A Farewell Party to Terry Mettison!)

On May 27, 2012  15 Movie Club Members gathered at the Window on America Center to have interesting and lovely talk based on a wickedly colorful, twisted comedy - «Drop Dead Gorgeous» (1999).

The Movie Club and Speaking Club (discussion after the movie) was led by America Peace Corps Volunteer Terry Mettison. Unfortunately it was his last coming to the Center. The idea of a perfect way to say goodbye to the America Friend came to our minds. And on that day the Window on America Center hosted a farewell party to Terry.

Two years ago our city had honour to meet Terry Mettison. His visit had a concrete mission to promote world peace and friendship. And during these two years he worked at the City Council and every Sunday came to the WOA Room to organize different informative events for whose people who wanted to get knowledge about the United States of America.

Thank you, Terry, for your great help! We will miss you a lot! We’ll be glad to meet you again in Ukraine)!

Discussion with Lutsk Window on America Center Covered the Topic of Modern Technologies in Process of Teaching in High Schools, New Methods in Organization Presentations.

The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, a member of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD), helped launch a pilot project, a series of monthly discussions between Americans and Ukrainians via the Window on America Centers in Lutsk, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and USCCD.

In the framework of that pilot project on May 23, 2012 the discussion with Lutsk Window on America Center was held and it covered the topic of Modern Technologies in Process of Teaching in High Schools, New Methods in Organization Presentations, etc. 

The format of discussion was a Skype video conference call: 20 minutes speaker's presentation, and 40 minutes - Q&A. The working  language was English.

The speaker on the topic of Modern Technologies in Process of Teaching in High Schools was Linda Danforth, a member of the International Society for Technology in Education, the Computer Science Teachers of America and the Lake Michigan Area Independent Schools Technology Coordinators Group.

17 people - students of English language Department from Volyn National University, teachers from local schools and University, American Peace Corps Volunteer - Dominic Huether  gathered at the Window on America Center in Lutsk to learn about various types of technologies in the classroom, mainly computers in the classroom, mobile devices, interactive Whiteboards, etc.

Linda Danforth prepared a list of websites for the audience that pertained to the topics that were

 discussed at the meeting:

·         the use of projection systems in classrooms

·         SmartBoards (interactive whiteboards)

·         the growing use of electronic textbooks

·         BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs  where students bring their own laptops and iPads, e-book readers and connect to the school’s wireless system

·      the use of MP3 players in the teaching of foreign languages

·         teacher use of webpages for academic content

·         teacher use of electronic gradebooks that can be viewed online by parents

The discussion was of great success as the present at the meeting people could learn about educational technologies that were intended to improve education over what it would be without technology.

Unusual Community Club Meeting!

On May 20, 2012 for about 30 people gathered at the City Center to have informative tour along the streets of one of the oldest cities in Central and Eastern Europe – Lutsk.

The members of the Club really went back in time. We started at the Theatre Majdan, went along

Lesja Ukrainla Street

to the old part of the city.

Terry Mettison, American Peace Corps Volunteer in Lutsk led the excursion. The working was English.

 

The participants in the tour – the people of Lutsk, tourists, visitors of the Window on America Center in Lutsk appreciated the history and traditions of that city on the banks of the Styr River.

The tour lasted for about two and a half hours and the people could discover the pleasure of a holiday atmosphere, Voilyn’s beauty and of course genuine Ukrainian hospitality.

Thank you Terry for interesting and informative excursion. You have proved that Lutsk is a city with Ukrainian sincerity, Volyn heart and European Soul.

The city that is worth seeing.

English Language Lesson on Emotions and Feelings.

«Emotions and Feelings» was the topic of the lesson that gathered 13 students of English language Department from Volyn National University at the Window on America Center in Lutsk.

At first Svitlana Horbatch the English language teacher proposed the  students to identify their own and others' feelings and emotions. They participated in a class discussion about feelings, develop a list of emotions. Emotions the students discussed included:

• Happy
• Angry
• Sad
• Surprised
• Confused
• Excited
• Shocked

During the second part of the lesson the students were proposed to watch a film that provided a brilliant combination of emotion with just the right dose of reality – «Forrest Gump».

It contained so many emotions and spirituality that it caused the audience to shiver from enchantment.

The goal of the lesson on emotions to provide ways to bring emotions to life was successfully achieved. During these two hours lesson the present audience could have a wonderful grasp on emotions and how to deal with them.

Superstitions Across Different Countries

“It is a bad luck to be superstitious” was the topic of English Community Club that took place at the Window on America Center in Lutsk on May 06,2012.

23 visitors came to the Center to discuss superstitions across different countries - why we have superstitions, what they mean etc.

The present audience had great chance to speak openly and freely, to learn new vocabulary on that topic and to find out where  superstitions came from and why people believe in them.

The discussion was informative and lovely as a group of people from different countries (Africa, Netherlands, Mexico) joined the meeting and shared the knowledge about superstitions, regardless of whether it is American, European or African.