iEARN ONLINE CREATIVE WRITING/LANGUAGE ARTS COURSE

'To say that we have learnt a lot, is not word enough to describe this learning experience... This workshop has been an eye opener to how much we can provide our learners. Creative writing and the Six+1 trait put to good use, can go a long way to improve our student's writings. Voice for instance, brings a student's work to life, convention and other traits, work hand in hand to improve writing.'- Ntabadde Mary, Spring 2002 participant, Uganda

Creative writing and communication are at the heart of the human experience

The possibilities of online interaction and communication have provided unexpectedly powerful support for language arts and English teachers.

iEARN projects require online embalming and other forms of writing which are read and responded by real audiences round the world.

iEARN creative writing projects present educators with a strong reason for linking language usage outside the classroom to the global community, thus making communicative language learning a meaningful experience.

In this course you will have the opportunity to experience online, stress free activities with the full support of experienced facilitators.

The course highlights include:

• Introduction of iEARN
• Hands-on experience of working in various iEARN interactive forums
• Identification of the various iEARN creative writing projects
• Exploration of the various genres of creative writing - Introduction to the 6+1 Trait method (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions plus presentation) of writing
• Review of existing creative writing curricula/standards/syllabus
• Planning lessons to integrate iEARN Creative Writing Projects using the 6+1 Trait method.
• Involvement of students in at least one iEARN Creative Writing Project
• Technology integration into creative writing: presentation software, tips on word processing, scanning, notepad computers, graphic organizers etc.

Creative Writing Content Development: Celia Einhorn, Farah Shafi Kamal

Current Course Facilitators: Farah Shafi Kamal and Lynn Rosen

Farah Kamal

Farah Kamal has a Master of Education degree at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, in Language and Literacy Education. She has over 19 years of experience in teaching, teacher training and school management. She has been involved in iEARN since 1998 and presented workshops in China , Egypt, UAE, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh ,Nepal, United States and throughout Pakistan. In June 2002, Farah was in the
team of keynote speakers for the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in San Antonio, Texas. The Global SchoolNet presented Farah a special Online Shared Learning Global Ambassador Award at NECC. This award recognizes educators, worldwide who have distinguished themselves in the area of online shared learning. Farah has received a training in Teacher
Training, Mentoring and Materials Development from Oxford University in the UK. She received an Advanced Diploma in School Management from Aga Khan University-Institute of Educational Development, Karachi Pakistan.

Lynn Rosen

Lynn Rosen has a both a Bachelors and Masters Degree from Brooklyn College.She also completed her 30 Professional Development Credits, 9 of which were from iEARN."iEARN was one of the best experiences I have had in my educational endeavors.When I first took courses to complete my 30 credits above my Masters I was bored to tears. I finally decided that my last
9 credits would be online.The State Education Department endorsed this site and I felt that it might meet my needs.It not only met my needs but proved to be so much more. Creative Arts and Social Studies were 2 of the three courses and they were informative and exciting. Creative Writing introduced me to Farah Kamal, my co-facilitator.

We co-facilitate 2 forums and this course.To think that I believed that iEARN would be similar to other educational experiences makes me smile. Next to my grandchild, husband and family,iEARN is the closest part of my heart.It is definitely not what we spend on a course it is what we earn from it. I certainly earned a lot more than I spent,"says Lynn Rosen enthusiastically.

Lynn has been a 1st,2nd and 3rd Grade Teacher at P.S.135,in Brooklyn,New York. Currently she is working as her school's Library Teacher."Teaching is my passion. I just love seeing the lightbulb go off when we do research in my library.The feeling of excitement in the air is everywhere. Teaching is a work of heart,"she says.

Lynn has been teaching for 22 years.