On November 2, 2009 approximately 600 Verona Area School District staff and administrators had an amazing “Day of Discovery”.  Steve Dembo, from Discovery Education, was the featured keynote speaker for three outstanding presentations.

He started out the day with a thought-provoking session in the morning called “Learning to Speak Native: How education is being transformed in 140 characters or less.”  He began by explaining how the amount of information online keeps increasing while the barriers to accessing it continue to decrease. He also showcased how thousands of teachers are providing access to free lessons every hour of every day and how we could access these lessons. He emphasized that educators who create a personal learning network will always have the resources they need to stay ahead of the curve.

The second keynote presentation he did was called “The Native Lifestyle“.  In this fast paced, session, Steve pointed out how web 2.0 tools are being utilized, and shared some of his favorites along with some concrete examples of how they could be used in the classroom K-12.

If that were not enough for one day, we had lunch and then the high school staff was treated to one more presentation called “A Day in the Life of a Discovery Educator.”  Steve took us step by step through a day in the eyes of a 21st century digital educator.  From the moment we get to school until the last bell rings.  He showcased how digital media rich lessons can be used in all curricular areas to meet the needs of all learners. While doing so, he also demonstrated and highlighted the features of the Discovery Streaming site.

This was by far one of the most engaging staff development days I have ever been a part of.  By the noon break, many of my staff were already checking out microphones, trying to access the websites from the morning’s sessions, and just really, enjoying the information that Steve shared.  I would highly recommend every district have a “Day of Discovery” with Steve Dembo.   – Rita A. Mortenson, STAR Discovery Educator, Educational Technology Coordinator

Steve’s presentation was thought-provoking and practical.  By early evening I had already received three emails from teachers who had successfully used Web 2.0 tools that he demonstrated.  They were proud of their accomplishments and excited to integrate them into their curriculum. – Bill Lemberg, STAR Discovery Educator, Educational Technology Coordinator

In my opinion, Steve hit a home run.  He inspired our staff.  He gave practical ideas for using technology.  And he challenged us to use tech solutions in ways the original creators hadn’t even thought of.  – Linda Christensen, Director of Instruction, Verona Area School District.    –blog post written by DEN Star Rita Mortenson

Today marked the first time I was presenting at a conference.  My friend and colleague, Rachel Yurk, and I were scheduled to present a session on Personal Learning Networks at the WEAC Convention.  This is the state convention in Wisconsin, put on by our state Teachers’ Union.  I have attended this conference in past years, but have never presented.  This year, I thought it might be fun to present.  Well, what happened today, was not fun.

We arrived about 30 minutes before we were to start, took care of registration, wandered around a little, and heading to our room about ten minutes early.  I thought there was a presentation before us, but when we arrived, the room was empty.  This conference is not a technology conference.  Now that I think about it, shouldn’t ANY conference about education include technology?  I honestly had no idea what to expect as far as an audience. I was hoping for ten people.  I pulled out my laptop, connected it to the projector, and started getting ready.  At this time, we had two people trickle in and take a seat - wow, a real audience.  I tried to pull up the wiki we put together on PLN’s, but couldn’t find a wireless signal.  I tried the “Free Public Wifi” that popped up, but couldn’t connect.  I saw a signal for the conference center, but that was not free.  About this time, I sort of panicked.  We were about to talk about networks and connecting to other educators, demonstrating Twitter and other PLN related ideas, but couldn’t get online.  Luckily, someone from the conference came in and asked how things were going.  I told him we couldn’t get online.  He said there is no wireless in the presentation rooms.  I asked about the paid option and he said it worked great in the common areas, but might be pretty weak in the room.  We decided against paying for something that probably wouldn’t work.  He did say there was a hard wire option and he would send someone from the conference center IT department in to help us.  Okay, this might work.  In the meantime, one of the people in the room left.  We were down to one.

As we shared our frustration with the only attendee in our session, a first year teacher, the IT guy came in.  We asked about an internet connection and he calmy stated that a hard wire connection would cost us $400.  I honestly thought he was joking, but he was not.  Trying to present on PLN’s without an internet connection is pretty challenging.  She clearly understood our frustration and was very cool about it.  I was pleased she wanted to stick around and still hear from us.  I’m not sure I would have done the same.  We ended up sitting around and talking to the one person who stayed.  Rachel did most of the talking while I went into the hallway to see if I could pick up some kind of signal - no luck.  We continued to discuss the advantages of having a PLN, shared the wiki address with her and encouraged her to contact us in the near future, for any help.  I do think she picked up a few things from our discussion, but it was not clearly the same as if she could have seen everything live.  Oh well.

After we were done, we headed back to the presenter checkin area to find out about internet connection in the building.  I was pretty upset that things didn’t work out, not to mention feeling pretty much like an idiot.  The woman at the counter asked us if we checked that we needed internet access on our presentation form.  I told her that option didn’t exist and she pulled up our form and confirmed I was right - there was nothing on the form that asked whether we needed access or not.  She mentioned that WEAC had to pay about $400 dollars for internet access in the rooms.  Apparently, assuming there was internet access at a large, statewide education conference, was a mistake.  She did page the man in charge of the entire conference and we continued to discuss with him the fact that not having internet access is pretty ridiculous.  He did bring up the incredibly high costs of certain things the convention center was charging them for - $500 for an LCD projector rental, for example.  We did discuss the idea of considering access at this type of event when looking at venues for the future.  He was nice, apologized, understood where we were coming from, but at this point, probably could not have done anything that would have satisfied us.

It really was a shame.  We had great information to share, much of which has come from our own PLN’s.  Needless to say, my first time presenting will most likely not be forgotten.  Unfortunately, it’ll be remembered for what it wasn’t, not for what is was.

Join other educators as thousands around the country participate in the DEN Virtual Conference on Saturday, October 24th.  If you’re looking to attend in person, you can participate in New Berlin, WI.

The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) Virtual Conference provides an opportunity to learn powerful ways to integrate digital media and Web 2.0 tools into your instruction as well as discover an abundance of resources to expand your own professional learning network.  And, it’s free!

You are invited to an in-person event hosted by the Wisconsin Leadership Council, with support from the School District of New Berlin.

Virtual Presentations Include:

Can I Help You With That?                         

The Student as Collaborator, Creator and Director

Do You Have the Audacity to Podcast?

Thinking Outside the Slide

Putting the Bling in Your Builders              

What on Earth is a Gloggle?

Be Nice and Share: Publishing Your Media-Infused Projects for the World to See

Hands-On Sessions:

 SMART Board

Web 2.0 Tools

Building a Professional Learning Community

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

For more information and to register visit:
 https://lrougeux.wufoo.com/forms/den-fall-virtual-conference-new-berlin-wi/

For a schedule of events, visit:

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2009/10/09/tech-or-treat-dens-fall-virtual-conference/

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Yurk at rachel.yurk@nbexcellence.org

Looking for a flyer to hand out to colleagues?  Download this one.

If you are like me and work in a school system that blocks YouTube ( for good reason) I have a way you can download the video and then import it into your Notebook file or PowerPoint presentation.  Here’s how:

Go to YouTube and find the video you want. (be sure it’s appropriate for the kids)

In the URL box remove “www.” ( remember to include the dot)

Replace with “kick”  ( no dot, no parenthesis)

Hit enter.

You will see buttons for all kinds of formats. The default format is MP4. NOW HERE’S THE IMPORTANT PART, don’t click the “download” button.  On the  right side of the window there is a green “go” button. Click that, it will turn blue.

Then download the same way you would do any other file( right click, or control click).  The rest is the same for inserting or importing a picture (in this case video) to your program.

There are some great videos our there, well not as many as Discovery, that you can pump up your presentation or Notebook file with.

Good Luck!

Jackie

This link provides you with more information about the schedule of events as well as a link to register.

Sunday, September 27, 2009
Race Day Registration begins at 7:00 am
First event begins at 8:30 am
Milwaukee’s Lakefront/Summerfest Grounds

Funds from the Komen Race for the Cure help support research, education, screening and treatment programs.

Registration: http://tinyurl.com/njf9a7

Our team is registered as Discovery Educator Network WI

Download this flyer to share with your friends and coworkers.

Summer School Archives

We’ve been busy converting and uploading all the archives from our incredible Summer School webinar series. While we still have quite a few to go, nearly half the webinars have been posted and are ready for you to download and share them with others!

As they get converted, we’re posting them here, so check it out and let us know what you thought of the series!

What better way to “Get in the Swing of Things” for school than to have an awesome Wisconsin DEN event at Miller Park.  Recently, about 15 Wisconsin Star DEN members and others gathered for a great afternoon at the Milwaukee Brewer Stadium.  The event, held on Friday, August 21, was a great way for DEN members to connect and learn about the latest and greatest there is with Discovery Education.

Rachel Yurk, Wisconsin DEN Chair, Chad Lehman, Wisconsin DEN Blog Coordinator, and Tony Heinowski, a member of the Events Team, helped coordinate this event.  Here’s what Rachel had to say about the event, “It was a fantastic opportunity to ‘get your head in the game’ with fellow educators.  We need to gather like this to learn more about what we all do and improve our own beast practices.”
The event started with a tour of the beautiful park.  After the hour-long tour, DEN members met in a club house room and got an opportunity to hear from Mike Bryant, Wisconsin Discovery Educator Account Manager.  Rachel Yurk also presented information about an upcoming Race for the Cure Event.

Fellow Star Educator Rita A. Mortenson was back from the Discovery Student Adventure Trip in China, and was able to give a glimpse into the life of what she and her 4 students from Verona Area High School got a chance to experience while in China.

The event contintued with some door prizes, laughter and great conversation amoung other educators.  It was really such a great opportunity to connect with others and learn more about the upcoming Wisconsin and Regional Events.  A special thank you to Rachel and others who helped organize this event!