Pennsylvania

When we meet someone new and tell them we are from Pennsylvania, most people think of the Liberty Bell, Indepence Hall and the birthplace of America. It is a very important state. But what do our students’ think of Pennsylvania? Do they know how important Pennsylvania is and its importance to our nation? Will they proudly tell how great Pennsylvania is and how glad they are to have lived here? Here are some interesting facts that really amaze my students! Religious tolerance was important to William Penn, as was his belief in the brotherhood of all men. So it is no surprise that in the Declaration of Independence, which was written in Philadelphia, we read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…" But did you know that William Penn had three slaves?

Pennsylvania had the largest city in the English Colonies…Philadelphia! In fact, Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition came to Philadelphia to learn about sciences before his historic journey. He spent $2,324 in Philadelphia to prepare for his trip! That was a lot of money in 1803. How do you teach Pennsylvania history? How do you make our history come alive and share knowledge about our great state? Do you have a neat project to share or a virtual field trip other teachers can visit in their classroom?

Here are some titles in unitedstreaming to help get your students excited about the Keystone state…

American Geography Close-Ups: The Middle Atlantic States Volume I
American Geography Close-ups: The Middle Atlantic States Volume II
Early Settlers: The Era of Colonization
Westward Expansion: The Pioneer Challenge
Making the Thirteen Colonies: The Middle Colonies

Katie Leach is a Social Studies/Gifted Support teacher from Weatherly High School.  Katie is also the very first PA DEN member. 

PA DEN members will have the opportunity to attend (for FREE) a special pre-conference session at this year’s PA Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C).  On Sunday, February 19th, Discovery Educators will participate in a full-day event loaded with great speakers, breakout sessions and more! 

As I finalize the schedule, I would like to hear your feedback.  Below is a draft outline of the day.  What would you like to see added, changed or removed?  This is your day.  Tell me what you want…

DRAFT SCHEDULE

General Session with Kathy Schrock (9-10 a.m.)
Breakout Session 1* (10:15-11:30 a.m.)
Networking Lunch and Special Presentation by Hall Davidson (11:30-1 p.m.)
Breakout Session 2* (1-2:15 p.m.)
Breakout Session 3* (2:30-3:45 p.m.)
Closing (3:45-4 p.m.)

*You will be able to attend three breakout sessions during the day from a list of five or six choices.  The current choices are: 1. Using Digital Media to Differentiate Instruction, 2. Copyright, 3. Digital Storytelling, 4. Tying IT All Together: Blending Inspiration, Office and unitedstreaming, 5. Integrating Video into Macromedia Flash and…

Do you have different ideas for breakout sessions?  Do you want to meet by grade level or subject area? Let me hear your feedback.

Discovery Education and the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership are rewarding teachers who go the distance for their students.  The unitedstreaming South Africa Sweepstakes is the educational and cultural experience of a lifetime.  Five winning teachers will spend seven days with their counterparts in South Africa where they’ll exchange ideas, share knowledge and enrich their lives with new lessons to bring back to their students. 

For more information about the sweepstakes, check out the PDF below…

Download south_africa_sweepstakes.pdf

I had the opportunity to attend the PA Teacher of the Year Awards Ceremony yesterday to make a special presentation to this year’s winner, Barbara Benglian.  Barbara is a music teacher at Upper Darby High School in the Upper Darby School District where she directs Chorus, Concert Choir and Encore Singers.

Discovery Education presented Barbara with an inFocus LCD projector as our way of saying "thank you" and "congrats."  We also presented Barbara and the 11 other finalists with a Discovery Education computer bag filled with Discovery School DVDs.  And…the best prize of all…I cordially invited each of the 12 finalists to submit an application to become part of the DEN!

This past Monday, Kim Smith (VP) and Shelley Santora-Jones (Director) from Product Development spent the day in Central York School District visiting classrooms and talking to teachers about unitedstreaming.  Two after-school focus groups had the opportunity to learn about future improvements to unitedstreaming that are already in the works.

The visit was arranged by Discovery Educator Alma Row from Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12.  Alma worked closely with the district staff to make this day a smooth, productive and fun visit.  Thanks, Alma!

I want to extend a big thank you to Peggy Barger and Jim Hopton, two Discovery Educators from Jefferson-Morgan School District and wonderful hosts.  Peggy and Jim arranged an after-school integration workshop for about 20 of their colleagues.  We had a great time exploring the power of unitedstreaming, eating some good food (while sitting in elementary school desks, I might add), and having a lot of fun in Southwestern PA.  A special thanks also goes out to the principal and administration at Jefferson-Morgan for their support. 

If you have a training scheduled, or are interested in setting one up, please let me know.  Post a comment here or send me an email.  I’d love to join in on the fun!

Congratulations to RJ Stangherlin!  RJ is a Language Arts teacher at Salisbury High School and one of the first Discovery Educators in PA.  Today, Discovery Education awarded RJ with a scholarship to the T+L2 conference in Denver, Colorado this October.  While at T+L2, she will have the opportunity to attend a special pre-conference session on Digital Storytelling, participate in many conference sessions, and serve as our representative of the PA Discovery Educator Network.  RJ will also be posting special blogs from the conference to share her experience with all of us back in PA.

Please take some time to join me in congratulating RJ by posting a comment.  And…take notice of the picture…the word "Discovery" appears above RJ’s head.  Coincidence?  I think not.

From now through October 14th, you have the opportunity to earn tickets for a prize drawing on October 14th.  Three lucky DEN members will each win a Targus Notebook Wireless Presenter. 

You can earn tickets for:

• posting a comment to the “Back to School” blog by Friday, September 23rd (1 ticket)
• having someone submit an application to DEN with your name as the reference (2 tickets per application)
• doing a training in your school or district (5 tickets per training)
• other things to be announced via the blog and email!!!

I hope everyone’s school year is off to an awesome start.  I am anxious to hear about all the great things you have planned for this year.  I truly believe that the Discovery Educator Network will be a great community in which you can share ideas and strategies, borrow (or steal) resources from each other, and have a lot of fun.  It is my goal to help make sure that these things happen so don’t hesitate to let me know what you need.

So, in the spirit of sharing resources, below is a great idea from one of your DEN colleagues (Martha Perez, Harrisburg City School District).  Hopefully, it will assist you in the first week or two as you try to match all those new names with all those new faces. 

Download gettingtoknow2.ppt

After looking at Martha’s idea, share an activity you use during the first couple weeks of school.