RETN Newsletter-Spring '06 pg. 2

Vol. 5 - Spring Issue 2006

Texas Distance Learning Association Conference

Laurie Hogle, Distance Learning Specialist from the RETN staff, was recently elected to serve as Texas Distance Learning Association's President-Elect for 2006-'07. The main duty of the office of President-elect is to plan the annual conference, and exciting things are already happening! Please join distance learning practitioners from across Texas and surrounding states, representing a variety of constituencies, and demonstrating many levels of expertise, at the 2007 Annual Conference scheduled for March 27-29, 2007 at Moody Gardens, Galveston Island. If you are interested in serving on the Conference Planning Committee, please contact Laurie Hogle at lhogle@esc11.net or 817-740-3625 for more information.

What is the RETN District Support Award?

In an effort to honor the RETN Site Manager who has worked hard to fully utilize his or her videoconferencing system and assist teachers and staff in scheduling events, the RETN staff selects a Site Manager to receive this award. Judy and Pat have shown no fear in initiating and developing collaborative projects for their students. Good work, Judy and Pat!

What do they win?
Each winner will receive a FREE content program or a FREE dial-out connection.

Thank you Judy Dallinger
and Pat Schmuck, Birdville ISD,
for all your hard work!

For more information and to see a listing of programs, events, courses, sites
and the designated Site Manager, visit the RETN web site.
www.esc11.net/retn
To quickly see events in a month-at-a-glance format, check out the RETN monthly event calendar.

ESC Region XI's 2nd Annual Distance Learning Conference! Education Service Center Region XI October 18, 2006 Fort Worth, TX Are We There Yet? Don't miss this very entertaining and educational experience. See the technology, win door prizes, visit vendor exhibits, enjoy a delicious lunch, attend several informative and entertaining breakout sessions, and participate in networking time - all in a local, informal environment. There is something for everyone! Beginners to experienced distance learning practitioners will enhance their knowledge and experiences with all aspects of distance learning and blending these technologies into the classroom. For more information, please visit the conference Web site at http://www.esc11.net/dlconference. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A-PEP...Alcohol Pharmacology Partnership Recruitment of teachers for the program continues through March, 2007, a student pre-test will be administered in March, and the actual program will begin in September, 2007. The teachers will participate in a six-hour training with Duke via videoconferencing in three sessions. Duke is requesting to have up to four sites in the Region XI area, with at least three to four teachers at each site. More teachers are encouraged, if possible---there is no maximum!! Information and registration for this program can be found at http://www.rise.duke.edu. If you are interested in having your school included as a receiving site for this exciting program, please contact Laurie Hogle at lhogle@esc11.net or 817-740-3625. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Showcase of Promising Practices Kooken Education Center was validated in the area of Effective Integration of Students With Disabilities With Their Non-Disabled Peers. The practice involves the blending of services for pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and preschool children with disabilities in totally inclusive classroom environments. The event combined live broadcasts from Kooken and facilitation of state-wide participation from the ESC Region XI TETN site, including 14 other ESCs. All elements of an actual visit: panel discussions and observations in two blended classrooms, providing examples of a dually certified teacher in one room and co-teaching in another, were included. The response was very positive: "The tour, coordination of video equipment, facilitation of the meeting...actually all components for this unique meeting were excellent. Your tireless efforts and skills made this very challenging meeting, a very effective training for our clients, and of course clients across the state! As you will see from the evaluations, this meeting was well received!"	Other Exciting Student Programs College Days Do you remember your freshman year in college? We sure do! On April 19th, 20th, and 21st, seniors in the Region XI and Region XIV service areas were connected to several colleges to learn more about what to expect during their freshman year of college. Some of the topics included “Avoiding the Freshman Fifteen," “Managing Credit and Credit Cards," “Campus Safety," and “Surviving an Online Course.” Presenting colleges were University of North Texas, Tarrant County College, McMurry University, and West Texas College. Similar events, including “Applying for and Choosing Your College,” are being planned for next school year and will be offered in early fall for juniors and seniors. Astronomy Day with McDonald Observatory The University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory is not new to videoconferencing, however, they really reached for the stars on May 4th by doing three statewide videoconferences for almost 8000 students! In celebration of Astronomy Day, celebrated on Saturday, May 6th, McDonald Observatory wanted to try and reach out to as many fifth-through eighth-grade students as they could and teach them some fascinating facts about the Earth's star, the Sun. Students learned about sun spots, solar flares, and saw an interesting scaled model of the relationship between the size of the Earth (a beebee pellet) and the Sun (a yellow rubber ball). The presenter, Mr. Marc Wetzel, also answered questions from students about the Big Bang Theory, life at the Observatory, and invited the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to answer about different types of telescopes. RETN’s Connect2Texas services was proud to help McDonald Observatory with this event…and who knows, they may become a Connect2Texas provider in the future!
	Texas Distance Learning Association Conference Laurie Hogle, Distance Learning Specialist from the RETN staff, was recently elected to serve as Texas Distance Learning Association's President-Elect for 2006-'07. The main duty of the office of President-elect is to plan the annual conference, and exciting things are already happening! Please join distance learning practitioners from across Texas and surrounding states, representing a variety of constituencies, and demonstrating many levels of expertise, at the 2007 Annual Conference scheduled for March 27-29, 2007 at Moody Gardens, Galveston Island. If you are interested in serving on the Conference Planning Committee, please contact Laurie Hogle at lhogle@esc11.net or 817-740-3625 for more information.
	What is the RETN District Support Award? In an effort to honor the RETN Site Manager who has worked hard to fully utilize his or her videoconferencing system and assist teachers and staff in scheduling events, the RETN staff selects a Site Manager to receive this award. Judy and Pat have shown no fear in initiating and developing collaborative projects for their students. Good work, Judy and Pat! What do they win? Each winner will receive a FREE content program or a FREE dial-out connection. Thank you Judy Dallinger and Pat Schmuck, Birdville ISD, for all your hard work!
Teacher Appreciation For the past 8 years, school districts in the Region XI area have been very helpful in assisting other schools with providing courses that are in need. For many small school districts, it is very difficult to offer high school students language courses other than Spanish. Thanks to Denton ISD’s Ryan HS and talented Latin teacher Mr. Vincent McGee, for the past three years students in Godley ISD have been able to fulfill their desire to learn Latin as well as obtain their language requirement for graduation. Mr. McGee has redefined the word flexibility with his willingness to not only teach Latin to Godley, but to also be willing to have some of the instruction archived for later viewing AND try to manage a live chat while teaching. All of the staff in RETN appreciates the work he does for students and we want him to know he is truly appreciated! Thank you Mr. McGee!
For more information and to see a listing of programs, events, courses, sites and the designated Site Manager, visit the RETN web site. www.esc11.net/retn To quickly see events in a month-at-a-glance format, check out the RETN monthly event calendar.
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