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TEACHER REFLECTIONS
Liz Rout
iEARN Teacher, Australia
School: Thomas Mitchell Primary School in Endeavour Hills, Victoria
Congratulations and thank you to iEARN! In some ways, although it sounds dramatic, iEARN has changed my year! You see late last year, although I was (and am still) new to iEARN, I received a scholarship, from iEARN Australia, to assist with costs of travel to the 2008 conference in Uzbekistan. Most Australians have not even heard of Uzbekistan, don't know where it is and never, ever get the opportunity to travel there....So iEARN has broadened my teaching outlook, opened up shared teaching opportunities and given my husband and I an opportunity to travel, that we wouldn't have ever dreamed of.
Rebecca Richardson
iEARN Teacher, USA
School: St. James Episcopal Day School in Baton Rouge, LA
Reflection on her first year joining iEARN and integrating global projects
St. James Episcopal Day School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA has moved beyond the classroom’s walls, thanks to iEarn. Through the National Educators Computer Conference, (NECC), the school’s librarian, Rebecca Richardson, found the perfect way to “go global” without leaving the school. Read more
Donna Powell
iEARN Teacher, Jamaica
Sharing thoughts after a year of being with iEARN
I joined iEARN about 1 year ago. The experiences both professional and academic are awesome. Professionally, I am able to use integrate technology in my teaching. Presently my students are involved in the Daffodil and Tulip [Project]. They are having fun. iEARN has confirmed for me that learning can be fun.
Nila Khan
iEARN Teacher, Pakistan
Vijaya
iEARN Teacher, India
Reflecting on Learning Circles Project
I have been regularly participating in Learning Circles sessions every year... It's a very interactive and students and teachers learn a lot from each other. I observed that my students improved in various skills like communicating , researching, thinking, writing, presenting, publishing, etc..., I personally learned many teaching skills from my colleagues around the world.
Louise Prescott
iEARN Teacher, USA
School: Mills Pond Elementary School in St. James, NY
Reflecting on her students experience with One Day in A Life Project
The Smithtown Central School District has been piloting the iEARN program in our schools this year (2007-08). As a participant, I chose to work with third grade students on the “One Day in the Life” project. The third grade social studies curriculum includes cultural studies of several countries, including Japan, Australia, and Brazil. Therefore, I thought this would be a great opportunity for these students to communicate with other children around the world and discover the similarities and differences between cultures.
 The students were eager to do this project from the first day I introduced it. We brainstormed ten topics we would like to write about during our school day: Art, Gym, Music, Library, To and From School, Lunch time, Recess time, Classroom Activities, Buddy Classes, and what our hometown of St. James is like. Students selected a topic and wrote a short description of it. We also took photographs to accompany our writing. As each topic was posted, we have been checking for responses and also responding to other groups’ posting. We have communicated with students from Taiwan, the Ukraine, and Pakistan. It has been great fun so far and we will continue to participate through the end of the school year. [Pictured: students at Mills Pond working in class, a photo they shared in the project's Album along with other photo contributions for the One Day in A Life Project].
M. Manyeh
iEARN Teacher, Liberia
Sending a Message to iEARN-USA Executive Director, Ed Gragert
May I in a special way extend to you a happy and a prosperous New Year. Thanks a million once more for opening up the doors of iEARN to me. Since 2003, you were the one that invited me to this all important global network. My life has become so enriched from this network and I have become so enlightened...
Joanne Colucci and Danielle Lichtenstein
iEARN Teacher, USA
School: PS 35 in Hollis, New York
iEARN is certainly a window through which we can all look at each other to find our differences and, more importantly, our similarities, on a global scale. We’re happy to be on board! Read more
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ONLINE COURSE REFLECTIONS
Sheeba Ajmal
iEARN Teacher, Pakistan
Reflecting on Online Courses
iEARN has opened a door to the world for me! There is so much to share and learn while being connected with rest of the world. Online learning is peaceful and exertion free. My expereience with the first course was awesome! My course facilitators were very cooperative. I have learned a lot and just want to continue with the learning process. Technology used properly can reshape our lives for good!
YOUTH AND ALUMNI REFLECTIONS
Omar Tarek
iEARN Egypt Alumni
Vice Youth Representative, iEARN Egypt Students Board
I am really thankful [for] the chance to join this huge diverse community! I still remember the first day I joined iEARN [on the] 22nd of November 2005. I was hearing in school some students talking about it, so my curiousity pushed me to go and ask...
iEARN itself is a really valuable experience, but to me the real professional experience I had with iEARN was during the International Conference and Youth Summit in Egypt 2007. I was assigned and it was my honour to be one of the Organizing Committee Volunteers in the summit. I really learned how to deal with critical urgent issue[s], resistability and working under pressure and ease [at] the same time! ...
iEARN gave me the chance to be independent and only depend on my self in certain situations. My way of thinking and dealing with other[s] has really changed to the positive side. I feel that with iEARN I got to be more mature in my perceptions and reactions. I was changed from a person with a blury vision to a person with a vivid clear one!
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