Fourfouras TV is a web-channel that created from the beginning of the courses, on fall of 2010. Its fist purpose was the development of students on their reading and on learning the principles of physics in a playful way. As motivation for our first web-casts were the books “Kids questions” of writer Voula Mastori.
Quickly Fourfouras TV became the main mean of expression with web-casts about cooking, theatre, and of course our main show “Little Amariwtians”
Judging our web-TV after 3 years we achieve goals that we never expected!! Through our web-shows the voice of the young students of Fourfouras surpassed the natural and the distance obstacles and got meaning and powered. We got the chance to meet and get in touch with school and students from other regions of Greece and their webcast became useful tool for teaching.
Biodiesel
With the new Biofuel machinery our school could be autonomous regarding its heating on cold days, with raw material the fried oil. The collection of fried oil from houses of local people not only helps us to find raw material, but also building an ecological consciousness to local society because fried oil not only poisons the environment but is source of problems in plumping facilities.
School Web of Mountains
One of our initial purposes was the opening of school into the local society. So we came up with the idea of Web of mountainous schools. It’s a collaboration between mountainous schools on an effort to know the place they live and the traditions that exist better and have feedback with local communities.
The network started 2 years ago from November of 2011, and yet has over 15 short-filmed documentaries and many actions in collaboration with other schools of Rethymno Prefecture. The network is consisted of the following schools Apostoloi, Episkopi, Zoniana, Margarites, Melampes, Sisses, and Fourfouras.
The basic goal of the network is and will be the sharing of a common language for communication amongst the different students, villages and the tradition that each one of them carries in order to act not independently and alone but in cooperation amongst them.
Short Films
The filming of such a movie is a fact that every year students waiting for it impatiently. Through short-films students have the opportunity to express their opinion write or change the scenario and of course act in plateau as actors or filmers. Acting as a team gives them great power to and they act, improvise and express it in a unique way which is reflected in the final prototype every time result.
School Junkyard
The School junkyard or as its known among our students "The Pirate Island" , is a place of freedom. A place where every child could be anyone. Junkyard is a place of fun and games, where characters from stories come alive. Here the kids have access in everyday materials, such us plastic tubes, woods, paper boxes, stones and things like that. With all these materials they create role based games and they have o lot of fun!
School museum of Oral History
School museum of Oral History is an action in order to learn the local history through the eyes of any villager all the info about facts that happened in past. Through these people students discover themselves, their identity, and find interest in a lesson that offers things students can’t understand and make the connection between past and future.
So students after short time lessons to familiarize with the equipment took cameras and started filming people that we think have something to tell them. So we can listen stories form elder people form their childhood, visiting Rethymno in past, school years, german occupation and WW2 thus stories from their everyday life.
Local Enterpereunship
Students made up a team in order to produce and ?συμμετεχουν? In all stages of the production of perfumed oil! As an action of Network of mountainous Schools in cooperation with School of Sisses and School of Zoniana we started to ?αρωματιζουμε? oil with common label «σχoilειο». (The greek word for school=σχολείο and embedded the word oil).
We cut herbs from our herb garden and we put oil to rest in dark areas in order to perfumed until its bottling. Every school was free to choose how to ?διανείμει? the product!
We choose to ?ασχοληθούμε? With local entrepreneurship not in order to come up with money profit, but finally our profit was the collaboration between the local communities of Sisses, Zoniana and Fourfouras. We took the know-how of making olive oil with aroma from elder people (transcript, and technics) and we gave them back aromatized olive oil from local herbs. That maximizes the value of a common bottle of olive oil and maybe could be an example for the villagers and open their entrepreneur horizons.
The products of aromatized olive oil were given free of cost in the families of our students.
Program teleconferencing “Odysseas”
The program for teleconference between schools done under the direction of Professor Anastasiadis of Faculty of Elementary Education of Crete University and candidate Doctorate and colleague Mr. Karvounis. As primary goal was the exchange of ideas and arguments on a common topic, this year was about Mediterranean Sea. So 6 schools from different places of Greece, 3 from urban and 3 from rural areas, came in contact in twins in order to come close students with different experiences and exchange ideas.
WE made 4 teleconferences with 3rd Primary School of Ag. Dimitrios Athens, and exchange ideas and made in common many activities.
Educational Robotics
Educational Robotics incorporated in our activities on Spring 2011. Through a great variety of activities students, work on teams and acquire skills such as constructive, programming, problem solving. They also learn how to think algebraic, loop conditions and patterns. In school year 2012-2013, 2 robotic teams of 3 members took part on 1st Robotic Competition of Crete achieving a good score.
FTalks
Ftalks is a series of live-feedback presentations between specialist on an area of art or science and students of our school. The subject of each talk is decided by the talker and it is especially taken into consideration the live-feedback of the talks and their pedagogical index.
Ftalks is being held every time in different place. We chose to change place in order to mobilize all the local people, so we made one talk in every village with priority to the villages where are our students.
Ftalks tries to mix a series of pedagogical and social goals in order to develop, cultivate and instill ?διαχρονικες? Values in our students and their parents. We also tried to amplify their relationships with local community and the relationship of community itself.
The economic crisis that started few years ago and our country is facing, diminished not only the pockets of Greeks but also their ? values that help society be in peace. With Ftalks we want to promote and amplify the inspiration and creativity of our students, by opening our school in local society of Amari and come up as a connective bond amongst them. In a parallel way we are bringing our students in contact with subjects that are not included in National curriculum and as a matter of fact in their common education in school.
Our great goal is to make Ftalks known nationally as a tool of rebuilding the local societies through systemic?διαπαδαγώγιση? of children.
Innovative Techs
Botanicalls Do you want to get informed in twitter where your plants need water? With botanicals your vegetables send you messages on twitter when they are thirsty!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6cayzWW1Y
Makey Makey Straight from MIT Media Lab, you can turn your bananas into a piano, a lemon instead of space key and many other crazy things!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfQqh7iCcOU
European Projects
Our school participates in three European Projects. Creative little Scientists and Primary School Network, are two programs that support physics and inquiry based learning in small grades. We also participate in Open Discovery Space in the school gardens Network.
Optional Lessons
During the school year 2010-2011 we held in our school subjects by choice. Selecting 2 out of 5 subjects, students had the opportunity for 2 hours per week to enhance their interests.
Subjects that were taught with no special support based on the knowledge and the interests of the teachers, who tried to amplify the lessons in order to be more creative. It was the first time that 1st class graders and 6th class graders were in a common classroom and took the same lesson playfully and joyfully.