The challenge is simple.  I provide 2 facts about the place I am visiting, 1 clue, and 4 pictures.  Your job?  Research, decipher, discuss, investigate and figure out the location these clues lead you to.  Why?  Well, it’s fun.  And, I just might bring home a prize or two from this location for the student(s) who get it right, or those who get really close.  Plus, you’ll learn something new about a new place.

Let’s get started.

Two Facts

This place is close to and north of our nation’s capital.

You could learn where this place got its name by visiting Acorn Park.

One Clue

The headquarters of the #1 non-fiction media company in the world is located here.

The challenge is simple.  I provide 2 facts about the place I am visiting, 1 clue, and 4 pictures.  Your job?  Research, decipher, discuss, investigate and figure out the location these clues lead you to.  Why?  Well, it’s fun.  And, I just might bring home a prize or two from this location for the student(s) who get it right, or those who get really close.  Plus, you’ll learn something new about a new place.

Let’s get started.

Two Facts

Located in the land of a thousand lakes

Known as the Twin Cities

One Clue

44° 57′ 0″ N, 93° 12′ 0″ W

The challenge is simple.  I provide 2 facts about the place I am visiting, 1 clue, and 4 pictures.  Your job?  Research, decipher, discuss, investigate and figure out the location these clues lead you to.  Why?  Well, it’s fun.  And, I just might bring home a prize or two from this location for the student(s) who get it right, or those who get really close.  Plus, you’ll learn something new about a new place.

Let’s get started.

Two Facts

In 1871, a fire destroyed this place.

This area is known as the Windy City

One Clue

Mrs. Rougeux was born here.

What strategies will you use to figure it out?  Good luck!!!

The challenge is simple.  I provide 2 facts about the place I am visiting, 1 clue, and 4 pictures.  Your job?  Research, decipher, discuss, investigate and figure out the location these clues lead you to.  Why?  Well, it’s fun.  And, I just might bring home a prize or two from this location for the student(s) who get it right, or those who get really close.  Plus, you’ll learn something new about a new place.

Let’s get started.

Two Facts

This area is known as the Space Coast.

There are over 500 manatees who live here.

One Clue

When driving from Harrisburg, PA to this place it is just a little over 1,000 miles.

Four Pictures

This week I had the opportunity to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in preparation for Discovery Education’s livestream broadcast from Shanksville Stonycreek High School for classrooms around the world.  It was an absolutely beautiful Friday afternoon in rural Pennsylvania when I visited the site for the first time.  I grew up about an hour from Shanksville and remember exactly, vividly, where I was ten years ago when the attacks of September 11 occurred.  I am honored to be able to moderate a live panel discussion on September 7, 2011 for teachers and students around the world.  In my own preparation for the event, I have been reading everything I can find.  In particular, I have focused on resources that help all of us make meaning of September 11 for children too young to truly remember.

So, here are eleven resources that I found to be helpful.  I hope they help as you talk to your children and students about the terrible events that took place ten years ago and the remarkable heroism that followed.

1. Discovery Education’s Rise, Reconnect and Remember – Four live broadcasts featuring members of the community who were personally affected by September 11th (also includes a free 9/11 Discussion Guide)
2. September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation
3. Interactive 911 Timeline
4. Lesson Plans and Other Resources for Teachers
5. 911 Materials for Teachers from the US Department of Education
6. The Best Sites to Help Teach About 9/11 from Larry Ferlazzo
7. The Learning Network from the NY Times
8. When Students Have No Memory of September 11 by Ben Johnson
9. How to Help Your Students Observe the 9/11 Anniversary by Suzie Boss
10. Lessons and resources at Education World
11. CNN Student News – a personal favorite of my wife who teaches sixth grade in PA

Have you ever wished that you could go back in time and tweak a lesson, approach a topic differently or change things altogether using the powerful digital tools to which you now have access? The Benjamin Button effect (available in the new versions of most multimedia authoring programs) allows you to do just that. This session will explore the incredible impact this special effect has on our daily instructional practices.  Enjoy!

And, thanks to the organizers of Tech.it.U for putting together an awesome week-long conference.

Thank you to all the the organizers and attendees at iSummit in Nashville this past week.  I had an amazing time presenting and wish I could have stayed for some sessions.

As promised, here are the resources from my sessions:

Keynote: It’s Okay to be a C Student

Breakout: The Collective Brain

And, if you want a “I am your best app” t-shirt, you can order at: http://tinyurl.com/BestAppTshirt

All proceeds support the Purple Feet Foundation.

I had the fortunate opportunity to present at the Town Hall LA event “Full STEAM Ahead” last Thursday.  After a day of mourning following my Steelers’ loss in the Super Bowl, I have finally gotten around to sharing some of the resources we discussed.  Enjoy!

Discovery Education and STEM

• Head Rush with Kari Byron – a commercial free hour of Mythbusters mash ups on the Science Channel
• If you have access to Discovery Education streaming, check out STEM Connect in the Teacher Center
• Siemens STEM Academy – a community of teachers sharing STEM resources, free webinars for students and teachers, and two opportunities to participate in exclusive, in-person STEM professional development events
• Discovery Educator Network – one of the largest and most active professional learning communities for educators (and it’s free)

Other fun stuff I shared while rambling about the duck in my classroom…

• Science Leadership Academy – a great model school to check out and the principal, Chris Lehmann, is someone to follow
• 21 Century Skills – check out the partnership for 21st century skills website
• Spotlight on the Gulf webinar with Philippe Cousteau archive
• Tundra Connections webinars – me with Polar Bears (and some really famous scientists)
• Tips for Going Green student project
• Tools for your students to collaborate – Skype, Wikispaces, Google Docs, VoiceThread and Edmodo
• Tools for your students to create – Glogster, Prezi, Jaycut and PhotoPeach
• Vicki Davis and global collaboration

Here are a couple videos I took using my Flip cam while observing the polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba.  Enjoy!