Middle School Matters

Jokes You Can Use:

While walking to the ninth hole, one psychiatrist said to his colleague, would you believe that yesterday I had a patient who claimed he heard music every time he put on his hat?”

“Really? What did you do?”

The psychiatrist answered, “I took it away and removed the band.”

A man was on a beach when he discovered an old lamp in the sand. He rubbed it and a genie popped out. The genie said "I will grant you three wishes. The only condition is that you cannot wish for more wishes." "Alright," said the man, "I wish for more genies."

A tribal farmer watching a Tarzan movie rushed out of the hall the moment a tiger appeared on screen, advancing menacingly towards the audience.

The gatekeeper trying to stop him argued that it's only a movie, to which the tribal replied: “I know it’s a movie, you also know it is, but does the tiger know"?

Q: How do Eskimos have babies?

A: They keep on rubbing their noses together until the little boogers come out.

On Our Mind: mthman Ron King Hey @MSMatters...do you remember the #NMSA session about HOTS question stems on colored paper in the teacher's line of sight? #midleved

Eileen Award:

Liz N. and Tim H. Thanks for the kind words.

Advisory:

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Part 3: This middle school science minute is about the ELA common core standards in Reading and their relationship to science. The four areas of reading include: key ideas and details; craft and structure; integration of knowledge and ideas; and range of reading and level of text complexity. In this podcast, we look at the three reading standards that relate to science in grades 6 - 8 in the area of integration of knowledge and ideas, along with the range of reading and level of text complexity.

From the Twittervse:

Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST.

News:

http://www.minddump.org/you-have-the-same-hours-per-day-as-helen-kell

https://www.sifteo.com/product Coming this summer.

Show & Tell

These results suggest children are extremely sensitive to the subtleties of a teaching scenario, Schulz says: What matters is not if children are shown a function, but how they are shown that function. If they believe that an informed teacher has taught them everything, they will be less motivated to explore.

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/06/30/if-students-believe-that-a-teacher-has-taught-them-everything-they-will-be-less-motivated-to-explore/

The original post:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-06/miot-dsd063011.php

What should students be able to do with technology in grade school?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/elementary-technology-skills-mary-beth-hertz

Resources:

Fur.ly

http://fur.ly/

Brain Rules

http://www.brainrules.net/about-brain-rules

Brightstorm

Thousands of FREE video resources for Math & Science. One neat thing is that you can search by textbook. There is also Test Prep materials. Includes transcripts for the videos.

http://brightstorm.com/

National Archives Document of the Day

A different historical document every day. Includes support links. Also a mobile app is available.

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/

Knovio:

Animaps

Create and view beautifully informative animated maps, for free!

http://www.animaps.com/#!home

Kodu

Kodu is a visual programming language made especially for creating games. Kodu’s language is entirely icon-based, fairly easy to learn, and aimed at kids 9 to 17. It works on PCs and on the Xbox.

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/07/students-create-games-that-focus-on-global-issues/

Show Me

iPad app.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/showme-interactive-whiteboard/id445066279?mt=8

Web Spotlight:

Snag Films: Red, White & Blue

Voting. 35 minutes.

http://learning.snagfilms.com/film/journeys-through-the-red-white-and-blue

Events & Happenings:

Jokes You Can Use:

Eileen Award:

Allen D. for the web site recommendation.

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Part 2 on the relationship between the core standards for ELA and literacy in Science. I look at the three reading standards that relate to science in grades 6 - 8 in the area of craft and structure.

From the TwittervISTE:

Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST.

News:

The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/07/the-seven-golden-rules-of-using-technology-in-schools/

Resources:

Be a Great Learner: Take Notes

by Jeff Cobb

Establishing a consistent habit of writing things down can be very powerful. A significant body of research supports the idea that simply writing something down contributes greatly to the process of moving it into long-term memory.

http://www.missiontolearn.com/2011/06/note-taking/

Leveling the Playing Field: How to Make Standardized Test Preparation Accessible to All Students

By Andrea Alexander

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-to-make-standardized-test-prep-available-to-all-students

Desmos

http://desmos.com/calculator/

http://desmos.com/

One Teacher's Three-Tiered Intervention Strategy

Jean Laurance and Michael Laurance

I had no sooner returned from Rick Wormeli's seminar on differentiated assessment and grading than my administrator walked into my office. Her face showed apprehension and a bit of weariness.

My class sizes would be pushed to a staggering 37 students! "We don't have enough students to run separate classes, so they will be mixed, but about 10 percent are repeating the class."

Having the tools required for differentiated instruction is one thing, but here I was faced with the task of truly implementing it. More than that, I would need to adjust differentiation to my teaching style, a diverse group of students, and a bulging class size. I quickly realized that manageability would be just as important as the instruction itself.

http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol6/620-laurance.aspx

Web Spotlight:

What Does Successful Project Based Learning Looks Like?

by Bob Lenz

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching approach, a mindset, and a framework for teaching skills and content. (Both our working definition and criteria are derived from our own work, as well as the work of, Adria Steinberg’s 6 A’s of PBL, The Buck Institute for Education, and Expeditionary Learning.)

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-definition-bob-lenz

Stencil: http://stencil.sourceforge.net/

Make games. No need to understand programming. Can make iPhone Apps from this program. Allegedly Angry Birds was made using this program.

Summer Reading List:

Troy:

The Watchman’s Rattle ( just finished) by Rebecca D. Costa

What the Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell

Shawn:

Toys to Tools,

Safe Practice for Life Online &

Web 2.0 How to for teachers

The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood ✔

Our Listeners:

@mthman: The Classroom of Choice, First Days of School (4th Ed), Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites, & Great Ways to Diff Math Instr (I & II), Leading & Managing a Diff Class, Learning to Love Math, PBL Starter Kit (via Buck Institute), UbD Guide 2 HQ Units

#midleved:

@Waukeestudent: I plan on reading @johntspencer 's new book and maybe his two older books two.

http://www.missiontolearn.com/2011/06/recommended-reading/

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use:

What goes up and never comes down?

Your age

1 egg takes 5 minutes to boil. How long do 10 eggs take to boil?

The same 5 minutes.

How many times does a tailor have to cut 100 yards of cloth to get 100 equal pieces?

99 times. You don’t cut the last piece, it is already there

What side of the teacup is the handle on?

I really don't know the answer

Which is heavier? 1 pound of hay or 1pound of metal.

They both weigh a pound

Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers, Peter piper picked. If Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peckers, how many pickels did Peter piper picked? How many Ps are there in THAT?

None...T..H...A...T.....there are NO P's in the word THAT

What has 100 eyes and cannot see?

A potato

Two Indians standing on a bridge. One is the father of the other ones son. What is the relation between the two Indians?

Mother and Father

What has NO legs and CAN run?

Water

On Our Mind:

ISTE 2011 (#iste11)

The problems with skipping a show

Eileen Award

Gabe Walker & Michael Cohen

Advisory:

BBC - Witness

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/witness

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

In this podcast, I look at the ELA Reading Common core for grades 6-8 and see how they apply to science. This is the first in a three part series. It focuses in on Key Ideas and Details.

From the Twitterverse:

Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST.

News:

University of the People

http://www.uopeople.org/

What's the Best Way to Grade Teachers?

By Kristina Rizga| Wed Jun. 29, 2011 11:35 AM PDT

http://motherjones.com/contributor/2011/06/grading-teachers-evaluations

First Digital Only Textbook:

http://mashable.com/2011/06/27/iste-textbooks-k-12/

The many health perks of good handwriting

http://www.healthkey.com/sc-health-0615-child-health-handwriti20110615,0,5764943.story

Resources:

ISTE Online:

Free PD for you. What happens at ISTE . . . goes social:

http://tumblr.com/xtl38xls1q http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/07/webcasts-and-keynotes-from-iste-2011.html

Socrative:

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational games and exercises via smartphones and tablets. Our apps are super simple and take seconds to load and run. Teachers control the questions and games on their laptop, while students respond and interact through their smartphones/laptops. Run it as an app or on any web browser.

Currently free. No mention of what prices will be once it is out of beta.

http://www.socrative.com/

Weaving History

Create 'factlets' — places, people, events — and string them together into 'threads' at the click of a button.Automatically visualize the results temporally and spatially, search by any attribute, automatically import Wikipedia articles and much more …

Very bare bones currently. It’s reliance on Wikipedia could cause some problems for schools (but maybe not).

Potential to be exciting and useful for students and teachers.

http://www.weavinghistory.org/

Web Spotlight:

Ujam

You sing the lyrics, it figures out the tune. Even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, sing into the mic and it comes up with the music to go along with it. Anybody can become a musician with this app. Think of it as your answer to the kid who says, “You can’t make a song out of that!” Now you can. http://www.ujam.com/

ISTE 2011

Led by Scott Meech

References:

https://profiles.google.com/smeech.net/posts

http://www.linkedin.com/in/smeech

http://globaleducation.ning.com/profile/ScottMeech

Related:

Scott McLeod (http://bigthink.com/blogs/dangerously-irrelevant)

UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE)

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use:

On Our Mind:

Job changes.

Week “off”.

Eileen Award Monte Tatom

Advisory:

Belongings

By SAM DOLNICK

There are three million immigrants in New York City. When they left home, knowing it could be forever, they packed what they could not bear to leave behind: necessities, luxuries, memories. Here is a look at what some of them brought.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/27belongings.html

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) with middle school students. (We attach the device to an area they can’t reach, that way if they wander off the floor we can find them! Oh, wait, that’s the mental ward . . .)

From the Twitterverse:

Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST.

Resources:

Multi-media in Education Report

http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/multimediareport-2011/digitaledition-multimediareport2011.html?r=1130997812

77 Web Resouces to Explore this summer

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/06/77-web-resources-for-teacher-to-explore.html

Stick Pick

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_wapp17.409d429.html

or

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stick-pick/id436682059?mt=8

Succeeding with Science

http://www.succeedingwithscience.com/

OKAPI

Reading level and CBA (Curriculum Based Assessment) probes.

http://www.lefthandlogic.com/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php

Web Spotlight:

Summer Reading List for new teachers:

http://www.edutopia.org/groups/new-teacher-connections/52655

MichiganScience

http://www.facebook.com/MichiganScience

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use:

Lady, this vacuum cleaner will cut your work in half.

Good. I’ll take two of them.

Two ROBINS were lying on their backs, BASKING in the sun. A mama cat and her kitten were walking by. The kitten complained, 'Mama, I'm so hungry, what can we eat?' To which the mama cat, spying the two robins, replied,

How about some Baskin Robbins?'

A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party.

As her dad donned his tuxedo she warned, “Daddy, you shouldn’t wear that suit.”

“And why not, darling?” he asked.

“You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.”

On Our Mind:

If you had $9,000 left in building PD, what would you choose to spend it on?

- Must be spent before the end of July.

- Must be approved by your building principal, School Improvement Committee, and perhaps Act of Congress.

Eileen Award

Janelle Rowe, newest member to the Diigo group.

Advisory:

What do you get when you combine Mythbusters, Tesla coils and Doctor Who? The answer is one charged-up performance.

http://mashable.com/2011/05/25/adam-savage-doctor-who-tesla-coils/

Stats of the Union

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/29/stats-of-the-union-brings-american-demographic-data-to-the-ipad

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Middle School Science Minute - Dissections and Dissection Apps.

From the Twitterverse:

News:

E-Book prices fuel outrage -- and innovation

http://www.macworld.com/article/160120/2011/05/ebook_prices_outrage_innovation.html

Resources:

http://heyjude.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/essential-tools-using-easy-bib/

Merriam-Webster Dictionary now available on iPad for free

Technology Integration Matrix

http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php

Zondle

http://www.zondle.com/publicPages/welcome.aspx

Books Should Be Free

Free audio book in mp3, iPod and iTunes.

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

Web Spotlight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01ravitch.html

TEDEd Calling for Submissions: Are you ready for TED?

http://www.angelamaiers.com/2011/05/are-you-ready-for-ted-teded-calling-for-submissions.html

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

National Conference: Thursday, November 08, 2011 —Saturday, November 10, 2011 Louisville, Kentucky.

Promotional Materials:

Crossword Puzzle! (Maryland Conference)

Other News:

ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.

The ISTE Special Interest Group: Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 - 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.

Ohio Middle Level Association:

The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 - 18, 2011 at The Easton in Columbus, OH.

OMLA Registration Form

OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

Michigan Association of Middle School Educators

The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 2012 in Warren Woods, MI.

MAMSE Exhibitor Form

MAMSE Registration Form

MAMSE Presentation Form

MAMSE Conference Program Book (2011)

The National Substitute Teacher Association’s Annual Conference July 22-24.

The North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference March 13-15, 2011

Conference Brochure

Presenter’s Application

Who They Are . . .

This year’s sessions . . .

Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.

Second Life:

Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details. Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.

Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Jokes You Can Use:

Why was the cat afraid of the tree?

Because of the tree bark.

Guy: Haven’t I seen you someplace before?

Girl: Yes, that’s why I don’t go there anymore.

An Antartian ordered a pizza and the clerk asked if he should cut it in six or twelve pieces.

The Antartian replies, "Six, please. I could never eat twelve pieces."

Five doctors went to on a duck hunt: a GP, a pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a surgeon, and a pathologist. After a while a bird came winging overhead, the GP raised his shogun but didn’t shoot because he wasn’t sure if it was a duck or not. The pediatrician also raised his gun, but then he wasn’t sure if it was a male or female duck, so he didn’t shoot. The psychiatrist raised his gun and then thought, I know that’s a duck, but does the duck know it’s a duck?” The surgeon was the only one who shot. Boom!! He blew it away. Then he turned to the pathologist and said, “Go see if that was a duck.”

Q. Why was the strawberry so sad?

A. His parent’s were in a jam.

On Our Mind:

The nuttiness of the end of the year.

Eileen Award

Carol Brown. Thanks for the thoughts.

Advisory:

Turn o Phrase

You can do a three before you sign in. This would be enough to show the students how it works. They could then create their own.

http://turn-o-phrase.appspot.com/

Sixty Second Lectures

Lectures in 60 seconds. (Warning: links to YouTube for videos).

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/sixtysec_lectures_archive.html

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

You were both talking about measurement during the last podcast and then starting talking about units (thanks for the Bydlowski Unit). I got to thinking about measurement in middle school science and its connection to the math curriculum. In Michigan, we stop teaching measurement in grade 6 and it all becomes application. I think it is a good idea for middle school teachers to check out the math curriculum on measurement so that they have a solid understanding of the knowledge that students have, coming into their classrooms. Often, science teachers will say that their students can't measure, but math teachers know they have been teaching a lot about measurement.

From the Twitterverse:

News:

Make My School a Prison

http://bigthink.com/ideas/38573?lolamericanpriorities

Film Depicts Hardships, Dedication of the 'American Teacher'

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2011/05/the_struggles_of_the_american_teacher.html?cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS1

Strategy of the Week:

Put the Directions to the Side, Make the Learning Central

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/05/put-directions-to-side-make-learning.html

Resources:

Flocabulary

We provide a free song from each of our titles in Vocabulary, Literature, Social Studies, Math and Science. You can find these samples by clicking on the subject heading above. We've produced videos for some of these songs. We've also created a handful of free songs and videos that don't correspond to any particular album.

http://www.flocabulary.com/teacher_free_songs_videos.html

Tildee

Quick and easy way to create step by step directions. Allows for editing. Email address is needed to edit and create accounts. Directions can include Google Maps, Videos, and Images (and text, of course).

http://www.tildee.com/

Teach Handwriting

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy057.shtml

Web Spotlight:

Computer Desktop Clutter Reveals Your Personality

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1931

Myth of Bell to Bell teaching

http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/bell-to-bell-instruction-vs-golden-rule-of-15-minutes.html

Events & Happenings:

Jokes You Can Use:

A man was checking into a hotel when he saw a golden retriever sitting on a rug near the hotel elevator. Talking to the man behind the desk, he asked, "Does your dog bite?" The attendant said, "No, he doesn't." But as the man let his hand down to pat the dog, it bit his hand and held on so tightly that the man had to throw him across the room.

Returning to the desk, the man said, "I thought you said that your dog didn't bite." He directed the attendant's attention to the dog, who now had returned to the rug. The attendant simply answered, "My friend that is NOT my dog."

TEACHER: Desmond, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?

DESMOND: No, teacher, it's the same dog!

Q: What do you call a woman that knows where her husband is 24/7?

A: A WIDOW!!!!!

Eileen Award

Tami Readinger, Thanks for the Twitter Follow!

Advisory:

Create a Unit of Measurement: “We recently discussed a few unusual units of measurement, including the Wheaton (500,000 Twitter followers) and the milliHelen (the quantity of beauty required to launch a single ship). On the chalkboard of made-up measurements, there’s still plenty of room. So let’s invent some new ones!

Your fake units can measure anything: height, weight, time, the amount of energy required to do something, whatever. We’ll award a copy of Split Decision to the person who coins our favorite new unit, and we’ll have other prizes for three runners-up. We’ll also start casually using your term in conversation. This might take off.”

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/87272

Kinestic Challenge

You don't have to be at a desk but you must be sitting.

While sitting at your desk make clockwise circles with your right foot.

While doing this, draw the number " 6 " in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction.

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

NASA Explorer School Program, since Shawn was asking about it on the last show. NASA has changed the way they do these NES Schools, so it is much easier to participate. Check it out at: explorerschools.nasa.gov

From the Twitterverse:

News:

Textbook Pilot

http://www.nature.com/nature_education/biology.html

Strategy of the Week:

Addressing Bullying

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sample-lesson

Tips for Using Project Based Learning to Teach Math Standards

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-math-standards

Resources:

National Jukebox

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/

Anne Frank Virtual Tour

http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/Enter-the-3D-house/#/house/21/

Good Reads Makes Good Readers

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/05/goodreads-makes-great-readers.html

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1qEV4Ht-aKZuYM8NF_bSLpKfSzMD41lPaLR6rLnHRAbg

Yong Zhao Learning

Famed Educational Expositor has a website with links to videos of his presentations on various educational topics.

http://zhaolearning.com/

Web Spotlight:

Book Writing

http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1898

Across More Classes, Videos Make the Grade

Film students aren't the only ones producing videos for homework these days.

http://chronicle.com/article/Across-More-Classes-Videos/127422

20 Questions That Will Make You a Better Person

Excellent students of life take the time to answer good questions.

Sit down with a piece of paper and play twenty questions with yourself.

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2011/05/20-questions-that-will-make-you-better.html

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use:

A married couple, both avid golfers, was discussing the future one night.

"Honey", the wife said, "if I were to die and you were to remarry, would you two live in this house?"

"I suppose so - it's paid for."

"How about our car? Continued the woman. "Would the two of you keep that?

"I suppose so - it's paid for."

"What about my golf clubs? Would you let her use them too?

"Heck, no," the husband blurted out. "She is left-handed."

A French man nearly got away with stealing a number of paintings from the Louvre.

However, after planning the robbery and getting in and out and past security, he was captured only three blocks away when his Econoline ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, “I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh.”

This guy goes up to a bar located at the top of the Empire State Building in New York. It looks like a nice place, and he takes a seat at the bar.

On Our Mind:

Happy Birthday to Ron King!

Eileen Award

Camilla from Australia

Peter Price the Math Guy: http://www.classroomprofessor.com

Advisory:

How much of an eight hour day does a person work, on average, to pay for taxes?

http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/27256.html

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

NASA eClips. You can view them at: http://nasa.gov/eclips. It is a great video resource for middle school teachers and students.

From the Twitterverse:

Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST.

News:

Many high school seniors may be old enough to vote, but just one-quarter of them demonstrate at least a “proficient” level of civics knowledge and skills, based on the latest results from a prominent national exam.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/05/04/30naep.h30.html?tkn=RMPFOV3rVoDO%2FJcoQfhRKdSuqL0NUqmg9zNN&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

District Administration

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pmg/da0511/#/0

Strategy of the Week:

Using teaching as inquiry to guide an eLearning action plan

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/04/using-teaching-as-inquiry-to-guide.html

Resources:

Wifiiti: http://wiffiti.com/

Wiffiti publishes real time messages to screens in thousands of locations from jumbotrons to jukeboxes, bars to bowling alleys and cafes to colleges.

Use it for brainstorming

Put test questions up there for review …

Visibile Vote: http://www.visiblevote.us

Shadow a Congressman or Senator. Take a position on an issue or take theirs. Connect with legislators. Need the latest info on the legislator from your district? VisibileVote!

Econ Stories

Hayek vs Keynes in an economic showdown.

http://econstories.tv/

Say It Visually

Check out their portfolio.

http://www.sayitvisually.com/portfolio

Web 2.0 Tools for Math Educators

http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/tools_technologies/web_2_0_tools_math_educators

Web Spotlight:

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have

21 Things for Administrators.

Have Schools Reached Their Limits?

Have we reached the limits of our traditional school system’s capacity to deal with the diversity of learners that come into our schools today?

http://weblogg-ed.com/2011/have-schools-reached-their-limits/

Events & Happenings:

Jokes You Can Use:

TEACHER: What is the chemical formula for water?

SARAH: "HIJKLMNO"!

TEACHER: What are you talking about?

SARAH: Yesterday you said its H to O!

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, "why is the bride dressed in white?" "Because white is the color of happiness," her mother explained. "And today is the happiest day in her life." The child thought about this for a moment. "So why is the groom wearing black?"

Confucius say: Man who want pretty nurse, must be patient.

Two guys were riding in a car, arguing about how to say the name of the city that they were in. One said "Louieville" and the other "Louiseville." They went on arguing and arguing, until they came upon a fast-food restaurant. The one guy goes inside and says to the waitress, "Tell me the name of the place where I am right now really, really, really slowly." The waitress goes, "Bur-ger-King."

On Our Mind:

Gov. Snyder announces Michigan School Reform

New certification level: Master Teacher

New certification steps: Provisional - 5 years

Pre-Professional - 3 years

Master Teacher - National Certification or State Level Observations

“Degrees Matter”: Anybody with a degree can teach in their area. (Except education degrees . . .)

What does this do to “Highly Qualified”?

Seniority: If your principal eliminates your position, the other buildings don’t have to let you bump into a position there.

Advisory:

Who Am I?

http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/resources/whoami/whoami.html

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Science Scope, the National Science Teachers Association's middle school science journal. It comes with membership in NSTA.

From the Twitterverse:

News:

Delicious has a new owner:

Yahoo! is excited to announce that Delicious has been acquired by the founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. As creators of the largest online video platform, Hurley and Chen have firsthand expertise enabling millions of consumers to share their experiences with the world. Delicious will become part of their new Internet company, AVOS.

To continue using Delicious, you must agree to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks to AVOS. After a transition period and after your bookmarks are transferred, you will be subject to the AVOS terms of service and privacy policy.

What Educators Can Learn From Comedians:

Talking Education: A Virtual Workshop for Innovations

By Andrew Marcinek

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/sharing-innovation-workshop-andrew-marcinek

The Case for Cursive

For centuries, cursive handwriting has been an art. To a growing number of young people, it is a mystery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/us/28cursive.html?_r=1

Strategy of the Week:

Using ‘Answer Cards’ to Identify Struggling Students

Each student has at his desk a set of index cards. You will have distributed these at the beginning of class. Written on each card is a single response, such as A, B, C, D or YES or NO. You may want to add TRUE and FALSE or any others that you need.

http://adhdsolution.com/using-answer-cards-to-identify-struggling-students/

Resources:

OpenSource.com

We want to shine a light on the places where the open source way is multiplying ideas and effort, even beyond technology. We believe that opensource.com will be a gathering place for many of the open source stories we'd like to share--through articles, audio, web presentations, video, or open discussion.

http://opensource.com/education

BEAUTIFUL WEB-BASED TIMELINE SOFTWARE

Timelines can be Flash or Javascript.

http://www.tiki-toki.com/

Web Spotlight:

Need Children Read "Proficiently" by Grade 3 to Be Sure to Graduate From High School? Some Possible Misinterpretations of Hernandez

by Stephen Krashen

http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=412

Much Ado About Nothing

http://weeklyreader.com/ado

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use:

Why do seagulls fly over the sea?

Because if they flew over the bay, they'd be baygulls (bagels, get it?).

At a Catholic school, there was a "meet the teacher" open house for the 2nd graders. After the meeting, a Nun announced that there would be a small reception afterwards in the cafeteria. All the children and parents filed in, and saw on a table a plate of apples, a plate of cookies, and some water bottles and juice. As the children went through the line, one boy saw that there was a sign on the plate of apples that said, "Take only one. God is watching." So, the boy took an apple and moved on to the cookies. He helped himself, and then took a small piece of paper, and wrote: "Take all you want”. God is watching the apples."

Q: What did the green grape say to the purple grape?

A: "BREATHE YOU IDIOT, BREATHE!"

On Our Mind:

What do you mean by learning?

http://weblogg-ed.com/2011/and-what-do-you-mean-by-learning/

Eileen Award

Erin. Thanks for the link.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/a-better-way-to-teach-math/

Advisory:

Taxes:

Where do taxes go?

http://datavizchallenge.org/viz/56

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Foresenics: CSI for Middle School students. forensics.rice.edu

From the Twitterverse:

News:

A Trial Run for School Standards That Encourage Deeper Thought

The Common Core Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

Can a 9-Hour School Day Prevent Students from Dropping Out?

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/04/can-a-9-hour-school-day-prevent-students-from-dropping-out/

Peter Thiel: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet—It’s Higher Education

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1860

IPS is meeting the challenge of teaching kids who don't speak English

Within five to seven years, they become "academically literate" -- not just able to get by linguistically but also able to navigate the language in more complicated school subjects.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110417/NEWS1003/104170395/IPS-meeting-challenge-teaching-kids-who-don-t-speak-English?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com

Pay Teachers for Performance?

By Bill Schechter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/performance-pay-at-schools-obama-duncan-picked-for-their-children/2011/04/12/AFNBuPTD_blog.html

Resources:

Free Documentaries Site.

Please preview first. You might be best using this for find videos and downloading rather than watching “live”. Many of the videos are hosted through YouTube. However, this can help with discovery.

http://www.freedocumentary.tv/

CinchCast

Cinch is a free and easy way to create and share audio, text and photo updates using your phone or computer. Cinch enables you to capture and report on your experiences in a way that simple text just can't do. Using a simple interface, you can make and broadcast your content creations through Facebook, Twitter, CinchCast.com and more.

Getting started is easy.

Step 1: Login to Cinch

Register for a Cinch account, or just login using your current Facebook or Twitter account, to begin creating content.

Step 2: Record and share

Create and share audio, text and photo updates all in one place using CinchCast.com, the Cinch iPhone App or by calling 1-646-200-0000.

Step 3: Organize and save

Organize and save all your favorite cinches in albums that people can easily follow.

Step 4: Search, find and connect

Find and follow your family, friends and colleagues, and albums on specific topics interest on CinchCast.com.

Step 5: Invite your friends to join

Can't find all the people you want to hear from? Invite them to join the conversation here.

http://www.cinchcast.com/

Online Physics Simulations

http://phet.colorado.edu/

Comic Book Maker

http://www.digmo.co.uk/apps/teaching-with-comic-life-2-free-ebook/

Convofy

Events & Happenings: