between different cultures will get. All schools in this project had faced the problems of cultural misunderstanding, stereotypical attitudes, exclusion based on culture, religion or nationality before this project. Therefore, knowing and understanding that cultural differences are an asset rather than an obstacle, and showing how culture influences intercultural communication was a crucial lesson for our children to teach. We chose the cultural phenomena – the wedding – to teach the aforementioned values in cross-curricular and learner-centred way to reach the goals of our primary priorities: 1.acquisition of skills and competencies (reading literacy, critical thinking, ethical reasoning and independent, impartial judgment) 2. social inclusion, cultural awareness and developing intercultural, social and civic competencies among our communities. According to main priorities, we set the project objectives: 1. promoting intercultural dialogue, social inclusion, equity, respect, care and concern for others and solidarity through increased learning mobilities, international collaboration;2. developing, implementing and evaluating new approaches to address social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity;3. activities to create unity, sense of belonging and inclusion;4. using project-based learning (PBL) and teaching to know our wedding traditions for exposing students to a variety of 21st-century skills; 5. increasing reading literacy and critical thinking skills through specifically designed lessons about wedding tradition and family values;6. exposing diverse learners to teaching strategies;7. encouraging participation in after lessons activities, cultural events, research;8. creating a base for communication skills improvement;9. improving the understanding of cultural variety as an asset for breaking the ethnic, religious and gender stereotypes, discrimination and exclusion by introducing the wedding and family traditions; 10. encouraging use of learner-centred approaches: personalization and differentiation;11.including families into the learning process;12.improving teachers’ competencies, increasing their knowledge in intercultural dialogue; 13.develop digital skills and language competence by using innovative tools for cooperation This project built valuable cultural learning and teaching resource for learners to develop understandings of the interrelated nature of cultural differences and communication. The resource contains activity books for cooking, handicraft, games, myths, wedding customs, comprehensive reading handbook and a book for teaching values through literature and movies. The methodology for creating this resource, was circular project-based learning module (from research to creation and publishing) where the students and teachers implemented and participated in non-formal education activities: project-based learning group works during lessons; variety of topical workshops on music and dance, cooking, games and handicraft; international lessons; public performances; presentations; collaborative item creating sessions; parent-teacher-student events; competitions; exhibitions; staged weddings in every mobility; filming the documentaries. All that to promote learner-centred approaches, innovative ways to address learners' needs.Outcomes:Wedding Fashion MagazineWedding Game BrochuresWedding Cookery BooksComprehensive Reading HandbookValues Matter the Most (lesson activity book)Song and Dance FestivalProject DiaryBooks of Myths and LegendsAll in all, over 110 students and teachers from 4 countries participated in LTTAs (funded 100, exceeding participants were not funded by EU). The selection was made according to projects' goals. Concentrating on wedding traditions gave students an opportunity to get close to our own and partner countries’ oldest layer of cultural heritage. The participants with deep motivation will share the projects' results after its completion.During the project, students improved their collaborative, problem solving, communication, literacy, ICT and language skills. PBL work helped them to become creative, self-led learners, develop different items and experience international communication and collaboration. They learned about other cultures, their way of life. We managed to create a base for respect, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. Other languages, religions, traditions became part of students' everyday life. Learning in the classroom where there are no restrictions, created a feeling of success and belonging. The project activities brought together different generations and lived up the school life. Many activities are now ""organic"" part of our school life."

Misbehavior and bullying have been an inevitable part of our school lives. As a big part of social learning takes place in school, it is essential to shape students' attitudes in school. In this context, it is important to underline that moral education is not just a matter of individuals, mainly teachers, but it is the matter of the whole community.Despite many anti-bullying programmes conducted in schools, bullying and misbehaving is not significantly decreasing. Better results have come from value-based, evidence-based, school-wide practices that include both prevention and case management tools and which are based more on value creation. In this context, restorative practices are a good way to make changes, to transform the way schools address disciplinary challenges and misbehaviour.In this project, we will build a healthier school climate and communities, moreover, we are incorporating RP into our teaching to create a respectful dialogue between all parties of the school community and supportive atmosphere in lessons.For this project, 2 aspects of RP are primary: community building and use dialogue to respond to harm. We build a culture of belonging, a sense of community where every member is seen, heard and respected. We are aiming to incorporate RP into our teaching to show that positive classroom environment helps to achieve higher academic goals. The project offers students an innovative and unique opportunity to develop their abilities, such as forming respectful opinion, teamwork, responsibility. The students are stimulated to form a mindset that will help them to become independent deciders, critical thinkers, objective and creative problem solvers, friendly connection builders and maintainers. The RP methods are integrated to build, maintain and restore relationships through community building/recreation, drama and social justice, environmental, virtual vs reality and sports topics. We built up the activities on these topics to engage as many school subjects as possible which makes school climate change a reality. The project will give a valuable addition and input to our curriculums, as we create lesson activities and plans based on RP to link the knowledge to real situations. We will achieve this with well-planned activities, each of which will serve the set goals. We aim to:- create a change in a school climate- respond to and prevent harm that can be seen in: * inclusive school culture (non-exclusive lessons)* fair decision-making practices* a safe and caring mental environment* effective and innovative learning and teaching by using RP methodology in lessons * decreased bullying and other types of conflicts* achieved greater awareness of the respectful connections between people * increased ability to respond to inappropriate behaviour* creation of understanding that misbehaviour seeks for more connection, not disconnection* students' ability to address the impact of their actions * reduced numbers of disciplinary acts* increased confidence and satisfaction among students, staff and parentsThe activities are based on the active participation of the whole school community, their involvement, initiative, and teamwork. Students and teachers will develop a various range of skills, from realistic self-evaluation, school climate evaluation to emotional and behavioural self-regulation in various situations. We want them to be active listeners, critical thinkers, learners who express themselves freely in order to increase the efficiency of communication and build and maintain relationships. Planned activities promote our students to be more courageous to express their feelings and thoughts, to speak their mind and be more responsible for one's actions. Restorative circles will be the main methodology for our planned activities. Our target groups are students, teachers, school staff, administrative staff, parents, teachers and students from other schools in the local area. The project will create baggage full of RP-integrated resources, free to use for all. We will assess the project's field objectives effectiveness by:improved school climate assessment at the end of the project, nr of teachers using RP in lessons, nr of disciplinary reports per year, nr of RP methods integrated into lessons, School attendance records, nr of misbehaving students, nr of presentation for parents and students community on RP, nr of teachers creating the family groups, nr of subject curriculum changes, satisfaction surveys.The longer-term benefit of this project would be the changed school climate we can enjoy, and big experience resource we will create with our partners. The international cooperation will make this project and its achievements relevant to all participants, as we are changing the way of how we deal with bullying and disciplinary problems from now on. All our materials will be available for EU teachers through our website, eTwinning platform and other free sources.

Skillful thinking is one of the proficient and strategic applications of appropriate thinking skills and productive habits of mind, as required, to develop thoughtful products, such as decision making, arguments, and other analytical, creative, or critical products. Individuals need to think skillfully to be successful in their school life and beyond. 4C skills(creativity, collaboration, communication critical thinking) have come to the front because of the needs of the 21st-century human profile. Nature of the complex problems of the real-life requires the skillful thinkers to be solved. Another face of the problem is to be a skillful thinker, children need skillful teachers who are proficient to teach thinking skilfully.For this reason, the project aimed to; while strengthening the profiles and developing skills of the teaching professions in the field, we are going to develop the thinking skills of our children to make them active democratic citizens of the EU. Likewise, the project focuses on communication in foreign language, awareness of EU values, discrimination, respect to different cultures and convictions and representing the girls equally in every field of life.Besides the aims implied above the project will help students to develop the following skills;-developing writing and reading skills- stating questions, concerns, and ideas clearly- contributing others without overpowering them.-improving thinking with skillful analysis evaluation assessment reconstruction (doesn't understand ) -building a strong, evidence-based argument- evaluating arguments critically in terms of the strength of evidence and reasoning -improving effective communication and problem-solving abilities -working effectively with others on a common task in a teamwork-negotiating a win-win solution to achieve the objectives of the team -utilizing information and digital literacy skill-boosting creativity by learning new interesting things-being flexible, adaptable and functioning well with uncertainty-developing digital and language skillsBecause of the aforementioned issues, and to achieve our goals we will organise 3 short-term joint-staff training events (3 workshops) in Spain (C2 and C4) and Turkey (C3) in the first year of the project. We will use the project management budget for course expenses(appox. 600 EU for each teacher). Minimum 3 teachers will attend each partner schools. The same teachers will attend each workshop and after each workshop, they will organise training courses for their teachers. We will organise 4 short-term groups of pupils exchange with the participation of 96 children and 41 teachers. C1 - Brain Games: Mindful playing and training will help the mind process information more quickly, and more efficiently, as well as the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time.C5 - Thinker Puppets on Stage: Students create puppets to address such diverse topics as the similarities between art and science. The puppets prompt both critical and divergent thinking, helping students prepare for the real world. The activities for this meeting are designed by the problem-based learning approach.C6 - Thinking Based Drama: The activity designed by project-based learning approach for children to investigate how they can create an imaginary country where they want to live. Students will analyze the EU countries constitutions, daily life, children rights etc. from multiple angles. As a result, students will work collaboratively in a team, critically analyze the scripts of the written drama, creatively design the costumes and set the props based on the script and actively involve in the communication process.C7 - Skillful Thinking- Active Learning Through OrienteeringAdditionally, we will set up courses and organize activities in order to develop our children 4C skills as well as physical skills;-Media- Literacy Course-orienteering course-thinker puppets activities-thinking based drama course-crime scene activity -brain games -storybook will be written critically by students-rewritten legends with the perspective of critical writing-argumentation- socioscientific issuesQualitative and quantitative assessment methods will be used for evaluation of the project. At the beginning and end of the project, we will conduct surveys, open-ended questions and surveys with students, teachers and parents. We will create a project management plan tailored for each school and conduct regularly online project management meeting to ensure project effectiveness. Developed lesson plans, presentations, movies, photos will be uploaded on the project website, the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform and eTwinning platform.The project not only impact some group of students and teachers but also it will impact the whole students in our partner schools because of the developed lessons will be implemented in each classroom. Dissemination plan will be prepared to ensure promote the project results and outcomes.