Pennsylvania

Hello Pennsylvania & Delaware, this is Shannon your new field manager.  I am excited to be part of this dynamic group of teachers. Lance gave you a little information about me in his last update and I want to thank you for all the wonderful welcome e-mails. During my first few weeks of work, I had the opportunity to meet numerous DEN members at the Regional and National events.  I look forward to meeting the rest of you very soon.  Lance left big shoes to fill but I am up to the challenge. If there is anything I can do for you just send me an e-mail or call ☺

Here are a few updates…

Congrats to Jennifer Dorman!
Jennifer was chosen to be in the Educators Spotlight on the Discovery Educators National website. Jennifer is a 9th grade American History teacher at Holicong Middle School (Central Bucks School District) in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Her biography and picture will be posted in the upcoming weeks.  Congratulations to you Jennifer and thank you for being an active participant in the Discovery Educator Network—We are lucky to have educators like you!

NASA Event
Discovery Education is preparing a mission to NASA Research Center in Hampton, VA on August 18th from 8:00am-5:00pm.  You will have the opportunity to explore the center and participate in a variety of interactive workshops.  If you are interested in attending this event check out the attached flyer.  Please note you must RSVP by August 3rd and acceptance is based on a first come, first serve basis. Download VA-NASA.pdf

Sears & Cosmeo
How does a free trial of Cosmeo sound??? Discovery and Sears have teamed up to offer parents an exciting opportunity to receive a FREE three-month subscription to this powerful new homework tool.  Simply make ANY purchase (yes, a pair of socks would work) from Sears to get your promotional code.  Then, go to cosmeo.com/sears and enter your information to receive your family’s password.  Share this information with family and friends so they can take advantage of this great opportunity.  You must subscribe for the free service by September 30, 2006 so get shopping.

Shark Week
For our adventurous DEN members, it’s time to set your vhs recorders or program your TiVo boxes because Shark Week is back!!!  Beginning this Sunday at 9pm, Shark Week returns to Discovery and it’s back bigger than ever.  I know I will be tuned in to see these fantastic creatures up close and personal.

DEN Connections
Our very own Pennsylvania DEN member, Katie Leach, is seeking teachers who work with gifted students to share information and strategies to enhance classroom instruction.  If you are interested, check out her post on the DEN website discussion board. 

Logging Events
I know many of you are offering Profession Development during your summer vacations.  Don’t forget to complete the events log so I can give you credit for all your hard work.  I will be keeping track of Summer Events and the educator with the most recorded workshops by August 30th will receive a goodie package for the beginning of the school year.Download den_event_summary.doc

Discovery Education’s goal is to build a community of educators who are passionate about technology.  It is because of your dedication that the DEN has had a successful first year–Thank you!!

Have a great weekend and try to stay cool!

Shannon

This past Friday, Lance and I had a wonderful opportunity to visit the central part of Pennsylvania for a Day of Discovery.  Forty educators from Blair, Cambria, Bedford, and Somerset counties attended this all day conference at Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8. This diverse group of teachers, principals, curriculum specialists, and IT staff received an overview of unitedstreaming with break-out sessions on 50 Ways to use unitedstreaming and The Builders.  The educators also had the chance to speak with Matt Monjan (PA Implementation Representative) via teleconference.  A special thanks goes out to Brenda Calhoun for working with us and making this a successful event.  I would also like to congratulate our newest unitedstreaming members in IU8 and I look forward to working with you again soon!

Kristin Hokanson reports on her experiences from the National Leadership Conference
“Like….wow!”
Steve Dembo’s closing words to our group about our project pretty much tells the story of this past week for me.  I hardly know where to begin to tell you about my amazing week at the Discovery Educator Network’s National Leadership Conference held at Discovery Communications Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. How does one sum up a week after collaborating with some of the Nation’s most innovative educators?  When I walked through the door on day one, I was humbled by their eagerness to learn new things and willingness to share their knowledge.  How does one begin to describe the words of the inspirational speakers we got a chance to meet; Alan November, Steve Dembo, Hall Davidson, and Josh Wolff (discovery educator abroad) who talked about his experience in digital storytelling from an “in the field” perspective?   I learned more things in one week than I can begin to list in this blog entry, but I will try to summarize as best I can and I thank each and every person who added to that list.

We participated in some great workshops on Inspiration, Timeliner, Interactive Powerpoint, Photostory, and the best hands-on podcasting workshop I have ever attended (thanks to Steve Dembo)   I was assigned to an amazing group and although none of us had ever podcasted before, we were able to put together a pretty good show for beginning podcasters. Check it out. 

And then there were the Oprah moments….Adobe premier for everyone, DEN National computer bags, and an opportunity to be the first to see Discovery Atlas: China Revealed, the new Discovery HD production premiering on October 1st.  Take time to watch this because it was ABSOLUTELY amazing.

A highlight for me was getting a chance to listen to and meet one of the brightest minds in the world of Education, Alan November who spoke about how the real revolution in education is not the technology but in how we access information and communicate. He stressed that it’s not about the wires; it’s about what flows through them that really matters.  He reminded us that we, as teachers of the Discovery Educator Network, are going to be in a position to help define Global competitiveness, to REDEFINE literacy, to impress on educational leaders that it is essential for our students to learn to work with people around the world and become self directed, self assessing and independent. I know I am only scratching the surface so visit http://ali.apple.com/november/ to see a web cast presentation by Alan November to learn more.  I know that I for one am up to his challenge. 

The following book titles kept surfacing over the course of the week.  They are all ones we should consider reading this summer—perhaps we could start our own PA DEN book club…

•    A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink
•    Blink and the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
•    The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
•    Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson
•    Don’t Bother Me Mom–I’m Learning by Marc Presnky
•    Empowering Students with Technology by Alan November
which I actually WON by bowling a strike on our final night there

The last day was for project presentation and I was blown away by the work that was done in one week–the range of products was incredible; podcasting, PowerPoint games, videos using Adobe Premiere and photo story, products using Inspiration and Timeliner, each one incorporating the excellent unitedstreaming resources which Discovery Communications provides to member schools.  I came away from the conference with so many ideas and connections to other educators who are committed to using unitedstreaming resources to improve student achievement.  I am especially proud of our project http://discoveramerica.wikispaces.com and hope you all check it out and join us. 

Like the DEN over the past year as a part of this amazing network of professionals, I too have been have been transformed and accept the challenge to do my part to ensure that we truly change the way we teach.  My thoughts are best summed up by the words of one of my fantastic group leaders Brad Fountain, Field Manager of North and South Carolina.  As a result of the DEN National Leadership Conference, “I am forever changed. The more I think about it, I am convinced that perspective is everything, and the more I learn about the DEN and education at large the more my perspective
changes…changes for the better.” So, to the field managers of the DEN, I give you MY 2 finger salute… for creating a network where educators can work together, and learn from one another ways to best prepare our students to compete in a global economy.  To the members of the PA DEN, I ask you “What will you do this year to make a difference?”

Kristin Hokanson khokanson@umasd.org
Discovery Educator
Grade 3 Roberts Elementary, UMASD

We are here at the Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, MD for the National
Discovery Educator Network Institute. The two innovative Discovery Educators representing Pennsylvania are Kristin Hokanson from King of Prussia & Tom Medved from New Castle.
Kristen and Tom, along with 38 other educators from across the US, have four fun filled days of training, exploration, and collaboration ahead of them. Earlier today, Steve Dembo provided an overview of podcasting and the educators had the opportunity to create their own. Throughout the afternoon, the educators attended 2 break-out sessions of their choice. Finally, after eating dinner on the roof of the Discovery Communications building, the day ended with a moonlight tour of Washington D.C. We are really excited about keeping everyone informed of our adventures so please check back for updates throughout the week.