iEARN in Action, December 21, 2007

Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects!
1. Register now for the next session of iEARN Learning Circles.
2. Register now for the next session of iEARN Online Professional Development Courses for Teachers.
3. New facilitator for Give Us Wings to Fly and E-School Magazine Projects.
4. New Project Proposal: The Great Energy Debate.
5. Brazilian class contributes video to Machinto Project.
6. Seeking early childhood teachers for Sesame Street/Panwapa exchange project in iEARN.

Resources, Contests, Websites and Announcements!
7. Countdown to iEARN's 20th Anniversary Year!
8. Seeking volunteer country contact people for iEARN.
9. iEARN student in Palestine named Global Teen Leader by We Are Family Foundation.
10. iEARN Solar Cooker Project featured on NBC Television Station in USA.
11. International TESOL Professional Association offers online session.
12. World Affairs Challenge Video Pilot.
13. Google contest encourages youth to participate in open source development.
14. Human Rights International Film Festival and Adobe Youth Voices seek youth-produced work on human rights.
15. Israeli Center for Back Yard Birding invites schools worldwide to bird count.

Upcoming Events!
16. YouthCaN Environmental Conference (April 2008).
17. iEARN-Trinidad and Tobago to host Natural Disaster Youth Summit (April 2008).
18. 15th Annual iEARN International Conference, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (July 2008). See below for updates on Pre-conference online Q&A sessions.

Recent Events!
19. Four Rivers, One World launches in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
20. Community CATALYST workshops prepare teachers in Pakistan, USA and Uzbekistan for digital animation exchange.

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Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects and Activities
Download the 2007-2008 iEARN Project Book:
http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://media.iearn.org/projects/.
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1. REGISTER NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN LEARNING CIRCLES. Learning Circles are highly interactive, project-based partnerships among a small number of schools located throughout the world. There are two sessions each year, September - January and January - May. Next session begins January 28, 2008 and ends on May 18, 2008. To learn more about Learning Circles and link to a placement form, visit http://www.iearn.org/circles/. Register by January 15th to be placed in a Circle.

2. REGISTER NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR EDUCATORS. Courses enroll participants from around the world, and run frum February 11 - April 6, 2008. Each course is designed so that by the end of nine weeks you will have outlined how you will use a standards-based iEARN project in your classroom. Courses include: Creative Arts, Language Arts/Writing, Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography, Science/Environment/Math, Teaching of Foreign and Second Langauges, Helping Students Cope With Traumatic Events, Learning Circles, Moving Voices (making digital documentaries), and PEARL (integrating journalism skills into the classroom). Read more and register now to save your spot: http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html.

3. NEW FACILITATOR FOR GIVE US WINGS TO FLY PROJECT AND E-SCHOOL MAGAZINE PROJECT. Give Us Wings to Fly: A project in which students exchange information about how they spend their vacations. http://media.iearn.org/projects/palestine. E-School Magazine: An electronic school magazine for exchanging experience between students and teachers. http://media.iearn.org/projects/emagazine. Join the project forums, or contact Mutasem Mafarjeh in Palestine.

4. NEW PROJECT PROPOSAL: THE GREAT ENERGY DEBATE. Curtis Cruise in the USA writes, "I do a project with my sixth graders in which they research various alternative energy resources. (solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, bio-fuel, geothermal) The students research the advantages and disadvantages of each energy source and learn how each power plant works. Then they create a fictitious business and prepare a presentation (using PowerPoint) to a panel of "politicians" who decide which company (energy source) will be chosen to build a new power plant for their community. The students come up with a company name, logo, and slogan. The students also research real/viable solutions to their company's disadvantages." Interested in working together to make this a global collaborative project? Join the discussion on the Teachers Forum or contact Curtis.

5. BRAZILIAN CLASS CONTRIBUTES "THE MANY FACE OF EARTH" VIDEO TO MACHINTO PROJECT. See http://www.vimeo.com/425108. For more about the Machinto Project, based on a picture book called "Machinto" and children's art in wartime, "They Still Draw Pictures," see http://media.iearn.org/projects/machinto.

6. SEEKING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS FOR SESAME STREE/PANWAPA EXCHANGE PROJECT. Panwapa, created by the educational experts behind Sesame Street, is a multimedia, global initiative that is designed to inspire and empower a new generation of children, ages four to seven, to be responsible global citizens. Educators interested in using the materials and joining an online project forum connecting classrooms worldwide to collaborate on the activities of Panwapa can email panwapa@us.iearn.org. For more about Panwapa, see http://www.panwapa.com.

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Check it Out! Resources, Contests, Websites, Announcements.
(This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)
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7. COUNTDOWN TO iEARN's 20th ANNIVERSARY IN 2008! Connect to the Anniversary Forum via http://www.iearn.org/anniversary/.

8. SEEKING ENERGETIC iEARN-ers WILLING TO SERVE AS VOLUNTEER CONTACT PEOPLE IN COUNTRIES WITHOUT EXISTING CONTACT/COORDINATORS. Are you active in iEARN projects in your country? We are seeking energetic iEARNers who would be willing to volunteer to answer inquiries about iEARN and validate new members in their country. (see http://www.iearn.org/globe/countrycoordinators.html for a list of countries without iEARN contact people/coordinators). As the iEARN contact for your country you would be submit an annual report to the iEARN Assembly to inform us about the iEARN work taking place in your country as well as your problems and concerns. Some Country Contacts provide teacher training activities in their country (but this is not required). Opportunities for professional development and personal growth are open to iEARN Country Contact persons. If you are interested in accepting this voluntary position within iEARN please contact the Executive Council of iEARN International at ec@iearn.org telling us about yourself and why you would like to be named an iEARN contact person in your country.

9. iEARN STUDENT IN PALESTINE NAMED GLOBAL TEEN LEADER BY WE ARE FAMILY FOUNDATION. Congratulations to Mahmoud Ja'bari, iEARN Student at Al Hussein Secondary School -- selected as a Global Teen Leader for the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) Three Dot Dash Initiative. See more about the initiative's inaugural Just Peace Summit on March 29th April 4, 2008 in New York City, USA at http://wearefamilyfoundation.org

10. iEARN SOLAR COOKING PROJECT FEATURED ON NBC TELEVISION STATION. See here The Solar Cooker Project is coordinated by Rowena Gerber at Miami Country Day School in the USA, and is also part of YouthCaN (http://www.youthcanworld.org).

11. INTERNATIONAL TESOL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION INVITES PARTICIPATION IN ELECTRONIC VILLAGE ONLINE (EVO). This is a professional development project and virtual extension of the TESOL 2008 Convention in New York. The intended audience for this project includes both TESOL 2008 participants and those who can participate only virtually. You do not need to be a TESOL member to participate in a free, six-week, wholly online session of the EVO, Jan 14 -Feb 24, 2007. See here.

12. WORLD AFFAIRS CHALLENGE VIDEO PILOT. For 16 years, the World Affairs Challenge program has engaged 11-18 year old students in Colorado, USA on various critical international issues through a fun, academic competition at the University of Denver. Now, CTIR is bringing the Challenge to students everywhere through video and the internet! Teams of students are invited to research topics related to Global Health for the next Video Challenge. Then they will create a video presentation on their subject, which will be uploaded to a central website and judged online. Upload deadline: January 25, 2008. For more details, see here.

13. GOOGLE CONTEST TO ENCOURAGE PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPMENT. Following on from the success of the Google Summer of Code program, Google is pleased to announce this new effort to get young people (ages 13 or older who have not yet begun university studies) involved in open source development. Participating students will have the opportunity to learn more about and contribute to all aspects of open source software development, from writing code and documentation to preparing training materials and conducting user experience research. See here.

14. HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND ADOBE YOUTH VOICES SEEKING YOUTH PRODUCED WORKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS. See here.

15. ISRAELI CENTER FOR BACK YARD BIRDING INVITES SCHOOLS WORLDWIDE TO BIRD COUNT. The Back Yard Bird Count which will be held from Jan 25-Feb 9. To learn more about this international operation enter this page: http://www.yardbirds.org.il/eng/eng.htm or contact Shlomit Lipschitz in Israe. Results will be sent to all the participants.

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Upcoming Events
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16. YOUTHCAN 2008, APRIL 7, 2008. Event scheduled for April 7, 2008 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. See 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 for environmental project work. Join the YouthCaN forum.

17. NATURAL DISASTER YOUTH SUMMIT 2008. This year's theme: Global Warming and Disaster Reduction. NDYS 2008 International Conference will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2008. Check out a recent video feature of Abe Fergusson, a youth leader working with iEARN-Trinidad and Tobago on NDYS right here. For more about the project, see http://ndys.jearn.jp/ and to join discussions, http://media.iearn.org/projects/ndys.

18. JOIN iEARN-UZBEKISTAN JULY 12-18 IN BUKHARA FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE. Check out the new conference website, developed by youth with help of iEARN-Uzbekistan team! iEARN-Uzbekistan Country Coordinator, Anatoly Kochnev announces pre-conference activities schedule where people will be able to learn more about conference hosting country, things to bring, activities during the conference, visa issues, travel opportunities and other. Connect in the 2008 Conference forum or see http://www.iearn2008.uz/.

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Recent Events
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19. FOUR RIVERS, ONE WORLD LAUNCHES IN BANGLADESH, INDIA, AND NEPAL, DECEMBER 3-14. Participants included over 60 science educators from the three countries. Trainers came from US based organizations: the American Museum of Natural History, the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology, and iEARN-USA. All iEARN participants are invited to participate in the project's online forum, and can learn more about the project at the 2008 iEARN YouthCaN Conference. Students are encouraged to sample the water from local rivers in their community and share their findings with the wider iEARN community. See here.

20. COMMUNITY CATALYST WORKSHOPS IN PAKISTAN, USA AND UZBEKISTAN. In the USA, from Nov 7th-9th, 9 teachers participated from 7 different schools, including the Louisiana School for the Deaf. In Pakistan, December 17th-18th, 34 teachers and students were introduced to iEARN and to the Natural Disastor Youth Summit. The Community CATALYST project will help youth in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and the U.S. make a meaningful contribution to their communities by collaborating online to create and share animated public service announcements on the topic of natural disaster preparedness. Read more about the workshops in the Teachers Forum or see here.

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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 2007-2008 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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