Christmas came early for me today as I opened my email and saw a message from Discovery Education titled "Your DEN Star Application Status information."
I love using Discovery Education in the library, especially its collection of books on video. Any time I use an award-winning book for library lessons, I check DE to see if there's a video version of the book to show after the read aloud and before discussion.
But there are other ways I've used DE in the library. For example, I check it for resources to use when planning author studies. DE has songs and pictures to compliment lessons on some topics like weather and animals. I've also used videos from DE to tackle tougher topics like digital citizenship and cyber-bullying. My best experience with DE, however, was during its Fall Virtual Conference. That was the event that inspired me to apply.
I applied to become a DEN Star sometime around Thanksgiving. Having just met the final requirement for my application last week, I wasn't expecting a response this soon. When I saw the message in my email earlier today, I was pretty nervous.
I almost didn't open the email. The usual self-doubt arose: What if my application wasn't sufficient? Should I have waited longer to submit my event? Should I have hosted a bigger event? And so on. But then I did open it.
And I was really, really happy I did it because my application was approved. It's not 2014 yet, but I know the year is going to be awesome. I'll get to network with other DEN Stars, who have inspired me to go outside my comfort zone this school year. Now that I'm a part of this outstanding network of educators, I can both learn from them and share with them--something that benefits not only me, but also my campus and other librarians in my school district.
In case anyone is wondering, I celebrated with a nice cup of peppermint hot chocolate.
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