Jokes:

Always wanted to be a procrastinator, but never got around to it.

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My friend has kleptomania, but when it gets bad, he takes something for it.

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Did you hear about the big fight that Madonna, Cher, Jewel, and Fabio had?

They're no longer on a first-name basis.

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It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial cost and blamed it on the cost of living.

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Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.

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I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

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How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Neighbors-Ditto-Display-Looks-Like-a-Bright-Idea-78523157.html?yhp=1

From the Twitterverse:

* lthumann - Wow! I'm looking at Free Technology for Teachers: 30+ Alternatives to YouTube http://bit.ly/UfEkv --> Great list! #edchat

* Glengarden - RT @nharm: http://www.animatedexplanations.com/ Full of animated movies, interactive tutorials & instructional videos, all free

* KammieK - RT @LarisaBelliveau: In The Age Of Realtime, Twitter Is Walter Cronkite http://bit.ly/7vpvEm

* RT @web20classroom 10 Technologies to Use in A Laptop/Tablet Classroom | Digital Learning Environments http://bit.ly/5JnkCz

* tombarret - 10 Digital Writing Opportunities You Probably Know and 10 You Probably Don't http://bit.ly/7Ryqaj

* Orrin_Woodward - Every uncomfortable experience in life gives you the choice of growing bitter or better.

* web20classroom Collaborative drawing with Flockdraw http://j.mp/6tJpiI

* web20classroom RT @AldridgeDuff: Amen to that, Russ. RT @RussGoerend: I think students and teachers could live without grades. Parents on the other hand...

* jimknight99 #1 reason kids don't engage is they don't see the relevance of the learning--Bonnie Davis #NSDC

* AngelaMaiers 10 Unique Gifts You Can Make with Help from the Web http://ow.ly/Ic3P

* brasst @plivings I plan PD w/middle school teachers like I do for students - lots of mini-activities; movement time, etc. No one wants boring PD!

MAMSE: Contact your local MAMSE board member and volunteer to be a Regional Coordinator!

Webspotlight:

A Closer Look at "A Christmas Carol"

Primary Source: take a look at the editing that Dicken's did when writing "A Christmas Carol". (Warning- it's written in cursive, which may be a strange language to some middle schoolers).

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/30/nyregion/dickens-christmas-carol-pages.html

SimplyBox

A neat way to save and share web sites, and parts of web sites, graphically. This can also share bookmarks with Delicious- thus, when you dropped something in a box, it would also put a bookmark in Delicious for you.

Here's how they say that teachers can use SimplyBox:

I am a teacher, how do I create accounts for my students?

a) You, as the teacher, can create a second account with SimplyBox in the name of the entire class. Then you would need to give the kids the user name and password you created for the account. By the way, the account then is only accessible by people that have the user name and password for the account. The students then will be able to see the content of the boxes in the account and add comments - from any computer. Now, if they need to add content to the account, they would need the SimplyBox toolbar (the one with the "Box It" button) downloaded on whatever computer they are using.

b) You can simply use Public Boxes (you create them under the Sharing menu option). Each Public Box has a URL. So, students can access the URL and see the content of the box and their comments to the different items. And the creator of the Public Box can delete the box at any time. Since this is a Public Box, students will not be able to add content to the Public Box, only comments.

NMSA09:

Roadblock to Success: I AM STUPID!

Classroom Management

Todd Johnson

Assertive discipline tried and found not to work.