Jill Armstrong is a 16 year veteran teacher at Greenup County High School in Greenup, Kentucky where she teaches World History and Humanities classes. She holds an Ed.S in Instructional Supervision and is a Ed.D doctoral student. Ms Armstrong started the GCHS chapter of Rho Kappa-National Social Studies Honor Society in 2012 where she remains the faculty adviser. She is a 2019-2021 alumni of the United States Institute of Peace’s Peace Teacher Program. She has worked with educators and students worldwide since 2015 in a variety of programs such as Natakallam, Global Nomads Group, Reach the World and TED.
Mariapia Bianchi
Maria Antónia Brandão has a degree in Philosophy and a Master in e-learning Pedagogy. She is a teacher at the D. Afonso Henriques School Group and a headmaster deputy. She is also a member of the Multidisciplinary Team Supporting Inclusive Education, as well as co-coordinator of the Erasmus and eTwinning projects mentor. She is a Scientix Ambassador, a Microsoft Innovator Expert and a Teacher Trainer at CFAE Sebastião da Gama in several areas, including Digital Training and Project Management. I’m part of the Transatlantic Educator Dialogue at the University of Chicago Illinois (TED alumni). From 2016 to 2022, Maria was a member of the Europeana users group, and several of her Learning Scenarios were published in the Teaching With Europeana Blog ( https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/), and two of them were awarded in the Europeana Competition (2019 and 2022). Since 2008 Maria has been an etwinner with several National Quality Labels and two European Quality Labels. In 2021 and 2002 Maria was a member of the Built with Bits Program, and this year, the project “Virtual Flat” won a prize in the final ceremony. Maria is very interested in innovation, pedagogy and technology, and she has taught for more than forty years, but who’s counting?
Kristina Čobanković is a primary school teacher from Ilok, a small town in Croatia. She is committed to student success inside of the classroom and in life because successful students become successful adults. She truly enjoys teaching and she is a very passionate, student-centered teacher who is constantly seeking to improve learning and school culture. She enjoys collaborative learning that engages students. She also likes exploring different tools that can be used in the classroom to support student learning. She is a mother of three, and when she is not not teaching, she enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with her family.
Barbara Furiesi is an Italian teacher. She studied Pedagogy at the Universita Degli Studi of Florence. After her pedagogical degree, she continued to study in post degree courses, developing her interest in medical, social and educational aspects related to her degree; at the same time she started to work as a substitute teacher in nursery and primary schools. In 1997, she became a teacher in a nursery school and after two years moved to a teaching post in a primary school. At the same time she became interested in European projects, taking part in Comenius activities. She also attended a course to become an English teacher and she worked in this role until 2015. From 2009 to 2021 she organised events and projects for young people in her role as an e-twinning ambassador and received some important European awards for her work. In late 2015 she moved from her role as a high school teacher becoming a teacher of Italian literature and History in technical and vocational schools. Barbara continues to be inspired to develop new teaching approaches which actively involve her students, drawing on methodologies employed in other educational systems.
Andrea Isabelli has been teaching various levels of French and Spanish in Illinois, United States since 1991. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana in French Education with a Spanish Minor. During that time she also studied abroad for a year in Dijon, France, receiving a Deuxième degrée from the Université de Bourgogne. She received her first Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois, and her second Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois. She has presented at various Language teacher conventions over the years and has received the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Award for Distinguished Service to Foreign Language Learning. She has been an active member of the American Association of Teachers of French, serving as one of two teacher representatives for the Société Honoraire de Français on the national level, and as 1st Vice-President of the Chicago/Northern Illinois Chapter locally. She was also an Assistant Director of the French Immersion Day in the Chicagoland area. She has traveled to France many times with students, including home stays during exchanges. She enjoys sharing her passion for world languages and cultures with her students, which is what prompted her to become involved in the TED program in the first place.
Valya Galoyan is an English teacher with 20 years of teaching experience. She lives in Vanadzor, Armenia. Valya has a master’s degree in Pedagogy and an international certificate of TEFL. She works at a special school with advanced teaching of mathematics and natural sciences. An active eTwinner, Valya likes participating in different projects, collaborating, and making new friends. She is also an online tutor of English.
An English teacher from Peja, Kosovo, Bardha Gashi believes that practice and self-study skills are first priority. She finished her undergraduate studies at the University of Prishtina – Bachelor of English Language and Literature. In 2013, she also obtained my MA degree in ELT at SEEU-joint degree with Indiana University, USA. This is her 11th year of teaching at Vocational School and “Bedri Pejani”Gymnasium in Peja. So far, she has been teaching 10th to 12th grade students, and English for Music, English for Law, English for Agribusiness courses at university level. She also attended and presented at different language and education conferences. More recently, she also finished a specialization programme in Applied Linguistics/English for Specific Purposes at New Bulgarian University. Working with high school students brings her great joy besides the challenges, and she values her role supporting them towards their paths. Her teaching philosophy is very simple: “Students do not care how much you know, until they know how much you pay attention to their needs”.
Bill Hilt has been a classroom social studies teacher in Perrysburg, Ohio for twenty-nine years. He is President of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies. For much of his career he has specialized in international education, especially as it pertains to civic engagement, service learning, and direct cultural interaction. He was a Fulbright-Hays grantee in Iceland in the summer of 2021 and will visit again on a follow-up program this summer. Mr. Hilt is the founder and president of the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio and has established a strong network of educators and professionals interested in advancing global opportunities. He has consulted on international projects in the U.S. as well as Europe, Africa, and Asia and has been a host for international exchange students, educators, bureaucrats, and professionals. He has been involved with various TED programs since 2017.
Hasret Katırcıoğlu has been teaching English for 20 years. Currently she is an English teacher at Abdurrahmanpaşa High School ( Project School ) in Kastamonu in the North of Turkey. She can describe herself as an enthusiastic follower of what is new. And she adores working with teenagers and mainly curious about ICT, nature and the nature of human being. She has been involved in different types of projects and collaborations with teachers around the world, and she believes that students deserve more. Because the moment when she realized their motivation after all those collaborations such as connected classrooms, her motivation increased.
Mirko Labbri teaches math, science and STEAM methods to K6-K8 students in middle school in the North of Italy at the Istituto Comprensivo di San Fior not far from Venice. He has previous experience in teaching in high school, adult education courses and University for a total of 25 years. A enthusiast in applying science and technology in learning contexts, he is ever curious of the pro and cons of new methodologies.
He is an active teachers’ trainer, both locally, at regional, and national level as part of the Territorial Training Teams for the Italians Ministry of Education.
A Scientix Ambassador, the community for Science Education in Europe, he is a member of the Executive Board of EASE, the European Network of STEAM Educators, actively organising STEAM Summit and Conference.
Georgia Maneta is an EFL educator from Greece. She has been teaching English for over 20 years, however for the last 10 years she has been teaching to Primary Schools (and for the last two years to kindergartens also). She has a Master in Literature in English obtained from the University of Dalarna in Sweden and currently she is doing a MSc in Immersive Technologies inn Education. Georgia LOVES her job and is constantly trying to make her lessons fun through songs, projects and celebrations. She believes that you can speak English (or any other language) ONLY when you “have to”, this is why she tries to involve her students in different projects. She first joined TED in 2021 and has been involved in all possible projects ever since as she believes it is an amazing opportunity for educators from Europe to meet and collaborate with educators from the US and vice versa! She has met educators from all over the world (most of them online) and has taken part in two Erasmus programs! This is her second time as an eTwinning Ambassador and she is really proud of it!
Megan McDaniel is an 8th grade English Literacy teacher at Northwood Middle School in Woodstock, Illinois USA. She has been teaching for the past 8 years and recently graduated with her master’s in education with a concentration in Language and Literacy from Harvard University. She loves pushing her students to find relevance in their learning, developing collaborative inquiry-based learning strategies, and fostering a deep love of literacy through cultural exploration. When TED came to her attention, she eagerly jumped at the opportunity to continue to grow her teaching practices with educators from Europe. Through TED her students have enjoyed collaborating to develop their literacy skills and learning about other cultures. Outside of the classroom, Megan directs the school musical and is currently starting a humanities club. In her free time, she loves spending time outdoors with her two beautiful children: Bridget (5) and Oliver (14).
Alina Popa is a food technology engineer and has been teaching since 1999. She holds a master’s degree in food safety and food quality, and she is the vice head of Food Technology High School G.E. Palada in Satu Mare, Romania. Alina has been an Etwinning Ambasador since 2019 and participated in “Leonardo da Vinci” VET Programme – Lisbon-Portugal 2007. She was nominated as “Teacher and Trainer” category at European Vocational Skills Week – Berlin 2020. I lead Erasmus+ KA229 project “Anti-Bullying Campaign (ABC)” 2019-2022 and more then 15 Etwinning projects and I`m the coordinator of Etwinning School Title 2019-2020, 2021-2022, 2023-2024. I have successfully participated in TED Illinois Programme for teachers 2021, TED Alumni 2022, TED Fellows 2023. I am part of Europeana for Education members and use resources in my teaching. With international team we won Etwinning European Prise I – 16-19 Age Category Project- “Climate Volunteers” Etwinning Project. Since 2020 I coordinate each year the global “Climate Action Project” in my school.
Ana Soares has a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures, English/ German and a post-graduation in English Studies, both from the Humanities Faculty, University of Coimbra. She was a Teacher Trainer for in-service teachers. She coordinated her previous school’s European Club, which won a special National Honorable Mention for the quality of the work done in its launching year. She currently works in Agrupamento de Escolas de Anadia, Portugal, as a teacher of English as a foreign language. Ana has been involved in eTwinning Projects since 2016 and is an awarded eTwinner: many of her projects have won National and European Quality Labels, and one of them won the National Prize for Programming and Robotics (PathFinders). She is one of her school cluster’s eTwinning mentor and is also part of the Erasmus+ Projects Team, having been involved in Erasmus+ Projects since 2019. Her school cluster has Erasmus+ accreditation for School Education and VET until 2027.
Ana first joined TED in 2021 and is a National Geographic Certified Educator since 2021. Her areas of interest are EFL, sustainability, and the arts. In her free time, she is an amateur actress.
Chrysoula Velissariou is an experienced physics teacher with a strong background in education and interdisciplinary teaching methods. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a Master’s degree in Modern Learning Environments and Production of Teaching Materials from the University of Thessaly. Chrysoula is fluent in English, French, and German. Her professional experience includes working as a school ‘s headmaster, as a technology director for the National Beat Poetry Foundation in the USA and as a coordinator and communication manager for European Erasmus Programs. She has also been involved in various educational projects and initiatives, including creating informal student groups focused on STEAM education and coordinating European projects related to art, science, and technology. Chrysoula has received recognition for her work in the field of education, including presenting her research at conferences, publishing innovative teaching practices, and receiving awards for her contributions to theater-pedagogical methods. She is currently working on a PhD proposal related to interdisciplinary teaching using fine arts and the project method. In addition to her educational work, Chrysoula has a passion for poetry and has participated in national and international poetry festivals, receiving awards and recognition for her poetic talent. She has also been interviewed and featured in online literary magazines and media. On the social and political field she is a peace ambassador, a humanitarian activist and a four times elected counselor in her municipality. She is also honored to be a counselor in the State Library of Larisa during the past six years, and the vice- president of the association ” Spiritual Workshop of Teachers in Larisa’s region”. She is also a member of an Education focussed social enterprise.
Nasiye Yamaç Şahi̇n is an English teacher at Antalya Science and Art Center- a state school for gifted and talented students. Throughout her teaching career, she has undertaken different roles and responsibilities. She has led and coordinated Comenius and Erasmus+ projects which added value to her students’ lifelong experiences and contributed to raise the profile of all schools she worked in and bring together all stakeholders. Nasiye is proud of herself for being a proactive member of the eTwinning Team delivering courses online and being made a guest speaker in a number of events. She is still working with eTwinning Turkish National Support Service at Quality Improvement Team. Since 2020 she has been a Turkish Scientix Ambassador. She has also been been working as a facilitator for the English Together project, which was coordinated by the Ministry of National Education, General Directorate of Teacher Training and Development, in cooperation with the British Council and Sabancı Foundation.