GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Media Matters Exemplary Open Houses in Carrollton and Bonaire VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 DECEMBER 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: National Board 2 GALILEO Training 4 Holiday Web Sites 6 Governor's Honors 8 Georgia Read More 9 December Calendar 10 Jane Toth welcomes Superintendent Thomas Wilson to the Open House at Carrollton Elementary on November 17th. Lisa Hill (center) welcomes Principal Cynthia Randall and Superintendent Danny Carpenter to the Bonaire Middle Open House held on November 16th. PAGE 2 VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 Congratulations to Our New National Board Certified Media Specialists Thirty-three Georgia library media specialists recently received news that they have earned their National Board certificate. Congratulations! Georgia now has 79 National Board Certified Media Specialists! Melissa Allen Glynn County Rebecca Amerson Cherokee County Anne Arden Chatham County Shirley Bobbitt Marbut Chattooga County Angela Booth Ben Hill County John Brooks Bryan County Cawood Cornelius Gordon County Susan Fancher Gwinnett County Ruth Fleet Polk County Sherry Grove Dougherty County Janice Habersham Bibb County Scott Heaton Treutlen County Margaret Helmly Effingham County Emily Herman Atlanta City Mary Hickey Bibb County Sheila Howard Atlanta City MEDIA MATTERS Susan Humma Diane King Darlene Kukulski Linda Lumpkin Laura Miller Frizzell Teresa Minish Linda Mros Susan Murphy Pam Nutt Joan Overstreet Janice Peck Amy Redmond Margaret Ross Sharon Self Judy Sudderth Linda Wade Evelyn White Thames Bulloch County Chatham County Gwinnett County Richmond County Tift County Madison County Polk County Cherokee County Spalding County Wayne County Madison County Polk County Fulton County Muscogee County Bibb County Newton County Cobb County PAGE 3 PAGE 4 VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 GALILEO training coming to your ETTC GALILEO is teaming up with the regional Educational Technology Trainer Centers to offer training to media specialists. We are very excited about working with the ETTCs and about the opportunity to meet media specialists face-to-face and talk about some of the great resources available through GALILEO. The four-hour workshops will be presented by a GALILEO staff member and trainers from Encyclopdia Britannica, SIRS, and Gale (Kids InfoBits). We will include an overview of the site and a closer look at the following resources: Digital Library of Georgia databases EBSCOhost Searchasaurus MasterFILE Premier MAS Ultra TOPICSearch) Encyclopdia Britannica Britannica Elementary Compton's Encyclopedia Britannica School Edition Enciclopedia Universal en Espao Annals of American History Kids InfoBits New Georgia Encyclopedia SIRS Discoverer and WebFind Researcher and SKS WebSelect Interactive Citizenship WorldCat MEDIA MATTERS PAGE 5 ETTC GALILEO Training Schedule To register for the GALILEO training, please contact your region's ETTC. For a directory of the Educational Technology Centers go to this link: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/_documents/doe/help/ettc_directory.pdf Site University of Georgia, Athens Macon State College, Macon Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw State University of West Georgia, Carrollton Floyd College, Rome Armstrong Atlantic State, Savannah First District RESA, Brooklet National Science Center/Fort Discovery, Augusta University of Georgia, Gwinnett Pioneer RESA, Cleveland Heart of Georgia RESA, Eastman Columbus State University, Columbus Albany State University, Albany Valdosta State University, Valdosta Date November 30, 2004 December 1-2, 2004 February 1, 2005 February 2, 2005 February 3, 2005 February 23, 2005 February 24, 2005 February 25, 2005 March 2, 2005 March 3, 2005 March 22, 2005 March 23, 2005 April 12, 2005 April 13, 2005 PAGE 6 Holiday Web Sites VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 History of Christmas From World Books' Holidays around the World this site includes sections on Santa Claus, Advent and the celebration of Christmas, world traditions, the Christmas tree and other customs, and recipes and crafts from around the world. Holidays Around the World also covers Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the New Year, Ramadan, and other holidays http://www2.worldbook.com/features/holidays/html/history.htm Christmas: The Story, Customs and Traditions A collection of information about Christmas, covering customs, the Christmas story, and historical and geographical background, with links to sites where you can write to Santa, find recipes and more on the Christmas theme. http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/carolrb/christmas/christmas1.html Christmas Around the World! The staff at the Christmas.com site have put together a great page for learning about Christmas traditions in countries around the world. Find out how the holiday is celebrated in South America, Europe, and other areas. Includes information about the history of holiday symbols. http://christmas.com/worldview/ Christmas Around the World Visit over 30 countries to see how they celebrate the holiday. http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/index.htm Christmas at the History Channel Online exhibits from the History Channel on the development of the Christmas holiday from ancient winter solstice practices; world traditions of the holiday; the evolution of the Santa Claus legend; the history of Christmas trees; "Yes, Virginia," the story of Virginia and her letter; and a special section on the history of various toys and games. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/ Audobon Society: Christmas Bird Count Join the 105th Annual Christmas Bird Count from December 14 through January 5. More than 50,000 observers participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/index.html MEDIA MATTERS PAGE 7 Hanukkah Recipes Recipes to keep you full for eight days straight during the "Festival of Light." From Food Network's Holiday Archives. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/et_hd_hanukkah/article/0,1972,FOOD_9837_1734898,00.html Chanukah History of the holiday, blessings, recipes, and more from the Jewish Holidays site. Includes an extensive list of related links http://www.sfjcf.org/jholidays//holidayinfo/chanukah.shtml Kwanzaa Kwanzaa is a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm A History of the Holidays This site from The History Channel includes information on Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/main.html The Official Kwanzaa Web site Features information on Kwanzaa greetings, gifts, colors and decorations, celebration, the Seven Principles, and more. http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/ Education World Holiday Site Do your students celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Three Kings Day? Maybe they celebrate St. Lucia Day or Ramadan. December offers great opportunities for teaching about our multicultural world. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson246.shtml Chanukah Fun & Games Sponsored by Torah Tots, the site for Jewish children. Includes the history of the holiday, music, games, coloring pages and more. http://www.torahtots.com/holidays/chanuka/chanuk.htm PAGE 8 Position Announcement GOVERNOR'S HONORS PROGRAM VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 Program Description: The Governor's Honors Program (GHP) is a six-week summer instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year. Activities are designed to provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, life-long learners. Annually, 675 students are selected to attend the program, currently held on the campus of Valdosta State University, in Valdosta, Ga. Each participant enrolls in major and minor areas of instruction. The teacher to student ratio is 1:15. Title: Instructor Description of Duties: Provide instruction in the major area of study four hours per day, six days per week; provide instruction in the minor area of study 2.5 hours per day, five days per week; attend instructional staff planning weekend in March; attend staff orientation sessions in June; meet and plan with department staff when appropriate; participate in outside-of-class activities when directed; undertake other duties, as assigned. Minimum Qualifications: Ability to apply instructional strategies for gifted students. Possesses broad knowledge of current best practices in the specific content area. Excellent written, oral, and presentation skills. Ability to design and present instruction that is significantly different from the regular high school curriculum in terms of content, delivery, and/or expectation of student response. Ability to design and present instruction which would empower the learner to become a lifelong learner. Demonstrates an ongoing curiosity/willingness to learn in his/her field as well as other fields. Is flexible when planning instruction; recognizes when it is necessary to alter plans of instruction. Has a sense of humor, especially about self and stressful situations. Ability to work with students and staff in a professional, pleasant manner. Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree or higher. Minimum of (3) three years successful teaching experience in the specific content area. Experience teaching gifted education classes, Advanced Placement, or honors courses. Have been a participant in the Georgia Governor's Honors Program or another Governor's School. Application Deadline: Continuous recruitment. Interviews will begin immediately, and will continue until all positions are filled. Salary: $4387 (based on 48 hours per week); Room and Board Provided Dates of Employment: June 9 - July 24, 2005 Submit a completed application and three reference forms [available at www.doe.k12.ga.us] to: Dr. Joe Searle, Director Georgia Governor's Honors Program 1862 Twin Towers East Atlanta, GA 30334-5040 Telephone: (404) 657-0183; Fax: (404) 657-7096 e-mail address: jsearle@doe.k12.ga.us MEDIA MATTERS Georgia Read More Project Begins! PAGE 9 In order to promote reading, the Georgia Department of Education is providing an opportunity for state leaders, dignitaries, and celebrities to read aloud a children's book and have the reading accessible for viewing by students, parents, and teachers through the GPB satellite, Webcasting on the Georgia Department of Education's Web page, and through DVDs that will be distributed to all Georgia public elementary schools. State Superintendent Kathy Cox recently read Princess Penelope to a group of children at the Georgia State University Child Development Center. Princess Penelope was written by Todd Mack, illustrated by Julia Gran, and published by Scholastic Press. Our first lady, Mrs. Mary Perdue, will be reading Miss Twiggley's Tree in early December. Information about the broadcast schedule will be announced soon December 2004 GaDOE Library Media Services Sunday Monday Tuesday November 04 S M TW T F S 123456 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 January 05 S M TW T F S 1 2345678 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 2 3 English Chunnel 1823: Monroe Birthday of completed: 1990 Doctrine signed Joseph Conrad: 1857-1924 Saturday 4 Phonograph invented: 1877 5 Birthday ofWalt Disney: 19011966 6 7 Birthday ofJoyce Kilmer: 18861918 Chanukah begins 8 9 10 11 Birthday ofEli Birthday ofJoel Birthday ofEmily 1918 Alexander Whitney: 1765- Chandler Harris: Dickinson: 1830- Solzhenitsyn is 1825 1845/8-1908 1886 born 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Washington DC becomes capital: 1800 New Zealand South Pole reach- discovered: 1642 ed: 1911 Sir Frances Drake began circum- navigation voyage: 1577 Bill ofRights Day Margaret Mead A Christmas Carol born: 1901-1978 published: 1843 1st performance ofThe Nutcracker Suite: 1892 19 20 21 22 1732: Poor Richar- U.S. purchased Pilgrims land on Birthday ofJames d's Almanack is Louisiana Terri- Plymouth Rock: Oglethorpe: p ub lis hed tory: 1803 1620 1696-1785 23 Voyager completes global flight: 1986 24 25 1881 Nobel Prizewinning poet Juan Ramon Jimnez is born Christmas 26 Kwanzaa 27 28 29 Birthday ofLouis Pasteur Carol Ryrie Brink 1916 Portrait of born: 1895-1981 the Artist as a Young Man is pub lis hed 30 31 Rudyard Kipling Edison demonborn: 1865-1936 strates incandescent light: 1879 When I dis covered libraries , it was like having Christmas every day. Jean Fritz