Dorman’s Trouvailles

Get ready for a new school year with the DEN! The entire month of August is jam-packed with free webinars. Tell a colleague, invite your principal and join us for Summer School with the DEN. Enroll today!

de_den_summerwebinars.pdf

All sessions begin at 11 AM ET.

Digital Storytelling Week
8/3/09
Thinking Outside the Slide: Creating non-linear PowerPoint presentations and learning centers with Discovery Education Media
8/4/09
Digital Storytelling Made Easy: Using Discovery Education Content with Animoto and PhotoStory
8/5/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker (PC)
8/6/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and iMovie (Mac)

Leadership Week
8/10/09
The Information Society is HERE: Are our schools up to the task? with Dr. Scott McLeod
8/11/09
Policies, Safety and Social Networking
8/12/09
Web 2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century
8/13/09
Data Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment

Science Week
8/17/09
Myth Busted: Easy Ways to Integrate Digital Media into Your Science Classroom
8/18/09
Getting Your Hands Dirty with Discovery Education Science
8/19/09
Differentiating Instruction with the Discovery Education Science Assessment Manager
8/20/09
More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green

Web 2.0 Week
8/24/09
Get Your Glog On! The DE streaming Builders and Glogster
8/25/09
The Thread that Ties it All Together: Discovery Education Content and Voicethread
8/26/09
Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere in the World: Designing Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education Media and Google Earth
8/27/09
Learning Through the Funnies: Mixing Discovery Education Content with Free Comic Tools

Enroll today!

Visit the DEN blog to access the archives of the DEN Summer School webinars as they become available.

Discover the undiscovered and explore the new content and functionality for the 2009-2010 school year. All STAR DEs now have the option to access the beta version of Discovery Education’s new content and functionality.You can access the new site by clicking on the “Try the new Site” link at the top of your MY DE page.

If you come across specific issues while using the site please email education_info@discovery.com.

Once you have had a chance to explore the new site we would appreciate your feedback.  Please click here to begin the survey.

We look forward to celebrating the DEN’s fourth birthday with many of our STARs at our pre-NECC Birthday Party Extravaganza on Saturday, June 27, 2009 at Discovery Headquarters.

If you are staying for NECC, I strongly encourage you to check out the following sessions from the DEN team.

Using Multimedia in the Classroom
Join mimio and Discovery Education to learn how you can quickly and easily create interactive lessons using mimio Interactive systems and Discovery Education content. Get tips and hands-on experience making your own presentations with our small group demo stations.  All attendees will receive a gift bag and Discovery Education streaming 30-day trial subscription, plus be entered into a drawing for a complete mimio Interactive system!

Bring a friend!

STAR Discovery Educators who bring a colleague with them to the Using Multimedia in the Classroom session will receive a Discovery Education t-shirt.

When?
Monday, June 29th; 3:00 to 4:30 PM
Tuesday, June 30th, 9:00 to 10:30 AM

Where?
Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H Street NW (3 blocks from the Convention Center), Farragut Square and Lafayette Park Ballrooms.

Seating is limited so arrive early to guarantee your space.

Monday, June 29

The 10 Best Free Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers
Steve Dembo
8:30-9:30 AM
Location: WWCC 146B

Eight Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Video
Hall Davidson
3:30-4:30 PM
Location: WWCC Ballroom B

Wednesday, July 1 

Moving Beyond the Information Age
Scott Kinney
8:30-9:30 AM
Location: WWCC Ballroom A

From Banned to Planned: Cell Phones in Schools
Hall Davidson
12:00-1:00 PM
Location: WWCC Ballroom C

Don’t forget to visit the Discovery Education booth in the Exhibitors Hall for engaging in-booth presentations from the DEN team.  

Thank you to all the wonderful college and university students who are spending their summer working with middle school students in the Lehigh Valley Summerbidge program.  I applaud your commitment to learning and to your community.

Click here to log into Discovery Education.

Here are some resources that will be helpful in your use of DE streaming and DE Science this summer.

• 50 Ways to Integrate DE streaming
• DE streaming Quick Start Guide
• DE Science Middle School Quick Start Guide
• DE Science Integration Strategies
• Embedding Video into PowerPoint 97/2003
• Embedding Video into PowerPoint 2007
• Widgets for Your DE streaming Builder
• Get Your ‘Og On – Glogs, Blogs, and Vlogs
• Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere – DE streaming and Google Earth
• Thinking Outside the Slide – Non-Linear Multimedia Presentations

Here are some great Web 2.0 applications.

• Voicethread
• Go Animate
• MyPlick
• xtranormal
• MakeBeliefsComix
• Glogster
• Animoto
• Kerpoof
• Pixton
• Diigo – social bookmarking and annotation
• Wikispaces – ad-free educational wikis
• Edublogs – moderated educational blogs
• Edmodo – microblogging, shared calendars, private document sharing, annotation

Here are some additional educational technology training resources.

• Blogging
• Podcasting
• Wikis
• Voicethread
• Glogster
• Animoto
• Learning Networks
• Digital Storytelling
• Digital Storytelling with Web 2.0
• Diigo
  
• WebQuests
• Google Tools for Schools – Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Sites, Google Knol, Google Reader, Blogger, Google News, Google Customized Search, etc.

These are just really useful applications.

• URL shrinkers and chunkers
• Media conversion tools

I know what you’re thinking . . . “we JUST finished the school year – I’m not ready to think about Back to School season!”

But, we have some really cool content and feature enhancements to Discovery Education that we want to share with our DEN community.  For those STARs who are conducting summer workshops and trainings, it’s a must to get a peak into the new interface and content types before the training.

We are inviting the DEN community to participate in a webinar to preview the new site enhancements and upgrades.  

Click here to access the registration page for the Back to School webinar series.   (Note: These webinars are all the same; you only need to attend one to learn about the new launch.)

Image Citation:

School Closed. Discovery Education. 2009.
Discovery Education. 12 June 2009
<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

I can’t believe that NECC is just around the corner!  I’m thrilled to be heading back to D.C. for NECC.  If you are planning on attending NECC, here are some things to work into your schedule.

We have a fantastic lineup of sessions for the June 27 Discovery Pre-Conference Extravaganza at One Discovery Plaza including:

• 50 Ways to Integrate Discovery Education streaming

• More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green

• Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Media and Google Earth

• Get Your Og On: Blogs, Glogs and Vlogs

• Power Up Your Professional Learning Network

• Top Ten FREE Web 2.0 Sites

• And more!

Space is limited.   Enroll today!

Using Multimedia in the Classroom – NECC Workshops
Join mimio and Discovery Education at NECC in Washington, D.C. for free educator sessions to learn how you can quickly and easily create interactive lessons using mimio Interactive systems and Discovery Education content. Get tips and hands-on experience making your own presentations with our small group demo stations.  All attendees will receive a gift bag and Discovery Education streaming 30-day trial subscription, plus be entered into a drawing for a complete mimio Interactive system!

• When:  Monday, June 29th; 3:00 to 4:30; Tuesday, June 30th, 9:00 to 10:30

• Where:  Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H Street NW (3 blocks from the Convention Center), Farragut Square and Lafayette Park Ballrooms.

Seating is limited so arrive early to guarantee your space.

NECC Workshops Featuring Hall Davidson, Steve Dembo, and Scott Kinney

Eight Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Video – Hall Davidson

Monday, 6/29/2009, 3:30pm–4:30pm WWCC Ballroom B

Follow video’s instructional path through Jing, Google Earth, blogs, Web 2.0, cellphones, flipcams, and edits. Touch assessment, teacher-training, evaluation. Web-based work has never been simpler.

From Banned to Planned: Cell Phones in Schools  – Hall Davidson

Wednesday, 7/1/2009, 12:00pm–1:00pm WWCC Ballroom C

Cell phones–like calculators–needn’t be banned from the classroom. Learn about technology use plans, model applications, best practices, amenable vendors, training, and bold thinking.

Moving Beyond the Information Age  – Scott Kinney

Wednesday, 7/1/2009, 8:30am–9:30am WWCC Ballroom A

Explore how consumers worldwide and students in your very own classroom interact with content differently than ever before.

The 10 Best Free Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers  – Steve Dembo

Monday, 6/29/2009, 8:30am–9:30am WWCC 146 B

Discover the 10 best free Web 2.0 sites and how to leverage them to transform learning–both your students’ and your own!

Check Out The Discovery Team Presentations at the Discovery Education Booth in the Exhibit Hall

The Discovery team will be facilitating presentations throughout the day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Stop by to learn about some terrific ways to integrate high-quality digital media into engaging 21st century lessons.  Or, just stop by to tell us how you are using DE media with your students.

I am looking forward to visiting with you at NECC!

We’re celebrating all week, but today is extra special – National Teacher Appreciation Day.  The entire Discovery family really appreciates the DEN community.  Our STARs make our jobs a lot of fun and in return we want to make sure you receive the support you need.  So for today we thought it would be a good idea to equip all STAR Discovery Educators with some extra resources for the summer.When you log in to the DEN website you will see a Teacher Appreciation Week box in the upper left hand corner (above your profile).

Follow the directions to get an upgrade that will give you 90 days of free access to Discovery Education Health, Discovery Education Science for Elementary and Discovery Education Science for Middle School.  You now have the Discovery suite just in time for your summer planning.

There is a new series on the Discovery Channel that has me hooked, Doing DaVinci.

Leonardo da Vinci was the original Renaissance Man — master of science, master of the arts, master of war. His revolutionary designs were the most advanced weapons of their day and were capable of unparalleled destruction. Yet no proof exists that they were ever constructed.

In Doing DaVinci a team of expert builders will try to construct these unique inventions using only materials available in da Vinci’s own time. It’s a modern twist on the classics, but will these outrageous machines work? Or were Leonardo’s genius ideas better left in the history books?

Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT

This series is devoted to testing the plans and inventions imaged by Leonardo da Vinci hundreds of years ago.  There are also some terrific interactive resources available online:

• Da Vinci Timeline
• Leonardo’s War Machines
• Da Vinci Video Highlights
• Da Vinci Personality Quiz
• Da Vinci Puzzles
• How Da Vinci Works

If you are interesting in exploring the world of Da Vinci with your students, be sure to check out the resources in DE streaming and DE Science.  In streaming teachers and students can access 24 full videos, 53 video segments, 9 articles, and 18 images.  Here are a few highlights:

• Achievement of Leonardo da Vinci – video segment
• Leonardo da Vinci – full video
• Leonardo da Vinci – article

DE Science subscribers can access 3 full videos, 8 video segments, and 3 images.  One of my favorites are the three video clips about da Vinci in Understanding Robotics.

EdSITEment has a series of great lesson plans that are part of “Leonardo da Vinci: Creative Genius.”

Science NetLinks also has a few lesson resources for teaching about da Vinci:

• Leonardo’s Machines
• Exploring Leonardo
• Mona Lisa’s Smile

So, if you are looking to bring one of the Renaissance’s greatest thinkers to life in your classroom or you are brushing up on your history for a Dan Brown novel, check out some of these lesson resources and Doing DaVinci on the Discovery Channel.

Join our live Science Class broadcast on Tuesday, May 5th at 1:00 PM EDT.  We will be exploring different types of chemical reactions including changes in energy and exothermic.  You can also find an experiment you can conduct with your class after our live broadcast on the Science in Action blog .  The live broadcast will air on the Science Class section of the Science in Action blog.  We look forward to seeing you there.

[Image from Flickr: Move the Clouds, Beaker]