Pennsylvania

Discovery Education engages in creating partnerships, both national and global, to bring the best professional development into our classrooms and homes. November is National Epilepsy Month and Discovery has partnered with the Epilepsy Foundation to launch Understanding Epilepsy - a site designed to broaden the understanding of epilepsy and erase stigmas associated with seizure disorders.  I spent about an hour, maybe less, previewing the materials, and was impressed with this new partnership at DE.  I think you will be as well.

Online at www.discoveryeducation.com/epilepsy, you’ll find a wealth of free materials developed by the Epilepsy Foundation including:

• Lesson plans
• First aid guides
• Seizure training for school personnel
• Online training for school nurses focused on managing students with seizures
• Videos featuring teens who speak out about living with epilepsy.

Discovery has a SPECIAL OFFER!

Be one of the first 50 teachers or school personnel to send us your feedback regarding the Epilepsy Foundation’s materials and you’ll receive a free Discovery Education DVD.
Visit www.discoveryeducation.com/epilepsy to learn more. Click here to provide feedback.

Teens who register on GoEYC.org can receive a free laptop skin! Learn more here.

Discovery Education
National Epilepsy Foundation
Understanding Epilepsy
Free tag generator

In this very special edition of Shining STARs, tonight at 7 PM we are featuring students from the Wilkes/Discovery Education Instructional Media program, who will be sharing some of the best projects that they’ve created during their coursework. Be prepared to be dazzled! You still have time to register.

Vince Hill is the Director of Credenda, an eSchool in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Two additional presenters, Sue Hellerman, a math/science teacher from Vancouver and Ruth Abatzoglou, a science teacher from CA will share their work. The fourth and final presenter, Jennifer Brinson, our own PA DEN STAR and PA Leadership Council Events Team Member, will present her Google Earth project on the 10 richest v. 10 poorest countries on the planet, her digital story on therapy dogs, and frustration-free technology, some of the work she did for differentiation, lesson plans for World War II, Model UN, and Person of the Century. Brinson is the Instructional Coach at Salisbury High School in Allentown, PA (and loves llamas too).

In my current position, or should I say positions(I wear many hats) I get to see a lot of exciting activities.  In addition to being the Director of Technology Integration for Propel Schools, I am the science coordinator.  I am the SOS or Specialist on Site.  I believe that this was due to my knowledge and experiences that I had through my years of teaching elementary and middle school science in 2 previous jobs.

Our district implements ASSET Science which is an Inquiry-based, hands-on science curriculum.  Many of you may be familiar with the FOSS curriculum which is very similar to Asset. If you do, you know that it is hands-on and comes in a kit.  If you do teach either FOSS or Asset, here is a great resource for you to use. http://www.fossweb.com/ Another component of Asset is the use of Carolina resources in addition to the Foss kits.

While at Propel East, I stopped into a classroom teaching a Catastrophic Events unit. In this unit students investigate the causes and effects of thunderstorms, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Global heating, the water cycle, plate motion, plate tectonics, magma, ash, and effects on the atmosphere are studied in depth.  On this day, there was no lab, no small groups, no experiments, but rather a very interesting, engaging, and intriguing guest speaker named Mara Falk.

At first glance, Mara seemed like just another guest speaker until she began to tell her stories of being a Storm Chaser with Discovery. She talked about how she had interviewed for a job that just turned out to be an extreme weather show on the Discovery Channel called, “Stormchasers.”  Her stories were captivating, telling how she was the driver of the scout(storm chasing vehicle) and how every second was of such importance.  Watching the student’s engagement while she talked what was interesting to me, as 100% of the children were engaged and posed such great questions for Mara. One story she mentioned was of an elderly man who wanted to wait out a particular storm.  On this particular day, it was not a great idea as the storm was very intense and had started to rip through his house.  Lucky for him, the force of the winds through his house took him to his bathroom where he was thrown into the bathtub with the door forcefully falling on top of the tub.  This miracle in disquise saved this elderly man’s life as his entire house crumbled on top of this bathtub. 

With this said, I cannot believe that our school was fortunate enough to have this guest speaker come to speak to our children. 

Now….here is the cool part.  Since you are reading this, you are probably a teacher who has access to Discovery Streaming.  If you do a keyword seach for Storm Chasers, you will see various videos from the Storm Chasers series as well as other teaching materials you will find useful.

In lieu of a Common Craft Google Wave in Plain English (soon, please, Lee LeFever), here’s one you might enjoy.

The Complete Guide to Google Wave is a comprehensive user manual by Gina Trapani with Adam Pash.

As a follow up to the Google Wave post, here’s the complete guide to Google Wave. Through the kindness (and generosity) of a great friend, I have 9 invites to offer. If you are interested, leave a comment with your email and I’ll forward your request to our Director of Data and Technology at STSD, Randy Ziegenfuss, and he will send it your way. Enjoy the Wave!

Google Wave is a new web-based collaboration tool that’s notoriously difficult to understand. This guide will help. Here you’ll learn how to use Google Wave to get things done with your group. Because Wave is such a new product that’s evolving quickly, this guidebook is a work in progress that will update in concert with Wave as it grows and changes. Read more about The Complete Guide to Google Wave.

Table of Contents

This book’s contents are freely available to view online. Click on a chapter to read it.

If you just can’t get enough of Wave, see also our growing compilation of Wave-related links and video clips from across the web.

Not that long ago, I found Repower America in my Google Reader and subscribed via emails. This message is the most recent one I received, and as educators, we can see the unlimited opportunities to take this idea of impacting our energy issues to the classroom. If you are concerned with our country developing clean energy, you might be interested in adding your voice and your students’ voices to the Repower America Wall, after, of course, you have investigated some of the wonderful resources from Discovery. Consider using the abundant resources from Discovery Education partnerships: Fuel Our Future Now and Waste Management’s Think Green Classroom.  Don’t forget about a wealth of award-winning resources from Science Elementary or Science Middle School.  And remember to check out the multimedia opportunities you will find in Discovery Streaming/Plus. Even if you are just Getting Started with Discovery Education, Tracey McGrath and Patti Duncan will walk you through the basics from their webinar (see Getting Started link).  And if you could not attend one of the 25 live events for the DEN Virtual Conference, or attend virtually, you can peruse at your leisure the archived webinars for a treasure trove of more ideas.  After you have done all that, you will “discover” you can make a truly informed post to the Repower America Wall.

Here’s an excerpt from the email from Al Gore:

The Wall is a place where literally thousands and thousands of people committed to a revolutionary new energy future for our nation and the world are coming together — to express our hopes, share our resolve, and step up to a leadership role in building a grassroots movement for change like nothing America has ever seen. It’s an opportunity for you to be part of the climate movement in a new way, in a way that takes us beyond ourselves.

By asking people from all over the country to share their thoughts and images on the Wall, we are fueling a campaign that brings together the power of national media with the strength and connection of on-the-ground organizing in a way that no one has ever done before. Your voice, and the voices of your friends, neighbors and colleagues, will become the language of our campaign on TV, in print, on billboards, online, and in brand new ways that you will help us invent as we create the Wall.

We know that the political will to transition America to a clean energy economy already exists. You are part of it. But now we must make sure our leaders know it too. The Wall will become our collective voice and thus transform the debate into action.

It’s an ambitious strategy — and it has to be.

Nothing short of every one of us joined together is needed to overcome the resistance of the powerful special interests blocking our path to a clean energy future, settling for the dangerous status quo.

But the time for politics is over. We have the power to force change in America.

What a great way to begin Tech or Treat–making your own name tags. I must admit when we discussed it via one of our LC phone conferences, I wasn’t sold. It just did not begin to sound as neat as it really was.  Thanks to Patti Duncan for the idea–and the recipe.  I see more making name tags in our future.  What fun!

Tech or Treat Name Tags Recipe

Over the past few years, interactive whiteboards have become more and more popular in schools around the world.  Many teachers are finding out how to effectively use this awesome resource while others are using them for glorified projector screens.  Maybe we need to reiterate that these are INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS…meaning that they are for interacting.  I cannot say that one board is better than the other because I have only been exposed to using the SMART brand versus the others on the market.

As a 2nd grade teacher, I became very curious when I was introduced to Smartboards and really found that by having my students use this awesome piece of technology that I could engage them like never before.  From there, I became very curious, very focused, and very excited about what this was doing for me as a teacher.  My students were used to having a smartboard, used to managing their personal space around the projector, and used to being engaged.  I shared my passion with those around me and created a culture of learners in my building.

 During my blog posts, I will share resources that I use on a consistent basis and tell stories about how students and teachers are using technology.  One of the first piece of sharing is from a colleague of mine who is veteran teacher with a new passion for integrating technology with her students.  Here is what she said after getting a smarboard in her class:

Good evening,I just wanted to thank you all for the mounted smartboard and projector. The smartboard and the programs we use in school have changed the dynamics of learning in second grade. Mounting the projector and not having shadows on our smartboard or to align it 10 times a day truly allows uninterrupted learning. I am enjoying showing my students audio, visual and kinesthetic ways to learn especially when they don’t know they are learning. These pieces of equipment and the time I am given to learn new technology including the distance learning have allowed me to define my teaching skills and are allowing my students to experience success with technology that increases their self awareness and self esteem.  Thank you 

Wow.  This is what it is all about.  Teachers inspiring students. 

I leave you with one of my favorite sites to share.  The site is called Teachers Love Smartboards. This site has ideas for any interactive board. If you check out this resource, you will find informative websites, video tutorials, and online training opportunities.  Daily takeaway!   BE SMARTER THAN THE BOARD…DON’T BE INTIMIDATED!

Image by happy via via Flickr

A recent podcast by The Tech Chicks, recommended several great and FREE links/sites/applications. Be sure to visit their site and enjoy these teaching resources:

1. Math Posters
2. TakingITGlobal - social network for student to take a stand for their environment.
3. Kewl Grader - just like that little wheel you have to figure out a percentage score for a student who gets 7 wrong out of 27. There is an iPhone app for this too.
4. Bugscope - The Bugscope project provides free interactive access to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) so that students anywhere in the world can explore the microscopic world of insects.
5. SignUpNow - create an online sign up sheet for many things, homeroom activities, personal lists etc. Here is a sample: http://www.signappnow.com/sheet/hPGN6CWw
6. Energy Education - Teach your students the importance of green energy while enhancing your required curriculum. Here you’ll find about 63 creative lesson plans, projects and other activities for grades K-12 on energy-related topics.
7. Reflections - Icebreaker activities

Enjoy the resources AND of course, pass them on to a colleague.

Image by HappyVia via flickr.com

Can you name 5 tips that you use daily? Have you ever shared them with anyone, of course you did. We all have little treasures of tips that become our daily habit so here is your chance to share some. Add your 5 tips in the comments to share with the rest of the community. Here are 5 of mine:

1. Dateline - I just discovered this in May 2009, but it is something I use many times a day. It is a transparent linear calendar. It does not keep appointment, or have an alarm. It is just a simple calendar that floats above your applications.
2. Keep your bookmarks - I use delicious.com but there are many different FREE online services. I bookmark anything I think I may use, or can recommend to others.
3. FREE music? -stop in any Starbucks and pick up the card for the”Pick of the Week”. No purchase is necessary.
4. Photo Sharing - It is so easy to share photos online for FREE. Why not set up an account for your classroom to share only with your parents. Try  Picasa.com  flickr.com shutterfly.com or many others.
5. Resize ‘Em All - sorry this is a Mac app. You can resize any photo to a smaller size without losing quality. This is currently a FREE application, but might disappear soon. I hear it was purchased by a big computer company.

In an effort to inform you about what is going on across the Keystone state, we will invite you into some classrooms and share some exemplary projects you may have missed. Our first is Sarah Beeghley the owner of Civil War Sallie. Sarah Beeghley is in sixth grade at St. Joseph School in Mechanicsburg and recently placed first in the PA Middle School Computer Fair in the Web Page Design Category. Her project is called Civil War Sallie. Sallie is a Boyd’s Bear dressed in an American red, white, and blue dress and travels around to various locations connected to the Civil War. Here are the contents of our email interview:

Sarah, where did you get the idea for this project? I got the idea from Mr. Brandon Lutz who is the owner of Morpheus Fortuna and Pax.

What would YOU say is the purpose for Civil War Sallie? To travel around to different places in order to help people learn more about the Civil War and Web 2.0 technology.

Have you been interested in civil war for a long time? Yes for 11 years because my parents have been taking me Civil War related places since I was 1 month old.

Who are some of the most interesting Civil War personalities you have learned about? The most interesting person I learned about was Clara Barton.  I find Clara interesting because she did something that no other women would have done at that time.  She stood up to men who said that a battlefield was no place for a woman.

Have you met any other traveling critters along the way? Yes, I have met two. Their names are Morpheus Morpheus Fortuna and Pax. You can learn more about them by clicking on their names.

Where has Sallie been so far? She has been to Gettysburg, Andersonville Prison, the Clara Barton home, and several classrooms.  For her full list please go to http://civilwarsallie.wikispaces.com/SignUp

Do you have a specific place you really want Sallie to visit? I’m really looking forward to Sallie’s visit to the Clara Barton birthplace museum in Masssachusettes. I am also hoping that she can visit Antietam to meet Ranger Mannie because Clara Barton was there during the battle.

Tell us about some of Sallie’s adventures. Sallie has met Miss. Clara Barton who is portrayed by Miss. Mary Ann Jung. She visited classrooms and learned about Abe Lincoln, got GIMPed into some old photos, and spent some great time with students learning about Civil War. She has visited museums related to the Civil War and met people who were in the Civil War including President Lincoln.  To see more please go to http://civilwarsallie.blogspot.com/

Have there been any memorable moments? Yes, when she went to Clara Barton’s home in Glen Echo, MD

Where can we follow her adventures? (Twitter @CivilWarSallie)
You can follow her written travels on her blog at http://civilwarsallie.blogspot.com/ and follow pictures of her adventures on her flickr.com account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/civilwarsallie

If someone would like to have Sallie visit, what should they do? First they should go to  http://civilwarsallie.wikispaces.com/SignUp and check the available dates.  Then they e-mail me at civilwarsallie@gmail.com and we add them to the list.

How do you get funds to pay for Sallie’s travels? Right now there are no funds to pay for her travels.  I am going to be starting to raise some money for me to travel to some national conferences and I’d like to get Sallie her own website.

Is there is any other information you would like to tell us about Civil War Sallie ? I would like for Sallie to help people remember those who fought and died during the Civil War.  It is an important time in our history and I hope that people do not forget about why they fought.  Also, this project has been great for me because I have met some very nice people and it helping me to improve my public speaking and my writing.

Thank you to Sarah Beeghley and Civil War Sallie for sharing your story. Congratulations on your first place in the Pennsylvania Computer Fair as well!

Cheers to Brandon Lutz for inspiring this unique project!  Another STAR in action.

You can visit Sarah and Civil War Sallie at a poster session at NECC in Washington, DC. Tuesday, 6/30/2009, 1:00pm–3:00pm WWCC East Registration Lobby, Table: 1

Photos by S. Beeghley: Civil War Sallie with Fr. Corby in Gettysburg and with Clara Barton Other Follow me projects:  https://followme.wikispaces.com/Followmeprojects