I have spent off and on all week working on 2 of 4 presentations that I will be giving at our summer learning academy.
The first is digital storytelling. When I proposed to give this workshop, I thought I knew exactly what I was going to do. Then, I attended the National Institute. Now, I have added some components to the workshop but am struggling to keep it 2 hours, hands-on. I learn best by doing. I want my participants to see that they can do this, and that it is easy. I finished the outline for this presentation this morning.
Now, I am working on Web 2.0. First I must discuss, with facts, the way the net has migrated from an observant audience to a participating audience. Then, I have to show teachers how this can be beneficial to them in their classrooms - K-12. Then, I will show them Plurk and how it can be used as a Professional Learning Community. After that, I have chosen a few applications to share. Then I want to give the participants of this workshop time to surf and find 2.0 applications that will work for them. This has been frustrating for me as so many sites are blocked by the district. As I reach out to my own PLN, I have discovered that many other schools are faced with the same difficulties. So, now I must ask how do I go about making a change without totally upsetting the apple basket?
I have saved my last two workshops for last as I do think they are the easiest to prepare for. One is on DE Streaming. We will spend some time learning about the program, going over changes from previous years, introducing the DEN, and just giving time to work.
The last workshop I have to prepare for is using the Achievement Series resluts to impact student learning.
Well, I had better get back to working on my presentations. 
Last week, I spent an excited and exhausting week at DEN National Institute in Silver Springs, MD. Our meetings took place at Discovery National Headquarters. We started with an activity that divided us into regions. Each region created a remake of Discovery’s Boom-De-Yada video. This gave us a chance to network, and build a nice team.
Tuesday’s kickoff started with Hall Davidson giving a great presentation talking about cell phones and their uses. This spurred me to discover that Google has a whole section of useful searches that I can use from SMS on my phone. If I am in a different city and I want to find a pizza place, I just have to type pizza Lawrence, KS then send it to Google (466459) After the keynote, we spent the remainder of the day in breakout sessions. One of the sessions that I attended was Hall Davidson’s presentation on Google Earth. I look forward to using this with my class. In the evening, Discovery put on a carnival for us with games and prizes.
Wednesday started with a keynote from Steve Dembo comparing digital immigrants with digital natives. We spent the morning in breakout sessions, then spent the afternoon working on projects. Wednesday evening brought a guided tour of DC at night. Luckily, the storms didn’t deter our evening of being a tourist.
Thursday was a day for work. We worked on projects all day, with the exception of a trip to the production studio and a taping in front of the green screen. Hank Caruso and I spent the entire day working with www.mogulus.com. When we finished, we were able to broadcast live, switching between his camera, my camera, and pre-loaded videos. Later in the evening, several volunteers put on the DEN-liest catch, showcasing a trick of the trade. This show was followed by working into the night.
Friday we each showcased our projects, science fair style. This was by far the best part of the week. It allowed a collective sharing after networking all week.
Thank you Discovery Education for allowing me to participate in this wonderful opportunity
Here is the Central Region Boom-De-Yada Video. We hope you enjoy them.Boom-De-Yada Video
I have spent the past two days at the National Institute at 1 Discovery Place - Discovery Headquarters. I have spent time in workshops learning about Digital Storytelling, Google Earth, Movie Maker, and Podcasting. I have learned how to usedTwitter, Plurk, and many other live broadcasting programs. I listened to Hall Davidson talk about using Cell Phones in the classroom and Steve Dembo talk about Digital Immigrants. I look forward to using the things I have learned in the classroom this year.
