New Jersey

Jannita Demain just sent out notification of this unique opportunity for our students.  Please note the dates- you need to act fast!

“In honor of World Diabetes Day on November 14, Novo Nordisk, Discovery Health, Discovery Education, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation invite your students with type 1 diabetes, their parents and caregivers to a special Youth Forum.

Please share this invite with your students who have type 1 diabetes.

Young Voices: Life with Diabetes

Moderated by ESPN Reporter Brian Kenny, father whose daughter has type 1 diabetes.

Attendees will have an opportunity to meet other young people with type 1 diabetes, participate in an interactive “quiz bowl” game, and view videos created by teens living with type 1 diabetes. Plus all participants will receive a gift pack and enjoy free games at ESPN Zone!

Parents and caregivers will also have an opportunity to engage with each other about topics of interest in caring for a young person with type 1 diabetes.”

Where:

ESPN Zone

1472 Broadway, New York, NY 10036

When:

Friday, November 14, 2008

11:30am - 3:30pm

(lunch will be provided)

RSVP by 11/11 to:

Carlos Reaves 240-662-2112 or

RSVP@discovery.com and copy Jannita_Demian@discovery.com

from the National Blog:

A plethora and then some!  As we head into the 08-09 school year, I look over the webinar schedule and I am just stunned by what we have to offer.  As of right now, we have over 100 webinars on the calendar that you and your colleagues can participate in!  It truly is an astonishing amount of professional development available to you, and that’s just what’s on the calendar as of today!

So what can you register for?

EdTechConnect webinars: This monthly series brings you up close and personal with some of the biggest names in education.  The year begins with Tim Magner of the US Department of Education, and we take off from there.  We’ll be featuring Bernie Dodge, Alan Kay, Jason Ohler, Tim Tyson, Bernajean Porter, Tony Vincent and finishing the 08-09 program off with Ian Jukes!

DEN Webinars: Last year, the DEN team offered webinars twice a month on subjects on integrating media in the curriculum, podcasting, Web 2.0, digital storytelling and more.  Those sessions were in such high demand that we’ve decided to double our offerings this year!  That’s right, every week you’ll be able to attend a webinar hosted by a member of the DEN team.  We kick off the year with a Back to School Boot Camp series, followed up by a month of Integration Ideas.  Then all bets are off as the DEN team brings you an enormous variety of ideas for using digital media in your classroom.

DE Product Demonstrations: You may know all about DE streaming, but how familiar are you with DE Science?  Or Elementary Science?  What about Discovery Education Assessment?  Or even MediaShare?  Every Friday at 1pm EST, we’re hosting product demonstrations so you can learn more about the incredible services Discovery Education has to offer.  Each session is offered by the people who know the products best… the people who created them!  You’ll get a personal demonstration of the site and have plenty of time to get your specific questions answered.  Bring your administrators along so they can see firsthand the different ways that Discovery Education can help transform learning in your district.

Special Events: Scattered throughout the year are some incredible events you’ll definitely want to participate in.  This year we’ll be hosting the 3rd annual Streamathon as well as two DEN Virtual Conferences.  Additionally, we’re hard at work lining up new Discovery Connect webinars, connecting you and your students to the television programs on the Discovery networks.  More details on those will be coming soon!

The best part is, they’re all on the calendar RIGHT NOW for you to register for.  Go ahead and sign up now, we’ll send out reminders prior to the event so you don’t forget.  Not only that, let your colleagues know about them so they can take advantage of these great opportunities as well!

Visit our webinar calendar to register for any and all of these events.  While there’s too many to list, here’s a list of some of our upcoming events, just to whet your appetite.

Tonight! - 50 Ways to Spin a Digital Story

August 11th, 1pm EST - Response to Intervention (RTI)

August 12th, 7pm EST - Building a Bigger Builder, Your guide to the DE streaming tools

August 22nd, 1pm EST - Discovery Education Professional Development Opportunities Overview

August  August 29th, 1pm EST - Discovery Education PowerMediaPlus

September 5th, 1pm EST - Discovery Education Assessment - Predictive Benchmark

September 9th, 7pm EST - 50 Ways and Beyond

September 12th, 1pm EST - Discovery Education streaming, Plus, Media and Language Packs

September 16th, 7pm EST - DEN State of the Union Address with Lance Rougeux

September 17th, 7pm EST - EdTechConnect featuring Tim Magner, director of the office of educational technology for the US Department of Education.

Wow! Yet another reason why I LOVE the DEN! I just got an email from Dave Solon, an amazing DEN member who was also at the Philly event with Jeff Corwin that I recently posted about. For those of you who don’t know Dave- I hope you get the chance- keep an eye out for him at National & Tri-State Discovery events. Dave’s got a great podcast called Twenty For Tech (20 minutes, that is!) and he was able to capture an episode at our Corwin meet & greet last Friday night. Nice Job Dave- Keep up the good work!

Dave combined the Jeff Corwin interview, sound bytes from the Discovery event with the Deadliest Catch cast , a skyped interview with our very own Steve Dembo , and a few DEN members talking about their experiences to create a podcast that perfectly highlights why it’s so great to be in the DEN.

Dave- You Rock!

Here’s the link to Dave’s entire podcast

Here is just the Jeff Corwin interview called “A Teachable Moment with Jeff Corwin” in case you want to share it with your students…

By the way, the occasional “squeaking noise you hear in the background of Dave’s interview with Jeff is the bathroom door of the restaurant we were at. So for all of you who are still hesitant to try your hand at podcasting, it just goes to show that you really can podcast from ANYWHERE!

They were standing outside the bathroom

Another week, another GREAT Discovery Education Event! On Tuesday, May 20th, I had the pleasure of attending a private reception and screening for Discovery’s new show When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions’ which details 50 historic years in space.I was among the first to view archival NASA footage that has never been seen before as well as meet an astronaut featured in the documentary!

This past Friday, I was able to attend another amazing tri-state Discovery Education event with Lance, Martha & a few other DEN stars, like Meg Griffin and Dave Solon from PA. We met at Alma de Cuba, a funky little restaurant in Philly, for an intimate night with Jeff Corwin. Jeff is in town for the Animal Planet’s big Expo in Coatsville, PA. Thanks Discovery for the opportunity to meet this passionate steward of our planet- and for the opportunity to get an autograph for my son!

Jeff took great time and care to explain his latest, and what he says is his most important project to date- an investigation into the expansive and rapid extinction of frogs on our planet. He said that120 frog species have become extinct since the 1980’s and that number is growing exponentially- it is estimated that over half of the remaining 6,000 are currently endangered. As an indicator species, frogs and other amphibians shed light on atmospheric conditions on our planet. In fact, Jeff referred to frogs as the “canaries of our planet” and made a personal plea to us that night to make sure we educate our students about these important environmental indicators.

Please visit Animal Planet and the R.O.A.R. page * to learn more about what you and your students can do to help save these creatures.  Keep an eye out this summer for Jeff Corwin’s show: The Vanishing Frog.

Tomorrow night (May 30) in Philadelphia there is a special kick off reception to the Animal Planet Expo tour and Lance is looking for some STARs to join us.  The reception will take place in downtown Philly from 6-8 pm and will feature Jeff Corwin.  If you are interested, post a comment TODAY on the National Blog that includes your name and email address.  Lance will take the first 3 STARs who post with the correct information.  You will be allowed to bring a guest as well.

Hey NJ DEN’rs! What’s the best thing about being able to attend a virtual conference? Getting to attend in your pj’s, of course! The first annual DEN Virtual Conference is drawing near (Sat. Feb. 2 9am EST) & you can attend from Wherever wearing Whatever you want- all you need is an internet connection & speakers.

Check out the Virtual Conference flier for more details on how to register.

As an added bonus, the NJ DEN will be hosting a LIVE event in Bergen County for you to get together with your colleagues for the conference. There are only 30 such events taking place in the whole country, so if you’re interested, be sure to register soon- space is limited (you can even wear your pj’s to the live event if you want! We’re nothing if not flexible )

Hope to see you there!

Calling all STAR DEN Members- please check out this post on the Tenessee Blog!