Sunday, March 21, 2004

What's in A Name?

On January 1, 2004 Georgia Public Broadcasting launched an organization-wide branding initiative that involved all three broadcast divisions. The divisions, formerly known as Georgia Public Television, Georgia Public Radio, and PeachStar Education Services, will now be known as Georgia Public Broadcasting Television, Radio, and Education respectively. Even though our name has changed, you can still rely on the same high quality programming and services you have come to count on from PeachStar. You can still access our video through both satellite and video streaming and all of our services, such as Video On Request, professional development trainings, and Pipeline magazine subscriptions will continue to be available to you at no cost. In fact, the only thing different about they way you utilize our resources from this point forward will be the way you refer to us: Georgia Public Broadcasting Education.

Sunday, March 7, 2004

Georgia Public Broadcasting Education Director's Message

Dear Educator:

On January 1, 2004, PeachStar Education Services became Georgia Public Broadcasting Education, but the standard of service and materials we provide has remained the same. In fact, we continue to raise the bar in terms of classroom resources, making use of new and emerging technologies to ensure that you are receiving the support and resources you need from us as you go about the work of classroom instruction.

Following the September failure of our satellite, we have not only succeeded in migrating the majority of our receiving sites in order to restore service, we have also bolstered our non-satellite-delivered resources in order to allow you continued use of our video library despite the temporary disruption of satellite service. Since the August 2001 launch of our video streaming service, our repository of digital video clips has increased from 10,000 clips to more than 20,000 clips from 2,000 programs and series. To date, students and teachers from 180 school systems have utilized the service approximately 850,000 times.

The growing utilization of both video streaming and our new webcasting resource, which allows educators to take advantage of professional development opportunities remotely both live and on demand, indicates that the students and teachers we serve across Georgia are comfortable with the digital trend in education technology. We at Georgia Public Broadcasting pledge to provide you with opportunities for training and familiarization as we continue to integrate digital technology into our delivery of educational resources.

In addition to the resources we develop onsite here at GPB, we offer you the best educational materials available through partnerships with organizations such as Annenberg/CPB, for whom we serve as a video streaming mirror site, thereby giving you access to their extended library of K-12 and professional development video resources at no cost.

We recognize that no one is in a better position than educators to guide us in the development and shaping of resources for classroom use. Please share your thoughts and questions with us and help us to be the best service provider we can be by writing to peachstar@gpb.org. We look forward to using your feedback in our continued efforts to meet the needs of Georgia's teachers and learners.

Sincerely,

C. Blaine Carpenter, Ph.D.
Director, Education Services

Great Museums: A Great Opportunity

As you know, the Education Services Division of Georgia Public Broadcasting has been steadily expanding our arts programming for some time now. Our video repository now boasts a number of fine arts programs, including dance, theater, music, and visual arts. One of our newest acquisitions, Great Museums, focuses on museums across the country, exploring their collections in detail and offering students the opportunity to view artifacts they might otherwise never see. Did you know that the United States has more than 15,000 museums? How about that 2.3 million people visit American museums every day? Or that nine out of every 10 counties in the United States has a museum?

This series, designed for students in grades 8-12, explores all different kinds of museums that range in terms of focus from history, culture, literature, science, industry, technology, and popular culture. One episode even deals with Georgia's own Morris Museum of Art. The Morris Museum, located in Augusta, is the first museum in the country dedicated to celebrating the work of Southern artists. Housing more than 2,500 pieces, the museum offers visitors a survey of Southern artwork over time and across media.

Be sure to record this series, which can be used across disciplines as it deals with museums of all types. Check the listings on page INSERT for broadcast dates and times.

Friday, March 5, 2004

Georgia Performance Standards: A World-Class Curriculum for Our Schools

What was once simply theory is now close to becoming a reality for Georgia's teachers and students. State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox and the Curriculum and Instruction Staff at the Department of Education are pleased to announce the unveiling of the new Georgia Performance Standards, a world-class curriculum that will drive both instruction and assessment for Georgia's teachers and students.

As we work to lead the nation in improving student achievement, the Georgia Performance Standards will be the foundation upon which we build. Our teachers have long needed a published and usable document that establishes high standards, maintains clear expectations, and provides specific guidelines for facilitating student learning at a deeper level than possible under the old Quality Core Curriculum (QCC); now they have it. We have drawn on national and international best practices to produce a curriculum that will enable our schools and students to achieve at levels that will make Georgia an education leader not only in the southeast, but in the nation and the world as well.

From January 12, 2004 to April 12, 2004, you as an educator will be uniquely positioned to influence the shape of the new curriculum that will govern your classroom by sharing your questions and comments before it is finalized and submitted to the State Board of Education for approval. The Georgia Performance Standards, as well as explanatory videos and webcast presentations describing the major changes in each content area, are now available at www.gadoe.org. The Department of Education staff responsible for the development of the curriculum hope that you will take the opportunity to share your thoughts about the curriculum by filling out the feedback forms available on either of these two sites. DOE staff will use educator recommendations as they make final revisions to the document, which will be presented to the Board for approval in May and implemented this fall.

With the Georgia Performance Standards driving instruction across the state, Georgia will be well on the way to achieving its goal to lead the nation in improving student achievement.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004

Meet the Ready To Learn Consultant Nearest Your School

Georgia Public Broadcasting Education does more to serve the pre-kindergarten community than air quality programming from PBS Kids and other child-friendly program providers. We also improve the quality of education pre-school aged children receive by conducting trainings for parents and caregivers across the state. These trainings, sponsored by the PBS Ready To Learn program, equip those who care for young children to better meet their needs in terms of both traditional and television literacy.

GPB's Ready To Learn consultants bring to this work a wide array of experiences in the educational arena that uniquely positions them to meet the varying needs of communities statewide. The consultants do a lot of work with service organizations for underprivileged children, such as Head Start, in order to ensure that all of Georgia's children have an equal opportunity to learn when they begin school - regardless of their parents' income level. Additionally, GPB Education employs bilingual consultants, extending the reach of the Ready To Learn program's benefits to Spanish as well as English-speaking caregivers and children. Read on to learn a little bit about a few of our Ready To Learn consultants and the work that they do in communities near you.

Marilyn Armstrong - Macon
Marilyn has over 20 years experience as an elementary school teacher in Georgia. Over the course of her career, Marilyn has served as GALAXY Mentor for kindergarten teachers statewide, language arts department chair, school liaison to HeadStart, and co-developer of Bibb County's kindergarten language arts instructional alignment. As a Ready To Learn consultant, Marilyn serves children and caregivers in the Macon area by providing trainings on early literacy.

Mercedes Gutierrez - Marietta

Mercedes, who serves as Ready To Learn consultant for the Marietta and metro-Atlanta area, extends the reach of her services by conducting trainings in both English and Spanish. With experience as a pre-school educator, social worker, and Spanish language interpreter, Mercedes is well positioned to meet the literacy needs of the diverse community she serves.

Lauretta Kloer - Lawrenceville/Gwinnett County
Lauretta has over 16 years of teaching experience at the elementary school level and is a certified teacher of English to Students of Other Languages (ESOL). Her experience with adult education as an InTech trainer at Kennesaw State University makes her doubly qualified to conduct trainings for the parents and caregivers of pre-school children. Her additional experience as an instructional technology specialist better enables her to promote technology literacy.

Kathy McCollister - Savannah

Kathy has worked in the field of early childhood education for more than 20 years. During that time she has served not only as a classroom teacher, but also as a trainer of early childhood professionals. Throughout her career, Kathy has focused on both media literacy and creative play, both of which are fostered through GPB Education's Ready To Learn program.

Rachel Wester - Waycross

Rachel, who has been an early childhood educator for 10 years, embraces PBS Kids and Ready To Learn not only professionally, but also for use in her own home. She has a strong sense of the importance of literacy skills early on in a child's education and relies on quality education programming such as PBS Kids' Between the Lions and Reading Rainbow to help instill a love of reading in children.

If you would like to schedule a Ready To Learn training for parents or caregivers in your area, contact GPB Education's Laura Miller at lmiller@gpb.org or (404) 685-2521.