Pennsylvania

Just in case you were wondering, the flood of comments to our PA/DE DEN blog was awesome!  And, it made me feel very popular as I received endless emails this week.  See the proof to the left.

Hi, everyone.  I know it is sad to see March Blogness come to an end, so I’ve included all sorts of really cool updates this week to help you deal with blog-withdrawal.  Here they are…

March Blogness Champions
The last week truly was madness (or blogness).  As comments came rolling in and Brad O’Donnell (East Bracket) battled it out with Peggy and Jim (West Bracket), I had the pleasure of approving each of the comments that flooded my email and made me truly understand the definition of March Madness.  When it was all said and done, Peggy and Jim’s second half scoring streak pushed them over the top.  Congrats to Peggy and Jim and all of the guest bloggers who made the last two weeks really informative and entertaining.

Also, if you subscribed to the PA/DE Blog this month, your bag tag will be on its way.  If you haven’t done so, you still have a few minutes or hours (depending on how quickly you check your weekly updates).

DEN Summer Regional Institute Applications Close Today
Applications for our DEN Regional Institute were due today.  If you applied for the institute, you will be notified on April 10.

DEN Challenge: Capture the Inner Harbor
Over a dozen PA DEN members have already signed on for our event in Baltimore.  I can add a few more to the crews if you are still interested.  Let me know by April 7.  For more info, check the blog post.

Discovery Educator Abroad
If you are interested in participating in a webinar with Josh (our Discovery Educator who is traveling on the Pacific Rim project), let me know and I’ll have our training team send you an invitation.

Jennifer Dorman in eSchool News
More fame in our PA DEN..check it out.

Digital Connections Summer Professional Development
The program, Digital Connections 2006: Creating Projects that Pop! will combine Interactive Training, Webinars, and hands-on workshops.  This is a great free way to facilitate a hands-on unitedstreaming workshop at your school this summer.

We will provide the content for these 1/2 day workshops, including the Webinars and the hands-on sessions. The facilitator’s role is to identify participants, schedule the workshop date and book a training room at your school for the day of the workshop.

If you want more details, let me know and check out the PDF below.

Download digital_connections_2006_awareness_flyer.pdf

Enjoy the rest of March.  And, since I won’t see all of you on April Fool’s Day, please do one of the following for me: 1) throw toilet paper in the trees outside your house, 2) put fake vomit on your living room carpet, or 3) tape a sign to your back that says, “Kick me, I love National Geographic.”

On Saturday, April 29, 2006, join us in the celebration surrounding the Volvo Ocean Race’s visit to the Inner Harbor.  The Discovery Educator Network is sponsoring a full-day event with crews of Discovery Educators from several states including PA, MD, VA, DE, and WV. 

Discovery Educators will work in small teams (or crews in keeping with our nautical theme) to capture the Inner Harbor using digital cameras and video cameras. 

At 9 AM, the festivities will begin at Baltimore’s Digital Harbor High School where you will be briefed about the exciting events happening in the Inner Harbor related to the Volvo Ocean Race.  Then we will unveil your mission for the day and give you time to explore the Inner Harbor. 

After lunch, you will return to Digital Harbor High School to receive training in the software application of your choice (Photo Story, Movie Maker, or Google Earth) and be given time to create your team project.

Around 6 PM, we will set sail on a dinner cruise aboard Baltimore’s Cruise Ship Prince Charming.  The cruise will include a captivating keynote address, project presentations, great food, music, prizes and more!

I would love to take a crew or two from PA and DE.

If you are interested, please let me know.  I must let Rachel Amstutz (DEN Field Manager for MD) know by April 7. 

Any questions, contact me.

From Discovery Educators Peggy Barger and Jim Hopton:

While attending and presenting at a recent teachers’ conference featuring best teaching practices and strategies, we were surprised by comments from one of the organizers.  He rated a workshop session by the amount of paper handouts given to participants.  The organizer proudly waved a stack of paper three inches thick from a workshop he attended.  However, at our workshop, we distributed three sheets of paper and a CD jam-packed with our ideas, rubrics, posters, and unitedstreaming connections.  Perhaps our world is in need of an Extreme Digital Makeover.  As educators we should be the leaders in moving toward a less papercentric environment.

Many teachers will remember, from their youth, the famous poem by Joyce Kilmer which begins: I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree…  Check out the poem in its entirety at http://www.risingdove.com/Kilmer/love_trees.html.

Please forgive our feeble attempt at re-writing Joyce Kilmer’s poem. We feel trees are best left to nature and poets, not sacrificed as handouts at conferences.

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.
Save a tree - make a CD – use technology! 

PLEASE comment or add a verse of your own.

From Discovery Educator Phy Chauveau:

Are you connected?  Of course you are.  As members of this incredible Discovery Educator Network, we find out every day just how advantageous it is to be connected to one another in order to share wonderful ideas, insights, and educational experiences.  If you are anything like me, your heart actually raced when you first realized the potential of unitedstreaming in your classroom. Today, I’d like to share with you a similarly invaluable online resource that has truly changed the way my students connect with other students around the world.  It’s called the Creative Connections Project, and here’s a little background.  (By the way, in the true spirit of the DEN, there is a free offer coming up, if you read on…)

In June of 1999, while strolling through the exhibitor’s hall at NECC, searching perhaps for another free t-shirt, (…yes, you know you’ve done it,) I was asked if I would be willing to preview an online classroom travel project related to the tropical rainforest.  Would I ever!  It was one of those “too good to be true” moments where curriculum, technology, and good timing all came together. Each spring, my fifth graders studied the rainforests of the world, both temperate and tropical, within the context of a unit entitled “The Endangered Earth.” For the previous two years we had taken part in an online project called MayaQuest, then in its infancy, but sadly, there were just too many technological glitches that we’d encountered.  I was looking for something fresher, more current, and truly interactive.  The technology gods were smiling, and that day I found it. 

Almost seven years have now passed, and what started as a simple online exchange has blossomed into an ongoing collaborative experience that has inspired my students to become citizens of the world.  This is thanks to the work of a remarkable educator named Paul Hurteau, the coordinator of the Creative Connections Project, and certainly one of the most talented, resourceful, intrepid, and tech-savvy educators I have ever met. He is the only teacher I know who has been bitten by a piranha, and to my students’ delight, he tells all in his astoundingly well-written e-journals that the kids can’t wait to read.  Another sure favorite is the “Who Am I” Mystery Animal Gallery, which challenges students to determine the secret identity of indigenous animals through his poetry, that is packed with figurative language.  The solution is always revealed with a marvelous photo of the animal, and a cleverly written behavioral profile. 

These two examples represent just a fraction of what awaits you at the Creative Connections site; I realize that you cannot possibly begin to imagine all of the most relevant options for your students K through 12, nor have I done the site justice, SO…I contacted Paul Hurteau and he has graciously offered Discovery Educators free access to all Creative Connections Project resources through the end of the current school year. 

You will find the Creative Connection Project’s Online Travel Resources by going to www.ccproject.org/ccproject.html
You can also access the newest PowerPoint section by going to www.ccproject.org/china/powerpoint/

For either of these, you will need the following info:
Username: discovery
Password: educator 

Participation options currently include:
    * Online Travel
    * E-mail Q & A Exchanges
    * Student Art Exchanges
    * Class to Class Photo and Info Exchanges
    * PowerPoint Exchanges
    * Music Exchanges
    * Letter Exchanges
    * Video Exchanges
    * Scrapbook Exchanges

Paul noted that CCP will be adding new PowerPoints from different world regions throughout the spring. They will also be posting an exciting new Flash-based resource on the China School Project section called Cultural Profiles of Historic and Modern China, which was sponsored by grants from the Freeman Foundation, The Avery Arts Foundation, and the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, Inc. While the text is geared towards high school grades, the photo tours, video, and audio will be appropriate for elementary and middle school grades.

As he is the heart and soul of the Creative Connections Project, Paul travels for most of the year to all the countries where he runs virtual exchanges, including Africa, China, South America, Latin America, and the Arctic. (By the way, the Latin America School Project has Spanish and English options.)  He does occasionally fit in school assemblies and will be visiting our school to conduct a series of poetry workshops on April 24. 

Please do visit the CCP website. I am certain that you won’t be disappointed and I’d be especially interested to know if any of you have ever participated in an exchange with this program.

At this point, our four fifth grade classes have participated at various levels in e-mail, art, and video exchanges with students in Central and South America, and in China. Next year, we are hoping to become involved in the newer PowerPoint and music exchanges as well. The wealth of resources available on the Creative Connections site has also inspired our students’ poetry, skit, and song writing, as well as the multimedia presentations projected on twin screens that support our onstage production called “Forest Fest.”  This multi-disciplinary stage production is the culmination for this unit of study, and it has become a rite of passage for students leaving our Lower School each June.  Several years ago, the theme of the production focused on Paul’s adventures in the Amazon.

As a result of fundraising through a “Dance For Mother Earth” dance-a-thon, our fifth grade has funded three years of secondary schooling for a boy in Ecuador at the Instituto Pedagogico in Limoncocha. We were also able to purchase the very first computer and printer for the local elementary school in that village, with whom we had an exchange.  In thanks, the villagers sent beautiful drawings, as well as hand carved model canoes and jewelry as a special thank you.  What a life changing experience this has been for our fifth graders; and it all began with technology.

For the last few years I’ve waited.  I read the articles about schools brimming with technology.  Attended workshops with gadgets I couldn’t possibly figure out.  Listened to the talk of hand-held classrooms.  All the while, having no idea when it would set foot in my classroom.  Two years ago I thought a new projector meant replacing the overhead with the crooked arm and fan as loud as a jet engine.  But alas, technology has arrived in my school and classroom.  And I love it!

But it’s not a romance made in heaven.  I’ve made so many new friends in the last 18 months.  Here are just a few… Computerized grading and attendance system, new multimedia projectors, Mobile iBook Lab with science probes, Turning Point Classroom Response System,  Mimio Smartboard, Pro Test Generators, and countless lessons utilizing unitedstreaming, Power Point, Google Earth, and so many others.

Believe me, I’m thrilled about each and every one of them.  They are valuable tools that increase student interest, provide new resources, and get me fired up about entering my classroom each day.  But can someone please tell me how to use them?  And therein lies the problem.  If you’re not the type of educator who jumps right in and embraces this new technology, you may run out of the classroom screaming, “I don’t have another

USB

Port

!”  It can certainly be overwhelming.  Just the other day I was introduced to a new technology tool, played around with a little bit, and figured it would be a great idea for my class three days later.   Later that week, as the school nurse reminded me to keep breathing into the brown bag, I realized that my brief introduction to the product did not quite add up to my “mastery” of the program.  It often takes a while to learn the ins and outs of these new tools, and certainly takes even longer to figure out where you’re going to plug this stuff in.  My room has so many wires and cords I feel like Steve McQueen dodging hoses outside “The Towering Inferno.”

So step back, take ANOTHER deep breath, and follow my tips for making your classroom a place where Technology can feel safe from harm.

Top Ten Tips for the Beginning Technology Integrator

10. If there is a sale on extension cords at WalMart, pick one up.  You’ll need one soon.

9.   If you feel completely confused and overwhelmed, ask your students for help.  If that doesn’t work,settle for the professional IT staff. 

8.   Keep a supply of chocolate on hand at all times for emergency situations.

7.   Don’t ever say, “Wow!  This is going pretty smoothly!” during a lesson integrating technology.

6.   Your calculator with the really BIG numbers does not count as you integrating technology.

5.   Do not physically raise your hand during a webinar.  No one can see you and you’ll never be called on.

4.   Remove any hammers from your classroom before integrating technology.

3.   The term “User’s Guide” often offers no guidance on how to use something.

2.   Using Google Earth to show your class where you live might not be the greatest anticipatory set for your lesson.  Especially if there is furious note-taking.

1.   Be prepared for a Keystone workshop.  You may have severe laptop envy.

Good Luck! 

From Discovery Educator Maryann Molishus:

Has anyone counted the number of weeks until the end of the school year?  As much as I enjoy my work during the school year, I am glad to have the summer to reflect and make improvements to my teaching.  (OK, I sleep late and lie by the pool, too.)  This is the first year our district had access to unitedstreaming, and I gradually incorporated unitedstreaming into my classroom throughout the year.  There are so many things I would like to set up, but there just isn’t enough time during the school year. This summer I am planning to save some time work with unitedstreaming.  Here’s what I have in mind:

1. Continue to review available videos and sort them into my playlists.
2. Review/create assignments and quizzes to enhance video use.
3. Conduct district training to help other teachers learn about unitedstreaming and its many features.
4. Help school obtain materials needed to best utilize unitedstreaming (headphones, speakers, etc.)
5. Prepare to participate in a poster contest (maybe there will be another one next year?) OR maybe I’ll host one at my school.
6. Set up sample multimedia presentations to share with students as well as teachers and parents.

Did I miss anything?

From Discovery Educator RJ Stangherlin:

When I am having “one of those days,” when life moves faster than I can run to catch up with it, I think of technology.  It, too, changes quickly, and I am always rushing to keep up with it.  Because all of you are my instructional coaches, I get to work on the “cutting edge,” because each day you help me discover new ways to integrate unitedstreaming in differentiated instruction.  From new applications for digital photography and digital storytelling to newer (for me) communication tools, wikis, podcasting, and RSS, I have experimented with them because you taught me how. 

The beauty of all of this learning is that now I can create an entirely new identity for Lance.  You have pulled me [sometimes kicking and screaming because I am not a tech head] into the 21st century, helping prepare my students through your ideas for their futures.  You remind me that intrinsic learning is the only pathway, that lessons get even better when you infuse them with music, but that sometimes we really should give technology integration a day off.

Coming near the end of an impressive list of bloggers, I asked myself what I could share with you that might help you as much as you have helped me.  Like Dave Mendell, I finally realized “the answer was right under my nose.”  This week one of my classes asked me what my favorite word was.  Without hesitation, I said free. So I am sharing with you my collected list of technology resources, and they are all free and/or copyright friendly.  By now you might have noticed that most of my links take you directly the comment sections of our guest bloggers, so why not join me and comment on all of them.  And while you’re at it, why not post your favorite free resource for me to add to my website.

From Discovery Educator Lynda Hoffman:

Okay, I’ll admit, my idea of high fashion is Reebok and Nike! The idea of computers in the gymnasium next to the basketball was unheard of, until recently that is.  Okay, so I am in the classroom, nice and safe teaching Health and Spanish, but really, who needs the most help with technology, besides myself and then I remembered from my days in college, my professors of the “Teaching and Coaching classes reminding us…  “Those who can’t teach – teach Physical Education”.  It was then and there that I decided that I wasn’t going to be the kind of teacher who taught skills, rolled out the ball, and left it at that.  My Dad is so into computers and I inherited that buzz, that excitement of making a computer do what I wanted it to do.  I had to figure out a way to connect the two.  Somehow, not only was I going to teach myself, but help my fellow gymnasium co-workers to see the connection between technology and the “gym”.  I admit, this was a daunting task, teaching coaches, physical educators how to use technology that was as foreign to them as dangling participles.  But, I have managed to help them see the light stream, unitedstreaming that is. 

We figured out a way to connect the computer to the stereo, so as those lovely dressed students were running their warm-up, they could listen to music.  Yes, it has expanded and I don’t hear “We Will Rock You” a six times a day for the entire week!  Thank you iTunes with sharing capabilities. 

Recently, the Presidential Physical Fitness tests were being administered, and that awful task of tabulating the results for the separate tests, and comparing to a chart for 770 students became a spreadsheet in Excel. 

However, the neatest thing we have done, is connected the learning of the Health class with the gymnasium through our nutrition unit.  I created a nutrition unit as part of my Health class, but the students needed a place to test a theory, so off to unitedstreaming and the classroom learning tools I went.  Right now, I have created a quiz on nutrition, linked it to the video clips, and am now developing an assignment that can be used to put some of those nutrition concepts into practice – right in the gymnasium, and in the fitness room. 

Another way to connect is with the “writing” assignments for those students who are unable to participate for some reason or another.  The kid who broke his leg is now reading, watching video clips about physical rehab, the human body, and the nutrition needed to help his leg heal completely.  We have had students watch various clips, and then report on their subject in a “written assignment” sent to the teacher on-line.  This has helped with the paper work, and made it easier to reuse assignments, especially during a paper shortage!

So, yes, even a former coach, physical educator who hasn’t entirely left the gymnasium, has found a way to connect to the world wide web, through the gym that is!

From Discovery Educator Linda Nitsche:

Words, what would a blog be without them?  Did you know that after sorting through thousands of user hits on Merriam-Webster Online during 2005, the site found the #1 Word of the Year to be… integrity. In keeping, it is with great integrity that I offer my Word of the Day- “March Madness…”
According to Dictionary.com, March n. Abbr. Mar. is: The third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.  While mad•ness n. is defined as 1. The quality or condition of being insane. 2.  Great folly: 3. Fury; rage. 4. Enthusiasm; excitement. After a brief and noticeably unscientific survey, I gathered the following differing definitions for “March Madness n.  (march m d n s):”
1.  the frenzy that develops from watching the NCAA Basketball Championship
2.  excitement caused by the first pitch in baseball season, often accompanied by whoops and cheers
3.  state of euphoria induced by an onslaught of new technology tools and tips
4.  seasonal re-awakening accompanied by a need for new relationships and collaborations

Here are a few fun ideas to experience “March Madness” in its many forms!
For believers in the Basketball and Baseball definitions of “March Madness” I offer – what else, but games! Check out the sites BasketMath and Batter’s Up Baseball where you will find two great opportunities for your students to test (and practice) their mathematical skills while enjoying a bit of game playing fun. 

Or do you have Technology Tip Euphoria induced “March Madness” from reading the awesome PA Den Blog in the past week?  Podcasting, Blogs, Digital Storytelling, PhotoStory 3, CPS, Technology Integration, unitedstreaming, and now to put you over the top I suggest eScrapbooking.  Do you have an old scrapbook?  Pull it off the shelf and take a look at it.  The collection of photographs, memorabilia, and thoughts in a scrapbook shines a light backward in time revealing a unique perspective of history through its creator. eScrapbooking offers yet, one more format for students to present their unique perspective and voice on a topic. Through the combination of digital images and personal stories, our students can have an opportunity to do what The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University calls “democratize history.” What an awesome goal for our students! The site eScrapbooking presents easy to implement ideas to get you started with technology you have readily available. 

Feeling like Spring Fever has hit?  Then you appear to be inflicted with yet another form of “March Madness”- a seasonal re-awakening accompanied by a need for new relationships and collaborations.  To alleviate the symptoms, I offer you a vision of a world in which teachers and students across the world work collaboratively on projects that make a difference in the world.  Successful online collaborative learning requires curriculum-based content, reliable partners, the right tools, and effective implementation strategies. Judy Harris identifies three different types of collaborations: Interpersonal Exchanges, Information Collection & Analysis and Problem Solving. Your class too, can be one of those connected classrooms.  Reach out to Online Collaborative Projects to find a project, build a new partnership, and deepen the learning that takes place with your students.   

Harnessing the power of technology to connect and communicate with others might just bring on a case of “April Adventures!” 

So, did I skip your personal definition of “March Madness”?  How would you define “March Madness”?  Have a great idea?  Collaborate and pass it on!