In spring 2020, iEARN-USA hosted a webinar series called "Wednesdays with the World" for teachers to use virtually with their classes. In each hour-long webinar, an iEARN Project Facilitator presented a mini-lesson, using activities from an iEARN project. Each lesson was followed by a brief section with tips for online learning. All webinars have been recorded and shared below.

MY HERO Mini-Lesson with Laura Nietzer

April 8th at 1:00 PM ET

MY HERO is collecting essays about heroes helping others during the coronavirus outbreak. In the first mini-lesson webinar, Laura Nietzer, iEARN Educator and Learning Circle Facilitator for the "MY HERO Call to Action" project, will guide students on how to write a three paragraph essay about their hero, and learn how to submit an essay for publication. Following this mini-lesson, students in the iEARN network submitted entries to the Coronavirus Hero Contest — find their original stories and artwork here. 

Learn more about the MY HERO Call to Action project here.

iEARN Dreamline World Mini-Lesson with Jeffrey Harlan

April 15th at 1:00 PM ET 

Dreamline World helps students share their dreams with each other and the world, building empathy, motivation, awareness of the UN SDGs, and communication skills.  Dreamline’s ABUNDANCE pandemic response school program creates a live or asynchronous experience to help students focus on what matters most, share it with art, words, and technology–building hope and community in this time of need. All safely. All virtually. 

Sign up for Dreamline World on iEARN here. 

Wednesdays with the World: Round Table Edition - Best Practices for Online Teaching and Learning

April 22nd at 1:00 PM ET

iEARN-USA led an interactive session with worldwide educators to discuss best practices to engage students in remote learning. 

Following the discussion, iEARN-USA curated a list of tips for best practices for online teaching and learning. You can access the document here. 

iEARN Digital Storytelling for Exchange Mini-Lesson with Wendy Jaques and Austin Haeberle

April 29nd at 1:00 PM ET

With everything that’s going on in the world right now, sharing our stories is more important than ever. But what are the elements of a great story? What makes a video compelling enough for an international audience to not just “click,” but watch to the end and come away with a deeper understanding of human experience? In this session we will explore time-tested techniques that students can use to craft and share beautiful, impactful stories with the world around them. 

Learn more about the Digital Storytelling project here.

iEARN International Book Club Mini-Lesson with Fay Stump

May 6th at 1:00 pm ET

We are often asked, “Where are you from?”  Join us to think about a sensory response to that question that really shows others where you are from. After reading "Where Are You From?," a picture book written by Yamile Saied Mendez, all participants in this webinar will then be invited to write their own poems and post them on the International Book Club forum or Facebook page.

Learn more about the International Book Club project here. 

iEARN Finding Solutions to Hunger Mini-Lesson with Mary Brownell

May 13th at 1:00 PM ET

For now I ask no more than the justice of eating ⎯ Pablo Neruda

The more adaptable and flexible teachers can be with lessons/activities, the more our students will find solutions against hunger for the rest of their lives. In this mini-lesson, you will learn how to adapt several lessons to meet your own teaching needs and those of your primary, middle and upper school students.

Some students understand hunger from daily experience; despite this fact, they remain eager to understand and share their ideas about food and sustainability. Other students are blessed to experience food security, eager as well to unravel the causes of hunger in our shared world. To understand is to imagine change, and so we teach our students to take new knowledge and create solutions that will provide sustainability.

Learn more about the Finding Solutions to Hunger project here.