Tennessee DEN

Hey gang!  Here are some things to consider as the TN DEN steps forward into the future:

1.    The National Middle Schools Conference is next week in Houston (November 7-10).  If you are going, please consider meeting with us at the conference.  Email me at tchilders.den at gmail.com and we’ll set something up!

2.    Teryl and Tim are presenting at the TETC workshop in Nashville (November 28-30).  Our sessions are on the 29th and 30th.  We would love to get a group of DEN members together for a dinner while in Nashville.  Put a post on this blog if you are interested in meeting with us at TETC.  It will be great fun!  AND it will give us a chance to meet some great DEN members from across the state.

Let’s get the TN DEN together whenever and wherever we can!  We are pumped about the great work you do throughout the state!

The National Middle Schools Association (NMSA) will host its annual national convention in Houston, TX from November 8 to 10. If you are a STAR DEN member and would like to attend a social gathering of other DEN members while attending the NMSA convention, we need your input.

Finding a space to host us (whether a few or a lot) will take a little time and effort, so we need to know something fairly soon. If you would like to participate in such a gathering, please email Tim Childers (tchilders.den at gmail dot com). Discovery Education has agreed to help us with a budget, so our goal is to make this as “free” as possible for all attendees. When you send your email, include the following information:

• Your Name, email address, and a contact phone number while in Houston
• State of Residence (this is NOT just a TN event)
• Preferred day of event (8th or 9th)
• Would you prefer a “sit down” dinner or a “drop in” session?

We need your email no later than midnight, October 31st, in order to make this happen. We will need ONE email PER ATTENDEE.

Hey, we’ll get together if there are just 2 of us able to do so, but we would love to have a whole big bunch of STAR DEN middle school teachers in attendance. Remember, this is a social gathering, not another workshop for NMSA. We hope to hear from you soon!

Get your own Moonk!

This past Wednesday evening the DEN staff hosted a dinner at the T&L Conference in Nashville. The dinner was at The Old Hickory in the Opryland Hotel. Around 20 people attended, including DEN members from Tennessee (west, middle, and east), Wisconsin, Maryland, Maine, and more. It was a wonderful evening of sharing and laughter.

Teryl Magee and I drove in from our respective places of abode, had dinner, then drove home. Teryl was home around 1:30 or 2:00 AM and I got home at 2:30 after a brief nap on top of Mount Eagle! Whew! Thursday was hard, but well worth it.

For me, the highlights of the night came in two areas. First, I was able to talk nearly non-stop with the Hall Davidson. What a wealth of information and creativity! Second, was my Caesar salad. I’ve never had a salad that included just four lettuce leaves stacked on top of one another. We all got a good laugh, wondered if every course would be like this, and then breathed a huge sigh of relief when the main course came. We were definitely full at the evening’s end!

I’m sorry I didn’t include pictures of everyone at the table, nor get the names of all the Discovery staff present. A big special thanks to Lance for putting it all together!

Teryl Magee and I did two workshops for the TN Association of Middle Schools (TAMS) at Farragut Middle School in Knoxville, TN, on Saturday, October 13th.  Between 35 and 40 teachers attended in all with a little over half of them unitedstreaming, uh, I mean Discovery Education streaming subscribers.

We were able to do hands-on workshops in the computer lab at Farragut.  Out of all the teachers who use streaming, none (that’s spelled “zero”) used any of the three builders.  I’m finding this is a common theme at workshops I do.  In fact, it is a common theme at my own school where I am responsible for training!  Of course, I must admit that for the first 18 months of my DEN experience, I didn’t even know they existed either!  The Builders are streaming’s best kept secrets.

So here is a question for all our DEN members in TN: Do the teachers at your school use the builders?  If not, would you consider hosting, attending, or even promoting a training session in your area?  The TN DEN LC stands ready to assist in any way we can.  You know, if you are not a STAR DEN member you can use this opportunity to do some training with 3 or more teachers at your school and show them how to use the builders yourself.  These trainings can go toward your application to become a STAR!

We had a blast, met some really nice teachers, and got to share our passion for teacher collaboration using the DEN.  All in all, it was a pretty good weekend.   Teryl and I are already planning for the state conference in Franklin, TN, next summer!

Last weekend I took part in the eastern regional workshop for the TN Association of Student Councils (TASC).  I was asked to do a presentation on digital scrapbooking, but when I explained I had never done that they let me do a Photo Story workshop for personal memory making.  I had fun doing 4 20-minute sessions with middle schoolers.  Virtually none of them had ever heard of Photo Story, let alone used it.

We have used Photo Story in our lab classes before, so our students were familiar (although none of them were actually in my sessions).  However, I think I learned something valuable from this experience.

When we used Photo Story, we jumped right in to storytelling.  We had students write a script, edit and revise, etc.  Then, they brought pictures from home and we scanned them into the computer for use with their story.  Some had real trouble tying pictures to their theme.  Others didn’t have any pictures, so we had to make do with selected shots I downloaded from the Internet and made available.  By the time we were finished, many of our kids had grown tired of the project.  The excitement I expected didn’t materialize.

I saw something different in this workshop.  I talked about loading random personal pictures and adding music (no narration) to create a 30-second to 1-minute video of something important in their lives.  Then, they can upload those videos to their MySpace accounts and entertain their friends.  When I use Photo Story again in my classroom, I believe I will take this approach.  They might use photos of their favorite music artist, skateboarder, or other celebrity to make a statement about their own personal tastes.  You get the idea.

Anyway, here is an animoto video I created from pictures taken at TASC.  Enjoy!