South Carolina DEN

SPRING 2008

The team at Discovery Education is always bringing the latest and greatest trends of educational technology to educators everywhere. One of the biggest issues facing classroom teachers today is…LACK OF TIME! Technology is out there, and we do our best to bring it into the classroom. Ideally, we can attend a conference that will allow us to see some of these best practices for ourselves.

With budget cuts looming overhead, it’s nice to know that DE has once again thought of a way to get the information out! That’s right, time again for another Virtual Conference- the geniuses that make up DE are bringing the conference to you.

What’s a virtual conference? Just imagine… Saturday morning:you, your favorite comfy pj’s, a cup of coffee, and a computer. That’s it! No sub for your kids, no hotel reservations, and no racing across a lobby to reach your next session. Attend when you can from the comfort of your own home. Or better yet, team up with some friends and attend together on one computer. And for those schools with innovative and supportive leaders, why not meet up in a classroom and turn on that projector with your grade level or department folks?

Of course, you will need to register- and that’s free, too.

Registration opens on Friday, October 10th. If you’d like to see what’s on tap for the Virtual Conference, see the National Blog here. Can’t make the Virtual Conference, but curious about other professional development opportunities to learn from the Discovery Ed team? Read more about webinars!

The 2008 DEN Streamathon has come and gone, but all of the great information that was delivered is here to stay!

You missed the Streamathon?! Dry those eyes and check out the archives. Here you will find most of the presentations that were given by various members of the DEN team.

Topics include:

Don’t want to miss out on future webinar opportunities? Check out the calendar for online events and register today!

As the school year is wrapping up, many teachers are making plans for vacations AND Professional Development!!!

Below are just a few summer opportunities for educators. Leave a comment if you will be attending these or let us know about other great educational possibilities.

Upstate Technology Conference, June 24-26, Greenville, SC
The theme for this year’s UTC conference is Adventures in Technology: Discovering the Key to Learning. The dates for the conference are June 24-26 with the pre-conference on the 24th. The conference will be held at the newly built, J.L. Mann High School. Fantastic speakers including Ewan McIntosh and sessions are being planned and this year’s conference will be the best ever.
http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/utc/ to register.

NECC 2008, June 29-July 2, San Antonio
29th Annual National Educational Computing Conference
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/

ETV Technology Workshop, July 29-31, in Columbia

Come try your hand at Blogging, Digital Storytelling, Google Earth, Movie Maker, Podcasting, PowerPoint and more. In the ETV StreamlineSC workshops, you are sure to find many new features even if you have been using it for a while. And see innovative ways to use iPods, Promethean and SMART boards, and Web 2.0 internet technology. We are excited to be able to offer technology workshops again for SC Educators and at no charge. We will have several DEN members as instructors and Brad Fountain of Discovery, too, will be with us again. Don’t miss the excitement! To Register, go to http://register.streamlinesc.org/

Questions? Write Donna T. at dthompson@scetv.org

Check out the DEN events calendar for other upcoming events: DEN events calendar at http://community.discoveryeducation.com/event

Attention SC DEN Members!!!

Report 3 trainings- water bottle

Recruit new members- baseball jersey

Winning a day with Hall Davidson…Priceless!

From DEN blog… DEN Spring Training 2008

DEN Spring Training is back! This year the DEN coaches are scouting talent for the All-STAR team as well as looking for some new prospects to join the DEN squad. You have a couple ways to impress the coaches during DEN Spring Training and earn some DEN gear.

Renegotiate Your Contract
Every year STAR Discovery Educators are asked to report at least two events they have conducted in the past school year in order to have their contracts renewed for the following season (i.e., maintain STAR status for next school year). Give your agent some additional leverage to land you a big contract by reporting more than two events.

Any STAR DE who reports at least three events for the time period of September 1, 2007 through June 6, 2008 will receive a DEN Water Bottle as a signing bonus.

What is an event?

Click here to report your events.

Recruit a Rookie
We’re always looking for new prospects who can throw a 90 mph fastball or embed a DE streaming video into PowerPoint. If you help us find a rookie sensation, we’ll hook you up with some new DEN gear.

Any STAR DE who recruits a new STAR Discovery Educator before June 6, 2008 will receive a DEN baseball jersey. Note: The STAR DE you recruit must have his/her contract officially signed by June 6, 2008 (i.e., he/she must complete all parts of the application process by June 6).

Help Your Region Win the Pennant
Your DEN Account Managers are looking to you to help them bring home the pennant for your region. The DEN Manager whose region has the most new STAR recruits during DEN Spring Training will win the coveted Discovery Educator Network Louisville Slugger straight from the factory in Kentucky.

West Region

Kim Randall

AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR and WA

Central Region

Justin Karkow

AZ, KS, MO, ND, NE, NM, OK, SD, TX, UT and WY

Midwest Region

Mike Bryant

IA, IL, IN, MI, MN and WI

Northeast Region

Dennis Swain

CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI and VT

Mid-Atlantic Region

Matt Monjan

DE, MD, NJ, OH, PA and VA

South Region

Brad Fountain

AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN and WV

State Challenge
The state with the most STAR Discovery Educators recruited during DEN Spring Training will receive a Day of Discovery featuring Hall “of Famer” Davidson and other major leaguers from the DEN team.

In summary…

• Report at least 3 events and earn a DEN water bottle
• Recruit a new STAR and earn a DEN baseball jersey
• Help your DEN Manager win the pennant by recruiting new STARs
• Get Hall and the DEN team to host a Day of Discovery in your state by recruiting the most new STARs

Good luck! If you have any questions, please feel to have your agent contact us.

The DEN National Institute will occur at Discovery’s global headquarters in Silver Spring, MD from July 21-25, 2008. The week before, July 14-18, 2008, there will be the DEN Leadership Council Institute (also in Silver Spring, MD). Up to 100 STARs will be invited to attend the DEN National Institute and 50 leadership council members will gather for the LC Institute. All STARs are encouraged to apply.

Lodging and meals will be covered by the Discovery Educator Network (see FAQs for more details). All travel costs to and from the institute, in addition to a $100 registration fee, are the responsibility of the STAR Discovery Educator.

Timeline

March 14
DEN Summer Institutes Announced – Applications Open

April 11
Deadline for applications

April 18
Applicants notified

May 2
Deadline for accepted applicants to RSVP and submit payment

If you’re interested in either the DEN National Institute or the DEN Leadership Council Institute, apply online here.
If you have any questions, check out the FAQ.

The LIVE GREEN Teacher Grant program, a Discovery Education program presented by General Motors, challenges middle school teachers to develop innovative ideas for furthering environmental and energy sustainability. Teachers will identify an issue or problem, create a plan to address it, and integrate the topic into classroom teaching.

Earn a $1,000 LIVE GREEN grant - 40 grants will be awarded to teachers for the most forward-thinking ideas. In addition, the 40 recipients will be treated to an exciting online professional development program designed to help them reach their school’s specific green initiatives, including a free digital camera to document and share the experience!

Visit http://livegreen.discoveryeducation.com.

Join us for the 1st ever Discovery Educator Network Virtual Conference!

Saturday, February 2nd
9:00-1:00 Greenville, SC and Columbia SC

Connect with educators from all over the country during this unique professional development experience where you can attend in-person, online or both.

The day will feature keynote presentations from Discovery’s own Hall Davidson and Lance
Rougeux that will be broadcast to each of the regional gatherings. In between the keynote
presentations, participants will attend breakout sessions presented by local STAR Discovery Educators.

Virtual Keynotes

Lost in Translation presented by Lance Rougeux

All students today are bilingual and d 4n tongue dey knO so weL L%kz
fune & cn b kind of hard 2 rED, @ lEst 4 adults. So how do we meet the
needs of our students when we’re the second language learners in the
classroom? We’ll take a look at ways we can use media and other
technologies to help get us up to speed and speaking their language.

Revenge of the Digital Immigrants: Teaching with Media Technology presented by Hall Davidson

21st Century students are different. There is a silver lining: We can
teach this “New Brain” more effectively, more efficiently, more
engagingly.

To register for the DEN Virtual Conference or to see if there is an in-person event in your area, please visit:

http://Community.DiscoveryEducation.Com/virtualconference

Need more information on what’s happening at the Greenville and Columbia sites? Download, post , and share: DEN Virtual Conference.

So you joined the DEN, and maybe you’ve even become a STAR Educator… can life get any better? Well, your virtual life can!

If you haven’t already made the move to join Second Life, or want to learn more about this virtual community- now’s your chance! Join the SL crew’s webinar to learn more.

WHEN? Tuesday, January 15th at 4 p.m. SLT (that would be 7 p.m. EST)

‘Get a Life, a Second Life That Is!’ is a webinar aimed at educators who would like to learn more about Second Life and how this virtual world can contribute to your PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network). Brand new to Second Life? Join us!!! Thinking about entering Second Life? Join us!!! Never heard of Second Life? Join us!!! Although ‘veteran’ SLers are welcome, the webinar will be covering the basics of Second Life (how to create an account, etc.) and opportunities that abound for educators in-world.

We hope to see many of you in-world after the webinar and as such I would STRONGLY suggest that IF you THINK you MIGHT want to see what Second Life is all about, please download the client (FREE) and sign up (also FREE) PRIOR to January 15th. You’ll find all the information for this in the Google Groups in the ^Files^ section. The document is called ‘Creating an Account in SL’. And of course, if you have ANY questions about downloading the client and signing up, please let us know and we’ll guide you along.

You can register for the WebEx HERE.

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Nancy Sharoff on the SL Blog

Can’t make it to FETC? Then mark your calendar for NECC in San Antonio, TX,  scheduled from June 31 - July 2. NECC is presented by ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education.  Why not check it out and visit the DEN Second Life group while you’re there?

Is anyone planning to attend or present? Let us know so we can show our support for fellow DEN members!

Mark your calendar! FETC 2008 is taking place in the Sunshine State next month. Discovery Education is one of the Platinum Sponsors for this national event, along with a host of other leaders in educational technology. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, check out the opening keynote speaker sponsored by DE!

FETC is a great way to connect with educators across the nation and to show your support for the Discovery Educators Network. Need more information? Check out the FETC’s homepage www.fetc.org , where you can view the conference’s brochure… or better yet, download it and share with other educators in your area. Already heading to Orlando? Let us know!