Middle School Matters

MSM 282: Own your own stuff, just don’t call a plumber.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Twitter: André Sprang, Joseph Kenney, KJ Wari, Jochen Horst

Advisory:

Humans Need Not Apply

The video below is long (15 minutes), but thoughtful and riveting. It make the case that just as horses have been replaced by technology, humans are next. If that sounds like silly logic, invest one minute, just to see what you think.

www.loopinsight.com/2014/08/16/humans-need-not-apply

Getting Over Procrastination

http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/a-procrastination-gene

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Middle School Science Minute -- Think Apps

I was recently reading the Summer, 2014 issue of "Science Scope," a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. In this issue, I read an article entitled "Think Instruments, Think Apps: Using App-Based Technology in the Science Classroom" written by Nancy H. Heilbronner. In the article, Nancy describes 10 apps that would be helpful to use in the science classroom. All 10 of the apps could take the place of costly scientific instruments.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

Who's a Math Nerd? *raising hand*

http://iamamathnerd.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/countingcircles/

4 Big Things Transformational Teachers Do

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/big-things-transformational-teachers-do-todd-finley

Resources:

27 Ways To Promote Intrinsic Motivation In The Classroom

by TeachThought Staff

http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/27-ways-promote-intrinsic-motivation-classroom/

Web Spotlight:

4 Steps Towards A More Personal Classroom

by Linda Pruett

http://www.teachthought.com/learning/getting-started-personalized-learning/

5 Ways to Assess Learning without Giving a Test

I ran into a little push-back about assessment. The chief complaint was that increasing the number of assessments requires teachers to give up more instructional time to test kids. I couldn't agree more with. We don't need more tests. We need more instruction.

But here's the deal. Assessment is not testing. Assessment is determining if learning is actually taking place. In fact, assessment is a vital component on excellent instruction, and without assessment, you're not delivering instruction. You're disseminating information and opportunities to learn.

http://leadlearner2012.blogspot.com/2014/07/5-ways-to-assess-learning-without.html

Why All Students Should Write: A Neurological Explanation

by Judy Willis M.D., M.Ed., radteach.com

http://www.teachthought.com/literacy-2/why-all-students-should-write-a-neurological-explanation-for-literacy/

A strange definition of a ‘bad’ teacher

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/09/a-strange-definition-of-a-bad-teacher/

Ideas Of The Mind (Wandering, Divergent And Flipped)

In many organizations, we are so intent on the problems and walls that stand before us, that we never allow ourselves the time necessary to think past, around or beyond them. We spend our waking time and mental capacity being now-focused. Completely immersed in plodding forward…and pushing those walls and obstacles with us. Never realizing that taking a step back will not only improve our perspective, but unveil a variety of routes forward that may have not been noticeable, previously.

http://dculberh.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/ideas-of-the-mind-wandering-divergent-and-flipped/

Random Thoughts . . .

Own your information.

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site

MSM 281: We’re Rusty. Shut off the Internet to test.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

iTunes:

Twitter: Holly Berchet-Hall, Brian Marks, Andre Spang, Torsten Larbig, MEEMIC, Kyle Stalzer, @sarahdateechur, Kit Hard, Yong Park, Dr. Phil Metzger, Secondary Principals (MASSP),

Google+: Ryan Easton, Sandra Wozniak

Facebook:

Email:

Advisory:

Too Obvious to share

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

WE GET LETTERS

I was recently reading the Summer, 2014 issue of "Science Scope," a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read an article entitled "Letters! We Get Letters" written by Joanna Shubin. In the article, Joanna describes how she has her students write letters to scientists. It is a great way to integrate science and English Language Arts and to generate enthusiasm in all of the students. She suggests that you try having your own students write to scientists, because you will get letters!

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2014/8/7_Middle_School_Science_Minute-We_Get_Letters.html

From the Twitterverse:

4 Ideas To Have A Successful First Year as Principal http://feedly.com/k/1qmcUDJ ~ #ISTEAPLN #fhuedu610 #tn_teta #edchat => @MSMatters

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Stick Pick Twitter Giveaway: So recently I won a copy of Stick Pick. I already have a copy of Stick Pick from back when I reviewed it for the Podcast. If you’d like my copy of Stick Pick, send us an email at [email protected] with a short statement on how you use differentiation in your classroom and we’ll throw your name in a random name selector (called Stick Pick) and announce a winner two weeks from the recording of this show. Stick Pick will be making an important product announcement soon and we’ll bring you the news when it happens.

Strategies:

Random Name Generators

Need a way to select students to “volunteer”?

http://www.classtools.net/education-games-php/fruit_machine

http://primaryschoolict.com/random-name-selector/

http://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/

* Note that these can also be used for vocabulary words, important terms, etc.

Classroom Games

http://www.teachhub.com/classroom-games-other-creative-ways-start-day

What works in teaching Math

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/MathHome.aspx

Resources:

Fluency Tutor

http://www.fluencytutorforgoogle.com/

Web Spotlight:

Making Connections with Advisory

Relationships are among the most important elements of student success.

By: Ellen D Amore

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

IFTTT

Badges

MSM 280: I’d argue that, Ugly Fruit, SPLAT!

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

A chicken walks into a ice cream store.

The clerk says, "We don't serve poultry!"

The chicken says, "That's OK, I just want a cone."

Eileen Award:

Twitter: Jason Hovey

Advisory:

Many Kids Who Are Obese Or Overweight Don't Know It

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/07/23/334091461/many-kids-who-are-obese-and-overweight-dont-know-it

The End of ‘Genius’

WHERE does creativity come from? For centuries, we’ve had a clear answer: the lone genius. The idea of the solitary creator is such a common feature of our cultural landscape (as with Newton and the falling apple) that we easily forget it’s an idea in the first place.

But the lone genius is a myth that has outlived its usefulness. Fortunately, a more truthful model is emerging: the creative network, as with the crowd-sourced Wikipedia or the writer’s room at “The Daily Show” or — the real heart of creativity — the intimate exchange of the creative pair, such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney and myriad other examples with which we’ve yet to fully reckon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/the-end-of-genius.html

Mishapen Fruit

300 million tons thrown away each year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2nSECWq_PE

Happy in Your State

http://twentytwowords.com/do-you-make-enough-money-to-be-happy-in-your-state/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ARGUMENTATION

I was recently reading the Summer, 2014 issue of "Science Scope," a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read an article entitled "Scientific Explanations and Arguments: Building New Science Content Knowledge Through Argumentation" written by Lauren Brodsky and Andrew Falk. In the article, they describe a process by which to develop science lessons that support students in engaging in and learning through argumentation. They also provide a few suggestions for smaller things you can do to incorporate elements of argumentation, if you don't have time for the entire process.

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2014/7/16_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Knowledge_Through_Argumentation.html

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

5 Essential Ingredients For Learning (SPLAT)

http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/10630

Metacognition

Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one’s thinking. More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance. Metacognition includes a critical awareness of a) one’s thinking and learning and b) oneself as a thinker and learner.

http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/

Resources:

Principals in U.S. Are More Likely to Consider Their Students Poor

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/upshot/principals-in-us-are-more-likely-to-consider-their-students-poor.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1

Class Timers

Use multiple timers. Set timers to music. Pause all timers at once.

http://www.classtools.net/timer/

Open Curriculum

Teacher-curated and Common Core standards-aligned sets of high-quality lessons, activities and assessments.

http://www.opencurriculum.org/

Web Spotlight:

Gravity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTVIMOix3I#t=73

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

MSM 279: A test of random facts and Weird Al makes the show this week on Middle School Matters!

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Test Questions:

Johnny's mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child's name?

There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall and he wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

Source: http://blog.ivman.com/easy-tests/#more-7571

Random Facts

An octopus has three hearts.

There’s enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America in 1 foot of water.

You can spell the word “upside down” upside down by using other letters of the alphabet: umop apisdn.

The name Jessica was created by Shakespeare in the play Merchant of Venice.

The YKK on your zipper stands for “Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikigaisha.”

Every two minutes, we take more pictures than all of humanity did in the 19th century.

Eileen Award:

Twitter: Aaron Duff, Adnan Iftekhar, Kelly Lippard

Advisory:

Chat out of context

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-qpvjjNfLA#t=33

Perceptions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfZFuw7a13E

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-SCIENTIFIC MODELING

I was recently reading the Summer, 2014 issue of "Science Scope," a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read an article entitled "Modeling What We Can't Sense - Using Evidence We Can" written by Juliana Texley. In her article she challenges the thinking that as we look at the history of science, we often imply that ideas were chronologically wrong, then less wrong, culminating with modern scientific theory.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Resources:

Why Reading Matters

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/07/18/nice-bbc-video-why-reading-matters/

The Seven A’s of Successful High Schools

Defining what it means to have a “successful” high school is quite the challenge, with stakeholders often disagreeing on the approach to take.

Following, I’ve outlined each of the seven attributes I consider essential in a successful H.S., as well as my rationale for selecting each.

http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/10620

Weird Al

“Tacky”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWo8apgLys

“Word Crimes”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Leonard Cohen on Creativity, Hard Work, and Why You Should Never Quit Before You Know What It Is You’re Quitting

before we quit, we have to have invested all of ourselves in order for the full picture to reveal itself and justify the quitting, which applies equally to everything from work to love

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/15/leonard-cohen-paul-zollo-creativity/

Summer Learning Loss

So, if all the research says most of the achievement gap is due to summer learning loss, it boggles my mind even more that we are spending huge amounts of resources on countless school reform boondoggles like Race To The Top, Value Added Measurements (VAM), the “next generation” of standardized testing, etc…

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/07/19/is-summer-learning-the-silver-bullet-for-narrowing-the-achievement-gap/

Web Spotlight:

Flowboard

Presentation software that looks like a magazine layout, functions like HyperCard stacks and is more interactive than Slideshare. It’s an app and until the first 10,000 downloads it’s $9.99.

https://flowboard.com/

emaze

Think Prezi. With 3D effects. And a translation tool. Basic version is free, the Education version is $2.90/month.

http://www.emaze.com/

Random Thoughts . . .

ISTE 2014

Personal Web Site

MSM 278: Random Facts, Write about Maths.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/really-really-bad-puns

Random Facts

Eileen Award:

iTwitter: Adnan Iftekhar, Kyle S., Mike Paul

Google+: Patrick Brule

Advisory:

Spread of Baby Names

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/07/an-interactive-look-at-history-and.html?m=1

Jobs Charted by State and Salary

http://flowingdata.com/2014/07/02/jobs-charted-by-state-and-salary/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Neuroscience-Career Opportunites

This is the fourth in a four part series on neuroscience with special guest Aneesha Badrinarayan, Outreach Programs Manager with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, in Ann Arbor, MI. You can visit the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum online at:

http://www.aahom.org

In this podcast, we look at the question of "How do you prepare for a degree in neuroscience and what are the career opportunities?"

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2014/7/3_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Neuroscience_Career_Opportunities.html

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544239.pdf

Anchor Charts

Useful or just pretty?

http://teachingexperiment.com/2013/11/anchor-charts-all-levels/

School-Wide Twitter Chats

http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/new-zealand-wellington-to-est

Resources:

daFont

http://www.dafont.com

Shooloo

Large repository of Common Core Math Word Problems.

https://fun.shooloo.org/

Classroom Icebreakers

http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/icebreakers.html

What was there

Ties historical photos to Google Maps.

http://www.whatwasthere.com/

Web Spotlight:

The Secret of Effective Motivation

By AMY WRZESNIEWSKI and BARRY SCHWARTZ

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/opinion/sunday/the-secret-of-effective-motivation.html?referrer=&_r=0

http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-expertise/

Random Thoughts . . .

MSM 277: eHe’s got eSkeletons in e’s Closet!

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Advisory:

A few minutes with ... a kid who helps the homeless

Robby Eimers spends his Saturdays like a lot of 12-year-olds, heading to baseball games or handing out meals to 150 homeless people.

Whoa. Wait. Say what?

http://www.freep.com/article/20140615/NEWS/306150058/1001/news

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Neuroscience for MS Teachers

This is the third in a four part series on neuroscience with special guest Aneesha Badrinarayan, Outreach Programs Manager with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, in Ann Arbor, MI. You can visit the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum online at:

http://www.aahom.org

In this podcast, we look at the question of "Why is neuroscience important for middle school science teachers?"

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

20 WORDS THAT ONCE MEANT SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT

http://ideas.ted.com/2014/06/18/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/

Visual Note Taking

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2014/06/19/inspired-by-ipadpalooza-2014-visual-notetaking/

http://www.slideshare.net/wfryer/visual-notetaking-with-ipads-june-2014

Resources:

Etymonline

http://www.etymonline.com/

eSkeletons

http://www.eskeletons.org/

Invasion of America

Between 1776 and the present, the United States seized roughly one eighth of the habitable world by treaty and executive order. Explore how it acquired North America in this interactive map of every Native American land cession since the birth of the nation.

http://invasionofamerica.ehistory.org/

http://www.ehistory.org/

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching.

Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

Web Spotlight:

No one can credibly argue that teachers are trained well enough to be effective and efficient in today’s classrooms

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2014/06/no-one-can-credibly-argue-that-teachers-are-trained-well-enough-to-be-effective-and-efficient-in-todays-classrooms.html

40 Before and After Shots That Demonstrate the Power of Visual Effects

http://twistedsifter.com/2014/06/before-and-after-shots-of-visual-effects-in-film/

11 facts about US teachers and schools that put the education reform debate in context

The debate over teacher compensation and job security and its relationship to student performance is incredibly bitter and divisive, featuring two competing sides with drastically competing narratives and visions of education. One good place to start with the issue, however, is with some basic facts. Here are eleven.

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/16/5810438/11-facts-about-americas-teachers-and-schools

Blog? Wiki? Website?

One of the questions that I am asked on a fairly frequent basis is, "should I create a blog, a wiki, or a website for my classroom?" Each platform serves a slightly different purpose. Years ago I created a small set of slides to outline the features of each platform. Yesterday, I rediscovered those slides and found that they are still useful.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/06/blog-wiki-or-website-key-points-to.html#.U6WanY1dXSd

Random Thoughts . . .

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site

MSM 276: Picture (almost) Perfect!

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Twitter: Julie Brannon, Tanya Knight, Sharon Ricks

Advisory:

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

This is the second in a four part series on neuroscience with special guest Aneesha Badrinarayan, Outreach Programs Manager with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, in Ann Arbor, MI. You can visit the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum online at:

http://www.aahom.org

In this podcast, we look at the question of "What is the application of Neuroscience?"

From the Twitterverse:

Strategies:

Powtoon

http://www.powtoon.com/

http://www.powtoon.com/pricing/edu/

Resources:

Historypin

Historypin is a way for millions of people to come together, from across different generations, cultures and places, to share small glimpses of the past and to build up the huge story of human history.

Everyone has history to share: whether its sitting in yellowed albums in the attic, collected in piles of crackly tapes, conserved in the 1000s of archives all over the world or passed down in memories and old stories.

Each of these pieces of history finds a home on Historypin, where everyone has the chance to see it, add to it, learn from it, debate it and use it to build up a more complete understanding of the world.

http://www.historypin.com/

Web Spotlight:

Images from the Museum of New Zealand

Over 14,000 images are available under a Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND. If you aren’t familiar with Creative Commons it can look a little complicated, but what it means is you can use those images if attribute the image (we help you do that at each download page). You can’t make money from using the image, and you can’t change the image. Might sound a little restrictive but there is plenty you can still do, like use it in your homework, on your blog, print it and hang it on your wall…

But even better are the 17,000 images that downloadable for any use, any use at all. These images have no known copyright restrictions. Again it would be good if you attributed the original maker of the work, and link to the page on Collections Online so others can find it, but that isn’t mandatory.

http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/explore

http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/

How (Not) to Talk to Kids About High-Stakes Tests

By day, I’m a calm, mild-mannered middle school teacher who would do just about anything to motivate my students to do their best work and fall in love with learning. I praise their achievements and efforts, not just their high scores, and then watch those scores improve.

By night, I am the mom of two daughters, and much of my hard-won professional acumen goes out the window.

Defenders believe rigorous tests lead to better teaching and better learning only when the tests have sharp teeth: Students, educators, principals, and even whole schools face dire consequences if kids don’t do well. It’s a giant experiment, involving millions of children.

1. Going negative just does not work very well.

2. Praising hard work, not high scores, is more effective.

3. Stereotypes matter.

So the takeaway for parents and teachers swept into the vortex of testing mania? Inspire students by helping them to see that their hard work has a purpose that will improve their lives and the lives of those around them. Build up students’ confidence by teaching them to work hard to improve their skills. Praise their tenacity and curiosity, not just their high scores.

http://www.rewireme.com/explorations/talk-kids-high-stakes-tests/#sthash.aP67okS6.y7GwnHh9.dpbs

Random Thoughts . . .

ISTE 2014

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Twitter: Lee Ann Jung

Advisory:

Drawing out things songs that don’t make sense

http://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/nonsensical-lyrics-explained-by-gifs

What Your Handwriting Says About You

Have your students write about a simple topic.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/celestinomark/what-your-hand-writing-says-about-you

What do you need for one bedroom housing?

Have your students write out how much they think that they would need to make per hour to afford one bedroom housing in your area. This is based upon a 40 hour work week and working 52 weeks a year. This can be extended by having the work out the math to include a vacation. Students could also figure out if they moved how that could impact what they need to make.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/04/22/what-youd-need-to-make-in-every-county-in-america-to-afford-a-decent-one-bedroom/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

This is the first in a four part series on neuroscience with special guest Aneesha Badrinarayan, Outreach Programs Manager with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, in Ann Arbor, MI. You can visit the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum online at:

http://www.aahom.org

In this podcast, we look at the question of "What is Neuroscience?"

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Resources:

What We Can Learn from Oklahoma’s Repeal of Common Core

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2014/06/06/what-we-can-learn-from-oklahomas-repeal-of-common-core/

ExamTime Introduces New Options for Tracking Your Own Study Habits

ExamTime is a neat service that students can use to create flashcards, mind maps, and practice quizzes to help them study.

The most significant of the new ExamTime features is the new performance tracking option. Performance tracking allows students to keep track of how they scored on practice quizzes, monitor which flashcards they know and which they need to spend more time with, and track their comprehension of nodes of their mind maps.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/05/examtime-introduces-new-options-for.html#.U5MXEZRdX70

Video: A New Version Of “I’m Just A Bill” That’s More Cynical & More Accurate

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/05/22/video-a-new-version-of-im-just-a-bill-thats-more-cynical-more-accurate/

Web Spotlight:

SAMR Model

Substitution

Augmentation

Modification

Redefinition

http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/04/27/FrameworksForEducationalTechnology_SAMRAndTheEdTechQuintet_CAIS.pdf

The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations

“When we play poker, we control our decision-making process but not how the cards come down. If you correctly detect an opponent’s bluff, but he gets a lucky card and wins the hand anyway, you should be pleased rather than angry, because you played the hand as well as you could. The irony is that by being less focused on your results, you may achieve better ones.”

Smart decisions and strong performance do not always beget good results; the more factors in-between our actions and the desired outcome, the less predictive power the outcome can give us.

Better policy would focus on school and teacher inputs. For example, we should agree on a set of clear and specific best teaching practices (with the caveat that they’d have to be sufficiently flexible to allow for different teaching styles) on which to base teacher evaluations.

http://34justice.com/2014/05/19/the-problem-with-outcome-oriented-evaluations/

Random Thoughts . . .

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Advisory:

How Far Your Paycheck Goes, In 356 U.S. Cities

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/05/20/313131559/how-far-your-paycheck-goes-in-356-u-s-cities

Caffeine

It's not just in coffee anymore. From drinks to jerky to gum, caffeine is everywhere. In our latest video, we take a look at the science behind the world's most popular drug, including why that little molecule keeps you awake and reveal just how much caffeine is too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuJOhpNS0IY

What is “Pretty”?

http://www.whatispretty.com/#/

How the Blind see beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlcx_q8u_YI#t=27

Citizenship Test

http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2014/05/americans-get-asked-questions-from-us.html

http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/teachers/educational-products/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-PLACE-FAMOUS SCIENTISTS

I was recently reading the February, 2014 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. In this issue, I was reading the article, "Science Evolving," written by Elizabeth Chick.

In this article, Chick explains how she developed a yearlong study of famous life scientists to bring together the Common Core for English Language Arts with the Nature of Science, found in the Next Generation Science Standards.

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2014/3/17_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Place-Famous_Scientists.html

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

Spurious Correlations

http://www.tylervigen.com/

Open Rocket

OpenRocket is a free, fully featured model rocket simulator that allows you to design and simulate your rockets before actually building and flying them.

The main features include:

Six-degree-of-freedom flight simulation

Automatic design optimization

Realtime simulated altitude, velocity and acceleration display

Staging and clustering support

Cross-platform (Java-based)

http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2014/05/quotes-.html#.U4CsUVhdX71

http://openrocket.sourceforge.net

Engaging 6th Graders With Coding

This week I am giving some guest bloggers the opportunity to share their ideas and experiences. This is a post from Alison Franz.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/05/engaging-6th-graders-with-coding.html#.U4CqY1hdX70

Resources:

AMLE Book Clearance

http://www.amle.org/Shop/Closeouts.aspx

Kaizena

Kaizena allows teachers to provide audio feedback on shared Google Docs. This must be added through the App Store.

https://kaizena.com/

Web Spotlight:

Random Thoughts . . .

Kids will still go to physical schools, to socialize and be guided by teachers, but as much, if not more, learning will take place employing carefully designed educational tools in the spirit of today’s Khan Academy --modular learning tailored to a student’s needs.

-- Google gurus Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen pp 21-22 of THE NEW DIGITAL AGE: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our Lives (Vintage)

http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2014/05/quotes-.html#.U4CsUVhdX71

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site

MSM 273: Maestro, my Kindergartener is now “College and Career Ready”.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

ally-funny

Eileen Award:

Twitter: Jason Hovey, Tara Becker-Utess, Anna Asti, Andrea McKay, Kevin Sigaty, Jerri Wood,

Google+: Heather Valdespino

Advisory:

10 Jobs that will

http://mashable.com/2014/04/28/jobs-of-the-future/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-HAND WASHING

I was recently reading the January, 2014 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. One of my favorite sections in each Science Scope is the "Scope on Safety" section, written by Ken Roy, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Glastonbury Public Schools.

Ken shares his advice on hand washing.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

Strategies:

Google Lesson Plans

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html

Resources:

Curriculet

Create/Use classroom texts that include mark ups, notes, and quizzes. Uses Google sign in.

www.curriculet.com

Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories.

http://twinery.org/

Google Classroom

http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/

Web Spotlight:

Digital Reading Poses Learning Challenges for Students

By Benjamin Herold

Comprehension may suffer when students read on the digital devices now flooding into classrooms, an emerging body of research suggests.

When reading on screens, for example, people seem to reflexively skim the surface of texts in search of specific information, rather than dive in deeply in order to draw inferences, construct complex arguments, or make connections to their own experiences. Research has also found that students, when reading digitally, tend to discard familiar print-based strategies for boosting comprehension.

And many of the multimedia elements, animations, and interactive features found in e-books appear to function primarily as amusing distractions.

...also quick to acknowledge a big problem: "I understand better when [text] is on paper, because it's all right there, and it's not skipping ahead and back all the time."

A study last year by Heather R. and Jordan T. Schugar, a wife-and-husband research team at Westchester University of Pennsylvania, found that a small sample of students comprehended traditional books at "a much higher level" than they comprehended the same material when read on an iPad.

"We live in two worlds now," she said. "We have to adapt."

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/07/30reading_ep.h33.html?tkn=PMMFo4tLGmh6NCiNzQJqSzJEzUsX5Cmy25wx&cmp=ENL-DD-NEWS1

Kindergarten show canceled so kids can keep studying to become ‘college and career ready.’ Really.

An annual year-end kindergarten show has been canceled at a New York school because the kids have to keep working so they will be “college and career” ready. Really.

This didn’t come out of the blue. Kindergarten (and even preschool) has increasingly become academic — at the expense of things such as recess and the arts — in this era of standardized test-based school reform.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/26/kindergarten-show-canceled-so-kids-can-keep-working-to-become-college-and-career-ready-reallyV

Random Thoughts . . .

eCommunity for Moodle

Personal Web Site