DATOS!

This past Wednesday, I was privledged to attend the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce annual DATOS Focus on Arizona’s Hispanic Market 15th annual breakfast. My colleague, Michelle, had raved about it and had told me often it would be something we would love. I was most definitely in agreement as soon as the morning began.

The music, the warm greetings, the eggs and salsa :) of course... but the multimedia the grabs you... and reminds you why you are so proud to live in Arizona and be a part of the Southwest... the host of the morning engages us with his lively banter between the distinguished guests and introductions of the keynote speakers as he tries to solicit tips from the priest who leads the invocation. (jokingly of course!)



An Iowa-born girl but raised in Arizona since age 8 I find myself proud of Arizona despite all the crazed political landscape of recent months. I am fascinated by the DATOS 2010 statistics shared by ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business Professor Emeritus, Dr. Louis Olivas. His talented team of graduate students have crafted a beautiful presentation under his guidance and I type notes into my "Plurkoid" app on my Droid as fast as my thumbs will let me, having been silly to not bring a notepad with me.

Dr. Olivas presentation is followed by Keynote, Hector Orci, President, Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA). I find later he is one to Google... as his professional education work has much to offer our students and we could use his work in our classrooms.

Remembering Arizona Veterans - Capture Stories

Happy Veterans Day, Arizona! Make sure you take time to remember a Veteran, thank them, thank their family members for their sacrifices as well, and show your support.  Last night, Wednesday, November 10, Horizon's Host Ted Simons conducted 2 interviews with Arizona Veterans.  The video will be posted before noon tomorrow!  I encourage you to take time to share a brief segment from at least one with your students in discussion tomorrow.  Both were touching conversations with men who were proud to have served their country and be a part of history.(Check for Horizon's interview of Korean veteran as soon as it gets posted on azpbs.org/horizon) 

The clip above showcases Arizonans -- and Arizona communities -- that were forever changed by the Second World War. Eight presents back-to-back stories exploring the struggles and conflict, the sacrifice and the bravery. Explore the resources Eight- Arizona PBS has to offer locally from the World War II story collection.

Explore ways to capture stories from this local link... or better yet... we encourage you to tell your story... share your story as a veteran or a family member with a service member on active duty or proudly now at home to share his or her memories either in writing, in pictures, in video, or all three through the StoryCorps.

Eight -Arizona PBS and Eight Educational Outreach-ASSET will be working throughout the next few weeks to actively collect stories from friends and family across the state.  We encourage you to help us!  As you gather for the holidays, this is a wonderful time to begin to uncover the stories and pictures and memories so often shared this time of year.

Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.

A Web 2.0 Challenge... thank you Discovery!

A gem found on Facebook from a good friend was worth sharing. She hosts all sorts of online professional learning communities and webinars for educators and I can only participate in a fraction of them. But... when I do, I am always so glad I have taken the time to participate. The content is always top notch and I walk away with resources I can share with other educators. The educators who are there wind up with resources they can implement into their teaching practices in the next few weeks.

Take a look at this fantastic challenge shared by the Discovery Educator Network at their latest Fall online conference! It is a Web 2.0 challenge to incorporate these tools into your teaching with strategies and steps to make the tool relevant to your classroom. http://tinyurl.com/23d6z8k Enjoy and share with a colleague. It will most definitely make it more fun!

If you're feeling REALLY BRAVE... maybe come back and share a comment or two about a tool you have tried and what worked (or didn't) as well.