2011 Youth Media Awards

The associates of the 2011 Youth Media Awards were able to accomplish thier ultimate goal of recognizing the best youth-based works of the preceding year, and the authors of these productions are nothing short of spectacular. Both of these deserving winners were not only able to achieve the difficult task of reaching a young audience, but they were able to accomplish it through artistic and intellectual means.
Clare Vanderpool, author of "Moon over Manifest", and winner of the 2011 John Newberry Award, was clearly deserving of this award. She can be described (as the award states) as the most distinguished contributor to children's literature of the year. Clare was able to not only reach out to a young audience, but she was able to intertwine a deeper meaning into her words. Her ability to not only catch the eye of young readers, but also involve them in the historical aspects of our nation, is what sets her apart from others. Through her historical piece of literature, Clare is able to provide insight and knowledge in a clear, fun way.
Winner of the 2011 Caldecott Award, and illustrator of "A Sick Day for Amos McGee", Erin E. Stead did much of the same thing. She was able to portray a theme of friendship and its benefits in a funny and involving way, that is captivating for all young hearts.

An Amazing Profession.. :)

Remember when you were young, and your teacher would ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up? Do you remember what you said? Maybe your reply was "a Fireman!, because they are brave and strong", or perhaps you said "a Policeman!, because they get to drive fast cars and carry a gun". Whatever it was that you decided you wanted to be that day, you porbably picked it because you thought it would be just amazing to get to go to a rewarding job like that day in and day out. Now think back on who influenced you the most throughout your years of learning and growth? Who was there to guide you along the way, and help you mold yourself into the person you had one day hoped to be? For a lot of people, there was that one teacher, that one professor or coach that helped them succeed and excel all throughout thier growing years. So, now when you reflect on the professions that you see as most important or amazing, do you not include teaching?
Think about it: teachers (and coaches) are there with us 7 to 8 hours out of every school day, for most of the year. They provide for us everything they know, and guide us when they can. That's the amazing thing about the teaching profession: you help mold individuals into the people they want to be, and you are able to watch them learn and grow on such a personal level that not only do you influence them, but they will impact you as well.
If this is not enough to persuade you, then go and see for yourself. Step into a classroom full of kindergarteners, first, second or even fifth graders, and see how they look at the teacher with such wonder and excitment! Go to a middle school and see how the children look at thier teachers as role models and friends. Visit a high school and see how students look to thier teachers for support and guidance.
Teaching may not be the profession of choice for everyone, but it sure is a life changing adventure, and simply an amazing art altogether. :)

My DE-The Power of Online Streaming!

One of the main problems with today's students is that they are always on the go, always looking for the next big technological break through, or the next great cell phone. Therefore, when a lesson in school lacks new and fresh ways of learning, students tend to lose interest. But not any more! Through the use of Discovery Education, teachers everywhere are able to allow thier students to interact with subject matter, and to do it in more ways than one! Not only is the teacher able to speak with students as he or she would in a normal learning environment, but she is able to incorporate into her lesson plans new ways of actually experiancing information. With tools such as the interactive learning site where students can watch interactive video clips and seemingly "venture into" the materials, and also online quiz makers and lesson plans advisors, "My DE" is bound to make quite an impact on classrooms everywhere!
Online streaming is a great way for teachers to make lessons more fun, enable thier students to get involved, and a way for them to incorporate technology on a level that can be understood by any age group. With Discovery Education, a teacher can log into a world full of educational videos, each chock-full of 'standard of learning' approved information! The best thing about it though, is that the teacher does not even have to spend time searching for relavent videos! Through the programs on the site, the teacher can save favorite videos to her "content", and wa-la! Everytime she signs in she has an arsenal of educational and relavent video's at her finger tips. Even better yet, the teacher does not have to worry about wasting time forwarding and rewinding through a video in order to reach 2 or 3 minutes of important info., because the site offers already segmented versions of videos, with the best parts selected!
There are several methods you can use to find these videos and segments:
One way is to search by subject and grade level, which are offered at the side of the homepage.
The other way is to search by Curriculum Standard, by which a teacher is able to sift through hundreds of videos, easily narrowing them down to ones that are best fit for his state of residence and that stats set standards! :)
When compared with Teacher Tube, these two sites could be said to go hand in hand, and could work together to make the classroom much more interesting, and the teachers' lives' much easier as well as a little more relaxed. <3
So, get on it! Try it out for yourself and experiance the great things My DE has to offer to you and your classroom. Visit thier website and sign up today!
http://my.discoveryeducation.com/

More on Smartboards! :]

Heard about Smartboards? Probably. Seen a Smartboard in your school or work place? Maybe. But, have you interacted with a Smartboard and experianced the hundreds of possiblilties it presents to school systems and students everywhere? This is a question well worth asking. Hearing about and seeing this amazing piece of machinery are very different then actually experiancing it. When working with a Smartboard, you are able to open up a horizon to not only yourself, but also to everyone who is involved. We have experianced the dread of having to go to a boring board meeting or class, for the simple fact of knowing that it will be just that; boring and bland. So what could possibly make the essentials more lively? Actually involving its participants! Through the use of Smartboard and its components, no gathering must ever be bland again! With interactive activities where one is able to create his or her own presentations on slides and then involve his audience in things such as searching for objects hidden in the background with a magnifying glass, or having ones class try to guess a person of importance through hints presented on a slide, or even having one unveal an answer by using a magic eraser!- Smartboards' slide creation is a fantastic way of keeping a presentation or lesson lively ( and often an effective way of keeping students awake! :})
So, have you yet experianced the power of the Smartboard? If so, then you know all the amazing programs it has, and know what a captivating fun experiance it was! And fo those who have not yet interacted with it, GET TO IT! Smartboard is nothing short of a creative, fun and interactive way to keep your audience focused and engaged in the material! :)

TeacherTube (:

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=114523&title=Abraham_Lincoln_Reads_The_Gettysburg_Address


The above video is a link to TeacherTube and its accessories. It would be a great learning tool for the aid of young children when preparing to take the VA History SOL.


http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=115612&title=John_Adams_and_the_Boston_Massacre

This video is also based off of the VA History SOL and the two paired together would be great if used in a Jeopardy syle learing environment. It could be used as a type of visual learning aid. Both videos provide the visual and auditory portions of study mechanisms that help in studying. They would be great for young classrooms! :)


TeacherTube is a tool that was created in order to provide teachers with a way of safely and creatively incorporating various ways of education in the classroom. It enables teachers and students to interact with technology, and utilize visual and auditory learning skills in order to study and memorize subject matter. TeacherTube is a safe, organized, fun way of bringing the internet into the classroom without the fear of inappropriate material. Using this site is definetly worth while if you are interested in doing any of the above to prepare for tests such as the VA SOLs. The easiest way to locate a video once you have signed into your account, is to simply change the search engine specific to "video" and type a possible tag pertaining to the information you are searching for in the space provided. Or you could even click the video section of the favorites bar, and search for the most viewed or most talked about videos! TeacherTube is a great site for teachers and students alike. :)

Smartboard's in the Classroom?

Ever wonder what it would be like to be an elementary school teacher? A middle school teacher? Even a high school or college professor? Imagine being one of these types of teachers. When most people think of school teachers, the things that usually come to mind are children, learning, responsibilty and guidance. But what else comes with being a teacher? How about long hours, hard decisions, lesson plans, test making, paper grading and organizing? There is a lot more to the teaching profession than what appears on the surface! And now imagine what it would be like to have to compose a school year for each new class that comes in-- always having to plan, organize, decide, make lessons and tests, and to also grade things day in and day out. A little harder, isnt it? Lucky for teachers in today's society though, there are tools of technology that can help alleviate these pains. One new source of advanced technology that can do just that is Smartboard.
To utilize technology in classrooms, would be to lighten the load of teachers everywhere. With the use of Smartboard elements, teachers are able to better organize their classroom components, grade more easily, test quicker with instant results and even make hands on activities for younger children (promoting independent study). For example, there is a unit of Smartboard where you can make an excercise for a young child in the classroom. It is called "image arrange" and all you have to do is search it within the program, and then search pictures that, let's say, correspond with a letter in the alphabet. After you finish making the excercise, the child gets to play. He or she just has to put the pictures in order, according to the letters of the alphebet--that is A goes in spot number one, the picture being an apple. B, who's picture is a banana, goes right after apple in spot two! And so on...
So with the inclusion of today's best technology, such as Smartboard technology, the teaching profession can be refined and alleviated of enhanced trouble. :)

Google Custom Search Engine! :}

Through the use of internet access, modern day schools have been able to enhance thier learning programs to increase the benefits today's students receive. Some of these enable students to communicate with thier teachers and peers more effectively, such as websites like Flikr. Flikr allows students to share pictures and join groups where they can chat with friends and teachers (also available is Flikr email). Others allow students to organize home pages so that they can reach them from any computer source. That is, websites like Netvibes, and Delicious enable students to connect thier homelife with thier school life without the trouble of availability of source. All these websites serve as great tools for today's older generations. But what about today's young? There are many constant debates about when it is appropriate to engage today's youth with today's advanced technology. One side argues it should be as soon as possible because, afterall, technology is the future. The other would say that introducing youth to internet sources and other advanced technologies, would be spoiling them, and depriving them of their natural abilities. (For example, many teachers argue over the age at which calculators should be brought into the classroom.) But what if there was a way to keep both sides of the spectrum happy?
With Google's "Custom Search Engine", teachers are able to take matters into thier own hands. CSE is a way for teachers to make "surfing the web" appropriate and safe for all age groups! By allowing you to create a search engine of your very own, CSE lets you pre select sites and add them to your page. This means that they get to have control over what students see. It narrows down results, giving students a limited number of "highly relevant search results", making the time spent with technology more manageable and safe for the youth.
Want to see how this website works, and all the possibilties it poses for elementary teachers and teachers world wide? Try it for yourself! Below is a search engine that is pre-made. Test it out for yourself by typing in your country of heritage-such as italy, mexico, or Ireland- even Hawaii! Then try creating one of your own! :)


My Search Engine URL:  http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=000428713945287260357:tlo4nu5drw4
My Custom Search Name: Family Heritage Search Engine

Link to test out Family Heritage Search Engine (Below):

<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/cse/api/000428713945287260357/cse/tlo4nu5drw4/gadget&amp;synd=open&amp;w=320&amp;h=75&amp;title=Family+Heritage+Search+Engine&amp;border=%23ffffff%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%2399BB66%7C0px%2C2px+solid+%23AACC66%7C0px%2C2px+solid+%23BBDD66&amp;output=js"></script>