Every Monday we will post a newsletter on the homepage.

An overview of previous newsletters:

 

 

NEWSLETTER Monday February 8 (week 1):

 

Dear participants, welcome to the Learning Circle Children's Rights!

A large circle of students, learning from and with each other; both in your own classroom and online with students from other schools.

 

We will start with an introduction of yourself, your class or group and children's rights; each group has ONE school page to post contributions for the introduction, the challenges and to receive feedback; find it by clicking on your school name at the bottom of the pages.

You can find the assignments for the introduction phase on this page. Check out the links in the sidebar for all pages.

 

There are many ways to learn more about children's rights; you can read about it and tell us what Children's Rights mean to you.

By telling your own stories and hear, see and read how the other participants in the Circle experience it, you will collect more than just knowledge. During our learning journey you will discover the way things globaly are for children.

This year we are not only exchanging experiences; we also offer you to support the rebuilding of a school in Nepal!

Below you can read more about it.

 

Good luck and have Circle-fun together!

 

NEWSLETTER Monday February 15 (week 2):

 

Today we are starting the second week of the Learning Circle Children’s Rights.Some participants enjoyed a week’s holiday. Many students in your Circle are busy, coming up with creative ideas to present their group, their school or their country. Please keep in mind that the deadline for the introduction on your school page is set on February 29.
 

We advise you to read the pages in the sidebar carefully. For example the ‘Resources’ page, the ‘Background information’, and the ‘Reflective questions’ (pdf) for the introduction.
 

It is possible to create student accounts. Collaborative learning is indeed more than a teacher posting students work. So why not use this option? In the PB works wiki we can offer to add a maximum of 5 student accounts per class/group (without email address) with writer permission in the wiki.

This allows and stimulates teachers to work with smaller groups that can post their own work.

If you would like accounts for your students, please report it in an email to Natasha before Monday, February 22nd.

We are looking forward to your student’s introductions.

 

NEWSLETTER Monday February 22 (week 3):

 

Good morning everyone,

 

This Monday we are starting the last week of the introduction phase.

We ask all participants to add a nice contribution on their schoolpage this week.

 

Parents and others like to follow your stories and ideas in the Learning Circle.

You can invite them to take a look by sending them the link of your wiki.

 

Request: Please resize all those nice pictures (to 50-100Kb) before you upload them in the wiki.

Five pictures uploaded directly from your camera will make the wiki page too heavy (10-20MB).

In countries with a dial-up connection it takes minutes before your page is visible.

 

Furthermore, downloading files (Word or PowerPoint) isn’t possible in many schools, for security reasons (virus etc.)

It’s best to post photo’s and stories IN the wiki page, so everyone can see them immediately.

Presentations like Prezi or Glogster can easily be embedded in the page, with the embed code.

 

On Monday February 29 the first challenge will take off. The pages are all open, to be prepared in time.

 

Good luck with the completion of the first phase of the Learning Circle!

 

Newsletter Monday February 29 (week 4)

 

Dear participants,

 

Many groups have made a good start with their introductions! Did you take a good look at the contributions of the other participants?

This week we hope to meet the schools that haven’t posted yet and we will start the first challenge. We are curious about what the right to a safe home means for you.

Start with conversations in your classroom and decide together how to make your own choices in the assignments.

Like previous years, as part of challenge 1, you may upload your drawings and cartoons to our own 'Learning Circle Newsroom’ of Cartoonmovement.com. Assignment 3 explains how to do this. Professional cartoonists from around the world will choose a number of your drawings to make them into cartoons that are published. How exciting!

 

Until April 4 each group has five weeks to work on Challenge 1. Time to consult and discuss in your own group, but also to connect with the other students in your Circle; We are doing this by giving feedback and comments; we have created a feedback schedule to go directly to the school pages of two other schools. Of course you can respond to the work of as many schools as you like.

You can also meet students from other groups by making a Skype appointment. A good way to have conversations about your ways of life and your views on children’s rights!

A little further on this home page you can find links to pages about Skype and to the Feedback Schedule.

 

We are very curious about your plans and contributions,

wishing everyone good luck with the first challenge,

 

Bob Hofman, Project Manager

Manon van Herwijnen, coordinator.

Natasha Cherednichenko, facilitator English Circles

 

Newsletter Monday March 7 (week 5)

 

Dear participants,

 

Thank you for the bright, interesting and creative Introductions! We still miss inputs from Visser't Hooft Lyceum and Aia GESS school-Lyceum. Please post your Introductions as soon as possible.

We started  the first challenge  a week ago, so we still have four weeks time to delve into the questions and assignments.

We all know that for many children the right to a safe home is not so obvious. Therefore we are thinking together about this issue, about the current situation and in the future.

 

Make a choice in the assignments and do your best to create a contribution that suits your own experiences.

We learn best when we see and hear the view of the other participants on children's rights. Nice to see that groups are making Skype appointments to talk to each other directly, and get better acquainted!

It is fun to read the comments and feedback from other classes or groups in the feedback boxes at your own school page. So take some time to look at the pages of the other participants and follow the feedback schedule to see which groups you are expected to give feedback to.

 

Have a great week and good luck to all!

 

NEWSLETTER Monday March 14 (week 6)

 

Good morning all,

 

Halfway the first challenge we are very curious which assignments you have chosen. To really learn with and from each other it's important that you inform each other and report on your school page what you're doing. The learning process itself is as valuable as the final results!

 

We also challenge you to improve the living circumstances of other children by supporting the project 'A school for Nepal' with a funding action. Together with the 15 students of the Expeditionteam from Lyceum de Grundel (Hengelo, Netherlands) you can support the rebuilding of a school in the village of Harmi.

Are you able to organize a book fair or a car wash activity? If all students in the 12 Circles join hands, we can proof that many contributions together can make a big difference for children in need after a natural disaster.

There is a special 'wiki for Nepal' for which we will invite all users of the 12 Circles today. In this wiki you can login with your own password and share the result of your efforts.

 

From March 16 - 28, the Expedition Team travels to Nepal to rebuild a school that was destroyed by the earthquake in April 2015 and to experience how important it is that people care about each other and support each other. Bob Hofman and Manon van Herwijnen will also assist the Expedition team in Nepal. During our stay in Nepal the team will visit two high schools in Pokhara that participate in the Learning Circles, how cool is that!! You can follow us in our daily reports (Dutch). Due to our travels, the next news letter will be posted in this wiki after Easter, on March 29, 

 

Enjoy the Challenge 1 activities; we are curious to read if and how you can support the rebuilding of a school in Nepal.

 

Namasté.

 

NEWSLETTER Tuesday March 29 (week 8)

 

Good morning everyone,

 

Some schools enjoyed the Easter holidays; we hope you had some lovely days!

Today, after intense traveling, we came back from Nepal so now it's time for a short newsletter:

 

Nepal.

An expedition team of Lyceum De Grundel (Hengelo, Netherlands) travelled to Nepal, a country of enormous contradictions; poverty, damaged homes and schools and child labour. 
But many smiling faces and two visits to the Learning Circle schools Oxford and KEF in Pokhara. 
We are very grateful for their warm welcome! Like the whole expedition, this was an unforgettable experience for the students and teachers / coaches. (Link to the travel report) 

 

We are glad to see that also participating schools in the Learning Circles are organizing funding actions! 
In the Nepal Wiki you'll find updates about the school that is being rebuilt in Nepal.

 

In Nepal the Internet is very slow and there's only 12 hours of electricity a day, often in the evening, night and early morning.

We now have experienced what it is like to be notified of a post in the wiki, yet the wiki itself does not open due to a slow connection.

This week we will catch up; more comments will follow when we have read all the beautiful contributions in the wikis.

 

Challenge 1.

We are starting the final week of challenge one ...

Time to finish and especially to watch the work of the other Circle members and give feedback. 

The feedback schedule will lead you directly to the schools that are expecting your responses to them ... of course it's exciting to read what others think of your work!

 

Good luck this week, we'll be back to you!

 

Bob Hofman, Project Manager

Manon van Herwijnen, coordinator.

Natasha Cherednichenko, facilitator English Circles

 

NEWSLETTER Monday April 4 (week 9)

 

Good morning everyone,

In the past week many groups worked hard to post their creative ideas and research. We expect the other schools to place their contributions of the first challenge quickly, in this way we can really work together.

 

This week we are starting the second challenge.

Everyone can learn something about Children’s Rights; all wikis are set to public, so by sharing the URL also parents and other interested parties can follow your activities.

 

A number of schools indicate that they would like more contact with the other schools. There are several ways to do this:

• We ask each school to give feedback to at least two other schools, directly on the school pages.
  With the links in the feedback schedule each school can get the attention they deserve.
  It's nice and important to know how others see and appreciate your work!

• By posting a comment at the bottom of the school page of the other schools, as many as you like..

• By making a Skype appointment; live contact via webcam or the IWB is so much fun! Read about it on this page.

 

Meanwhile, some beautiful drawings and cartoons have been uploaded in our Newsroom in Cartoonmovement.com. It is nice to see how quickly the professional cartoonists appreciate your creativity. 

The next weeks it is still possible to post drawings and to find new cartoons on this website, so if you have posted one or more cartoons in the wiki, please also upload them in our our Newsroom!!

Please take a look at a very significant visual about child soldiers, great work by Torben Venema, in LC 12, student of class 2G1 of teacher Eddy Halfwerk..

 

Nepal

In this country we have seen how necessary it is to look after each other, also in education.

The expedition team from Lyceum de Grundel has been able to help locally (see travel reports) and continues to increase the amount for the construction of a safe school in Harmi. 
Together with this team we experienced an impressive journey.

 

We are pleased with the news that several groups of the Learning Circles started additional funding actions for the rebuilding of a school in Nepal... there are still over 7000 schools to rebuild!
In the Nepal Wiki you can report about the fundraising at your school. We will add the latest information about the rebuilding project and you can use the bank account number for your donations.
The Maya Foundation knows the people and ways to deal with things in Nepal and we can ensure you that the results of all your efforts will be spent very well!

 

Good luck in your start with challenge 2.

 

Bob Hofman, Project Manager

Manon van Herwijnen, coordinator.

Natasha Cherednichenko, facilitator English Circles

 

NEWSLETTER Monday April 11 (week 10)

 

In the past week many more wonderful contributions were posted for challenge 1 and some schools made a good start in the second challenge. By providing an update on your progress in the wiki each week, we can all see what happens in the other schools. If there’s a delay, please let us know on your school page. We expect the other schools to place their contributions of the first challenge quickly, in this way we can really work together.

 

For most of you it is a normal school day today. In challenge 2, you will find out that in many areas it’s not so common to be able to go to school, even in your own region.

Fortunately, many people work with dedication for the right of children to education, just like you do in this Learning Circle. The future of children simply looks very different when they can learn together at school, finding out what their talents are and what they want to accomplish in life.

 

Nepal

Attention to the right to education is also possible by working on a common goal: a number of groups have already started additional funding actions to allow the rebuilding of a school in Nepal! In the Nepal Wiki you can report about the fundraising at your school, and find the latest information about our joined project and the bank account number to use for your donations.

A number of schools have responded very positively to our call to get in touch with the other schools.

Three simple ways for your information:

• We ask each school to give feedback to at least two other schools, directly on the school pages.
  With the links in the feedback schedule each school can get the attention they deserve.
  It's nice and important to know how others see and appreciate your work!

• By posting a comment at the bottom of the school page of the other schools, as many as you like..

• By making a Skype appointment; live contact via webcam or the IWB is so much fun! Read about it on this page.

 

Beautiful drawings and cartoons are posted in our Newsroom in Cartoonmovement.com.

Until Sunday May 8th is still possible to give your vote, in May we will show the winning cartoons.

Is your cartoon on your school page, but not yet on Cartoonmovement.com ..... please upload it quickly!!

 

We are looking forward to your contributions and creative responses.

Have a good week ahead, we send you greetings from Ukraine and Holland, 
 

Natasha, Bob, Manon

 

NEWSLETTER Monday April 18 (week 11)

 

Dear participants,

 

In this newsletter, we ask your special attention for the individual task for students of Circles 4 - 12.

This assignment runs partly parallel with Challenge 2, in which you work as a group (see sidebar to find the right page).

All students in Learning Circles have the opportunity to write a letter to the jury of the Global Teenager Project (in peerScholar.com) to speak up and make their voices heard by many. Students can use the login name and password their teacher gave them, and start writing the letter at school or at home.

Experiences from previous years show that it's very interesting and exciting for students to give and receive feedback and work directly with three unknown students from the Learning Circles; whose letters will you assess, and which students from which country is reading yours? What a great opportunity to be able to share your thoughts about children's rights with three participants from different countries!

 

Teachers are receiving an email on Monday April 18th, with the link to a document with user names and passwords for their students and their own logins for peerScholar.com. All teachers can track the progress of their students and read the written letters and feedback.

 

Also a kind request to use the feedback schedule this week;The other schools really appreciate it if you give them the attention they deserve ...

Thanks for your cooperation and good luck!

 

Natasha, Bob, Manon

 

 

NEWSLETTER Monday April 25 (week 12)

 

Hello everyone,

  

Many schools in the Netherlands are enjoying two weeks of spring break; a number of Dutch participants have reported that their contributions of challenge 2 will follow soon after May 9.

The rest of the schools are still posting impressive poems, songs and lyrics daily.

 

We are pleased to see that more and more schools are doing their best to give meaningful feedback. That's appreciated by everyone because it's essential for the connection the Learning Circles! It is also nice that so many students enjoy meeting in Skype, which their teachers organized for them. Sometimes we can find a report with pictures of these Skype meetings on the school pages. 
Please continue to inform and enjoy the other participants!

 

Cartoon Movement:

Great to see how proud pupils are when their drawing or cartoon inspired a professional cartoonist in our own Newsroom! 
This week you can still give your vote in Cartoon movement. In May the winners will be announced. Exciting ...

 

Peer scholar assignment:

This individual challenge for every student in the Circle started on April 18. There was information about this personal challenge in the newsletters and emails to teachers, but we noticed that very few students have managed to write their letter to the jury of GTP. 
Students are invited to write a letter this week and start giving feedback to 3 other participants from May 2 to May 15. 
It’s really exciting to see how students in other schools and countries are answering your words in the third phase from May 16 to 27!

 

A school in Nepal:

We are very curious how 'our LC schools' succeeded in organizing funding for the rebuilding of a school in Nepal. In the special Nepal wiki, you can find information and report your actions and revenues. To gain insight and to make further plans for the rebuilding in Nepal, you can also directly send an email to Manon. Great if you can indicate how Maya Foundation can count on your efforts. 

  

Have a nice week and good luck,

 

Natasha, Bob, Manon 

 

NEWSLETTER Monday May 2 (week 13)

 

Hello everyone,

  

Many schools in the Netherlands are enjoying two weeks of spring break; a number of Dutch participants have reported that their contributions of challenge 2 will follow soon after May 9. The rest of the schools are still posting impressive poems, songs and lyrics daily.

 

We are pleased to see that more and more schools are doing their best to give meaningful feedback. That's appreciated by everyone because it's essential for the connection the Learning Circles! It is also nice that so many students enjoy meeting in Skype, which their teachers organized for them. Sometimes we can find a report with pictures of these Skype meetings on the school pages. 
Please continue to inform and enjoy the other participants!

 

Cartoon Movement:

Great to see how proud pupils are when their drawing or cartoon inspired a professional cartoonist in our own Newsroom! 
This week you can still give your vote in Cartoon movement. In May the winners will be announced. Exciting ...

 

A school in Nepal:

We are very curious how 'our LC schools' succeeded in organizing funding for the rebuilding of a school in Nepal. In the special Nepal wiki, you can find information and report your actions and revenues. To gain insight and to make further plans for the rebuilding in Nepal, you can also directly send an email to Manon. Great if you can indicate how Maya Foundation can count on your efforts. 

 

Peer scholar assignment:

This individual challenge for every student in the Circle started on April 18. There was information about this personal challenge in the newsletters and emails to teachers, but we noticed that very few students have managed to write their letter to the jury of GTP. We think the main reason is, that many groups concentrated on working hard on their contributions for the challenge 2 group assignments!
---> Phase 2 in peerScholar, the assess phase, starts today but it's still possible to write your letter this week, as late submission is allowed. 
Please pay attention to this: Some students started Phase 1 to create their letter, but they have to finish the last steps of this Phase 1. Only when they have saved all 3 steps, they can continue to give feedback to three other participants in Phase 2 (the other students that finished their letters later than May 1) 
Only those who have finished phase 1 are able to give feedback from May 2 to May 15. 
It will be really exciting to see how students in other schools and countries are answering your words in the third phase from May 16 to 27!

  

Have a nice week and good luck,

 

Natasha, Bob, Manon 

 

NEWSLETTER Monday May 9 (week 14)

 

Hello everyone,

 

Today the final phase starts, and we'll finish in two weeks time. We hope all students and teachers in the Netherlands had a wonderful holiday. Some classes will still need to focus on the second challenge, but that's fine.

Maybe it's a good idea to divide the tasks within your group?

Some students can already start with the 'Completion & Evaluation', where you are asked:

 

• To write a letter, with your group, to the jury of the Global Teenager Project, in which you present a plan to improve a children's right. You can also use this assignment to talk about some 'eye-openers' you came across in the last months.
• We would also like to receive your feedback: What went really well and what could we improve on? 
  We are very curious to hear your tips and tops; this will help us to prepare the Circles in the future.

 

--> It is no longer possible to start the first phase of the peerScholar assignment, because students have already started the second phase of this individual task last week. In the Completion & Evaluation phase, which starts today, you can work on the same assignment as a group and add it to your school page.

Please take a good look at each other's work, many impressive contributions have been added during the last two weeks!

In the feedback schedule you'll see which schools are waiting for your comments. All participants are pleased to see your reactions to the groups in your Circle. Also consider the possibility to have a Skype meeting; on this page you can read how to connect to the other participants.

We are all looking forward to your new creations!

Good luck with the completion of a wonderful learning process,

with warm greetings from the Learning Circle Team

 

NEWSLETTER Monday May 16 (week 15)

Hello everyone,

 

In this final phase of our Learning Circle process many groups or classes surprise us with amazing contributions. 
It is impressive and moving to see how students express their ideas and thoughts, how they are sharing their awareness about children's rights all over the world! 

We really appreciate the way participants are working on their Completion and Evaluation and we draw your attention to one beautiful example: 'the letter to the jury of GTP', from the students of KEF Higher Secondary School in Nepal. They joined this project for the first time and, with the help of Dutch teacher Nanette Glas, they managed to share their rich researches and creativity all these months, with less ICT means than many schools in these Circles. Respect!

 

In the feedback schedule you'll see which schools are waiting for your comments. All participants are pleased to see your reactions to the groups in your Circle. Also consider the possibility to have a Skype meeting; on this page you can read how to connect to the other participants.

 

peerScholar:
More than a hundred students managed to write a individual letter to the jury of the Global Teenager Project. Students that assessed work of three peers, will be able to read feedback from their peers this week. Exciting!
The third peerScholar phase started today and ends May 27; students will reflect on the feedback received and revise their own letter in peerScholar. 

Completion & Evaluation:
This phase started last week, you can work on the same assignment (letter to the jury of GTP) until May 27 as a group and add it to your school page. 

You are asked:

 

• To write a letter, with your group, to the jury of the Global Teenager Project, in which you present a plan to improve a children's right. You can also use this assignment to talk about some 'eye-openers' you came across in the last months.
• We would also like to receive your feedback: What went really well and what could we improve on? 
  We are very curious to hear your tips and tops; this will help us to prepare the Circles in the future.

Looking forward to the completion of your learning process,

with greetings from the Learning Circle Team,

 

Bob, Manon, Natasha

 

NEWSLETTER Monday May 23 (week 16)

 

Hello everyone,

 

We are starting the last week of this learning experience! Time to use all your efforts to finalize and finish the Learning Circle successfully. We still miss Challenge 2 results from the Comenius College Hilversum.

 

In the feedback schedule you'll find the schools that are waiting for your comments. All participants are pleased to see your reactions to the groups in your Circle. Also consider the possibility to have a Skype meeting; on this page you can read how to connect to the other participants.

 

peerScholar:
The third peerScholar phase ends this Friday 27; students will reflect on the feedback received and revise their letter to the jury of the Global Teenager project in peerScholar. The best 3 letters will be published in every wiki!

Completion & Evaluation:
This is also the last week for this phase. You can work on the same assignment (letter to the jury of GTP) until May 27 as a group and add it to your school page. 

You are asked:

 

• To write a letter, with your group, to the jury of the Global Teenager Project, in which you present a plan to improve a children's right. You can also use this assignment to talk about some 'eye-openers' you came across in the last months.
• We would also like to receive your feedback: What went really well and what could we improve on? 
  We are very curious to hear your tips and tops; this will help us to prepare the Circles in the future.

Looking forward to the completion of your learning process,

with greetings from the Learning Circle Team,

 

Bob, Manon, Natasha

 

 

NEWSLETTER Monday May 30 (week 17)

 

Dear participants,

 

After a learning EDventure of almost 4 months the Learning Circles Children's Rights have come to an end.
 

• The LC wiki's will stay open for at least one more year, so there is time enough to enjoy the contributions of your fellow learners, 
  feel free to add a comment at the bottom of each page :-)
• We are working on a compilation of all Circles and will share a link with you when this job is done.
• We will also make an announcement of the 3 winning letters to the jury of GTP and send them to Unicef. 
• Certificates are send to all teachers, in appreciation for all your efforts.
• A number of schools have also collected a sum for the reconstruction of the school in Nepal. We are very curious about your experiences; can you please send us an update in a mail this week to indicates the results the Maya Foundation can count on?

 

Based on your evaluations so far, we can see that students really enjoyed their Circle work. 

We appreciate your 'tips and tops'; they will help us to further improve our Learning Circles.

 

After summer holidays we’ll prepare the 2017 Circles. We already welcome you back and are looking forward to work with you again :-)

 

We kindly thank you and your students for all your hard work and impressive contributions.

Keep up the good work!!

 

With greetings from the GTP team, Natasha, Manon and Bob.

 

 

EXTRA MESSAGE about THE LETTERS, Monday June 13

 

--> In this pdf you'll find the 5 winning letters to the jury of the GTP! 
More than 150 wonderful letters with personal messages and creative solutions, written by students of the 7 English Circles; so powerful and touching, that we really had trouble to choose just a few... ;-)
 

Our Circle adventure is over, but some schools like to work on the challenges until summer holidays.

It's still possible to see all the new contributions and post a comment on the school pages.

 

Students in the Learning Circles were very impressed by Urmila's story of her life.

Many of you wrote a letter to her, straight from your heart, including a lot of questions that have not been answered.

Urmila is receiving thousands of letters and she is still traveling around the world to raise awareness about the injustice for so many girls. 
It is not possible for her to answer your letters personally, but Urmila is very touched that her experiences inspired you; the more people know her story and make their voices heard, the more likely it is that adults are willing to change the existing situation.

 

The impact is visible in this quote from Kim (from Schoonhovens College):

 

"In a group, we have written a letter to Urmila, and her story was very impressive. I never realized how many children suffer in the kalamari system, actually before the project I had never heard of it, it was really shocking when i saw the sentence 'Urmila was a house slave, like thousands or other girls in Nepal'. This made the amount seem so big, and because of her story it reminds you that this should not be tolerated, the story really helps you to understand the terrible problem. Her speech, 'Freeing the daugters of Nepal' was beautiful! After her story I was very happy that it was abolished and that Urmila has a better life now. I really believe she is an example for many children, because she tries to help other children, and she does this very well with her Kalamari Girls Forum".

 

Kim's letter and yours (!) show us how valuable it is that girls like Urmila are heard by many children. 
We admire all off Urmila's efforts and your support for her!

With open eyes and a clear voice we are stronger together in making this world a better place for children.

 

Thank you very much,

with summer greetings,

The Learning Circle team