Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

Advisory:

What is a second?

How long is a second? Who decided what a second is? How did people agree that a second is a second?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NXRVtfCpLr4#

Hand Gestures

Many times we tend to use our hands to explain our needs and thoughts. The same hand gesture may mean something quite nasty and offensive to a person from a different cultural background. Hand gestures are a very important part of the body language gestures. In this article we shall understand what are hand gestures.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hand-gestures-in-different-cultures.html

The Etch-a-Sketch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hq3Et9gOISI

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or [email protected])

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-BEST 6-8 TRADE BOOKS PART 2

Each year the National Science Teachers Association announces the outstanding science trade books from grades K-12. This list includes books published in 2012. This is the second in a series of podcasts that will look at the best books for grades 6 - 8.

The books included in this podcast are:

1. Book of Blood by HP Newquist

2. Invincible Microbe by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

3. Sneed B. Collard III's Most Fun Book Ever About Lizards by Sneed B. Collard III

Also wanted to share a couple of comments regarding the last show:

1. A great place for free textbooks is: ck12.org

They produce free texts that can be used on computers, kindles, iPads, other tablets, etc. Their books geared to middle and high school.

2. Regarding funding of the Common Core. The House has talked about not funding anything for MDE regarding Common Core. But it is far from reality. The House must propose its budget, then the Senate, their budget, then a team of 6 comes together to finalize the budget, from the two plans. It does not have anything to do with districts funding the common core, only MDE.

From the Twitterverse:

Resources:

Parenting

Variety of short videos that are useful for parents.

http://m.kidsinthehouse.com/

Web Spotlight:

Response: Using -- Not Misusing -- Ability Groups In The Classroom

By Larry Ferlazzo on May 12, 2013 11:55 PM

Standards Based Grading Videos

A Dress-Code Enforcer's Struggle for the Soul of the Middle-School Girl

JESSICA LAHEYFEB 14 2013, 12:18 PM ET

http://m.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/02/a-dress-code-enforcers-struggle-for-the-soul-of-the-middle-school-girl/273155/

Half-Baked Ideas . . .

Conference

Would you give up a day in summer to learn about Moodle (online learning)?

Would you pay for it?

What would you want to get out of it?