By Maryann MolishusMaryann Molishus is a STAR member of the Discovery Educator Network.

If you haven’t checked out the DEN photos on Flickr lately, there are over 1,900 amazing and/or really interesting images! Yes, if you ever need to prove how important professional development is, well, think twice about looking here   Actually, there are some really good photos mixed in with the “you had to be there” and the “wait, I can explain that” images.

I (yes, just me) voted and chose this as the DEN 2008 Photo of the Year.  Congratulations to Lance (photographer, right??) and Matt and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Institute! (ha,ha).

Last summer, I was trying to relax, forget about school, etc.  (Actually, I never really forget about school!)  Anyway, I received an email in July asking if I would like to be a keynote speaker at our district in-service day in January.  I will be representing the elementary level, and there will be one teacher speaking from the middle school level and one from the high school level. Although I felt quite honored, I was, at the same time, extremely nervous even thinking about the idea of speaking in front of hundreds of my colleagues and administrators!  But I did say yes – I am always up for a challenge, and January was soooo far away.  Well, now January is not so far away, I am even more nervous, and I am still trying to gather my thoughts for my presentation. 

The topic of the talk is  “professional learning experiences and how it has impacted my craft.” I have had dozens of professional learning experiences with many of you (in real life, Second Life, during webinars, through blog discussions, via Plurk and Twitter, and so on), and I know that you, like me, are life-long learners who are always finding ways of learning, sharing, and growing.  What I would love to do as part of my presentation is share some of your thoughts about professional learning with my school district.  Think of it as a great time to “market” anything you think is a quality Web site, blog, tool, video, book, etc. to close to 1,000 educators at once – your own or someone else’s!  Since our professional learning networks are more than an occasional in-service day, I would love to make the most of the opportunity be able to spread the news about how educators are learning and collaborating any time, any place, and in so many different formats. 

Please share.  Send me a link to a site, video, etc., an email, comments, documents (click the “connect” button on the retaggr on the right).  I will be assembling a scrapbook of sorts. The only thing I can’t include are items from sites that are blocked in the district such as Facebook, YouTube, etc. (unless I do screen shots or conversions). I also can’t show anything live, which would have been really cool, because our network is having “issues.”   If you want to “speak” directly to us in any comments, recorded messages, etc.,  - we are the Council Rock School District http://www.crsd.org.

I look forward to hearing from you!  And thank you in advance for your help!

I want to send out a great big THANK YOU to all of the DEN members who have extended congratulations and best wishes to me on being awarded the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.  It was quite an amazing week!  The students at my school now think I am the “rich teacher.”  I received so many wonderful notes and phone calls from family, friends, colleagues, and students that have truly made me feel that I am “rich.”

It is quite an interesting way in which the Milken Foundation searches for candidates for their award.  One thing they are looking for in educators is their contributions outside the classroom.  They are also looking for future potential for success.  I think that being involved in such organizations as the Discovery Educator Network has played a role in my development as an educator and as a life-long learner.  Although I already know the value of our network, I have been seeing more and more that the value of this network and similar organizations  is changing.  The people who are involved with one another are not only sharing professionally, but also making personal, caring connections with many amazing people who they would not otherwise have met or stayed in touch with.  I found that to be true when I received the many emails, Twitter and Plurk messages, and blog posts and responses form all of you, some I have met and know, and others I might only know as a screen name.  But all were kind, excited for me, excited for us as we celebrate what we all do!

I know we will continue to celebrate the future successes of so many outstanding individuals who are connected through DEN.