I would not describe myself as an impulsive person but my application for this training course was one of rare impulsive decisions I have made. I saw interesting call for participants and I applied without any special expectations. Shortly after application I received email that I am selected to be a part of it. I was really happy and excited, I have never visited Georgia and it has been a while since I participated in Erasmus project last time due Covid-19 crisis. It was true excitement to book plane tickets and start planning trip to Georgia. I am teacher, so apart from fun I always look forward to gain new skills and improve my teaching methods. Topic of this training course sounded like something about what I would like to learn more and I was not disappointed.
It was not my first project, I already participated in some of them and they were all great experiences. Since I work as a high school teacher I saw in this training course about SEL many opportunities to improve my teaching skills. Social-emotional learning is definitely something what should be included in educational system because it brings many benefits in various fields. I was surprised when I found out how big economic value it has and that is one more reason why it should be more taught at schools. During the project I learned a lot about preparing and facilitating workshops related to SEL core competences and I am definitely planning to implement my new knowledge into the work. Workshops such as My superpowers, Brain occupation, Step forward, Active listening, etc. will become part of my working tools and I will be happy to share them with my students because I believe they can benefit from them. Besides acquiring new professional skills, this training also helped to start doing some good things for myself in order to start achieving personal growth. I am satisfied because I became aware of my self-care needs and I am proud that I created a self-care plan which, I hope, is going to be part of my everyday life. I learned a lot about responsible decision making and goal setting, both important skills for achieving success, so now I have a better base to make progress in those fields.
I also want to mention that I absolutely had amazing time during my stay in Georgia. I feel very happy and fulfilled after this Erasmus experience because I met many great and inspirational people, I came in touch with new different cultures and saw some of the most stunning Georgian sights such as Vardzia caves. I would recommend everyone to take at least one of many opportunities Erasmus offers because it is in the same time useful and fun, so do not miss the chance to meet people from different backgrounds, see new interesting places, learn plenty of new things and improve your working skills.
