iEARN in Action, February 16, 2007

Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects!
1. Submit articles to 'A Vision' anthology by last week of February.
2. Check out Global Art from around the globe.
3. Join the Value of Money in Our Lives Project.
4. Teacher seeking partners for math activities.
5. A Day in the Life Project seeking new facilitator.

Resources, Contests, Websites and Announcements!
6. Join a global book club discussing the "Earth Charter"
7. Check out the latest Learning Circle student work.
8. ISTE Telelearning Special Interest Group Online Learing Award.
9. UNICEF "Make a Difference" 1-minute youth-produced video contest.

Upcoming Events!
10. Megaconference Jr. 2007.
11. Celebration of Teaching and Learning in NYC, USA.
12. YouthCaN Conference at the American Museum of Natural History, NYC, USA.
13. 14th Annual iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit, Cairo, Egypt.  

Recent Events!
14. iEARN-Pakistan workshop in Lahore.

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Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects
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1. SUBMIT ARTICLES TO A VISION UNTIL LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY. Current Student Editors of "A Vision" write, "We would like to thank everyone who has been participating and contributing articles in our forum. The iEARN Philippines Team is currently developing the website. We are encouraging you to submit more articles until the last week of February." For more about this iEARN project [started in 1991] and its purpose ["to use art and the medium of creative writing to demonstrate that, despite linguistic, cultural, ethnic and racial differences, teenagers around the world share the same hopes, fears, interests and concerns"], see http://www.iearn.org/projects/avision.html.

2. CHECK OUT YOUTH-PRODUCED ARTWORK FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. The Global Art: A Sense of Caring forum is filled with artwork from young students in Oman, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, and the USA. For a link to the forum and information about the project, see here.

3. VALUE OF MONEY IN OUR LIVES PROJECT. US teacher, Robert Kaufman, writes, "I am starting a new project called 'Virtual Enterprise'." We will be creating and running our own virtual travel agencies. If you are interested please come and visit! Contact Robert.

4. TEACHER SEEKING PARTNERS FOR MATH ACTIVITY. Algebra II and Math Analysis level global learning project promoting creativity in mathematics. Students will create a calendar highlighting mathematicians, their contributions, and student created problem sets or math puzzles. Students will gain a better understanding of the creativity in mathematics. This project is designed to help students see the more creative and artistic side of math. Contact Alane Marie Cleven in the USA. http://www.numbercrunchersallowed.com/GLPhome.htm

5. ONE DAY IN THE LIFE PROJECT SEEKING NEW FACILITATOR. A very big thank you to Viviana Cuello from Argentina, facilitator of One Day in English, for all her creativity and hard work facilitating the project for the past three years. Viviana is no longer able to serve as the project's facilitator, but is eager to support a new teacher or team of teachers to take over the position of project facilitator. If you are interested in serving in this role, please email Lisa Jobson. For more about the project, see http://www.iearn.org/projects/oneday.html.

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Check it Out! Resources, Contests, Websites, Announcements.
(This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)
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6. JOIN A GLOBAL TEACHER BOOK CLUB - ONE BOOK, ONE WORLD.. iEARN educators worldwide are invited to join us in One Book, One World as we discuss "Earth Charter" a book of the Earth Charter Initiative. "The Earth Charter...is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century." http://www.earthcharter.org/ You can download the book by individual essays (available in Dutch, English or Spanish) here. We will start discussions on February 26 on essays in the Preface and Preamble. For more information go here or contact Diane Midness.

7. CONGRATULATIONS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE SEPT-JAN LEARNING CIRCLE SESSION! 70 schools in 7 Circles exchanged 1600 messages. In addition to the existing themes, the MY HERO Project has become the fourth strand in iEARN's Learning Circles for the school year, 2006-2007. See their final projects on the Finished Project Page http://www.iearn.org/circles/2006session2/index.htm. The January to May 2007 session of Learning Circles has begun with 65 classrooms in 9 Circles engaged in tele-collaborative project-based learning activities. For more about Learning Circles, see http://www.iearn.org/circles/.

8. ISTE TELELEARNING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIGTel) ONLINE LEARNING AWARD. Recognizes creative teachers for their pioneering use of telecommunication networks to provide innovative learning opportunities for school-age students K–16. Deadline to submit is March 31, 2007. http://www.iste.org/sigtel.

9. UNICEF 'MAKE A DIFFERENCE" ONE-MINUTE YOUTH-PRODUCED VIDEO CONTEST. Winning video will be broadcast around the world on The International Children's Day of Broadcasting, vodcast by UNICEF, featured on the UNICEF and Voices of Youth websites and honored at the PROMAX/BDA Conference in New York. Deadline: March 30, 2007.

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Upcoming Events
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10. MEGACONFERENCE JR. 2007. The general and Interactive Registration is now open for the 4th Annual Megaconference Jr. 2007 on February 22, 2007 from 12:00 noon GMT to 12:00 midnight GMT to interact with schools from around the world. The schedule of presentations is now posted at: http://www.megaconferencejr.org/. Join over hundreds of sites from countries all around the world including Portugal, Australia, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, England, Spain, Slovenia, Pakistan, and the US. iEARN-USA is an affiliate partner of Megaconference Jr. 2007.

11. CELEBRATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING. Educators from around the United States will come together in New York City on March 23-24, 2007 for the 2nd Annual Celebration. iEARN teachers and students from a number of countries are working with the organizers to share international collaborative project work. At Celebration '07 there is a stellar roster of nationally-recognized speakers: former vice president Al Gore, NBC's Tim Russert, learning differences specialist Mel Levine, media and education expert Milton Chen, NOVA scienceNOW host Neil deGrasse Tyson, Wide Angle host Daljit Dhaliwal the Kratt brothers from Kratts' Creatures, and many others. iEARN's PEARL youth reporters from a number of countries will attend to report on the event. Information on the Celebration is at: http://www.thirteencelebration.org/

12. YouthCaN 2007 EVENT TO BE HELD IN NEW YORK CITY ON APRIL 23, 2007. Watch http://www.youthcanworld.org for details of this and other YouthCaN events happening around the world. YouthCaN is a year-round network within iEARN of students using telecommunications technologies to undertake and/or share environmental work locally and around the world.

13. iEARN-EGYPT TO HOST 14TH ANNUAL iEARN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND 11TH YOUTH SUMMIT, JULY 21 - 26, 2007 IN CAIRO. The theme of the conference is: Connecting Cultures and Respecting Differences: A Global Dialogue for Development and Sustainability. This theme will serve as an umbrella for iEARN projects and other sub-themes such as: professional development, new educational developments, new developments in ICT, iEARN initiatives and management, global dialogue and rural development. The conference is expected to attract 1000 participants. Parallel to the educators' conference, there will be an international youth summit with a focus on Leadership and Youth Empowerment. Check out the new conference website, designed by iEARN-Egypt students and alumni: http://www.iearn2007.net. General inquiries: <info@iearnegypt.org> & <dalia@iearnegypt.org>. Conference registration & call for paper: <iearn2007@yahoo.com> & <info@iearnegypt.org>. Deadline for workshop submissions: March 15, 2007. Conference and Youth Summit registration is open from July 1, 2006 - June 30 2007. Late fees will apply for registrations received after April 1, 2007.

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Recent Events
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14. iEARN-PAKISTAN HOSTS WORKHOP IN LAHORE, FEBRUARY 9-10, 2007.Saleem Ibrahim and Lydia George of iEARN-Pakistan, along with veteran iEARN Master Trainers Naila Khan and Maqsood Ahmed of Lahore, facilitated seminars with a group of new teachers at the iEARN Internet Learning Centre at the SOS Hermain Gmeiner School-Lahore. The workshops reached approximately 50 new educators from 10 schools of Lahore and nearby cities. Meet them in the Teachers Forum.

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For Reference
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TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH: Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to newsflash@us.iearn.org.
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iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a global non-profit network that empowers teachers and students to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people. Started in 1988, iEARN is currently active in over 120 countries, with 1,000,000 students participating as part of their education. iEARN-International: http://www.iearn.org

Download the 2005-2006 iEARN Project Book: http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html (available in Arabic, English, French, and Japanese) or for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/
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