The second HUPE Rijeka branch meeting took place on June 8, 2024 at 10 am at the Trsat Branch of the Rijeka City Library. It lasted 3 hours.

Agenda:

1. GracijelaOrobabić: Let's build great teams!
2. Ester Vidović: Problem Picture Books in  TEFL
3. HUPE news

Our first presenter was Gracijela Orobabić from OŠ Gornja Vežica, who shared with the participants some creative ideas for engaging students in teamwork and to show how different types of personalities can cooperate well with each other. She demonstrated four activities including different materials and props, such as a hoop, lego blocks with four colors that represent different personalities, problem-solving cards and a worksheet with some self-reflection activities. Participants had much fun trying out the activities and as a cherry on top, we tried also a delicious cake Gracijela made.

Ester Vidović, a lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka, shared a project she is working on, which includes problem picture books. She gave some examples of picture books that deal with illnesses of family members and illustrate how to cope with those. The workshop raised some questions on how to teach students topics related to health and how to foster empathy and understanding of illnesses such as malignant diseases, depression and similar. It was an emotional workshop, which made us think about less common topics in the classroom, which are also an important part of our everyday life.

Doris Mesaroš
HUPE Rijeka Branch President

 

The second HUPE Dubrovnik Branch meeting in 2023-2024 took place at Osnovna škola Blato in Blato on June 8, 2024. 

Agenda:

• Gordana Bujanić Tretinjak: Gender Equality: Are we there yet?
• Ivana Kasunić: Who was Nikola Tesla? (English and Physics workshop)    
• Davorka Bronzić i Nataša Bebić Bačan: European citizenship in English language teaching
• Silvija Pećanac Bačić: HIPPO – English without borders
• HUPE news

The first speaker was Gordana Bujanić Tretinjak with her interactive workshop, presenting the project about gender equality, held in Secondary School Bedekovčina. Several subjects were included in the project. The learning outcomes were to explore some of the causes and consequences of gender inequality and to understand how to promote gender equality.

Ivana Kasunić was the second speaker. She presented the workshop which was carried out as a part of project day for 70th anniversary of Primary school Nikola Tesla. It showed several examples of collaboration and co-teaching between two subjects - English and Physics. The aim of the workshop was to intorduce Tesla, his life, his inventions and his obsessions to several groups of students.

The third workshop's aim was to promote teaching of European citizenship in English lessons. Incorporating European citizenship into English language teaching offers a well-rounded approach to education that extends beyond linguistic competence. This integration helps students understand the cultural, social, and political dimensions of being part of the European Union. By exploring themes such as diversity, shared values, and democratic participation, English language lessons can foster a sense of European identity and citizenship. 

The last speaker was Silvija Pećanac Bačić, who motivated our colleagues to join HIPPO Olympiade, sharing some information about this international, widey popular competition, as well as her experience as a mentor of two very successful contestants.

Jelica Šeparović
HUPE Dubrovnik Branch President

The third and final HUPE Osijek branch meeting in school year 2023-2024 was held on Saturday, 25 March 2024 at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. 13 HUPE members attended the meeting which lasted for three hours.

The agenda included:

1) Cassy Prskalo: Beyond Boredom: Transforming Essay Practice into an Adventure

2) Gabrijela Romić: Teacher life: Juggling stress, staying happy

3) Marija Rukavina: Happy Teachers, Happy Classrooms: AI for Stress-Free Teaching

4) HUPE news

Cassy Prskalo from Srednja škola Ilok delivered the workshop titled Beyond Boredom: Transforming Essay Practice into an Adventure. Cassy presented a variety of interactive activities designed to make essay writing, especially for the Matura Exam, interesting and enjoyable for the students. Participants tried out different methods to enhance students' writing skills, as well as critical thinking through fun and engaging exercises.

Gabrijela Romić from OŠ Vladimira Nazora in Vinkovci presented the talk titled Teacher life: Juggling stress, staying happy. Gabrijela discussed the common stressors in the teaching profession and their impact on mental health. The session emphasized the importance of self-care, maintaining professional boundaries, and adopting a positive mindset. Participants shared their experiences and strategies for managing stress and preventing burnout.

Marija Rukavina from OŠ Vladimira Nazora in Vinkovci held the talk titled Happy Teachers, Happy Classrooms: AI for Stress-Free Teaching. Marija's presentation highlighted AI-powered tools to reduce teachers' workloads, emphasizing the importance of utilizing technology for efficiency and taking breaks for well-being. She demonstrated how to use Gamma for presentations, Magic School for lesson planning, Twee for generating materials, FreeTTS for text-to-speech conversion, Gibbly for generating quizzes, as well as text-to-image converters for visual aids.

The participants were also updated on the latest news in HUPE including the details of the upcoming32nd Annual International HUPE Conference, which is taking place in Valamar Diamant Hotel, Poreč from 15 to 17 November 2024, such as call for speakers, registration fees, accommodation and transportation. The branch president also informed the participants about the 33rd HUPE Conference venue, Valamar in Poreč, voted by the members, the free month of Twinkl membership offered to HUPE members, as well as the future partner associations’ conferences. All members were also invited to contribute to the summer edition of HUPEzine by sending their ELT articles and examples of good practices to our HUPE editor Ivana Kasunić via this email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

HUPE Osijek appreciates and thanks the speakers and all members who attended the meeting and created a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere for chatting and sharing ideas. We look forward to seeing you at one of our future meetings next school year. Enjoy your well-deserved and much-anticipated summer holidays!

Adrijana Roždijevac
HUPE Osijek Branch President

The second HUPE Split Branch meeting took place on 3 May 2024. It started at 5:00 p.m. Fourteen English teachers were hosted by their kind colleagues from III. gimnazija Split.  Three interesting workshops were carried out during the meeting.

Agenda items:

1. Anita Lasić: HUPE news 
2. Dajana Jelavić: What Has AI Got To Do With It?
3. Tajana Bundara: AI-powered AI Assessment Strategies
4. Petra Gorički: Teaching English to SEN Students – My Experience

1. The meeting was opened by Anita Lasić, who welcomed the participating teachers. She briefed the attendees about the online HUPE Day outcomes as well as the positive feedback from the participants. She informed the attendees of the upcoming HUPE Conference 2024 that will take place in Poreč. However, there is a possibility that the following conference will be organized in Brela. HUPE has released online voting for the members to choose the venue for the conference in 2025. She encouraged the participants to join the voting process.
2. The first workshop, What's AI Got To Do With It?was delivered by Dajana Jelavić from SŠ  Jure Kaštelan, Omiš. Social and Emotional Learning and AI are distinct concepts, yet they can seamlessly complement each other in promoting holistic growth. In this workshop, we explored how AI tools can enhance creativity while nurturing SEL competencies.
3. The second workshop was presented by Tajana Bundara, from SŠ Ivana Lucića, Trogir. 
   This interactive talk aimed to share experiences about using artificial intelligence (AI) for formative and summative assessment in English language teaching. Examples covered tasks for assessing receptive and productive skills from primary to secondary school. Participants received suggestions on how to prepare assessment materials using AI, interact with bots, and explore AI combinations that support assessment outcomes. Along with the benefits, participants were informed of potential pitfalls when using AI. The talk offered opportunities for active participation and the sharing of reflections and inspirations.
4. The third workshop was prepared and presented by Petra Gorički, from SŠ Bedekovčina.
   This workshop was carried out online via MS Teams. The aim was to address the challenges teachers face when working with SEN students within a curriculum that may not always support their needs. The focus was on different strategies and methods used to adapt curriculum content to create a stimulating learning environment where students have an opportunity to reach their full potential

The meeting was carried out in an extremely relaxed and motivating atmosphere. It was very successful and ended at 8:20. 

Anita Lasić
HUPE Split Branch President