StoryLand Teachers-Special School Maca Ovcharova

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StoryLand Teachers-Special School Maca Ovcharova: Life adventures through Storytelling

Veles, MacedoniaVeles, Macedonia
Year Founded:
1971
Organization type: 
government
Project Stage:
Growth
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
Website:
https://plus.google.com/104024773951659361021/posts
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/pou.ovcharova
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

We promote the interactive method of learning through drama and play for children with special educational needs, at the age of 6-12 years. Almost, 10 years we develop this method and we achieve significant results in the areas of behavior, knowledge,psycho motor development and inclusion.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

How the learning can be fun, creative and applicable in practice?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Learning through drama creates experience of children with special needs in everyday life. Those children think and learn in a concrete way. The drama method allows simulation of realistic situations, learning the roles and correct social behavior. Our team offers a range of innovative and creative ideas to address the developmental and educational problems, designed for educators,rehabilitators and parents of children with special needs.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Our method is promoted among professionals through multilingual blog and social networking profile. Also, we have participated in several national and regional conferences. Life adventures through Storytelling is a unique and innovative because besides the basic drama techniques, it contains planned structured inclusive séances and exercises for psycho-motor reeducation. The stories that are dramatized by the children are new, innovative and designed for separate aspect of the development. The promotional printed materials need to be translated into several languages, quality to be printed and promote. All promotional materials will be posted online and will be a treasure trove for the professional experts, parents and children.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Due to the lack of adequate literature for the children with special educational needs, we as a team of special educators have created simple stories and applied them in the educational process. Along with the children and parents we achieved prevention of the violent behavior among students in our school, development of tolerance, friendship among students of different ethnic backgrounds. Then this method we developed to more areas-social, emotional, cognitive, motor and speech development. We were invited to to more conferences to present our method and the results achieved. Each year we enrich the method more and make videos that we observed and later we upgrade their capacity.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

Active participators in the drama play so far are over 250 children with special needs, aged 6-12 years, who attend special school or they are included in the regular school The families of more than 250 children are actively involved by helping in making props, lyrics, and scene costumes, Team of three special educators represent this method to other professionals and parents, through the participation of over 15 national and regional conferences The team makes dissemination of the method in other local schools, enabling applicability of the same method in the teaching process and the extracurricular activities with children with special educational needs included in mainstream schools. Drama plays are promoted in the local community to the citizens, thus it is contributing to a more successful integration of children with special needs in the community

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

In order to spread this method at global level, requires strategy for promotion which will consist few steps: To give children opportunities to perform at international theater festivals for children with special needs. Also, there is a chance our team to organize an international theater festival for children with special needs. To print the promotional materials (CDs with exercises and games, storybooks, brochures with drama plays, guidelines for making accessories, costumes and scenes, video movies with ready drama texts), in multiple languages. The materials could be offered online.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

The project implementation requires creativity and initiative from the educators. In order, for our team to be able to participate in international conferences and festivals, we plan to create promotional materials. If we manage to get the initial funding award, we will be able to print and publish the materials.This material we will offer for sale online. This will provide us resources for educational innovation, better drama games and materials

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

In the basic of the other proposals is the game as a foundation for overcoming the racism and ethnic conflicts among young people. Some projects use an innovative game to promote sustainable development. Our method differs from others, because it is a combination of drama plays, psycho motor reeducation and sensor and motor stimulation.Into it, the children with special needs are direct participants along with friends from regular schools. In this way,besides the development of the child, it also affects to the inclusion of the children in the society.It is applicable in different environments
Team

Founding Story

We are team of three special educators who work with children with special needs,aged 6-12 years.We have 10 years work experience. Our children have difficulties in understanding the outside world and critical thinking, behavior problems, learning and speech difficulties.They are children with pervasive developmental disorders, hyperactivity, intellectual disability and multiple disabilities.Firstly, we started quite accidentally to process education content using drama andplay.When we saw how easily children learn in this way, we decided this method to combine with special educational and rehabilitation practice.And thus we created the method Life adventures through Storytelling.Team:Tanja Bogatinova,Marija Davcevska,ZivkaPanovaSazdova

Team

Our team has experience in project management and research. Our project will enrich the future through online promotions, and representation at international level. We would like to have an opportunity to publish the interactive CD with plays, and instructions for using this method, which could be translated into several languages, and other promotional and creative materials. As well as a chance for international drama performances.
About You
About You
First Name

Storyland

Last Name

Teachers

About Your Project
Organization Name
How long has your organization been operating?

Project
Organization Country

, Veles

Country where this project is creating social impact

, Veles

What awards or honors has the project received?
Funding: How is your project financial supported?

Friends and family, Individuals, Foundations, NGOs.

Supplemental
Awards
Primary Target Age Group

6 - 12.

Your role in Education

Resource Officer, Teacher.

Please specify which of the following best applies:

I am applying on behalf of a particular program or initiative.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with (if applicable)

Public (tuition-free).

Intervention Focus

Childcare, Curricular, Extracurricular.

Does your project utilize any of the innovative design principles below?

Creating Peer Support Networks for All Stakeholders in Education: Creating peer-to-peer learning and support for teachers, parents, expecting mothers and more that enables them to transform learning.

Is your project targeted at solving any of the following key barriers?

Whole child development is undervalued: Essential parts of development get left behind as children get older, such as healthy habits, executive function, and social and emotional learning.

Need
Offer
What key learning outcomes does your work seek to improve?

Through this method and the most complex reality can be divided into fundamental components, and so in a more specific and concrete way to get closer to children. Learning through drama is intended to create the experience of children with special needs in everyday life.The play raises the need to expand their knowledge beyond the limits laid down in the curriculum. Also, we are trying to encourage parents to be active participators in the development and learning of their child. We achieve significant results in the areas of knowledge, socialization, inclusion and psycho motor development.

Secondary Form
PROGRAM DESIGN CLARITY: We are hungry to know more about what exactly your model consists of. Please succinctly list a) what main activities are you doing with your beneficiaries, b) where you carry out the activities? c) how often? d) for how many hours? e) who delivers the services? and f) any other brief details
INSPIRATION: What do you consider the most important trends or evidence that inspire you to believe the world is ready to Re-imagine Learning? Please elaborate.
LEARNING THROUGH PLAY: What does “learning through play” mean to you and why it is a must-have, instead of a nice to have?
SUSTAINABILITY: Please list a quick breakdown of your funding, indicating the percentage that comes from each source.
MODEL: How does your mission relate to your business model (i.e. Non-profit, for-profit or hybrid)?
FUNDING PRIORITIES: If your organization were given $20K in unrestricted funding today, how would you use it? Why?
PARTNERSHIPS: Tell us about your partnerships that enhance your approach.
COLLABORATIONS: Have you considered or initiated partnerships with any of the other Challenge Pacesetters? If so, please share.
VISION: If you had unlimited funding, and you could fast forward 15 years to when your program has been able to achieve wild success - what will it have achieved?
IMPACT - KEY METRICS: Please list the key data points that you would cite as evidence that you are able to achieve lasting learning outcomes. Please also share one data point for which you most hope to see better results over time
IMPACT - REPORTING SAMPLE: Please attach any examples of your impact reporting. [optional]:
RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE: Please link or attach any research or evidence resource you are open to sharing more widely [optional]. Building research and evidence is a key aim of this initiative, and the resources you share may be chosen for listing in the Center for Education Innovations library:
SOURCE: If applicable - who created the research or evidence you are choosing to share? :
IMPACT - REACH: How many people did your project directly engage in programmatic activities in the last year?

STUDY: Has an external evaluation or study been conducted of your organization?

Other (please specify)
Number of Employees:

Number of Volunteers:

APPROACHES: Given the complexity of play, it is not surprising that there have been numerous research attempts to categorize the different types and approaches! Please indicate which of the following your project focuses on.

Other (please specify)
AFFILIATION: Please specify if your organization has any existing affiliations with the LEGO Group.
randomness