Early Educators Award

Woomi Phillips receives check from Connie Knain, president of Beta Chapter.

Woomi Phillips receives Beta Chapter's first Early Educators Award. The stipend provides recognition and support for new teachers. Candidates with 0-5 years of teaching experience are identified and invited to a chapter meeting. Recipients are encouraged to use the money for materials to assist and enhance their teaching, for membership fees of professional organizations and/or subscriptions to professional periodicals.

Food, Land, and People

Ginger Deitz gave an inspiring presentation on Food, Land, and People, an educational program sponsored by North Dakota Farm Bureau, Agriculture in the Classroom (USDA) and Newspapers in Education (The Forum).
The Land Connects Us: The Resources We Share provides the overall theme for discussion, activities, and lessons. Based on agriculture, this program integrates history, culture, science and life skills.

For information and resources go to: 
http://www.foodlandpeople.org/
http://www.foodlandpeople.org/resources/affiliates.html
What's happening in North Dakota: http://ndfoodlandpeople.ning.com/
A Weekly Public Television Series Celebrating our Nation's Agriculture   http://www.americasheartland.org/ 

Award Winning Beta Members

Congratulations to these two Beta members on their achievement.

Anita Welch received $2000 Lucile Cornetet Professional Development Award for presentation of STEM-related (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research at the International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology (ICEEPSY) in Istanbul, Turkey, 19-22 October 2011. The presentation and associated paper is titled "A Cross-Cultural Validation of the Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI)." Welch is first author on the paper, a collaborative project with professors from North Dakota State University and Turkey. In addition to presenting at the conference, she will attend numerous sessions related to education and will have the opportunity to form new partnerships with faculty from around the world.


Mari Borr, assistant professor in the School of Education, was named the 2011 Outstanding North Dakota Career and Technical Educator by the North Dakota Career and Technical Education instructors and directors. Borr was recognized during the group’s 41st annual professional development conference Aug. 8-10 in Bismarck, N.D.

Kegel Award Winner

In May Beta Chapter awarded the David Kegel Music Grant to Carli Carrier. She expressed her appreciation in a recent thank you note.

This award helps music students attend the International Music Camp at the Peace Garden. Funding comes from a donation to Beta Chapter by Jane Kegel in memory of her husband, David.

DKGphobes

A phobe designates someone obsessed with a specific subject or activity; i.e., technophobe.

In this respect, I suppose Connie Knain and I could be labeled DKGphobes. We
...attend chapter meetings.
...say "yes" when asked to chair, plan, serve on committees or in offices.
...travel to state meetings.
...register for and attend regional conferences.
...fly away to the International conventions.
...enjoy seeing new places and renewing old acquaintances.
...scrutinize and revise Society documents like Constitution and bylaws.
...nudge our sisters to dive into activities and hold offices.
...know the words to the Society song.
...proudly wear the DKG pin.

Recently, we've been going through an accumulation of paperwork for the chapter, its business and its activities. What to keep in the files? What to discard? What is important for the next DKGphobes to have when they take on the duties and responsibilities and fun of the chapter?

Did we have fun doing this? We did enjoy the shared activity in the sense of DKG sisterhood. And that's what the Society means: a sisterhood promoting personal and professional growth of women educators.

June Convention

Connie Knain and Verna LaBounty drove across North Dakota to Minot for the Alpha Omicron State Convention held at the Grand International Inn. Connie represented Beta Chapter at the Executive Board meetings and marched in the flag ceremony (above: Sandy Starr organizes the presidents for the presentation of the flags).

Both Connie and Verna worked on getting the state by-laws amended and approved. This major accomplishment will bring the state into alignment with the International Constitution.

Ceremonies, keynote address by June Bowers, old friends (below: Verna with Faye Miller), timely workshops, and entertainment filled two days. Next stop: Northwest Regional at Edmonton.

The Convention elected new state officers:
President: Becky Anhorn, Nu
First Vice-President: Lisa Olson, Gamma
Second Vice-President: Peggy Donahue, Tau
Secretary: Jan Repnow, Lambda
Treasurer: Elaine Larson, Gamma
Parliamentarian: Diana Schneider, Theta

Technology Updates Workshop

Dr. Warren Gamas, Minot State University, conducted a workshop on a few of the latest innovations in technology that can enhance classroom education. He demonstrated in a renovated technology classroom that featured a Smart Board, projectors, and outlets for 50 laptops, iPads or other mobile hardware.
Smart Boards, computers, and projectors are becoming standard equipment in the modern classroom, but here are some web sites for exploration.
I love learning about new techy items so this workshop excited me. Dr. Gamas made the point that teachers must meet students in their world of visuals and gaming to engage them in concepts and subject matter.

Second Life allows creation of an avatar to explore many virtual worlds. Think opportunities for role-playing.
http://secondlife.com/


Scratch Projects was developed by Mass. Tech. Institute as a place for students to create and develop projects of all kinds.
http://scratch.mit.edu/
http://scratch.mit.edu/channel/featured

Khan Academy provides video tutoring on thousands of topics.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Want a new way to take notes, check out Live Scribe at
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/
This is paper based computing. Watch the videos to see how this computing pen works. It's amazing!
Be sure to click on k-12 education on the menu bar to see educational applications.
Here's a description of the notebook and the paper features that make this tool work.
http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-Single-Subject-Notebook-ANA-00017/dp/B001AALJ1I/ref=pd_cp_e_1