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October–November 2008
GCE Program Offers New Projects & Trainings
Shafa Sadigova, an educator at School #164 in Baku, has been participating in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites project with her classroom. The classroom has taken many field trips to the ancient parts of Baku to take photos and collect information to share with their GCE partners in iEARN’s Collaboration Center. The GCE project started only 4 months ago, and already there are participants from the U.S., Azerbaijan, Israel, Turkey, Uzbekistan, as well as from many other countries around the world.
The Green Way club at School #1 in Ismailli, a GCE secondary school, began trainings for elementary school GCE students in October to raise awareness about environmental issues. The GCE students in the club are running the trainings on the following topics: water and how to save it, life without water, and the environment. The GCE students prepare posters to leave in the classrooms, as well as hold discussions and lead activities to encourage their younger peers to take action on environmental issues. The elementary school GCE students enjoy learning from the older students and the GCE club members develop a greater understanding of the material they teach, presentation skills, and leadership skills.
A 2-day professional development workshop was held in November for 19 English, History, Science, and Arts educators from Baku and 3 different regions of Azerbaijan. The educators were introduced to the GCE projects they will be able to access through iEARN’s Collaboration Center, learned how to take advantage of iEARN’s online tools, and began participating in the GCE program by posting to different project forums.
 GCE Schools Celebrate International Education Week
International Education Week (IEW) was celebrated from November 17-21 at 2 GCE schools in Baku. The Zarifa Aliyeva Secondary School invited Mr. Dmitri Torokhovski, the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy, to give a presentation about American culture, music, and opportunities for further education. Mr. Torokhovski met with them for an hour and a half, and the GCE students appreciated the motivation that he gave them to continue forming links to their peers in the U.S. through the GCE program.
At School #164 the GCE educators and students decided to celebrate IEW by baking cookies following recipes from different countries obtained from the GCE project Food For Thought. The group met at the school on Saturday, their day off, to make and bake the cookies. The GCE educators and students enjoyed working together, trying out the new recipes, and of course eating the fruits of their labor.
iEARN-Bahrain
Ministry of Education to Expand GCE Program To All Secondary Schools
 Impressed by the great work coming out of GCE schools since iEARN-Bahrain began implementing the program, Bahrain’s Ministry of Education has set the goal of expanding the GCE program into every secondary school in the country by the 2009/2010 academic year. In the first 2 months of the current school year, 9 new schools have already begun to participate in the GCE program. Mr. Ali Sulail, Assistant Principal at Shaikh Isa bin Ali Secondary School for Boys, conducted 5 orientation workshops to introduce the new educators and students to iEARN’s Collaboration Center so that they could become active participants in the many GCE projects.
GCE Classroom Makes A Difference
Amal Mallala, a GCE educator at the Khawla School, got her 40 students involved in the Good Deeds project, where they worked with GCE students from the UAE. The students share the simple good deeds they are able to perform and look at the positive effects of these many simple acts of kindness. The GCE students at the Khawla School were inspired to participate in a charity event organized by university students called “Promise Africa.” The GCE students used their talent in art and handicrafts to raise money for their underprivileged peers in Africa.
GCE Program Builds Understanding Between Bahraini & U.S. Students
GCE educator Safeya Mustafa and her 15 students at Al Noor Secondary School are in a Learning Circle with other GCE classrooms from the U.S., Belarus, Kenya, and Turkey. Responding to the introductions from the Bahraini students, Alicia, a GCE student from Massachusetts, wrote: “Hey everyone, it’s great to meet you! I’m so excited to be able to communicate with people from another country. It’s fun to read about your interests because most of them are similar to mine.”
GCE Program Presented at International Conference
iEARN-Belarus presented the GCE program at the Festival of Non-Formal Education at the International Education Center of J. Rau in Minsk from October 10-12, 2008. GCE educator Sofia Savelova and 3 GCE students presented the program to participants from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia.
 Workshop Expands GCE Program in Belarus
iEARN-Belarus organized a seminar titled “Integrating Global Project Work into Schools in 2008-2009” at the IATP Center in Minsk on November 22, 2008. 25 GCE educators and students from 7 cities participated in the workshop that presented the GCE program and registered new participants. Tayana Stefanyuk, of Minsk Gymnasium #12, spoke about the benefits of participating in one of iEARN’s online professional development courses through a GCE scholarship this fall.
Inaugural GCE Workshop Held in China
 As a prelude to the Asia-Pacific Conference on International Education, iEARN-China held its first GCE Teacher Training workshop on October 18 in Shanghai. The workshop was facilitated by iEARN-China Coordinators Sihong Huang and Bude Su along with iEARN-Taiwan’s Country Coordinator Doris Wu. Peter Copen, who founded iEARN in 1988 and is the current President of The Copen Family Fund, also attended the workshop. About 10 teachers from the Shanghai area attended the workshop.
The workshop focused on introducing iEARN’s online Collaboration Center and helped the participants to identify GCE projects relevant to their classroom work. Then the facilitators worked with the educators on how to integrate the selected projects into the Chinese education system and how to forge and maintain connections with U.S. classrooms. The participants began posting in the forums, and a connection was made right away with a World History class in Massachusetts that will be studying industrialization and development in China.
GCE Workshop Gets Iraqi Schools Connected
 A workshop was held in October with 16 schools participating, 12 of which were connected to the Internet with funds from previous GCE grants, to help the schools become active participants in the GCE program. The workshop focused on getting educators started in one of 4 projects: My Hero, Teddy Bear, (OF)2, and the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).
One educator from the workshop was inspired to use a GCE scholarship to participate in an online course, and everyone was inspired to go back to the classroom and work with their students to give them the skills to get online and participate in the GCE program. Classrooms at Waffaeey & Azadi Middle School, Rizgary School for Boys, Ronaky School for Girls, Bakrajo Agricultural School, and the Media School started working on GCE projects right away. Some of the GCE students from these schools are meeting monthly to work on designing a magazine to highlight their work as part of the GCE program in Iraq.
3 GCE Workshops Held for 62 Educators From More Than 30 Schools
iEARN-Israel held 3 GCE workshops in November to introduce the program to more educators and schools throughout Israel. The first workshop was held in Nahef for educators in the north of the country. Ten English language educators and 12 computer educators from across the region attended the workshop.
The second GCE workshop was held in East Jerusalem for 35 educators from 20 different schools in the city. Most of the educators were new to the GCE program, but there were also experienced GCE teachers present to interact with the new teachers and learn about some of the new GCE projects that have started this fall. The third GCE workshop was conducted in Jaffa for 5 educators from 2 different schools.
The educators from all 3 workshops are excited to bring the GCE program to their students through project-based learning in iEARN’s Collaboration Center with their peers from the U.S. and around the world.
GCE Program Launched in Kenya With 2 Workshops
iEARN-Kenya officially launched the GCE program in Kenya with a workshop at the Sheywe Guest House from October 2-3, 2008 in Kakamega. Participants were introduced to the GCE program and given an introduction to the iEARN Collaboration Center, which they will use to join GCE projects. Ms. Ellen Bienstock and Mr. Mbae of the U.S. Embassy spoke at the workshop, inspiring the educators and students present to use the GCE program to help acquire competitive technology and communication skills.
iEARN-Kenya held a second GCE workshop at Lysak Haven Park in Machakos from November 17-20, 2008 to celebrate International Education Week. The Provincial Director of Education presented about the integration of ICT into schools and the District Education Officer spoke at the closing of the workshop. There were educators from 5 districts at the workshop. The GCE educators plan to go back to their schools and form GCE clubs to participate in the program with their students.
Students Help Spread the GCE Program
GCE students at the Um Salama School were finally able to meet up with students from the Shinas School, with whom they had been exchanging letters with during the spring semester, on October 15, 2008. When the two classes met at the Um Salama School, the GCE students presented their experience in GCE projects and described the process of writing in iEARN’s forums with other students from all over the world. The GCE students then invited their peers from the Shinas School to join the GCE program so that they could enjoy the benefits of the GCE program as well.
 GCE School Hosts Professional Development Workshop
The Atika Girls School in Saham, a GCE school, held a Towards Effective Teaching Approaches (TETA) forum for English language teachers on November 15, 2008. The forum exposed participating educators to iEARN’s project-based learning approach that is brought to bear in GCE projects. Visitors came from the U.S. Embassy and the Ministry of Education to witness the event. There were 3 presentations about the GCE program at the forum by GCE educators and students, emphasizing the GCE connections that have been made with classrooms in the U.S. and around the world. Some GCE students discussed how they were able to improve their English language skills by participating in GCE projects that gave meaning to what they were writing. Mr. Salim Al-Busaidi, a GCE teacher from the Osama Bin Zaid School, and GCE teacher Moza Al-Muqbali also presented with their students the work that they have done in the GCE program.
GCE Classrooms in Turkey Exchanging Holiday Cards With 5 GCE Classrooms in the U.S.
Two GCE classrooms in Turkey are involved in the Holiday Card Exchange project with 5 U.S. GCE classrooms. Sidika Turktas, a GCE teacher in Alanya, is exchanging cards with U.S. classrooms in Tipp City, Ohio, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Waterville, New York. The teacher from Ohio wrote in the forums, “I have never done anything like this and I am so excited. My students can’t wait!”
Huri Cinar, a secondary school teacher in Kocaeli, is exchanging cards with classrooms from Douglass, Kansas and Santa Ana, California. Huri Cinar wrote that “we are really excited—this will be a great chance for us to make friends from different countries and cultures.” Huri Cinar also used iEARN’s Collaboration Center to share information with their partners about what the students did for Republic Day on October 28, including posting photos of the activities students were involved in. On receiving the holiday cards from Turkey, one of the teachers wrote: “Huri, thanks so much for the wonderful cards!!! You really went to a lot of work, and there is so much information about Turkey! I organized them into categories... musical instruments, dance, sports, geography, school, customs, etc!” The Holiday Card Exchange project allows GCE participants to exchange much more than cards with their partners.
Karshi GCE Schools Forge New Connections
Two GCE English language teachers, Charos Boltaeva and Dilnoza Rakhimova, at Karshi School #34 are now participating in the My Hero project and sharing information about their classrooms. When asked what makes their school unique, the GCE students at Karshi School #34 said that they have an Internet connection, they are part of the GCE program, and they have connections with schools in other countries. In the My Hero project, Charos Boltaeva “noticed that most of the students consider their parents, either mother or father, as their hero. This is very good—it means that no matter what part of the world the children are in, they all look up to their parents.” The GCE school has also begun the Teddy Bear GCE project with a classroom in Iraq after 3 successful experiences in the project with U.S. classrooms. The GCE classrooms are looking forward to making new connections with international schools through both the My Hero and Teddy Bear GCE projects this fall.
 Ms. Natalya Hamidova, a GCE English language teacher at Karshi School #32, brought her classroom into one of the newest GCE projects, the UNESCO Heritage Sites project. The students decided to research the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara to share with the other GCE classrooms from U.S., Azerbaijan, Israel, and Turkey, as well as many other countries around the world. The GCE students have posted pictures of UNESCO sites and explanations to go with them in the project forum. “It is a useful project for my students. They search for information, they choose the picture—this makes them learn more about their country. Posting messages helps them to improve their English and they learn how to describe their Motherland’s landmarks in a foreign language,” says Ms. Hamidova.
In honor of International Education Week, GCE educators Dilnoza Rahimova and Natalya Hamidova from School #34 in Karshi conducted GCE trainings from November 18-21, 2008. Principals and English language teachers from School #34, School #12, School #23, and the Nuristan Academic Lyceum attended the workshops. The participants were introduced to the GCE program and shown how to become active participants in the GCE projects by using iEARN’s online Collaboration Center.
 GCE Program Expands Reach of Online School For Disabled Children
The GCE Online School For Disabled Children has expanded beyond Bukhara to 4 new cities across Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Karshi, Nukus, and Kokand. On October 17, 2008, teachers Imamkulova Sitora and Mavlanova Irina involved the Online School GCE students in the Side By Side project for the first time. Soon after joining the project, they began a partnership with a school in New York. In the Side By Side project students create self-portraits with symbols from their past, present, and future, and then hang them side by side so that you see everybody together and learn about each other visually.
In November, iEARN-Uzbekistan formed a partnership with the Bukhara branch of the National Paralympics Association of Uzbekistan to conduct GCE trainings in two schools for deaf and visually impaired children. iEARN-Uzbekistan representatives met with many of the students on November 13 at a competition organized by the Paralympics Association and were able to talk with them about their interests and what they are hoping to get out of the trainings. These GCE trainings will be the first time many of these students have experienced the Internet and many are hoping it will be the beginning of preparing them for jobs using technology.
 GCE Teachers Academy in Nukus Trains 30 GCE Trainers
iEARN-Uzbekistan organized a GCE Teachers Academy facilitated by Ekaterina Zelenskaya, an alumnus of the U.S. State Department’s TEA program, in Nukus from October 29-30, 2008. The 2-day workshop was organized around the theme “Integrating ICT into the Learning Process” by participating in GCE projects in iEARN’s online Collaboration Center. About 30 educators from 4 schools attended the workshop, and will use GCE projects in the following subject areas: computers, math, history, biology, English language, and the Uzbek language. The 30 educators were also trained to organize trainings for teachers in their region. Each of the participants is expected to be active in the GCE program with their own classroom as well as conduct at least one workshop in the next year to expand the program throughout the region.
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