Month: November 2026

MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 717: The Kids Got Swag

Comic of Shawn at AMLE book area. Dave and Troy are on phones in front of Shawn. Lots of people are around.

Summary:

Shawn and Troy share news from AMLE, AI thoughts, and more. Dave gets students to belong. 

Jokes:

I met a nun who wiped her nose on her clothes. 

  • She had a nasty habit.

I wonder if the guy who coined the term, “One Hit Wonder” had any other phrases.

I had to cancel my bullfighting lessons.

They were charging too much.

Just finished 4 cans of alphabet soup, and had the largest vowel movement ever…

What do you call a French man wearing sandals? Philippe Flop.

I just want everyone to know that Dove chocolate tastes way better than their soap.

A photon checks into a hotel.

The bellboy says: Do you have any luggage, sir?

The photon replies: No, I’m traveling light.

Why is a cemetery a great place to write a story?

Because there are so many plots there.

An opinion without 3.14 is just an onion…

There should be a turntablism encyclopedia at wiki.wiki.wiki

Comic Dinosaur says, "Why didn't 4 ask out 5? Because he was 2 squared.
Headshots of a couple: she says, "Whisper Sweet Nothings in my ear". He replies, "Aspartame, Stevia, Saccharin, Sucralose...."
Picture of a turkey behind a fence with a large sign stating "LLAMA".

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Helping Students Believe They Belong

I was recently reading the October 22, 2026, science blog found on the website of the National Science Teaching Association.

On this blog I read “Before Students Can Become Scientists, They Must Believe They Belong” written by Carla Neely.  

Before students can master content, design investigations, or analyze data, they need to believe they belong in science and STEM fields. Our job as teachers is to:

  • Help students see themselves in science.
  • Create a culture where mistakes re part of learning.
  • Give students opportunities to contribute and lead.

https://k12science.net/helping-students-believe-they-belong/

Reports from the Front Lines

The Social Web

Eric Curts @ericcurts.bsky.social

EdTech Links from this week – www.controlaltachieve.com/2026/11/LOTW… 🦃 “What I Am Thankful For” Turkey ▶️ Gems to Skills Webinar 💎 From EduGems to EduPrompts 💡 TeacherDev 🚫 Hide Google AI Overviews 📰 LayoutSplat 💻 Flint AI Literacy Course

💡 New AI Prompt: www.eduprompts.ai/gem/youtube-… ▶️ YouTube Study Helper – Transform any educational YouTube video (or pasted transcript) into an active, grade-calibrated learning package for both students and educators

💡From EduGems to EduPrompts www.controlaltachieve.com/2026/11/edup… 🔗 Same great site with new name 💡 170+ ready-to-use free AI prompts for schools 🏫 Educators, students, any grade, any subject

💡 New AI Prompt: www.eduprompts.ai/gem/music-pr… 🎼 Music Prompt Generator – Generate detailed, ready-to-paste prompts for instrumental tracks and vocal songs for your classroom, student media projects, or school events

So I tried it in Suno

Prompt:  

Podcast intro and outro theme for a 7th-grade classroom podcast, designed to sound deeply inspiring, aspiring, uplifting, and epic with a modern, empowering energy. 30-second compact structure: 0:00–0:05 immediate driving pulse and warm synth intro hook; 0:05–0:22 dynamic expansion with a soaring lead motif and rhythm build; 0:22–0:30 epic, triumphant climax resolving on a clean, ringing final chord. Uplifting cinematic synth-pop and modern indie-rock groove at 120 BPM, featuring a steady, motivating four-on-the-floor beat with energetic rhythmic drive. Lead: bright, soaring electric guitar and warm overdriven synth melody; Harmony: lush analog synth pads and swelling strings; Rhythm: punchy electronic kick, crisp snare with reverb, and energetic eighth-note bassline; Color: sparkling bells and subtle brass-synth accents. A bold, heroic 4-note ascending motif that starts immediately in bar one, develops into a triumphant theme, and returns in the final seconds for instant memorability. Major key (D major), opening with clear, bright clarity and building through dynamic layers into a full, wide, stadium-sized cinematic wall of sound. Immediate start with no slow preamble—hits with an instant rhythmic pulse on beat one. Ends cleanly on a sustained, resonant final chord with a gentle delay tail. No vocals, no sung lyrics, no choir, no spoken voice. Avoid cheesy elevator beats, long atmospheric intros, dark or melancholic minor-key tones, stock cheesy trailer brass drops, cartoon sound effects, and vocals.

First Version:  https://suno.com/s/BMWOkcnzvw2DEKmR  

Second Version:  https://suno.com/s/SuD7fKMPUrIOS0ri  

jordan@jordan@sometimes.social

it’s like everything they said would happen on Y2K is happening this week

MiddleWeb @middleweb.bsky.social

REVIEW: Using Productive Struggle Across Subject Areas Productive Struggle in the 6–12 Classroom is a helpful roadmap for making productive struggle a meaningful, intentional part of the classroom, says Kasey Short. #edusky  @shortissweet.bsky.social  #teachersky  www.middleweb.com/54885/produc…

Strategies:  

MyNotes: Make the Revision Visible

Keep the first explanation so students can connect a revision to new evidence.

https://mguhlin.org/blog/mynotes-make-revision-visible

A Look Back: 5 Instructional Strategies That Worked For My Classes This Year

Here are a few key strategies that seemed to work, and that I want to make sure I continue – and expand on – next year (note that most of these specifically relate to my ELL classes – except for a few minor changes in my TOK classes that I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I pretty much stuck there to what I had done the previous year and it worked very well):

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/11/06/a-look-back-5-instructional-strategies-that-worked-for-my-classes-this-year-3/

Resources:

YouTube Embed Code Generator

Paste a YouTube link above to get embed code that plays where you choose. Set start and end times in minutes and seconds, fit it to any screen, and turn on privacy mode, free.

https://www.collabpals.com/tools/youtube-embed-code-generator

RealCity Transit

https://ambience.sk/games/realcity

Web Spotlight: 

Lead with Love: Why the Principal of the Year Reads His Mistakes to His Staff

https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1021

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