May 15 An Apple for Teachers

Today was another great DEN event. This time it was hosted by the South Jersey DEN Leadership Council. For over an hour Jason and Andrew of the Marlton Promenade Apple store walked the teachers through the many classroom applications of the iPad. Several of the teachers, already owners of the iPad, shared best practices.

After a fun time at Apple with many expressions of envy, the attendees were treated to breakfast at the nearby Panera. There teachers noshed and shared ways to use Discovery Media resources on the iPad as well as the lesser iPod.

read more anout this fun event at the NJ Den Blog http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/newjersey/page/2/

Virtual Conference 4-24-10

Yesterday was Discovery Education's Spring Virtual Conference. Unfortunately, I did not have an in-person event to go to. So, after a quick trip to the used bookstore and the drugstore I was home at my computer.

As usual, Discovery had a great line-up of inspiring, talented people to share their stories and excite us. Dean Shareski from Regina, Canada shared how networking makes us all smarter. Then Christina Asquith (previously a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer) author of Sisters in War spoke about her time in Iraq living with two sisters and their family. Needless to say, it was inspiring and tied in to Three Cups of Tea which I had just read to my class. Education really is a global force in so many ways. Up next in the day long event was Lindsay Hopkins showing how Discovery Media helps language learners. Carol Anne McGuire, of Rock Our World, followed and the day ended with DEN Manager Lance Rougeux sharing all the great, amazing events coming up in the DEN world. It was an awesome day. The best part is that all the presentations were archived. So, if you missed some or all of it, or you want to share something with your colleagues or administrators, you can. Click here (in a few days time) to find the archives.

Life

A wonderful evening was had by all at the Philadelphia premiere of Life. Life picks up where Planet Earth left off. Discovery Education and Siemens planned an amazing evening at the Franklin Institute - Philadelphia's premiere science museum. Attendees were welcomed to the

evening's festivities with a cold drink and what else, but a bag of popcorn. After some brief introductions, the lights dimmed, and the theater grew silent. I am not sure how long episode one lasted, but I do know that the theater was silent except for an occasional sharp intake of breathe. Amazing photography does not do the film justice. I have no idea how the film makers were able to elicit sympathy for a fly, but that they did.
Episode one aired this past Sunday on the Discovery Channel. If you didn't see it, make sure to catch episode two next Sunday. If you did see it, you know to catch episode two.

St. Patrick's Day in the City

March has been an extremely busy month and my pictures/blogging have suffered. Although I don't have the time, and I really need to pack, and I really need to work on my presentation, and I really want to read the paper, and I really want to go to bed...I had to post a picture from tonight's fun DEN event. Discovery Education hosted a great evening at City Tavern. Many Discovery people, including some of the Student Adventures people shared great food, swapped cards and stories and enjoyed a pleasant evening. Thanks also to our gracious servers seen below.

DEN Preconference PETE&C 2010

No, "THE" Mythbusters weren't really there, but I don't think they could have made the preconference any better anyway! Discovery Education and the DEN (Discovery Educator Network) arranged an amazing day of professional development. Science tips, technology tools, Social Studies strategies, and Math answers were shared by Discovery STARS. In addition, Lodge McCammon (of FIZZ) led two great sessions where participants collaborated to create and publish two different types of videos using surface area rules as the topic.
Check out the PA blog for session materials.