If you are like me, school has started this week and you are busy with meetings and getting our classroom ready for open house and the first day of school. If you resemble this remark, you may have also signed up for some of the amazing summer school webinars only to discover that your school has scheduled a meeting or training at the same time. I was very disappointed this week because I missed several webinars due to meetings. The good news is that the webinars are being archieved and can be viewed on your own time! If you want to check out any of the sessions you missed, visit http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/summer-school/ and click on the topic you would like to learn more about. Not all the sessions are posted yet but they are coming soon.
If you scroll down the page, you will see a link to Hall’s presentations in pdf or ppt files. These are excellent resources and I highly recommend downloading them and sharing them with others in your school or district. Enjoy these resources and good luck with the first week of school.
If you live near the Orlando area and would like to attend the Orlando Science Center’s Open House, mark your calendar for Saturday, August 29. You will need to RSVP either by email or phone. The flyer below contains all the information about the event. Let me know if you plan to attend and we can have a DEN social at the Science Center. I look forward to seeing you at the event. This will be a great way to incorporate Discovery Science and the Science Center into your curriculum this year.
Teachers, do you want to be appreciated? Do you enjoy receiving goody bags full of teacher supplies? If so, this Saturday, August 15, 2009 is your lucky day. Staples andOffice Depot are hosting their annual Teacher Appreciation Events at 9:00am. Bring your id and sign up to join their teacher rewards program. Staples offers a great deal for teacher too. Teachers are able to purchase 25 of any item in the add, regardless of the limited quantity amount. All you need to do is show your id and they are yours. This offer even includes their $.01 items! Staples is giving away free gift bags to the first 100 teachers on Saturday. Office Depot is providing breakfast, 10% off purchases and a tote bag filled with gifts. Mark your calendar and enjoy the events.
The University of Minnesota is doing a study on the impact of Twitter in the classroom. Check out the video showing the students actively engaged in their English course using iMacs and Twitter.
The new school year is just around the corner and I would like to take a moment to welcome every back to school. There are some new and exciting changes to DE Streaming this year that you will definitely enjoy. How many of you are aware that you will be able to create a class for your students in DE Streaming?
To check out all the new changes to DE Streaming, just click here for seven pages of information. The Florida Blog will be updated weekly with great information to share. If you are not already receiving email updates, you can sign up by entering your email in the upper left hand corner of this window.
Good luck this year and I look forward to a great year with the Florida DEN!
NEFEC (North East Florida Educational Consortium) recently purchased Discovery Education Streaming Plus and Discovery Media Share for all 15 member districts in North East Florida. The Discovery team held train the trainer sessions in Lake City for NEFEC members responsible for training in their home counties on July 20 & 21, 2009. Welcome to teachers/staff in the following counties: Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee, Union. PK Yonge DRS, Florida School for Deaf & Blind.
On June 24th and 25th, representatives from all fifteen of NEFEC’s member districts participated in the Summer Drive-In Conference entitled, “The Power of Less: Making the Most of Your Return on Investment”. This one-day, technology-centered event was held at Columbia High School in Columbia County on the 24th and replicated at Matanzas High in Flagler County on the 25th.
The conference consisted of two speakers that are on the cutting edge of integrating technology into best teaching practices, Hall Davidson from Discovery Education, and John Kuglin from the Eagle County School District in Colorado. Both speakers discussed the implications of technology on today’s learners, and the presentations touched on everything from professional networking sites to Twitter and cloud computing.
The day also included several districts showcasing their use of technology in planning and teaching to the individual learning needs of all students. Some of these presentations included:
As you begin thinking about the upcoming school year and your professional development, check out the DEN Webinar Series running August 3 - August 27. The sessions will include topics such as Digital Storytelling, School Leadership, Science and Web 2.0. All of the DEN Summer School Webinars will begin at 11 AM ET. You can register for any of the webinars by visiting The Nutshell and clicking on the registration link on Justin’s page. The following is the link for the DEN Webinar descriptions: http://tinyurl.com/mfz3fx
DEN pre-conference was an awesome day of learning. We held school at DEN Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. DEN head quarters is a beautiful place, if you are ever invited GO!!! Even though, we were treated as students on this day (being required to have Hall passes) we were definitely given a fantastic day of EDUCATION. Two classes I attended and recommend:
For those of you unable to attend, DEN has linked some of the presentations: Discovery School at NECC 09 Remember you can use these presentations as events with your faculty & staff .
Now is the time for change and the National Educational Technology Plan is the place to start. At NECC 2009, a collaboration event was created to gather “high impact, researched-based recommendations” from teachers and education professionals that would help drive the future of education and technology. Today’s students need a plan to bring their education up to speed. Your opinions are requested by July 12, so let your voices be heard. Click on the link to join this web-based outreach event. https://edtechfuture.org/?page_id=316.
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