I posted this at my person on my personal blog as well, but thought this would also be a great place to share a few of my thoughts about the second day of the DEN LC.
For me, attending conferences is always a lot of fun. The sessions are usually very good, the venue is often a beautiful building, and the location is usually in a big city. Whether it’s WEMTA in Madison, NECC in San Antonio last year, the DEN LC Institute in Silver Spring, or NECC this year, the thing that amazes me most is the people.
The DEN LC this year was set up to discuss ways to improve our Leadership Councils. There was lots of great discussion, but some interesting tools were shared as well. While the tools will be helpful, I was amazed at the people who know so much about so many new tools. I thought I am fairly knowledgeable about a lot of the tools and sites that are out there - both tools that can benefit my students and myself, but boy, was I wrong. One person from the DEN LC in particular, Steve Dembo, amazes me every time I listen to him. He always has great stuff to share. What I really think is important, is his ability to share how the sites can be used effectively with students and teachers. That’s the important part.
This week at NECC, I know I’m going witness more greatness. I can’t wait.
Today marks the first day of the DEN Leadership Council Symposium where Rachel Yurk and I will be representing Wisconsin. We will be discussing ways to improve the each state’s DEN, learn more about roles various people can play within the DEN, and how to get more people involved. It’s going to be a long day, but should be a pretty interesting one here at 1 Discovery Place.
I’m sorry to say that heavy storms last night have caused damage at Friday’s Front Row and Miller Park. In addition, they do not have power.
There, we have the CANCEL the scheduled event for today. We will keep you posted if and when the event is rescheduled. Thank you to all who registered in advance.
In an earlier post, we told you about a little get together at Friday’s Front Row at Miller Park. If you are planning on coming to the event, we need you to RSVP so we know numbers ahead of time and can get food ordered.
Please RSVP here - https://discoveryed.wufoo.com/forms/wisconsin-miller-park-den-event/
Hey, the school year is over, let’s celebrate.
Reserve JUNE 19th from 2:30-5:00 for a little celebration! Join some members of the Wisconsin DEN Leadership Council at Friday’s Front Row, inside Miller Park in Milwaukee for a little food, a few refreshments, some learning, and some fun. We will have a private room with wifi access, so bring your laptop if you’d like.
During the event, you’ll have a chance to mingle with fellow educators and hear a few presentations by some of your fellow DEN members. Learn how to become a STAR, check out the DEN resources available on the web, and ask any questions you may have about Discovery Education.
There will be food and drink available as well as great door prizes. Please join us!
The Wisconsin DEN LC has a new blogger - me! My name is Chad Lehman and I’ll be taking over the blogging duties here at the DEN Wisconsin LC blog. I’m new to the LC, but have a been a DEN member for almost a year. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the use of technology in the classroom. In addition to this blog, I have my own blog that I’ll continue posting to at least on a weekly basis. Once in a while, I’ll cross post, but hopefully that won’t happen too often.
A little about me - I’m currently an Library Media Specialist working in a K-5 public school in West Allis, Wisconsin. I previously taught third grade for eight years before moving to the library to become more involved with technology. On a weekly basis, I see all of the students at my school for one hour. Grades three through five come for a one hour block, splitting their time between the library and computer lab. The kindergarten through second graders come for 2 half hour classes - one in the library and one in the lab. Most of the time, I really like my position, but there are quite a few times I miss being a classroom teacher. Outside of school, I enjoy watching and playing just about all sports. The Wisconsin weather doesn’t allow me to golf as much as I’d like, but perhaps my family has a little to do with that as well. I have two elementary aged children who are starting to get into more and more activities, which makes me feel a little like a soccer mom when I cart them all over the place!
That’s about it for now, I hope you stop by on a fairly regular basis to check out what’s going on with the Wisconsin DEN LC!
Cathy Houchin (Watertown, WI & part of our WI DEN Leadership Council) has been adding some things to her http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/houchinc/.
She has a great post on using Audacity (which we use for our Lab Out Loud podcast) and another post on 180 Technology Tips.
Follow her RSS feed at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/houchinc/feed/
Who else from Wisconsin has been blogging (either in the DEN or on their own)? Post a link to your blog in the comments.
As I start my 29th year of teaching, I am reminded of all the changes that have occurred in the classroom. I know I have had many different hair styles and colors, eventually going back to the original color. I began teaching in high heels and now have come back down to reality. But the biggest changes would be the use of technology in my classroom.
I remember when my fingers would be purple from the ditto masters. Now I print from the computer and run off copies on the copy machine. If I am short a copy, I just run and make one in a few minutes. (If the line is not too long.)
I remember typing on a typewriter. It was really cool if you had one that had built in corrector tape. I lived with whiteout and erasable paper. Now I write test, notes, etc. in a matter of minutes. I can bring up past documents and cut and paste without glue!
I remember fumbling while threading movie projectors and showing film strips. Slide carousels were really neat. Now United Streaming allows me to download a film with great quality, thousands of titles and very easy. And then there were records. My students often say “what’s that?” Is it a frisbee? I now decorate my room with them.
Yes, in ways technology has made teaching so much easier. It also has made teaching more complex. It has opened the world for many children who do not learn in traditional ways. It has opened the world to communicate with children in other worlds thousands of miles away. Elementary students work with laptops; they weren’t even invented when I went to college.
As I work on an audacity or photostory project I often wonder what teaching will be like in 30 more years. What new things await future students? Whatever it is, I am sure teachers will rise up and prepare the children for the challenges they face.
Cathy Houchin
Watertown, WI
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