The
Learning Circles Course
iEARN Schools
Communicating Through Learning Circles
Meet the Classes
CLASS SURVEY: JOANNE SMITH, Burlington Township High School, New Jersey,
United States of America
A. Name of teacher: Joanne Smith
B. Grade level: High School 9th through 12th
C. Class favorites (List your class top 5 favorites in each category):
1. Music groups – Pop, Rap, Alternative Rock
2. Authors – Edward Gorey, and Edgar Allen Poe
3. TV programs – South Park, America’s Next Top Model, and Degrassi
4. Foods – Chicken and Pizza were the favorites, followed by macaroni and
cheese, pasta, and French fries
5. School subjects – Language Arts and Computer Applications were the
favorites, followed by History, Music, and Mathematics
6. Sports – Soccer, Football, Field Hockey, Baseball, and basketball
7. Video or computer games – Sims, Halo 2, and Madden (football) 07
A. School information
1. Name and address of class and school
Burlington Township High School, 610 Fountain Avenue, Burlington, New Jersey,
08016
2. Number of students in class and school
I teach 3 different classes of 20-23 students – each class meets 5 times a
week for approximately 80 minutes each day. The class in the survey has 23
students. Two classes are semester classes and meet from September through the
end of January. One class is a marking period class and meets September through
November. At the end of January, I have all new classes again.
3. Size of school
The high school has close to 1200 students (Grades 9-12)
The school district has over 4000 students (Kindergarten-12)
4. School emblem, colors or mascot
The school emblem has a falcon in it, which is also the school mascot.
The school colors are black, white, and gold.
5. Type and number of computers
The computer lab I teach in has 25 Dell Intel Pentium D Computers with DVD
drives. The students are able to save to individual network folders and have
their own user name and password.
6. School history
The high school opened in September of 1964.
B. School program
1. List 3 things about your school program that make it unique.
We are on block scheduling. The students have only 5 subjects per semester. (2
Semesters per year). Most high schools in the area teach 8 subjects for entire
school year. This allows the students to take 2 additional classes per year, as
well as be in the classroom for instruction for a longer period of time each day
(80 minutes). Traditional schedule is 45 minutes classes.
2. List school calendar from the session dates (holidays and special events that
may affect your participation).
No school November 7th (Election Day), November 9 & 10 (New Jersey Teachers
Convention), November 23 & 24 (Thanksgiving), December 22 through January 1
(Winter Break).
Your community
1. Name of your community
Burlington Township
2. Location of your community
In Burlington County, southeastern central New Jersey, Northeast United States.
Burlington Township borders Florence Township, Springfield Township, Westampton
Township, Willingboro Township, and Edgewater Park Township. Burlington Township
also borders the Delaware River.
3. The area of your community according to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of
36.2 km˛ (14.0 mi˛). 34.9 km˛ (13.5 mi˛) of it is land and 1.3 km˛ (0.5 mi˛)
of it (3.58%) is water.
4. The population of your community
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,294 people, 7,112 households, and 5,277
families residing in the township. The racial makeup of the township was 67.71%
White, 24.49% African American, 0.16% Native American, 3.73% Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 1.46% from other races, and 2.41% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.01% of the population.
B. Special characteristics
1. List 3 reasons why people come to visit your area.
Most people that visit Burlington Township probably are visiting their families.
There are several shopping areas nearby. However close by, are many shore
communities with beautiful beaches and many tourist attractions located along
the Atlantic Ocean only a 45-minute drive. Also in 30 minutes you can visit
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is rich in United States history and has well
has many cultural events, and in about a 1 hour drive is New York City or in 2
hours the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania which has many ski attractions and
the nation’s capital is a 2 ˝ hour drive.
2. Describe any unusual land formation found in or near your community.
None that I can think of, but Burlington County has many small rivers and
streams, is located along the Delaware River. It has many trees that change
color as the fall weather gets colder and also many pine trees that stay green
all year. There are still farms in the area. The climate in the area is
typically Warm May-Sept (70-90 degrees F), cool Sept-Oct (60-70 degrees F) and
colder Nov-April (30-60 degrees F)
C. Industries
List major industries or occupations in your community.
Burlington Coat Factory headquarters- a national department store retail chain.
Many small retail locations as well as fast food restaurants.
Some small industries, many jobs in education, as well as in local and state
government. Many residents commute to Trenton, Philadelphia or New York via
public or private transportation.
CLASS SURVEY: SHAZIA FERDOUS, Civil Aviation Authority Model School Number 2
Karachi, Pakistan
PART I. INTRODUCING THE CLASS
A. Name of teacher: Miss Shazia Ferdous
B. Grade level: 8th grade
C. Class favorites (List your class top 5 favorites in each category):
1. Music groups: Srtings, Jal, Back Street Boys, System of a down, Vital signs
and patriotic songs
2. Authors: Billy Dixon, Charles Dickens, Marc Brown, Shel Silverstein, J.K.
Rowling
3. TV programs: Fear Factor, Mountain Dew Survivor Pakistan, Master Mind Ring,
Kaun Banega Carorpati, Jazz Icon
4. Foods: Biryani, Haleem, Nehari, Koftay, kheer and ice cream
5. School subjects: Science, Social Studies and English
6. Sports: hockey, football, cricket, tennis and basketball
7. Video or computer games: Star Wars, Street Fighters, I Spy
8. Other Class Favorites of your choice
PART II. INTRODUCING THE SCHOOL
A. School information
1. Name and address of class and school: Civil Aviation Authority Model School
No-2 and its near Jinnah International Airport Karachi Pakistan.
2. Number of students in class and school: 43 in classroom and 2800 students in
the school
3. Size of school: There is one building for kindergarten, 4 classrooms in each
grade level, one building for primary and one for secondary and each building
have four classes for each grade. In our school we have two playgrounds and two
grades. We have rooms for teachers (staff room), school PTI, school doctor and
nurse, administrator, music, library, and activity room.
4. School emblem, colors or mascot: Blue color with small squares Emblem
5. Type and number of computers: The school has 22 computers in the computer lab
and they are Pentium III
6. School history: The school was originally called Civil Aviation Model
School-2 and was built in 24th November 1984 and it had only 80 students and 5
teachers. Our first principal was Nazma Ather. Our current principal is Mrs.
Bilquis Nadir.
B. School program
1. List 3 things about your school program that make it unique.
Welcome back party at the beginning of each session, Eid party immediately after
Eid.Related arts programs that we participate in during the term. Each week we
have a speech presented by students.
2. List school calendar from the session dates (holidays and special
events that may affect your participation).
Fall break is the week of October (24th to 28th) and December (21st to 31st)
PART III. INTRODUCING THE COMMUNITY
A. Your community
o Name of our community: Muslims
o Location of our community = Karachi is located on the Arabian Sea northwest of
the mouth of Indus river at latitude 24’48’N and longitude 66’59’E
o Area of our community = 3,527 sq km
o Population of our community = about 11 million
B. Special characteristics
1. List 3 reasons why people come to visit your area. It is the center of
Industrial and commercial development. Some come to see the Sea View, Tomb of
Quaid, Farer Hall and ports of Karachi and War History museums
2. Describe any unusual land formation found in or near your community.
Karachi is simply plain due to the residential, commercial and industrial
development though. It has in the north and north-western of Karachi, some small
mountains and hills kinds of land features.
C. Industries
List major industrssies or occupations in your community.
Ship Breaking:
The metal of ships very purified as sea water takes the impurities away. Hence,
it is sold at high prices. Pakistan lies on the fourth place in the counting of
the ship breaking industry. It pollutes the air and sea of Pakistan but the
government earns high revenue from breaking ships.
Fertilizers:
Fertilizers are compounds given to plants with the intention of promoting
growth. Pakistan is rich in producing fertilizers. It gains a lot of revenue
from export of fertilizers. It has a great name in the fertilizer industry.
Textiles:
Pakistan has a great name in the Textiles industry. It has been known for
textiles since the time of the civilization of the Indus Valley. It exports
great quality textiles for high prices in the world. It has given a great boost
in our economical development.
CLASS SURVEY: LAILA AL RAWAHi, Grade 9 Umm Aymen Basic School, Izki, The Sultanate of Oman
PART I. INTRODUCING THE CLASS
A. Name of teacher: Laila Al Rawahi
B. Grade level: 9
C. Class favorites :
1. Music groups : only Religious songs
2. Authors: Arab authors like Taha Hussein, Najeeb Mahfood, Ahmed Shawkey ( a
poet )
3. TV programs: cartoon, nature programs, movies, news, sports
4. Foods: chicken, fish, rice, bread, fast food like chips and ice-cream
5. School subjects: Islamic Studies, Arabic, Science, English, Math
6. Sports: basketball, football, walking, volleyball,
7. Video or computer games : Super Mario
PART II. INTRODUCING THE SCHOOL
A. School information
1. Name and address of class and school :Umm Aymen Basic School , Izki , the
Sultanate of Oman.
2. Number of students in class and school : I will be working with 10 students .
There are about 952 students in the school.
3. Size of school. It is very big with 31 classes, a science lab, 2 computer
labs, a Learning Resource Centre and an exhibition room. Moreover , we have the
headmistress office, the assistant office, the secretary office, 2 teachers'
rooms a health room, and a canteen.
4. Type and number of computers : hp , Toshiba and Macintosh .We have more than
40 computers. But we don't have an internet connection, so we will be sending
things from home.
5. School history: Our school has won many competitions and is considered as one
of the best schools because it has hard working and creative stuff.
B. School program
1. List 3 things about your school program that make it unique.
• We make 6 projects every year-one for each subject. For example we have
Arabic project, Social Studies project and so on.
• Our teachers participate in holding workshops to other teachers because they
have good experience. Many teachers do research and participate in competition
entitled "Omani Teachers and Educationalists" and competition for
cleanliness and health in the school environment.
• We receive many visitors who like to learn about teaching techniques and
projects. And our headmistress is one of the best. She always has new ideas to
apply every year. She reads a lot and she encourages her teachers to read for
the sake of professional development.
2. List school calendar from the session dates (holidays and special
events that may affect your participation).
We have a holiday for more than a week . It will start from ( 19- 27 of
October).
The weekend in Oman is on Thursday and Friday and not on Saturday and Sunday.
PART III. INTRODUCING THE COMMUNITY
A. Your community:
It is an Arab community and the Sultanate of Oman is an Islamic country.
B . Special characteristics:
People here are very proud of their heritage, history and religion. They still
wear traditional clothes especially during celebrations. Visitors can notice the
traditional architecture in old buildings and forts which have been restored.
The most important thing about people here is that they are very helpful and
hospitable. They like to receive visitors and friends.
C. Industries:
Oman 's main product is oil( petrol ). The Oman's economy is being rapidly
diversified. The first industrial estate was established in 1983.Now there are 6
industrial estates. There are many different factories in the estates such as
copper factory, date factory, cloth factory and food factories. Our industrial
emblem says( The Omani product is our first choice ).But that doesn’t mean
that we don’t need to import things. Our country imports items from many
countries such as the USA, Kenya, China and Thailand. So, despite the
significant progress in the diversification of the Sultanate's economy, it is
still oil-based and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future.
PART IV. OTHER INFORMATION
Contrary to popular Western belief, women from the Arab world are not all just
housewives and mothers. In fact, in Oman, they fill many roles as well as
maintaining their commitments to family. Most of them are educated; some are in
business for themselves, hold political positions, and volunteer toward the well
being of their community.