Summary:

Shawn and Troy share jokes, resources, grading thoughts, influencers, and more. Dave frogs out, er, well, give it a listen.

Jokes:  

Two guys went on a fishing trip, and all they got were two measly fish.

“Those fish turned out to be expensive,” said the first guy, “They ended up costing us $80 each.”

“Well if you put it that way,” said the second guy, “it’s a good thing that we didn’t catch any more.”

---

What do you call a line of 100 rabbits marching backwards?

• A receding Hare-Line

---

Why is Cinderella so bad at soccer?

• She keeps running away from the ball

---

What do you call an angry carrot?

• A steamed veggie

---

Doris fell for a magician.

• It was love at first sleight.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: FrogWatch USA

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled, “Surveying Sounds of the Season.” 

Participation in FrogWatch USA provides students with authentic science engagement experiences.  The large-scale and long-term project provides learners with a unique opportunity to contribute to real-world science, derive meaning from data, and make discoveries.  For more information, please visit:

https://www.akronzoo.org/frogwatch

http://k12science.net/frogwatch-usa/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Teacher or Parent?
  • COVID impact?
• Art Class
• Trip Survey
• NWEA Testing (& Maine Through Year)

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

• Word of the afternoon is ‘charette’ (1950s): a period of intense activity in order to meet a deadline/upon noticing the time when you still have a pile of stuff to do. Also once known as a ‘fit of the clevers’.
• Word of the day is ‘matutinal’ (18th century): cheery, active, and alert in the morning. (For those who need it, ‘crumpsy’ is the opposite.)  
• I should also say that to ‘procaffeinate’ (not yet in the dictionary) is to put everything off until you’ve had sufficient amounts of coffee.

Mr H5P  @mrh5p

Here’s how to create an accordion in #H5P. It allows you to present longer texts in sections. #H5P #Accordion #eLearning #WordPress #Moodle

Michael Love@elkmovie@mastodon.social

@mekkaokereke Reminds me of one of my all time favorite Terry Pratchett quotes:

‘Algebra?’ said Madam Frout…
‘But that’s far too difficult for seven-year-olds!’

‘Yes, but I didn’t tell them that and so far they haven’t found out,’ said Susan.

Joanne Freeman @jbf1755

Tomorrow on “History Matters:”

National Debt & Dishonor: Hamilton Had Thoughts

There are MANY reasons why defaulting on our nat’l debt would be catastrophic. Some don’t get much news coverage.

Join the History Matters community Friday for more!

#politics #debtceiling #history #histodons #hamilton

Friday 10AM ET
http://NCHEteach.org/conversations

Moodle @moodle@openedtech.social

We have been working hard to ensure our platforms are accessible to everyone and compliant with all regulations and standards.

We’re proud to announce that Moodle LMS 4.0 has achieved WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance. ​​Not only that, it’s also our most accessible version of Moodle ever!

https://moodle.com/news/moodle-lms-4-0-achieves-wcag-2-1-aa-accessibility-compliance/

#Accessibility #MoodleLMS #WCAG

Strategies:

Students Can Solve Many of Their Own Problems

How do we empower kids to handle problems, inside and outside of the classroom? We need to let children handle small issues on their own and make mistakes.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/independent-problem-solving-in-the-classroom/

One Year of Specs Grading: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Broadly speaking, Specifications (Specs) Grading is a variation on a pass-fail, contract grading, and competency-based outcomes that ties course assignments to specific course objectives. 

https://joshuapnudell.com/2023/05/22/one-year-of-specs-grading-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

How Finnish schools teach every child to spot fake news – and what UK parents could learn

Darja Rekani clearly remembers the day in primary school when a teacher showed a series of news reports before asking the class of Finnish 10-year-olds to pick out the fake item buried among them and explain their choice.

“Then she told us, don’t always click on the first news you see and don’t believe everything you see on the internet – that was the most important thing in our lessons,” she says.

…underlines how these Finnish students have had it drummed into them to question data and information. “It is pretty basic stuff: check more sources, check a site’s sources, don’t trust only one page,” he says, adding that such scrutiny has become natural. “Even with Wikipedia, which can be a good source, we are told not to blindly trust it but look into the sources.”

…art classes, pupils analyse images from advertising and discuss deep-fake videos. In history, they compare Allied and Nazi wartime propaganda. In maths, they discuss the use of algorithms and abuse of statistics. In language lessons, they discover how words can be manipulated, how they can mislead and be used to sow division.

Finland’s aim is not to establish “truths” but to arm citizens with the means to sift through the torrents of information found online, challenge falsehoods and come to their own informed conclusions.

https://liveapp.inews.co.uk/2023/05/24/how-finnish-schools-teach-every-child-to-spot-fake-news-and-what-the-uk-could-learn/content.html

Resources:

Want to understand your adolescent? Get to know their brain

For the parents of a teenager, adolescence can be a challenging time. But to a brain scientist, it’s a marvel.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/23/1175859398/want-to-understand-your-adolescent-get-to-know-their-brain

Framadate

The Framadate is free, without ads or click traps. Our goal is to host a tool that serves you and does not use you.

Schedule a meeting or create an opinion poll

https://framadate.org/abc/en/

What is Max?

Max is an infinitely flexible space to create your own interactive software.

https://cycling74.com/products/max

Poet Training Tool

We have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure all content that is “born digital” is also “born accessible” so that all readers have access to the information they need. Use the interactive features on this website to determine when additional details are necessary and what makes for a good description.

https://poet.diagramcenter.org/

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Another Week, Another Warning

What it is: The Surgeon General has issued a warning on the dangers of social media for teenagers.

Sounds Legit

What it is: Teens are posting like influencers, even when they don’t have high follower counts, in an effort to fake it til they make it.

Facebook Babies

What it is: Teens who were born during the heyday of Facebook and Instagram oversharing are now horrified to discover what’s been posted about their childhoods.

Web Spotlight: 

 The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth

Welcome to Micromouse, the fastest maze-solving competition on Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMQbHMgK2rw

Tokyo’s trash-collecting samurai takes a fun, zany approach to cleanup

The Gomi Hiroi Samurai do this three times a week. There’s four of them, and they’re professional actors. In their spare time, they volunteer to keep the streets of Tokyo clean. Goto formed the group in 2009. Since then, they have become a viral sensation on TikTok, with over 700,000 followers and counting.

https://theworld.org/stories/2023-05-19/tokyo-s-trash-collecting-samurai-takes-fun-zany-approach-cleanup

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Washington D.C. trip, institutional knowledge, end of the year, beginning of the year and more . Dave brings some real-world problems.

Jokes:  

I was asked to write some song lyrics the other day. Unfortunately, the song is an instrumental.

---

The court ruled against a swimsuit model. 

• It was a summery judgement

---

I went to a conference on wind turbines the other day. The vibe was incredible.

• There was a lot of energy in the air. 

---

I’ve finished half a novel. 

• It’s for the semi-literate.

---

Two birds were sitting on a perch. One bird asks the other, “do you smell fish?”

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Real-World Problems

I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk” column, written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “Exploring Real-World Problems.”

Incorporating real-world projects provides your students with opportunities to grow not only in STEM, but also in their ability to think critically and compassionately.

http://k12science.net/real-world-problems/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Washington D.C. Trip
  • Insta360
  • Kid behavior
  • Access to “stuff”

Eileen Award  

• Omar Mo – “Just left you a 5-star review because “Slinging the Slang Making Us Thirsty!” was incredible. I really appreciate the way you discussed AI, SEL, and Parent Conferences in the episode. You gave a great overview of the topics and made it easy to understand.” 

The Social Web  

Matt Miller   @jmattmiller

80 back to school ideas and activities Including: Two NEW back to school escape rooms EduProtocols smart start New #SEL activities TONS of choice boards A folder full of resources Shapegrams & more! https://ditchthattextbook.com/back-to-school/ #Ditchbook

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

Rick Wormeli @rickwormeli2

Here at the end of the school year, many educators are tired-physically, emotionally, intellectually, wondering how to finish the school year w/something meaningful or inspiring. One quote from Maya Angelou helped me every year: “You Can’t Use Up Creativity, the More You Use the More You Have.” Doing creative things is a great source of Oxygen and teacher mojo. Perhaps try one creative endeavor right away: Do a chalk drawing in the teacher parking lot, create a funny video for sending off students for the summer, join students in doing a mini-opera about course content, decorate classroom windows with the removal paints used by sports teams, climb a mountain, ask students to write a letter to their future selves that you will mail at that future time, get training on how to design your own apps, do a family-friendly style of, “Whose Line is it anyway?” with students and families one evening, brainstorm with colleagues how you’re going to teach all formal writing through science, p.e., math, and social studies next year, teach one lesson entirely via puppets, or find creative ways to thank at least five colleagues for help you’ve received from them this year.

And when it comes to creativity, “Resistance is futile!” Embrace your innovative self and achieve escape velocity!

I’ve often found that when students are flagging in some way, they, like our colleagues, or usually doing the best they can. Plus, platitudes really never work, but specific actions/skills do. To get sts going here, it’s a matter of teaching executive function skills, so we need to overtly teach these skills, not simply demand sts demonstrate them. I’d also sit with students, ask them about their immediate goals for personal and academic growth, then ask coaching questions to get them to choose some concrete actions towards those goals and help them monitor their own progress. If we just tell them what to do, they don’t own it; it’s passive, and we want active. Of course, some tchrs don’t have training in all this, so admin that demands these things without providing training in it is deeply ineffective and demoralizing.

Susie Dent

@susie_dent

An unscientific analysis of the (excellent) responses to the words and phrases you’d like to ban: 10. My bad 9. The ‘optics’ of something. 8. ‘So’ at the start of a sentence. 7. Let’s go offline. 6. Basically 5. I’m not gonna lie… 4. I wanted to reach out 3. ‘like’ as a filler 2. No disrespect, but… 1. Going forward

Lake Superior State University’s Banned Word List:  https://www.lssu.edu/traditions/banishedwords/  

MrBerard @MrBerard@pilote.me

#EduGlow : The Year7 have been doing sound design last half-term. Their final project was to make a 30s bit of audio using sounds from the excellent, freely available BBC Sounds Effects Archive.

I spent the past couple of days making a podcast showcasing their submissions:

Sound Design Supercut by WBCast on #SoundCloud

on.soundcloud.com/xk26F

Strategies:  

Five Fun Year End Activities

As the end of the school year approaches, it’s time to celebrate all the hard work and accomplishments it brought. What better way to bid farewell to a memorable academic year than with some memorable activities? Let’s check out a few activity options for a little end-of-the-year fun!

https://blog.tcea.org/five-fun-end-of-the-year-classroom-activities/

Embracing Learning Through Play

A new book encourages playful learning in classrooms — for all ages. Creative Commons book is available. 

The authors of a new book say the traditional view of play and learning is a “false dichotomy” and that relegating play to the sidelines in schools is a mistake. Learning is helped by “experiences that are playful — that are joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive,” and school really can be enjoyable they explain in A Pedagogy of Play – Supporting Playful Learning in Classrooms and Schools. The user-friendly book is the result of eight years of research led by a team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero (PZ), in collaboration with the LEGO Foundation and educators at schools in Denmark, South Africa, Colombia, and the United States.

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/23/05/embracing-learning-through-play

Resources:  

The Cambridge Geek

Geeking out about science fiction, fantasy and audio/radio drama.

Every month, there are a large number of new audio drama and fiction podcasts released. These monthly lists collate everything I can find that has released an Ep1 in its dedicated fiction RSS feed for the relevant month. Feel free to shout in the comments if you’ve got more information or corrections and I’ll update with anything I’m missing.

The Cambridge Geek (or “Rob”) took a passing whim of writing a blog way too far and now has this review website which he obsessively updates as near to daily as possible. If you want something a bit more personal than that, then you may be interested to know that he’s an engineer, not any form of creative or coding whiz, so that’s his excuse for any website or language failings.

Up for review is any science fiction or fantasy he happens to read (books, comics, manga), watch (anime, films, theatre, TV), play (games), listen to (podcasts/audio shows) or attend (events). BBC Radio also sneaks in fairly frequently, and he sometimes has an original thought. If you’re lucky, The Girl might post on a Friday.

https://www.thecambridgegeek.com/

Class Quiz

Educators are buzzing around a new Kahoot and Quizziz-like tool available at no cost. This quiz website offers a host of features, the most important being that it doesn’t collect data. If you’ve used other quiz tools, you know data is collected about you and your students for their own use. ClassQuiz asserts that, unlike these other quiz tools, it doesn’t send information to third parties.

ClassQuiz works in a simple way. It allows you to take three primary actions:

• Create a quiz that allows the insertion of pictures/images
• Explore and find quizzes others have created
• Import quizzes from Kahoot! that you can then edit in ClassQuiz

As you might imagine, this import option gives you access to the content in a more established tool. Once the quiz has been set up, students select responses, view results, and see a leaderboard.

https://blog.tcea.org/classquiz/

40 sites for students with free time on their hands

https://ditchthattextbook.com/10-sites-for-students-with-free-time-on-their-hands/

Moderator Mayhem

*NOT for student use. Good construct for critical thinking. 

“Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our newest game in partnership with Engine. Moderator Mayhem is a mobile, browser-based game that lets you see how good a job you would do as a front line content moderator for a growing technology company that hosts user-generated content (in the game, it’s a “review” website that lets you review anything, not just businesses).”

https://moderatormayhem.engine.is/

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/11/moderator-mayhem-a-mobile-game-to-see-how-well-you-can-handle-content-moderation/

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Giving Players an Ultrahand

What it is: With perfect review scores abounding, Nintendo released its highly anticipated game “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” for the Nintendo Switch last week.

A Diet of Darkness

What it is: Despite some states trying to ban TikTok to protect users’ data privacy, an article in the Wall Street Journal argues that the bigger threat is still to teens’ mental health.

Web Spotlight:

Why birds and their songs are good for our mental health

Two studies published last year in Scientific Reports said that seeing or hearing birds could be good for our mental well-being.

“The special thing about birdsongs is that even if people live in very urban environments and do not have a lot of contact with nature, they link the songs of birds to vital and intact natural environments,” said Emil Stobbe, an environmental neuroscience graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and author of one of the studies.

Recent research also suggests that listening to recordings of their songs, even through headphones, can alleviate negative emotions.

By analyzing the data, the researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible explanations such as education, occupation, or the presence of greenery and water, which have themselves been associated with positive mental health.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2023/birds-song-nature-mental-health-benefits/

Would You Recognize a Good Lesson If You Saw It?

Would You Recognize a Good Lesson If You Saw It?

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about ISTE standards, Moodle data reports, and more. Dave reflects on NGSS. 

Jokes:  

---

A telescope was in the lost & found bin.

Not sure who owns it but we’re looking into it.

---

---

My doctor took one look at my gut and refused to believe that I work out.

• So I listed the exercises I do every day: jump to conclusions, climb the walls, drag my heels, push my luck, make mountains out of molehills, bend over backward, run around in circles, put my foot in my mouth, go over the edge, and beat around the bush.

---

---

---

---

“My friend loves to race boats.”

• “He must be one heck of a swimmer.”

---

Gossips have a great sense of rumor.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Ten Years of NGSS

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Note” column, written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn.  She wrote an article entitled, “Ten Years of NGSS: Where Are We Now?”

In the 10 years since the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released, 44 states have implemented standards influenced by NGSS and/or “A Framework for K-12 Science Education.”  Where are we now with the implementation of the NGSS?

http://k12science.net/ten-years-of-ngss/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Vacation
  • Chatting with Friends
  • Financial Advisor
• ISTE Standards
• Common Assessments
  • Moodle
    • Reports – these are excellent
    • 6th, 7th, 8th graders wrote over 180 questions in Moodle
    • Student Quiz
• Upcoming Trip
• H5P updates

Eileen Award  

iTunes:  5 Star rating from an anonymous listener.  

The Social Web  

AMLE  @AMLE

We’ve had so much fun highlighting our AMLE Middle School #SoundOff finalists this week! We’re going to end the week recognizing each of our honorable mentions.  Don’t forget – you can view all of them on our website and at #AMLE50 this November!  https://t.co/oNh3bhINtZ  

Typical EduCelebrity  @EduCelebrity

Happy Student Art Show Season!

Rodney Hetherton  @RodneyHetherton

Michigan State Senator-  @SenPolehanki  – discusses revamping teacher evaluation by removing growth data, creating 3 tiers of performance instead of 4 tiers, and allowing highly effective teachers to be on a 3-year cycle.

Internet4classrooms  @internet4classr

I4C: 45 Mother’s Day Quotes That Help Express How Important She Is. Heartfelt messages to share with your mom, here are iconic Mother’s Day quotes from actors, singers & poets. https://i4c.xyz/y8moq2k9 #edchat #elemchat #middlechat #langarts #ela #writing

Seth Ponder  @SethPonder

A student used #ChatGPT to write a letter for Teacher Appreciation Week to me. #TeacherAppreciation  

Marvin Olasky  @MarvinOlasky

“8th grade U.S. history scores continue to decline.” Not surprising, given how boring textbooks often are. Human interest history is fascinating.  https://currentpub.com/2023/05/06/8th-grade-u-s-history-scores-continue-to-decline/  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

This is your regular reminder that to ‘quiddle’ (18th century) is to spend all your time attending to trivial things, as a way of avoiding the important ones.

Strategies:  

Setting school policy about AI: A cautionary tale

https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai-conversations/

Resources:  

Study reveals America’s most confusing emojis

• America’s most confusing emojis
• The lease recognizable emojis
• The most rebelled against emojis

Key findings

• A majority (78%) have been confused by someone else’s use of an emoji.
• A surprising 1 in 3 have seen a misinterpreted emoji create an uncomfortable situation.
• Friends are most likely to use emojis in confusing ways.

https://preply.com/en/blog/most-confusing-emojis/

Free Programming Books

*Each file included in this repository is licensed under the CC BY License.

https://ebookfoundation.github.io/free-programming-books-search/

Erase IT

https://erase-it.cloudinary.com/

Web Spotlight:

My cochlear implant makes me feel like a cyborg, but I’m proud of it

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/my-cochlear-implant-makes-me-feel-like-a-cyborg-but-i-m-proud-of-it-1.6831792

AI Will Transform Teaching and Learning. Let’s Get it Right.

“Technology offers the prospect of universal access to increase fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Graduate School of Education Dean Daniel Schwartz in his opening remarks. “I want to emphasize that a lot of AI is also going to automate really bad ways of teaching. So [we need to] think about it as a way of creating new types of teaching.” 

https://hai.stanford.edu/news/ai-will-transform-teaching-and-learning-lets-get-it-right

Teachers’ Bias Against the Mathematical Ability of Female, Black, and Hispanic Students

Our study identifies factors that underlie such biases; namely, that biases are stronger among teachers who believe that gender discrimination is not a problem in the United States. 

Abstract

Researchers have long endeavored to understand whether teachers’ evaluations of their students’ mathematical ability or performance are accurate or whether their evaluations reveal implicit biases. To disentangle these factors, in a randomized controlled study (N = 390), we examined teachers’ evaluations of 18 mathematical solutions to which gender- and race-specific names had been randomly assigned. Teachers displayed no detectable bias when assessing the correctness of students’ solutions; however, when assessing students’ mathematical ability, biases against Black, Hispanic, and female students were revealed, with biases largest against Black and Hispanic girls. Specifically, non-White teachers’ estimations of students’ mathematical ability favored White students (both boys and girls) over students of color, whereas (primarily female) White teachers’ estimations of students’ mathematical ability favored boys over girls. Results indicate that teachers are not free of bias, and that teachers from marginalized groups may be susceptible to bias that favors stereotype-advantaged groups.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X19890577

Overview:

https://theconversation.com/math-teachers-hold-a-bias-against-girls-when-the-teachers-think-gender-equality-has-been-achieved-202921

The Luring Test: AI and the engineering of consumer trust

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/05/luring-test-ai-engineering-consumer-trust

Random Thoughts . . .  

Teen Language Video

https://www.facebook.com/reel/628034705861447

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Social Media Rules

What it is: The American Psychological Association has issued an advisory about social media use for teens.

Why it’s a shift in the discourse: The APA’s ten recommendations are the first time they’ve combined existing research into a set of guidelines that families and mental health providers could reference. Perhaps the most notable suggestion is #9 on their list, which suggests young people be trained in digital literacy and online citizenship before being allowed to use social media. Beyond that recommendation, most of the APA’s advisory’s focused on parental and caregiver monitoring of teens online. Some experts who spoke with NPR thought the suggestions were too burdensome for parents and that the onus should instead be on tech companies and government agencies to make online life into a safer experience for at-risk teens. Most people would agree that keeping teens safe online should be a carefully considered partnership between all the stakeholders involved, but that ideal seems miles away to many parents at the moment. 

Start the conversation: What’s one thing you think could help set teens up to have a healthier, more positive experience on social media?

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy share testing, email woes, time markers, and more. Dave has some great books (and some feedback from last week’s show). 

Jokes:  

It’s nice to live in a small town, because if you don’t know what you are doing, someone else does.

---

She wanted a séance. I wanted a palm reading.

– So we found a happy medium.

---

Car died. Had to call Uber to go get my tux pressed. $55.

– Man, was I taken to the cleaners.

---

Luxury coffin? 

• That’s the LAST thing I need.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Best STEM Books 2023 for Middle School Students

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read an article on the Best STEM Books 2023 for books published in 2022.

Best STEM Books winners explore problems and possible solutions in the scientific world and, where applicable, in the lives of the protagonists.  Instead of focusing on specific content, the Best STEM Books emphasize real-world issues that cross disciplinary boundaries.  There were six books in the list that were most appropriate for middle school students.  They are:

• American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South
• Break Down: Explosions, Implosions, Crashes, Crunches, Cracks, and More……A How Things Work Look at How Things Don’t
• Concrete: From the Ground Up
• No Boundaries: 25 Women Explorers and Scientists Share Adventures, Inspiration, and Advice
• Science Comics: Bridges: Engineering Masterpieces
• Superpower? The Wearable-Tech Revolution

http://k12science.net/best-stem-books-2023-for-middle-school-students/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Propello
  • Dave’s Experience
  • CoolCatTeacher – Differentiation
• “Fun” with email
• Sub season
• Testing

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘confelicity’: joy in the happiness of others.

Ryan Reynolds  @VancityReynolds

Everything I own smells like champagne, beer and grass. I’m still somewhere between giggling and sobbing. This town and this sport is one of the most romantic things on earth. Thank you, @Wrexham_AFC 

Also from Susie Dent:  

I love these lost markers of time: overmorrow: the day after tomorrow. ereyesterday: the day before yesterday. yestreen: yesterday evening. yestermorn: yesterday morning. sennight: a week (seven nights, just as ‘fortnight’ is fourteen nights).  

Bodo Hoenen  @BodoHoenen

Here is the pitch I gave on stage at #asugsvsummit We are so excited to have launched the first of three tools we are building to power the future of learning!

@nolej_app

Strategies:  

FAQ: The Playlist Model

Q1: How Long Should Students Work on a Playlist?

Q2: What Is The Best Format to Present a Playlist?

Q3: How Do I Track Student Progress?

Q4: What Do I Do With Students Who Are Done Early?

*See Podcast 572 for the Playlist Model

https://catlintucker.com/2023/04/faq-playlist-model/

Set Up New Co-teaching Relationships that Snap!

​​https://www.middleweb.com/48877/set-up-new-co-teaching-relationships-that-snap/ 

Resources:  

FIVE AI TOOLS TO TRY (APRIL 2023)

With AI comes a lot of uncertainty, and there are undoubtedly some blurred lines. However, I was recently inspired by Ted Lasso to “be curious, not judgmental.” He explains in the popular show, during a beloved scene, that asking questions before forming judgments and opinions shows curiosity and can lead to more informed decisions. So thanks, Ted! I am now personally trying this approach when it comes to AI tools.

https://blog.tcea.org/five-ai-tools-to-try-april-2023/

Historical Photos of Mount Rushmore Before the Famous Faces

https://petapixel.com/2023/03/24/historical-photos-of-mount-rushmore-before-the-famous-faces/

Eigo AI

Eigo.AI uses AI technologies to generate listening, reading, and speaking lessons for English learners. Each lesson is available in three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each lesson includes:

• A subtitled video;
• A reading passage with comprehension questions;
• A speaking practice activity;
• A vocabulary review quiz

https://eigo.ai/

THE BEST RESOURCES ABOUT IEP’S

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2023/04/12/the-best-resources-about-ieps/

Discrete Option

Instead of presenting all answer options to choose from at once, the options are shown successively in random. One at a time. For each option, the test taker will have to decide whether it is correct or not. That leaves four possible scenarios for each option:

1. The option is incorrect, and the test taker marks it as incorrect: The next option will be presented if there are any left.
2. The option is incorrect, and the test taker marks is as correct: The test taker failed. The test is over.
3. The option is correct, and the test taker marks is as incorrect: The test taker failed.
4. The option is correct, and the test taker marks it as correct: The test taker passed. The test is over.

https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2023/04/28/a-new-h5p-content-type-discrete-option-multiple-choice/

Web Spotlight:  

Free Concert:  Postcards From Italy

https://music.bju.edu/live/?fbclid=IwAR0lQFiLUNqmJQunEcRbs3s5S0QuxeHYQl0mMW8wJ_TUfg5VRamtewrOHwE

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

#ActuallyAutistic

What it is: Emma Camp writes in an op-ed for the New York Times about the “aestheticization” of neurodivergence.

Repair, Reparent, Repeat

What it is: The Atlantic spoke to several psychologists about breaking negative parenting cycles.

Slang of the Week

DonoWall: A term, often used in Twitch chat, for when someone donates to a streamer and the streamer doesn’t respond to the message in the donation, or the “dono.” The term is often accompanied by this gif of someone talking to a wall. (Ex: Donation: “Thanks for all the streams. They’ve really helped me through my breakup with my girlfriend.” Streamer: “…” Chat: “DonoWall”)

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about reading, SEL, and more. Dave has his (and student’s heads) in the clouds. 

Jokes:  

I just got a job in marketing for a cereal company

• I’ll be Raisin Bran awareness

---

What kind of crime did the mug of Starbucks commit?

• Grande larceny.

---

A group of ophthalmologists recently opened a clinic to treat some of the more painful ocular diseases.

• It’s a site for sore eyes.

---

Dreamed I was a muffler……

• …….woke up exhausted.

---

The barista gave his heart and soul to the coffee shop.

• Of course, he got a latte in return.

---

I was named after my Dad. 

• It would be impossible to be named before him

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  GLOBE Observer-Clouds

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Scope on the Skies” column, written by Bob Riddle.  He wrote an article entitled, “Castles in the Sky.”

Bob jokingly talks about people suffering from Pareidolia, a human condition that has us seeing familiar patterns or images as we look around us.  This, of course, is not a serious condition, but helps to explain the things we see when looking at puffy cumulus clouds.  This provided a lead into the citizen science project of studying clouds using the GLOBE Observer app, provided by the GLOBE Program.  To learn more about the GLOBE Observer app, visit:

https://observer.globe.gov

http://k12science.net/globe-observer-clouds/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Books, How Do You Read?
• SEL Movement

The Social Web  

Marvin Olasky  @MarvinOlasky

If you’re a teacher, I hope you’re pro-chess, since it’s a great help in building strong minds. Please check out this gift Washington Post article, at no cost to you. Read here:  https://t.co/bR14UdxPjD  

AJ Juliani  @ajjuliani

Must-read thread y’all!

    Ana Lorena Fabrega  @anafabrega11

    We are dealing with a generation of kids who are sensitive and risk averse—kids who seek adults to solve their problems and protect them from discomfort. We must stop this. Kids are not as fragile as we think

donnie piercey  @mrpiercEy

My new favorite game is “Guess the AI Prompt”:

Susie Dent @susie_dent

If you’re in need of a smile I offer you the Finnish word ‘kalsarikänni’. It means drinking at home, alone, and in your underwear.

Matt Miller   AI for Educators   @jmattmiller

Have you seen Teachflix?  A free resource with more than 500 classroom videos vetted by educators! Find what you need with:  a search bar  age-level categories  content area categories With activities/worksheets for any video  Check it out: http://teachflix.org

Strategies:  

“Froot Loop” Conspiracy Theories

Students will develop a better understanding of conspiracies, conspiracy theories, and how to avoid being tricked by “froot loop conspiracy theories.”

https://lessons.wesfryer.com/lessons/conspiracy-theories#annotations:ByhPbNn7Ee2orsf19V6MzQ

Video Resource:  https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/  

Resources:  

Propello

Propello makes it easier to give every student a first-class learning experience. Our K-12 teaching and learning platform combines high-quality, customizable curriculum with built-in scaffolding and supports to propel learning forward.

https://propello.com/

Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations

The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations is a descriptive list which was first proposed by Georges Polti in 1895 to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance.^[1] Polti analyzed classical Greek texts, plus classical and contemporaneous French works. He also analyzed a handful of non-French authors. In his introduction, Polti claims to be continuing the work of Carlo Gozzi, who also identified 36 situations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations#annotations:nbR0Qtn7Ee2gUNdfbHaxvQ

Make Something Wonderful

The best way to understand a person is to listen to that person directly. And the best way to understand Steve is to listen to what he said and wrote over the course of his life. His words—in speeches, interviews, and emails—offer a window into how he thought. And he was an exquisite thinker.

https://book.stevejobsarchive.com/#annotations:SbVQGtmgEe2mo–41YjV1A

Knoword

With Knoword, you’ll have a powerful tool to help your students build their vocabulary skills while having fun!

https://playknoword.com/pricing

https://playknoword.com/#annotations:DYWYetlfEe2xgucfocUWyA

Salt Water Classroom

Saltwater Classroom is a Maine-based 501(C)3 non-profit organization that is committed to a new wave of ocean education. We believe that the first step towards a sustainable future on our Blue Planet is a renewed emphasis on ocean literacy. From education stems passion, and from passion blooms stewardship. 

https://www.saltwaterclassroom.com/

SketchPlanations

Some great resources. Also great models for having students create their own examples. 

https://sketchplanations.com/#annotations:uKBoBtcrEe23vE90M51Iaw

Openverse

Explore more than 700 million creative works

An extensive library of free stock photos, images, and audio, available for free use.

All Openverse content is under a Creative Commons license or is in the public domain.

https://openverse.org/#annotations:YG8bqtb-Ee2MvCdQYrEDrw

Question Well

“Generates an endless supply of questions so teachers can focus on what matters.

Just input some reading, and the AI will write Essential Questions, Learning Objectives, and aligned

multiple-choice questions.”

https://www.questionwell.org/

University of California Riverside – Brain Games

At the University of California, Riverside (UCR) Brain Game Center for Mental Fitness and Well-Being, we strive to improve your brain’s fitness. We research, test, and disseminate evidence-based, scientifically optimized brain fitness games that assist you in real life with memory, vision, hearing, learning, and more. We have a track record of making our tested procedures publicly available so that our innovations help our community and the world.  

https://braingamecenter.ucr.edu/

The apps:  https://braingamecenter.ucr.edu/cognitive-training-apps/  

AXIS – The Culture Translator

Slang of the Week

Passenger Princess: A term for a girl who prefers to sit shotgun and be driven rather than drive herself. The word is usually applied to girls who like to have their boyfriend drive them, and who might not even know how to drive themselves. The term has been used in both serious and satirical TikTok videos, some with young women reveling in their royal status, others with young men, parents, or pets enjoying the princess seat.

This Trend is Making Me Thirsty

What it is: Recipes for water on TikTok are going viral, with #flavoredwater collecting 322 million views as of this writing.

Web Spotlight:  

Teachers, Don’t Take Your Work Home

I asked teachers on social media to share their best strategies for minimizing the amount of work they have to take home.

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-teachers-dont-take-your-work-home/2023/04

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about the impact of COVID on students, executive function, and more. Dave shares time management tips in Science.

Jokes:  

Thank you for explaining “going against the grain” to me.

• But it really rubbed me the wrong way.

---

I misplaced Dwayne Johnson’s cutting tool for the origami workshop!

• I can’t believe I lost the Rock’s Paper Scissors!

---

Our hero’s second adventure had him learning how to calm the ocean’s waves.

• It was a sea quell.

---

My friend David lost his ID in Prague

• Now we just call him Dav

---

I hate cliffhangers

• They’re just so…

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Time Management

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Practical Research” column, written by Alison Betz Seymour.  She wrote an article entitled, ““But, I’m Not Done Yet!” Time Management in the Science Classroom.”  

Here are some practical, simple suggestions to develop time management skills:

1.  Explicitly talk about time management.

2.  Prompts such as “Check in with your time, there are about 10 minutes left for this task.”

3.  Scaffold students’ ability to visualize time by using an analog clock with time intervals marked with dry-erase pens.

http://k12science.net/time-management/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Budget Season
• ‘Tis the Assessment Season
• Word Count

The Social Web  

Terrible Maps  @TerribleMaps

Bill Ivey  @bivey

“What’s Love Got to Do With It? – Creating Connections in the Classroom”

Quote Tweet:  

  Michael McCullough  @ME_McCullough

Stop using pop culture references as the first half of the title of your journal article.

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘battologise’ (17th century): to needlessly and annoyingly repeat the same thing, over and over.

alexlindsay@alexlindsay

I spend a lot of time with ChatGPT. My impression… It’s just really book smart. It has no life experience except what it’s read. It’s as inaccurate and as sure of itself as people I meet in real life that have read a lot about a subject but have no operational knowledge.

Michelle Wagner  @wagnerlearning

If you’re looking for professional learning – find free, high-quality, asynchronous, professional learning at https://literacyessentials.org! From PreK to Disciplinary Literacy, there’s something for every teacher! #MichiganLiteracy

Erin Scholes  @ScholesE15

Fantastic #AprilFoolsDay #PedagoguePride

Quote Tweet:  

Illinois State  @IllinoisStateU

BREAKING NEWS  Illinois State is retiring its 100-year-old official nickname of “Redbirds” and will henceforth be known as the “Fighting Pedagogues.” #PedagoguePride

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Illinois State is retiring its 100-year-old official nickname of “Redbirds” and will henceforth be known as the “Fighting Pedagogues." #PedagoguePride pic.twitter.com/zeM9R7MwYB

— Illinois State (@IllinoisStateU) April 1, 2023

Doug Holton @dougholton

Article on the current state of #AI text-to-video generators https://www.wired.com/story/text-to-video-ai-generators-filmmaking-hollywood/  A comparison of 5 tools for creating talking avatars https://youtu.be/U0HNdsxC8YU  And a tutorial on how to make your own #balenciaga meme style videos https://youtu.be/IFszI_wUhzQ #ChatGPT #video #midjourney

History Hit 

drpontSseolc2tt2u02l4838l96ui68fhtghca2mt5125u169h2l29l6h6tt

Mario Fabbrini, owner of Papa Fabbrini Pizzas, watches the ceremonial burial of 29,188 frozen pizzas on 5 March, 1973. He had been ordered to recall the pizzas by the Food and Drug Administration. To demonstrate his accountability, Fabbrini organized a public disposal of the pizzas, later dubbed the “Great Michigan Pizza Funeral”.

Resources:  

Simon

https://www.factmonster.com/games/simonsays#annotations:GXOmBtVIEe2FJxfAFa8eAg

Six Things Educators Must Know About Neurodivergent People

Six Things Educators Must Know About Neurodivergent People

Above The Noise

ABOVE THE NOISE is a show that cuts through the hype and takes a deeper look at the research and facts behind controversial and trending topics in the news. Hosted by Myles Bess.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4K10PNjqgGLKA3lo5V8KdQ

Capitalize My Title

Choose your style: 

• APA: Capitalize using the APA style guide.
• Chicago: Capitalize using the Chicago Manual of Style capitalization rules.
• AP: Use the Associated Press Stylebook capitalization guidelines.
• MLA: Use the MLA Handbook title capitalization rules.
• BB: Use the Bluebook title capitalization rules.
• AMA: Use the AMA Manual of Style capitalization rules.
• NY Times: Use the NY Times style guidelines.
• Wikipedia: Use Wikipedia’s capitalization rules.
• Email: Use proper capitalization rules for email.

Choose your case options: 

• Title Case: Capitalize only the words that should be capitalized according to the top tab style guide.
• Sentence Case: Capitalize only the first word of each sentence.
• Uppercase: Convert your title from lowercase to uppercase.
• Lowercase: Convert your title from uppercase to lowercase.
• First Letter: Capitalize the first letter of every word.
• Alt Case: Capitalize every other letter of your text starting with the first letter being capitalized.
• Toggle Case: Change the case of every letter in your string. Similar to the Microsoft Word feature.

Other Options

• Straight quotes: Curly quotes (“,”,‘,’) are used in good typography. If you need to use straight quotes, enable this feature.
• Get Headline Score/Get Email Subject Score: Find out how strong your headline or email subject is by using our convenient tools.

https://capitalizemytitle.com/#annotations:E-0-btL-Ee2Hul8Yre00hg

Introduction to Earth Science 

The Open Education Initiative at Virginia Tech is pleased to announce a newly-adapted work by Dr. Laura Neser. Introduction to Earth Science is a 530+ page open textbook designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Earth Science that can be freely accessed online, read offline, printed, or purchased as a print-on-demand book. It is intended for a typical 1000-level university introductory course in the Geosciences, although its contents could be applied to many other related courses.

Announcing open textbook: Introduction to Earth Science

Deep Time

https://ncse.ngo/deep-time-really-really-deep-man#annotations:CgKTNNPNEe2w19dxbNldMA

AXIS – The Culture Translator

Work vs. Worship

What it is: The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson charts the rise of “workism,” a cultural phenomenon that positions work as the thing that provides what people used to expect from organized religion.  

#CollegeAdmissions TikTok

What it is: TikTok posts detail the pressure, excitement, and heartbreak of the college admission process.  

Pitch

Pitch keeps your team’s work on-brand, on message, and on time. Innovative features make creating and sharing your work feel effortless.

https://pitch.com/product-tour

Web Spotlight:  

Chasing rainbows

Apparently, the very idea of colorblindness is hard to visualize. Take a shot at looking through my eyes.

Living with colorblindness feels like you’re constantly being pranked by the world in subtle, irritating ways.

https://www.theverge.com/23650428/colorblindness-design-ui-accessibility-wordle#annotations:ZsTYKtVnEe2Qi9OL0pBQfQ

Rainbows are a Full Circle

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/rainbow-full-circle/#annotations:tmNUutPXEe2-9n9c7XLVIw

The Massive ESSER Experiment: Here’s what we’re learning.

The Massive ESSER Experiment: Here’s what we’re learning.

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about break, books, student perspectives of a trip, and more. Dave gets salty with kids participating. 

Jokes:  

Yesterday I changed a lightbulb. Then I crossed the street and walked into a bar.

• I’m starting to think my whole life is a joke.

---

When my wife said that quilts are better than duvets, I told her…

• …to be careful making blanket statements like that!

---

Why is everyone so exhausted on April 1st?

• They just finished a 31 day March

---

If Wile E. Coyote has enough money to buy all that stuff from ACME, why doesn’t he just buy himself dinner?

---

It’s nice to live in a small town, because if you don’t know what you are doing, someone else does.

---

I remember how we used to roll around in tires in my neighborhood.

Good years …

---

What is actually more useful when broken? 

• An egg

---

The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? 

• Footprints

---

Does anyone at Grey Poupon, Gulden’s, French’s etc. actually CUT the mustard?

ANCHOR MOORING BREAKS FREE, ISLAND SHIFTS 6 FEET

Officials have said that one of the 4 main anchor moorings that keep Mackinac Island in place was severed sometime late last fall. The moorings, which were installed around 1910, are tethered to bedrock and are in place to keep the Island from further shifting on a northern trajectory. The faulty cable was from the mooring near British Landing on the Island’s northwest side.

It’s unclear how the untethered cable on the beach (see photo) went undetected for so long, however other folks had noticed a slight change in navigation nuances. Chris Shepler, Manager of Shepler Ferry said that several of his Ferry Captains indicated that they thought the west break-wall appeared to be slightly closer to the Round Island Light House. Syd Hawkins, Captain for Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry said, “All fall, when utilizing GPS, we kept coming in 2 to 3 feet off course at the dock, I figured the GPS needed a reset or re-calibration. I never would have thought the Island could shift.” Jason St. Onge, Proprietor of the Cannonball Oasis at British Landing which is very near the break said, “Never noticed a thing, and if there were any changes, it certainly didn’t affect the perfect cylindrical swirl on the soft serve ice cream cones!”

It is unclear at this time when the cable will be re-attached to the mooring and the Island reset to its plotted position, but folks close to the issue indicated it will probably happen before Memorial Day Weekend. In the odd event that a second of the four moorings breaks, a tugboat style ship will be brought in for stabilization efforts. Some quick research indicated that there hasn’t been a separation of the cables from a mooring in almost 61 years. The Army Corp of Engineers, which is responsible for the cables and moorings, inspects them for wear and fray every two years.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Become a Salt Watcher

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled, “Become a Salt Watcher in Your Community.”  

When students think of salt, they typically think of table salt, which is sodium chloride.  Road salt, also known as rock salt, is often sodium chloride or magnesium chloride.  The goal of the Izaak Walton League of America Salt Watch project is to monitor chloride levels in local streams and creeks.  For more information, please visit:

http://iwla.org

http://k12science.net/become-a-salt-watcher/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Maine Education Funding Correction – Math Error – Spreadsheet
• Principal Fill In
• Shawn’s “Break”
  • Biography of Robert E. Lee
  • Troy’s Recommendation: Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause – by Ty Seidule
  • The Winner’s – Fredrik Backman 

The Social Web

Darren E. Draper  @ddraper

“Let him serve as a reminder… that even the best teachers can’t teach if students aren’t prepared to learn. And that no one — not children, not teachers, not society — is well served when parents consider discipline a relic of the past.”  https://t.co/bVjoUARIhv  

Denise Ball  @DeniseBall_EDU

Thank you for sharing the classroom rotation station ideas and resources for elementary, middle and high school classrooms.  

    Want to get started with station rotation or level up your stations? Look no further! Our post includes  Videos Examples Ideas a FREE collection of station rotation task cards you can use with your class! https://ditchthattextbook.com/station-rotation/ #Ditchbook  

Jonny Hemphill  @worcesterjonny

If you’d like a copy of these ‘get them thinking’ medicine cards, please click on the link. There are 60 cards with a brief description on the back of who or what is on the front. The cards cover many aspects of the history of medicine https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cyHYb8xuZ3JKua9Z2jajTMJFKbXufnAU

#gcsehistory  

Here is a quick retrieval task I’ve been working on about the cause of disease across the historical periods. I’ve used a traffic light system to illustrate when an idea starts, if it continues into later periods and when it is no longer used.  #historyteacher  https://twitter.com/worcesterjonny/status/1642092574537138177/photo/1  

Merriam-Webster  @MerriamWebster

The #WordOfTheDay is ‘shenanigans.’ Be careful out there today. https://merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-da

Senator Dayna Polehanki  @SenPolehanki

“[Michigan’s teacher] evaluation system contains too many categories, with too much reliance on M-STEP, an exam that was never built for teacher performance metrics in the first place.” —

@joshcowenMSU    https://t.co/yeG0mYgBK1  

Amy W Pento  @amypento

I stumbled upon The Noun Project, a collection of free icons and stock photos that are simple and clear. It’s a great resource to reduce visual clutter on teaching materials and save teacher time. https://thenounproject.com

Bob Harrison @bharrisonEDU

We can learn about learning from the way kids play video games: The Nintendo Effect. https://a.co/iN88JYY

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Etymology of the day: the ‘desert’ in ‘just deserts’ (not ‘just desserts’) is an old past tense of the French ‘deservir’, to ‘deserve’. Someone’s just deserts are their ‘comeuppance’, which rests on the idea of ‘coming up’ before a judge.

Math Lady Hazel   @mathladyhazel

The simplest way to visualize the set of numbers. Utterly useful diagram! [https://bit.ly/3hETqNE]

Duuk Baten @duuk@mastodon.green

Colleague Vivian did a short (technical) analysis of ‘ChatGPT’ detection tools.

It seems to confirm my intuition, these tools don’t really work reliably…

https://communities.surf.nl/en/ai-in-e   (See further down in the show notes.)  

Resources:  

AI-generated text detectors: Do they work?

Ever since the release of ChatGPT, people have been amazed and have been using it to help them with all sorts of tasks, such as content creation. However, the model has faced criticism: some are raising concerns about plagiarism for example. AI-generated content detectors claim to distinguish between text that was written by a human and text that was written by an AI. How well do these tools really work?  

https://communities.surf.nl/en/ai-in-education/article/ai-generated-text-detectors-do-they-work

Real World Math

These Concept lessons are designed to target specific math concepts, often in real world settings and situations.  You’ll solve proportions, estimate area, and calculate volume in unique locations around the world.

http://www.realworldmath.org/concept-lessons.html#annotations:HGGnoszHEe2o6L8YtSrWCQ 

Say Yes To Life

Eleven months after he was liberated from the Nazi concentration camps, Viktor E. Frankl held a series of public lectures in Vienna. The psychiatrist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience, and the importance of embracing life even in the face of great adversity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yRbZAaqPCU

Camtasia 

https://www.techsmith.com/store/camtasia

Web Spotlight:  

How a 100-Year-Old Animated Film Is Restored!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIOgaMnwRrQ

Preserving our local Taranaki Stories

The Taranaki Media Archive started life as the Audio History Trust back in 2008. A group of like-minded people got together with the aim to preserve our Taranaki stories and make them into enjoyable audio documentaries in CD form that would be freely available for people to access.

The combined libraries of the South Taranaki District Council agreed to put them on their shelves and since then they have all been borrowed and enjoyed frequently.

The founding trust board members were Selwyn Metcalfe, Lyn Walker, Marlene Stevenson, and Hamish Guthrie.

Since the Audio Trust’s inception over 45 audio documentaries have been made – quite a few with people who have now passed on, which emphasises the importance of gathering these stories before the are lost forever.

In 2008 the most accessible format was a CD. Time and technology has moved on, and these days many people probably don’t have a viable CD player to access our collection. The trust was then faced with the predicament “what to do with the collection?”

It was decided to reform the Trust and build a website to house the sound collection, but to also extend the parameters of the trust to include our history on film/video as well. With that in mind the trust decided that a change of name would better reflect its mission … and the Taranaki Media Archive was born.

https://taranakimediaarchive.co.nz/#annotations:MO6ojtArEe2H42NuMJwpjg

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss AI Art, Competencies, break, and more. Dave populates our Science brain.

Jokes:  

How do you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?

• By paying attention to whether they see you later, or in a while.

---

The other day my son said he’s only happy when he’s near the ocean or up in the mountains.

• I said, “you need an ALTITUDE adjustment.”

---

What form of transportation spreads allergies?

• Achoo-choo train.

---

How many Bitcoin miners does it take to change a light bulb?

• A million – one to do it and the rest to verify he/she did it.

---

An elderly couple rushed onto the platform just as the train was pulling out of the station.

“If you hadn’t dawdled with your shopping,” said the husband, “we’d have caught the train.”

• “And if you hadn’t run so fast,” said the wife, “we wouldn’t have to wait so long for the next one.”

---

Who was King Arthur’s spiciest knight?

• Sir Racha.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  8 Billion Humans

I was recently reading the March/April 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk” column, written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “8 Billion and Counting.” 

Human population is increasing rapidly.  More humans on the planet equates to more stress on the planet and its resources.

2022 — 8 Billion Humans

2010 — 7 Billion Humans

1950 — 2.5 Billion Humans

1804 — 1 Billion Humans

http://k12science.net/8-billion-humans/  

Reports from the Front Lines

• AI Art with 8th Graders
  • Chindogu
• Physical Security Event
  • CISA
• Break
  • Moodle Competencies
• “New” School

The Social Web  

Erik M. Francis ,@Maverikedu12

Replying to @Beyond_the_Desk and @AMLE Have them put “How could you” in front of every #NGSS standard. You’ll create a #STEM question that personalizes inquiry, promotes expertise, & demands learn at the deepest #DOK levels. #goodquestions @solutiontree

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the evening is the Finnish invention ‘hyppytyynytyydytys’: the act of falling with a contented sigh onto the nearest available sofa. Literal translation: ‘bouncy cushion satisfaction’.

I’m told the pronunciation is ‘hoop-uh-tu-uh-nuh-uh-duh-tis’. 

Word of the day is ‘circumbendibus’ (17th century): anything that deliberately goes round and round without ever getting to the point.  

Phyllis Fagell, LCPC  @Pfagell

Middle school girl: “My mom says popular kids are like fire. When they’re warm, you want to sit near them, but sometimes they can burn you.” 

*more wisdom from this mom:  

Me: “You can’t make someone stop gossiping, but you can tell them you don’t want to hear it.” Middle school girl: “My mom says gossip is like poop. You really don’t want to get it on your hands, but if you do, the last thing you want to do is spread it.”  

Michelle Wagner  @wagnerlearning

Replying to @courosa and @AndreaZellner  My daughter cut and pasted her essay into ChatGPT and asked for feedback as if from a 7th grade teacher.

Strategies:  

The Trick That Solves Rubik’s Cubes and Breaks Ciphers (Meet in the Middle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL3uWO-KLUE

Inventive History Teacher

High school teacher, Sean Miller, has invented his own creative approach to teaching history. Through various forms of art, he brings historical events and figures to life for his students. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFoJ7DEHsHw

Resources:  

Projection Wizard

About this Tool

Projection Wizard is a web application that helps cartographers select an appropriate projection for their map. Depending on the extent and the distortion property of the map, the application returns a list of proposed map projections with additional projection parameters if necessary. There are PROJ and WKT links next to each projection that open a popup window with a PROJ or Well-Known Text string available for copying to the clipboard. Both strings are used in many cartographic and GIS applications. Projection Wizard displays a map preview on the right side of the list with a suggested projection. The preview shows how the projected data will look using D3.

This tool is based on John P. Snyder’s selection guideline and on the extension to this guideline for world and hemisphere maps written by the Cartography and Geovisualization Group at Oregon State University. Projection Wizard v2.0 also takes into account the results of a study published by Šavrič et al. in 2015. All publications related to Projection Wizard are listed at the bottom of this page.

When you publish a scholarly article that uses Projection Wizard or discusses its functionality, you are kindly asked to cite the following article: Šavrič, B., Jenny, B. and Jenny, H. (2016). Projection Wizard – An online map projection selection tool. The Cartographic Journal, 53–2, p. 177–185. Doi: 10.1080/00087041.2015.1131938.

How to Use this Tool?

Using Projection Wizard is easy and requires only two steps:

1 From the radio button list, select the distortion property of the map.

2 Select the geographic extent by using the input boxes on the left side of the map or by changing the rectangle on the map.

The anchors at the corners of the rectangle allow it to be resized. The rectangle can also be dragged around the map. Any change to the rectangle is reflected in the input boxes and vice versa. Changes to the rectangle or distortion property interactively update the list of proposed map projections and the map preview below the web map.

https://projectionwizard.org/

Canva

A few days ago, we dropped some very special wrapped gifts onto the homepages of more than 125 million people across the globe. It’s been so much fun seeing everyone guess what might be inside the boxes, but today the wait is over.

https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-create-brand-new-era-2023/

Foundation for Teaching Economics – fte.org

Economics and the Environment – https://www.fte.org/teachers/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/eelessons/  

Established in 1975, the Foundation for Teaching Economics’ mission is to introduce young individuals to an economic way of thinking about national and international issues, and to promote excellence in economic education by helping teachers of economics become more effective educators.  FTE focuses its efforts on the secondary education level and provides programs and teaching resources which target primarily, but not exclusively, the social studies curriculum.

Web Spotlight:  

Adrian College teacher education students offer literacy night for Addison Elementary

ADDISON — From phonics to fluency, to nonfiction comprehension and interactive writing, elementary students and parents from Addison Community Schools learned quite a bit about the building blocks of reading, writing and spelling during a literacy night event last week, hosted at Addison Middle/High School and conducted by Adrian College teacher education students. 

“These are all great, motivating activities that parents and kids can do at home,” said Addison Superintendent Dan Patterson, who attended the literacy night.

https://www.lenconnect.com/story/news/education/2023/03/20/adrian-college-students-bring-literacy-event-to-addison-schools/70022506007/#annotations:_EX54McdEe2ss3uz9BylQA

Makayla Noble

Makayla Noble is a senior at Prosper High School in Texas. On September 20, 2021, she was injured in a backyard tumbling accident which resulted in a severe spinal cord injury (SCI). 

Mak’s Story

Youtube Day in the Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H1QeQU9yCo#annotations:bZkUksi4Ee21estUJlww1w

AXIS – The Culture Translator

Subtitled

What it is: A YouGov study of over 3600 adults in Great Britain showed that 61 percent of young people (18-25) prefer to watch television with the subtitles on—even when the material was in their native language.

Who Wants to Be a Shillionaire

What it is: Male influencers in their twenties are making a fortune on YouTube telling other young men how to, well, make a fortune. But watching videos like these won’t help young people develop comprehensive financial literacy because, to put it simply, that’s not what they’re designed to do.  

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Moodle, Presentations, and more. Dave reviews the Pandemic Impact on Students. 

Jokes:  

A man once tried to sell me a broken protractor.

• I never could figure out what his angle was.

---

The key to a great joke is not delivery…

• it’s Digiorno.

---

Did you hear about the dog that went to the flea circus?

• It stole the show.

---

Fun fact: ancient teachers, when discussing a very important idea, would repeatedly dip the sharpened end of their stylus in honey.

• They felt it was necessary to belabor the point.

---

Why did the duck decide not to have plastic surgery?

• He thought the bill would be too large.

---

What did the linebacker say to the flight attendant?

• “Put me in coach!”

---

Anytime someone says “I can’t even”

• it seems a little odd.

---

Once I did think I was wrong.

• It turns out I was mistaken.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Pandemic Impact on Students

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner” column, written by Ann Haley MacKenzie.  She wrote an article entitled, “Did the Pandemic Impact the Brains of Our Science Students?”  

A recent study in the Journal, “Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science,” found that teen brains aged prematurely during the pandemic.  The paper states that teenagers’ brains aged several years in just a few months during the isolation and stress of the pandemic lockdown.  For more information on this study, please visit:

www.bpsgos.org/article/S2667-1743(22)00142-2/fulltext

http://k12science.net/pandemic-impact-on-students/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Crossword Puzzle for Video (and why you should use Restricted Access)
• Vocabulary, Chrome, and Kids 

The Social Web  

 Help A Teacher  @HelpATeacher

Adorable! 

Success Bound  @successboundorg

@successboundorg

is MIDDLE SCHOOL STRONG!  Celebrate Middle Level Education this month. This year’s theme is #Empowered #Student and @AMLE is centering the voices of students. Learn how you can amplify the voices of your students, click here https://amle.org/middle-level-e

Alexlindsay  @alexlindsay

Replying to @technologylaura I’ve built 100s of presentations on 3 platforms over the last 20 years. Scores: Keynote – 9/10 Power Point – 4/10 Slides – 3/10 Once you build decks in Keynote, going to other platforms is like going from First Class to Economy. You still get from point A to B but style is gone

MiddleWeb  @middleweb

REVIEW: Add SEL to Your Class with Movie Magic. #mschat @AMLE #engchat #elachat  @MsAmberChandler’s feel-good Movie Magic in the Classroom prepares any teacher to guide students through 10 films that address a range of SEL topics, writes @sarahjcooper01. https://middleweb.com/48607/add-movi  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘vertumnal‘ (17th century): spring-like or giving a foretaste of spring, as in the early buds in the garden or the swelling of birdsong. A nod to Vertumnus, god of the changing seasons.

Word of the day is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century: the desire to be away from other people.   

Kara Priest Bullock

Fat Boy Natural BBQ

Resources:  

Handmade Holograms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv-38lwV6vc

Teen girls are struggling. They need our help

Nancy Jo Sales

Girls and young women report rising rates of suicide, depression and sexual violence in North America – and a lot of it has to do with social media.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/28/teen-girls-are-struggling-social-media-tiktok-instagram#annotations:TPuEMrduEe2qpE8U6mSAmw

Under The Sana’a Skyline

Belquis lives in Old Sana’a, an ancient city in Yemen. An exciting writing competition is announced for her class but there’s just one problem: the story is to inspire the world. Belquis is surrounded by the hardships of war and and struggle. What has she seen that is inspirational?

Under the Sana’a Skyline is a story for children and adults alike that beautifully weaves community and history with one girl’s search for humanity.

How will AI change the world?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzkD_rTEBYs&t=2s

Web Spotlight:  

Boeing Engineers Set a New Record for Paper Plane Flight Distance

Dillon Ruble and Garrett Jensen, two engineers working at Boeing, broke a record in December that had only a little to do with their day jobs: They set a new world record for farthest flight by a paper aircraft, sending a sheet of paper 88.318 meters, or almost 290 feet.

Ruble and Jensen studied origami and aerodynamics for months, putting in 400 to 500 hours of creating different prototypes to try to design a plane that could fly higher and longer.

https://jalopnik.com/boeing-engineers-set-a-new-record-for-paper-plane-fligh-1850157043#annotations:TBLKArilEe2JkUPgcwGpdA

Teachers Pay Teachers Bought Out by IXL Learning

https://thejournal.com/articles/2023/03/02/teachers-pay-teachers-bought-out-by-ixl-learning.aspx#annotations:FO5v4rnjEe24UV-wJuNz5Q

AXIS The Culture Translator

TikTok Time Out

What it is: TikTok announced it will institute a limit of 60 minutes per day for users under 18.

Instagore 

What it is: The Washington Post reports that Instagram Reels featuring disturbing and violent content are being reposted to large meme accounts that have hundreds of thousands of teen followers.

“In C.S. Lewis’ book The Magician’s Nephew, the children Polly and Diggory are met with a choice to ring a bell and “bide the danger,” or ignore it and forever wonder what might have happened if they did. Diggory rings the bell, justifying his actions with the words: “We can’t get out of it now. We shall always be wondering what else would have happened if we had struck the bell. I’m not going home to be driven mad by always thinking of that.” The result of his actions is the arrival of the White Witch in Narnia, and a regret that Diggory carries with him for the rest of his life.”

National Geographic’s “Greeking Out!” Podcast Series for Kids

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/greeking-out

Most Popular Slang by State

https://crossword-solver.io/most-popular-slang-by-state-map/

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download