Summary:

Shawn and Troy continue discussing ISTE, AI and more, Dave takes on High Stakes Testing.

Jokes:

What do you call corn that joins the army?

Kernel.

What did the nuclear physicist have for lunch?

Fission chips.

They say “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

They also say “Revenge is sweet.”

So, basically, revenge is ice-cream.

I was bitten by a radioactive lawyer and ended up with the power of attorney.

Who is the king of the pencil case?

The ruler.

Two silk worms had a race.

They ended up in a tie.

Middle School Science Minute

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

K12Science Podcast: Consequences of High Stakes Testing

I was recently reading the May-June, 2026 issue of “Science Scope” a publication from the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the Leadership Matters column written by Amy Bekins. It was entitled “The Unintentional Consequences of High Stakes Testing on Middle School Science.”

Some ways that leaders can build science efficacy and increase achievement for all contents is to:

1. Incorporate more nonfiction texts.

2. Conduct experiments where students can practice mathematics skills, such as graphing, with real data.

3. Leverage each teachers’ content expertise through cross content teams and projects.

4. Encourage science to be an integral part of the curriculum.

https://k12science.net/consequences-of-high-stakes-testing/

The MDSTA Call for Speakers is open! You can also register for the Fall Conference: https://www.mdsta.org/ (Presenter link: https://forms.gle/8mynkU3ZEaZ72iJQA)

Reports from the Front Lines

ISTE 2026 Part Deux
- Books to Read:
  - Inclusive 52: Executive Functioning – Lots of good suggestions to help kids develop life skills. More on this next week.
- Stretch AI – Imagine all the articles ASCD and ISTE ever wrote all in one database to research and get coaching. Well, welcome to StretchAI. Right now it is by invitation, but if you ask nicely it should be a 24 hour wait to get access. Must be a member of ISTE’s top two levels to get access. Basic membership will get you access until September. Advantage? It has access to all of ASCD’s corpus of work. Disadvantage? It is really tied to ASCD’s corpus of work. 2000 character limit in the prompt. No way to upload a document or lesson plan to examine and get coaching, yet.
- Keynotes weren’t awful, that’s the good news. Ever wonder what it looks like behind the scenes at Pixar? Keep wondering, no pictures allowed!
- Note taking: Paper, Apple Pencil, and Apple Notes Transcription. Which one did I prefer?
  - Best comment of the conference: “I love your handwriting (cursive)! I can’t read a single thing, but I love it! You should write the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution!”
- Conference Packing Music: We Came to Build Tomorrow by Frideswidel | Suno
- Interesting Educational Tech
  - Pen Camera IPEVO P2V ULTRA Object Camera (Full Pack) (Best in Show)
  - GradeBox gradebox.ai
Inclusive 52 Executive Functioning Weekly Strategies to help Learners Thrive – Using AI as an Assistant.
- Using AI to build out the strategies in the text. Branding? Workflow? Lab Assistant? Burma Shave!!!!

The Social Web

Eric Curts @ericcurts.bsky.social

Are you attending #ISTELive? Add to the shared resource doc here: bit.ly/iste26-share 🎉 Mixers, Events, Meetups 🧑 Attendee Information 🗣️ Promote Your Sessions 🍽️ Restaurants & Attractions ✋ Questions 🧰 Learning Resources #ASCDAnnual #EduSky #EdTech

@isteofficial.bsky.social