Middle School Matters

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

A spider just crawled under the keyboard, oh wait, it’s under “control”.

What’s Michelle O’Bama’s favorite vegetable?

What are the strongest days of the week?

My friends and I put on performance about puns. It was basically a play on words.

Why do the French only use one egg for an omelette?

What did the shy pebble wish?

BTW, you mentioned Chemistry Jokes during the podcast. Well you are right, I so share them "periodically." Here you go:

Tell a Potassium Joke? K

(

What did the element say to the police? I CU (Copper)

Do you know any jokes about sodium? Na

How much do I make? Iron enough

Can Money Buy Happiness

We often hear it, but how true is the phrase 'Money can't buy happiness'? Is there a correlation between the two, and if so, what can we learn from it? It turns out, if you think money and happiness are exclusive, you simply aren't spending it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JSIkdWxotKw#!

2012 Sports Illustrated Kids of the Year

http://mashable.com/2013/01/15/brothers-cerebral-palsy-video/

4:42

Family Treasures

Posted by Vicki Davis

I'm supposed to turn in the words for my son's annual ad today. I've been writing at 5 am. It is just one page. One page to summarize how I feel and what I want him to carry with him.

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/01/family-treasures.html

Translation

Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire - Translated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LMkJuDVJdTw

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

I was recently reading the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Green Teacher Magazine, a magazine for Education for Planet Earth. I read an article entitled "Concrete Without Quarries" written by Sam Stier, Dona Boggs and Dave Jones. The focus of the article is on sustainable chemistry labs inspired by nature. They provide a lab that helps students create concrete from car exhaust and seawater. But the greater focus of the article was to get teachers who teach chemistry to students to think of the approaches and message we send. They provide a framework for sustainable chemistry inspired by nature.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Free Plagiarism Checker

Duplicate Content Checker for Students, Teachers, Writers. Free Turnitin Alternative.

http://plagiarisma.net/

Google Doc Sharing

Simplifying Sharing through Google Docs with students. Control whether documents can be seen by just a few students or groups or the whole class.

http://www.youpd.org/doctopus

Listening Circles

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2013/01/listening-circles.html

Web Spotlight:

The Shape of Stories

By Maya Eilam

My take on visually presenting Kurt Vonnegut’s theories about archetypal stories, designed after researching the subject.

http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/

silenc

http://ciid.dk/education/portfolio/idp12/courses/data-visualisation/projects/silenc/

How to Read Faster: Bill Cosby’s Three Proven Strategies

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/16/how-to-read-faster-bill-cosby/

Why you can’t cry in Space

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/why-you-cant-cry-in-space/267147/

Look at yourself objectively

In the 1840s, hospitals were dangerous places. Mothers who went in to give birth often didn’t make it out.

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/semmelweis

News:

U.S. Education Deserves the Same Statistical Sophistication as Baseball and Elections

by Martin Carnoy (Co-authored with Richard Rothstein)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-carnoy/us-education-deserves-the_b_2481128.html

Half-Baked Ideas . . .

Moodle and BigBlueButton- if each teacher was given $100 to get their own shared hosting, would it be considered expensive? from Moodle Community.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

How does Jack Frost get to work?

Why did the face of Joe go to the party by himself?

What happened when Ali found out his toaster was not waterproof?

How often does Dave Bydlowski make Chemistry jokes?

In fact, he told one the other day...

Why did Cleopatra fall off the swing?

What is orange and sounds like parrots?

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter:

Facebook:

Google+:

iTunes:

eMail:

Advisory:

Modeling

Share the video with the students. Ask them to describe how the puppy learns to go down the stairs. How can we apply this to our learning?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fDKDC_IUnOA

Brief Interruptions

Challenge the kids to explain how they multi-task. Use the information from this article to help them realize how they can improve their work.

http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/brief-interruptions-spawn-errors/

Sexism in Ads

http://adsvoice.pblogs.gr/2013/01/sexism-in-vintage-ads.html

Misperception

Pickpocket at work. Have the kids pay attention to see what he steals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OLm_dQzoC5E

Then on Fox news station:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dTa7rC1oUnk

Finally, On NOVA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fdqSmUnd4cU

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

I was recently reading the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Green Teacher Magazine, a magazine that cares about Education for Planet Earth. I read an article entitled "Zambian Girl Inspires Water Action" written by Michelle Macdonald. It traces the story of a girl named Tikho, who lives in Zambia. She was asked to share the story of her daily life as it related to water, sanitation and hygiene. Her story has provided an example for North American youth to recognize local and global water challenges and look for solutions.

From the Twitterverse:

Are you smarter than an 8th Grader from 1912? http://bullittcountyhistory.org/bullitthistory/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html … #midleved #mschat

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Three Ways to Create a Digital Classroom Library for Your Students

http://www.angelamaiers.com/2013/01/three-ways-to-create-a-digital-classroom-library-for-your-students.html

Three Tools Students Can Use for Collaborative Brainstorming on the Web

One of the first challenges that students face when beginning to work on a group research project is organizing and connecting all of their ideas. These three tools can help students collaboratively organize their ideas on the web.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/01/three-tools-students-can-use-for.html

Guide to Budgeting

https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1611/26335/9h/dramsey.download.akamai.com/23572/daveramsey.com/media/broadcast/mytmmo/pdf/guide-to-budgeting.pdf?ictid=btxt.ny13

Creating Comics

Comics apps such as Comic Zeal are compatible with a couple of DRM-free comic book file formats, namely .cbr and .cbz. Those are both compressed formats, related to RAR and ZIP files, respectively.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2023746/convert-image-files-to-comics.html

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/01/06/a-taxonomy-for-understanding/

Web Spotlight:

Why Scratch Club?

By Wesley Fryer On January 10, 2013

Learn more about the IES Scratch Club on scratchclub.yukonps.com. Check out Mason’s Scratch project,“About Me” on the Scratch community website.

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2013/01/10/why-scratch-club/

Reading Like a History

http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh

News:

Vending Machine Dispenses MacBooks for Student Use

AMLE Annual Conference Sessions:

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

What do you call a 4 foot psychic who escapes from jail?

Why did the mermaid wear seashells?

What concert costs 45¢?

How did the hipster burn his tongue?

What do get when cross the Atlantic with the Titantic?

What did one eye says to the other eye?

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter: Richard Ball, Kenna Wilson

Facebook:

Google+:

iTunes:

eMail:

Advisory:

Seeing things differently

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/01/brilliant-urban-interventions-by-oakoak-turn-crumbling-city-infrastructure-into-a-visual-playground/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Heat Safety

I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association for middle school teachers. In the monthly section, "Scope on Safety "written by Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, CT, he wrote about using heat sources safely in the middle school science laboratory. The article was entitled "Turning Up the Heat on Safety." Safety-wise, the hot plate is probably by far the best choice.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

How We Know the Earth is Round

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o_W280R_Jt8#!

Banished Word List

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

The Power of Mindset

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pN34FNbOKXc

Essay Bank

9000 essays to steal look at.

http://www.essaybank.com/

Web Spotlight:

The Power of Love

The effect of a teacher and the effect in the classroom. Very motivating. Useful for principals especially.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9bSu_Snlbsw#!

Dying teacher's quest: Did I make a difference?

..nothing to do with my speaking, more to do with my listening...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/23/inspirational-teacher/1785739/

News:

More Evidence Showing The Dangers Of Using High-Stakes Testing For Teacher Evaluation

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/01/04/more-evidence-showing-the-dangers-of-using-high-stakes-testing-for-teacher-evaluation/

Sure, Big Data Is Great. But So Is Intuition.

By STEVE LOHR

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter: Christina B. Steele, Ryan Becker

Facebook:

Google+: King Almojuela,

iTunes:

eMail:

Advisory:

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association for middle school teachers. There was a very interesting article on clouds written by Tina Cartwright, Rommel Miranda, Ronald Hermann, and Deb Hemler entitled, "Clear Skies Ahead: Clearing Up Confusion About Clouds."

They provided a very helpful semi-dichotomous cloud key that seems very helpful in helping students in the cloud identification process. A version of the cloud key containing color photos of each cloud type can be found at:

http://wvscience.org/clouds/Cloud_Key.pdf

From the Twitterverse:

Resources:

Books to Read

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/tempered-radical/12-2012/three-professional-reads-are-worth-your-time

All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome

Kathy Hoopman

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1843104814/

Explania

Welcome to Explania! Watch hundreds of animated explanations, interactive tutorials and instructional videos, and feel free to embed them on your own web pages.

http://www.explania.com/en

Free NASA e-Book

This book is available for download on your iPad with iBooks or on your computer with iTunes.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hubble-space-telescope-discoveries/id588428410?mt=11

BadgeMaker

Make your own ID card, press pass, name tag, unofficial Flickr badge, or any other kind of identification. Print it out, laminate it, wear it with pride! Make any kind of identification* easily in just a few seconds.

http://bighugelabs.com/badge.php

Web Spotlight:

When Creative Musical Genius Meets YouTube

By Wesley Fryer On December 26, 2012

There are some people in this world who have creative, musical genius that absolutely knocks your socks off when you hear and see it. Jon Cozart (Paint on YouTube) is one of those people.

His 104 second video with himself, “Lord of the Rings in 99 Seconds,” has 1.3 million YouTube views to date. It makes the video I created with my kids in the summer of 2011, “The Hobbit In Five Minutes,” look like a far more coarse and amateurish attempt at a 3 novel / movie plot summary.

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2012/12/26/when-creative-musical-genius-meets-youtube/

What’s the difference between Holland and The Netherlands?

Posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2012 at 12:11 pm. PT

Written by Shawn King

Have you ever wondered what the difference between “Holland” and “The Netherlands” is? Of course you haven’t – not many have.

But just in case you have even a mild interest, this video by C. G. P. Grey does an amazing job of explaining this odd little quirk of geography. And, for even more explanation of geographic and historical anomalies, check out his“The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained”.

http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/12/23/whats-the-difference-between-holland-and-the-netherlands/

TregoED SCAN

So I gave it a go this last marking period and . . . .

News:

Half-Baked Idea . . .

So I got these “electronic resource devices” for my classroom and I tried this idea on the day before Christmas break . . .

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter: Bethany Beaudrie, Derek McCoy, Vinnie Stocker

Facebook:

Google+:

iTunes:

eMail: Dr. John Harrison

Advisory:

Unrelated People Who Look Like Each Other

http://twentytwowords.com/2012/12/13/portraits-of-people-who-arent-related-but-look-like-each-other-6-pictures/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Middle School Science Minute -- Citizen Science

I was recently reading the November, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association. In the magazine, Jennifer Fee and Nancy Trautmann, wrote an article entitled "Connecting to Your Community Through Birds and Citizen Science." Within the article they explained what is meant by the term "Citizen Science." They defined a citizen scientist as a person who collaborates with scientists to gather data on projects and contributes to scientific research.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Teachers are talent scouts

Spotting talent and helping students see their own gift is one of those things that makes teaching so intoxicating to me. I get to do this? I am a talent scout. Are you?

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/12/teachers-are-talent-scouts.html

Web Spotlight:

Bomb Sight Mapping

http://bombsight.org/#16/51.5034/-0.0987

INFOGRAPHIC: A POWER HUNGRY INTERNET

http://www.infographicsarchive.com/tech-and-gadgets/infographic-a-power-hungry-internet/

Amazing Anamorphic Illusions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBNHPk-Lnkk&sns=em

Anatomy of Preservation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VwT6RLsYe1c#!

Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=doN4t5NKW-k

How long will we live — and how well?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/healthy-life-expectancy/

Taking Responsibility

This was apparently from a group project.

http://i.imgur.com/mEOv7.jpg

AMLE Annual Conference Sessions:

State Affiliate Meeting

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter:

Facebook: Joyce Capcara Fisher, Nelly Korman, The Simply Scientific Classroom

Google+:

iTunes:

eMail:

Jokes You Can Use:

Advisory:

Perceptions:

Here’s an interesting video. It is an interesting take on perception. Entertaining and instructive. 4:33 long. (via Larry Ferlazzo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FUv-Q6EgEFI

A blind person describes color

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=59YN8_lg6-U

What would you do?

Here is a 12-year-old middle school wrestler,Justin Kievit showing a great amount of humility and sportsmanship to his fellow competitor Jared Stevens. I dare you to watch this video and not let out a tear or two.

http://cosbysweaters.com/2012/12/04/middle-school-wrestler-shows-us-all-what-sportsmanship-is-about/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Culturing Microorganisms

I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of the Science Teacher, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association. In the magazine, Key Roy, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Connecticut wrote an article entitled, "Dangers in a Dish." In this article he shares the dangers of culturing microorganisms in the K-12 classroom.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Gallery of FakeBook Profiles

Some good examples of fake FaceBook profiles.

http://www.classtools.net/main_area/fakebook/gallery/

Sign Up Genius

If you are a group leader and find yourself organizing volunteers, meals, service projects, or events... we want to make your life a lot simpler! Now you can coordinate it all online... FREE!

http://www.signupgenius.com/

Introduction to the Living Wage Calculator

http://livingwage.mit.edu/

Web Spotlight:

Books to Read

‘Tis the time of year that many people pick up additional books to read. Here are some thoughts:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/04/best-psychology-philosophy-books-2012/

Whole Novels

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/shoulders-giants/11-2012/my-co-teachers-weigh-whole-novels

7 Habits of Effective Teachers who use Technology:

http://blog.alwaysprepped.com/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers-who-use-technology/

News:

The Weight of Obesity

http://visual.ly/weight-obesity

Top 10 Bad Tech Predictions

http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/top-10-bad-tech-predictions/

STEM Students Must Be Taught to Fail

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/11/23/stem-students-must-be-taught-to-fail

2 Mesa students forced to hold hands as punishment for fighting

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/two-mesa-students-forced-to-hold-hands-as-punishment-for-fighting

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter:

Facebook:

Google+: Patti Gray

iTunes:

eMail:

Jokes You Can Use:

Advisory:

Cost of a penny

http://what-if.xkcd.com/22/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Public Laboratory (not lavatory :)

Troy Patterson, of the "Middle School Matters" podcast mentioned Raspberry Pi recently, and it got me to wondering if most people knew what it is. Raspberry Pi is is a credit-card sized computer which can help kids do spreadsheets, play games, watch HD videos and learn programming, all for about $25.

It got me to thinking of other "Do It Yourself" gadgets that middle school students might also enjoy. This then took me to the Public Laboratory:

http://publiclaboratory.org

a community where you can learn how to investigate environmental concerns using inexpensive "Do It Yourself" techniques.

From the Twitterverse:

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Transcribe

http://transcribe.wreally.com/

Why Everything Sucks

*Note - some Not Safe For Work Language (NSFW) is present.

http://twentytwowords.com/2012/11/25/craig-fergusons-rant-against-the-deification-of-youth-and-stupidity/

Questioning Autism?

Questioning Autism? is an iOS app designed to help concerned parents understand the signs and symptoms of autism, and to convey their observations to their pediatrician. The app features 12 simple questions, and the ability to share the observations with notes via email. Parents and caregivers can track a child’s progress over time, and save their observations for multiple children. Also included are helpful resources and the ability to share the app socially.

http://asddad.com/2012/11/20/questioning-autism-app-is-available/

15 Cheesy Christmas Music Videos on YouTube

http://mashable.com/2012/11/24/cheesy-christmas-music-videos/

Historical Figure Greeting Cards

This morning I used the web version of the Trading Card Creator to create an Abraham Lincoln trading card. To create the card I found a public domain image of Lincoln, uploaded it to the template provided by RWT, and completed the fields that asked for information about Lincoln's life. When my card was completed I was able to download it to my computer. I could have also emailed it to myself or to a friend.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/create-trading-cards-for-historical-and_27.html

Web Spotlight:

Primary Sources

Docs Teach offers seven free tools that teachers can use to create interactive learning activities based on primary source documents and images. The seven tools are Finding a Sequence, Focusing on Details, Making Connections, Mapping History, Seeing the Big Picture, Weighing the Evidence, and Interpreting Data.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/create-your-own-interactive-primary.html

I used to think...

In a beautifully candid and beautifully written piece for PLP Network's Voices from the Learning Revolution, Canadian teacher Shelly Wright examines how her thinking and her classroom practice have changed.

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/teachmoore/11-2012/read-i-used-think-teacher-reflections

http://plpnetwork.com/2012/11/08/think/

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Too many kids already hate school. Why do we want to make them do more of it?

http://practicaltheory.org/blog/2012/11/23/the-beatings-will-continue-until-morale-improves-2/

News:

Homework

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/23471.html?emailID=23471

AMLE Annual Conference Sessions:

Dr. John Medina: Brain Rules

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Eileen Award:

Advisory:

You are Predictable

Make the board ahead of time, or put it on a Promethean Board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DaWcL3oOd-E

Business Cards

Have the kids design business cards for famous people, fictional characters, historical figures, etc.

http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/35780275184/business-cards

10 Bets that you can win

Use these to create a challenge for students. Encourage them to think together. This can help prime the thinking. These are really just problem solving opportunities.

http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2012/11/another-10-bets-you-will-always-win.html

Perceptives

On the cover of American Prospect, Joel Sternfeld’s ode to roadside America, was a ghoulish photo. A fireman shops for a pumpkin as the farmhouse — whose fire presumably brought him to this very acres — burns in the background. Its fiery destruction perfectly complemented the wintry leaves, the spoilt pumpkins, and from the foreground, with his hands tightly clasped upon a prized possession, the orange-clad firefighter: an American Nero.

http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/joel-sternfeld-mclean-virginia-december-1978/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Reflecting on Data

Recently I gave a talk at a new teacher orientation for the Rouge Education Project, a water quality monitoring project on the Rouge River, in the Michigan counties of Wayne and Oakland. The purpose of the talk was to share ideas on curriculum. The two areas I focused in on were:

1. Inquiry Analysis and Communication

2. Reflection and Social Implication

To learn more about the Rouge Education Project, please visit:

http://www.therouge.org

From the Twitterverse:

Save the date 2/6/13 Digital Learning Day @sjhayes8 #ncte12

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Resources:

Circuits

http://www.circuits.io/

8 GREAT GRADING APPS FOR IPAD

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/11/8-great-grading-apps-for-ipad.html

Web Spotlight:

A Cure for the Mania of Multiple Drafts, Multiple Formats, X 100

By Ariel Sacks

In my last post, I described my utter failure to effectively organize and manage my students' drafting process for writing projects. This job has become much more complicated over the years with the availability of various technological tools for writing. New, clear parameters are definitely necessary.

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/shoulders-giants/11-2012/cure-mania-multiple-drafts-multiple-formats-x-100

Everything That Will Go Extinct In The Next 40 Years

Futurist website nowandnext.com put together this awesome infographic predicting all of the technologies, behaviors, and ideas that will probably be distant memories by 2050.

Among their predictions: no more retirement four years from now, no more secretaries six years from now, and no more free parking or sit-down breakfasts by 2019.

The European Union is seen as surviving the current crisis before extinct in 2039.

http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-that-will-go-extinct-in-the-next-40-years-2012-8#ixzz29zsNrc6U

News:

The [editor of Phi Delta Kappan] concludes by asserting that “every classroom should have excellent teaching every hour of every day.” I would add that every child should also have an excellent parent who serves them excellent food and provides them with an excellent home in an excellent neighborhood. Let’s also add excellent healthcare and excellent supervision every hour of every day as well. If we could accomplish all of that, we would have the highest achieving students on earth.

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2012/11/while-we-wait-for-wise-lawmakers-to-emerge.html

AMLE Annual Conference Sessions:

Dr. Debbie Silver, paid session.

Eileen Award:

Scoopit:

Twitter:

Facebook: Steve Ralston

Google+:

iTunes: Steve Ralston

eMail:

Jokes You Can Use:

Advisory:

Antipodes

http://www.jasondavies.com/maps/antipodes/

Last Wish

Lifelong football fan Danny Webber had one last wish - to meet QB Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. With help from the Colts organization and wonderful workers at the Heritage House, his wish was granted. Watch as Inside the NFL cameras were there to capture this truly heart-warming story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1sK9HLpFo&feature=youtu.be

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Volcano Safety

This podcast is based on the Question of the Month from the Scope on Safety section of the October, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The question of the month is written by Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

The question of the month deals with the use of ammonium dichromate in the classroom.

From the Twitterverse:

Resources:

Higher Order Thinking Strategies and Tools

http://learningcurveplanner.com.au/thinking-tools.html

The Victorians Learn to work like a historian

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/victorians/resources.htm

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/victorians/Default.aspx

A visual A-Z of the hidden treasures of language.

As a lover of language and words, especially obscure and endangered words, I was instantly besotted with Project Twins’ visual interpretations of unusual words, originally exhibited at the MadArt Gallery Dublin during DesignWeek 2011.

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/07/02/project-twins-unusual-words/

Public Domain Comics

We are the best site for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age Comics. All files here have been researched by our staff and users to make sure they are copyright free and in the public domain. To start downloading just register an account and enjoy these great comic books. We do not charge per download and the goal of the project is to archive these comic books online and make them widely available.

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/

Web Spotlight:

Can Your Kid Read Graphs and Charts?

As these visual displays become more and more ubiquitous, it is all the more important that students know how to read, interpret, and summarize the information presented. It's become an essential element of overall literacy.

As students get older, it's important for them to learn not only how to be intelligent viewers of graphic representations, but wary and cautious viewers. While charts and graphs obviously are a boon to our ability to communicate information about large numbers or complicated relationships, there are also hidden pitfalls.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/can-your-kid-read-graphs-and-charts/263689/

http://tedmccagg.typepad.com/drawings/2012/10/back-in-my-day.html

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Ethiopian kids hack OLPCs in 5 months with zero instruction

http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php

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Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

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A $20 Bike Made Of Cardboard Is Headed To Market

http://www.businessinsider.com/20-cardboard-bike-headed-to-market-2012-10

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

This podcast is based on the Editor's Roundtable from the October, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The roundtable was written by Inez Liftig.

The purpose of the roundtable was to emphasize the importance of genetics education in middle school. It is important not only because it plays a prominent role in the new Next Generation Science Standards but also because genetic testing and gene-based medicine will play a large part in their lives.

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http://hypervocal.com/culture/2012/18-best-students-on-the-internet/

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Introducing the YouTube Next EDU Gurus. Want to learn something new? Check out these channels today!

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