MSM 183 You Vill Pass Dis Test, You Vill Like Dis Test, You Vill Attach De Schtandard To Each Schtandard . . .

Jokes You Can Use:

1. Why are round pizzas put in square boxes?
2. If a deaf person must appear in court is it still called a hearing?
3. Why does the sign read, “Enter at your own risk” who else could you risk other than yourself?
4. If it’s called “frying pan” is it OK to boil something in it?
5. Why doesn’t every doughnut have nuts in it?

Do you know what happens to quarterbacks when they reach the ends of their lives?
They just pass away.

Troy’s Backup Jokes:
Test Question:  Give a brief explanation of the meaning of the term “hard water.”
Student Answer:  Ice

Test Question:  What is methane?
Student Answer:  Methane is a smelly greenhouse gas that is produced when trees and/or cows are burned.
(F in Exams by Richard Benson)

On Our Mind:

Week and a half to AMLE/NMSA 2011 in Louisville . . .
Sessions
Affiliate Sessions:  Contact Doug Herlensky if you’re attending.
Dinner

Eileen Award:

Kam Yousaf

Advisory:

What would it take to make a model look like Barbie?

Here’s a breakdown of what she’d need done to be the kind of doll women aspire to: a brow lift, a jaw line shave, rhinoplasty, a cheek and neck reduction, a chin implant, scooped-out shoulders, a breast lift, liposuction on her arms, and tummy tuck, which would also have to be sculpted as if it were lined in whale-bone from the inside. And that’s just the half of her.
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/the-plastic-surgery-a-model-needs-to-look-like-barbie-2584798

Respect

Respect Rap – I use this with grades 2 – 4 but it’s suitable through middle school. Just love the message, the instrumental track, the editing, the kids’ performances (and the Principal’s, too). The choreography is amazing, the scene setup, the dancing at the end … it’s just dripping with awesome. Congratulations, Fearless Lions at Frank Porter Graham Elementary in Chapel Hill, NC. YOU, QUITE LITERALLY, ROCK!
http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=6844

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

This middle school science minute is about Oobleck.  This is a great activity when students are full of extra energy.  Just mix cornstarch and water and it makes a “non-Newtonian” fluid.  It starts off with the consistency of peanut butter, then through handling becomes brittle and breaks, but then eventually becomes an oozing liquid again.

I thought it might be fun to do this podcast around Halloween, when slimy things are at the forefront.  Oobleck goes by many names but this is my favorite one because there is a nice tie in to the Dr Seuss book — Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

From the Twitterverse:

*web20classroom From @azjd-5 Skills For 21st Century Learners:bit.ly/gipO6L7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing (PDF): bit.ly/g7LhvC
*Maiju1975 Our race to the bottom. RT @DianeRavitch: This is the graph that shapes our future: nytimes.com/imagepages/201…
*willrich45 I don’t want best practice. I want changed practice. The former usually is just using tech to do the same as we’ve always done. #grumpytour
*rmbyrne Looking for Lesson Materials? Try OER Commons bit.ly/tzFMcI via @AddThis
*missnoor28 Miss Noor ㋡ Teach with your #ipad – Blooms Taxonomy with Apps | @scoopit goo.gl/f6nC1 #edtech #edchat #ipad #mlearningPeriodic Table of #QRcodes | @scoopit http://bit.ly/orAs2U #edtech #edchat #science #mlearning
*csousanh Is there still a place for teacher autonomy in US Public schools? #edchat, #vted, #cpchat, #midleved educationalmusings.net
*fabclassroom Sign up for UPS My Choice & be entered into the Win What you want Sweepstakes twrt.me/vbs19v by @dallassinglemom
*sguditus iPad use in the middle school – communication, research and resources: bit.ly/wmsipad #midleved #masscue11
*mrsebiology Podcasting in the Classroom: bit.ly/ukZlEy #edchat #edtech #midleved #elemchat
*ssandifer Teaching with Technology in the Middle: Diigo for Digital Writing Reflection | @scoopit bit.ly/uiMOz6 #edtech
*DianeRavitch Tests for everything including auto shop and foreign languages, to rate teachers. Thanks @arneduncan: online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…
*mcleodScott McLeod

Every day in school students receive regular reminders they’re not trusted. Cumulative impact of that over many years is … ?

New bookmark: Social Media Guidelines:  http://www.delicious.com/ericstoller/social-media-guidelines

RT @ericstoller: Censoring social media is like trying to stop a waterfall with a colander. #NASPAtechC #NASPAtech

*This space intentionally left blank*  (I’ve always wanted to say that . . .)

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

News:

Testing Costs

As the nation endures its sputtering recovery, significant cuts to state and local education budgets continue to dominate headlines. With bruising fights over tenure, pensions, and collective bargaining, educators fear that these cuts may shrink educator jobs and benefits for years to come.
Within this context, though, it is testing that has emerged as the real villain. In protest blogs, op-eds, and tweets, critics rail against “billions and billions” spent on assessment, arguing that if only we stopped testing, teachers’ jobs, art classes, sports, school nurses, librarians, small classes, and more would be saved.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/12/07tucker.h31.html

Will Richardson:  Make It Stop. Please.

http://willrichardson.com/post/11862306546/make-it-stop-please

Resources:

60 Seconds

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/files/2011/06/internet-60-seconds-infographic.jpg

Stitch.it

Simply copy-and-paste a set of links in our text box and click ‘Stich It’. We’ll convert those links into one short URL for you to share. It’s that easy!
http://stich.it/

Good to Know

  • Stay safe online
  • Your data on the web
  • Your data on Google
  • Manage your data

http://www.google.com/goodtoknow/

WhatFolio

http://www.whatfolio.com/

Primary Sources:
Documents from a variety of eras. From 4000bc – 21st Century.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp
Welcome to the David Rumsey Map Collection Database and Blog.
http://www.davidrumsey.com/
Royal Society
http://royalsocietypublishing.org/search

Music Primary Sources:

Victrola Book of Opera
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/victor-book-of-the-opera
Acoustic Recordings
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/about/acoustical-recording

iPad Resources

https://sites.google.com/site/iccarsproject/home/ipad-ios-resources

Web Spotlight:

Larry Ferlazzo

Daniel Pink was recently interviewed on a local Washington, D.C. television show along with a local university official. You watch it all here, but I thought the few minutes he spent discussing the role of grades, autonomy and inquiry in education to be particularly thought-provoking. I used Tube Chop to “chop” those two brief segments and have them embedded below. I don’t know if they will come through on an RSS Readers, so you might have to click through to my blog in order to view them.
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/10/23/daniel-pink-on-grades-autonomy-inquiry/

Strategies:

How YouTube Is Changing The Classroom
As long as there have been teachers, they’ve battled the same problems: How can they reach students of multiple ability levels at once, cover more course material in limited time, and find more time to engage with students one-on-one?
Some educators think they’ve found a solution to all three problems in, of all things, YouTube.
A small group of teachers nationwide is replacing in-class lectures with short online videos students watch at home. This flip-flop of homework and lecture — from which the model gets its name, “the flipped classroom” — leaves class time open for students to complete their assignments with their teacher standing by to offer one-on-one help.
Research backing the model is scarce, and some critics have dismissed the model as a gimmick. Still, a handful Indiana teachers — and top state education officials — are willing to give it a try.http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2011/10/12/how-youtube-is-changing-the-classroom/

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

AMLE News:

      • 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:

AMLE Affiliate Conferences:  

Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

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