Pennsylvania

The no-so-spooky hour of 2 has just passed, and we’re live again with Patti Duncan, who admits that earlier presentations, both live and virtual, stole most of her tools.  According to her, however, she has many tools in her pockets, so she is good to go.  Her goal: despite whatever your level of use, she will have something new for you.  Here we go.

1. Step by Step WebMath (under Parents Corner).
2. Parents Corner.
3. Worksheets.
4. Enter.Win.Wow!.
5. My DE Page: all your folders show on your home page.
6. Bottom Right of My DE: PA 4 recent blog posts; webinars; additional resources.
7. At #7, we come to Patti’s 1/10: State Academic Standards are a great way to do an easy topic search (better than the conventional search, which will only show a result if you hit the exact title, or a word in your subject search); curriculum standards search by subject gives you a wider search net.
8. Different media types: if you have not gone to the drop-down Content menu, you are missing dozens of media types.  Why? Because Discovery is your online vetted textbook and there’s just nothing better; you can take any media and add it to “My Content,” but you can also send it directly to a Builder or classroom students.
9. Share tab (my absolute favorite) mimics Firefox Sharaholic and other sites which embed social networking sharing.
10. Discoverystreaming songs: can use them as classroom warm-ups, ESL learners, vocabulary building (words in song tunes; can voice over).
11. Sound effects: write a story based on what they heard or to set a mood; can dress to the mood being created–Patti does that–ask them what they hear, build to content-specific vocabulary; visualize Patti in waders with a net with a nature audio collage–and then build your lesson.
12. Images: download in 3 sizes; preview in large and do a “diving into the picture” (similar to “diving into the sound”) by magnifying aspects of a large image in “preview large.”
13. Clip Art: safe, educational; Patti uses an image of a dog eating homework as an assignment reminder.
14. Keyword search: narrowed by left navigational sidebar, filtered by media type, editable, ESL, black-line masters, CC for differentiated classrooms where increasing fluency matters, and much more.
15. Closed Captioning: you need to enable CC button; download the video and the CC file as well; then you can go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, Word Pad, File, Open, and open the .smi file for CC; now you can go in and change the font size to 20 and change the font type, and you can make it bold and you can also change the color.
16. Media Share in the Teacher Center, Discovery Educator Network, Educator Resources–>search for “How To Guides”

Like all things DEN, Patti exceeded our expectations with more than the promised 10.  My favorite–and new to me–was #15.

Tech or Treat continues, live in the Learners Lab, but for this time slot, we turn our blogging to Mike Bryant’s multimedia presentation.

When you begin thinking about slides, think outside the slide, from a flat still image to what goes beyond the image. So, using Shakespeare’s birthplace and highlighting the window, you can push out to an image of the Bard himself, dissecting him to see what made him tick.  Not sure what Mike’s using to make the cuts, but you open the brain to a Romeo and Juliet viewers guide with plot points and viewing questions, along with a character analysis.  Moving into the eyes, the windows to the soul, we dissect Shakespeare’s vision. What we find is a series of videos that move beyond the screen.  I was certain Mike was going to Blabberize Will, but this goes way beyond the capacities of that tool.

Moving to the speech of the period, we dissect Shakespeare’s language and hear iambic pentameter in the vernacular.  Still wondering, however, how you actually create this type of beyond-the-box-presentation.  Going back to Shakespeare’s home, we integrate sound, image, and video in a non-linear fashion.  Imagine the possibilities with MyPlick, a tool Dembo previewed two weeks ago on Web 2.0 Tuesday’s webinar.  MyPlick allows you to sync slides to audio.  Easy to use, fast, fun, and free, this tools allows students (and teachers) to integrate sound and video seamlessly. Mike’s mantra: if you do not know how to do something, you have a DEN family, live, virtual, and professional development that is awesome.

Dissecting the process, you create most of what you use by hyperlinking. Dafont is one website to use.  Then Mike goes to his Discoverystreaming, and he uses the resources by searching the drill-down Content feature.  He grabs two images of Shakespeare’s home in 3 format sizes from which to choose and then downloads.  In a Mac or Firefox, it will download to desktop, but a PC will allow you options for end point (Firefox allows you to select download destination).  Using Discoverystreaming, you can pull audio, speech, songs, charts, maps, graphs, virtually (pardon the pun) anything you want to build your out-of-the-box slide show, including your choice of MLA, Chicago Style, or APA citations for your selected media.  A best practice for sure, the citations are dynamic within Keynote properties as well.

Just discovered that the tools Mike used early in the presentation to “dissect” Shakespeare are in the toolkit within PowerPoint or Keynote’s toolbox.  You actually cutout the areas using the shapes in the formatting toolkit.  Once you select the area you will highlight, you allow for the media to open by hyperlinking to those selected areas.

Clearly, Mike’s presentation is a lot to digest, even with slow dissection, and I see in our future offerings, a back-to-basics-version of Mike’s presentation offfered, maybe spring?

From Patti Duncan, PA LCs Event Chair

Are you excited? Your Leadership Council is and we can almost not wait until our DEN Virtual Conference Live Event this Saturday October 24th! Tech or Treat is shaping up to be an awesome event! Your Leadership Council has been working very hard to provide you with some excellent professional development this weekend and get you psyched for using technology in the classroom!

Just a few reminders:
1) We will start at 8:30am… We will end at 4:00pm. Try to plan to stay to the end… THAT is when we will be giving out the door prizes
2) Bring your laptop, power strip, and a flash drive
3) If you can not bring your laptop… don’t worry.. there will be computers in the lab for you to use. (But not a laptop)
4) Bring your appetite! We will be serving continental breakfast AND an awesome lunch!
5) Dress like your favorite Discovery Personality to be eligible for the Flip HD Camera
6) If you have any examples of class projects that you wish to share with others… bring them along!
We have added a session to our agenda… “The Star Showcase”… If you are a DEN Star and wish to share a project idea, Discovery integration idea, or even a special Web 2.0 tool… bring along anything that you might need to do that. From 2:00 - 3:00 PM we will have those Stars interested in sharing set up in stations that people can visit to discover the great things that you do with your students. There will be a sign up sheet at the door when you arrive for you to let us know that you plan on sharing…

Here’s the day’s schedule you’ve been waiting for:

Hope to see you there! Tech or Treat! Woot!!

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!

Summer is winding down fast, and if you’re anything like me, you are busy prepping for the upcoming school year. I’ve hit the teacher store, updated my Wikispace, and now I’m ready for the DEN Summer School Webinars!

There are three amazing weeks of free professional development and resources! Digital Storytelling week just closed, and on Thursday I caught Mike Hakkarinen’s session on Discovery Education Media and iMovie. Mike’s presentation on iMovie was informative and easy to follow. He gave a great overview of the program and modeled a sample classroom project on a narrated video about Mars.

I am a new MAC user, and was excited with the information I received from this 1 hour session! As a regular PC user, I found through this presentation that iMovie 09 had many similarities to MovieMaker. Mike discussed the clip viewer vs. time line viewer… which are personal preferences when using the program, and gave a great overview of grabbing video segments from the Discovery Streaming library. He demonstrated adding titles, special effects, chapters, and more. Mike discussed adding transitions and audio last, because they can change the length of the video… which is a really great tip to know and remember!
There were some great discussions going on during the Webinar as well. Digital storytelling in the classroom is awesome… but understanding the process is important. Students should be writing scripts and storyboards first, and then take the time to piece the product together. DE Streaming offers an excellent resource from the American Film Institute that takes you through the process of making the connection between the writing process and filming. Check it out here.  Also, you can get many more transitions, fonts and effects from a company called Slick.  Slick has 10 volumes of fun things to add to iMovie 6 HD. (Unfortunately, they do not work with iMovie 09 and are not free.)

Be sure to tune in August 10-13th for the Summer School Webinars Leadership Week each day at 11 AM Eastern. What are you waiting for? Register now!

August 10th - The Information Society is HERE- Are our schools up to the task?

August 11th -  Policies, Safety, and Social Networking

August 12th - Web2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century

August 13th - Data Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment

And, if you haven’t done so yet… check out what’s new for Discovery Streaming this year… and remember to check the DEN blog for archived Summer School sessions!

Just a friendly reminder that Digital Storytelling Week with Discovery Education’s Back-to-School Webinars begin today. Each day this week beginning at 11 AM Eastern time, a different aspect of integrating digital storytelling into you curriculum will air in an interactive WebEx webinar. Here’s the program for this week, and it is NOT too late to register.  CLICK EACH LINK TO REGISTER.

Monday, August 3: Thinking Outside the Slide

Tuesday, August 4: Digital Storytelling Made Easy with Discovery Education Content, Animoto, and PhotoStory

Wednesday, August 5: Director’s Cut using Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker

Thursday, August 6: Discovery Education Media and iMovie.

Digital Storytelling
Discovery Education Webinars
Director’s Cut
PhotoStory
Animoto
Digital Storytelling Week
Turbo Tagger

Every so often you find the perfect post, the one you really wish you wrote that segues perfectly into a future initiative. Thanks to Angela Maiers’ twitt,

Perfect post to begin the conversation from @Langwitches The Need for Storytelling Skills

we have the perfect post to set up the first week of Discovery Education’s Back-to-School webinars, beginning August 3 with four days focusing on the art of digital storytelling. The Langwitches Blog has been a favorite of mine because it truly shows us “the magic of learning.” Their post on the need for digital storytelling speaks for itself:

Daniel Pink in “A Whole New Mind” describes how the need for storytelling skills in the information age has increased.

As information and

facts are  ubiquitous, nearly free and available at the speed of light […] What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.

Jason Ohler, in his book “Digital Storytelling in the Classroom“, talks about how stories

help us remember important information that might be forgotten if it’s delivered to us in the form of reports, lectures, or isolated bits of information.

Ohler sees storytelling as an information organizer.

we desperately need tools to navigate and coordinate the immense amount of information available to us.

Pink and Ohler are not the only ones putting information abundance and storytelling together.

Digitales- The Art of Telling Digital Stories :

Artificial intelligence research is showing that the more people are buried in the mind-numbing avalanche of today’s information, the greater the importance of stories in making sense of the endless pieces of data. While storytelling does not replace analytical thinking, good stories do provide an essential process for conveying information in an easily absorbed form.
There is increasing urgency to develop communication skills that translate raw information into valuable knowledge for ourselves as well as others. Discovering the personal meanings of topics or events helps us create memory, meaning and understanding of the data and complexity in our lives.

Digital Storytelling – ISTE

The more people are buried in the mind-numbing avalanche of today’s information, the greater the importance of stories in making sense of the endless pieces of data. It is the act of telling our personal story – of creating an emotional connection to information and experiences – sharing in story form what we know and understand from an event or topic that provides a “sense-making” process enabling our brains to organize a myriad of factoids.

Image by Will Lion

If we look at the above image that visualizes a quote from Mitchell Kapor:

Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.

It is easy to understand that we need to find a tool that allows us to channel the water, a tool that prevents us to waste all that precious water that is being squandered and not to be blown away by the pressure.

What if the skill of storytelling  can be the tool that helps us organize, remember and connect facts from the ocean of information that is coming out of that fire hydrant?

1. There is more INFORMATION out there than ever before in human history. We (and our students) need to learn how to find, evaluate and make sense out of all this information that we are bombarded with through many types of different media.
2. WHAT HAPPENS when we have obtained this/these  information/facts? What do we do with it? How will we remember? How will we archive for future retrieval?
   It is precisely THAT ability (organize/connect/remix/create) that we need to foster in ourselves and our students . The ability to put these facts in context. The amount of facts alone (without context)  just overwhelms us.
3. Storytelling (putting information in a narrative context) might be the answer to our need to make sense of this vast information that is available to us anytime, anywhere and anyhow.

If you are excited about digital storytelling, why not join us for Summer School with the DEN. Where else can you find timely professional development that is fun, fast, and free. Remember: Digital Storytelling Week kicks off August 3, with tools and trade secrets to get you to think outside the slide with storytelling made easy with Discovery Education Content, Animoto, and PhotoStory. Director’s Cut using Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker followed by Discovery Education Media and iMovie round off Week 1 of Digital Storytelling.

21st Century Learning
21st Century Skills
Digital Storytelling
Langwitches
DE Summer School
Discovery Education
Turbo Tagger

Hard to believe, but school seems just around the corner, especially if you factor in a week of professional development for educators that many districts mandate. Much as I see summer slipping away, I love the new changes in Discovery Education Streaming PLUS and am so excited about bringing this fantastic resource to my students in September. At the Leadership Council Symposium (was it two weeks ago–time does fly) we got a sneak preview, but you can too by registering for a one-hour webinar on July 14 or 21 at 1 PM EDT.

I am also excited about Summer School with the DEN. Where else can you find timely professional development that is fun, fast, and free. Digital Storytelling Week kicks off August 3, with tools and trade secrets to get you to think outside the slide with storytelling made easy with Discovery Education Content, Animoto, and PhotoStory. Director’s Cut using Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker followed by Discovery Education Media and iMovie round off Week 1 of Digital Storytelling.

Week 2 Leadership opens August 10 with The Information Society is HERE: Are Our Schools Up to the Task? I have been reading Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D.’s blog Dangerously Irreverent ever since Christian Long wrote “The Future of Education Manifesto” and invited McLeod to mash it up. Responding to it became my English 10 mid-term exam, along with “Did You Know” from Karl Fisch. This keynote promises to bring an exciting beginning to the week. I wouldn’t miss this webinar for anything! Policies, Safety, and Social Networking is followed by Web 2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century. Data-Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment–love this newer offering and its related blog–The Dean’s List, authored by Porter Palmer (met her at LC Symposium and promise to write about her blog next) is a great finale to Leadership Week. If you can possibly leverage your administrative teams to participate, this week will definitely pay huge dividends to their educational learning communities.

August 17 opens Week 3, so get ready for Myth Busted: Easy Ways to Integrate Digital Media into your Science Classroom. I’m one of those people with an academic allergy to science, but I have been following Brad Fountain’s Science in Action, and he is definitely making me a believer with his weekly lessons (I am actually beginning to understand science). Now that you are getting into the swing of back-to-Discovery-School, you’re ready for Getting Your Hands Dirty with Discovery Education Science. Differentiating Instruction with Discovery Education Science Assessment Manager and More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green round out a great week of science offerings. You can read about this finale for science week here.

Web 2.0 Week 4 premiers August 24. During this week you Get You Glog On! with The DE Streaming Builders and Glogster. Then, The Thread that Ties It All Together: Discovery Education Content and VoiceThread leads into Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education Media and Google Earth. We end four weeks of learning on a fun note–Learning Through the Funnies: Mixing Discovery Education Content with Free Comic Tool.

I know that all of these wonderful webinars would be more than enough to rev us up for back to school, but this is Discovery, so there’s more. Between our wonderful partnerships with Mimeo and Scotch® Science Fair Central, teachers and instructional technologists have great new resources to bring to the classroom. You might want to check out Science Fair Central before Science Week debuts. And for those non-digital hands-on projects, don’t forget to put Scotch® Products on your students’ supply lists this fall. With items like Double Sided Tape, Precision Scissors and Removable Poster Tape, they’ll be well equipped for another year of science projects, posters, displays, and reports.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the DEN community’s huge support while I was hospitalized last week. Knowing how much I had your well wishes and prayers meant everything, so much gratitude from me to you. You are quite a learning community family.

DE Summer School
Discovery Education Streaming PLUS
MediaShare
Scotch® Science Fair Central
Mimeo
Scott McLeod
Turbo Tagger

DEN Pre-NECC Extravaganza

Join us on June 27, 2009 (9 AM to 3:30 PM) for an engaging day of networking, professional development and fun at the world headquarters of Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, MD. And, it’s FREE! You can get you og on, and learn many new and exciting ways to integrate Discovery products and Web 2.0 tools in your curriculum and classrooms. Whether you’re a teacher or Instructional Technologist, your STAR will shine more brightly after this special session.

• 50 Ways to Integrate Discovery Education streaming
• More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green
• Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Media and Google Earth
• Get Your Og On: Blogs, Glogs and Vlogs
• Power Up Your Professional Learning Network
• Top Ten FREE Web 2.0 Sites
• And more!

Space is limited. Registration closes June 5th. Enroll today! You won’t want to miss this special event!

Not that long ago, the DEN national blog created a March Madness series of blogs. Interesting how we categorize our months, so if March be mad and April is “the cruelest month,” that leaves May delighted to spread surprises and fun interactive learning for its DEN STARS. Here’s the calendar of DEN events for Week 1 of May Days.

Monday: May 4: Teacher Appreciation Week begins today! DEN LCs.

Your prep period, perhaps, if you have already registered to take the lead in DEN Leadership Councils. Even if you are already on an LC, you have 2 weeks left to complete the self-nominating form. If you are not actively involved in your state’s LC, now is the time to take the plunge and join us. There’s always so much to do; we welcome your help. Please join us, and don’t forget your deadline: Friday, May 15, 2009. Remember to check the DEN National Blog for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Tuesday: May 5: Science Class; Check DEN National Blog for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Join Brad Fountain’s live Science Class broadcast on Tuesday, May 5th at 1:00 PM EDT. We will be exploring different types of chemical reactions including changes in energy and exothermic. You can also find an experiment you can conduct with your class after our live broadcast on the Science in Action blog . The live broadcast will air on the Science Class section of the Science in Action blog. Because you asked for it, and because Discovery listens and always answers with more incredible resources, the Science Class Series has been extended! Join us for this really exciting event, and a great way to learn too!

Wednesday, May 6: Geocaching with Bridget Belardi and Connie Mulligan; Check DEN National Blog for Teacher Appreciation Week.

On May 30, 2009 we will host our first-ever DEN Geocaching Day! To get you ready for another DEN first, whether you are a muggle (non-geocacher) or a pro, STAR Discovery Educators Bridget Belardi and Conni Mulligan will host Geocaching 101 webinars to get us ready. The first in a series of 3 webinars, this session will answer the basic questions “What is geocaching?” and “How do I get started?” Bridget and Conni will also talk about the strong curricular connections of geocaching. Register now to join us for Geo 101.

Thursday, May 7: Keep Your Star Status; Check the DEN National Blog for Teacher Appreciation Week.

In order to maintain your STAR status, you must report at least two of your events for the 2008-2009 school year by August 31, 2009. Log in to the DEN website and you’ll see “Report Event”. If you are not sure of how many events you’ve reported send an inquiry to den_events@discovery.com.

Friday, May 8: Discovery Education Professional Development Opportunities; Check the DEN National Blog for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Join us at 1 pm EDT, when he leadeing provider of digital media for classrooms, Discovery Education offers unparalleled expertise and perspective on how best to integrate digital media in the classroom. Discovery Education Professional Development and support from the Discovery Educator Network have inspired hundreds of thousands of educators throughout the U.S. and on four continents. From webinars to Days of Discovery, we have PD offerings to suit every educational community. This webinar will guide you through the free PD offerings available to you online from Discovery Education, as well as how you can personalized training opportunities directly to your faculty.

Remembering the Looney-Tunes cartoons from Saturday matinee double features (I’m reaching way back now), “That’s All, Folks.”
DEN STARS
Discovery Education
Professional Development
WebEx Webinars
Discovery Science Class
Geocaching
Turbo Tagger