Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about vocabulary, H5P, AI in schools, and more. Dave does data science.

Jokes:

Why do choirs keep buckets handy? 

• So they can carry their tune

---

At which school did Sherlock Holmes get so smart? 

• Elementary.

---

Did you hear about the shepherd who drove his sheep through town? 

• He was given a ticket for making a ewe turn.

---

My IQ test results came back. They were negative.

---

I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

---

If you arrest a mime, do you have to tell him he has the right to remain silent?

---

I accidentally took my cats meds last night. 

• Don’t ask meow.

---

Two silk worms had a race. 

• They ended up in a tie.

---

Tire Reference:  https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/22/uniroyal-giant-tire-60-detroit/73414243007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z1138xxu006771e1138xxv005171&gca-ft=243&gca-ds=sophi    

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Misconceptions About Data Science

I was recently reading the January – February  2026 issue of “Science and Children,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the section, “Science 101” written by Matt Bobrowsky. He wrote an article entitled “What is Data, and Is Data Science Really Science?”

In the article, Matt addresses three misconceptions about data science:

1. Data refers only to numbers.

2. Data tells the whole story.

3. It’s computers, not people, who do data science.

https://k12science.net/misconceptions-about-data-science/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Moodle Course for the English Teacher
  • Prefix
  • Suffix
• Cape Elizabeth Director
• AI Use
• OpenClaw
• H5P
  • Winners can also expect certified badges and/or prizes…
  • https://h5p.org/start-sharing-your-oer 
  • https://h5p.org/oer-hub-coming 
• Moodle.Net
  • The MoodleNet service will be discontinued on 20 April 2026. As a result, we are no longer accepting new account registrations.

The Social Web

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the Day is a reminder of ‘snerdling’: 19th-century dialect for snuggling beneath the covers for as long as possible.

‪Keep Indiana Learning‬ ‪@keepinlearning.bsky.social‬

It’s #FridayFive! 📝 Apply now for the IDOE 2026 Digital Learning Grant! We’re also celebrating new IMPACT Hour sessions, Kevin Dill’s behavior workshop, and our CIESC center construction. Plus, we’re feeling that Indy Final Four energy! 🏗️🏀✨ #EduSky

‪Eric Curts‬ ‪@ericcurts.bsky.social‬

💎 New EduGem: www.edugems.ai/gem/pe-game-… ⚽ PE Game Inventor – Create fresh, engaging & developmentally appropriate physical education games on the fly based on your specific daily constraints #EduSky #EduSkyAI #EdTech #GoogleEDU

My weekly EdTech newsletter just went out – mailchi.mp/controlaltac… 💎 Gems Webinar 🤝 Job Interview Coach 🎹 MusAILab 🔬 3D NGSS Activity 🌐 Cognates & False Friends 🚗 Carpool Conversations ⚙️ Most Likely Machine 🕹️ Padlet Arcade 🐙 Kira

Strategies:  

Teen Phone Addiction: What Actually Works

Did you know that teens pick up their phones 72 times a day and receive a median of 237 notifications?

https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e928

Resources:  

CoSN K12- Innovation Report

Click to access 2026_CoSN-Driving-K12-Innovation-Report-V19.pdf

Image Whisperer

Media Verification & Research tool, detects AI,

ImageWhisperer doesn’t just output a number. It checks a known fakes database, runs dual AI detection models, looks for SynthID watermarks, performs fifteen forensic tests, applies LLM visual judgment, verifies geographic claims, matches against known events, and synthesizes all evidence into a color-coded verdict with a clear explanation of why.

https://imagewhisperer.org

The Label “Smart” Device Might Not Be a Good Thing: Read Jathan Sadowski’s “Too Smart”

https://the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-label-smart-device-might-not-be.html

Are Our Screens and Devices Harming the Very Students We Serve? Perhaps, Here’s a Book to Spark Critical Thinking about Device Addiction in Schools

https://the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com/2026/02/are-our-screens-and-devices-harming.html

Web Spotlight: 

I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/15-year-old-girl-misogyny-social-media-online-abuse

Einstein

Integrates with Canvas (an LMS) to take “watch” all videos, read assignments, write papers, etc.  

Currently a 404 error

https://companion.ai/einstein

Live Webcams Help Kids Notice and Reflect

• We Teach in Short-Attention Classrooms
• Middle school is a pivotal moment for learning how to attend. 

https://www.middleweb.com/53130/live-global-feeds-help-kids-slow-down-notice/

Would You Let a Robot Do That for You?

https://www.middleweb.com/53079/would-you-let-a-robot-do-that-for-you/

Random Thoughts . . .  

What Did I Miss?

https://brokenhand.substack.com/p/what-did-i-miss

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about AI in education, social media, student jobs, and more. Dave has part 3 of Data Science Education. 

Jokes:

---

There are more atoms in a spoonful of water than spoonfuls of water in the ocean.

---

Coprolites aren’t my favorite fossil but they’re a solid number two.

---

I do have an old tennis racket you can have.

• No strings attached.

---

I’m tired of following my dreams. I’m just going to ask them where they are going and meet up with them later.

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Data Science Education, Part 3

I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read a featured article written Matthias Fisher, Cody Pritchard, Zhen Xu, and Joshua Rosenberg. They wrote an article entitled, “Finding Your Way into Data Science Education as a Science Teacher.”

This is the third podcast in a series of three podcasts on the topics of Data, Data Science, and Data Science Education. In this article, the authors aimed to support science teachers without backgrounds in data science. by addressing three major challenges: 

1. The lack of training to teach data science.  

2. The difficulty of designing relevant and engaging data science lessons.  

3. The challenge of teaching data science with limited technological resources.  

In this podcast I address challenge #3 – the challenge of teaching data science with limited technological resources.

https://k12science.net/data-science-education-part-3/

Eileen Award

• Micah Blachman

Reports from the Front Lines

• Break?
  • Ramadan
• Social Media
• Discord – age verification?
• Student Jobs
  • Babysit: https://thehill.com/homenews/5731941-map-do-you-pay-your-babysitter-more-or-less-than-people-do-in-these-30-cities/ 
• Something Big is Happening

The Social Web

otacke@otacke@chaos.social

Seems the world will see the new #H5P theming feature on February 23/24 depending on your time zone.

https://

help.h5p.com/hc/en-us/articles

Owen Anderson@resistor@mastodon.online

Glass-breaking hammer. Break glass to access the hammer.

‪DCU Library‬ ‪@dculibrary.bsky.social‬

These quaint sketches illustrating dance etiquette will help you impress your beloved this #ValentinesDay. This guide from the Kildare Place Society will help you hone your dance moves, conduct an effective ‘tête-à-tête’ and manage bouts of fainting.

Melisa Quigley‬ ‪@mquigley1963.bsky.social‬

Good morning, tweethearts. Happy Thursday. Here’s a word of the day I’ve never heard of before. Have you? I think I’ve been a bit wifty at times in my life, what about you? #wifty #wordoftheday

Strategies:  

• 
• https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-surprising-factor-that-makes-absenteeism-interventions-more-successful/2025/11 

Resources:

AXIS The Culture Translator

Chicken . . . Banana  

What it is: A new iteration of Gen Alpha’s favorite kind of slang (the meaningless kind) has emerged from a Swedish YouTube channel.

Why it’s… something: If you have managed to make it through the last 12 months without hearing “Chicken Banana,” consider yourself lucky. Crazy Music Channel, a Swedish production team, released “CHICKEN BANANA” in February 2025. A year later, it is still circulating, currently sitting at over 171 million views. What began as a viral dance has shifted into Gen Alpha slang. As much as it may read like AI slop, it was actually made by humans and its origin is sweeter than you’d expect. “With all the bad things happening all over the world, we wanted to do something funny that people could laugh at,” the CEO of the label associated with Crazy Music Channel told Vox (paywall). Like many new slang terms these days, the absence of meaning is the meaning.

Web Spotlight: 

What Powered the World

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/What-Powered-the-World-in-2024__website_Aug14.jpg

Chart: What Powered the World in 2024?

We’re still fighting about pandemic-era school closures — but do they still matter?

https://cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/we-re-still-fighting-about-pandemic-era-school-closures-but-do-they-still-matter

Do Some People Really Think Chocolate Milk Comes from Brown Cows?

https://www.livescience.com/59666-do-people-believe-chocolate-milk-from-brown-cows.html

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Parent Conferences, and more. Dave examines data science in Part 2.

Jokes:

If you want a job in the moisturizer industry, the best advice I can give is to apply daily.

---

I was fired from the keyboard factory yesterday.  I wasn’t putting in enough shifts.

---

Helen Waite is in charge of my complaint department…

if you have an issue with my jokes, you can go to Helen Waite.

---

Just got a birthday card, opened it up, and a load of rice fell out.

• It was from Uncle Ben.

---

Did you hear about the incredibly average philosopher? His name was Mediocrates.

---

If I were a rapper, I’d be MC Spice. Then I could say, STOP! Hammer Thyme!

---

Why are robots never afraid?

• Because they have nerves of steel.

---

My wife texted me she saw a wolf on the way to work.

My question is how she knew it was on its way to work?…

---

Who can shave 25 times a day and still have a beard?

• A barber!

I just got a new job as a street cleaner! Turns out there’s not much training involved, you just pick stuff up as you go along.

---

This morning, I accidentally ran into the man who once sold me an antique globe.

• It’s a small world.

---

Did you hear about the guy who tied his spaghetti together? 

• He ended up skipping dinner.

---

I tried taking some high-resolution photos of local farmland, but they all turned out a bit grainy.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Data Science Education, Part 2

I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read a featured article written by Matthias Fisher, Cody Pritchard, Zhen Xu, and Joshua Rosenberg. They wrote an article entitled, “Finding Your Way into Data Science Education as a Science Teacher.”

This is the second podcast in a series of three podcasts on the topics of Data, Data Science, and Data Science Education. In this article, the authors aimed to support science teachers without backgrounds in data science. by addressing three major challenges: 

1. The lack of training to teach data science.  

2. The difficulty of designing relevant and engaging data science lessons.  

3. The challenge of teaching data science with limited technological resources.  

In this podcast I address challenge #2 – the difficulty of designing relevant and engaging data science lessons

https://k12science.net/data-science-education-part-2/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Conferences
  • Student Success Meetings
  • Flex Time
  • Drop in Conferences

The Social Web

The OED  @OED

OED #WordOfTheDay: mirabiliary, n. A person who deals in marvels; a collector of marvellous things. View the entry: https://oxford.ly/3O1BZdw

‪Eric Curts‬ ‪@ericcurts.bsky.social‬

💎 New EduGem: www.edugems.ai/gem/educatio… 🗺️ Educational Map Maker – Create a data-rich interactive educational map for any topic with a custom-generated CSV file for Google My Maps #EduSky #EduSkyAI #EdTech #GoogleEDU

‪Keep Indiana Learning‬ ‪@keepinlearning.bsky.social‬

Starting off with a keynote from teacher astronaut Joe Acaba. “Make students uncomfortable – in a good way.” #ExploreWithSally #EduSky

‪MiddleWeb‬ ‪@middleweb.bsky.social‬

Review: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION. “Not Your Granny’s Grammar is more than just a set of grammar lessons – it’s an invitation to reimagine grammar instruction as lively, meaningful, and integrated with student writing.” #edusky #iteachEnglish https://www.middleweb.com/53072/an-innovative-approach-to-grammar-instruction/  

  ‪Ron King‬ ‪@mthman.bsky.social‬

Happy Blue Friday!! Let’s get another Lombardi trophy  @seahawksofficial.com  #GoHawks #12s

‪MiddleWeb‬ ‪@middleweb.bsky.social‬

WHAT IF EVERY TEACHER TAUGHT MEDIA LITERACY? Media literacy author & consultant Frank Baker shares ideas for working media literacy into lessons across the curriculum. #edusky #medialiteracy  @medialiteracynow.bsky.social  @routledgebooks.bsky.social  #teachersky  www.middleweb.com/53068/what-i…

Strategies:  

Turn Movie Magic Into Literary Analysis With ‘Anatomy of a Scene’

For teachers, these videos become mentor texts and mini-lessons in the crafts of writing and directing, along with analysis. Each “Anatomy of a Scene” gives students an accessible model for speaking and writing analytically about a moment in a text. 

To evaluate learning at the end of our first reading unit using graphic novels, I have my eighth-grade students create their own analyses in the style of “Anatomy of a Scene.” Students read different graphic novels in book clubs, and then they each choose a powerful scene in the texts to analyze, similar to how directors explain the scenes highlighted in the Times series. Above is an example of what the final product looks like.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/learning/lesson-plans/turn-movie-magic-into-literary-analysis-with-anatomy-of-a-scene.html

https://www.nytimes.com/column/anatomy-of-a-scene

Resources:  

Applause Meter

https://scenicandlighting.com/applause

Digital Snacks

Digital snacks are free, no login, browser-based, and low prep.

https://padlet.com/tonyv/digital-snacks-nhsoen1ooi67cit4

Web Spotlight: 

AI Is Accelerating Inequity

You may have heard of the recent (still not yet peer-reviewed) study at MIT that showed that students using Large Language Models (LLMs, such as ChatGPT) to perform writing tasks demonstrated reduced brain activity and showed little retention of the text that was created as a result.  

The pandemic shift will be mild compared to what we may soon see from the ChatGPT generation. 

https://open.substack.com/pub/thefreemanmag/p/ai-is-accelerating-cognitive-inequality

Here’s Advice I Gave To My Student Teacher Grandson This Week About Student Engagement

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/01/22/heres-advice-i-gave-to-my-student-teacher-grandson-this-week-about-student-engagement/

Random Thoughts . . .

5 Things to Know About Today’s Teaching Force

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/5-things-to-know-about-todays-teaching-force/2018/10

You Can Find Us At . . . 

Gen AI Conference at Eastern Michigan University, March 16th

https://www.emich.edu/facdev/events/gen-ai-spring-summit.php

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download