2012 DENny Awards

I have been a Discovery Educator Network (DEN) STAR and part of the Louisiana DEN Leadership Council since 2009. As part of this wonderful organization, I have participated in so many wonderful events sponsored by Discovery Education including Day of Discovery in Silver Springs, Maryland and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the DEN Leadership Council Symposium in Boston, the DEN Summer Institute in San Diego, and virtual conference days every fall and spring since I joined.

On the evening of May 17, at the fourth annual DENny awards, I was honored with a PL DEN Award for my 365 Day Project.  Unfortunately I was unable to attend the live presentation of the awards, because I was helping prepare for our annual Parent Volunteer Breakfast which was being held at my school on Friday, but I would like to say how truly honored I am by this award. Below is the recording of the DENny Awards. (Mine starts at 9:27.)



When I got home Thursday night I found out via Twitter that I had been honored with a DENny Award.

I would like to thank Discovery Education and the DEN for this honor. I would also like to congratulate all of the other DEN members who received DENny Awards for 2012. I am inspired by all of you.

(Note - I crossposted this on on Louisiana DEN blog.)

Student's Self Evaluation Based on Marzano's Levels of Understanding

Like many people I know, I love Pinterest. But unlike many people I know, I use it more for educational idea-gathering than for fashion ideas and recipes. Today, I found this pin and was inspired to turn it into this Google document that I can use with my students.

Hopefully many others will find it useful as well. Please feel free to pin it, share it, or embed it. Just remember to give credit where credit is due like I did. 

Have you found a great educational resource on Pinterest? Please share it in the comments. 

3rd Twitter Anniversary - February 25, 2009-February 25, 2012

Wow, I can hardly believe that it was three years ago that I was struggling to understand Twitter. Today I can't imagine my life without it. February 25 is my Twitter anniversary. I joined on that date in 2009 and have blogged about my anniversaries here and here.


Here is an update on my Twitter stats:
       Followers 5,139
       Following 1,240
       Tweets 16,008
       Listed 341
I know my number of tweets has increased dramatically this year due in part to being a moderator for #4thchat on Mondays at 7 pm CST. I also try to participate in #elemchat on Saturdays at 4 pm CST. Some of the other ed chats I ave contributed to are #edchat, #ntchat, #gtchat, and #tichat when I can fit them into my schedule.

If you are on Twitter but can't remember when you joined, you can find out by typing your Twitter handle into When Did You Join Twitter. If you are not on Twitter, I can't imagine why not. Everyday I get to learn new things from my PLN (personal learning network) and each week I do my own professional development hours on topics that interest me.

When is your Twitter anniversary? Can you share one reason why teachers should be on Twitter?

Themeefy - My First One

Themeefy is a new way to collect, curate and publish artifacts from the web to a personal theme magazine. You can use the resource tabs to search for items on your topic or include your own links. I made my example in less than three minutes. You have a sign up for a free account.

I could see this being used as an ePortfolio. Oh, if only my 4th graders had email accounts.

How would you use Themeefy?

New Year's Resolution Project for Your Class

Ally, aka as @FlyontheCWall, was on Twitter today asking for an idea of a great way to display her students' New Year's Resolutions.

I remember that I used to have my students write their resolutions on their silhouettes.

Here is how we did it. I would have the student sit on a stool with their shoulder touching the board. I would tape a piece of black construction paper to the board behind their shoulder. Then I would use my overhead projector to reflect their silhouette onto the piece of paper. I would quickly take a pencil and trace around the shadow they were casting unto the paper. Next, the student would carefully cut out his "head" and write his resolutions on it using white crayons or chalk.

Here is one I made using a silhouette clipart and the Paint program on my computer to give you a visual representation.

They look great on display on the windows, bulletin board, or lining your hallway.

Do you have a New Year's Resolution project you do with your students? Please share your ideas with a comment.

1/365Project

Alright I've decided on a theme for my #365Project. Now let's see if I can keep it updated properly. I will try to add a picture of one tweet from the day that helped me learn and connect with the members of my PLN. Sounds easy enough. We'll see what happens. You can follow my progress on my #365Project by visiting my Posterous site. 

Posted via email from Paula's posterous

#YouMatterDay

I enjoyed another lazy day of my Christmas holiday. Finished reading Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy that I started reading on December 26, and watched the Saints earn a playoff berth by having a great game against the Panthers.

I cooked dinner, ate and then took a long early evening nap. Of course, when I woke up I picked up my computer to see what was happening of this first day of 2012 on Twitter. I read tweets that took me to several great blogposts, and I even left some comments.

A tweet from Joan Young led me to this post by Karen McMillan. After I read it, I tweeted #youmatter to various members of my PLN (personal learning network) and wished them a Happy #YouMatterDay.

Who matters in your life? Remember to tell them #youmatter and Happy #YouMatterDay to you.