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Happy New Year! January/2009 Dear friends on the mission,   Happy New Year! It has been a long and challenging decade, but we at FableVision have never given up on the notion that great teaching and learning happen by welcoming innovation and creativity, not testing kids at every turn. As we usher in a new year and a new administration, we are optimistic that dramatic change in policy and curriculum will allow schools to transform into places that teachers and students rush to, linger in, and long to return to. It is a joy to continue to find educators like you who are mission-driven, creative, and love their kids. On occasion, many of you have thanked us for helping recharge your creative batteries and for reminding you of why you got into teaching in the first place! That IS our mission! Wishing you a stellar journey this year, Peter H. Reynolds Founder & President FableVision Learning FableVision Thaws Out in Florida FETC Here We Come! We're looking forward to leaving snowy Boston and headin' down to sunny Florida for FETC!  Come find FableVisionaries Carol and Julia defrosting at the CCVJourneyEd Booth:  #841. However, you'll also find us among our other pals such as: Learning Services, Academic Superstore, Software Express, and Promethean!  Our star author, Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns, co-creator of our K-5 writing program, Stationery Studio, (hope by now your school has a copy or two! If not - click here) will appear in person at our reseller booths. We will also be joined by Roberta Scherf and Chris Bye of Thinking Moves, creators of SmartMoves, our cognitive fitness program. While our philosophy is "everyone is a winner" a few lucky souls will actually win some great prizes: a treasure chest of FableVision Creativity Tools! Swing by our FableVision reseller booths and enter to WIN! It Just Keeps Getting Better! Announcing Animation-ish Version 1.2 How could Animation-ish get any better? Version 1.2 now makes Animation-ish "whiteboard-active." We've already received rave reviews on this powerful combo.  If you've purchased Animation-ish, you'll receive an email with the download link for this update. If you haven't purchased Animation-ish yet, now's the time!  Animation-ish, powered by Toon Boom Animation Inc. and designed by FableVision is a great program for students in grades K-12. It's not often that one program can work for all grade levels! My Travels It has been a busy month already. I popped "across the pond" to the UK, visiting Vale of Catmose College in Oakham on January 12th and Whissendine Church of England School on January 13th. My sisters Jane and Renee live in the village nearby and thought it would be great to visit my nephew's school while in England for the BETT show. It was loads of fun including doing a "collabimation" where a student did a WiggleDoodle in Animation-ish and I animated it! The Flying heart doodle dazzled the crowd igniting lots of ideas for their own "collabimations." Thursday I attended BETT 2009 - The British Educational Training and Technology Conference (which I think should be called BELT - Training is what we do to dogs, not children. Actually my dog is a 21st Century Learner!)  I read The Dot at a seminar celebrating storytelling within the primary curriculum, hosted by my pal, Promethean's Margaret Allen. We showcased the new "whiteboard-interactive" Animation-ish version 1.2  and The Dot story. The UK trip was a return to my roots. Our parents emigrated from England to Canada, where my twin brother Paul and I were born.  It was a coming home in many ways. In fact, much of my first book, The North Star, was written while visiting my sisters in England.  My sister Renee lives in Melton Mowbray with her husband and 4 boys, while my sister Jane, who is a partner in Watson Sessions Consulting, lives in Whissendine. The Presidential Inaugural Gala After the UK, I'll be off to DC to emcee the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Gala at The Corcoran Gallery of Art on January 20, 2009! I am still in shock from the phone call inviting me to participate in this historic occasion. It is a huge honor for me and FableVision. I'll lead the Presidential Inaugural Gala's program that focuses on "technology serving humanity" and advances President-elect Obama's vision of how investments in science and technology can drive prosperity to improve the lives of all Americans. At the January 20th Gala event, I'll unveil an original commemorative illustration that depicts the theme of the evening - how technology can improve and support humanity in four areas - Life, Information, Nature and Knowledge. The original pen, ink and watercolor of this illustration will be auctioned off at the Presidential Inaugural Gala - along with 100 signed and numbered museum-quality giclee prints of the illustration. All proceeds will support President-elect Obama's Share Our Strength (SOS) campaign to eradicate children's hunger. We're working on a poster version for schools which we will announce soon. STARRY, STARRY BOOK! An exciting year ahead! My book, The North Star, cornerstone of the mission, will be republished for its "10th Anniversary" (actually 12th, but who's counting?) My pals at Candlewick Press who published The Dot and Ish (among others!) will be rolling it out in April just in time for graduations. Of course, you can get a SIGNED copy from us directly. Click here to drop Bill a note if you'd like to get a reminder.   News from Terry Shay, FV Lead Ambassador Terry is our fabulous Lead Ambassador, who teaches full-time, but takes time out of his busy schedule, not only to help with the FableVision mission, but to help all the other Ambassadors across the land do the same. Here are snippets from his "Along the Path Newsletter" which all Ambassadors get. Ambassador Kevin McGroary Awarded Commerce Education Grant Our hats off to FableVision Ambassador Kevin McGroary who was awarded the City of Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce Education Grant recently.  The grant combined Arts and Technology and he was presented with three WACOM Bamboo drawing tablets, and given a check to purchase three Animation-ish programs for his students to use in the classroom.  His goals are to teach all his classroom students and to offer an after school class to interested students. Bravo! New Ambassador Anna Adam demonstrated the trial version of Animation-ish for her students. The kids were excited by the program, and she had the students think of curricular ways to use it and show the principal. The principal was impressed and the school ordered the program!   Anna works with kids who are very careful to not be "wrong." At first, the tech club kids were very concerned with making everything "perfect", so Anna explained the principle of "Ish." Soon, the students came up with the phrase, "they're squishing their ish!" The students then created a pledge that they will live "Ishfully." Here is their creation: Other New Ambassadors include: Evelyn Wrobel --  Technology teacher at West Elementary School in Andover, MA. Gaby Richard-Harrington -- A frequent presenter at Mass-Cue and was an attendee at the first Constructivist Consortium! Skip Johnson  -- Principal in San Bruno, California, at a school that is a demonstration school for the integration of technology and curriculum. Linda Oaks -- A retired elementary educator, she is very involved in education and is seeking another position to share her passion for kids.   Paula White -- Gifted Resource Teacher with Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia. Hoppy Chandler -- Educator and Teacher/Consultant UC Irvine Writing Project. Judi Epcke -- Technology Integration Specialist at Northbrook District 28 in Northbrook, Illinois. Cathy Timpone -- Director of Curriculum and Technology at Park Ridge Public Schools in New Jersey.  Lorri McAlpine -- Principal at Flora List Elementary School in Jackson, Michigan. Debby Kilburn Kurti -- Professor at Cerro Coso Community College, California. Susan Buys -- Director of Technology at The Pine School in Stuart, Florida. If you have a great student story, or want more information about the Ambassador program, please click here to email Terry. Until next time. . . Keep the creativity flowing and keep your batteries charged! Together we can make a difference! Peter and your friends at FableVision GET A CLUE® SPOTLIGHT WORD OF THE MONTH - Quixotic Derivation: The word quixotic was created from the name of Don Quixote, the hero of the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, written by Miguel Cervantes in 1605. The main character of the novel, Alonso Quixana, reads many romantic novels about chivalry and, as a result, decides to put on rusty armor and proclaim himself a knight, calling himself Don (or Sir) Quixote. In his delusions, he transforms windmills into giants and peasant girls into pricesses. He attempts to right the wrongs of the world, only to end up making matters worse and causing chaos. Help your students learn the STORIES behind the words.  To get your FREE trial of FableVision's award-winning web-based vocabulary software program GET A CLUE, click here.

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