Techbook Times October 2012
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Techbook Times OCTOBER 2012 1. Implementation Tips and Tricks 2. Professional Development 3. Spotlight: Science Techbook Challenge 4. Discovery’s Partners in Education 5. DEN Community A Monthly Correspondence for the Betterment of the Techbook Community 5 4 1 2 3 September Science Live Stream and Community Night at Orange County Schools, NC Click here to view the Live Stream archive
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Techbook Times
Transcript of Techbook Times October 2012
Techbook Times
OCTOBER 2012
1. Implementation Tips and Tricks
2. Professional Development
3. Spotlight: Science Techbook Challenge
4. Discovery’s Partners in Education
5. DEN Community
A Monthly Correspondence for the Betterment of the Techbook Community
5
4
1
2
3
September Science Live Stream and Community Night at Orange County Schools, NCClick here to view the Live Stream archive
Implementation Tips and TricksHave you seen the updates to Techbook? Here are just a few new features that we love!!
STEM Focused ResourcesCheck out the newest lab resource called Engineering Lab: Tote and Sit. The purpose of this Engineering Design Virtual Lab, which should be used over a period of days, is to provide a realistic experience in the practice of engineering design. The advantage of a virtual lab is that it allows students to focus on the process of engineering design — the initial design, testing, and improvement — without the distraction of handling materials.
Meet the Needs of Your ELL StudentsThe typical traditional textbook does not come in a Spanish version, but Discovery Education’s Science Techbook is available in Spanish for students in grade K-8. Simply point on the word English in the upper right side and choose Spanish to convert the text . The read-aloud and highlighting features work regardless of the language you choose.
Create Your Own AssessmentIn the Evaluate Tab you will see a t o o l t o c r e a t e y o u r o w n assessment in addition to the student self-assessment and the brief constructed response. Using this tool you can choose from our bank of questions and/or add your own questions.
Reading Passages that ReadAny document in the Discovery Education Techbook can be read aloud as soon as it is opened in the DOC Reader tool, which opens automatically for all reading passages and student guides. This allows all of your students to gain information from the materials ava i l ab le i n the D i scove ry Education Techbook regardless of their reading level.
Bits and Bytes from the Blogs
Life is a HighwayThey say “Life is a Highway” but where is the roadmap? What signs are you seeing along your educational highway?
Mousey MondayCache and Cookies’ blog dives into how you change your media settings in your Discovery Education account.
The Value of IgnoranceJerry Jennings shares his views on Stuart Firestein’s Ignorance: How It Drives Science
Evernote Skitch as a Teaching ToolDavid Andrade (CT) talks about the use of Evernote and Skitch as teaching tools.
ImplementationWe are constantly updating content and features. Most recently we added a new engineering virtual lab at the middle school level called “Tote and Sit” Check out this new lab here
Upcoming October WebinarsClick event to learn more & register
October 10, 5:00 PM EDTTechbook Admin Webinar
October 17, 7:00 PM EDTBuild Your Lesson with the Discovery Education Science Techbook
October 22, 7:00 PM EDTDiscovery Education Builders 101
October 23, 9:00 PM EDTEngage with Vocabulary and Wordle
October 25, 7:00 PM EDT10 Tips for Sparking Curiosity for Teachers
Click to see entire Techbook webinar list
“I have done 2 techbook bootcamp webinars and I LOVE this curriculum. I feel so empowered!”
- Dani-Lynne Wright, 4-6 Coquina Elementary Brevard Public Schools, Florida
Hundreds of in-person events occur across the US and Canada each year. You may have attended one of these in-person events, but have you ever logged in to one of our webinars? Between the upcoming and archived webinars you have hundreds of topics to choose from and even a few famous Discovery celebs pop in from time to time. I encourage you to take a look at the upcoming webinars to the right and join us for one, two or all of them. You just need an internet connection, computer and speakers. You don’t even have to get out of your PJs.
To learn all about everything that’s new, attend one of the many upcoming Techbook 2.0 webinars.
Click here for the schedule.
Professional Development
One of the main goals of the Discovery Educator Network is to connect educators with their best resource, other educators. Here’s an opportunity for you to challenge yourself with our weekly “Spotlight on Strategies” blog series.
Check out 3 Truths, 1 Lie: The Strategy Spotlight Challenge, the first of many strategy challenges.
Professional Development
Challenge: Create a lesson plan presentation that is engaging and ready to use in the classroom to receive a Discovery Education Science
Techbook lab coat. Presentations must be submitted through Mediashare between October 8, 2012 and February 28, 2013.
Click here for submission instructions.
Lesson Presentation Options:✦ Representation of an existing Discovery Education
Science Techbook model Lesson✦ Adaptation of existing Discovery Education Science
Techbook model lesson to support specific students (e.g., special needs, ELL, academically gifted students, struggling readers, etc.)
✦ Original lesson using Discovery Education Science Techbook resources
Presentation tools: You may use Microsoft PowerPoint or Keynote for your presentation.
Remember that the Discovery Education Model Lessons represent several days of learning, your lesson presentation should as well. Click here to see an example presentation.
Not sure how to build a lesson presentation? Attend a Lesson Building webinar!
Register at links.discoveryeducation.com/sciencetechbook
Requirements:✦ We would like your presentation to be a minimum of 10 slides.
There is no maximum length.
✦ A title slide that includes concept and grade level(s)
✦ A slide with the lesson objectives
✦ A slide with essential questions
✦ At least one slide (activity) for each component of a typical 5E lesson (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate)
✦ At least THREE uses of digital resources from the Discovery Education Science Techbook
✦ Information in the notes section that describes the intention of each slide (what the teacher and the students are doing)
✦ Several opportunities for the students to be engaged with the content. Examples include notebook/journal entries, hands-on activities, group discussions, prompts for logging in to DE to do individual work, project work
✦ At least one slide that includes some form of checking for understanding
We have a robust network of educators that are utilizing the Discovery Science Techbook in their classrooms. Are you our next featured educator or do you know a colleague we should feature? If so reach out to Mike Bryant ([email protected])
Upcoming Educator Spotlight
Spotlight: Lesson Presentation Challenge
New program, fit 4 the classroom, offers STEM resources to encourage a healthy lifestyle among students
Discovery Education has teamed up with Sanford Health and WebMD to launch fit 4 the classroom, a unique initiative that promotes a healthy, balanced lifestyle among students. The program provides elementary school educators with dynamic, up-to-date cross curricular lesson plans that span STEM subjects and also includes videos aligned to national education standards.
Win a healthy helping of prizes! Now through February 14, 2013, elementary school teachers can enter once a day to win one of three fabulous prizes designed to jump start schools on the path to fitness. The grand-prize winner will be awarded a $5,000 cash prize, $5,000 for his/her school to fund health and wellness education and a special school assembly! Second and third place winners will each be awarded a $1,000 cash prize and $1,000 in funding for their school. Homeschool teachers can use the school funding toward a local non-profit.
Visit http://www.fit4theclassroom.com/ to enter today!
Featured Programs Partners In Education
Discovery Education partners with multiple organizations and corporations to bring the best content and programs to educators, parents and students around the globe. Explore these great programs by going to www.discoveryeducation.com clicking on teachers>featured programs
Educational Partnerships
Your Students Have the Power to Change Your Future!
Discovery Education and the Siemens Foundation are pleased to announce the re-launch of the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge - the premier national environmental
sustainability competition for grades K-12 students. Through project-based
learning, students learn about science and conservation while creating solutions that impact their
schools, communities and world. To date, more than 62,000 students have made their planets a more eco-friendly place to live. Win BigAt stake is more than $300,000 in scholarship money and dozens of other exciting prizes such as adventure trips around the world, green prize packs, school assemblies with Discovery Channel personalities, tech-savvy gadgets and more.New This YearAn array of FREE, interactive tools are available to support student teams as they tackle the Challenge including a collection of videos, sample project ideas, helpful websites, and more to help participants learn and challenge their thinking.
Enter TodayRegister at wecanchange.com today to get started. Empower your students to serve as agents of change.
Upcoming In-Person EventsClick event to learn more & register
October 17: MI REMC 5 Day of Discovery 2012
October 19: MI REMC 7 Day of Discovery 2012
October 19: LA Rapides Parish and Discovery Education Community Night
October 20: Fall VirtCon: Multiple In-person Locations
November 2: MA Brockton Public Schools Family Night
Fall is here...
DEN Discovery Educator Network
As one of the largest professional education learning communities, the DEN has impacted more than 1 million educators worldwide.
Get connected and follow the conversation at http://denblogs.com
The Discovery Educator Network
...and winter is coming to a classroom near you. Are you interested in taking your students to the tundra to observe polar bears? Is that slightly out of your field trip budget? Well, no worries. We have once again joined forces with our friends at Polar Bears International® (PBI) to bring four incredible virtual field trips live to your desktop.
Click here to learn more.
To celebrate the Discovery Educator Network's (DEN) 10th Virtual Conference, we've made some exciting shifts to the event. For the first time, every session will be broadcast LIVE, so attendees will be able to see the presenter's that are sharing, along with their presentaitons. We've also added more of... well, everything! More sessions, more Face 2 Face (F2F) events, and most of all, more opportunities for you to get involved.
Click here to learn more.
October 24 - November 1 October 20th, 2012. 9am-4pm ET
Looking for additional help or you need technical support? Check out the Help section. The “Help” section can be accessed by clicking “Help” in the upper right of the screen. Here you will find Step-by-Step Guides, User Guides to help you provide access to your students, searching for content, accessing resources, and virtually any other issue you may experience. You will also find the phone number to our technical support team, who take great pride solving issues in a timely manner.
The Discovery Education Techbook implementation team is here to serve. How can we better support you using Techbook with your students?
Patti [email protected] Implementation Manager
Mike [email protected] Implementation Director
Brad [email protected] Implementation Director
Duane [email protected] Implementation Manager
Emily [email protected] Implementation Manager
Erica [email protected] Implementation Director
Meet the team:
Instructional & Techbook Implementation
Techbook TimesA Monthly Correspondence for the Betterment of the Techbook Community
