learning about Discovery Education Science on a Friday afternoon from Stephanie Madlinger

The best of the best from local schools will share their best practices with participants. This year’s theme is Honoring Teachers, Classrooms and Schools That Get Results.  You can read more about it here . A sample of breakout sessions include:

• Multifaceted Differentiation- Michele Cherry, Wentzville SD
• Google Tools to Improve Professional Collaboration- Lydia Spoor, Ritenour SD
• How to Improve Student Achievement in Math by NOT Grading Homework- Jonathan Isaacson, Hillsboro SD
• Interactive Learning Strategies that Increase Student Engagement- Peggy Dersch, CSD, Jana Reiter, Parkway SD
• Conferring with Confidence- Julie Linck, Pattonville SD
• Questioning Techniques that Maximizes Student Engagement- Mark McLeod
• Closing the Gap One Learning Target at a Time- Courtney Rejniak, Dan Tripp, Parkway SD
• Creating a Sense of Cultural Literacy- Bertha Richardson, RPDC
• Vocabulary Strategies for Secondary Students: Making it “Click”- Mitzi Brammer, Special SD
• Raising the Bar, Lowering the Cost- Don Jeffries, Windsor C-1 SD

You can finish the day at the CSD Winter Conference with keynote Mark McLeod as he explores strategies used by administrators to successfully lead schools. Mark’s keynote address on positive leadership through instructional supervision, relationship building, effective instruction, student-teacher motivation and more promises to be inspiring and motivating! This session is an additional $30 and includes dinner.

Graduate credit is available for an additional fee. For additional questions please contact Karen Vaughan at kvaughan@csd.org or call 314-692-1250 or Dave Sanders at dsanders@csd.org or call 314-692-1219. Register online. CSD members just pay $60 for attending.

History in the First Person: Stories of the Civil Rights Movement

Abstract:
Take your study of the Civil Rights Movement to individuals who participated in the struggle.  Interact via videoconference with three individuals whose actions made a difference in civil rights for people in their native St. Louis as well as throughout the nation.

Program Description from HEC-TV Live!:
What was it like to grow up black in America in the 1940s, 50s and 60s? What did it mean when words like “equality” and “justice” seemed to have a different meaning for you than for others in American society? What was it like to be inspired by leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.?  Why would you have chosen to participate in the struggle for Civil Rights?  For this very special program, take your study of American history and the Civil Rights Movement in America to the individuals who participated in the struggle.  Ask these questions and more as you interact with three individuals whose actions made a difference in civil rights for people in their native St. Louis as well as throughout the nation.

Our focus in this program will not be exploring the details of America’s struggle for Civil Rights throughout its history, but it will be to provide students the rare and important opportunity to speak directly with those who lived during one chapter in that time and are excited to share their experiences with others. What would your students like to know about what it was like to live and work during this time?  Our guests for both programs were participants in CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), the St. Louis Jefferson Bank boycott of 1963, the 1964 protest for minority employment opportunities at the Gateway Arch, and the creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday as well as many other events related to Civil Rights.  These four main topics will be used as examples for students to provide both content and context and also an organizational framework for the program.  Web resources related to these events as well as short biographies of our guests are included in the pre-program activities for students to use to prepare for the program and develop questions to ask the guests during the program.

This program is the first in a recurring series of HEC-TV Live! programs dealing with stories of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Subsequent programs will provide students the opportunity to interact with individuals who made significant contributions in the struggle for rights for other minority groups and women.  If you’d like to be placed on our HEC-TV Live! e-list to receive updates about future programs in the series, please e-mail us at live@hectv.org.

…And if you are attending the Midwest Education Technology Conference in February, you can hear Robert Powell talk about his experiences with distance learning during his session on Tuesday, February 14th  entitled Space, the Next Frontier: Inspiring Students through Distance Learning.

Using examples from all six of her books (almost 7, with the February 14th release of Out of This World), author Amy E. Sklansky answers the question during this new distance learning session: Where does an author get her ideas and how do they become a book? From Inspiration to Bookstore Shelf (grade 3 & up) is a 45 minute videoconferencing or Skype session. Register with Rebecca Morrison. For Videoconference/Skype: New Links members pay $155, nonmembers pay $195.

Participants are encouraged to interact with the author and will develop an appreciation for both the creative writing and publishing process. With PowerPoint slides, original artwork, and other props, she touches on many aspects of the creative process – sources of inspiration; generating ideas; structuring a story; revising; the roles of the artist and publishing staff; etc…. and in her newest publication, Amy gives readers evocative poems about planets and stars and rockets and moon landings and satellites. Each poem is supported by additional facts and explanations (because once your imagination’s engaged, you’ll surely want to know more!).

METC 2011 Precon Workshop

The 2012 Midwest Education Technology Conference is just around the corner- the first day of the conference are the precon workshops. These are either half or full-day professional development sessions. We have almost 30 this year on February 13th! We’re going to highlight some of them in this blog post, and others in future posts. Preregistration is required for these METC sessions. (Some sessions are full and are noted so on the website) . Information registration and all sessions can be found here. Check out these, too:

Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum – Part 1 – Intro to Pixie
Digital storytelling is an engaging way to integrate technology into the elementary classroom curriculum and promote communication and creative skills. Participants will become familiar with the elements of effective digital storytelling as they explore how to use Pixie software to develop digital stories that help improve student’s reading and writing skills, and math, social studies, and science learning. Extend your learning by spending the afternoon with us and apply what you have learned about Pixie and digital storytelling.

Digital Storytelling & Your Classroom – Part 2 – Creating Your Story
What does digital storytelling look like in your classroom? Participants will look at digital storytelling from the teacher role and the student perspective. Join us for an afternoon of practical application, collaboration and creation. Create the lesson plan, rubric and student sample using Pixie software, and be ready to use resources to implement in your classroom.

Working with Windows: 101 (A Beginner’s Guide)
Many teachers need to improve their comfort level working with a Windows based PC. This workshop addresses this by combining the content of several breakout sessions into a full day, hands-on experience. After attending this workshop, participants will have a better understanding of how to manage the start-up sequence, junk files, orphaned shortcuts and the Windows registry as well as the issues of adware/spyware, and email scams. Attendees will learn how to safely tweak the Windows registry using readily available freeware. The workshop deals specifically with a PC running Windows 7, Vista, or XP.

Model Lessons: Information Fluency in Action
Information Fluency leaders demonstrate free resources and classroom activities to help students, grades 6-12, search more efficiently and evaluate information effectively. Using a model lesson, attendees will learn search strategies and techniques by performing three investigative challenges. Workshop leaders will involve participants by unpacking the purpose, rationale and methods used in effective online research.

The Virtual Learning Center’s New Links program is very excited to partner with the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University for a  videoconference for 8-12th grade students! This videoconference is free, and could be a great curriculum supplement for language arts classes, social studies classes or art (history) classes.

Program Title: History, Heroes, and Symbolism: Visual Analysis of George Caleb Bingham’s Iconic Painting Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap

Program Description
American artist and Missouri native George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) is known and regarded for his genre paintings focused on the then Western frontier that feature the cities, people, and life along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Fascinated with Daniel Boone and the heroic stories of his life, Bingham’s Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap painted in 1851-52, is considered one of his most iconic works. Telling the story of the 1777 event, this painting is full of symbolism and classical art historical references. In this program, we will explore the painting compositionally, historically, and delve deeper into the symbolism represented.

Program Format

1. Intro video to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
2. Introduce George Caleb Bingham and Daniel Boone
3. Explore the painting compositionally using known art elements and design principles
4. Discover references to classic Greek and Roman art history
5. Discuss the religious symbolism and Daniel Boone as hero
6. Discuss the painting as it relates to Manifest Destiny
7. Incorporate the writing of an Ekphrastic poem
8. Wrap up/question and answers

Objectives

1. To introduce students to visual analysis.
2. To explore the historical, religious, and classical references represented in Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap.
3. To introduce students to Ekphrastic poetry.
4. To provide students with the tools to thoroughly examine works of art and to learn to look deeper.

Program Length 1 hour; this program is available by request ONLY
Date/Time Notes this program is available on Tuesdays; please request at least 2-3 weeks before desired date

If you have questions, or would like to register, contact New Links Program Coordinator Rebecca Morrison.

Last month, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2012 Inductee class (learn more at http://rockhall.com/inductees/). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction process is an exciting, accessible way to use rock and roll in the classroom and to engage students of all ages in learning about rock and roll history, while exercising and developing critical thinking skills.

LIVE STREAM INFORMATION SESSION FOR TEACHERS: SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2012 11AM EST: click here

Voice Your Choice is a national project that invites students to create their own Inductee class. Who would they choose to induct into their own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and why? The goal is to teach students to develop the ability to make aesthetic judgments, to understand the aesthetic standards of others, and to learn to present a persuasive case about their choices. These goals are key to content standards around the country– in the arts and across the curriculum. Voice Your Choice gives both teachers and students the tools to effectively evaluate the definition of “musical excellence” while creating an interactive forum in which they can further explore and explain their own aesthetic value system.

Classrooms can connect with educators from the Rock Hall’s award-winning Education Department through a variety of distance learning options to engage in discussion and to learn more about the Induction process itself. Teachers are encouraged to submit student work online, and select student projects will be showcased on rockhall.com and will be featured at a special Teachers Rock workshop to be held during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Week in Cleveland, Ohio in April 2012.

To learn more about the project and possible strategies and approaches, join us for a special live stream information session for teachers tomorrow. Rock Hall Educators will discuss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction process and will walk participants through resources available on the Voice Your Choice website (to be launched during the live stream).

To learn more about the project, and to access the live stream go to: www.rockhall.com/voiceyourchoice. Note, if you can’t watch the stream, it will be recorded and available on our website, and all the information we talk about will be up on our Voice Your Choice website.

Questions? Email voiceyourchoice@rockhall.org.

Listen to the archive of this webinar by clicking on the photo! Our next free webinar is January 25th- on the Midwest Education Technology Conference!