Edublog Awards 2012 - I was nominated for Best EdTech Blog

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2778" height="300" src="http://edublogawards.com/files/2012/12/votingopen-20ywkt9.png" title="votingopen" width="170" /></div><br />I started writing this blog as a way to organize and share edtech resources I found and it's grown into much more than that.<br /><br /><a href="http://edublogawards.com/2012awards/best-blog-on-educational-technology-2012/">I just found out that I was nominated for, and am a finalist for, the Edublog Awards 2012, Best EdTech Blog</a>. Thanks!!<br /><br />You can read more about the <a href="http://edublogawards.com/">Edublog Awards here</a> and vote for <a href="http://edublogawards.com/vote-here/">Educational Technology Guy here</a> (under EdTech Blog).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2682" height="300" src="http://edublogawards.com/files/2012/12/nom-edtech-1ssjwcu.png" title="nom-edtech" width="170" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br />

Edublog Awards 2012 - I was nominated for Best EdTech Blog

I started writing this blog as a way to organize and share edtech resources I found and it's grown into much more than that. I just foun...

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DENny Award Winners 2012 - Discovery Educator Network Awards

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="64px;" id="internal-source-marker_0.6122485196683556" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7nQE-WvSjLXliR-qxnFlldzisOTMGqP_hrIgvgp-Mc_WgNUvmZhM_7jQ79kh-kGZ2xYNC6gkTLV-ykGpe8e4_nFHjA9jdkpPODwohc4jVKfh9CWNi10" width="220px;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-25973 alignleft" height="165" src="http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/04/DENny2012_featured.jpg" title="DENny2012_featured" width="275" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Last night was the DENny Awards 2012, the annual awards where the <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/discovery-educator-network-great.html">Discovery Educator Network</a> and <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Discovery%20Education">Discovery Education</a> honor <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/discovery-educator-network-great.html">DEN</a> members for their efforts throughout the years. It's the Oscars for us. In fact, the Discovery Education employees that ran the event were wearing tuxedo t-shirts!<br /><br />You can view the entire thing, which was live streamed from Discovery Education HQ last night, below:<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XzxmM90395g" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />You can also check out some of the tweets from last night <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23DENnyAwards">#DENnyawards</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0TyoFld8IdgGCAI8OUA5alloSli7vCizm3uZJ3PABvJnP8a4W9uKUVbbGrDc639UlWr1b53VyOsIyoF-Dtfe6d_J7WA_J7ijHoctDQoxhIeDh_gK98rwNibl6OB_J5oOo38GaKL2HoIg/s1600/denny+award.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0TyoFld8IdgGCAI8OUA5alloSli7vCizm3uZJ3PABvJnP8a4W9uKUVbbGrDc639UlWr1b53VyOsIyoF-Dtfe6d_J7WA_J7ijHoctDQoxhIeDh_gK98rwNibl6OB_J5oOo38GaKL2HoIg/s320/denny+award.png" width="320" /></a><br /><br />I was honored to have won a DENny for "PL DEN", a play on PLN (personal learning network), for my work sharing and connecting with other educators about Discovery Education resources on social media and the <a href="http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/category/connecticut/">DEN blog for the CT Leadership Council</a>. I according to DEN, I've tweeted over 132 times sharing Discovery Ed resources and posted over 100 blog posts on the DEN Blog.<br />(I was also honored last year with a DENny for my contributions to the DEN blog. I'm truly humbled by the awards).<br /><br />Connecticut had a good showing last night, with Howard Gunther winning a DENny for <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/den-scicon-great-learning-experience.html">Best DEN Event for the SCICon Event held at the Mark Twain house</a> and Joe Fromme, the CT Leadership Council's fearless leader, winning a DENny for Leadership. Lynn Reedy and I were also finalists to be DEN Guru's this year and, while we weren't selected, were both honored to be part of such a distinguished group of educators that were the 12 finalists.<br /><br />It was a fun event and I love the people in the DEN and from Discovery Education that I get to work with.<br /><br />Discovery Education and the Discovery Educator Network do so much for educators and education. They are a dedicated group of educators and professionals that work to support educators in their job of educating our youth.<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS1gblmdpE9miZcGanw8XU2k-GpWn9RhprEE0xAdmf5_Hb6an0Zaw" /><br /><br />Why don't you join the <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/discovery-educator-network-great.html">Discovery Educator Network</a> and become a STAR Educator!<br /><br />More about the Discovery Educator Network: <a href="http://community.discoveryeducation.com/about.cfm">http://community.discoveryeducation.com/about.cfm</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

DENny Award Winners 2012 - Discovery Educator Network Awards

Last night was the DENny Awards 2012, the annual awards where the Discovery Educator Network and Discovery Education honor DEN members fo...

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Google RISE Awards - awards to organizations working with K-12+ students in STEM

<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Google" src="http://www.google.com/images/logos/google_logo_41.png" />  <span style="background-color: white; color: #91959c; font-family: 'open sans', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 27px; line-height: 1.26;">Google RISE Awards</span></div><br />The <a href="http://www.google.com/edu/rise/">Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards 2012</a> are here. The Google RISE awards promote and support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and CS (Computer Science) education initiatives by awarding grants to organizations working with K-12 and Higher Ed students to provide enrichment programs in STEM and CS.<br /><br />Awards range from $10,000 - $25,000 in the US and Canada and 500-10,000 EUR in Europe, Middle East and Africa.<br /><br /><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'open sans', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px;">Ideal K-12 & university STEM programs and projects should:</h3><ul style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><li>Inspire excitement in STEM and CS</li><li>Improve, advance and enrich students' STEM and/or CS education</li><li>Include hands-on learning activities in STEM and/or CS education</li></ul><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'open sans', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px;">Program Guidelines</h3><ul style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><li>Google RISE Awards are specific to STEM and CS educational and outreach programs</li><li>Applications are encouraged from organizations and educational institutions regardless of the socio-economic status of the students they serve</li><li>Please note that the RISE team is not able to provide one on one consultations during the review process (both prior to applying and after applications have been submitted) to ensure no bias is given to specific organizations</li><li>We will be asking for feedback and updates from the successful awardees to help us shape and develop the RISE Awards for future years</li></ul><br /><br />Here are the award recipients for 2012: <a href="http://www.google.com/edu/rise/recipients.html">http://www.google.com/edu/rise/recipients.html</a><br />These are some great groups and programs. Check them out and see if they can help your students.<br /><br />This is a great opportunity for groups that help students in STEM and CS topics to get additional funding to continue their work.<br /><br />Share this with others and with any organizations that may be eligible to enter.  Interested groups can sign up to be notified of the 2013 awards here: <a href="http://www.google.com/edu/rise/application.html">http://www.google.com/edu/rise/application.html</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Google RISE Awards - awards to organizations working with K-12+ students in STEM

   Google RISE Awards The Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards 2012 are here. The Google RISE awards promote and support S...

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My Edublog Nominations

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://edublogawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ebawardlogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://edublogawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ebawardlogo.png" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The <a href="http://edublogawards.com/">2010 Edublog Awards</a> nomination process has started. This will be my second year participating in the nomination process. I find it difficult in many categories to pick just one site or blog, but I try to think of the ones that have affected me the most this year. I don't even nominate for each category because I may not know enough about a category to make a responsible choice. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Best Individual Blog: <a href="http://jasontbedell.com/">Jason T Bedell - Reflections on Teaching and Learning</a> - Jason's blog has information and resources on Professional Development, student issues, pedagogy, and technology support. He has also hosted one Teachmeet last year and is hosting another this year. </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Best Individual Tweeter: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/web20classroom" style="color: #0000b3; text-decoration: none;">Steven Anderson</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">@web20classroom Not only does Steven Tweet lots of great resources each day, he also coordinates other online projects and conferences. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Best Resource Sharing Blog:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a href="http://www.cybraryman.com/">Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites</a> - Cybraryman has a great site with over 20,000 links to educational resources. The site is organized by Educators, Parents, Students and sub categories. He even has lists of educational hashtags for Twitter. It is an excellent site. </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Most Influential Tweet/Series of Tweets / Tweet Based Discussion: #edchat - </span><a href="http://edupln.ning.com/group/edchat">http://edupln.ning.com/group/edchat</a> - #edchat is a great series of Tweets that educators use to connect with each other. On Tuesdays at 12noon EDT and 7pm EDT, teachers get together to discuss a specific topic, which they vote for on the site earlier in the week. Teachers also use the #edchat hash tag to search for great information, resources, and discussions on education outside of those two formal times. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Best School Administrator Blog: </span><a href="http://rebel6.blogspot.com/">http://rebel6.blogspot.com/</a> - David Britten is a retired Army Colonel who is now a school superintendent. His blog offers tips, insight, and resources for educators. I truly enjoy reading his blog and have gotten some great ideas from him. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Lifetime Achievement: <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a> by Richard Byrne - an excellent blog with a ton of resources posted every week. He also has some really well done guide books (all free) for teachers. </span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let us know your ideas for great blogs.</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>

My Edublog Nominations

The 2010 Edublog Awards nomination process has started. This will be my second year participating in the nomination process. I find it diff...

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Free Certificate Maker Web Site

<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviBUtfZkTeGnzPmmqtcZ10mYxMvYapvsOgkXCqMuZBG4YCvyvVzFC7jrDcGizWUlUkZ6ZWpgeDm1BteoRHGyBGUVtXRomIcCqBuCleeDEbLXKzZ19qomT-sr588h_zL95xvf8RHOJKGQ/s1600-h/myaward+maker-logo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335308053910796882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviBUtfZkTeGnzPmmqtcZ10mYxMvYapvsOgkXCqMuZBG4YCvyvVzFC7jrDcGizWUlUkZ6ZWpgeDm1BteoRHGyBGUVtXRomIcCqBuCleeDEbLXKzZ19qomT-sr588h_zL95xvf8RHOJKGQ/s320/myaward+maker-logo.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 85px;" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.myawardmaker.com/">MyAwardMaker</a> is a free site with templates for certificates that you can download. They have a lot of different templates and they are organized by topic. </div><div><br /></div><div>To create a certificate, you pick your template and then download it to your computer. You need to have <a href="http://get.adobe.com/reader/">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a> (version 8.0 or later) to open the certificate. You can get Acrobat Reader <a href="http://get.adobe.com/reader/">HERE</a> if you don't have it. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTsnT0V13Wu3xc-tXy-8ugRH7SXrtzC2B7YiUUT4UEpGci9XKRFI0y-lOopxaZrOvpP6trr8RUkuCuPd_EM6SJ3MdJ_wiBhFBTZAK874KSoNSOazfOfJlAgx9GSGPME6LL1NFyGTMIGQ/s1600-h/acrobat+images.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335308262629430434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTsnT0V13Wu3xc-tXy-8ugRH7SXrtzC2B7YiUUT4UEpGci9XKRFI0y-lOopxaZrOvpP6trr8RUkuCuPd_EM6SJ3MdJ_wiBhFBTZAK874KSoNSOazfOfJlAgx9GSGPME6LL1NFyGTMIGQ/s320/acrobat+images.jpg" style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 125px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Once you open your certificate, you can then enter text into the open spaces and print it out. You can not save the certificate with the text added to it, but you can keep the template forever. You can also just print out the template and hand write the information.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/default.aspx">Microsoft PowerPoint</a> also has some certificate templates that you can use. You click on Design Templates and then go online. The site for the award templates is <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101043001033.aspx">HERE</a>. You then edit the slide and print it out.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335308399661544386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0Nbi77dXeE2NcBSOk2g20gt-8uQQofOndHBTY7mCtJrL8ecHP4JOsdPmtGgSHyi9B20enfkU3RJ5G_LnUEbSYEF4g65LmMPFqUtCR66NYjcaal-fZCeuBNGy-uBQ1p6OHk30TkLbuY4/s320/powerpoint-logo.jpg" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 130px; " /></span></div><div>I suggest printing them out on a color printer for best results and best appearance.<br /></div><div><br /></div>

Free Certificate Maker Web Site

MyAwardMaker is a free site with templates for certificates that you can download. They have a lot of different templates and they are orga...

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