MSM 188 20% Project and A Plethora of Words and Resources…

Jokes You Can Use:

Why are so few men with whiskers in heaven?
Because most men get in by a close shave.

What’s the definition of a financial genius?
Someone who can make money faster than the rest of the family spends it.

I know a woman who has cooked so many TV dinners that she thinks she’s in show business!

On Our Mind:

New Year’s Resolutions.
Feedback
PLN site – http://rmmade.com

Eileen Award:

• Happy Birthday to Jeff LaRoux
• Nicole Woulfe
• Linda Neville
• Rachel C.

Advisory:

It has a name you know:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/25-everyday-things-you-never-knew-had-names

Honest Logo

http://m.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/if-logos-were-honest

Middle School Science Minute

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

This middle school science minute is about formaldehyde. In the November, 2011 issue of Science Scope (NSTA publication), in the section on “Scope on Safety” a question was asked about what a teacher should do if they find specimens preserved in formaldehyde.  Two very good options are provided.

From the Twitterverse:

News:

It’s Time to Rethink the Hours America Spends Educating
http://www.edutopia.org/time-out

LearnCentral becomes Blackboard Collaborate

http://www.wecollaborate.com/

Novo 7, DroPad A8i and the Aakaash . . .

So you’re thinking about a cheap tablet . . .

Resources:

Documentary Tube

Documentary films are informative motion pictures that are intended to highlight events or issues for posterity. They are meant to bring some realization of a situation to its viewers.They often pose the pros and cons of issues and leave the viewer to make an informed decision. In their early conception, documentaries were usually made for schools or for private release. Today, things have definitely changed, as documentaries are even making it to the big screen.
http://www.documentarytube.com/

Old Television Themes

A vast resource of audio.
http://www.televisiontunes.com/

Sketch in 3D on the Web

About

Remember the old cartoons where hand drawn lines appeared
to vibrate because of differences between frames?

That’s what this experiment simulates. It also adds a third
to your drawings by allowing you to rotate the canvas.
http://hakim.se/experiments/html5/sketch/

Web Spotlight:

The 20% Solution

I recently assigned a new project to my 11th grade English students: The 20% Project. Although it’s called a “project”, that term is merely for student understanding and lack of a better word. This project is based on the “20 percent time” Google employees have to work on something other than their job description. It has been well documented, and Google has exponentially grown as a company while giving this 20 percent time.
http://educationismylife.com/the-20-project-like-google-in-my-class/

The Living Room Candidate

Election video ads. Can be sorted by year, by type, or by issue.

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/

10 Funniest Things

http://educationismylife.com/top-10-funniest-things-ever-said-in-education/

MiddleWeb’s New Resources (438)
http://tln.typepad.com/middleweb/2011/12/middlewebs-new-resources-438.html

Urgent call to a medieval Help Desk
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/cyberworld/urgent-call-to-a-medieval-help.html

30 Webtools to Transform a Classroom – LiveBinder
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=259021

Continuing to Learn with the iPad- Storytelling
http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/12/28/continuing-to-learn-with-the-ipad/

Strategies:

5 Awesome Things you can do with an iPad and a projector

http://www.classroominthecloud.net/2011/10/5-awesome-things-you-can-do-with-ipad.html

Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-as-teaching-tool
(Referenced in the Twitterverse:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/everybody-is-stupid-except-you/201201/lectures-suck)    

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

ISTE 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:

• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference.

• OMLA Registration Form
• OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

AMLE Affiliate Conferences:

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 2012 in Warren Woods, MI.  
• MAMSE Exhibitor Form
• MAMSE Registration Form

• MAMSE Presentation Form
• MAMSE Conference Program Book (2011)
• The North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference March 13-15, 2012
• Conference Brochure  
• Presenter’s Application
• Who They Are . . .
• This year’s sessions . . .

Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.

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