Last week, we told you about what plagiarism is and how to recognize it. Today we want to share some tips on how to successfully avoid it. We also encourage you to look at the previous text: https://eps.edu.pl/what-is-plagiarism/ 

How to avoid plagiarism?

To avoid plagiarism, there are a few simple rules that you can follow:

1. 1. First of all, find out what plagiarism is – then it will be easier for you to avoid it, and your work will be more conscious and thoughtful.
   2. Plan your work – if you take notes from a book, write down which page you found any information on. This will help you organize your ideas and you will be able to quickly come back to the passage you need when needed. You will also know exactly what information you have found in the sources you are browsing.
   3. If you use fragments of someone else’s text in your work, mark it by using quotation marks and / or a footnote at the bottom of the page. Then it will be known what you have come up with by yourself and what you have learned from others. For example, if you quote a book in your work, also include the author’s name.
   4. Always include the source of information that you use in your work. After all, they didn’t appear out of nowhere.
   5. If you add illustrations or videos to your work, please provide information about where you found them.
   6. Remember that information found on the Internet should also be marked, as well as those taken from books or articles. Materials that find their way to the Internet also have their authors.
   7. To be sure, you can use plagiarism recognition programs to help you check whether you are citing or marking the sources you used in the correct way.
   8. When in doubt whether you can use any of the materials for your work or how to do it properly, ask teachers or parents.

In conclusion, remember that every book, photo or video has an author who took the time to prepare it. For this reason, he or she deserves respect, so you can’t just copy his or her work and pretend you did it yourself. You certainly wouldn’t want someone to take your presentation or essay and brag about it being theirs. Therefore, always mention the author and the source of the work you are referring to. 

Source: https://www.easybib.com/guides/5-stories-of-plagiarism-in-2017/

Physical and mental health are key elements affecting human well-being and daily functioning. We’ve all experienced intense sadness, depression or irritation at times. Emotions are natural and automatic reactions that occur in response to specific events. However, sometimes emotions turn into longer-lasting moods and feelings that are difficult to deal with on your own.

February 23rd is Poland’s National Day for Combating Depression. On this occasion, I invite you to take a look at what depression is and what challenges it brings both for people experiencing it and their relatives.

What is depression?

Depression in case of children and adolescents may have a slightly different picture, the main symptoms are:

• feeling sad, depressed, empty, irritated, even irritated for weeks or months,
• mood swings within the day,
• loss of interests, pleasure, lack of desire to play,
• difficulty in motivating yourself to perform daily activities,
• feeling of constant fatigue,
• lack of appetite or excessive appetite,
• sleeping disturbances,
• problems with concentration and focusing on learning,
• low self-esteem,
• no desire to spend time with family and friends,
• negative thinking about yourself and the future,
• suicidal thoughts and self-harm may appear.

The causes of depression

Nowadays, there are three main factors influencing the development of depression:

• Biological – genetic factors, chronic diseases, addictions (to psychoactive substances, but also behavioral addictions, e.g. to computer games), disorders of neurotransmission in the brain.

• Psychological – e.g. difficulties at school, in relationships (e.g. bullying), difficulties in adapting to a new place, pressure related to evaluation, traumatic or highly stressful events. The reaction to these types of events largely depends on the sensitivity of the person, coping resources.

• Environmental – e.g. material difficulties, upbringing, violence in close surroundings.

How can I help a child suffering from depression?

• Let’s talk! This can be difficult for both parent and child; suffering from depression, children often do not feel like talking, they get irritated quickly, they are irritable. Older children and adolescents can often show that they do not want help, so try to provide support and willingness to help.

• Don’t cheer, understand the emotions. Saying “don’t be sad” won’t help, on the contrary – it’s a kind of denial of emotions that appear. A better way is to ask about emotions and accept them – each of us has a right to them.

• Contact your GP. It is worth making sure that the child does not suffer from a somatic disease that may have similar symptoms to depression (younger kids may develop atypical symptoms of depression, such as those resembling a cold, headache, wetting or regression).

• Consult a specialist. No doubts – time is very important. The sooner the suffering person receives help, the better, so don’t wait too long. You can get professional help from psychiatrists, psychologists or psychotherapists – each of them will be able to assess the mental state of a suffering person and refer them to appropriate treatment.

Depression affects more and more people, often causing serious difficulties in everyday life. It is worth seeking help from a specialist when you observe the first symptoms that bother you. Depression is a real disease, it is said that in Poland it can affect up to 20% (!) of young people. Proper diagnosis and treatment give you a chance to recover and restore a satisfying life.

Author: psychologist Karolina Ciesielka

Sources:

• Alonso, J., Angermeyer, M., Bernert, S., Bruffa- erts, R., Brugha, T., Bryson, H., de Girolamo, G., de Graaf, R., Demyttenaere, K., et al., 2004. Use of mental health services in Eu- rope: results from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESE- MeD) project. Acta Psychiatrica Scandina- vica 109, 47–54.
• Hammen, C., 2006. Depresja. Gdańskie Wy- dawnictwo Psychologiczne
• World Health Organization. Depression (WHO, 2018)
• World Health Organization. 2017. Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates. 

We are sure that sometimes you wonder if you can use the information found in various books in your own work and how to do it correctly. Today we will try to explain this to you, telling you about plagiarism and how to avoid it.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work (or parts of it) and presenting it as yours. This can apply to books and articles, but also to pictures, songs or movies. Plagiarism can be treated as theft, so it’s important to avoid it. It is also considered to be unethical.

Source: https://shareeducatonideas.com/plagiarism-and-academic-honesty/

Let’s try to explain it with an example. Imagine you need to do homework on a poem that was discussed in school. In the task, you have to write your own thoughts. However, for various reasons, you do not do it yourself, but just rewrite the interpretation of a poem from a blog found on the internet. You do not mark anywhere that you used the blog and give the assignment back saying you did it yourself. This is how you act dishonestly and commit plagiarism.

Now imagine a different situation. This time you also have to write your thoughts on the poem. You do most of the task yourself, but you also want to add a few sentences from a web blog to it, because you think the author said something interesting. So you add them to the homework, use quotation marks and give the website address of the blog, saying that you found it there. This is how you do everything right and don’t plagiarize.

The difference between these situations is giving the source of the text you are using. It is a good habit that will allow you to be honest with others and yourself. Giving the source is also the easiest way to avoid plagiarism. Try to keep this in mind when you use various texts or other materials in your work. 

If you want to learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, follow our page. There will be another text related to this topic soon.

Today begins the Lunar New Year, based on the lunisolar calendar. The most famous and related event is Chinese New Year, the celebration of which stretches over 15 days. In this tradition, each year is assigned one of the 12 animals to define the character of the coming year. This time the chosen animal is the buffalo, which means your hard work will be rewarded.

Source: https://ideas.ted.com/why-do-we-light-firecrackers-on-chinese-new-year/

Chinese New Year is an important holiday and is therefore approached appropriately. Preparations start before the holiday begins. You should start with a thorough cleaning of the house to help get rid of evil spirits. You also need to do shopping and prepare gifts for loved ones. Usually, you give them sweets, fruit or money in an envelope. It should be red, because in Chinese culture it symbolizes happiness. The same principle also applies to clothes worn during the holidays – they are usually red or bright coloured. You shouldn’t wear anything black or white, these colours are associated with death or mourning. 

After the preparations there is time for celebration. Families gather for traditional meals with jiaozi dumplings. They also participate in fireworks shows. Various performances such as lion and dragon dances that bring good luck are also popular.

Source: https://cookidoo.pl/recipes/recipe/pl-PL/r344517

Source: https://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/dragon-and-lion-dances/

Not only in China is the beginning of the Lunar New Year celebrated. Other Asian countries, such as South Korea or Vietnam, also have traditions related to this event.

More customs and traditions related to this event can be found in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFCljlSbWzw

Today we are celebrating Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek), the last Thursday before Lent in the Christian tradition. On this occasion, you can feast on various sweet delicacies. 

The most popular treats on Fat Thursday are, of course, donuts (pączki), usually stuffed with marmalade. You can also use jam or chocolate. Donuts are made of yeast dough and deep-fried. However, they were not always served sweet. In the past, donuts were also stuffed with bacon or meat.

Source: https://slodkiblog.pl/przepis-na-najlepsze-domowe-paczki-lepsze-niz-z-cukierni/

Another delicacy is the angel wings (faworki), which are sometimes called brushwood (chrust). They are shortbread cookies in the shape of curled bows, which are also deep-fried. Faworki are usually served sprinkled with powdered sugar, but they are tasty without it.

Source: https://www.wysmakowane.pl/przepisy/przepis-na-faworki-idealne/

Fat Thursday is extremely popular in Poland, but other countries also have their variants of this holiday. In Italy it is called Giovedi Grasso, and in Germany Weiberfastnacht. In both of these holidays, delicacies play an important role, just like in the case of Fat Thursday.

Do you have any favourite recipes for this holiday? Do you prefer pączki or faworki?

Feel free to comment on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/DaVincisInternationalPrimarySchool/photos/a.181128168931999/1320308435013961/ 

This year we are celebrating the Safer Internet Day for the 18th time. This time its slogan is “Together for a better internet!”. You might ask: but how can you work together when everyone is sitting separately at their computer or with a phone in their hand? The answer is very easy. One way is to share your knowledge and ideas with someone. And that’s what we want to do for Safer Internet Day.

On this occasion, we want to share with you a few tips on how to stay safe online. Perhaps you already know some of these methods and use them in practice, but it is worth remembering about them once in a while.

Don’t reveal your personal data to strangers
We are used to the fact that on the Internet you can find information on every possible topic. However, this does not mean that we have to publish every detail of our life on social media. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with sending a private message to a friend, but not every person needs to know everything about us. The telephone number, address and data from documents are examples of things that we should keep private for our own safety. When using the Internet, it is worth asking yourself: who will see the information we share and do we want this person to see it?

Don’t reveal your passwords to others
If you have accounts on some websites, you certainly need the appropriate password to log in to them. This password should be kept secret, as it may prove dangerous to reveal it to someone. What if you give someone your account password and they change it? You may then lose access to your data. And if that person later starts changing your account information, it can lead to even more trouble. To avoid this, do not reveal your password to anyone. For this, you can try to keep the password strong. The more different characters (upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters), the harder it is to guess the password.

Use antivirus software
Sometimes, one accidental click is all it takes for our computer to catch a virus. Sometimes we don’t even notice it. And computer viruses can mess up a lot and damage our equipment. To prevent this, we can use an antivirus program that will protect us against such situations. However, we must remember that the program should be updated – then it will be more effective.

Don’t download files from sites you don’t know
If you come across a website that you think is suspicious, better not download any files from it. There is a risk that you will download a virus on your computer. When in doubt, try to find information about this page. Check opinions about it or ask your friends if they know it. If you still have doubts, better use a verified website that you already know.

These few simple ways will allow you to use the Internet safer and more consciously. It doesn’t matter if you use it on a computer or a phone – the rules remain the same. Safer Internet Day is a good opportunity to practice good habits on this topic.