Meredith Bernadt, the newest Schenectady City Schools STAR, has been working on a special project with her 4th grade students: Podcasts.
After participating in the Northeast Regional Event in Troy, NY; Meredith will 
never be the same. She’s off and running with some great ways to integrate technology in her classroom. nr=1&&s=144961871
Look for more from Meredith at the Howe International Magnet School.
Website: Howe 10 Podcast - http://www.gcast.com/user/MsBernadt/podcast/main?
Over on my wiki I’ve posted a very brief summary of the week’s events and the LC Institute. Just in case you would like to have the opportunity to be involved in an amazing week of professional development, hard work, fantastic networking and FUN - make it your goal to reach STAR status soon. It’s easy and the benefits are incredible!
Visit my I Learn, You Learn, We Learn wiki
Become a DEN STAR
Tomorrow approximately 60 DEN STAR Educators will converge on Discovery Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. If the week turns about to be anything like last year, it is going to be fantastic! 
What’s different this year is this particular week’s participants are associated with each state’s DEN Leadership Council. I imagine the week’s festivities will focus on how we can play more of a leader role within our schools, district’s and state by focusing on technology integration and 21st century skills in our schools.
I have always been interested in the qualities of being a good leader. I’ve poked around reading various books and articles on the subject though what I’ve learned from it all is not really rocket science. I have and continue to believe communication, caring relationships, hard work, integrity and trust are key to being a good leader. Knowing this, I continue to soak up the expert’s wisdom about the subject if only to experience increased motivation from the monotony and difficulty we sometimes experience in our workplace. Sometimes it’s refreshing to hear a great speaker who can really get your juices going or read an author who seems to really care about what it takes to be a leader.
With that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the Leadership Blogs I follow and some of the authors and speakers I enjoy.
Blogs I follow:
Authors of Interest: ( You can check out some of their books on my GoodReads Book Shelf in the left 
hand column of my blog)
- Mark Sanborn
- Pat Lencioni
- John Maxwell
- Jim Collins
- Cal Ripkin
- John Wooden
Last but not least, I keep coming back to a simple book I read a few years ago by Mark Sanborn called You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader. When I think about the DEN STARs, I think about this book. As many of us who are in education experience often, it is hard to be “considered” a leader without the title of principal or another type of administrator. Mark provides many ways of how non-titled people can make a difference; just as we are in the DEN.
Have a great week. I can’t wait to report back on what Discovery has in store for us.
On Saturday, Feb. 2, Schenectady was host for an in person event as part of the first DEN Virtual Conference. The presentations were fantastic (as always) the food was great, the people were terrific (both in person and in cyberspace) and,of course, the sharing and learning couldn’t be beat. Below are some blog posts where you can read all about the days events.
A huge thank you to the Discovery family for an awesome Saturday. I would also like to thank my colleagues and their guests for attending the event in Schenectady. And a HUGE thank you to Sal DeAngelo for assisting with the event and taking photos of this spectacular opportunity.
Blogs about the DEN Virtual Conference:
Pennsylvania DEN
Susan Dornberg’s Blog
Maine DEN
Time is running out to register for the best virtual conference of the year! Go to http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/tstandhart/category/professional-development/ for all the information you need to register for this event! If you are not near the Schenectady venue, click on the registration link to find a venue near you ( dozens to choose from). Even if you aren’t near any of the venues, you can attend in the comfort of your own home - all you need is an Internet connection.
Have fun and enjoy the show!
