Louisiana DEN

Hello Fellow Lousiana DEN Members!

Registration is now open for the Fall DEN Virtual Conference.  If you missed the VC last February, you really missed more than you probably think.  Where else can you get top-of-the line presentations from Discovery’s own team all in one day?  Even the Discovery National Institutes cannot give us that!  The best and brightest Discovery has to offer is available to every single one of us on October 25th.  Oh, and did I mention that the registration fee is complimentary, free, zip, zero, nada?  People pay big bucks to attend conferences that do not deliver half as much as the Virtual Conference!

You can view the session titles and times here to see what best fits your schedule.  We are expecting more attendees than last spring, so be prepared to have a great day teaming with other educators in our quest to be better informed of best practices and innovative processes!  Since it is a virtual conference, that means you can attend from any computer, anywhere.  Some sessions will be repeated in the afternoon, to take into account the time differences between the east and west coast so that means we actually have a choice of when we want to join in on most sessions.

Take a look at the conference offerings and plan to join in on a fantastic professional development day!  Come and go as you need, but do not miss this opportunity!

Ever thought you were to old to play video games? Well… “Second Life” is a virtual community that is similar to a video game but has great value in joining. You can download it and begin by creating your avatar. Participation in “Second Life” provides a virtual area where you can collaborate with other educators. This has been around for a while but I just happened upon it recently. I have been meaning to inform you all of this GREAT tool. Not only will you get to know other educators in SL but also in RL (real life).

Collaborating with other educators via DEN blog and all other means allows us to share information and ideas without having to spend a lot of extra time trying to figure it out ourselves. I have read several articles about SL and see that it has a wide variety of possibilities. You can go to Second Life DEN Blog for more information.

Coming Soon…. A variety of sites with descriptions that educators can use reach our technology minded students. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Two great Louisiana locations and one great Discovery Education Network Virtual Conference on February 2nd! Don’t miss out! Louisiana is fortunate enough to host two “Live” conferences including awesome keynotes speakers and breakout sessions. If you live in North Louisiana you can attend the “Live” conference at Northwood High School in Shreveport and if you live in South Louisiana you could attend the conference at St. Mary High School in Baldwin. What if you are unable to attend in-person…no excuses…join us all virtually by registering online for the DEN Virtual Conference.

Guess what the best part is?!? If you attend in-person lunch is provided, certificates of attendance provided, and door prizes will be given. Also, get to know all about DEN and meet new educators to collaborate with.

See the Louisiana DEN Virtual Conference Flier for additional information and detail about the keynote speakers. Also, if you need more information you can contact Susan Tompkins at susantompkins@gmail.com (Northern LA site) or Gwendolyn Thomas at gthomas@stmary.k12.la.us (Southern LA site).

Join us February 2, 2008!!!!!! Geaux Louisiana Educators!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See below for a great opportunity to get involved with other leadership councils. I hope that everyone has a safe holiday season and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Karrie

Elaine Plybon, blog coordinator for the Texas DEN Leadership Council, needs YOU! The Irving Independent School District in Irving, Texas, for which she works, has an annual Technology Media Fair. This year, the district has opened up several categories for online judging. The hope, above all, is that this will help keep district students excited about technology and about sharing their work with a global audience. This is where you come in. The contest is in need of judges. Anyone who has an interest in technology in education is qualified to be a judge. All the projects can be judged from now until January 7, 2008. There are six categories and levels from K through 12^th grade. Anyone who chooses to judge can judge as many or as few entries as they would like. Would you consider helping with this cause? You can do so by judging, obviously, but also by sharing the word with other education professionals through your own blogs, twitters, feeds, and other social networking venues. The district would love to see judging from all over the world, so let’s get this DEN machine rolling!

To judge the projects, go to http://www.irvingisd.net/mediafaironline and click on the judging link. When judging, please include your name and email address. Your email address will not be published. It will be used for security only. Please expect an email from our administrative staff confirming that the address listed next to your name is a valid email address.