Thursday, July 19, 2007

Pics










On the beach in Freeport with Kim.








The beach in Freeport.










Hall Davidson wearing a Bahamian-made hat.









My Team!

First day on the boat!


The first day on the boat - not even out of port yet.

Back in Orlando

I'm back in Orlando now - with internet and phone access. I'm going to post all my information today, from the last few days. Can't wait to get home and share!

Sunday - Arrived at the ship on Sunday. This place is just like a little city. You could live here and never leave. Didn’t get to explore much as we had to get right to work.

Joe Brennan shared information on AFI and good movie making tips. We worked for several hours creating a movie using the green screen effect. I’ll post our movie here later today.


Monday - After breakfast we met in our groups to plan our project. Our project is going to be based on the value of the dollar in countries around the world. We hope to use Google earth to travel to the different countries, then have a video there that tells about the economy of the country. Next, we’ll create a “behind the door” video where when we open the door, we will show what $1 will buy in the chosen country. Since we are in the Bahamas, we are heading out to take some video to use in our project.

Back from the island. Talked to a Bahamian about what a dollar will buy there. Seems to compare to the U.S. Did a little shopping, walked in the ocean and headed back to the boat.

Tuesday - Today was excursion day in Nassau. I headed to lunch about noon and then went ashore for a little shopping. I even bought a little something for my friends. ☺ After returning to the boat, I went to the pool for a while. (A very short while – it’s REALLY hot and muggy here.) Now, it’s getting close to work time.

Tonight was formal night for dinner, so we had a few sessions on 2nd life, delicious skype, meebo, and twitter. Did a little game with clickers called, 3 Truths and 1 Lie where each person had to tell 3 things that were true about them and one thing that was not, then we had to pick the lie.

After the formal dinner, we did a little karaoke and dancing.

Wednesday – Work, work, work! Today we got to really work in our groups for most of the day. Up until this time, we had only small amounts of time to work together. We created our video on my (Brad’s) computer. While I worked on that, the others were working on United Streaming resources and sharing information with me to add to the video. It was a great group effort and a great project. We shared them after our last evening meal on the boat. Saw some great projects!

Thursday – Up early today to get ready to disembark. They picked up our luggage last night, so had to make due with only a carry-on bag. Then after waiting in line for a time, we picked up our baggage – mine wasn’t there, but was found soon enough in another room with no tag – yikes! – and headed to the airport. Everyone got off at the airport but 2 Floridians and me. We rode to the hotel where we stayed on our trip out. I’ll park here until around 3 and then head back to the airport. Wanted some free internet for the duration of my wait.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Disneyworld and Epcot


Today we (my California friends and I) went to Disneyworld and Epcot. Disneyworld was a lot of fun. Rode several rides, but the best 2 were - Pirates of the Caribbean and Mickey's PhilHarmagic. I even rode "Splash Mountain" without getting scared!

At Epcot we had lunch in "Morocco". Then waited in line forever at "Soarin". I can hardly believe I went on that ride, which involved sitting in a seat that became a hang glider and gliding over California. After that ride, my California friends adopted me as an honorary Californian. It was well worth the wait!

We just got back from "Downtown Disney" where we ate in an Irish Pub and did a little shopping.

Get to sleep in a little tomorrow and then it is off on the shuttle bus to the boat. And then it is time to work! We'll be getting together with our teams and start working on our projects.

One really cool thing I found out today - 40 of the people here are "Leadership Teams" for DEN. That means they host events and keep their state's blog going. So, I was one of the 10 chosen after those people got in. I better work hard to live up to that!

I now have a goal - to start a Leadership Team in our state for DEN with two other DEN members. How about it Mary? Got any ideas who might help us in this? Maybe Dan from Abilene???

Friday, July 13, 2007

I've arrived in Orlando

Arrived in Orlando about 6 p.m. local time. (4 p.m. mst) Caught a ride on the hotel van with another Den member, Dennis from California. We headed to the hotel where we met up with Discovery-person-in-charge-of-this-trip, Janitta. The three of us went to eat at TGIFriday's. Now I'm back at the hotel, settled for the night.

I feel good about this trip, especially now that I have met a few people and have "friends" to hang with. I think I am going to learn a lot and expand my network. It's really unbelievable that I am here!

Disneyworld tomorrow and then we are off to the ship!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Cruisin'

Tomorrow I leave for Florida to begin my Discovery Educator Network Cruise Experience. A few of us will be visiting Disney World on Saturday. Then off to the ship on Sunday. I'm a little nervous - going all by myself. I'm very excited. Can't wait to network with teachers from across the country.