It’s that time again! Dust off your walking shoes, strap on your pedometer, and start walking! This year the Discovery Education support team (or The Stream Team) is again participating in the Global Corporate Challenge. Over the next couple of months we will be walking and racking up those steps. Once we input our daily steps into the GCC website we can track how far around the world we can go. Let’s see where our steps take us!! Wish us Luck!

I clicked on Steve’s link and saw a very cool use for Pinterest related to the DEN Trading Cards that STAR Discovery Educators have been receiving for Teacher Appreciation Week or as part of their New STAR Welcome Kit.  As the Director of Social Media and Online Community for Discovery Education, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Steve came up with a great use for this social media tool.  I liked the idea so much I copied it and put together my own page of the DEN Trading Cards I’ve collected.

If you’ve received DEN Trading Cards and want to start building your own Pinterest page sharing your collection, here’s how to do it.

1.  Go to the URL on the bottom of the trading card, below the QR Code.

2.  Going to that URL will take you to the person’s main Meet Meme page.  When you get to that page, find the “Pin It” button below the picture of the card.  Click on it to add this to a Board you’ve already created on Pinterest.  In my case, my Board is called “DEN Trading Cards”

3.  Repeat steps 1 & 2 for the rest of your cards.  When you’re done, you’ll have a cool Pinterest Board displaying your DEN Trading Card collection.  Don’t forget to share your DEN Trading Cards Pinterest Board with others – in fact, share the link to your Board in the comment sections of this post!

Use this link to report your events.

If you don’t report your events in the next month or so, you could risk losing your STAR status.  You might be wondering whether or not you’ve reported two events, well, unfortunately, there’s currently not a way for you to check yourself.  However, over the next few weeks, we’ll be sending out an email to those of you who haven’t reported at least two events.  If you don’t get an email from us, you’re fine.  You’re an important part of the DEN and we want all of our STARs to keep their status.

The topic – are teacher credential programs preparing teachers for the type of work that is required of them in today’s classroom?  This particular article focuses on a study and questions whether schools of education adequately prepare teachers to interpret and utilize test data.  You can read the article HERE.

I received my M.Ed way back in the late 90′s.  And while I learned plenty of useful information and felt adequately prepared to be in the classroom, I was not trained in data interpretation and psychometrics.  In speaking with colleagues who were trained and graduated from schools of education after me, neither were they trained in these areas.  To be completely honest, I gained a more solid understanding of formative and summative assessments and data interpretation when I started working for K12 assessment companies.  Then it became my responsibility to make sure teachers knew how to interpret the data we were providing.

Yet in this age of accountability – state assessments, district benchmarks as well as any other class room assessment – teachers are testing ALL THE TIME, hopefully receiving useful data.  But is data useful if you aren’t sure how to read it and more importantly how to move forward with that data.

Everyone agrees that we are asking more and more of teachers, to “wear several hats” if you will.  One of those “hats” is being able to drive instruction using data.  Do you think you were adequately trained to interpret the data you receive?  What steps, as a life long learner, have you taken to educate yourself in this area?  I suggested to my colleague that K12 companies should get involved and teach seminars or workshops on their products and reporting process.  In all likelihood, graduating teachers will be using these products in their districts.  How can we make sure that current pre-service teachers are prepared for what is being asked of the teaching profession?

I invite you to read the NCTQ study for yourself and join the conversation.

Here’s a snippet:

The only way that our nation can address science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-related deficiencies in our classrooms is by empowering teachers with the support that they need to excite, engage, and instruct students in ways that help STEM education to come alive. Digital content and digital technology are critical tools to put into the hands of the teachers, but unless they know how to incorporate these tools into enhanced instruction, learning will remain static, uninspired and, ultimately, unlearned.

Visit the Discovery Communications blog to read the entire post and to share your thoughts with Bill.  Believe me, he’d love to hear your feedback.

Recently I attended a webinar hosted by Edweb.net which featured Kevin Honeycutt!  The best part… it was FREE! Check out edweb.net for more information.  Another great FREE webinar service is Classroom 2.0 Live!  What better way to hear and see what other educators are doing around the globe from the comfort of your own desk/couch/home/bedroom/comfortable spot.

I am looking forward to my upcoming webinar with Intel over Adaptive Technology on May 29th.

As a teacher, my brain is in other places, but I am still always looking for great opportunities to learn and connect with others.  I look  forward to spending the summer learning in person at ISTE, Podstock, and DENSI.  I am also excited the learning that I am going to find online through webinars.

Do you have a favorite site for webinars?  How do you stay in the loop of what is going on in the professional development world?

Week of May 21, 2012

In this event we will show participants how to capitalize on all Discovery Education resources available in Progress Zone. Part 2 will investigate the Classroom Manager as well as Assigning Probes using the Discovery Education Student Center. We will also explore how to get the most out of your efforts by exploring your student data using Progress Zone Reports. Please press play on the player below to view the webcast.

Please follow this link to download the webcast to your machine.

If you have not registered for the series please click here to receive notification as future webcasts become available.

Next came Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, which first appeared on Canadian television, but on May 22, 1967, it premiered in Rogers’ native Pennsylvania on WQED Pittsburgh. The network, then known as NET (National Educational Television), eventually turned into PBS, and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood became the longest running show it would ever broadcast. Fred Rogers’ gentle manner and habit of speaking directly to each child viewer won the hearts of preschoolers and their parents around the country, who looked forward to such features as visits to factories (“How People Make…”), singing and listening to music, and most especially the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, a safe place where puppets and their human friends talked about subjects like day care, discipline, and even divorce. Rogers died in 2003, but the Neighborhood lives on in reruns on PBS.

3 DEN Activities:
1. Dining with the STARS: You are cordially invited to dine among the STARs.
The South Carolina DEN will host a dinner for STARs during the UTC conference in Greenville, SC. STARs let’s spread the word about the DEN. We will have door prizes for STARs that bring an educator who is not a DEN member.  Register Here.
2. Tweet and Meet:  While at UTC follow the SC DEN Tweets at @SCDENSTARS to find out where we will have a tweet and meet each day.  Show up for a fun activity, to meet new friends, and maybe you will win a prize, too!
3. DEN APPetizers: Chill with the DEN crew and share your favorite educational APPs.  Meet us on Wednesday between 1:15 and 2:15 in Room 104 to collaborate.  We will tweet out your favorites and make a list to share with all of our DEN friends.

Here are some great workshops that are being given by our talented group of SC DEN STARS:

Framed! Creating & Putting Images to Work
Cathy Jo Nelson
6/12/2012
8:30AM -9:30AM and 9:45AM-10:45AM
Room 206
Learn some tricks and tips for making images that do the work for you! Teach students to create visual booktalks, announcements, and signage, just to name a few–use websites and school provided software to showcase student work and more.

Scratch a programming language for everyone. Create interactive stories, games, music and art
Larry Armstrong
6/12/2012
8:30AM-9:30AM and 9:45AM-10:45AM
Room 106
Scratch: programming language that makes it easy to create interactive art, stories, simulations, and games. Participants introduced to computational creations – see a collection of sample projects and engaging in an exploratory, hands-on experience.

1:1 Implementation: Richland Two’s Experience
Donna Teuber (with Shirley Smith)
6/12/2012
8:30AM-9:30AM
Room 108
The Richland Two 1TWO1 computing initiative will place a mobile device in every students hands over the next three years. Hear about lessons learned so far in building infrastructure, providing professional development, and choosing a device.

Lights, Camera, Greenscreen, Action!
Karen Ogen
6/12/2012
1:15PM-2:15PM
Room 224
Learn how to use the green-screening technique to engage your students.   Make them fly in outer space, visit a desert habitat, or dive underwater.  Learn how to easily (and cheaply) set up a recording studio, make a video, and share your movies.

For the win! AASL’s Best websites for Teaching and Learning
Cathy Jo Nelson
6/12/2012
1:15PM-2:15PM
Room 215
Come learn about the AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. See the winning sites, how they might be used, and get great ideas for implementing these free online tools, some 2.0, to make your class engaging and relevant for today’s students.

QR Codes in the Classroom
Karen Ogen
6/12/2012
2:30PM-3:30PM
Room 224
QR codes are everywhere!  What are they?  Come find out and learn some fun ways to use QR codes in your classroom, with your curriculum, for all grade levels and subjects.

APPetizers in the DEN
Amy Dent, Karen Ogen, Andrea Rollison, and Suzanne Brooks
6/13/2012
8:30AM-10:45AM
Room 104
Come share your favorite APP and meet other SC educators creating learning environments using APPs in the classroom. Don’t miss this powerful collaboration opportunity.

PD With a Twist
Tamara Cox
6/13/2012
9:45AM-10:45AM
Room 114
Professional Development does NOT have to be an experience that feels like torture! Three librarians will share ways that they have put a new spin on the professional development opportunities they offer to their teachers.

Tech Gadget Speed Dating
Tamara Cox
6/13/2012
8:30AM-9:30AM
Room 114
The Anderson One school librarians cordially invite you to a tech gadget speed dating event. Spend a few minutes of quality time meeting and getting to know gadgets like iPods, e-readers, Smartpens and more. Find the ONE you’ve been searching for.

Edmodo: It’s Elementary!
Suzanne Brooks and Susan Wise
6/13/2012
8:30AM-9:30AM and 9:45AM-10:45AM
Room 204
Edmodo is a learning network that can extend your classroom community outside of the classroom. It provides opportunities for students and teachers to share resources, communicate, collaborate, and much more.

APPetizers in the DEN
Amy Dent, Karen Ogen, and Suzanne Brooks
6/13/2012
1:15PM-2:15PM
Room 104
Come share your favorite APP and meet other SC educators creating learning environments using APPs in the classroom. Don’t miss this powerful collaboration opportunity.

Flipping, Fizzing and Sliding in the Classroom
Andrea Rollison
6/13/2012
1:15PM-2:15PM
Room 118
Learn how to flip your classroom by having students create meaningful video projects.  You will use a Flip Digital Camcorder, resources from Discovery Education and other simple tools to create engaging videos

Google Apps and Chrome: Two Peas in a Pod
The Cloud Is Your Classroom
Donna Teuber and MaryAnn Sansonetti-Wood (with Pam Hanfland and Janine Sears)
6/13/2012
1:15PM-2:15PM
Room 117
Use Chrome to completely integrate your classroom to the cloud. Collaborate through Google Apps and expand your horizons with Chrome apps to create multimedia experiences.

Let’s Go Educaching! Finding Educational Treasures using GPS
Andrea Rollison
6/13/2012
2:30PM-3:30PM
Room 118
Find out how you can use geocaching in your classroom. Presenter will demonstrate standards-based lessons that you can do with your students to create motivating and educational activities using a GPS.

Crack the Code of Learning: QR Codes and Geocaching in the Elementary
Suzanne Brooks and Susan Wise
6/13/2012
2:30PM-3:30PM

ETV Presentations by Debbie Jarrett and Donna Thompson
June 12^th
8:30-9:30 Room 214  Beyond the Basics (Advanced SL)
9:45-10:45 Room 214 Ways to Integrate Streamline
1:15-2:15  Room 214  ETV Does That?
2:30-3:30  Room 214 Using Video Cameras in the Classroom

June 13
8:30-9:30  Room 211  Movie Maker
9:45-10:45  Room 211  Digital Storytelling
1:15-2:15  Room 211  Streamline Admin
2:30-3:30 Room 214  School News Programs

Our Discovery Education partners- ETV will have a booth at UTC.  Please stop by and see them.  Most teachers know about StreamlineSC but did you know that ETV offers many other resources for educators: Knowitall.org, PBS Learning Media, Teacherline, eMedia, Media Share, PBS Kids and OnePlaceSC?  Drop-by and learn about all the resources that ETV provides for all SC Educators.