Hello iEARN-USA teachers!
Welcome to the first issue of iEARN's
US newsletter-a monthly compilation of all the news, happenings,
announcements and opportunities we think you'd like to hear about.
We'll also include spotlights on members, projects and student work to
help you get a better sense of the greater impact of iEARN's work
across the country, and get a bit more connected. If you'd like to
share the story of your iEARN involvement, have items you'd like to
submit for inclusion in the next newsletter, or have suggestions for
what more you'd like to see (or not see), please send them to
usnews@us.iearn.org. I look forward to hearing from you!
Warmly,
Mariam Habib
US Membership Coordinator
mhabib@us.iearn.org
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IEARN-US Newsletter, Issue 1
August 16, 2004
1. Member Feature: Nuria Peguero
Hello iEARN teachers, my name is Nuria Peguero. I am 18 years old and
am currently a college student in New York City. I have been
involved in iEARN for a year and a half. I first began
participating in iEARN through YouthCaN (an environmental project of
iEARN). In YouthCaN, I am part of a youth planning committee; we
conduct annual conferences where youth and teachers from around the
nation and world present their environmental projects (being
deforestation or pollution). My first year at YouthCaN, I was
given the opportunity to be master of ceremony for our annual
conference. Being master of ceremony gave me social and
leadership skills, it also made me less afraid to go out in the world
and take the world by storm. Later on, that year, I began
interning at iEARN U.S.A. My experience at iEARN so far has been
far beyond amazing. I have met so many people from around the
world through the iEARN forums. These people have opened up my
mind and have helped me expand my knowledge even further.
Before iEARN I was just a feather in the middle of a storm, it was like
I moved where ever the wind would take me. But now, after iEARN,
I am a stone in the middle of a storm, a stone who is grounded, who is
determined and who has a clear and concrete idea of her mission in the
world. iEARN has given me a mission and the mission is to impact
people and to make a difference in the world. Just as iEARN
impacted and changed me, I can also impact and change people.
To get more information about getting involved in YouthCaN, go to: http://www.iearn.org/projects/youthcan.html.
2. IEARN News and Happenings
US teachers travel to Amman, Jordan to meet with counterparts in 17 countries
The BRIDGE Program, of which some of you are a part, supports dialogue
and collaboration between educators and students in the U.S. and
countries with large Muslim populations with the goal of promoting
mutual understanding.
On July 6th, iEARN-Jordan hosted a four-day BRIDGE Regional
Conference for more than 150 participants from 16 countries including
Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, the
United Arab Emirates, Oman, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia,
Indonesia, and the United States. It is the largest international
conference for teachers ever held in the region.
This international gathering represents the ongoing efforts of
teachers and students participating in iEARN's collaborative education
programs and brings together teachers and students from North Africa,
the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia and the United States, and is
open to educators from around the world.
To see photos from the conference, go to http://thebridgeproject.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=gallery&file=index
For more information on the BRIDGE Project, visit http://www.thebridgeproject.org.
11th Annual iEARN International Conference in Kosice, Slovakia
From July 11-17 2004, over 60 US teachers and students traveled to
Kosice, Slovakia, to be part of a gathering of participants from over
58 countries at the 11th annual iEARN Global Teacher Conference and
Youth Summit. Different regions of the country were well represented,
with teachers coming from Delaware, New York, Florida, Washington
State, Wyoming, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, and Washington, DC, among
others. If you attended the conference and have photos to share or
stories to tell, please send us your links to include in the global
newsflash. Send an email to ljobson@us.iearn.org.
The conference organizers have also created a message and photo
board for participants to post reflections, pictures, videos and more,
and will soon upload their own store of photos and video. Visit http://www.iearn2004.net for more information, and stay tuned to http://www.iearn.org for information on next year's international conference and youth summit to be held in Dakar, Senegal in July 2005.
3. Announcements and Opportunities:
Send Greetings to Teachers at the International Prep School in Cleveland
Diane Midness will be holding a workshop there on Monday, August 16 to
introduce teachers to iEARN. Post greetings in the Teachers Forum
at: http://foro.iearn.org/webx?50@@.1deb1e7d/3
Send Greetings to English Summer Camp Participants in Uzbekistan
iEARN Uzbekistan Center in collaboration with School Connectivity for Uzbekistan
program and Public Affairs Section, US Embassy in Uzbekistan is
conducting English Summer Camp for children from 7 cities of
Uzbekistan. Please leave your comments for camp participants and
welcome them to iEARN community by posting to the Teachers Forum at: http://foro.iearn.org/webx?50@@.1deb1f04/1. There will be a camp website created at http://www.iearn.uz/ during the camp.
Back to School Re-opening Special!
Come to the US Center Forum and discuss successes and challenges with
iEARN projects in the US. Let's work together on answering questions
about project based learning, assessment, standards, whatever you would
like to discuss. This forum will be facilitated by Celia Einhorn (celia@osogrande.com) of Tijeras, New Mexico and Mariam Habib (mhabib@us.iearn.org)
of New York City. Please join in helping to build a strong US
iEARN community! You can access the forum at
http://foro.iearn.org/.f112f83/.
Online Course enrollment now open!
New to iEARN or want to learn how iEARN projects relate to your curriculum? The best way is to learn by doing!
iEARN online professional development courses are set in an
interactive, collaborative and supportive environment. Each
9-week course is designed to help you learn more about iEARN and how
you can implement an online collaborative project that relates to your
curriculum standards into your classroom. You will do this by
completing weekly activities and discussions online with teachers
around the United States and around the world.
The online courses are a unique experience in online
collaborative learning and sharing amongst educators. Courses are
offered twice a year, with the fall session running from October 4th -
December 5th, 2004. For a printed flyer you can share with your
colleagues, go to http://www.iearn.org/professional/GeneralFlyer.pdf or visit http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html to find more information and enrollment forms.
IEARN-US Searching for Students to Build US Youth Activism & Representation within iEARN
iEARN-USA is seeking for dedicated and responsible students (10-18) to
form a network of iEARN-USA youth. This network will work together to
strengthen US student participation in the forums and to build the
structure for an iEARN-USA Youth organization. These students will work
with the current US Local Youth Representative, Lucas Koziol (lucas@us.iearn.org),
to assess the forums in order to determine how to increase youth
participation in iEARN. After the assessment, the students will then be
responsible for creating a student guidebook to using the forums. This
guidebook will be used to train US youth to participate in the forums.
In the process, we hope to create an organization to represent
iEARN-USA youth.
If you have questions about our initiative and/or if you would
like to recommend a student, please contact Neteria Augcomfar at Naugcomfar@us.iearn.org.
The next session of Learning Circles is about to begin!
Learning Circles are about to begin again! Get your feet wet in iEARN
project work by participating in a smaller circle of iEARN teachers
committed to working on one another's projects. Learning circles are
appropriate for every subject area and grade level, so register early
and get on board! Placements forms are due September 15th and can be
found at http://amity.iearn.org/circles/index.lasso. Circles begin the last week of September. For more information, visit http://www.iearn.org/circles
4. Resources and Awards:
Green Guide for Back-to-School Shopping
The Center for a New American Dream has recently developed a Back-to-School Activist Toolkit, http://www.newdream.org/consumer/toolkit.html.
With a buying and action guide as well as in-store comment cards, this
downloadable tool kit will help shoppers find and request
environmentally and socially preferable products. Please feel free to
share this guide with anyone you think would be interested.
Global Action Awards
http://www.globalactionawards.org
Do you know an outstanding teenager who has made a real
difference in the fight against global poverty? Then help reward them
for their work! NetAid's Global Action Awards honor young people ages
14-18 in the U.S. who are building a brighter future for the world's
poorest people. Honorees will be awarded $5000 and be recognized at an
awards event in New York City. Application deadline is September 24th,
2004.
5. Publishing Opportunities/Requests for Articles:
Send us your articles!
Have you published and essay or article in the last year? Were you
featured in a journal, community newspaper, or other media outlet? We'd
love to share your work with the rest of the community, so please send
us your links or copies!
Seeking Manuscripts on Multicultural Science Education
(Deadline: September 15)
From the July 6, 2004 NSTA Express
http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/nstaexpress_2004_07_06.htm
The Science Teacher is seeking manuscripts for four upcoming focus issues:
Professional Development (submission deadline: July 15),
The Science of Art and the Art of Science (submission deadline: August 1),
Our Place in the Universe (submission deadline: August 15), and
Multicultural Science Education (submission deadline: September 15).
In addition, The Science Teacher encourages authors to submit
original manuscripts, Idea Bank articles, or commentaries on any
secondary science topic at any time for further consideration by our
peer-review panel and field editor. For information on each of these
focus issues and guidelines for submitting to the journal, visit http://www.nsta.org/420.
--
Mariam Habib, US Membership Coordinator
International Education & Resource Network (iEARN)
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 450
New York City, 10115
Phone: 212-870-2693
Fax: 212-870-2672
www.iearn.org
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