iEARN-Qatar Pilot Phase Workshop 1
 
Day 1:
Registration, welcome reception and introductions by Cherie Clark-Moore and Eliane Metni to school teachers and Connect ROTAsia members on iEARN and iEARN-Qatar.

 

 

Day 2:
The day started with an ice-breaker activity about cultures of countries randomly selected to stress the importance of preparing students with cultural sensitive exercises. We transitioned to the professional development plans part one before presenting iEARN site and collaborative center.
After the break teachers got introduced to iEARN site, practiced in the forum and interacted with iEARN teachers. Next they navigated the collaborative centers center, explored iEARN forums with an interactive case study on YouthCaN and Laws of Life projects.
The last part of the day was dedicated to typing part one of their professional development plan, their introductions and reflections of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3:
We focused on introductory project activities applied on two projects we investigated on day one: the planetary notions and laws o f life.
Examples of activities were given by Anwar Abdelbaki on how to motivate students and engage them to take action and ownership of the project (a balloon/online carbon footprint measuring/taking action).
Nele Noe shared a pre-writing activity with a forum selection from the Laws of Life project posted by a Pakistani student (friendship). Both activities are shared online (link coming soon).
We transitioned on the different projects under on environmental issues (CO2, One world, YouthCaN, planetary notions) and split in two groups, language and science and discussed the possible projects that teachers would engage in.
The following projects were proposed (flip chart)
After lunch teachers selected the project they will implement with their students, articulated the essential guiding question and shared thoughts on their project culminating activity and outcomes
 
Special Place: Judy and Dion
  • Q: What makes my place special?
    • Postcards (that show why that place is special)
    • Photography
    • Oral presentation
    • Travel book
Laws of Life – Virtues Project: Afsar and Hala
  • Q: What are the laws of life of Arab women?
    • Bulletin board
    • Newsletter on a website
    • Oral presentation
  • Q: How can we live the laws of life?
    • Art Work
    • Oral presentation / sharing with parents
 
Folk Costumes Around the Globe: Muhammad and AbdulKareem:
 
  • Q: How does my costume link to the culture I represent?
    • Parade
    • Short media
    • PowerPoint/ Slideshows/Posters
 
Food for Thought – Recipe Book: Riad, Ahmed and Ashraf:
  • Q: Which recipe(s) reflect my culture?
    • Poster/video of the process stages: dishes being bought and prepared
    • PowerPoint of ingredients
    • Dish party (international food day)
 
One World, One Environment/ Planetary Notions: Sherif, Anwar, Karen, Ahmed Faris:
  • Q: How can I reduce my carbon emissions?
    • Workshop by students to students form new schools
    • Mural (fabric) on the four different aspects of C02

 
Comments from the evaluation:
  • "It would be great to produce a demo tape on any one of the projects with interviews with teachers and students about how 'all this worked out' for them. (How they began? Concerns? Challenges? What worked? What didn't work? etc.)"
  • "working together in one group is an amazing way to enhance the efforts and will lead to valuable things"
  • "The strength of the workshop was in how it enabled us to take the skills and practice we are already using, and apply them to a global forum that will help to reinforce the value of the learning and class content. The ease in which it can be applied is in my opinion it's greatest stength as a PD activity. The project itself has so many positive attributes."
  • "Well organized, in terms of getting all participants on the same page. The effort that was put into making this workshop a success was tremendous, and I thank you! I am so pleased to be part of this! I want this to work for me and other teachers. The workshop was motivating and inspiring."