Discovery Education Network Summer Institute (DENSI)

This year will be my first time to attend Discovery Education Network's Summer Institute. It is fondly named DENSI.  It will be held in Burlington, Vermont in July 2013 for five days. The schedule shows that the selected educators will be working from sunrise to bedtime. I'm excited about this opportunity because my learning will be used to help my teachers and me to grow professionally.  In turn this learning will benefit the students.  Discovery only selects 125 applicants from the pool of DENstars who apply by completing a brief form and who submit a two minute or less video telling what the chance to attend would mean to them. Submitted videos must be uploaded and shared via  the DEN or YouTube. The hardest part for me was getting my message completed within a two minute time frame. You could attend DENSI2014. Look for an announcement to apply next March in the DEN blog and I will tweet about it also. Congratulations to those selected for DENSI2013 and a big woot!woot! to all the DENStars who applied.  The DEN rocks!

Resources to Help STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are we doing enough in these areas in our schools?
Theses areas can be woven throughout the curriculum or can be separate. The focus on these areas should open student to student dialogue, student to teacher dialogue, teacher to parent dialogue and lead to inquiry about the many possibilities available in STEM related careers.

STEM Resources:

• Discovery Education's Teacher Center has videos and activities for all grades. 
• www.alex.k12.al.us
• http://www.pbs.org/teachers/stem/

Free Access to Discovery Education's Techbook

Educators can use Techbooks by Discovery Education free until June. The Techbook replaces traditional texts while supporting the standards. Try it out and witness how learning comes alive for the students. The Techbooks should also be accessible at your school. Enjoy!

http://login.discoveryeducation.com/?TECHBOOK=1

YouTube in the Classroom

Many teachers would like to incorporate YouTube videos into their lesson plans, but are skeptical due to advertisements, comments, etc.

This blog article details ways to share videos with students without the distractions, focusing only on the video content.

6 Ways to Clean YouTube Videos

Teachers as Professional Educational Readers (TAPER)

Every educator must read the following books. Don't borrow these from a colleague. You'll want your own to highlight  points and to make marginal notes. Yes, these books are that good!Thanks to my teachers for adding to this list.

1. The Active Teacher by Ron Nash
2. The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias
3. What Really Matters for Struggling Readers by Richard L. Allington
4. The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
5. First Days of School - Harry Wong
6. Taming of the Crew - Dave Cattol, Ph.D.
   
   
   
   

The Top Five Reasons to Clay Yourself

Every now and then, teachers and administrators need to enjoy laughs. I have found a foolproof way to make them laugh. Did you know that educators sleep in real beds, eat real food and go to Walmart? But to amuse themselves (and their students too), here are the top five reasons to visit www.clayyourself.com .

1. It takes the guesswork out of why you're called a potato head.
2. Your coworkers need a good laugh.
3. You can use the creation as a descriptive writing prompt for students.
4. It's better than actually creating yourself with playdough.
5. Laughter is food for the soul.

Go ahead and click on the link above to get started. Who knows a new trend may be created because you took this great leap of faith. Also, you have nothing else to do at this present moment or you'd be reading something else LOL. Here's to a great week and happy learning!

February Box Tops for Education Promotion

Below is link to BTFE's February promotion.  Enter daily for more chances to win.  Pass along to your parents, family, and friends for increased chances of winning.

28 schools will be chosen to receive 1000 box tops.

GOOD LUCK!