Brockton Public Schools Educator Participates in Annual Discovery Educator Network Leadership Council Symposium

–Five-day event equips educators with tools to be leaders in educational technology–

 
Silver Spring, Md. (July 19, 2010) – Marybeth O’Brien, a fourth grade teacher at Huntington Elementary School in Brockton Public Schools, along with 75 other educators from across the country, recently spent five days at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. participating in the Discovery Educator Network Leadership Council Symposium July 11-16. The event was hosted by Discovery Education, a division of Discovery Communications, whose networks include Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.
 
O’Brien is a member of the Massachusetts Discovery Educator Network (DEN) Leadership Council.  As one of more than 20 state councils nationwide, the Massachusetts DEN Leadership Council supports educators’ efforts to integrate educational technology and digital content into curriculum through a variety of activities, including professional development workshops, networking events and regular communications on emerging technology and best practices. In addition, the Massachusetts DEN Leadership Council authors a blog that serves as an information clearinghouse on state-specific education issues. Together, these activities assist teachers across Massachusetts, regardless of their familiarity with technology, as they implement the new high-tech tools available to improve student achievement.
 
During the recent Symposium, participants heard from renowned speakers such as Peter Reynolds, founder of FableVision—an educational resource company dedicated to helping all learners discover their true potential—and Chris Dede, a professor of learning technologies at Harvard University. Educators learned new leadership strategies and presentation methods to encourage and support their peers as they work to integrate the latest educational technologies into classroom activities. In addition, O’Brien had a unique opportunity to network with the members of other Leadership Councils from across the nation, sharing ideas and best practices to help their peers improve student achievement.
 
“We’re pleased that the annual Discovery Educator Network Leadership Council Symposium brought together top educators from across the country for a unique opportunity to grow their educational technology skills,” said Discovery Education Director Lance Rougeux. “Discovery Education is committed to nurturing and empowering today’s educators, and Marybeth’s enthusiasm for integrating digital media and technology in the classroom, and for sharing her skills with peers across the state, supports Massachusetts teachers as they seek to help each student reach their fullest academic potential.”
 
For more information about the Massachusetts DEN Leadership Council, visit http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/massachusetts/.
 
For more information about the DEN, visit http://community.discoveryeducation.com.
 
For more information about Discovery Education, visit http://www.discoveryeducation.com.
 
About Discovery Education
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) revolutionized television with Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
 

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Photo Caption: Discovery Education Director Lance Rougeux (left) with Marybeth O’Brien at the 2010 Discovery Educator Network Leadership Council Symposium in Waltham, Mass.
Photo Credit: Discovery Education

A Little Background

The Huntington Elementary School, under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, became the pilot technology school for the District in the 2005-2006 school year.  In response to low student achievement the District targeted the school for intervention and provided it with many additional resources, including upgrading the availability of technology, such as laptops for all teachers, student computers in all classrooms, in-focus projectors in each classroom and many software programs designed to improve teaching and student learning.  The District priority was to provide the professional development needed to ensure that teachers had the necessary skills to utilize this technology in a way that would truly have a positive impact on student learning. 

 In response to this need, I became actively involved in searching for ways to support the successful implementation of technology and was able to acquire a grant through the Brockton Educators Innovators Grant.  I conducted a survey to assess the staff proficiency level with technology.  The results indicated that many teachers were not comfortable with using technology in the classroom for planning, instruction, and data management. Based on these results, I formulated a professional development plan that addressed the needs of teachers.

I planned and facilitated a series of professional development workshops that addressed skills with which teachers indicated that they needed training.  Areas for professional development included, but were not limited to,  using computerized programs to create lesson plans, organizing and manipulating data, designing  lesson teaching tools such as using Inspiration Software to create graphic organizers and Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations that would provide access to the course content for students of all learning styles.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups. 

In recognition of my expertise in the implementation of technology in the classroom, I was asked to pilot innovative programs in the field for the entire school district.  The programs included the utilization of a StarBoard® interactive whiteboard which provides students with an interactive approach to understanding science and mathematics content creating graphs charts and tables, and provide a multimedia approach to learning. 

Get to Know Me!

I am excited to be a member of the DEN. I am a fourth grade educator at the Huntington Elementary School in Brockton, MA. This past year, myself, along with 4 of my colleagues, wrote and were awarded the Hewlett Packard Technology for Teaching Grant. Through the professional development provided by this grant, we purchased a license for Discovery Streaming. Since that time, I have used Streaming in my daily planning and teaching practice. Our team has recently been awarded the Leadership Grant in conjunction with the HP Technology for Teaching Grant which we are truly excited about as we may now extend all of the benefits of the grant to 10 more of our colleagues and their classrooms. We have shared the benefits of Discovery Streaming with our IT Director and persuaded him to extend the services to the rest of the District.

The Brockton Public Schools is classified as an urban school district and has a diverse student body with varying cultures, interests, and family backgrounds. Each classroom at the Huntington School is dynamic and unique. My classroom community includes 23 students of whom 17 have a secondary native language. It is important that I do all I can to provide students with the learning experience that allows them to gain a greater understanding of concepts. Lessons must be rich with vocabulary, and provide background information on a variety of topics. As educators we know that it is extremely important to provide relevant background knowledge and content that draws on the experiences of the students. Discovery Education Streaming has provided us with so many resources to supplement the curriculum and provide students with the comprehensible input needed to access the curriculum. It has engaged my students and motivated them to become independent researchers and constructivist learners in their own right. Each day, streaming is used as a natural component of instruction and learning. As we learn about current events, we turn to Discovery ATLAS to learn more about the relative location of countries, identify the qualities of the country that fit within the 5 themes of Geography, and become active investigators to answer our own questions.

Although I have only been using Discovery Education Streaming for a year, we have found so many uses for it in our classroom. In our recent study of the Solar System, we created our own News Broadcast using Discovery’s editable videos and Movie Maker! The students were amazed that they could be “producers” of their own News Broadcast. In addition, we have been practicing with some of the Web 2.0 programs and the images provided by streaming to create discussion forums using voicethread.com and creating videos using animoto.com. Discovery Streaming has so much to offer, our community can’t wait to exhaust its every resource!

I am looking forward to being a member of the DEN to learn from its members and expand on the resources Discovery has to offer!