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BRIDGE exchange high school students from India,
celebating Halloween in Altanta, GA. Pictured
is the principal of an elementary school where students
participated in a program to mentor younger students.
November 2005:
US Newsletter Issue VI
Celebrating International Education Week
Join iEARN-USA's Open House Event on Tuesday, Novermber 15th. Click here for details!!
In this Issue: (Click on individual headings or scroll down):
- iEARN's Open House Celebration
- Videoconference celebration at Riverwood High School in Atlanta, GA
- iEARN-USA hosts a luncheon at ACTFL Annual Conference
- Collaborate with iEARN Uzbekistan
- Natural Disaster Youth Summit: Visit iEARN Taiwan in 2006
- Collaborate with Schools in Germany: English-German Language Partners
(2) iEARN in the News
- World Languages Creative Innovtion Certificate awarded to iEARN-USA
- Breaking Streotypes: Students from Madison, WI travel to Beirut, Lebanon on a BRIDGE Exchange
- Upcoming Conferences
- Online Professional Development Courses approved by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Workshops in Action
(4) Grants and Other Opportunities
International Education Week 2005
iEARN-USA's Open House: On
Tuesday, November 15th EARN-USA will host an Open House in celebration
of International Education Week. All are welcome, particularly
those who have never engaged in international online collaboration.
The Open House offers the opportunity to display project work,
learn how teachers are using technology to connect their classrooms to
the world, visit iEARN-USAís offices, and the chance to meet teachers
and students who have experiences to share. Rooms will be dedicated as
galleries for student projects and hands-on displays. iEARN-USA will
offer opportunity to connect to teachers and youth in other parts of
the US and abroad via videoconference! If you wish to display
your project work during the Open House or would like to join our
celebration, please contact Christine Robinson at crobinson@us.iearn.org so we know how much food to prepare.
Click here for more details.
Also visit the official IEW site for a complete listing of events around the world, including iEARN-USA and iEARN Egypt.
Videoconference Celebration:
During Internatinal Education Week, students from Cardozo High School
in Washington D.C. and BRIDGE exchange students from Jordan, will all
participate in a videoconference on location at Cardozo High.
Jordan students arrive in the US on November 5th and hosted by Cardozo
families for their three-week exchange. The conference is
scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th from noon to 1:30 PM EST.
AYUSA International and iEARN, in partnership with the Global Nomads Group,
will sponsor a live videoconference which will bring together YES and
BRIDGE participants (current and alumni) and American high school
students to discuss how cross cultural exchange has impacted their
views of the world.
Four schools, including Cardozo, have
been selected to participate as ëambassador schoolsí. At the start of
the conference, a YES student moderator will share his personal
exchange experience with the group and will then ask representatives
from the other ambassador sites to discuss their experiences. The
moderator will then field questions from students, teachers, host
families and community leaders from participating schools.
The purpose of this videoconference is: to increase perception and understanding of the peoples and cultures of the Middle East among American youth to highlight the exchange experience of YES and BRIDGE students from the Middle East and Pakistan to send a positive message to U.S students, teachers and parents about the wonderful benefits of hosting.
iEARN-USA hosts a luncheon at ACTFL Annual Conference: On
Thursday, November 17th iEARN USA, as part of the annual ACTFL
Conference in Baltimore and in conjunction with International Education
Week, will host a luncheon for the ACTFL Assembly of Delegates to share
with them how virtual global exchanges can be used to enhance language
teaching and learning. ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) has declared 2005 to be the Year of Languages.
The Assembly of Delegates represent the key leaders of state
language associations from across the United States. They will be
joined at the luncheon by the members of the National Association of
District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL). iEARN will
demonstrate how language classes can be enhanced through online
interactive educational projects, enabling students to have meaningful
dialogues with authentic speakers in any of its 115 countries.
 Collaborate with iEARN Uzbekistan: iEARN
Uzbekistan and many schools in Uzbekistan are working on the Comfort
Quilt Project for Pakistani students. The project is a big quilt drive
and includes a schedule. They are also trying to involve the US
Embassy in Uzbekistan, Pakistan Embassy in Uzbekistan, UNDP, Uzbek NGOs
and Uzbek schools. iEARN Uzbekistan is looking for US teachers to join
their efforts and reach the goal of making close to or more than 50
quilts to send to Pakistani children by Christmas 2005.
If interested, please join the Comfort Quilts forum, click here. If you are new to iEARN and want to read more about this project please click here. You can also contact Anatoly Kochnev at akochnev@iearn.uz
 iEARN Taiwan invites 2 teacher and 4 students: On
January 6-8, iEARN Taiwan - with the Board of Education in Kaohsiung
City amd the National Science and Technology Museum - invite you to
visit them for the Natural Disaster YouthSummit 2006.
Collaborate with Schools in Germany: Teachers
in Germany are seeking English language partners. Interested in
partnering with classes in Germany? Please contact: julia@us.iearn.org
iEARN in the News
 Creative Innovation Certificate awarded to iEARN-USA: This past October, Washington Association of Foreign Language Teachers [WAFLT]
selected iEARN-USA as the recipient of the Creative Innovation
Certificate! This certificate is presented to a person or persons
who have developed and used innovative methods of teaching in the world
language classroom. On October 14th, Jennifer Geist, of iEARN-USA's
Pacific Northwest Region attended the conference and accepted the
certificate on iEARN-USA's behalf. This is a wonderful honor for
iEARN-USA!
 Breaking Streotypes: On
October 10-27, four students from Verona Area High School and one
teacher, Sue Reget, participated in iEARN's BRIDGE exchange. The BRIDGE
program [Building Respect through Internet Dialogue and Global
Education], funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for
Education and Cultural Affairs, is focused on building links between
students and teachers worldwide. During their trip, students
immersed themselves in culture, discussions about religion, and various
educational fieldtrips. A local Madison paper interviewed Verona
students who shared their experiences:
It was certainly no vacation as the American students discussed issues that would make many adults cringe. Gay
marriage, abortion, religion in the classroom and terrorism were just a
few of the topics in the presentation. At times, the dialogue was
intense....The Verona students didn't just knock down stereotypes; they
had a chance to see through...Sue Reget, a social studies teacher,
accompanied the students on the trip. Aside from being proud of her
students and impressed with the way their public speaking skills
improved with each presentation, Reget noted that one person can make a
difference when it comes to international understanding.
To read the full article please click here.
Professional Development
Upcoming Conferences where you'll find iEARN representatives:
- Nov 12 Multicultural Resources for Educational Excellence Conference, Roxbury, MA.
- Nov 17-22 National Council of Teachers of English, Pittsburgh, PA, http://www.ncte.org/
- Nov 17-22 National Council of the Social Studies, Kansas City, MO,http://www.ncss.org/
- Nov 18-20 American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, Baltimore, MD, http://www.actfl.org/
iEARN-USA is pleased to participate again this year in International Alley at the 2005 NCSS Conference.
The conference takes place in Kansas City, Missouri November 18-19.
International Alley has doubled in size this year! That means lots of
new resources to help you bring international issues into the
classroom. The Alley includes booths 236-263 and will be marked with
globe balloons. Additionally iEARN will be involved in two
workshops at the conference -- Building Global Connections into the
Primary School Classroom, Friday, 9:15-11:15 am; and Global
Connections: Lifeline from Social Studies to the World, Saturday,
3:00-4:00 pm.
Online Professional Development: iEARN-USA Online Courses have been approved by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
Global Studies Department for continuing education credit. Continuing
education credits are used by in-service teachers who have to complete
a certain amount each year to maintain their status. The credit
will be offered starting in February 2006 and teachers outside the
state of Illinois can still get credit through this offering.
For more information and to find out about iEARN-USA's Online courses, please contact Losira Okelo at lokelo@us.iearn.org. Next session for Online Courses begin February 2006!!!
 Workshops in Action:
This past October, Diane Midness - Coordinator for Professional
Workshops, conducted several workshops at the Northwest Wisconsin
Teacher Association Conference, The Friends of International Education
Conference and the Global Educators Conference. iEARN member and
great friend, Judy Freund, presented workshops as well. For more
information about conferences or our Face-to-Face Workshops and
Trainings, please contact Diane at dmidness@us.iearn.org
Non-iEARN Grants and Other Opportunities
Click HERE for grants, awards and other great opportunities for teachers and students.
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