Jokes You Can Use:

Johnny Depp is making another Pirates of the Carribean. It’s “Arrrrgh” Rated . . .

RUTH BUZZI ‏ @Ruth_A_Buzzi

My cat can hardly wait until his favorite holiday comes around next week: "Cinco de Meowo." #HappyCaturday (w/ thanks to @Liedertafel_pdx!)

On Our Mind:

Bad Pirate Jokes . . .

Eileen Award:

Dave Brown

Mary Alise Herrera

Craig Malkin

Advisory:

Thou Shall Not Commit Logical Fallacies

A logical fallacy is usually what has happened when someone is wrong about something. It's a flaw in reasoning. They're like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people.

Don't be fooled! This website and poster have been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head.

If you see someone committing a logical fallacy, link them to the relevant fallacy to school them in thinky awesomeness and win the intellectual affections of those who happen across your comment by appearing clever and interesting e.g. yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman (rollover/click icons above).

http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

The National Science Teachers Association has recently announce its Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12. In this podcast we look at three more of the books which are very appropriate for students in grades 6 - 8. They are:

Baby Mammoth Mummy Frozen in Time! A Prehistoric Animal's Journey into the 21st Century

by Christopher Sloan

The Elephant Scientist

by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson

Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication

by Ann Downer

From the Twitterverse:

News:

Can You Make Yourself Smarter?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/can-you-make-yourself-smarter.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=magazine

Resources:

CorePlanner

CorePlanner: Resource tool for teachers planning their lessons around the Common Core Standards.

http://coreplanner.com/

???? http://www.mylessonplanner.com/

PBS Kids Cyberchase - Dozens of Math Activities

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/04/pbs-kids-cyberchase-dozens-of-math.html

3D Toad

http://www.3dtoad.com/

Taylor Mali

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/get-fracas/04-2012/taylor-malis-what-teachers-make-book-winner

YouTube Speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU

Web Spotlight:

33 Animals Who Are Extremely Disappointed In You

Not angry, just disappointed

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animals-who-are-extremely-disappointed-in-you

The 5 Worst Things a Teacher Can Say to Students

By Dan Brown

5. “I know this may seem pointless but we have to get through it…”

4. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

3. “The other class did well with this. What’s wrong with you guys?”

2. “You will never be able to (fill in the blank).”

1. “I get paid whether you (fill in the blank) or not.”

http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/get-fracas/04-2012/5-worst-things-teacher-can-say-students

Test Scores and Housing Costs

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/test-scores-and-housing-costs/

A Child’s Helping Hand on Portions

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/dining/a-child-offers-plan-on-portion-control-for-dieters.html

Events & Happenings: