So, let's start with May.
I began my internship at iEARN on May 24 -- near the end of the month. Actually, my internship beginning was not so "simple" as this. I should give a bit of the backstory so you know where I'm coming from. First of all, I had been warned in advance that finding an internship in the summer could be painfully competitive. I'm generally not a competitive person at all, so I'll admit this made me wince. I mean, I'm not competitive, but while I bemoaned the possibility of it being competitive, there was another part of me -- that part of me that remembers that I'm 35 -- that said, "Wait a sec. Competition? You've got it nailed. You're a teacher. You can do anything." It's true, folks. If you are (or have been) a teacher, you know exactly what I'm talking about. After accompanying 70 sixth-graders on jungle hikes in the Vietnamese rain forest for a week, someone's gonna tell me I'll have a hard time getting an internship?! Eff that! (Apologies for the language -- but I'm trying to recreate the scene here, and that is exactly what went through my head.) So I didn't pay much heed to that warning, needless to say.
And it's a good thing I didn't.
Not only did I get an internship, I had plenty to choose from. I interviewed at some fantastic places and left all of them with the sense that there is really some amazing, inspirational, GOOD work happening in NYC with media and learning. GlobalKids, Urban Arts Partnership, Mouse, TaskStream, and Vision Education and Media all gave me interviews and plenty to think about. Really, there is truly some excellent stuff happening with these organizations; if you're in technology, media, and learning, I urge you to check them out. At one point I even considered merging internships with two different organizations just to get some exposure to different kinds of things. This still sounds like a great idea to me, but my reality is that life is too busy.
So, I interviewed with all of these organizations and met some fabulous people, and was offered something within each of them. I eventually settled on iEARN for several reasons:
- I had known about the organization before, having seen them at conferences and/or heard about them through colleagues.
- They are involved with international education, something near and dear to my heart.
- One of the women to interview me, Tina Habib, knows and has worked with another friend of mine in Qatar -- we didn't discover this until the interview, and it was a lovely surprise, as the mutual friend is someone I love very much (kaif halak, habibi? if you're reading this, Anwar!)
- I love that iEARN's backbone is built on project-based learning collaborations across continents. This is something that excites me very much and is something I know about, so the idea of working more within this context but not as a teacher was greatly exciting to me.
iEARN graciously and excitedly made space for me, and starting on May 24th I began working each Monday and Wednesday.
A brief background on iEARN. iEARN is an acronym which stands for International Educator and Resource Network. It's been around since 1988, so it has an established history, community, and directive. There are actually many iEARNs. What I mean by that is that there is iEARN international -- an international network of teachers and students -- and then there is an iEARN-USA. And an iEARN Pakistan. And an iEARN Canada. You get the picture. In some countries there is lots of representation and some of those countries have iEARN coordinators and more. In other countries, there might just be one or two teachers in different schools who want to participate. And of course there is everything in between. iEARN international is not centralized; each country finds its own funding, and runs itself. Having said that, iEARN-USA is one of the best-funded of all the iEARNs, so things like the iEARN international website and their collaboration centre are run here in the USA offices. iEARN-USA is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that runs many different projects and programs. As I mentioned earlier, the backbone of iEARN is their project-based learning collaborations. Basically, iEARN facilitates international collaboration through project-based learning, allowing teachers and their students in one country to connect and work with teachers and students in another country on a common project. All of this is done via different kinds of technology and media. It's really the "meat and potatoes" of what iEARN is all about, and why their current motto is "Learn WITH the world, not just about it." However, iEARN also facilitates and runs other programs such as international exchange programs, such as NSLI and YES. They even do teacher exchanges such as the Fulbright Teacher Exchange. An additional arm of iEARN is their involvement with other partners such as Adobe Youth Voices and PEARL World Youth News. Lastly, iEARN does tons of professional development for teachers interested in any aspect of international learning, collaborative project-based learning, cultural exchange, technology and digital media in learning, and more. Professional development is offered in face-to-face at workshops and conferences around the world, and in online virtual environments as well. As you can see, this small non-profit delivers on many different fronts!
From the beginning, Lisa Jobson, the Assistant Director of iEARN-USA, had arranged three projects that I would be working on for the duration of the summer. I'm copying and pasting their descriptions here:
1) Update the Teachers Guide to Global Collaboration on the Internet with current tools and resources. (The Teachers Guide was originally developed by iEARN for U.S. Department of Education)
Research tools and resources for integrating online international exchange into the classroom
2) Produce 2010-2011 iEARN Project Book
Outreach to iEARN educators worldwide to get new projects and project updates for the 2010-2011 iEARN Project Book, and edit book in Adobe InDesign. (See the 2009-10 Project Book.)
3) Create an iEARN Starter Kit/Handbook as a companion to the iEARN Project Book. Drawing from DOE Teacher’s Guide research, and earlier issues of the iEARN Project Book, develop a short online guide with tips, tools, resources, and case studies of successful classrooms internationally that help to answer the question often asked by teachers when they join iEARN – “How do I get started?”
And a general description of the mentoring I'd receive:
Adrienne will work closely with a number of staff, including Lisa Jobson, Diane Midness, and Ed Gragert. All three projects that Adrienne will be involved in have built-in opportunities to exchange drafts and get peer feedback. iEARN-USA is a small office (roughly 14 full time staff) that places a high emphasis on collaboration , so while Adrienne will be serving in a lead role in all 3 projects, we’ll meet regularly to exchange ideas and drafts, and distribute work.
I remember being extremely excited when I was handed these projects -- all three involved areas I wanted to know more about or be more involved in. I was looking forward to getting my feet wet!
I didn't realize at the time just how ginormous these projects would become. Ah, the 20/20 vision of hindsight, huh? :)
At any rate, the end of May was a busy time for me because I was just beginning these new roles at iEARN and I was also finishing up a summer course back on campus (Leadership for School Improvement). I barely had time to figure out what I was doing next, but eventually I settled into the swing of things at iEARN, and figured out who to talk to about which project, and where to begin on each of them (spoiler alert: some didn't need beginning just yet).
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