iEARN-USA - The International Education and Resource Network

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT

Amina Sayeed
Literature and Writing
Administrator
Office of Academic Enhancement
Chicago Public Schools

“We are educators and we educate students no matter where they are, it doesn’t mean to say that we shouldn’t be concerned with other students who are not in our part of town. Our mission is to educate and create environments conducive to education for every child.”

- Amina Sayeed

As an Administrator in the Office of Academic Enhancement for the Chicago Public Schools, Amina Sayeed’s job is to seek out opportunities for activities to support each of 50 Chicago public school’s literature and writing programs. She started by seeking out traditional activities like spelling bees, young authors programs and family reading nights all of which are staple activities for schools in her purview. Recognizing the value of these activities, she soon decided that the schools would also benefit from something new and innovative. She began surfing the net and brainstorming different ways of inspiring children to improve their writing and reading skills.

Through her research, she came across the iEARN website and it seemed like a perfect fit from the outset. According to Amina, “it was everything that I was looking for.” For Amina and the Chicago Public Schools, “students writing to students around the world, being part of the curriculum was such a novel idea and it seemed so natural too, students are already on the computer communicating with their friends so why not get to know someone across the globe and tie that in with writing.” The partnership between iEARN and Chicago Public Schools has been ongoing for three years with participation skyrocketing from six projects in 2006 to 15 in 2007, and up to 30-40 projects engaging around 150 students in 2008. Among students’ favorite projects has been the Teddy Bear exchange, popular among younger students, while the older students have been most inspired to participate in iEARN projects around themes of social justice.

For Amina, iEARN brings together her longstanding commitment to education and her growing interest in international news and foreign policy. Her interest in intercultural relations first began as an undergraduate theology major at Loyola University where her studies in comparative religion were naturally complemented by coursework in foreign policy. Later, while pursuing a Masters in Education she also spent time in Syria and Pakistan to advance her studies of sacred knowledge. After returning to the United States she completed her masters and began a career as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools where she taught science and reading. She later served as an interim principal for one year before assuming her current responsibility as an Administrator for the Literature and Writing Magnet Cluster.

Amina is a staunch advocate of the student learning and collaboration that takes place through iEARN. She also appreciates the space iEARN provides her and other members, explaining that, “forums such as iEARN really give people a voice and opportunities for collaboration and social reform and brainstorming ideas. You never know what effect one sentence or one word could have on someone else and what implications that has for the future.”

iEARN educator Elena Turczeniuk featured in the Chicago Sun Times

In the December 5, 2008 article entitled, “Reinventing the pen pal for the digital age,” author Ted Pincus highlights the work of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teacher Elena Turczeniuk and administrator Amina Sayeed, both of whom have been integral to engaging students in virtual global classroom exchanges through the iEARN network. Elena became involved with iEARN when Amina Sayeed brought the program as an offering for her students a few years ago. “I was excited about it because I like teaching with technology and this network offers students a wide variety of in-depth inquiry about a certain subject,” Turczeniuk said. “The students can take it as deep or as light as they want and still learn about themselves through the forums, through reflections, and in-class or group discussions. The students enjoy it so much!”

Click here to see a video – which aired on CPS’s own TV channel – that highlights Elena, Amina, and their work at Chicago Public Schools. The video showcases best practices and highlights innovative teachers and students.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Four Rivers, One World Project in the News

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's January 2009 newsletter featured iEARN's Four Rivers, One World project, a U.S. Department of State funded project that engages students in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and the United States in sampling water from local rivers and sharing their findings with each other using

iEARN's online Collaboration Center. The article highlights the work of Christine Kola, an 8th grade teacher from the Bronx and Geetanjali Bodhankar, a 9th grade teacher from Pune, India. These two teachers and their counterparts in all 4 countries have been collaborating online with one another, and were also involved in the reciprocal exchanges that took place with India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Ms. Bodhankar visited New York City and Ms. Kola's classroom in April 2008, and Ms. Kola visited Pune, India and met with Ms. Bodhankar's students in October 2008. The Bureau of Education & Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State, funded both exchanges. Ms. Kola describes the effect of participating in the Four Rivers project on her students, explaining that while they learn about science and protecting the environment, "they are also thinking more globally." Student participants from each of the 4 countries will present the ECA funded project at the 2009 YouthCan Conference, taking place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on April 6th.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

iEARN Educators lead Workshops for English Language Teachers in India

Judy Huynh, a teacher from the Ionia County Intermediate School District in Portland Michigan and Sunita Bhagwat, iEARN-India country coordinator, held workshops in Patna from January 20th - 22nd, and in Kolkata from January 27th - 29th. Participants praised the workshop saying, “usually the workshops are practically not possible to go parallel with the school curriculum. iEARN is different. It makes your subjects, society & world so easily known to be familiar to you.”

iEARN Professional Development Featured in The Times of India

In a visit coordinated by iEARN-India country coordinator Sunita Bhagwat and iEARN-USA Director of Membership and Youth Media Programs Anindita Dutta Roy, a team of 14 teachers from Edison, New Jersey visited Pune, India to study how teachers there instruct their pupils in Hindi. Considered by the United States Department of State to be a critical-need language, growing numbers of US high schools are offering Hindi as an elective language course. In the summer of 2009, teachers from India will visit Edison to train teachers there on making the Hindi curriculum more accessible to students. In addition to the physical exchanges taking place between Edison and Pune, iEARN has also provided a platform for virtual exchanges between students including a video conference that gave students the opportunity to interact directly with their peers. To read the full story, please click here.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“I didn’t know that an online course could be so empowering for both teachers and students. It reinforced my own ideas and enabled me to refine them. And more importantly, the course taught me how to incorporate technology in my classroom practices more successfully.”
– Nancy Petrella, English Teacher, Silver Lake Elementary School, New Castle, Delaware

Register NOW: iEARN Online Professional Development Courses for Educators

Courses run from February 23 to April 26. Courses bring together educators from around the world to communicate and plan how to integrate standards-based iEARN projects into various curriculum areas. Each course is a step-by-step guide to inegrting collaborative project based learning into your teaching. Courses include: Creative Arts, Language Arts and Writing, Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography, Science/Environment/Math, Teaching of Foreign and Second Languages, 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.

**** ONLINE COURSE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE ****

Online course scholarships are available through the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art for US teachers. Teachers will be collaborating with other educators from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, UAE, USA, and Uzbekistan. The mission of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art is to promote the study and understanding of Islamic arts and cultures. Please contact your Country Coordinator or <rustin@us.iearn.org> for more information.

For more information about iEARN professional development please visit:
http://us.iearn.org/professional_development/face_to_face/index.php

EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS: INDIA SUMMER TEACHER PROGRAM FOR ENGLISH MATH OR SCIENCE TEACHERS

WHO: The seminar is open to U.S. High School English, math or science teachers
WHAT: A 4-week Educational Seminar that provides U.S. teachers with the opportunity to interact with one another and to share perspectives about their educational systems and teaching methodology. The seminar will also provide rich cultural exchange between Indian and American counterparts. ALL travel and program costs will be paid for by American Councils through its grant with the US State Department.
WHERE: There will be an orientation in Washington, D.C. prior to the seminar, which takes place in New Delhi.
WHEN: Orientation will begin on July 6, 2009. The seminar will follow from July 13 –August 14, 2009.
HOW: For more information and to apply, visit: http://www.americancouncils.org/educationalSeminars.php

OPPORTUNITIES

Now Accepting Applications for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program

The Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching program recognizes and encourages excellence in teaching in the U.S. and abroad. This prestigious program sends highly accomplished primary and secondary teachers from the U.S. abroad and brings international teachers to the U.S. for a three to six month program. Participating countries include: Argentina, Finland, India, Israel, Singapore, and South Africa. The program will provide U.S. award recipients with the opportunity to study in a research center or university. In addition to working on individual capstone projects, participants may enroll in graduate level classes, conduct research, lead or team teach classes and seminars for teachers and students in the host country. The deadline to apply is March 9, 2009.

For more information including eligibility and application materials, please visit:
http://www.fulbrightteacherexchange.org
http://www.fulbright.state.gov/root/resources-for/teachers

Master Trainer Scholarship Now Open for Applications

There are two scholarships available to attend the training of trainers workshop in Morocco. Any iEARN teachers are eligible to apply. For more information and application materials please click here. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

2009 SIGTel Online Learning Award Competition Seeks Entries

Have you and your students been involved or are currently involved in an original, online learning activity? If so, you can enter the 2009 SIGTel Online Learning Award Competition to win a one-year standard membership to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the opportunity to present your project during a web poster session at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington DC this July. Awardees will also have their projects published in the SIGTel Bulletin. For more information, or to submit your entry, please visit: http://www.iste.org/sigtel. The deadline is March 31, 2009.

William T. Grant Foundation Begins Spring Cycle of Youth Service Improvement Grants

The William T. Grant Foundation is pleased to announce the Spring 2009 competition for Youth Service Improvement Grants.

Applications will be accepted until March 11, 2009, with award decisions to be made in August 2009. To download application guidelines and descriptions of previous awards, please click here.

Motorola Foundation now accepting applications for 2009 Innovation Generation Grants

This year, Motorola Foundation will provide $5 million in Innovation Generation Grants to U.S. organizations that engage teachers and Pre-K through 12 students in STEM programming, especially girls and underrepresented minorities. Any U.S. non-profit organization may apply. Schools and school districts may also apply. The application deadline is February 15, 2009.

To apply for a 2009 Innovation Generation Grant click here. If you have any questions please contact giving@motorola.com.

iEARN-USA is a member of iEARN (International Education and Resource Network), the world's largest K-12 non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. To learn more about iEARN USA click HERE.

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