The competition was fierce. We had some incredible costumes submitted as part of our first ever Tech or Treat costume contest. In fact they were so good that we just can’t make a decision ourselves! So we’ve decided to split the contest into two parts. The first part is best costume of a Discovery personality. We’ve narrowed it down to ten contestants. We’ll have voting open all week and give away HD Flip Cams to the two people with the most votes!
We also received some amazing submissions from people dressed as some of our favorite DEN personalities! So the final Flip Cam will be given away to the top vote getter in that category as well. Those pics will be posted in the next blog post.
So vote away! And thanks to everyone that submitted a photo!
Want to learn more about how Twitter can be used as a collaborative tool in education? Then you won’t want to miss out on reading this recent article from EdWeek. Kathleen Manzo, the author, interviewed quite a few educators to determine how Twitter is actually be used in classrooms. Among those interviewed? STAR Discovery Educator Dorie Glynn and I!
Dorie Glynn, who teaches a bilingual 2nd grade class at Kirk Elementary School in Houston, has been preparing students for conversations of their own on Twitter. The students have started following other classes at the school, and across the country, as they get ready to share data on regional cultures, weather, and to play a virtual I Spy game, in which they will hunt for geometric shapes in maps and photos sent from Twitter followers in other places.
“I see a huge amount of potential for connecting with another classroom, asking regional questions, comparing and contrasting areas,” Ms. Glynn said.
A little birdy told us that it just happens to be Hall’s birthday today. It wouldn’t be polite for me to say how old he is, but let’s just say it falls somewhere in between 59 and 61!
Please join me in wishing him a very happy birthday… and let’s have a little fun while we do! Hall is one of our favorite subjects for caption contests. SO, leave a comment below with a birthday wish for Hall and bonus points will be giving for supplying a caption to the photo below.
One other thing. If you’d like to add Hall’s Seal of Approval to any websites today, check out this Quip. If you add him to anything fun, share a link in the comments as well!
Do you follow Discovery Education on Twitter? What about the Young Scientist Challenge? Or the New Teacher Survival Center? Or perhaps your leadership council? Or the members of the DEN team?
Just in case you’re new to Twitter or may have missed some, here’s a quick overview of where you can find Discovery Education represented via Twitter!
TeacherSurvival - The New Teacher Survival Center has just begun to tweet! To kick things off, they started a #NewTeacherTip meme. Share your favorite tips for new teachers and include that hashtag.
Well, it’s back to school time, and you know what that means… It’s time to share the 2009-2010 webinar schedule! Nearly 100 webinars have been scheduled already and are ready for your registrations.
Cost? Free.
The webinar schedule includes several different series.
DEN Webinars: Every Tuesday night a member of the DEN team will lead a webinar focusing on media integration, new technologies, maximizing your usage of DE streaming and a wealth of other topics.
Product Demonstrations: Every Friday, learn about all the different Discovery Education products from the people who know them best! The very people who are responsible for creating these fantastic products will take you on a personal tour and answer individual questions. Don’t pass up this opportunity to learn about all the other things Discovery Education has to offer… besides videos!
Science Class: Strap on your goggles, because things might just get messy. Brad Fountain hosts a monthly science class for you and your students.
EdTechConnect: Every month, we’ll bring you one of the most notable names from the EdTech community to inspire you and stretch your thinking. Complete schedule is forthcoming.
Special Events: As always, we’ll be hosting our annual Streamathon and two Virtual Conferences. These full day events are always packed with fantastic sessions, so be sure to add them to your calendar now!
You can register for any or all of our webinars through the end of the year right now! Just click here to register, and you’ll receive reminders as the events get closer.
Without further ado, here’s the 2009-2010 webinars!
We’ve been busy converting and uploading all the archives from our incredible Summer School webinar series. While we still have quite a few to go, nearly half the webinars have been posted and are ready for you to download and share them with others!
As they get converted, we’re posting them here, so check it out and let us know what you thought of the series!
Couldn’t be at the DEN National Institute this year? Don’t worry, neither could I! But thanks to the efforts of Alice Mercer, I’ve been able to attend several sessions virtually. She has graciously shared links to the live streams of sessions done by Adam Frey (Wikispaces), Claudia L’Amoreaux (Linden Lab/Second Life) and our very own, Hall Davidson.
We here at the DEN would like to congratulate educators and student from Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas and Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, for reaching a major milestone: 1,000,000 educational videos viewed through Discovery Education streaming.
Of course, I’m sure you want to know what the millionth video viewed was in each district, right?
At Clark High School in Northside ISD, the millionth video was “Assignment Discovery: An Inside Look at the Flu.” To recognize the milestone, representatives from KLRN and Discovery Education presented Clark High School with video resources for science classes and highlighted Superintendent John Folks for his dedication to engaging students with 21st century learning tools and services.
The millionth streamed video for Prince George’s County Public Schools was “The Magic School Bus Gets Charged,” and was viewed by a class at Oakcrest Elementary School. According to Dr. William Hite, Jr., Superintendent, Prince George’s County Public Schools, “I credit the educators of Prince George’s County for their hard work in reaching this important milestone.
An extra congratulations go out to all the STAR Discovery Educators at Prince George’s Public Schools who were such an integral part of helping them reach this milestone!
Herald Williams
Talitha Simeona-Moon
Renee Henderson
Gary Rann
Rosetta Terry
Carmella Doty
Paul Thebert
Stephanie Roby
Dennine Powe
Edwin McCulley
Aimee Pressley
Aaron Smith (The Art Guy)
Dara Case
Rosetta McMillon
Marilyn Barber
Nathan Garner
Terry Linn
Paula Jaenichen
Enrique Seale, Sr
Evelyn Adams
Talitha Simeona-Moon
Susan Toerge
NECC is just under a week away, and we hope you’re as jazzed for it as we are! Our home on the conference floor will be Booth #3228 and we’ve got a packed schedule there. You’ll be able to see presentations such as:
Discovery the Possibilities with Discovery Educaiton Digital Services
Multimedia Einsteins: Discovery Education Science
Using Multimedia in the Classroom with Mimio
50 Ways To Use Discovery Education streaming
Bring 21st Century Teaching to Your Classrooms: Professional Development that Works
Connecting Formative Assessment to the Power of Digital Media
And who will be presenting these sessions? None other than your favorite DE and DEN presenters, including Hall Davidson, Lance Rougeux, Steve Dembo, Matt Monjan, Jen Dorman, Eren Koont, Alex Morrison, and more!
Don’t forget!! In order to maintain your STAR status, you must report at least two of your events for the 2008-2009 school year by August 31, 2009. We don’t want anybody to lose their STAR status, so be sure you take the time to let us know about all the times you’ve shared the power of Discovery Education with your colleagues!
What is an event ? An event is any time you share the power of Discovery with 3 or more colleagues. Share an integration idea over lunch with your grade-level team. Demonstrate to your peers how you use a Virtual Lab in DE Science. The list is endless. Log in to the DEN website and you’ll see “Report Event.” If you are not sure of how many events you’ve reported send an inquiry to den_events@discovery.com.
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