DEN Texas

Discovery Education knows that you do some awesome work in your classrooms using their resources. Upload a 1-2 minute video, podcast, or other multimedia file by November 15, 2009 that explains how you’re using Discovery Education resources to engage your students and get a limited edition Discovery Education sweatshirt!

Share your work and get a hoodie at: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/awesome.

Discovery Education, KLRN and TCEA Area 20 proudly present a Day of Discovery at Woodridge Elementary School in Alamo Heights ISD on December 5, 2009. This Day of Discovery will provide Texas educators and welcomed guests with an exciting and enriching day of professional development focused on creative ways to engage your students using digital media from the KLRN Connect/Discovery Education streaming library.
During the day, participants will learn how they can use images, audio clips and videos to create engaging multimedia presentations, digital stories, and virtual field trips! Lunch will be provided and the day will conclude with fun and prizes!

When:   Saturday, December 5, 2009
Where:  Woodridge Elementary, 100 Woodridge Dr, San Antonio
Time:     9:00am – 3:30pm (registration will begin at 8:30)
Cost:     Free! (CPE Credit Available)
Space is limited, so register today!
Visit http://links.discoveryeducation.com/SanAntonioDOD to register.
Contact Justin Karkow at Justin_Karkow@discovery.com for more details.

You Tube  that is.  Discovery Education (and the Discovery Channel and more) have a presence on this video sharing site.   To see what is available, go to:  http://www.youtube.com/user/DiscoveryEducation 

Or Teacher Tube perhaps.  For some Discovery Education related videos there, go to: http://www.teachertube.com/videoList.php?pg=videonew&tags=discovery&cid=16 

Also on Teacher Tube, check for the just created Texas DEN group at: http://www.teachertube.com/members/groupHome.php?group_id=TexasDEN

Another DEN Star has been featured by Smart Technologies also: Linda Rush.  See her quote at http://downloads01.smarttech.com/media/edcompass/october2009/edcompass-oct09issue.pdf , page 6

Lori Reed, a Texas DEN Star Educator, is featured SmartTechnologies website.  Catch her shining moment at http://smarttech.com/ ! 

What creative ways do you have to use interactive whiteboards, like the Smart Board, with Discovery products? 

If you have a special  moment -  such as being featured on a website, presenting at a conference, receiving an award, or presenting a unique tech-enriched lesson using Discovery products, please let us know.   You could be our next Shining Den Star!

Mary Carole Strother:

·         ebooks for ekids  02-10-2010 TCEA Presentation - 50 Minute session #100527

Elaine Plybon:

·         Thursday, 02/10: Getting Started in Second Life - TCEA 90 minute workshop 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. session #100081

·         Friday, 02/11: Discovery Streaming Exploration: Discovering What We Already Have! - TCEA 3 hour workshop 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. #100127

Linda Rush:

·         Photo Productions and Creation on Wed. 2/9  TCEA from 12-3 p.m. session #100761

·         iPods are Educational on Wed. 2/9 TCEA from 8-9:30 a.m. session #90618

·         SMART Lessons for Primary Classrooms on Thurs. 2/10 TCEA from 8-11 a.m. session # 100759

·         Digital Storytelling on Thurs. 2/10 TCEA from 2-3:30 p.m. session #1000538

Beth Weeks

·         2/11/10 at 8:00am Making Waves with Technology TCEA - this is about our summer technology Camp

·         Assisting on a presentation on 2/11/10 TCEA at 3:30 Stream Live Video and Announcements to web for Free

Lea Anne Daughrity

·         October 28, 2009 Region 4 Technology Apps Conference, Bringing Kinder Art to Life Literally

Join thousands of educators online and in-person as the DEN team goes house to house to explore the many digital treats available to educators today.  During this unique professional development event you have the flexibility to attend online or in-person at one of many regional events hosted by the DEN Leadership Councils.

The day will feature special presentations from Justin Karkow and Steve Dembo along with a host of other great sessions guaranteed to satisfy your digital sweet tooth.

Quickly, go to:  http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/virtcon09

TCEA - the Texas Computer Educators Assocation  — has opened nominations for their 2010 Educator Awards.  Catagories include Classroom Teacher, Library Media Specialist, Instructional Tech Specialist, and more.

 Now, we know that DEN members and DEN Stars are some of the best when it comes to using technology in education, but we would like for others to know also!  How about nominating a great DEN member you know for one of these awards?

For more information, go to:

http://www.mguhlin.org/2009/10/tcea-educator-award-nominations-now.html

What does it all mean!?  

You’ve heard the terms, perhaps from other teachers or students, perhaps from crossword puzzles or comic strips.  Now you want to know for sure about what all those Web 2.0 terms mean and get a handle on what’s out there.   Here are some helpful sites for learning the lingo ……

 http://www.webopedia.com/Web_2_0/ – an online computer technology dictionary

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking – going a bit deeper into the terms

and taking in the tools:

http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/ – a helpful wiki about web tools

http://www.go2web20.net/ – browse the directory, check the blog also

That’s a few to get you started.  Now for the Web 2.0 advanced users out there, a question:  What are your favorite definition or tool find sites?  

Share the knowledge………..

One educator I follow on Twitter is Riptide Furse. (Okay, his real name is Fred Delventhal, but we know him as Riptide via his Second Life associations.) Riptide shares a lot of great stuff on Twitter. But for the annual Banned Books Week, he shared a Google Map. Interesting!

Google Map on Banned Books in America

It’s not that I’m a banned book fan, but I spent time with this map. Did you know that Round Rock, TX has banned a book from it’s libraries? That Huckleberry Finn was banned by North Richland Hills in 2007?

This map is a great visual depiction of collected data and there is room for explanations to be given for each map pin. This map was well done, but it isn’t a difficult thing to do. Middle school and high school students should have no problem gathering data, creating an informative map, and publishing it online.

Over a year ago, I started sharing a Google Map made by a Discovery Educator about the travels of Laura Ingles Wilder. (Always thought it’d be cool to have one for Gene Wilder or even the character Joan Wilder from Romancing the Stone.) It’s a nice resource, but it never got much traction with my teachers. So, what are other strong curriculum connections to mapping data could one have in Literature, Math, Science, etc? What sites do you frequent online that list some other Google Maps?

Tom Barrett is an educator in Nottingham, England. (..and yes, I read his Tweets with a terrible English accent.) He had a five-part blog called,  Google Earth is Our Paper , and used it to show how his students used Google Earth (Maps) for digital storytelling.

Google UK Schools has a great set of lesson plans for using Google Earth in primary schools. It’s a wonderful curricular cross-cut of real lessons we already do and some how to’s for integrating the technology into them.

I didn’t want to hand someone a list of 400 lessons and say, “Look in here for something you like”, but GELessons.com not only has lessons, but tutorials for the self-teacher who wants to learn more about using Google Earth.

Please comment below about other lesson connections you would use. Map the birthplace of the top 10 rappers from the 90’s? Show the locations that Cameron Diaz filmed for her MTV travel show “Trippin” this year? Share your ideas!

Thanks for the nudge this morning Rip!