Thursday, March 17, 2016

Denapalooza U.K. and the new Day of Discovery Program= #DEPD rocks!!

Most of you are now following my Facebook page , but I'd like to post a few blog articles about recent PD I have delivered and PD I am attending this year- hopefully to reach a wider audience about something that has made me a better educator. 
It's called Discovery Education.  
I call it Community.  
I call it Personalized Learning.  
I call it Collaboration.
I call it Innovation.
Whatever you call it- it matters and continues to matter to me as I continue this journey of life and work in the field of education.   ‪#‎DEPD‬ rocks!!! 

I presented at Denapalooza U.K. in London last November aboard the HMS Belfast.  What an AMAZING DAY. This blog post does not and cannot in any way show the intangibles of the day-- the connections and learning and general joy that took place aboard a vintage ship.  For those of you wondering about my presentation...here's a great video showing snippets of the amazing the day of learning and community! Yes- video proof that I did not make the whole thing up!! And my sweet daughter in her warm London clothes even made it into the footage. :) ...check it out here: http://www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/video/item898405 

smile emoticon US friends- you have now had a chance to meet many of my favorite people from across the pond in the video above and one or two pretty fab Canadians. And if you aren't part of the Discovery Educator Network- message me and I'll tell you how to join. They'll host events all over the world this year ... attend and it will change you for the better. 


In fact, the new plan for Discovery Education is to host "Day of Discovery Tour".  I'm excited to be heading to Denver, Colorado for the first time in September, 2016 to give an Ed Tech presentation for the tour- check out http://www.dayofdiscoverytour.com/Join me if you are in the area- or find another location on the worldwide FREE PD tour! Life changing, I promise.  I will decide on my topic as it gets closer to the event.  I have so much to share and it is always difficult to decide what I'd like to spend my precious 45 minutes sharing.  I hope to collaborate with you soon- in person or virtually!  

Last but not least-- I owe a huge thank you to Discovery Education Network Community Members Ana Horine (Georgia) and Jessica Wheeler (South Carolina) for donating Beanie Babies(r) for a fun part of my presentation.  It is called "The Beanie Bunch" and I have always used stuffed animals such as Beanie Babies in my libraries and classrooms. In this session, participants received a Beanie Baby(r) animal in a paper bag. All the stuffed animals were different species.  Then, participants received a sheet of paper with animal characteristics as clues. The fun began when had 3 minutes to find the animal on their clues by asking yes/no questions of others. This was a very condensed version of an icebreaker, research/writing/vocabulary project using Discovery Education, and motivational experience for classrooms. Teachers in the UK then messaged me a few days later that they have started "Beanie Buddy" programs in their own classrooms after attending the workshop. It was a truly great feeling to know others benefitted from my ideas. :)
Stay tuned for a few posts in coming weeks... 


Denapalooza UK @ the HMS Belfast on the Thames, Nov. 2015


My Denapalooza London, U.K. presentation is below- created with my amazing co-presenter and friend Tracy Carpenter: