iEARN in Action, December 3, 2004

" My students and I love iEARN forums and projects. We are all ready to communicate to make our Earth a better place to live on. We are proud to be part of the family, to be active members in iEARN family. Do you know why we overcome all the obstacles? Simply because we love being on the Forum with our family."- Samah Al Jundi, Mutafawaqeen School, iEARN Syria.

Join Us! Seeking Contacts, Contributions and Collaborators

**DOWNLOAD THE NEW iEARN 2004-2005 PROJECT BOOK!  See http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html **

HELP TO CREATE PEACE AND HEALING THEMED MURALS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF BESLAN, RUSSIA. On Sunday, December 5th, over 1,000 children will gather in Vienna, Austria to create a special mural with a peace and healing theme to send to the children and families of Beslan. The Art Miles Project Team would like to invite iEARN teachers and students worldwide to join them in this effort, which will be incorporated into the Art Miles Mural Project's Peace, Unity and Healing Mural Mile. If people and schools are interested, please create a five by twelve foot mural on canvas with acrylic paints, perhaps with images of yourselves and your schools and send Joanne Tawfilis by the end of January, and the team will bring/send them all together on Valentine's Day, February 14th directly to Beslan.ÝQuestions? Contact Joanne Tawfilis, or for general information about the project, or to join in discussions, see http://www.iearn.org/projects/artmiles.html.

LAND USAGE AND DISTRIBUTION PROJECT. As part of the project, students find out the size of their country, how much land has been spared for urban settlement, agricultural activities, and parks, and about the policies that are being employed by their governments to manage land.Ý See http://www.iearn.org/projects/landusage.html to connect to the forum, or write to Paul Mpofu in Zimbabwe.

INTERESTED IN WORKING ON A PROJECT ON ENDANGERED SPECIES? A science teacher at the International Preparatory School in the USA writes "Students (grades 9-11) are starting a project about an endangered species of their choice. This will lead into their main YouthCaN Project (http://www.youthcanworld.org). I would like at least one of their references to be a student contacted through iEARN. The details can be changed as needed. We can either just exchange information or have them working on a project together." Contact Daniel Drew in the USA.

SCHOOL IN EGYPT SEEKING PARTNER FOR "YOUTHCAN PREVENT AIDS" PROJECT. "Our Goal is to make youth aware of AIDS and the life they live in." Contact Mina Morcos Aziz from the Middle East Language School in Alexandria, Egypt.

VIRTUES PROJECT. The website for the iEARN Project, Virtues- A Book of Inner and Outer World is successfully launched. http://www.iearnpk.org/Virtues/index.htm. iEARN classrooms around the world are invited to participate by responding to the writing prompts posted in the Virtues Forum.

INTERESTED IN DISCUSSING URBAN REGENERATION EFFORTS WITH A SCHOOL IN WALES? The Urban Regeneration of Swansea is a cross-curricular project investigating the urban regeneration of South West Wales, in particular, the city of Swansea. Contact Jeff Moses in Wales

A LETTER TO A NATIVE LAND. The iEARN Lithuanian centre has launched a national project "A Letter to a Native Land" for primary school students.  The project was initiated by a primary school teacher Vida Povilaitiene from Lizdeikos gymnasium, Radviliskis, Lithuania at the beginning of this year.  The result of the first stage - the exhibition of the pictures has been presented in the public library. The exhibits are from different regions of Lithuanian primary schools. The students are planning to create poems in the next stage. For more information, contact Rima Tarbuniene.

MOVING VOICES VIDEO PROJECT. The project's website, http://movingvoices.iearn.org, showcasing the twelve student-produced videos from Argentina, Botswana, Canada, Egypt, India, Japan, Morocco, Czech Republic, South Africa, the USA and Zimbabwe, is now available. In addition to the student videos, the website also features information about the MovingVoices project, the MovingVoices process of making films and how to join MovingVoices as we move into Phase 2.

ONE WORLD - ONE ENVIRONMENT PROJECT. Interested in a program engaging young people in local sustainability issues? Mary Gowers writes, "Thanks to Welsh Government funding we have been able to develop a resource pack of stimulus material that engages young people in exploring how their life style impacts on the global community. This pack will be freely available on the iEARN UK website in January." See the One World Forum. Or contact Mary Gowers in Wales.

GEOMETRY & MATHEMATICS IN ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE PROJECT. A team of students from Iran writes, "From ancient times, people of different countries tried to know geometry principles and use them in their buildings. Nowadays, their buildings, besides showing their feelings and senses, show their knowledge in geometry and its principles. For we are Iranians, we have researched about hidden geometry of Islamic patterns & now we try to know more about the architecture of buildings in other cultures and countries, too. By this way, we can find out the usages and mysteries of architecture in man's life."  Interested?  Contact  Samaneh Sadeghi, Negin Yashmi, Nazanin Khosravani Tehrani, and Nargess Khalil Gharibi in Iran.

JOIN IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT WITH STUDENTS IN EGYPT, THE USA, AND UZBEKISTAN IN THE LEARNING DEMOCRACY FORUM! Login to Learning Democracy Forum. For more information, see http://www.iearn.org/projects/democracy.html. 

JOIN STUDENTS IN ARMENIA, GEORGIA, PAKISTAN, THE USA, AND UZBEKISTAN CURRENTLY WORKING IN THE LOCAL HISTORY FORUM!  Login to Local History Forum. For more information, see http://www.iearn.org/projects/localhistory.html.

JOIN STUDENTS FROM LEBANON, IRAN, THE USA, AND UZBEKISTAN IN THE WATER HABITAT FORUM. Login to Water Habitat Project.  For more information, see http://www.iearn.org/projects/waterhabitatproject.html.

JOIN STUDENTS FROM AZERBAIJAN, MOROCCO, PAKISTAN, SENEGAL, THE USA, UZBEKISTAN, LEBANON, AND IRAN IN THE MY COUNTRY/BREAKING STEREOTYPES FORUM.  Login to My Country/Breaking Stereotypes Forum or see http://www.iearn.org/projects/mycountry.html and http://www.iearn.org/projects/breakingstereotypes.html

Check it out! Resources, Web Sites and Postings (including resources that are not part of iEARN)

3 DAYS LEFT TO ENTER YOUR iEARN PROJECT WORK IN CHILDNET ACADEMY PROGRAMME!  SUBMISSION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 6TH, 2004. The Academy competition is for young people 18 years and under who have developed online projects or have a new idea which will benefit other young people around the world. Children and young people can enter individually or as a school project. Winners of the 2005 Academy will win a trip for two to Jamaica to participate in the Academy week programme and prize money from a £30K fund. For further information please visit http://www.childnetacademy.org.

SUBMIT YOUR iEARN PROJECTS TO THE STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE.  The deadline for nominations is December 31, 2005. For more information and to apply, visit http://www.stockholmchallenge.se.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS ABOUT WHY GOOD TEACHERS DROP OUT OF THE PROFESSION. For the February/March issue of Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.org/) magazine, we're working on a story about why good teachers--great teachers--often drop out of the teaching profession. We'd like to get your take on the topic. If you're a teacher, what keeps you in the classroom in spite of the pay, the hours, and the other drawbacks? What could change to make you stay in the profession longer (or to make your stay happier)? If you're not a teacher, is there something you do to keep teachers teaching? Send your responses, along with your full name, location, and title, to edit@edutopia.org.

PSYCHOSOCIAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM SPONSORED BY SCIENCE AND ARTS FOUNDATION FOR TEACHERS IN BAM, IRAN. In the aftermath of the tragic Bam earthquake, the Science and Arts Foundation planned and implemented a number of programs in support of children in Bam including ICT and art therapy classes in partnership with iEARN and Schoolnet. See http://bam.schoolnet.ir.

LULLABY PROJECT. This project allows individuals to share their heritage with future generations and ensure that these songs are not lost. Help preserve these incredible expressions of our cultures and love for children. A website is being planned that will be a central repository.  It will include the stories behind the lullabies in native languages. These lullabies will enhance multi cultural understanding, and re-establish the lullaby as a part of the joy of parenting. Contact Anita Gerlach in the USA.

Coming Soon! Upcoming Events and Projects!

12TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE - JULY 17-24 2005 IN DAKAR, SENEGAL. The conference will be held at the Meridian Hotel. Watch http://www.iearn.org for more information, or login to the 2005 Senegal Conference Discussion Forum

3RD WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS IN SCOTLAND, JULY 30 - AUGUST 8, 2005. The congress theme is "Young People working together for a sustainable world community".  All applicants must be 18-25 years old on July 30, 2005 and will fall under four categories: Activists, Performers/Artists, and Young Journalists. For further details and an application form visit www.scotland2005.org and register for our newsletter.

Recent Events!

GLOBAL JUNIOR CHALLENGE AWARDS - NOVEMBER 15-19 - CONGRATULATIONS TO iEARN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN MACEDONIA, KOSOVO, ALBANIA, ITALY, CANADA, AND FINLAND! The project of teachers in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia, "Youth Have a Say Against Terrorism," shared first prize in the category of youth up to 18 years of age, "We the Children" of Canada won an award in the youth up to 15 years of age category, and "ENO - Environment Online" in Finland was awarded as a finalist in the up to 18 years of age category in the Global Junior Challenge Award http://www.gjc.it/2004/index.asp.

iEARN/YouthCaN SENEGAL AND GAMBIA MEETING. Festus U. Edit of The Gambia, shares that the iEARN/YouthcaN (http://www.youthcanworld.org/) teachers from The Gambia travelled to meet colleagues in Senegal from November 21-24, 2004. The team of 10 teachers was received by Salimata Sene, Alimata Jobe and Marie Ndeye for 3 days of school visits and sharing of iEARN project work.

VIEW NOVEMBER 19TH GLOBAL WEBCAST FEATURING iEARN COUNTRY COORDINATORS DISCUSSING INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND HOW TECHNOLOGY POWERS IT. iEARN Coordinators from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Oman, Indonesia, Tunisia, and Pakistan were featured on a panel with Joseph Esposito, Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Education. The event was held as part of International Education Week, in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC and Nortel Networks Kidz Online. View the webcast at http://www.kidzonline.org/iew.