FOSTIN

As part of an Erasmus course, I had the opportunity to test one of my previous lesson plans in practice with students from Partium Christian University and several visiting exchange students. The session focused on the interconnection between myths and fantasy, with special attention to adaptations—particularly the reinterpretations of famous myths in the Percy Jackson young adult book series.

During the seminar, students discussed the blending of genres such as YA fiction, fantasy, and mythology, exploring how these categories interact. They also debated the innovative ways in which the adaptations reimagine and modernize ancient Greek myths. Following Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey framework, we mapped the protagonist’s coming-of-age process, the possible paths to heroism, and identified the archetypal roles represented by various characters.

In our in-depth discussions, we examined whether the film adaptations trivialize or, on the contrary, revitalize and bring ancient myths closer to modern audiences. We also explored how the story’s settings contribute to new myth-making, and how the protagonist’s hybridity (being half-god, half-human) raises broader questions about identity and self-definition.

The session concluded with a lively and entertaining Kahoot quiz game.

In my classes, after reading and analysisng Kipling’s poem "The Overland Mail", students had to write their own poems describing the experiences of the mail messenger from his own perspective.

Here are their creations:

 

I was inspired by an excellent idea my colleague Mrs. Brnická came up with—bringing history to life on Instagram. It’s a creative and modern way to help students revise for unit tests or revisit topics they might not find particularly engaging. The concept is simple yet highly effective: students work in groups of about five to create Instagram-style content—around ten posts, reels, or stories—focused on a specific historical topic. What makes this activity so enjoyable is the variety and creativity students bring to it. Their posts are not only informative but often funny, clever, and incredibly thoughtful. Some reels turn into mini historical comedies, while others offer sharp, modern takes on past events. It’s amazing to see how humor and digital creativity can deepen historical understanding.

The collaborative element adds another layer of learning. Groups comment on each other’s posts, sparking conversations and friendly debates that make the whole experience more personal and engaging. This approach shows that history doesn’t have to stay in the textbook—it can thrive in the digital world, where students reinterpret it in ways that feel real, relevant, and memorable.

In our first-year of bilingual studies at Juraj Tranovsky Grammar school, we explore the fascinating topic of Feudalism to help students understand the complex social hierarchy of the Middle Ages—kings, nobles, knights, and peasants—while expressing their learning creatively.

Students engaged in discussions about medieval life, power, and responsibility, discovering how society was structured and why each role was essential. They then brought their ideas to life through various artistic creations, showing incredible imagination and skill. Some students used food items, others worked with plaster, drawings, a magnetic board, or wooden figures to represent the feudal system in unique ways. Each piece reflected their personal interpretation of medieval society and their ability to connect history with creativity.

The lesson successfully combined history, art, and social studies, fostering curiosity, empathy, and innovation. It proved that even complex historical systems can become engaging, memorable, and meaningful through hands-on, creative learning.

This is a poem that I wrote about the life of Maria Theresia, the queen of the Hungarian empire.

Marča Terča

Kde bolo, tam bolo,
tam bol raz jeden kráľ,
čo sa volal Karol
a štyri deti mal.

 

Keď mu jediný syn umrel,
s kráľovnou ho oplakali,
lebo stratil následníka,
len princezné mu zostali.

 

Najstaršia bola Mária,
Terézia ju volali,
avšak kráľovskú korunu
jej šľachtici dať nechceli.

 

Tak jej kráľovský otecko
vymyslel hneď taký zákon,
by Mária po ňom v Uhorsku
mohla raz zasadnúť na trón.

 

Tento zákon sa menoval
že Pragmatická sankcia.
Podľa nej celé kráľovstvo
tak zdedila Terézia.

 

Vo veku devätnásť rokov
sa za Františka vydala
a z veľkej lásky mu potom
šestnásť detí porodila.

 

Jedenásť diev, päť princiatok,
bolo potomkov kráľovských.
Vladármi sa neskôr stali,
na radosť matky, dvaja z nich.

 

Dvadsaťtriročnú ju v Blave
slávnostne korunovali.
Vtedy ešte netušila,
aké veci ju čakali.

 

S Fridrichom z Pruska o Sliezsko
mnoho vojen bojovala,
čím si u svojich poddaných
veľkú dôveru získala.

 

Terézia osvietenectvo
všemožne podporovala.
Armádu a zdravotníctvo
aj súdy zreformovala.

 

Práva a tiež povinnosti
zemepánov upravila
Tereziánskym urbárom.
Školský zákon stanovila:

 

Vraj každé dieťa v kráľovstve
má právo chodiť do školy,
namiesto aby celé dni
len pracovalo na poli.

 

Ako prvá v Európe
zaviedla v platbe bankovky
a ľudu kázala sadiť
kukuricu a zemiaky.

 

Že jej láska bola silná,
po náhlej smrti manžela
po zvyšok svojho života
len čierny odev nosila.

 

Za štyridsať rokov vlády
šesť svojich detí prežila.
Napokon na rozdutie pľúc
v šesťdesiatich troch zomrela.

 

Známy koncom nevoľníctva
a tolerančným patentom,
najstarší syn Jožko sa stal
mamičkiným nástupníkom.

 

Kde bolo, tam bolo,
nie je to rozprávka!
Kedysi fakt žila
tá slávna Marika.

Mary Thery

There was a king, once upon a time,
Charles IV was his royal name.
He had three daughters and but one son
who died in childhood, so there was none
male heir left, just three princesses.
Such ordeal real unfortunate is.

 

The oldest daughter was Maria,
her second name was Theresia.
But some nobles who yearned for the throne
didn’t want her to receive the crown.
Therefore, her father took an action
and issued the Pragmatic Sanction.

 

The greedy aristocrats were tricked
since according to this new edict
after Charles’s death would Mary
become the queen of all Hungary
and other Habsburg dominions
and the nobles’d be her minions.

 

But some years before she came to reign
she fell in love with Francis Lorraine.
When they married, Mary was nineteen.
Later she bore him children sixteen.
Eleven girls and five princely boys
brought the parents many fears and joys.

 

Two of them grew up to become kings.
Half of the others suffered bad things
which caused Mary many days gruesome.
But all that was only yet to come
when, twenty-three, she was crowned a queen
the kingdom had never before seen.

 

The striking coronation took place
in the town of Pressburg, that’s today’s
Bratislava in Slovakia.
At that time freshly queened Maria
couldn’t have known what life had in store.
The first test of her rule was a war

 

with Frederick of Prussia over
Silesia, who wished to make her
give the land up. She was unwilling,
opting for seven years of battling.
Sadly, she lost it. But still she won
her subjects’ allegiance from thence on.

 

She fostered enlightenment by all means.
Codex Theresianus, the queen’s
set of laws revised land ownership
and unified court rules and judgeship.
She reformed health care and army, too.
In agriculture she proposed to

 

plant new crops like corn and potatoes.
She was the first to use money notes
in Europe to pay for goods in trade
and little children she by law bade
to attend school, get educated.
She made it a right of every kid

 

that they could learn some instead of, say,
working hard in the fields the whole day.
Mary outlived six of her children
and husband, too. That’s why till the end
of her own life she wore mourning black.
She missed terribly her beloved Franck.

 

Probably a smallpox aftermath
led to Mary’s eventual death
at the age of sixty-three, ending
thus her forty-year rule as a queen.
She was succeeded by her son Joe,
Joseph II who became known

 

for the Patent of Tolerance and
celebrated as the peasants’ friend
for the abolition of serfdom
in the whole Hungarian kingdom.
Be sure this is no fairy-story,
there once really lived this queen Mary!

 

I had the pleasure of implementing an inspiring interdisciplinary lesson plan created by Mrs. Jana Sládeková and Klára Lancová for the FOSTIN ERASMUS project. The plan masterfully connects history, regional studies, architecture, literature, and art, guiding students to explore the fascinating world of Gothic architecture through hands-on creation. Its central activity—designing and making a Gothic stained glass window—proved to be both creative and deeply meaningful.

Through this project, students not only learned about the defining features of Gothic architecture but also experienced its spirit through artistic expression. As they researched medieval cathedrals, discussed symbolic meanings, and experimented with color and light, they gained a tangible understanding of how architecture reflects culture and belief.

What makes this lesson truly exceptional is its action-oriented approach. Students become active participants—designers, historians, and artists—rather than passive learners. The process encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity, while the final artwork serves as a proud representation of their learning.

I found this lesson plan to be versatile and adaptable for any age group, as it balances educational depth with engaging activity. It is a wonderful example of how interdisciplinary teaching can make learning both memorable and meaningful, bridging the past with the creative present.

As one of my LPs I created was dedicated to the emotions the audience experiences while watching a musical theatre, I recently experienced this in Bucharest where I attended the Romanian language variant of The Phantom of the Opera composed by A.L.Webber. It was a dream coming true after many years.

The show produced by the Bucharest National Opera and directed by Razvan Dinca was a mega-artistic event that aligns Romania with Broadway and the West End.  Accompanied by the Bucharest National Opera’s   Orchestra and Choir conducted by Daniel Jinga, the mega-show was a real success.  Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit music, which has been making history for over 35 years, was, in my opinion, equally beautiful in Romanian. The emotion of the chandelier that collapses on the first four serious measures was equally percussive. Tears have every chance to climb from the neck to the eyes in the presence of aesthetic wonder, enthusiasm is at high levels. The sound of the musical instruments is the most fulfilled round and truly seductive voice.  You leave humming, „All I ask of you” or simply you no longer get out of the sound background of your thoughts for the following days. The mirage of artistic grandeur makes its effect and easily seduces the audience.

The actors manage to rise to the occasion. Kyrie Mendel who plays Raoul manages to become a credible vocal hero, without finding, however, an interpretation other than technical and conscientious. The chemistry he has with his stage partner is why „All I ask of you” becomes an emotional scene, and his stage presence keeps him in a safe area, as a plausible and easily assimilated figure. Irina Baiant is in the role of Christine and has the advantage of an elegant beauty, and her vocal performance conveys the emotion of the heavy score she plays. With a lot of gestures and a posture that amplifies its fragility, the way it builds the relationship with its partners offers consistency to a one-sided role, which it speculates with charm. Adrian Nour (Phantom) is the real star of the show – the richness of nuances, which he adds to the musical performance, conveys a lot of emotion.

All in all, „Phantom of the opera” (Romanian translation) was a grandiose show – as we always wanted; „as abroad”. It has all the ingredients to be called a success worthy of many enthusiastic epithets and attributes. In the end, what one feels are  the beautiful chords, the emotion of the story told in beautiful snapshots, the chorus hummed for days and the  roles excellently played by the Romanian actors.

 

My students at the Lutheran Grammar School of Juraj Tranovský in Liptovský Mikuláš experienced history in a way that no textbook could offer. We held a role-play lesson to recreate the historic declaration of the Demands of the Slovak Nation from May 11, 1848—and what made it truly extraordinary was that it took place at the very site where the original event happened.

Students took on the roles of key national leaders—Ľudovít Štúr, Jozef Miloslav Hurban, Michal Miloslav Hodža, Ján Francisci, and Štefan Marko Daxner—as well as the voices of ordinary peasants and townspeople who participated in this momentous occasion. They prepared short speeches, expressed their characters’ ideas and emotions, and debated the importance of national rights and unity. Having wireless speeker with them, they all sang the national songs too! 

The goal of the lesson was not only to understand the historical document but also to connect history with civics education—to feel what it means to speak publicly, to stand for one’s beliefs, and to declare a vision for the nation. The atmosphere was powerful, authentic, and deeply moving. Watching my students speak with conviction where our ancestors once did reminded me why I love teaching—history came alive before our eyes.

The Bodleian library’s exhibition held also some colonial artifacts, the pictures of which can be used as supplementary illustration materials for the lesson plans dealing with this topic developed by the project members.

This is a records book from a plantation:

This book illustrates how the British soldiers fared in their colonies in India:

This books stands as an evidence to the forceful religious conversion of native peoples:

And this one tells of the specific struggles of enslaved people: