Wisconsin

To kick off the 2007 school year, we are proud to hold our Wisconsin Fall Discovery Streaming extravaganza on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at Verona Area High School, Verona, WI. This FREE event is sure to be filled with lots of learning and discovery as we have an exciting day planned for you with many hands-on workshops. Please note, at this time participants will not have access to the Internet with their personal/school laptop. Computer access will be supplied by Verona Area High School. Please feel free to bring a jump drive/flash drive to save projects. The day will begin at 8:00 a.m. with registration and check-in followed by our keynote speaker, and Discovery Education’s very own Steve Dembo. If you are interested in attending this FREE 1 day event, please complete the following registration material. Registration is limited to the first 100 participants so please be sure to register early. Registration closes on Wednesday, October 10.

Tentative agenda includes:

• 8:00-8:30 Registration and check-in
• 8:30-10:00 Presentation by Steve Dembo
• 10:15-11:45 1st Session 11:45-12:30
• Lunch provided by Discovery Education
• 12:30 - 2:15 2nd Session 2:15-2:30 Closing remarks and info

If you have any questions, you can contact Rita Mortenson.

To register, click HERE.

News Alert: Special DECEMBER Promotion

Qualify for the December 24 InFocus LCD Raffle by accumulating raffle tickets through active DEN participation. Download this PowerPoint file now!  Download december_24_lcd_promotion.ppt 

As an added benefit of being a STAR Discovery Educator, we are pleased to offer you a special discount opportunity in partnership with eInstruction!  See http://www.einstruction.com

I love the eInstruction units for formative and summative assessment and for engaging classroom learning fun. 

If you have never used an eInstruction unit you are in for an awesome experience.  Check out the flash tour online at http://www.einstruction.com/Main/Content/K12Flash/menu_content.html

Through this partnership, you can purchase the CPS IR 32-pad system from eInstruction at an incredible price of $995 (plus shipping). 

This is a discount of over 50% from eInstruction’s base pricing of $1995.

  WI STAR DEN — contact me for more details.

LOOKING FOR A FOR A FEW GOOD DEN to throw your hat in the ring & head to Dallas, Texas!

So that we can share T+L with all DEN members, we are looking for three STAR Discovery Educators who would like to attend and share their learning through blogs and podcasts. 

Here’s the deal.  If you are a STAR Discovery Educator and would like to attend the T+L, let me know by posting your name and preferred contact information as a comment to this blog post by October 13, 2006. 

Three members will be chosen randomly (literally out of a hat) to attend. The trip will include airfare, lodging and conference registration (meals not included). 

Date(s):  November 7 – November 10, 2006

Location:  Dallas Convention Center - Dallas, Texas

Overview:  This conference will highlight best practices and trends at school districts nationwide, showcase model school district initiatives, and give district administrators and board members a chance to see the latest education technology solutions.

More than 2,000 school district leaders are expected to attend this event. Conference attendees typically include Technology Directors & Coordinators, Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents, School Board Members, Curriculum Directors, Principals, Staff Development Specialists, Title I Staff., Instructional Leaders, District Administrators, Teachers, IT and School Business Managers, Library/Media Specialists; Academic Testing & Assessment Staff; Community Relations and Consultants.

In return, you MUST agree to share your conference experience with other DEN members by:
• Attending the T+L conference from November 7 through November 10, 2006 (including a special DEN pre-conference session on Tuesday November 7 featuring special guest Deneen Frazier Bowen).
• Post a minimum of one blog post per day while attending the conference.
• Do one podcast for the entire conference.

**Please note: if you are new to blogging or podcasting, no problem, we will have plenty of support there for you!

The three educators selected to receive the educational scholarship will be announced October 16, 2006 on this blog.  Good luck!

Exclusive STAR Promotion Details

As an added benefit of being a STAR Discovery Educator, you are entitled to an exclusive discount opportunity from Discovery Education and InFocus!

The DEN wants you to teach brilliantly, and maximize the value of engaging multimedia content from Discovery Education. Through this partnership, you can purchase the IN24 multimedia projector from InFocus at an incredible price.

Create memorable experiences for your students by presenting interactive lessons on the big screen!

Features of the InFocus IN24 Projector:
• Model IN24
• Classroom Workhorse
• Cool by Design – side-to-side cooling make the projector cool to the touch and eliminates image distortion so your ideas look crisp and better than ever
• Project or install anywhere: Extreme keystoning—30+/25-
• Native SVGA resolution (800×600)
• Native Aspect Ratio: 2000: 4×3 (16×9 capable)
• Contrast Ratio: 2000:1
• 1700 max ANSI lumens
• Filter free, no maintenance
• 3,000+ hours of lamp-life

Offer Details:
STAR Discovery Educators can purchase an InFocus IN24 projector for just $480* (*after $100 mail-in rebate), plus shipping. Limit 5 projectors per STAR Discovery Educator. Offer expires 12/31/2006.

To Take Advantage of Offer/For More Information: STAR DEN contact Jan Wee for more information on the specifics of how to order.

After the projector(s) are purchased at the special price of $580/ea., STAR Discovery Educators will receive a rebate form from InFocus to complete for an additional savings of $100.

For the 2007 School Year, we’ll be rolling out new benefits and programs for STAR Discovery Educators. Our first new initiative is the DEN Extra Credit Program.

The DEN Extra Credit program will provide STAR Discovery Educators an opportunity to earn technology for the classroom by partnering with Discovery Education on various activities. Whether writing lesson plans for existing content, or reviewing academic content of new videos, the DEN Extra Credit program will provide a wide variety of opportunities for STAR Discovery Educators to contribute their expertise to further the success of the DEN and Discovery Education as a whole.

As a reward for your efforts on each project, participating members will receive various technology products for their classroom. Depending on the size and scope of the project, these products may include wireless presentation devices, digital cameras, LCD projectors, SmartBoards and various technology packages for larger initiatives.

By joining DEN Extra Credit, you are not obligated to participate in all of the projects; we’ll simply communicate each new project and initiative to the DEN Extra Credit team and you can select the projects in which you are interested in participating. For each project, we’ll provide you with the scope, timeframe, skill sets required as well as the technology reward for the project and you can determine if you want to join that particular assignment.

To apply to join the DEN Extra Credit Program, please send an email to Debbie_baillie@discovery.com to sign up and receive further details and information on the first set of "DEN Extra Credit" assignments