Melanie Corn

Melanie has been teaching for 26 years and is currently teaching first grade at Washington Grade School in Robinson, IL. She began using unitedstreaming almost 3 years ago. In 2005 Melanie became a SMART Exemplary Educator and last year became a STAR Discovery Edcator. She lives in a rural area and by using unitedstreaming and the Internet on her SMART Board she is able to bring the world to them. Her teaching has changed so much with access to unitedstreaming and her SMART Board. She is able to visually engage her students by using video clips along with all subjects. One of the best things about unitedstreaming is that nearly anything she discusses in class can be instantly reinforced at a moment's notice by something on unitedstreaming .

In November, Melanie was fortunate to be chosen by Discovery Education to attend the T+L Conference in Dallas. She had been Photo Story to make videos of her students, and at the conference learned many new tips and tricks. Her first graders love to write digital stories now. Sometimes they bring pictures from home which they use as a basis for their stories and sometimes they make stories about a topic of special interest to them using books and unitedstreaming video clips as a basis for their information. They use the pictures on unitedstreaming to help illustrate their "research" stories. They are able to record their own voice and love to pick out music to go with their story. She has discovered that even students who didn't enjoy writing would rather work on a story than go to recess! The stories are posted to her website for her students' families to enjoy. Melanie feels fortunate to have learned so much through Discovery and is looking forward to see what she might learn next!