Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about PD, AI, student success, teaching the parents, and more. Dave scientifically explores AI.

Jokes:

Technically the overall goal of golf…

• is to play less golf…

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Elevators terrify me.

I’m taking steps to avoid them.

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I’ve started a sarcasm club.

• It would mean the world to me if you joined.

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I’m glad I know sign language; 

• it’s pretty handy.

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My friend quit his job as a reporter and left town by railway.

• It was an ex-press train.

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Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: AI and Scientific Information

I was recently reading the July/August 2026 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue I read the section “Fact-or-Faux” written by Jonathan Osborne.  He wrote an article entitled “AI – Friend or Foe?.”

Can AI help in detecting misinformation? Can it sort fact from faux? Here is a three-step process to help:

1. Get it In — Put the claim into AI

2. Track it Down — Track down the source

3. Follow Up — Follow up by asking more questions of AI about the source of the claim.

MDSTA Conference Song Choices – Please Vote:  

Choice A:  https://suno.com/s/tQPAOee5q4WgFBTd  

Choice B:  https://suno.com/s/kGthv6WH8IQRUuz5  

https://k12science.net/ai-and-scientific-information/

Reports from the Front Lines

• PD Plans
  • Google AI Educators Series – https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_us/learning-center/google-ai-educator-series/  – Master AI with snackable and stackable training from Google and ISTE+ASCD – available to all educators free of charge. These 15-45 minute sessions give you the flexibility to build an AI literacy learning journey tailored to your unique schedule.
• H5P and Teacher Autonomy
• Student Success

The Social Web

AMLE @amleorg.bsky.social

ICYMI: Why do some students seem disengaged one day and fully invested the next? 🤔 AMLE and NAESP member Jennifer Otte explores the science behind the adolescent brain and what educators can do to foster stronger engagement, focus, and success: ow.ly/sw2q50ZRAXx

Susie Dent

 @susiedentwords.bsky.social

Etymology of the day: the expression ‘you have another thing coming’ was originally ‘you have another think coming’: today’s version appeared within a year of the original, back in the 1800s. A short piece on the joyful messiness of linguistic evolution. susiedent.substack.com/p/another-th…

Eric Curts @ericcurts.bsky.social

Join me today for Promptcraft: Building a Better AI Prompt – www.controlaltachieve.com/2026/09/prom… 🏆 10 tips for better prompts 💡 100’s of examples 🛠️ Tools for building prompts 🗓️ Sep 24 @ 3pm ET ▶️ Live-streamed & recorded ✅ Register at link above #EduSky #EduSkyAI #EdTech #GoogleEDU

💎 New EduGem: www.edugems.ai/gem/when-wil… 🤷 When Will I Use This? – Answer the question of “When will I EVER use this?” by connecting your lessons to real-world scenarios and classroom-ready tasks #EduSky #EduSkyAI #EdTech #GoogleEDU

🤝 Kagan Strategy Planner – Transform any lesson, topic, or learning target into an active, collaborative experience using structured Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies

Resources:

Backpack Studio Podcasting App

Soundboard and podcast app that lets you record on your iPad or iPhone.  

https://backpackstudioapp.com

AXIS The Culture Translator

Verity:  The Meme

If you guessed that this meme would be about the controversial movie adaptation coming out next week, good guess, you are wrong. To understand the meme “verity,” you first have to understand a particular Minecraft subculture, which involves installing “horror mods” to add additional scary elements to the game. A YouTube series by ThatMob depicts (strong language) the installation of a mod called Verity™ into Minecraft, which is represented as an AI-powered smiley face in the game who helps you find useful items—only to eventually transform into a horrifying monster. The series led to the creation of an annoyingly catchy song, and is why your 13-year-old might now be calling all smiley faces “verity” and/or adding -ity as a suffix onto a wide variety of words.

Web Spotlight: 

How Our Teacher Lives Change as We Mature

https://www.middleweb.com/54289/how-our-teacher-lives-change-as-we-mature/

Harry Wong reference:  https://www.harrywong.com/  

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about AI, starting school, teacher movement, collaboration strategies, and more. Dave bugs out in the backyard. 

Jokes:

My boss is threatening to fire the person with the worst posture.

I’ve a hunch, it might be me.

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What do you call an explosive horse? 

• Neigh-palm.

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What did Jay-Z call his girlfriend before they got married?

• Feyoncé.

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Animal welfare said I can’t keep my pet dolphin in the bath.

Apparently, it’s not fit for porpoise.

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My tailor really likes fixing my clothes. 

• Or sew it seams.

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Who is the patron saint of email?

St Francis of a cc

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Open mic night sounded like a lot of fun until I realized I’d been invited to an autopsy…

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Why don’t pirates travel on mountain roads? 

• ‘Scurvy.

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Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Bugs in Our Backyard

I was recently reading the July/August 2026 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue I read the section “Citizen Science” written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled “Backyard Biodiversity: Bring Science to Life with Bugs in Our Backyard.”

As educators we look for ways to make science relevant, hands-on, and engaging for our students. Involving them in real world science is one way to accomplish this, and with Bugs in our Backyard citizen science project, learners of all ages are invited to participate in science by observing and collecting data on insects and plants right outside the door, in backyards and schoolyards. Please visit the website for this project at:

Biology in our own Backyard

Bugs in Our Backyard

Reports from the Front Lines

• Teacher Movement
• Still no subbing
• Naming kids – (i.e. Namemaxxing = https://www.parents.com/what-is-namemaxxing-12111756)

The Social Web

MiddleWeb @middleweb.bsky.social

REVIEW: Use Patterns of Analysis to Rethink Grammar Instruction. Patterns of Analysis is a practical, vibrant, user-friendly guide to helping students discover how grammatical choices shape meaning, tone, and text structure. #edusky #ELA   @stenhousepub.bsky.social  www.middleweb.com/54254/use-pa…

Bluesky   @bsky.app

Welcome to the ONLY event about Apple happening today, as far as we know. We’ll be running this as an AMAAA (Ask Me Anything About Apples). Ask your biggest Apple questions in the replies to this post and one of our Apple Geniuses will be with you shortly. 🍎

Eric Curts @ericcurts.bsky.social

📢 What’s new in Google for Education – www.controlaltachieve.com/2026/09/goog… From our August 2026 GEG-Ohio meeting: ✅ Detailed agenda ▶️ Recorded video 📰 Latest GoogleEDU updates 🧰 Helpful tips & resources ❓ Q&A #EduSky #EduSkyAI #EdTech #GoogleEDU

AMLE – via Facebook  

Here’s a great opportunity to connect with your professional network while learning ways to create authentic learning experiences tailored to the middle that encourage curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in an age of artificial intelligence. Register nowhttps://ow.ly/9l8E50ZMybS 

Strategies:  

How to Get Your Middle Grade Reader to Read More: The Ten Book Challenge

Share with parents. 

https://mainedeck.substack.com/p/how-to-get-your-middle-grade-reader

The Ditch That Textbook Ultimate Guide to Classroom Collaboration

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17lzxCiuWH3hXIQWJnKKHFj-Xf4GZzC1-/view?_bhlid=5b0508759219c4d867e33c28a83b7aeb04661aa7

Resources:

Killed By Google

1. Google Earth Pro – Gone in 10 months.
2. Firebase Studio – Gone in 6 months.
3. Tenor API – Gone 2 months ago.
4. Pixel Studio – Gone 3 months ago.  

Killed by Google  

Tools for better thinking

https://untools.co

Rithm Resources for AI Literacy

I asked and received 5 Rithm Card Decks, one for each of the Social Studies Department, just by asking for them from Rithm.  Thank you for the support!  

Products — The Rithm Project  

Web Spotlight: 

NYC school system to ban AI for elementary, middle school students

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/02/nyc-school-system-to-ban-generative-ai-for-elementary-middle-school-students-01061364

The Gen Z stare, the decline of saying things out loud

Like most good generational jokes, poking fun at the now-infamous “Gen Z stare” – a silent, blank expression – works because it gets at something real: We are, quite literally, talking less.

An analysis published in July in Perspectives on Psychological Science of more than 2,000 people found that Americans and people in several other countries are speaking roughly 300 fewer words a day, or about two to three minutes’ worth, with each passing year. The drop – a 28 percent decline from 2005 to 2019 – was especially pronounced among people younger than 25.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/gen-z-stare-decline-saying-090000441.html

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17456916261425131

Brains, Calculators, and the Purpose of School

The logic of banning calculators wasn’t about punishing kids. It was about making sure students learned the process of thinking. Anyone who has watched a child wrestle with long division or fractions knows it isn’t easy. But that struggle creates growth.

When I help Jack with his math homework, I pull out my phone, open ChatGPT, and ask it to explain fractions “like I’m a sixth grader.” And it walks us, step-by-step, how to find a common denominator in language he understands. 

Suddenly, I’m equipped to help him with math, and he learns better.

True innovation, in my mind, isn’t throwing out tradition whenever something shiny comes along. It’s adding value to what already works.

If banning calculators helps build brain power, great. Sometimes we need to restrict technology. If using AI as a tutor helps a student catch up, also great. If art and music grow creativity, empathy, and collaboration, they’re essential. The goal isn’t tradition for tradition’s sake, or innovation just because it’s new. The goal is to help students become the graduates, the people, we know they can be: creative, resilient, collaborative, empathetic, and prepared to thrive.

School needs to evolve with the times, but not at the expense of what makes it meaningful. It should hold onto what’s timeless and embrace what’s new, as long as both help students grow into their full potential.

https://www.trevormuir.com/blog/brains-calculators

There’s Really Only One Way to Stop Students From Cheating

Aimed at college students. 

https://archive.is/BJuty#selection-3969.0-3974.0

AXIS – The Culture Translator

Past is Present

What it is: An account on X called @25yearsagolive is live-posting through September 11, 2026, as if it were September 11, 2001.  

Why it’s more than clout-maxxing: @25yearsagolive, also known as Ohio native Manny Marotta, won’t be posting on 9/11 as a one-off publicity stunt. He’s a 27-year-old history buff, and today will be part of a much bigger project, which he calls “a giant LARP” (language). He reenacts various significant events on other accounts he runs, including @100yearsagolive and @50yearsagolive, all with the same “livestreaming the past” gimmick. Marotta plans to post over 400 times, and he says he watched 40 documentaries and read three books to research September 11, 2001—a research process that completely changed how he saw those events.  

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