Dear iEARN 'One Day in the Life' teachers,

This Friday is 11 November 2011: 11.11.11!

We invite you and your students to join us in documenting this day, simultaneously, around the world.
Is this Friday a holiday? Or just a regular school day? We'd love to see what's going on in your community!

For this special event, iEARN is teaming up with http://www.onedayonearth.org to archive and share videos of 11.11.11 around the world. Please invite your students to join us. While you and your students can and should post your 11.11.11 documents in the iEARN One Day in the Life forum ( http://foro.iearn.org/.ee70728 ) as usual, we also invite you to also upload videos of 11.11.11 to the One Day on Earth website. Students ages 13 and up may register for their own accounts on that site, but teachers of younger students will need to upload videos for them.


*** What do you need to do to participate?

1) Between now and Thursday, invite your students to join in. Help them locate cameras they might be able to use on Friday, including cellphones and pocket cameras. (Students with no access to video cameras will still be able to post text documents and other media in the iEARN forum.)

2) Be sure to look at our partner's website http://www.onedayonearth.org to see what was documented last year on 10.10.10 (including many of you!) Watch the trailer of their upcoming feature film at http://www.onedayonearth.org/page/trailers-and-videos and see what was filmed in your region last year at http://archive.onedayonearth.org/index.php/videos .

3) You don't need to accompany your students on Friday unless you want to! But do prepare them to document and record whatever they can. Encourage them to record some of the "normal" and "everyday" things going on inside and outside the school on that day - street traffic, children playing, a worker taking a break, somebody sharing a joke, a craftsman at work, students doing classwork, etc. - sometimes the quiet, unscripted moments can be very meaningful and culturally significant, too.

4) There's no rush to upload, and there's absolutely no need to upload anything on Friday. We will have many weeks to edit and upload our work.


*** What’s so special about Friday, 11.11.11?

In Bangladesh, iEARN teacher Proshanta Mallick's students will be home celebrating the end of Eid-Ul-Azha, an important Muslim festival. They will eat sweetmeats and semai, wear new clothing and head caps, pray Namaz at the mosque with their families, and visit friends and family.

In Lebanon, Suzan Al Sarrees is taking her students on a picnic to nearby ruins.

In Taiwan, Sandy Tsai’s students will be attending a citizenship training camp at a rural farm. They will be running obstacle courses, performing gymnastics, setting up tents, and eating traditional Taiwanese barbecue.

In New Delhi, India, Geeta Rajan will be preparing her students for Saturday's Social Science Exhibition. Her students will be rehearsing, decorating, and helping teachers set up for the big affair.

In Omaha, Nebraska, USA, Gina Fosco's students will be filming around her school, and her eighth graders will be filming what they do on a Friday night. (She is calling her project "Friday Night Lights.")

In Azerbaijan, Ruhiyye Mahmudova will be taking her students to the capital city, Baku, to attend the 15th anniversary celebration of the Azerbaijan English Teachers' Association.

In Kampala, Uganda, Allen Nansubuga will be helping his nephew document the day. Robert, a primary school student, is very excited about the project, his uncle explains.

And in Pakistan, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Japan, Belarus, Zambia, Russia, Australia, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Oman, Yemen, Hong Kong, Bahrain and dozens of other countries iEARN students on Friday will be documenting their meals, their play, their prayers, their classes, their sports, their communities, their chores, their games, their families, their friends, and much, much more, with cellphone video, still cameras, microphones, and pencils.

Friday is Veteran's Day in the United States. Public schools are closed in Massachusetts, and my students will be scattered across our small island looking for aspects of their lives to film and share.

What are your students doing Friday? Please share!

We hope you can join us for 11-11-11! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

All the best-
Chris

Chris Baer
Art, Design & Technology teacher
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School
Oak Bluffs, MA USA