DEN: Florida

Please watch the video of our Palm Beach School Districts for the MILLIONTH stream….

  Woo Hoo North Florida! In the competetion of commenting on the North and South Florida Blogs, Michele Futch of Calhoun County won Gold and Cheryl Woolwine of Putnam County won Bronze! You make me so proud! Congratulations to our friendly Southern counterpart, Debbie Bohanan of Osceola for winning the Silver.

Okay North Florida, the contest is not over yet. We need to support some of our fellow stars. Karen’s got the polling going on right now for the #1 Good News of the Grapevine. Kathy Bunch of Polk, Jane Sykes of Polk, Deanna Howell from Polk and Cheryl Woolwine from Putnam have submitted Good News that made it to the finals. Go vote on Karen’s Blog, but then come back here and tell me how hard it was for you. It was hard for me too, and you can only vote once.

I ask you to comment here because I love hearing your thoughts and I do read them. Sometimes I even respond to questions in the comments.

Best of luck to all Stars who submitted entries!

It is time to let your students’ creative abilities shine through participation in the 2006 Discovery Educator Network National Poster Contest. 

Challenge your students to express their love for learning by creating a digital image that shows how they "Connect to a World of Learning." 

• What do you enjoy learning?
• How do you learn?
• Where is the best place to learn?
• How does technology change what and how you learn?
• What inspires you to learn more about the world?

Students are permitted to use digital cameras to take photographs or create their image using means other than a digital camera (e.g., drawing the image with pencil and paper and scanning the image into digital format, developing the image on a computer using a painting or drawing program, etc.).  Judging will be based on creative expression, technical merit/image quality, and interpretation/relevance to the theme.   

Two winning images from each grade level range (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) will be selected and awarded prizes.  Winning entries will be used in a poster design that will be distributed to thousands of classrooms across the world.

Any student of a STAR Discovery Educator can participate.

Download den_npc_release_06.pdf
Download den_npc_flyerfaq_06.pdf
Download den_npc_rules_06.pdf
Download den_npc_student_application_06.doc

Last night I listenend to the newest DEN podcast on my new video iPod.  I love it.  Bernajean Porter encouraged me to think BIGGER about Digital Storytelling than I had been.  She emphasized the lessons learned.  Take a listen, you will be uplifted.

In this podcast you will hear:

• An indepth interview with Bernajean Porter(www.digitales.us)
• NASA Uplink Information
• DEN News
• Cosmeo free account for unitedstreaming Power Users
• Innovative ways to use podcasts in the classroom
• Plus many other exciting pieces of information

Also remember to submit your answers to the question at the end of the podcast to brad_fountain@discovery.com.  Each week a winner will be chosen from the correct answers submitted and a prize will be awarded.  This week’s winner won an autographed copy of Bernajean’s book Digitales: The Art of Telling Digital Stories.

As always, I am
Ubiquitously yours,
Karen

Cool Quiz Builder events reporter

As promised, I have a winner for the Digital Storytelling book by North Florida DEN’s own Kay Teehan. Okay, I have two winners. I couldn’t help myself. If you would like to purchase your own copy, you can do so through LuLu Publishing by clicking on the link. Marsha Cruce from Putnam County and Shannon Flynn from Okaloosa County, the winners of our posting comments, you have won a copy! Kay and I are working out autographing right now.

Need some ideas for your next Digital Story? Look at the news, especially wierd news. Last week there was an article that Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak is getting closer to scientific reality. What would you do with an invisibility cloak if you had one? What are some of the benefits of those who had the cloak? What are the ramifications of such a coat? Maybe a time traveling story where the person who donned the coat could step back through time to be an eyewitness at historical events.

You can also check out other scientific advancements made by the Discovery Young Scientists. A few of this year’s winners are from Florida!

Check out this great contest to encourage spreading the GOOD NEWS!  This is for any STAR DEN member or aspiring STAR.  The best part is that it’s not competitive!  Have you shared your unitedstreaming knowledge and expertise? Did you learn something cool at a workshop and want to train others? Then you could win.

If you are already a STAR Discovery Educator or aspiring to become a STAR Discovery Educator, we have a special opportunity just for you! Beginning October 1, 2006 through December 1, 2006, Discovery Educators can receive rewards by reporting professional development workshops and other types of involvement in the Discovery Educator Network, such as blogging, podcasting, attending webinars, and helping new DEN members reach STAR status. 

All you have to do is report your activity to me using this cool little Quiz Builder form!  Discovery Educators who have conducted two professional development workshops and participated in two other activities listed below between October 1, 2006 and December 1, 2006 will….. Receive a Discovery Educator Network computer bag. (Limit 1)

STAR Discovery Educators that encourage a colleague to apply for the STAR Discovery Educator Network, attend the STAR DEN webinar, upload a resource,  complete one event and are accepted into the STAR DEN between October 1 and December 1, 2006 will….. Receive a STAR Discovery Educator Network hooded sweatshirt. (Limit 1)

So what constitutes a professional development session? Any time you share the power of Discovery Education with 3 or more educators you are hosting an event.

Here are some ideas…

• Share an integration idea over lunch
• Demonstrate a skill involving unitedstreaming to co-workers before, during or after school
• Conduct an awareness session where you demonstrate unitedstreaming to your whole faculty
• Set up a face to face training or webinar where you work hands-on with your peers, which may include topics such as using unitedstreaming with digital storytelling, Inspiration and TimeLiner software. 
• Show colleagues how to embed a video into PowerPoint over lunch
• Lead a technology tip session using Discovery School resources
• Prepare a brief unitedstreaming presentation to present at a faculty meeting
• Coordinate a “Birds of a Feather” session at conferences
• Utilize unitedstreaming in a workshop or poster session at a Conference (local, state, regional, national)
• Hold periodic “DEN Meetings” to network and touch base with other members in your area
• Present examples of your integrated resources at an open house, PTA/PTO or School Board meeting
• Create an Integration Time! Introduce your colleagues to the new tools and features on unitedstreaming. Avoid information overload with short sessions on the writing prompt builder, quiz builder, assignment builder, best practices, integration strategies and much more!

As long as you are showing others the power of unitedstreaming (or any other Discovery Education product including Discovery Health Connection or Cosmeo), it counts.  In order for your activity to count, you must report all of your activity and events between October 1, 2006 and December 1, 2006 to your DEN Field Manager. All summaries (including date, location, number of participants, brief description of event) must be received by December 1, 2006 to be eligible.   

And don’t forget the first DEN wedding cast on Saturday!

As always, I am
Ubiquitously yours,
Karen

It’s still too hot for me to think of sweatshirts, but my DEN members are promising me that I will soon have a chance to wear my long sleeve ts, sweatshirts and jackets. They claim Florida does get cold. I hope so for all of your sakes because the DEN would like to announce the National DEN Fall Promotion - and it involves a hooded sweatshirt for the STAR DEN Members.

We have a great thing going, and you have a lot of benefits as a DEN STAR member. Donna Harris from Union County and I met with some of her fellow educators last night, and before I could say a word (hard to believe) she was telling them all about the benefits and why they should join. Perfect timing Donna! She’s going to get herself a sweatshirt.

It’s that simple. Recruit someone to the STAR DEN Level. If the person you recommend follows through (which means you will need to get in there and coach them!), then you will receive a nice hooded sweatshirt with the   Discovery Educator Network Logo.

That means they need to:

• Complete the DEN STAR application
• Include a resource in their application that they would like to upload and share with the DEn
• Hold two events (trainings, help sessions with unitedstreaming, or lesson sharings are just some ideas)
• Complete the STAR webinar

If they do this, not only do they receive their STAR benefits, they also receive a laptop bag (minus the laptop). So everyone wins!

Oh wait! You want the bag too? Okay, then you turn in two events, upload a resource and comment to the blog and I’ll put you on the list for the bag too. North Florida, this is a non-challenging thing to do! The only thing we’re a little weak in is uploading resources. We’ve got events and commenting to blogs down pat!

My challenge to you is to recruit someone - especially someone from a different school- and help them through the STAR process. You can only win one sweatshirt, but feel free to recruit as many as you can! To help me keep track, either email me or leave a comment below, on who you are recommending. Then when they get their acceptance, have them email me and tell me YOU recommended them!

We’ll back track to October 1st and go forward until December 1st. So go forth and recruit!

It’s September 1st! That means that the Florida Teams are ready to start their commenting and grapevine contest. Woo Hoo! Let’s go North Florida! Okay, so let’s give you something to comment about.

On my "address bar" I have the blog abbreviated to DEN_NFL. NFL makes me think football, when I am really more of a hockey fan. Anyway, can we come up with a new name? I mean, we have the Bucs, the Sting Rays, the Lightening, Dolphins —- what can Team North Florida’s Mascot be? What can our team name be? Comment below! And South Florida, be nice now.

Back in July I mentioned that we would be running a special DEN Promotion from July until September 30th. The blog said that we would have a special networking event for:

• The 5 educators that turn in the most events from now until September 30th (easy date to remember – my birthday).
• I’m looking for the educator that shares the most approved resources on the Discovery Educator Network website from now until September 30th.
• The other four? They will randomly be drawn from those who respond to the blogs between now and September 30th , upload resources, subscribe to the blog, or have turned in events. (So, yes, one event or blog comment will give you a chance to win!)

I have the date. I should have the entire package confirmed on Monday afternoon and will share it on Tuesday. The date is set for November 11th. It includes a very special lunch and maybe we can sweet talk Lance Rougeux into coming down early for the event. He’s coming in that weekend already for the Putnam County Event. Maybe we can get really lucky and get Brian from Implementation to come in early too. Florida has an awesome Implementation team, and to get to spend time with any of them would a great reward. (Putnam won our FETC promotion and these two are special guest presenters at their event.) South Florida is sending 5 people with us to enrich our networking fun that day!

Also, we’re going to give away a special prize to a DEN member who posts comments on the North and South Florida Blog. For every 3 comments you get a ticket for the drawing. I personally like this activity because it keeps me from blabbering to myself. Karen’s group is encouraging this promotion in South Florida (probably different prizes) so we’ll be seeing the South Floridians on our blog too. So start commenting! You can start commenting with theme suggestions for Putnam. I’m looking at harvests, cornucopias, pumpkins, fall leaves……

Kay Teehan - I’ve got a prize for you! Your name was selected from those who turned in their certificates for DEN certification. Thank you to those who did!  Let’s see if she’s reading the blog and realizes she won. If she wasn’t so busy I’d tell everyone to send her an email to announce it, but she’d probably kill me at this point.

Blog to you all on Monday!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING THIS WEEK FOR DEN ACTIVITIES!!!  PAY ATTENTION TO THE BLOG!

I’m on Yahoo Instant messenger right now with Brian Degenhart from Implementation. For those of you who do not know, the Implementation Team is basically the angels of unitedstreaming. Call up during the day and you will not be asked to push a bunch of numbers before reaching a REAL person. For those of you not familiar with Implementation, they are the dedicated post-sales support team who provide the technical and product expertise to assist our customers in effectively bringing unitedstreaming to teacher classrooms. And what’s really cool is that any end user can call in. You’re not limited to just your tech person. Florida Implementation team members include Craig Halper, Matt Monjan, Brian Degenhart and Christina Trajillo. She’s new, so we need to prove to her the power of DEN.

Anyway, he asked me about a certain district and then proceeded to tell me that the district has AWESOME usage so far, but they’re not #1 in the state. Guess who #1 is? Now this is not based on events, but actual usage. They define #1 as who has the highest average of active users per building. An active user is someone who logs in five or more times in the past 12 months. Well knife through my heart, it’s not a North Florida School. Oh that hurts. We’re covering several spots in the top 5, but we’re not #1. We need to fix this! (Leon, Polk - you all are up there!)

So this is what we’re going to do. When I interviewed for the job I had a pirate theme. I find using unitedstreaming a lot like finding buried treasure - all sorts of teaching gems inside! Let’s find out who in North Florida has been actively finding the treasures in unitedstreaming. We will spotlight a DEN School once a month. When you turn in a training, I’ll run reports and compare you to other schools that had training. The school with the highest percentage of use will receive a Florida Style Treasure Chest of goodies. What’s a Florida Style Treasure Chest? You’ll have to win to find out the exact details but it includes something for the DEN Member, a certificate for the school, and a tasty treat for the teachers.

Again, an event can be as simple as sharing with your curriculum or grade level team the tip of the day or a lesson you created using unitedstreaming. It does not have to be a formal three hour training.

So come on North Florida………………let’s take over the #1 spot and make our Implementation Team happy! And make me happy. Implementation can get just as competetive as myself. They like to claim their districts as the #1 unitedstreaming users as much as I do. So let’s get busy!