RJ Stangherlin

Keystone Technology Integrator and STAR Discovery Educator

This site is for Mrs. Stangherlin's classes at Salisbury High School.

Caching Up: FBLA WINS!

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

The next few blogs constitute a series of “catching up,” getting back to really important postings that just slipped away from me during the crush of a very busy school year. Here’s the first, and it is both good news and bad news, bittersweet.

FBLA, under the guidance of the inimitable Frank Lane, posted their best-ever record. The bad news: Mr. Lane is relinquishing his post as coach of the FBLA team, going out on his students’ best-ever season. We will miss him at the helm of FBLA and we will miss him at SHS.  I learned today that Mr. Lane has accepted a position at Parkland.  We are happy for him but he filled a space that is truly hard to fill, both in the classroom and in our hearts.  We will miss you, Mr. Lane.

Here’s what the students accomplished:

Shannon Safi and Megan Walsh: Digital Video Production--6th Place

Nick Fisher: Introduction to Technology Concepts--5th Place

Willian Kennington and Dennis Peterson: Desktop Publishing--did not place in the top ten.

John Soler , John Gardus, AJ Safi: Global Business--2nd Place and qualified for National Competition

Megan Cassel, Courtney Loomis, Matt Cialkowski: Management and Decision Making--3rd Place and qualified for National Competition.

Two teams qualified for Nationals, and that is a major accomplishment for our students, their teacher, Mr. Lane, and our school. We are so proud of you.

IP 2008 Photos and Video: Finished

Cross-posted on changingconnections

Another year of IP has come to an end, 6 stage presentations and 3 video productions later.  Miss Brinson and I would like to extend a special thank you to the students who created spectacular examples of 21st century learning, and to the parents, extended family, friends, staff and administration who supported our students throughout the year.  Video postings of the 9 presentations are forthcoming.

What If RFK Was Not Assassinated? Could One Man Adapt a Country to a Changing Time? [Stage Presentation]
Abby Zovko, Colin Ackerman, Emily Miller, Jessica Gates, Drew DePoy, Tony Abraham

What If Nixon Defeated Kennedy in the First Televised 1960 Debate?  Could Conservatism Define the 1960s? [Video Production]
Victoria Ravenelle, Matt Mattuiz, Sean McDermott, Alex Weir, Kaylyn Syvret

A Revolutionary Decade: The 1960s.  Was Peace Attainable Without Transgression? [Stage Presentation]
Jennifer Picht, Melanie Surajbali, Amanda Wirth, Bailee Johnson, Deaven Freed, Jennifer Picht, Gabby Snyder, Sarah Holzer

What If a UN Loss in Korea Led to a Greater Conflict?  Could the Circumstances Lead to an Apocalyptic Nuclear Holocaust? [Video Production]
Garred Greenberg, Colton Furbur, Kevin Connors, Aaron Benner

What If the Constitution Had Not Been Ratified?  How Much Can One Document Change the Future? [Stage Presentation]
Matthew Croft, Ethan Vokes, Kayla Mjaatvedt, Avery Markle, Casey Feinberg, Michael Russo. 

The following behind-the-scenes-photos were taken during weekend practice.  The dress rehearsal photos were too dark to publish, so I made a slide show of what I had.  If anyone has photos from this group, please forward them to me and I’ll make a second slide show for this group.

What if the Thirteen Colonies Never Received Aid from France During the American Revolution?  Can a Monarchy Inspire a Democracy? [Stage Presentation]
Chris Yeisley, Tyler Nolan, Jennifer Singley, Kayla Springer, Anna Novak, Drew Eisenhauer, Cyrus Sholevar

What If Prohibition Had Been Enforced?  Would Sober Living Sweep the Nation? [Video Production]
Ashley Gibiser, Samantha Foulke, Rebekah Jerista, Nolan McGilloway, Jeff Yorgey

What If Nixon Wasn’t a Crook?  Can One Man’s Honesty Change a Nation? [Stage Presentation]
Mirielle Elchaar, Nicole Bartholomew, Lauren Kolowitz, Morgan Anastasio

What If Thomas Jefferson Had Deemed the Louisiana Purchase Unconstitutional?  Could the United States Survive with Internal Boundaries? [Stage Presentation]
Scott Gardus, Rachel Hoats, Donte McCrary-McClain, Matthew Heyer, Melinda Lehman, Paige Marze, Brianna Dee

The Me Decade: A 1970s IP Documentary:  Jade Letlow and Sam Heddleson

Civil Rights: A What If Slide Show: Julia Bruchak

Students and Teachers Learning Together: DENs New Kind of Webinar

Cross posted on Pennsylvania’s Discovery Educator Network Blog and Changing Connections.

Steve Dembo been planning this event for ages and he’s thrilled that on Wednesday, April 9, at 11:00 AM EST, it will finally happen.  On my wish list for ages was a event that would bring students and teachers together to learn collaboratively. Leave it to DEN to make wishes come true.  So, I am really thrilled to remind you that in two days, teachers and students across America can tap into the power of Discovery and participate in America’s Army and the Rise of Video Games Webinar through Discovery Connect. If you are looking for a webinar that you and your students will really love, then you want to join us.  Steve says you won’t want to miss this one--and let’s face it: our DEN SuperSTARS (who are in Pennsylvania as I type) always deliver the goods.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.  (The rest of this blog is shamelessly copied from Steve’s original post.)

According to Dembo, the Discovery Channel featured a mini-series entitled Rise of the Video Games. America’s Army, a computer game developed by the U.S. Army was featured prominently because of its ultra-realism and how it was being used for training purposes.

This webinar will feature some of the creative geniuses BEHIND the computer game. They will discuss how they created the game, how they took real Soldiers and real Army locations and put them into the game, and how Soldiers are using game technology to train. They will also answer questions students have about the development process or what courses (or schoolwork) are needed to become a game developer.

While all age levels are invited to participate, this webinar is recommended primarily for middle school and secondary school students.  .

The World’s Largest Classroom

Cross-posted at Changing Connections.

Welcome to the world’s largest classroom, Oprah’s Web Event featuring Eckhart Tolle‘s best selling book, A New Earth.  Not only does this book have global appeal; it has a global audience.  The numbers are staggering: 136 countries represented with 750,000 tuned in for the world’s largest live web event.  I had to be a part of it, so I joined the Oprah network (free) and reserved my seat for the class.  It’s not too late to join, because there are 9 more classes coming to you at 9:00 PM Eastern, but the doors open at 8:30.  If you missed the first class, you can watch it here.

You really would not need a press release to know that you were part of a world-wide unprecedented event, and that’s really why I joined.  I just did not want to let a ground-breaking technology event of this magnitude pass me by.  The bonus was the book; it either speaks to you--or not.  To me it said volumes about becoming a better person, living in the now, and finding a kind of spirituality.  Although this book may not find an audience in everyone, the event and being a part of it compels me to continue.

The fact that we are participating in this social networking globally, in real time, speaks volumes about the locus of our online culture.  What surprised me about the first meeting was the connectivity; I did not lose my connection until 57 minutes into the program, when the volume of overload had to create glitches for many of us.  But next Monday, I know where I’ll be, tuning in with the rest of the world, having completed my Week 2 homework online, ready to ask my question, if I get a chance.

NAIMUN: Changing the World, One Issue at a Time

Why, you might wonder, would 28 Salisbury High School student delegates join 2850 students from 128 schools from around the world (mostly private/prep with unlimited funding and Model UN embedded into curricula) for 4 days of rigorous schedules and long sessions during Presidents’ Weekend.  Because they meet people from different backgrounds and cultures they would otherwise not meet, enjoy the spontaneous conversation, and collaborate on real-world issues that inspire them to try to change the world, one issue at a time.  Welcome to Georgetown University’s North American Invitational Model United Nations at the Hilton Washington in D.C. 

Our students participated on 10 of the 38 committees that examined the importance, idiosyncrasies, causes and effects of global issues like AIDS, the Kyoto Protocol, racism in FIFA, or any international situation.  Most of the major committees have two issues presented in the background guides.  Students write position papers responding to those two issues from their assigned country’s perspective.  Using parliamentary procedure, each committee decides which issue to bring to the floor.  Through the process of communicating with other countries, student delegates begin to gather allies with whom they can write and sponsor working papers that become resolutions with the goal of passing the resolutions.  Delegates gather allies by listening to people who speak on the floor or by writing notes to one another.  Once a resolution reaches the floor, the debate ensues, and delegates speak for or against the resolution until a vote is called for and passes or is killed in committee. 

The math on this project is staggering.

2 issues per committee + @6 resolutions per issue = 12 resolutions x 38 committees = 456 +/- resolutions = 4 days at NAIMUN. 

So is the mentoring.  An offshoot of Student Government, Model UN is one of the many activities that Miss Brinson sponsors through this organization. 

So is the real-world connection beyond the classroom, substantive conversation, extended writing, and construction of knowledge, the four standards for authentic social studies education.  If you are looking for exemplars of 21st century learning, you would be hard pressed to find a better model of student-centered, inquiry-based, collaborative learning. 

Secrets from the State Department

During Presidents’ Weekend, 28 students traveled with Miss Brinson and me to Washington, D.C. for NAIMUN, North American Invitational Model United Nations, hosted by Georgetown University.  NAIMUN began of Thursday, February 13, with a Keynote Address that promised to deliver STATE SECRETS.  A conference room housing over 2850 student delegates and their moderators suddenly hushed.

Mr. Fort, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, manages the production and dissemination of all-source intelligence analysis to the Secretary of State, other senior policymakers, and heads the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community.  Assistant Secretary of State Randall M. Fort gave the Keynote Address for the opening of the 45th North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference on November 14, 2008. 

Thirty-two years ago, Mr. Fort was a participant at a Model UN and he remembered being bored by the Keynote, so he wanted to do something different.  He offered his audience of 3000 spectators “secrets from the State Department.” At that moment, his audience quieted.

The secrets were a formula for success: 4 secrets containing 3 words each—words to live by.

1. DO GOOD WORK.  Come to someone’s attention that you are better than the mediocrities because you will enable opportunities for yourself.

2. DEVELOP AN EXPERTISE.  Find something you love and become an expert, a skills set that will serve you forever.

3. BUILD YOUR ROLEDEX.  Know people who can contribute to your career.

4. MAINTAIN YOUR INTEGRITY.  Don’t compromise your ethics.  Mr. Fort said this secret was the most important component to success.

After a short but motivating keynote, Mr. Fort devoted the rest of his presentation to fielding a Q and A session.