Dear Friends and Colleagues,

***** S P R E A D t h e W O R D ! *****

Issue three for 2009 of ITeachNet.org's "Webzine2" is on-line now. Please spread the word to friends and colleagues. Do you have a blog, site, organization or mailing list? Facebook? Cross-posting appreciated. Recent articles span two topics:

1. The question of consumerism in education and
2. what is meant by the term "International School."

Both questions are meant as discussion-starters and authors were invited to present their ideas on the subject.

****** J O I N t h e D I S C S S I O N *****

You are encouraged to read them and respond with your ideas. Collegial reflection and discussion are the goals. Please join us at:

http://www.iteachnet.org
%login_uri

Authors in this issue represent international schools in France, Luxembourg, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S.

***** Articles So-Far ***** (MORE COMING!)
----------April 2009 ------------------
http://iteachnet.org/webzine2_april2009 (Table of Contents)

- Laura Forish, American School of Paris
"What Is an International School?"
http://iteachnet.org/lauraforishwhatisaninternationalschoolwebzine2april...

- Seth Ruef, International School Luxembourg
"The Internationally Minded School"
http://iteachnet.org/sethruef_mindset_webzine2_april2009

- Chika Wilms, Bangkok Patana International School, Thailand
"International Schools: What Are They?"
http://iteachnet.org/chikawilmswhatisaninternationalschoolwebzine2april2...

- John Stiles, Ruam Rudee International School, Thailand
"World Schools: The New International Schools?"
http://iteachnet.org/jstileswolrdschoolswebzine2april2009

- Marilyn Hagle, Highschoolcourseexchange.org (Texas, USA)
"High School Course Exchange: Boundless Learning"
http://iteachnet.org/marilynhaglehighschoolcourseexchangewebzine2april20...

----------March 2009 ------------------

- Dr. Barrie Jo Price, University of Alabama School of Education, EmTech (http://emtech.net)
"Psst. Good deal on 'almost authentic' learning!"
http://iteachnet.org/barriejopricealmostauthenticlearningwebzine2march20...

- Robb Sloan, Taipei American School, Taiwan
"Commercialism: Why Not Education?"
http://iteachnet.org/rsloanwhynoteducationalcommercialishwebzine2march20...

- Laura Forish, American School of Paris
"In Praise of Subversive Teachers"
http://iteachnet.org/lauraforishinpraiseofsubversivelearningwebzine2marc...

- Mick Purcell, The New International School of Thailand
"The Three Cs"
http://iteachnet.org/mickpurcellthe3cswebzine2march2009

- Dr. John Stiles, Ruam Rudee International School
"Schools are Unnatural"
http://iteachnet.org/johnstilesschoolsareunnaturalwebzine2march2009

- Chika Wilms, Bangkok Patana International School
"International Schools and Their Many Capitals"
http://iteachnet.org/chikawilmsintschoolsandtheirmanycapitals

***** Blogs *****
- "Assistive Technology for ALL kids"
http://iteachnet.org/node/396
by Denise Krefting, http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us
and

- "Mobile Technology in the Classroom"
http://iteachnet.org/node/395
by Denise Krefting, http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us
and

- "What are Schools For?"
http://iteachnet.org/node/394
by Dr. John Stiles, Ruam Rudee International School

***** Of Interest *****
-*- Blog on ITeachNet.org:
Do you blog about international education? Put your blog on iteachnet.org. Just register and get started: %login_uri

-*- Student Webzine:
Do you have students who write? Why not help us start an independent, online "zine" for students of which everyone involved can be proud? Write us at http://iteachnet.org/contact.

-*- BossEd:
"Bringing Open Source Solutions to Education," a conference for those interested in or supporting Free/Open Source Tools and Content for schools, will be held on October 31st and November 1st at KIS International School in Bangkok (http://kis.ac.th). We are now calling for presentation proposals and expressions of interest from potential attendees. Start here: http://opensourceschools.org/oss2009bangkok

-*- Community:
ITeachNet.org is about community; it is a grass-roots level network of the willing: join us now and build connections among friends and colleagues around the world dedicated to the improvement of international education.

************** A n A N T I D O T E t o T E A C H E R B U R N - 0 U T: Engage Your Mind with Colleagues ****************

How do you sustain your professional vitality?

In education, we often talk about how important it is for our students to engage in friendly discussion about ideas, facts and events using the "latest" Internet-based methods. We want them to observe, reflect, express and connect via ideas, words and deeds. We want them to become "life-long learners." Why? Because it's not only practical, but it's also fulfilling -- active, engaged learning really is invigorating. Yet, as teachers we plead our busy-schedules and rarely practice what we preach.

I know you don't have time. Neither do our writers. But they write because they have learned from experience that the reflection does them good, and they read because this simple act feeds their need for quality ideas from outside their normal "sphere" of interaction. They comment on each other's work because the interaction sustains them. And you, do you really have time to suffer the consequences of not having time for valuable reflection and exchange?

Those working or interested in "International Education" are encouraged to do themselves a favor (i.e. favour ;-)) by taking a little time to read and comment on http://iteachnet.org. Better yet, we hope you'll start a blog and/or contribute articles to Webzine2, or start a group discussion.

Begun in 1995 as The Teacher's Internet Pages, %site is one of the oldest international education sites on the World Wide Web. With the support of IKN, http://intknowledge.com, it is a volunteer-based effort by and on behalf of international school teachers and school administrators. You are invited to take advantage of our work and help us all grow together.

Looking forward to seeing you on iteachnet.org,

David Bucknell
Editor, %uri
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