Monday, January 29, 2007

Irasshai Participates in ACTFL

If you are in any way related to foreign language education, Nashville, Tenn. was the place to be on Nov. 17 - 19. The 40th Annual American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Convention and Exposition was held there, and GPB was promoting its two foreign language offerings, Irasshai and Salsa.

This year the conference theme was "Discover the Future...Discover Languages," emphasizing the important role that foreign language learning plays in the futures of both students and adults. More than 700 professional workshops, meetings and sessions focusing on all aspects of the teaching and learning of languages and cultures were offered.

Irasshai's TV host and instructor, Dr. Tim Cook, presented his research on videoconferencing from remote locations outside of the classroom. His session included a live videoconference with Irasshai students in San Antonio, Texas and a discussion on the possibilities and obstacles of such "roving instruction."

Thousands of ACTFL attendees came through the exhibit hall, and many of those came by and made inquiries at the GPB booth. Drawings were also held, and a few lucky winners were chosen to receive an Irasshai Explorer video set, t-shirts and Salsa video tapes.

GPB plans to attend Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) in New York on April 12 - 14, 2007.

Strengthen Art Education at Your School

Building upon the success and acclaim of the Arts in Every Classroom: A Workshop for Elementary School Teachers series, Annenberg brings their skill and reputation for excellence in developing instructional materials to two new arts education programs for middle and high school teachers.

Together, the programs provide a comprehensive K-12 look at questions and strategies for implementing or strengthening an arts education program in your school. All of the programs show teachers in a series of video workshops how important the arts are to education, and the two new programs show how the arts can be integrated with other subjects for a learning experience for students like no other.

Connecting With the Arts: A Workshop for Middle Grades Teachers features a roundtable panel of arts educators who share their experiences with integrating the arts with other subjects, including science and math. The program also provides key elements of arts integration that help teachers begin the process at their own school. The series is accompanied with a website and workshop guide.

The Art of Teaching the Arts: A Workshop for High School Teachers also provides a wide variety of support materials to use with the program. During the series, the seven principles of effective teaching are discussed and explored. Best practices are also discussed and shared by magnet high school teachers and comprehensive high school teachers.

GPB will offer these programs on our satellite channels this month. Please check the GPB Education Schedule for times and dates.

For more information, visit www.learner.org.

Links to other Fine Arts programming:


The Fabulous Fox Using art, history, mathematics, language art, and social studies, students discover the cultural and historic themes found throughout the Fox Theatre. An interdisciplinary instructional unit designed by GPB Education provides a number of good classroom tools and resources.

State of the Arts An award-winning quarterly arts show on Georgia artists and cultural institutions.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Actor Keith Robinson visits Georgia Public Broadcasting

Georgia actor and star of the award-winning film Dreamgirls visited Georgia Public Broadcasting for interviews and promotional spots on Wednesday, December 6. Keith was charming when speaking about his role in the film, his Georgia roots and mentors. He also took the time to record some promotional tags for C-47: Georgia Short film Showcase, GPB pledge, Achieving Excellence: Inside Georgia Schools and Georgia Public Television. In addition, he provided the station with terrific message points about reading, staying in school and supporting the arts. Look for interview excerpts on www.cforty7.com, GPB Education, State of the Arts and Georgia Public Radio's Georgia Gazette.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

A New Resource for Teachers: The Education Connection

The Teacher Toolbox has been revamped and given a new name. It is now The Education Connection and debuts this month on the GPB Education site. Media specialists and teachers will find some of their old favorites from Teacher Toolbox coupled with new information to enhance classroom learning.

There are four parts to The Education Connection - Education Resources, Technology in the Classroom, Professional Learning and Literacy across the Curriculum. All of the resources are easy to find and use.

Here are a few of the great things you will find at The Education Connection:

* Educational Resources
Find teacher and parent educational resources and tools for using GPS based interdisciplinary unit builders.

* Technology in the Classroom
Find resources, tools and program information for using technology at home and in the classroom. This includes important satellite information, lesson unit builders for GPB Original Programming, collaborative tools for the classroom and more. You will also have access to many helpful links to edublogs, wikis, podcasts and GPB's Digital Library.

* Professional Learning
At GPB we support Professional Learning initiatives that provide leadership, technical assistance, resources and consultative services to the Georgia education community. Look here to find resources for teachers and parents on literacy and learning.

* Literacy across the Curriculum
Here you will find additional resources focused on reading and writing across the curriculum.

To access The Education Connection, please visit www.gpb.org/education.

Monday, January 1, 2007

C-47: Georgia Short Film Showcase

The inaugural round of the Georgia Public Broadcasting C-47: Georgia Short Film Showcase is now underway. Twenty film submissions were received from Georgia filmmakers for the Fall 2006 competition. Thirteen individuals were chosen to serve on the Jury for their professional qualifications and experience in film media and/or academics and their knowledge of the Georgia film community. Their expertise in the entertainment industry will undoubtedly help to catapult and build the C-47 project over the coming months.

C-47 Jurors for Fall 2006:
Linda Dubler, Media Arts Curator for the High Museum; Amy Clark, Rome Convention Visitors Bureau; Patrick McGuire, Director of Valdosta Film Commission and Associate Film Professor at Valdosta State University; Ralph Wilcox, Director of Southwest Georgia Film Commission; Teodoro Maus, Filmmaker and former Mexican Consul for Atlanta; James Knight, Head of Entertainment Business Development at Crawford Communications; Joe Binford, Jr., Filmmaker and COO Chicken Filters; Nate Kohn, Film Producer and Professor at University of Georgia; Scott Tigchelaar, President of Riverwood Studios; Sylvia Jackson, Producer/Director Film Captive Productions; Bo Shurling, Film Publicist/Writer; Simon Kornblitt, former Vice President of Marketing, Universal Pictures; and Steve Bell, Director of Macon Film Office.

The first C-47 quarterly winner will be chosen in January.

GPB Offers Educator and Youth Mentor Workshop

GPB will host an Educator and Youth Mentor Workshop February 9-10, which features the film Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. The film, debuting on PBS February 20, provides an excellent way to explore media literacy and other social issues through the lens of one of today's most popular art forms.

The workshop will begin with a screening of the film that will be followed by a series of short workshops on media literacy. There will also be panel discussions and performances.

Participants of the workshop can expect to:

* Develop a strong working knowledge and history of hip hop, the various ways hip hop has been and is being defined in our culture and community, and why bringing hip hop into the classroom is useful for academic achievement.
* Receive access to a "how to" kit focused on developing and enhancing media literacy skills in youth that will allow them to critically engage with visual media.
* Receive and share curriculum materials related to the Georgia Performance Standards in social studies and language arts.
* Share and create networking opportunities with GPB Education and other educators in their region.

If you are interested in participating in the Educator and Youth Mentor Workshop, please contact Deborah Grayson at dgrayson@gpb.org.