Middle School Matters

Jokes:

Women's Rights

A girl involved with the women's libertarian group boarded a crowded bus and one man rose to his feet. "No, No, you must not give up your seat. I insist," she said. The man replied; "You may insist as much as you like, Lady. This is my street where I get off."

Initials

Mr. R.B. Jones applied for a position with the government and was accepted. On his first day, the personnel dept processed his records. When asked what the R.B. stood for, he informed the clerk that they stood for nothing. His parents had named him with the initials only. The clerk informed him that his records could not show initials only so they typed his name as R. (only) B. (only) Jones. He got his first paycheck made out to Ronly Bonly Jones!

Barbershops

The reading material at the barbershop consisted entirely of murder stories, mysteries, thrillers, and ghost tales. When Peter asked the barber if he wanted to terrify his customers, he replied, "No. Peter. These books make the customers' hair stand up and then it becomes easier to trim and cut."

On Our Mind:

NMSA 2010 Conference

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Chemistry Facts. Cool and useful. Did you know......?

From the Twitterverse:

NSMA 2010 Session 1:

How to Implement a highly effective RTI Model

NMSA 2010: Summarization in Any Subject

Dr. Monte Selby granted an interview to Middle School Matters. We get his thoughts on a wide range of topics.

Jokes:

On Our Mind:

NMSA 2010 Conference (If you’re going, contact us. We have a great link for you).

Keep in mind that new flight rules take effect on Nov. 1st.

Middle School Science Minute

From our Listeners:

As far as the testing discussion goes, I am blown away by states that test the previous year's material at the beginning of the following year. That just doesn't make sense to me (not that I agree with all of NC's testing program either). Here in NC, we administer EOG (End-of-Grade) tests about 3 weeks before school is out for the summer. Admin get the scores back about 5 hours after the last test is finished, and teachers usually get scores the following day. Scores are released to students before going home for the summer. The past couple of years, we have had a retest program for students who did not score at proficient levels.

Granted, there are issues with this system as well. Testing that far in advance of the end of school leads to a "Why are we still here?" attitude from some of the kids after the test. I think that makes much more sense than not being able to start the year covering relevant grade-level material.

Todd Williamson

Note: We’re hoping there will be a ton of folks at his presentation on Friday at 7:30 am in Baltimore this coming week. If you’re going to NMSA and willing, please consider his presentation in Room: 339 (Baltimore Convention Center)

From the Twitterverse:

This Part for Infamous40000 . . . :

Hero Machine: Design your own superhero: http://tinyurl.com/olzc3a

Uber-Mongo-Important assignment for operative Infamous40000: Design a superhero and share the experience with us. Call us at (262) 724-6653 and send us a copy of your superhero!

Tech Tools:

AlternativeTo:

Wiggio

Math Open Geometry

Great geometry resources.

http://www.mathopenref.com/index.html

Microsoft Academic Search

Looks to be technically oriented. Some good possibilities though. Conferences are included.

http://journalogy.com/

One Word

Interesting idea for a writing assignment.

http://oneword.com/

News:

Robots in the classroom? They’re here!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/10/22/south.korea.robot.teachers/index.html

Political Peril for the Common Core?

How to Assure Continued Progress

By Michael D. Usdan

Could the backlash against large governmental programs (like healthcare) effect the implementation of Common Core Standards?

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/27/09usdan_ep.h30.html?tkn=QMZFzckQpU3lROPtxOCXWM%2FnuCM2CsPo6oqD&cmp=clp-edweek

Webspotlight:

Google Search Tools

“Secret” codes to make your google searching even better.

http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html

Big East Career Fair

Could this be the start of a new way of finding a job?

http://www.bigeastcareerfair.com/

Teacher Jotter

Social Network for Teachers.

Build professional relationships, share resources, exchange ideas and opportunities.

http://www.teacherjotter.com/

Reading Slowly

Interesting thoughts on reading.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2010/0621/Should-your-child-be-learning-the-art-of-slow-reading

Collaboration Video

Does this look like collaboration at your school?

http://www.tuttlesvc.org/2010/10/planning-collaboratively.html

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Shawn & Troy talk about testing, conferences and many, many tools. Dave Bydlowski presents the Middle School Minute. We also discuss the Twitterverse, advisory ideas and more.

Jokes:

Ailments

A man was feeling terribly out of sorts and decided to go to the doctor so he made an appointment and showed up the next day. After the doctor examined the man, the doctor invited him into his office for the consultation. The doctor came into the room with three different bottles of pills. The doctor told the man to take the red pill in the morning with a big glass of water, the blue pill in the afternoon with a big glass of water and the green pill in the evening with a big glass of water. The man, terribly shocked at the amount of pills he had to take, asked the doctor what in the world was wrong with him. The doctor replied, "You aren't getting enough water."

On Our Mind:

Testing Relief

Conferences

Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy’s Take on Conferences.

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

Human Body Systems Facts

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Famous Partners

Place the names of famous couples on index cards, mix them up, have students match up. (http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/List_of_famous_pairs/)

Life Raft

Students stand on top of shower curtain and flip it over without anyone stepping off.

Life Skill Lessons

How to tie a tie, how to set the table, how to do anything....celebrate success!!

This Part for Infamous40000 . . . :

Animation Chefs: Learn how to animate from these three chefs!

Tech Tools:

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

http://nlvm.usu.edu/

TestMoz

http://testmoz.com/

Google Fusion Tables

Google Fusion Tables is a modern data management and publishing web application that makes it easy to host, manage, collaborate on, visualize, and publish data tables online.

http://www.google.com/fusiontables/public/tour/index.html

News: Charter school first in county to switch to four-day week

A Palm Beach County charter high school plans to switch to a four-day school week beginning in January.

Students would be in school for a total of 902.4 hours this year, above the 900-hour minimum state requirement, according to a calculation received by the district, Edwards said.

It's pitched as an opportunity for students to have more time for part-time jobs, school activities, and dual-enrollment programs that enable students to earn college credit. Daniel also described it as a way to decrease "discipline issues and student absences."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-four-day-school-week-20101021,0,6276565.story

Moving Forward With the Common Core

By Sarah Fine

If there remains any doubt about the momentum of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, let it be abandoned once and for all. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia, which collectively educate three-fourths of all school-age children in this country, have pledged to adopt the core. Intellectual gatekeepers have given the standards a resounding pass. Plans for implementation have begun. For better or worse, the boulder is on its way down the mountain, gathering strength and speed as it goes.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/20/08fine.h30.html?tkn=LYXFpDDbwWg77mw9AnpIQPhrrQpBWyZw4y%2Fk&cmp=clp-edweek

Webspotlight:

Virtual Pumpkin Carving

A, um, virtual pumpkin to carve.

http://www.ncs-tech.org/pub/carve_pumpkin.swf

The Fisch Flip

Colorado teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams were some of the first educators I learned about who are leveraging the power of podcasting, screencasting, and video sharing to "flip" the traditional model of lecture in class and homework at home which predominates in many schools today.

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2010/10/20/the-fisch-flip-in-michigan-dale-eizenga-on-flipping-traditional-lecture-and-homework-routines/

ISTE 2010: Google Apps in Education

Jokes:

Counting Skills

A teacher asked little Johnny if he knows the numbers 1 to 10. "Yes! Of course! My pop taught me even more than 10." "Good. What comes after three? "Four," answers the boy. "What comes after six?" "Seven." "Very good," says the teacher. "Your dad did a good job. Now, what comes after ten?" "Jack."

On Our Mind:

NMSA 2010

Whither Wi-Fi?

Will TodaysMeet be used?

iTunes Rankings

Helping others:

Hello fellow middle school science teachers. This is a reminder to please complete this survey. My gratitude to the hundreds of teachers who have already done so. I am conducting a study of middle school science teachers and their teaching about the ocean. I need your help! Your answers to my survey questions will contribute to what we know about the current state of ocean literacy education in the United States. All other challenges to the world ocean aside, the intricacies of the current oil spill crisis are reason enough to ensure that our citizenry is ocean literate.

If you have at least one year of experience teaching middle school science, would you please take my survey? It will take 15-20 minutes to complete and your answers are completely confidential and anonymous. The survey can be accessed by clicking on the following Internet link: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_87zwywgq8dNRqn2

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science on Twitter

Headrush - MythBusters for Kids

Team America Rocket Contest

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Voki - Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.

Inspirational Quotes - Here, I’ll share 20 of my favorite inspirational quotes. I won’t include any commentary because the quotes speak for themselves. I hope they resonate with you as much as they have with me :)

University of Virginia’s Honor Code: Use this video in connection with the “Coat of Arms” materials from NMSA’s Treasure Book to build an Advisory activity!

Tech Tools:

Markup IO

Draw on any webpage. Share your ideas. Mark. Share. Done.

Draw on any webpage with MarkUp to quickly share your thoughts. Try it now by choosing a shape to trace. Get MarkUp to use it any time.

http://markup.io/

Yudu

“Read online publications and self publish digital magazines, eBooks and more.” Here’s one thing that I like about it - you can create your own library of books. I started with a couple of books by Richard Byrne (Free Tech for Teachers)- Google for Teachers and Google for Teachers II.

10 Sites to create Comics from Tech Learning

“Creating Digital Comics has been one of my favorite thing to do with students when trying to integrate technology. While this can be done with any number of applications, such as Comic Life or Toon Boom, there are many online alternatives (mostly free) that offer a nice solution as well.”

http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/33632

Webspotlight:

School study sees benefits in economic integration

"This study turns that wisdom on its head to some extent. It says, actually, it's who you are going to school with."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101407051.html

Effort Targets 'Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations'

Researchers and policymakers agree that teachers’ expectations of what their students can do can become self-fulfilling prophecies for children’s academic performance.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/13/07nua_ep.h30.html?tkn=VVSFYFZRTFCluQuL2iUL74zLUE%2FrRBupwKqS&cmp=clp-edweek

Edutopia Parent Guide

Need to register to get the guide.

http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-home-to-school-guide.pdf

EdWeek focuses on Will Richardson

http://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2010/10/12/01richardson.h04.html?intc=fall_tsbem

ISTE 2010: Crap Detection - Teaching Students to Research

Presenter: Dr. Howard Rheingold

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Jokes:

Said the officer to the soldier, "Private, why did you salute that refrigerator?" The soldier replied, "Because it was General Electric." "And that jeep?" the officer asked. Replied the soldier, "Because it was General Motors."

On Our Mind:

Standardized Testing

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski

2 big events:

Earth Science Week - Oct. 10th - 16th

National Fossil Day - Oct. 13th

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

How do people spend their money?

http://www.creditloan.com/infographics/how-the-average-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

Tera & Bella

An elephant and a dog become best friends. We use it to talk about how people might be different, but can still get along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0TjfOKnF-c

The follow up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcfWFZaYzs

Tech Tools:

Visual Words

Here are six visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help your students better understand the meanings of words.

From Free Technology for Teachers.

Snappy Words

Visuwords

Lexipedia

Merriam Webster's Visual Dictionary

Wordia

Got Brainy

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/six-visual-dictionaries-and-thesauri.html

Quiz Break

What is QuizBreak!?

QuizBreak! is a highly flexible program that allows teachers to create fun, Jeopardy©-like games for the language classroom.

QuizBreak! allows you to:

Write clues in any script (left-to-right, right-to-left, and non-Roman scripts will all work)

Add images to clues

Record or upload audio and/or video clues

Program Features

User-friendly editing interface for easy category-creation

Prize amounts can be displayed using any currency symbol

Multi-platform program works on PCs and Macs

http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/

Webspotlight:

BBC News: Faces of the U.S. Civil War

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11470304

OK, this one is just silly- but with a good cause behind it. The idea plays off of the talking baby meme. You can type in up to 600 characters, pick a baby and listen/watch the fun. The cause supports no baby born with HIV by the year 2015. Check it out.

http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/widget.html

How to be a Good Commenter:

Karen shared her Paper Blog activity with me a few months ago and I've used it with my students to get them ready to blog with the "real thing." My students have practiced writing and most of all commenting appropriately.

http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-be-good-commenter.html

7 Delightfully Nerdy Apps for Math and Science Geeks

Celestia

Stellarium

OSXplanet

Smell-O-Mints

GNU XaoS

Eigenmath

Magic Number Machine

http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/7-delightfully-nerdy-apps-for-math-and-science-geeks/

ISTE 2010: Steve Hargadon’s “Birds of A Feather” Session

Events & Happenings:

Jokes:

Wrong Ends

A contractor hired two brothers to install home siding. He demonstrated the process and sent them off to their first job. Things were going smoothly when the older brother saw that his younger brother was throwing nails away. He asked, "Why are you throwing those nails away?" The younger brother replied, "The heads are on the wrong end." The older brother laughed, "Those are for the other side of the house."

Languages

A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Americans are waiting. "Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen" he asks. The two Americans just stare at him. "Excusez-moi, parlez vous Fracais?" he tries. The two continue to stare. "Parlare Italiano?" No response. "Hablan ustedes Espanol?" Still nothing. The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted. The first American turns to the second and says, "Y'know, maybe we should learn a foreign language." "Why?" says the other. "That guy knew four languages, and it didnt do him any good." (If you liked that one . . . try this!)

What did one math book say to the other? I have so many problems . . .

On Our Mind:

o Google Forms and Walkthroughs

o http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/1261-Daily-Walkthroughs-with-GoogleApps-and-the-iPad.html

NMSA is a month away . . .

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Small Spaces

What if everything that you needed had to fit through a small space?

This would be a discussion centered around the trapped minors. The focus of the conversation could be around what it would be liked to be trapped for months.

* What is the difference between a need and a want?

* What can you “make do” with?

The link has a visual of the size of the whole which everything must pass to get to the minors.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/13/back-story-think-of-the-miners.html

Quadruple Amputee Swims Across English Channel

Philippe Croizon, who lost his limbs in an electrical accident, swam across the English Channel. Nice story about what determination can do. The video is 1 minute and 40 seconds long. It includes quotes from Philippe. (Could also discuss the difference between a quad amputee and a quadriplegic).

http://www.newsy.com/videos/quadruple-amputee-swims-across-english-channel/

Tech Tools:

Educate

http://www.ikonstrukt.com/educate.php

ManyEyes

Data visualization. Great for those who see in pictures.

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/

Webspotlight:

YouTube Channel: RobbWorld’s Channel

DocsTeach

Great site from the National Archives Experience. Includes both Activities and Primary Resources.

http://docsteach.org/

26 Keys to Student Engagement

by Angela Maiers.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37782099/26-Keys-to-Student-Engagement

WorldMapper

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.

There are now nearly 700 maps. Maps 1-366 are also available as PDF posters. Use the menu above to find a map of interest. To learn a little more about this and other map projections read this: Worldmapper and map projections.

We recently added a new series of maps of the world's population using a new mapping technique: Worldmapper Population Atlas

http://www.worldmapper.org/

Schoolwork

by Nicholas Lemann

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann

Creating self Graded Google Forms

by Mark Wagner

“For this video I cut right to the chase and did my best to explain the IF formula for beginners… while keeping under a 5 minute time limit. I hope it’s helpful for you and your colleagues and I hope you’ll let me know what you think.”

http://edtechlife.com/?p=2600

Listener Question for Troy via Twitter: From @Mthman: @MSMatters Help me to understand a procedural Q...do the teachers in your building need guidance w/advisory lesson plans? Mine do!!! (Listen to the show for the answer!)

News:

Special Thanks to Dr. Tatom for sharing his experience with us:

* Links Mentioned:

o Good Reader (.99 cents)

+ Update will allow highlighting and notetaking.

o iAnnotate ($9.99)

o iDemo Web ($1.99)

o PaperDesk ($1.99)

o SoundNote (formerly Sound Paper) ($4.99)

o HistoryTools (free)

o Free Books (public domain literature)

+ Wattpad (free)

+ Free Books (free)

o Using iPads (http://esu3ipads.wikispaces.com/)

The discussion centered around iPad use in education. We discussed iPad use at the college and middle school level. Lots of good tips.

*The sound is less than perfect is some spots. However, the content is really good.

Jokes:

Best Signs

Listeners:

Dave Bydlowski: thanks for the email. Looking forward to hearing from you throughout the year! Go Science! (David’s Podcast)

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Making Hard Decisions:

What would your students do if they discovered that they had broken a rule?

http://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/09/02/teenager-disqualified.ap/index.html

Career Path Discussion:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703466704575489773416987814.html

Tech Tools:

Basic Google Search that everyone should know:

10 Basics tips to make your google searching better and easier.

http://www.techlearning.com/article/32300

Wordia

http://www.wordia.com/

SnappyWords

Free visual English dictionary. An online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and draw connections to associated words. You can easily see the meaning of each by simply placing the mouse cursor over it.

http://www.snappywords.com/

DocDroid

DocDroid is a completely free online document uploading, conversion and sharing tool.

* Upload documents in nearly any format.

* Share the document via eMail, Twitter or Facebook.

* Fast HTML preview for readers.

* Let the reader choose in which format he wants to download the document.

* Multiple file upload is possible.

* Password protection is possible.

* Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, PAGES, RTF, OTT, XLS, XLSX, TXT, PPT, PPTX, ODP and more!

* Documents can be deleted by you or are deleted after 60 days without view.

http://www.docdroid.net/

Webspotlight:

Free Teaching History Poster

You can order a FREE historical thinking poster. They also have resources for elementary, middle and high school.

http://teachinghistory.org/

Math Fun Facts

This archive is designed as a resource for enriching your math courses and nurturing your interest and talent in mathematics! Each Math Fun Fact is a math puzzle or short article that contains a cool mathematics idea. You'll can learn about the mathematics of things like card shuffling to poker to computer vision to fractals to music, just to name a few. This makes great enrichment material for gifted math students or problem-solving groups.

http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/

Commonly misheard expressions

From a friend Down Under. Still a great discussion.

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2010/09/ten-misheard-expressions-to-avoid-in-your-writing/

Classroom Secrets- Taking My Students on a Classroom Tour

By Marsha Ratzel

The first tour stop is the “Start of Class Procedure and Class Agenda,” projected on my interactive whiteboard.

I’m not sure the procedures and routines of Room 66 are worth much, monetarily speaking. But collectively they maximize our learning time together by allowing us to accomplish the administrative tasks quickly, efficiently, and without trauma to students. I estimate that they give me an extra 4-5 minutes of class time every day – which means I’m able to squeeze out an extra day of instruction every 10 days. Since we are in school for 10 months, that means I’m creating nearly 18 extra class periods of instruction versus someone who doesn’t use these kinds of tricks. That’s almost a month of extra instructional time in each class.

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/09/15/tln_ratzel.html?tkn=ZRZF%2FCsty6RQ0ltMWceCfc%2B5%2FYBAcGhCp00l&cmp=clp-edweek

News:

Did Bill Gates waste billions of dollars over math errors?

Did Bill Gates waste a billion dollars because he failed to understand the formula for the standard deviation of the mean? Howard Wainer makes the case in the entertaining Picturing the Uncertain World (first chapter with the Gates story free here).

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/09/the-small-schools-myth.html

ISTE 2010

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

Title: It’s Constitution Day!

Jokes:

A beginner rider at the stables was trying to saddle a horse. "Excuse me," said the old hand, "but you are putting that saddle on backwards." "How do you know," snapped the student. "You do not know which way I'm going."

On Our Mind:

First week back to school . . .

Constitution Day Resources . . .

Cybrary Man: http://cybraryman.com/constitution.html

Bill of Rights Institute

Primary Resources

Current Events & the Constitution

Landmark Supreme Court Decisions

Constitution Day Quiz

Interactive Online Module: Madison’s Notes Are Missing

Essay Contest

Michigan Department of Education Resource: The Toledo War

ConstitutionFacts.com: Constitution Quiz

ConstitutionFacts.com: Founders Quiz

Naturalization Test

National Constitution Center: To Sign or Not to Sign? (VII Amendment focus)

Interactive Constitution

Town Hall (Debate) Activity

Founders Biographies

Use a Bio-Cube with the Founders Biographies. (requires online access)

10 Ways to Teach Biographies (Education World)

Constitution Newswire: Connect current events to Constitutional Issues (relevance)

United States National Archives Resources

Biographies

Constitutional Convention Simulation

Teaching with Documents Lesson: Delaware’s Ratification of the Constitution

Teaching the Constitution Lesson Packet (US Archives charges for this.)

Teaching with Documents On-line Workshop

(Note: There is a video conferencing component which requires students to be up to speed at the appointed time.)

National Council for the Social Studies (membership required)

It’s My Right: Card based activity teaching the Constitution.

Frederick Douglass: The Constitution and Slavery; a classroom debate.

Internet Guide to Teaching the Constitution.

Listeners:

Thanks to @Mthman & @rushtheiceberg for the recommendation on Twitter!

Best wishes to Kevin at Honey Grove on his new blog!

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Tech Tools:

ThoughtAudio:

http://www.thoughtaudio.com/

Reading Logs

http://www.readinglogs.com/

How Safe is your password?

http://howsecureismypassword.net/

Voki: Animated avatars

Webspotlight:

47+ Alternatives to YouTube:

Some excellent educational content can be found on YouTube. However, many teachers cannot access YouTube in their classrooms. That is why I originally wrote what became one of the most popular posts to ever appear on Free Technology for Teachers, 30+ Alternatives to YouTube. That post is now fourteen months old and I've come across more alternatives in that time. Also in that time span some of the resources on the list have shut down. So it's time to update the list.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/09/47-alternatives-to-using-youtube-in.html

News:

California testing iPads as Algebra Textbook Replacements

A pilot project in four California school districts will replace 400 students' eighth-grade algebra textbooks with Apple iPads in an attempt to prove the advantages of interactive digital technologies over traditional teaching methods.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/117625-california-testing-ipads-as-algebra-textbooks