1. Name of Project: “Symmetry - a world of harmony” Educator(s) Nadia Dabrundashvili Math teacher School Brief description of school context Georgia. Khashuri Public School #1. Khashuri Public School #1 is a government-run secondary educational institution that provides teaching of general education for free to students from Khashuri Municipality. School Website https://www.facebook.com/%E1%83%A1%E1%83%A1%E1%83%98%E1%83%9E- %E1%83%A5%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%A5- %E1%83%AE%E1%83%90%E1%83%A8%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1-N1- %E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%AF%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%9D- %E1%83%A1%E1%83%99%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90-647596985349399/?pnref=story Content/Subject Areas Content of the project “Symmetry - a world of harmony”- It explores the many and varied examples of symmetry in the world. The project is focused on learning by doing, thus developing and increasing different skills of the students during the implementation of the project Subject areas: Geometry, Art, Chemistry, Foreign Languages, Geography, History, Informatics / ICT, Language and Literature, Technology Age/Grade level Ages 11 to 13 Project Objectives To develop students' interest, increase their collaboration, communication, creativity, research, analysis, comparison, and technology skills. To recognize symmetrical patterns around us. To find out harmony in the environment, in nature, on buildings and the human body, and relate it to symmetry. To create various objects with symmetrical shapes. To create ICT resources and to share pupils’ experiences with other schools. Microsoft Innovative Educator Project

2. Project Description Brief description of the project and the background. What are the stated objectives and learning outcomes? Is the learning activity long-term? Does it call on students to plan their work and assess their work over time? Please add background information links if needed.. Design of the Learning Environment Examples of planning (e.g. pedagogic approach, links to resources used). Please highlight creativity and innovative teaching practices. Emphasize to what extent the planning for learning facilitates the development of different dimensions of 21st century skills e.g. knowledge building, use of ICT for learning, problem-solving and innovation, self-regulation, collaboration and skilled communication. The project “Symmetry - a world of harmony”, https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!154&authkey=!AL8ctFQsN4u4d_M&it hint=folder%2c, https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!154&authkey=!AL8ctFQsN4u4d_M&it hint=folder%2c explores the many and varied examples of symmetry in the world. The project is focused on learning by doing, thus developing and increasing different skills of the students during the implementation of the project. http://nanamatematika2.blogspot.com/,http://nanamatematika2.blogspot.com/ Different groups of students have created, explored and described examples of symmetrical shapes in nature, art, architecture, literature, writing etc. They have described the types of symmetry, how they are used in real life, and have created ICT resources such as PowerPoint presentations, brochures, and videos. The project duration was 4 weeks. Students planned their work together in groups (see ttps://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!165&authkey=!ACIUjZK_Y2PcmPs&ithi nt=folder%2cdoc ). ttps://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!165&authkey=!ACIUjZK_Y2PcmPs&ithi nt=folder%2cdoc The students jointly evaluated their work by means of the assessment criteria, they revised their work during the project, they kept a diary with daily assessment of their activities (see https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!214&authkey=!AIsXE1AceVG7UfM&it hint=folder%2cPNG ). https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!214&authkey=!AIsXE1AceVG7UfM&it hint=folder%2cPNG Math teachers usually find it difficult to make students interested in difficult issues or math problems in general, often struggling to involve them in the lesson. The best way to solve this problem is by using innovative teaching methods that engage students, such as doing projects with modern technology, which increases students' motivation and responsibility. Using tools that they are comfortable with and interested in, they find, research, and create materials for projects. (https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!159&authkey=!APU- f9EB5ZXQPjQ&ithint=folder%2cppt ).https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!159&authkey=!APU- f9EB5ZXQPjQ&ithint=folder%2cppt In our particular case, working on the project improved students’ information gathering, communication, and technological skills. (https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!175&authkey=!AO5TAdkBNsZCtHU&i thint=folder%2c).https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!175&authkey=!AO5TAdkBNsZCtHU&i thint=folder%2c They implemented their ideas enthusiastically and shared them with others too.

3. Evidence of Learning Examples of products and outcomes created by the learners throughout the project – including use of ICT. What sort of ICT is used and how has it been used in the project. To what extent do students use ICT in ways that support knowledge building, collaboration, or learning beyond the classroom? Does ICT use enable new knowledge- building/collaboration/learning beyond the classroom opportunities that would not have been possible without it? Have digital tools been used in imaginative and ground-breaking ways to support learning processes? Please add links to files, videos etc. which documents clearly the learning process and evidence of students’ learning During the implementation of this project, students used different modern technologies and used them to create materials. They researched on the internet, summarized their findings, created presentations and brochures, created a newspaper and a blog and uploaded and published their materials there. Above all, the project developed students’ knowledge and experience in math. While doing the project about symmetry, students searched for other examples and uses of it in the wider world. Students were assigned to create and deliver presentations on types and uses of symmetry of figures. The assignment, which the students found to be fun, was carried out to a very high standard. They enjoyed presenting symmetry of figures with the use of graphs, which allowed me to assess their ability to do the same with the use of coordinates. Students’ presentations were very interesting and diverse in nature. They presented figures created by them with the use of symmetry. They drew symmetrical figures on the board and were introduced to a practical use of symmetrical figures in a fun way. Throughout the project students showed excellent performance, knowledge, developed skills and carried out planned activities, which is referring to the fact that the objective of the project has been achieved. https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!159&authkey=!APU- f9EB5ZXQPjQ&ithint=folder%2cppthttps://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!159&authkey=!APU- f9EB5ZXQPjQ&ithint=folder%2cppt Here are students’ activities for this project: http://nanamatematika2.blogspot.com/

4. Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking Examples of how the learning activities require students to move beyond reproducing what they have learned to building knowledge through interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation. Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom If the learning experience is not bound by classroom walls, time-frame of conventional lessons, subject parameters – please show examples of this. If the project addresses real world issues (i.e. authentic situation and data from outside the classroom) or has meaningful impact on communities locally and / or globally please show examples of this. While doing the project students were obliged to find symmetrical figures in various spheres of science or nature. They had to build new symmetrical figures or things, they drew pictures, and used mosaic. Students’ presentations were very interesting and diverse in nature. For example, they presented origami created by them with the use of symmetry in them. Students evaluated their work by self assessment rubrics. https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!214&authkey=!AIsXE1AceVG7UfM&ithint= folder%2cPNG https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3910D63A55091B35!214&authkey=!AIsXE1AceVG7UfM&ithint= folder%2cPNG We ran a lesson about the topic of symmetrical figures in which students presented their materials. We held made an exhibition of the symmetric figures created by the students, where other teachers, students and parents had an opportunity to evaluate pupils work and creativity. Most of the activities of the project were carried out beyond the classroom,. Students were finding and creating pattern of symmetrical things in the various contexts around us and in the various spheres of science that they could think of. For example, students planted trees and flowers in the school garden in geometric-symmetrical patterns. Students created interesting questions for a math competition between groups of pupils, about symmetrical figures. They also created and performed dances with symmetrical elements at school events.

5. Collaboration Examples of how the students work with other people, sharing responsibility while making substantive decisions for developing a joint product, a design, or an answer to a complex question. Students may be collaborating with their peers in the classroom, or with students or adults outside the classroom Cutting Edge Use of Technology for Learning The learning activity involves students’ use of ICT – whether or not the use of ICT helps students build knowledge/collaborate or learn beyond the classroom, and whether or not students could build the same knowledge/ collaborate or learn beyond the classroom in similar ways without using ICT Students worked in groups as well as individually and then shared their knowledge and experiences with each other. During the project students were working in different groups, finding and creating symmetrical things in various spheres. They shared out responsibility for different work streams in each group. For example, some of them took pictures, others created brochures, newspapers, videos, presentations, Animoto-videos or tests for the competition, or writing essays. All of them shared their work among each other, discussing how to do things in the best way. They were all involved in solving problems together in the classroom and beyond the classroom. During and after the project they published all the products on the project's blog to share their experience with everyone else - their peers or adults. During implementing the project students used a lot of websites for discovering symmetrical things, i.e. exploiting the benefits of the internet. They used a variety of modern ICT tools to create resources for the project. For example, they easily compiled brochures with Microsoft Word, created presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint, employed tools such as Animoto, and used blogs, emails and social networks for sharing information and their experiences among each other. Without modern technology it would have been very difficult if not impossible gather so much information and to produce such quality resources and share them with so many peers from different schools and even in different countries.

6. Educator as Innovator and Change Agent In environments where innovative teaching is challenging, have innovative teaching practices and ICT been used in instrumental ways to change how students learn. Does the educator demonstrate evidence of continuous improvement in their professional practice, model lifelong learning and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by supporting other educator’s development and understanding of the impact on learning of the effective use of digital technologies? Teaching with modern technology allows teachers and students to have access to many new methods and tools for improving their knowledge and develop their experiences. I enjoy opportunities to implement real changes in my teaching with the help of modern technologies and new methods. I am actively involved in many training courses and competitions and regularly undertake various research projects with my students and publish articles in a science magazine. I run the Mathematics blog at http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.comhttp://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com which helps me to spread the word among students and and teachers about my teaching experience, knowledge and challenges. I have created a series of tests for students (students in general, not only mine), which are being used by students for self-assessment and improving their math knowledge. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_32.html In my spare time I administer and lead a Youth Math Club, where I give practical lessons to students with a deeper interest in the mathematical sciences. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_10.html http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_10.html As a Head of Department of Mathematics: http://nanadabrundashvilikatedra.blogspot.com/http://nanadabrundashvilikatedra.blogspot.com/ I manage several cross-subject projects, to spread modern teaching practices among my students and colleagues: http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_14.htmlhttp://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_14.html I also participate in teacher conferences, where I am a regular speaker, and help other teachers in their professional development and improvement of skills and experiences necessary to be a successful teacher. Moreover, after each training course and conference I make presentations at my school to share the new information and knowledge with my students and colleagues. My colleagues then spread the messages further through the educational social networks, where I am an admin of the group :”Math Teachers“=” მათემატიკის მასწავლებლები “- https://www.facebook.com/groups/178679602313361/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/178679602313361/ I believe that teachers who are using new methods and modern technology create a very positive impact on education in every country. The experiences of teachers who use new methods are disseminated widely, through presentations, blogs, social media and articles in education magazines. I strongly believe that participation in the various innovative teaching programs would be a great asset in pursuing my passion - to develop myself to a level that will allow me to contribute to the process of making my community a place where the study of mathematics, as part of science, is valued and available for everyone, and at teaching standards recognized internationally.

7. Microsoft Innovative Educator Reflection

8. What makes me an Innovative Educator? How technology impacts my students’ learning outcomes ? The subject that I teach, Math, is one of the most difficult subjects for pupils to learn and be enthusiastic about, so I try to develop my lessons with resources created with modern technologies and using new methods. I am the owner of a Math education blog, http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com, where I regularly post innovations from my teaching experience, our projects and Math lessons. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com Using modern technologies, I create extra materials for my pupils, which makes them feel more comfortable and at ease, and increases their motivation for learning Mathematical science. For teaching, I create and use a lot of different programs, e.g. "easyQuizzy”, electronic tests, presentations, Animoto-videos, Movie-Maker, video-lessons, game maker, powtoon.com, brochures, Excel tables, slidely.com presentations etc. I also actively use social networks for educational purposes. For example, I'm an admin for a group of Math teachers with about 600 members, where we consider innovative methods, Math problems, and share our teaching experiences. Using modern technologies increases students' motivation for learning and makes them more self- confident. Students enjoy using computers, and they create a lot of different educational resources independently, preparing for lessons and making project presentations, videos, brochures etc. Usually they work in groups, stretching their creativity and improving a variety of different skills such as communication, collaboration, decision making and researching. It fosters a mindset of innovation and ensures that they are always involved in the study process in lessons. As a result, my pupils regularly are among the highest performers in my region.

9. How I use technology to support 21st century skill building? How I use Microsoft products? I use a project-based approach to teaching Math. In the implementation of projects, my students and I use ICT for developing various skills. They work in groups as well as individually, which helps them develop "21 st century skills" beyond pure Math, such as communication and collaboration. Typically they use modern technology to create educational resources individually, and then combine them into group projects. They are responsible for making sense of information that they discover, classifying and analyzing it, and synthesizing it to solve problems. As an automatic by-product, they also develop their general "21 st century skills". I use Microsoft products extensively in my teaching and learning practice. For example, my students and I frequently use PowerPoint for presentations, and Excel for different kinds of data manipulation. Naturally, Microsoft Word is my daily all-purpose tool for writing essays, projects, and lesson plans and all other types of documents. Auto Collage is a great program for presenting photos iabout our projects or working process, Movie-Maker allows me create amazing videos with my own audio and photo materials and use them during the teaching process. My students use Microsoft products actively too.

10. As a leader in my school, my role includes My most significant personal learnings As Head of the Department of Mathematics (http://nanadabrundashvilikatedra.blogspot.com/ ), I manage several cross-subject projects, to spread modern teaching practices among my colleagues. I also participate in teacher conferences, where I am a regular speaker, and help other teachers in their professional development and improvement of skills and experiences necessary to be a successful teacher. Moreover, after each training course and conference I make presentations at my school to share the new information and knowledge with my colleagues. My colleagues then spread the messages further through the educational social networks.http://nanadabrundashvilikatedra.blogspot.com/ I’m the owner of some Georgian-language educational blogs, one of which is My Portfolio at http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com, which has a large number of followers. There I post activities from both inside and outside the classroom to maintain my professional training as an educator. I'm also an admin of the Facebook group for Georgian Math teachers, where we discuss innovation methods and math problems and our teaching experiences. I am the founder and leader of a Youth Math club at my school. There students who are interested in mathematical sciences have opportunities to deepen their knowledge in math. This year I became facilitator for 15 teachers of our school, helping them to improve and develop their teaching skills and experiences (http://omnanafasilitatori.blogspot.com/ ) http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.comhttp://omnanafasilitatori.blogspot.com/ To me the possibility of working with pupils means a combination of positive experiences. I see this possibility as a chance to keep growing, to see more and to understand more. I am confident that my open-mindedness helps me overcome any challenge on the way to a successful life with my young friends from my classes. I appreciate differences of culture, personality, religion, ethnicity and opinion, and for that reason it is very interesting to teach, to live and to collaborate with my pupils, and also with colleagues from different disciplines and countries. I have learned that pupils are more positive, communicative, friendly and happy when the teacher has these same qualities and when the teacher acts as facilitator and coach. Having these values, characteristics and qualities is important in building strong relationships with my pupils and colleagues.

11. How I use social media? As a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, I hope to I actively use social networks for educational purposes, for example I'm an admin for a Facebook group of Georgian Math teachers (“ მათემატიკის მასწავლებლები “/"Math Teachers"), with about 900 members, where we discuss innovation, Math problems, and share our teaching experiences (https://www.facebook.com/groups/178679602313361/?ref=br_tf ).https://www.facebook.com/groups/178679602313361/?ref=br_tf I’m also a member of various educational groups on Facebook, which allows me to discuss various interesting issues, improve my knowledge in different areas of teaching and share my experience with others too. I also have a Facebook group for my students, where I give them tasks and homework projects and they solve problems collaboratively, and I only step in to help them when they can’t solve problems independently. I run the educational Mathematics blog at http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/ which helps me to spread the word among other teachers about my teaching experience, knowledge and challenges. There I post activities from both inside and outside the classroom to maintain my professional training as an educator, and to both educate and entertain (in a mathematical way). I strongly believe that this would be a great asset in pursuing my passion - to develop myself to a level that will allow me to contribute to the process of making my community a place where the study of mathematics with the modern technologies of Microsoft, is valued and available for everyone, at teaching standards that are recognized internationally. I hope that this would create a very positive impact on education in my country. My experiences in the program will be disseminated widely, through presentations, my blog and articles in education magazines. I am very communicative, friendly and happy to help others. Having these values, characteristics and qualities I am sure that I will build strong relationships with foreign colleagues with whom I will make every effort to continue cooperation in different forms such as online courses, conferences, joint projects, development of common blogs, etc.

12. Additional information: I am a teacher who loves her job, with lots of enthusiasm and active involvement on many levels. I graduated from Tbilisi State University. Throughout my teaching experience, beginning in 1988, I have been actively involved in a wide variety of activities to maintain and develop my professional training as an educator. These activities include preparation for and successful completion of national advanced teachers’ exams in mathematics, professional skills, computer skills and English language. In recognition of my performance I have received a national award as "Best Teacher". Together with my students I am actively involved in several international projects with foreign peers and colleagues. One of these projects is the international eTwinning program for European Schools. http://nanaetwinningprojects.blogspot.com/p/geometric-shapes-in-architecture.html http://nanaetwinningprojects.blogspot.com/p/geometric-shapes-in-architecture.html I actively participate in many training courses, conferences, workshops and competitions. Some of the most recent training courses include: Video as a Teaching Resource; ANIMOTO Program; "Plan and Create eTwinning Projects"; INTEL - Teaching with Projects; Teaching with Technology. The experience that I have gained in these training courses and the modern technologies allows me to implement essential changes in my teaching methods, which I disseminate widely. I have attended and presented my projects at various conferences and workshops, which include "How to Teach Math with Technology", "Teaching Math by Means of eTwinning Projects", "Teaching Stereometry with Technology", etc. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog- page_9822.htmlhttp://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog- page_9822.html I conduct various research projects with my students. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_5690.html Our project “Symmetry - a world of harmony”- has awarded as the best project, made using the intel program and the teacher also was awarded the tablet-computer. http://nadiadabrundashvili.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9822.html