Podcast

Podcast #46 Izzit Enough? Bailouts, Evaluations, and Co-Teaching.

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1.  Month of the Young Adolescent is here!  What are you doing in your classroom or school to celebrate this event? 
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH.  Presenter information is posted on the page.  Download now and get it it in to your administration while they’re too confused and dazed with the opening of school’s events to say, “No.”  (You could argue . . . )
3.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample)  Watch the video invitation on the main page of NMSA’s website. 
4.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
5.  Rick Stiggins has a Balanced Assessment Manifesto posted at NMSA‘s website worth checking out.  
6.  Looking for news from Ontario Middle Level Educators Association.  If you have any, drop us a line. 
7.  Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educators annual conference is coming up October 9-10, 2008. 
8.  The New England League of Middle Schools has a whole bevy of professional development planned for the 2008-2009 school year and you can access it here. 
9.  ADVISORY IDEAS NEEDED:  NELMS is putting together an Advisory Resource page with lessons for you to use.  They are asking for submissions here by January 1, 2009.  If your entry is used, you will be entered in a raffle for a 3 day NELMS conference ticket. 
10.  NMSA’s latest podcast focuses on using wikis in the classroom to promote learning.  
11.  Research Summary Posted:  Vocabulary Teaching and Learning Across Disciplines is now available at NMSA.   
12.  NMSA has a Facebook !  They would like to invite you to join them on Facebook and the opportunities it affords. How many of you can reach Facebook through your district’s firewall?  Pop over to the Ning site as well.
13.  There’s a new research document on counselors in middle schools and the importance they play in our students’ lives.  The research summary details the importance of each student knowing one adult well and how to do that before the counselor’s role can become multifaceted.  In a way, think of them being the ultimate super Advisory teacher first then counselor.  Check it out here.
14.  If you get a chance to visit Second Life, zip over to the ISTE island for their speaker series on Thursdays.  Last week’s Tuesday guest talked about the US Department of Education’s interest in virtual learning environments.  We’ll look around and see if they posted the session.

The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference (NMSA08) is coming up soon (yes, 27 days or so, I know, but I’m excited already).
Preparations:

  1. Housing:  Use the NMSA housing form.  It goes through the local city’s convention bureau so if you are the type to check if your reservation is in the books, you won’t be able to contact the hotel and find out if you have a room.  You’ll have to wait until the convention bureau has taken their compiled lists and sent them to the individual participating hotels.  Do use the form on the website.  You’ll save a tidy sum.
  2. Registration:  If you were able to talk a group into going, use the individual/team registration form.  The reduction in price for getting a team to go is worth selling one’s firstborn to the gypsies . . . well ok, maybe not worth that, but do try to take a team of teachers to get the discount.  Mongo-sized groups have a different form.  Mention you saw the registration information here at Middle School Matters.  It won’t get you anything, but the puzzled looks on the poor NMSA staff will probably be worth it.  😉
  3. Transportation:  NMSA has worked out some transportation discounts with United Airlines (promotion code:  584CM), but do check other airlines for their airfares.  Don’t necessarily take the first choice.  One teacher’s experience has shown checking multiple days could yield a better price.  Hertz has a rental car agreement worked out (promotion code:  CV#022Q3931), but do consider public transportation as a viable alternative.  One of the neat things about the conference is walking a bit and seeing part of the city.  In Philadelphia, I would have missed the really cool stuff at Reading Station and some other places had I not taken a stroll from the hotel to the conference center.
  4. Transport from/to Airport:  FlyDenver.com has a host of transportation options to/from the airport for you to choose from.  My group that went last year used the SuperShuttle service.  If you use them, plan on multiple groups traveling to multiple destinations.  It wasn’t a bad experience.  The only downside is that the scheduled return is set by the dispatcher at the airport, not according to your flight schedule.  We had to be at the airport several hours before we had to be there the regular several hours before departure.  Do chat up the driver.  Ours was allowed to use the vans on the off hours to make some cash on their own and they have a good handle on locations in the area to pick up a flavor of the local culture.  Check out the Colorado Convention Center’s directions to the center from all points on the compass rose and the airport.
  5. Colorado Convention Center:  Use the virtual tour of the Convention Center to find your way around before the conference in October.
  6. Luggage (promo code: 9601):  Find a way to make your luggage distinguishable.  Scarves are not recommended since they catch in the conveyor belt.  Unique tags and stickers, are useful.  If you’re really into luggage tags…   World Richman is an Official NMSA Exhibitor of luggage, but not necessarily for the long distance traveler.
  7. Comfort:  Socks, Shoes, Shoes for Administrators, Chair (wait for it …), Parrot, iPod, coffee, computer, fudge, Middle School Matters, tech podcast, alternate middle school podcast, cherries (what happens to the pits?), in-flight book,

Advisory Idea:  Izzit.org!
Izzit.org is a non-profit educational video resource for teachers.  One of their first hosts was John Stossel of ABC News who produced DVDs of his special reports and distributed them through Izzit.org.  They have a number of educational videos that you can get for free (one a year).  Register on their site and you can get a free video from them once a year on or near your birthday.  You can also purchase videos, but being genetically predisposed to FREE, it is the greater incentive.  Visit their website and check out the DVD on Unintended Consequences:  The Great Depression which is an in depth look at the causes of the Great Depression and the factors that led up to the economic disaster of 1929.  What to do if your birthday is in June and you need something for Advisory today?  Check out the current events lesson plans/ideas for your Advisory class.  You can look at archived material and make it compare/contrast.  For example, use this 1999 lesson on Administration’s pressure on Freddie and Fannie to take on greater low income housing and riskier home loans which at the time the question was, “What would happen?,” and turn it into, “Compare the concerns in 1999 with the realities of 2008.”  Drew Carey is also producing a series of videos on the Bill of Rights and their use today worth checking out as well.

Teacher Resource:  www.vocabulary.com
Vocabulary.com is another puzzle generator with a twist.  They have a number of prepared vocabulary puzzles that you can use right off the web and over 125 vocabulary puzzles prebuilt for the novel you might be reading right now in your ELA class.

News:
Effect of bailout on Education:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/29/06budget-2.h28.html?tmp=981732249
The result of the presidential election will likely help determine how much money education programs receive in the 2009 federal fiscal year, which begins this week. But a multi-billion-dollar federal plan to assist the financial markets may leave the next president with very little room for major increases for K-12 schools, perhaps for the foreseeable future.

Standards for Teacher Evaluation Mulled:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/01/06evaluate.h28.html
With the pressure on to increase student learning, two states are in the process of overhauling what analysts say is among the most neglected pieces of the teacher-quality continuum: evaluation.

Co-Teaching:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tsb/articles/2008/09/10/01math.h02.html

Curriculum Compacting:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tsb/articles/2008/09/10/01gifted.h02.html

Shout Outs:

1.  To Joyce McGreevy, thanks for the post and hope we see you in Denver!
2.  To the listeners State of Illinois, we appreciate your support!
3.  To our sponsors, we can’t wait to meet ya!

Middle School Matters #45 – Next, More Substitute Adventures!

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From an actual test (at least according to the Internet):

The 3 day breast cancer walk:
http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer

News & Events: 

1.  October’s Month of the Young Adolescent is here! 
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH.  Presenter information is posted on the page.  Download now and get it it in to your administration while they’re too confused and dazed with the opening of school’s events to say, “No.”  (You could argue . . . )
3.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample)  Watch the video invitation on the main page of NMSA’s website. 
4.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
5.  Rick Stiggins has a Balanced Assessment Manifesto posted at NMSA‘s website worth checking out.  
6.  Looking for news from Ontario Middle Level Educators Association.  If you have any, drop us a line. 
7.  Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educators annual conference is coming up October 9-10, 2008. 
8.  The New England League of Middle Schools has a whole bevy of professional development planned for the 2008-2009 school year and you can access it here. 
9.  ADVISORY IDEAS NEEDED:  NELMS is putting together an Advisory Resource page with lessons for you to use.  They are asking for submissions here by January 1, 2009.  If your entry is used, you will be entered in a raffle for a 3 day NELMS conference ticket. 
10.  NMSA’s latest podcast focuses on using wikis in the classroom to promote learning.  
11.  Research Summary Posted:  Vocabulary Teaching and Learning Across Disciplines is now available at NMSA.   
12.  NMSA has a Facebook !  They would like to invite you to join them on Facebook and the opportunities it affords. How many of you can reach Facebook through your district’s firewall?

The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference (NMSA08) is coming up soon (yes, 27 days or so, I know, but I’m excited already).
Preparations:

  1. Housing:  Use the NMSA housing form.  It goes through the local city’s convention bureau so if you are the type to check if your reservation is in the books, you won’t be able to contact the hotel and find out if you have a room.  You’ll have to wait until the convention bureau has taken their compiled lists and sent them to the individual participating hotels.  Do use the form on the website.  You’ll save a tidy sum.
  2. Registration:  If you were able to talk a group into going, use the individual/team registration form.  The reduction in price for getting a team to go is worth selling one’s firstborn to the gypsies . . . well ok, maybe not worth that, but do try to take a team of teachers to get the discount.  Mongo-sized groups have a different form.  Mention you saw the registration information here at Middle School Matters.  It won’t get you anything, but the puzzled looks on the poor NMSA staff will probably be worth it.  😉
  3. Transportation:  NMSA has worked out some transportation discounts with United Airlines (promotion code:  584CM), but do check other airlines for their airfares.  Don’t necessarily take the first choice.  One teacher’s experience has shown checking multiple days could yield a better price.  Hertz has a rental car agreement worked out (promotion code:  CV#022Q3931), but do consider public transportation as a viable alternative.  One of the neat things about the conference is walking a bit and seeing part of the city.  In Philadelphia, I would have missed the really cool stuff at Reading Station and some other places had I not taken a stroll from the hotel to the conference center.
  4. Transport from/to Airport:  FlyDenver.com has a host of transportation options to/from the airport for you to choose from.  My group that went last year used the SuperShuttle service.  If you use them, plan on multiple groups traveling to multiple destinations.  It wasn’t a bad experience.  The only downside is that the scheduled return is set by the dispatcher at the airport, not according to your flight schedule.  We had to be at the airport several hours before we had to be there the regular several hours before departure.  Do chat up the driver.  Ours was allowed to use the vans on the off hours to make some cash on their own and they have a good handle on locations in the area to pick up a flavor of the local culture.  Check out the Colorado Convention Center’s directions to the center from all points on the compass rose and the airport.
  5. Colorado Convention Center:  Use the virtual tour of the Convention Center to find your way around before the conference in October.
  6. Luggage (promo code: 9601):  Find a way to make your luggage distinguishable.  Scarves are not recommended since they catch in the conveyor belt.  Unique tags and stickers, are useful.  If you’re really into luggage tags…   World Richman is an Official NMSA Exhibitor of luggage, but not necessarily for the long distance traveler.
  7. Comfort:  Socks, Shoes, Shoes for Administrators, Chair (wait for it …), Parrot, iPod, coffee, computer, fudge, Middle School Matters, tech podcast, alternate middle school podcast, cherries (what happens to the pits?), in-flight book,

Substitutes:

Hey guys

Who is the least appreciated person in the building and yet critical to the success of a middle school? The substitute teacher of course. Without them, forget IEP meetings, professional development, sick days, personal time or even special events. They are the ninja workforce who appear and seemingly disappear without leaving an obvious trail.

Good substitutes are worth their weight in gold, but many teachers either have never subbed or forgot how tough a job it is. Having been a sub teacher for three years in a middle school environment, I know all too well its pitfalls and rewards. When I became a full-time teacher, I knew how my temporary replacement wanted to be respected professionally through good preparation for their day with my kids.

Therefore, perhaps you can give some tips to teachers and remind them of how they can either make or break the day of a sub teacher in their classroom through planning or lack thereof.
I have had teachers who truly understood how to create a seamless transition from being absent one day and returning to class the next to find significant student progress. Good sub teachers are not babysitters, and they have an obligation to the school district and the teacher to keep kids safe and on-task.

Let me make a few suggestions of my own and perhaps you can elaborate:

-Lesson plans that provide more work than can be accomplished in the alloted time
-Necessary photo copies of worksheets, study guides, or reference material; subs do not have passcodes for copiers, nor do they know where to find them
-Directions for finding any materials or supplies needed; subs do not know your room or your desk
-Guide for standard operating procedures in your classroom; kids take too much liberty when asked to share the rules
-Teacher schedule that clearly indicates room numbers and times as well as lunch time, duty times and locations
-Class rosters and Seating charts that are up-to-date and reflect the latest changes made as students are moved for various reasons
-Emergency procedures for Fire Drills, lockdowns, etc. that are clear and easy to understand at a moments notice
-List of contact teachers (with room numbers) who can provide assistance and guidance
-Telephone extension list and clear indication of main office number
-Behavior referral slips and procedure for using them

Most schools require a sub folder to be kept in place for each classroom. But these get buried and forgotten until the teacher needs to be out. Therefore, nothing gets updated and the sub is working with inaccuracies that can, at best, totally change the delicate balance of a classroom and at worst, create a dangerous situation in an emergency.  When a teacher provides everything they would have wanted themselves in the same situation, things go smoothly and everyone wins.

Thanks

Ron
New Jersey

1.  National Substitute Teachers’ Alliance offers benefits to members and an annual conference.
2.  Substitute Teachers are taking personal and professional advancement in their own hands.  Edweek article articulates their position.
3.  Substitute teachers have tried to organize.  This is not legal in all states.
4.  The National Education Association has a Substitute Teacher division with resources and advice on their website.
5.  Looking for some training material for your substitute teachers?  Check this out.
6.  Some districts have language in their contracts that address substitute teacher issues.
7.  NEA position on substitute teachers:

  • The National Education Association believes in the importance of employing professional educators to fulfill the critical role of substitute teachers.
  • The Association also believes that substitute teachers perform a vital function in the maintenance and continuity of daily education. In order to achieve and maintain the highest standards of student learning and professional practice, and to ensure quality instruction in every classroom every day, the Association further believes that substitute teachers must —
    • a. Meet the same standards as other licensed teachers within the state
    • b. Receive professional compensation and benefits
    • c. Receive continuous professional development
    • d. Be provided with materials and information appropriate to the position in which they are substituting
    • e. Be entitled to and supported by state and national affiliates in collective bargaining.
  • The Association condemns the practice of assigning substitute teachers to regular positions for an extended duration of time. Positions created by extended absence should be filled by available licensed teachers who are eligible to be placed on contractual status by the school district.
  • The Association opposes the practice of replacing absent teachers by dispersing students to other classrooms
  • The Association also opposes the use of individuals such as educational support professionals, part-time employees, or employees hired through private agencies to cover classes.
  • The Association further opposes requiring teachers to substitute during their preparation time.
  • The Association believes that school districts must provide full compensation for licensed teachers who substitute for personnel on extended leave. (1975, 2000)

8.  Recommendations from Education Minnesota on preparing for a substitute teacher:

  • Leave detailed information about the daily schedule, the names of your colleagues, specialists who work with your students, and any special procedures or concerns regarding individual students.
  • Provide the name of a colleague the substitute can contact for information or assistance.
  • When writing down assignments, include titles and authors of texts and laboratory manuals, as well as numbers of pages, problems and experiments. Also be sure to leave copies of texts, answer books, and lab manuals for the substitute. Don’t just say, “The kids know where everything is.”
  • Try to include meaningful assignments in your plan book. Busywork often results in wasted time for both students and the substitute. Behavior problems can occur.
  • Keep an up-to-date seating chart that gives the full name of each student. Insist that students always occupy their assigned seats.
  • Prepare your students for a substitute by instilling good work habits and a code of conduct that is conducive to order and accomplishment.
  • Post the names of students who assist you in the classroom, such as monitors and the clean-up crew.
  • Leave working keys for your desk, doors and cabinets.
  • Ask the substitute to leave you a note about how the day went. Also ask him or her for feedback on your preparation and how you might improve.
  • Thank your substitute.  Substitutes work hard and, in many cases, for inadequate compensation. They play a valuable role and deserve lots of appreciation. Strive to ensure a good experience so that your substitute will want to return to your classroom.

9.  Some districts provide some professional development for substitute teachers prior to their first day in the classroom.
10.
Resources:

  1. United States Substitute Teacher’s Association
  2. Transcript of a conversation with substitute teachers.  Some of the themes are worth pulling out and discussing at the local level.
  3. Lesson Plans for substitutes in the English classroom.
  4. Sub humor.
  5. Utah State University has a substitute teacher training institute with resources available for both the sub and the regular teacher.  USU offers substitute teacher training and a certificate at the end with successful completion.  Check out the forums and the substitute teacher resources page.
  6. A framework for classroom discipline:  Ed Ford’s Responsible Thinking Process.  Obviously you will work within your administration’s guidelines, but when you want to work out those situations where you feel you can resolve it in the classroom with the student, the Responsible Thinking Process can be a good way to resolve the situation.  If you get a chance, pick up the training offered by RTP, Inc.  The key questions to the process can be found here, but do read the books to understand the process.
  7. Kathy Schrock has a resource page for substitute teachers.

Ideas for Teachers:

  1. Make contact with a building level guest teacher.
  2. Term them “guest teachers” versus subs.
  3. Talk to “guest teachers” at your school. Get to know them.
  4. Have team support the “guest teacher”.
  5. Get the absence in early.
  6. Know your district rules about getting subs.
  7. Prepare Emergency lesson plans.
    1. Include seating charts.
    2. Include class rosters.
    3. Include classroom rules.
    4. Include school rules.
    5. Include the name of a contact (teacher buddy) for the guest teacher.

Ideas for Guest Teachers:

  1. Get there early.
  2. Read through everything.
  3. Look around the room.
  4. Talk to a neighbor teacher.
  5. Have some “tricks” in your bag.
    (One of my favorites: write the following on the board: (8,5,4,9,1,7,6,3,2,0) Then discuss where this came from – a 16 year in New York City, rides the bus for an hour a day. He starts a class in the back of the bus. In order to get into the “class” students have to present a logic problem. This is one. The question is why do these numbers belong in this order. (Want the answer? Post a comment and we’ll see what we can do).
  6. Network (talk to the principal).
  7. Leave a note of the day.

MSM 44 -News, Mucus, Saliva, and Articles

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Middle School Matters #44 – News, Mucus, Saliva and Articles – Click to Listen!

News & Events: 

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH.  Presenter information is posted on the page.  Download now and get it it in to your administration while they’re too confused and dazed with the opening of school’s events to say, “No.” 
3.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample)
4.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
5.  Rick Stiggins has a Balanced Assessment Manifesto posted at NMSA‘s website worth checking out.  
6.  Looking for news from Ontario Middle Level Educators Association.  If you have any, drop us a line. 
7.  Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educators annual conference is coming up October 9-10, 2008. 
8.  The New England League of Middle Schools has a whole bevy of professional development planned for the 2008-2009 school year and you can access it here. 
9.  ADVISORY IDEAS NEEDED:  NELMS is putting together an Advisory Resource page with lessons for you to use.  They are asking for submissions here by January 1, 2009.  If your entry is used, you will be entered in a raffle for a 3 day NELMS conference ticket. 
10.  NMSA’s latest podcast focuses on using Skype for academic learning.  How many of you have access to Skype at school? 
11.  Research Summary Posted:  Vocabulary Teaching and Learning Across Disciplines is now available at NMSA.   
12.  NMSA has a Facebook !  They would like to invite you to join them on Facebook and the opportunities it affords. How many of you can reach Facebook through your district’s firewall?

NMSA adds Featured Sessions
NMSA has announced that Apple, Inc. will be hosting a featured session as part of their Classrooms of Tomorrow program.  To borrow from Martha, “Its a good thing.”

Its the second week of school and the Great Disease Exchange has happened.  What can you do?
1.  Hand Sanitizer
2.  Personal box of tissues
3.  Wipe down surfaces with sanitizer wipes.
4.  Prepare a substitute teacher lesson box.
5.  Get plenty of rest, fluids, and load up on your favorite Middle School Matters podcasts.

Alan November has a new Tech Article up at the NMSA website.
“Many classrooms have one computer sitting in the back that gets very little use.”
http://www.kiva.org/
www.skype.com
www.google.com/coop/cse/

Middle School Reading Coaches Found to Make Impact

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/11/04coaches.h28.html

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Reading coaches in Florida middle schools have helped teachers and administrators build their knowledge and skills, and have had a positive influence on students’ motivation to read, but their impact on achievement is mixed, a report on the little-studied topic says.

“We found that the coaches’ review of assessment data with teachers was associated with positive outcomes,” said Jennifer Sloan McCombs, who was a co-principal investigator for the study with Julie A. Marsh. “That seems to be this key step in the push for data-driven decisionmaking: getting someone to help you actually translate what the data means and how to put it into an instructional strategy.”

“From the qualitative measures,” she said, “the report gives one the sense that coaches could have a big impact, particularly since they are helping principals to learn more about literacy, and they are really helping teachers improve their teaching strategies.”

Read the Study
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG762.pdf

21st Century
Report: Retool instruction, or U.S. will Fail
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=55173

The report, called “21st Century Skills, Education, and Competitiveness,” argues that for the United States to be globally competitive–and for states to attract growth industries and create jobs–the nation requires a fresh approach to education that recognizes the critical role 21st-century skills play in the workplace.

In 1967, the production of material goods (such as cars and equipment) and the delivery of material services (such as transportation and construction) accounted for nearly 54 percent of the country’s economic output. However, by 1997, the development of information products (such as computers) and the delivery of information services (such as financial and broadcast services) accounted for 63 percent of the country’s output.

“It has become apparent that there isn’t a lack of employees who are technically proficient, but a lack of employees who can adequately communicate and collaborate, innovate, and think critically,” said Ken Kay, P21 president.

Parents May Sue over Cops MySpace Lecture

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10431473

Students who attended the presentation on the first day of school said Officer John Gay called some students’ MySpace pages “slutty” and said they would be grist for sexual predators.
Gay has denied he sought to publicly humiliate students. He said he was trying to show them how easily an Internet predator could gain access to a student’s private information through websites like MySpace and Facebook. He also denied calling anyone’s page “slutty.” Teachers in the room at the time of the talk agreed with Gay’s version of the event.
“What we really want to see is the school district take some action and to prevent Officer Gay from harming other children,” Gillian C said.

From Hybrid Courses to Hybrid School:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/curriculum/index.cfm?i=54655
“Hybrid” courses, which offer a blend of online and face-to-face instruction, have become increasingly popular in schools and colleges nationwide. Now, a new high school in Hawaii has taken the same concept and applied it to an entire school.

The combined online and face-to-face curriculum gives students the benefits of a flexible schedule, while maintaining a high-quality education, school officials said. Courses are taught by experienced teachers who provide small-group instruction and individualized feedback to help students master course material. Students also will benefit from ongoing interaction with their teachers and peers via online and on-campus lessons and face-to-face lab and field activities.
You can check them out at:  http://www.uhmseedacademy.org/kapoleihighschool/

Podcast #41 – Free Kindle!, (please Jack and/or Jeff!), Free iTunes (U), and Free Second Life!

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News & Events

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH. 
3.  Institute for Middle Level Leadership.  July 20-23
4.  Best Practices for Student Success.  July 28 & August 6 
5.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample) 
6.  Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)
7.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
8.  Rick Stiggins has a new Balanced Assessment Manifesto posted at NMSA‘s website.
9.  NMSA is looking for a new journal editor.  Applications due August 1, 2008. 
10.  Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Elections are posted:
PRESIDENT-ELECT:    Alice Seppanen
TREASURER:    Charlene Pike
Suzanne Lappin, Member-At-Large
Nic Cooper, Region 2
 David Feldman, Region 4
Mary Ann Schmedlen, Region 8
 Sherry Lambertson, Region 11
David Baldus, Region 12
 Joe Somerville, Region 13
11.  Looking for news from Ontario Middle Level Educators Association.  If you have any, drop us a line. 
12.  Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educators annual conference is coming up October 9-10, 2008. 
13.  The New England League of Middle Schools has a whole bevy of professional development planned for the 2008-2009 school year and you can access it here. 
14.  ADVISORY IDEAS NEEDED:  NELMS is putting together an Advisory Resource page with lessons for you to use.  They are asking for submissions here by January 1, 2009.  If your entry is used, you will be entered in a raffle for a 3 day NELMS conference ticket. 
15.  Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDcc) Announcement:  (From the webpage…) “The Second Life Education Community Conference 2008 will take place in conjunction with the Official Second Life Community Convention 2008 in Tampa, Florida (US) and in the virtual world of Second Life on September 5 – 7th, 2008. All members of the Second Life educational community and anyone with an interest in the use of virtual worlds technology in education is invited to attend! Please note: Registration fees cover both the SLEDcc and SLCC events! Conference registration and fees only apply to those going to SLEDcc/SLCC in Tampa, in-world only participants do not need to register or pay any fees.”  Here’s your chance to attend a free conference during the first week of school.  The conference schedule can be found here. 

If your state or regional middle level association is organizing an event, please let us know at middleschooleducators@gmail.com. 

Shout outs:
1.  Jeff Bezos, we’d love to put a free Kindle through its paces at NMSA ’08 … 
2.  Ron in New Jersey, thanks for the email.
3.  The lake trout at 140 feet down who saw my lure at 100 feet down and took it last week, you were delicious … 
4.  Our international friends – even the Spammers!

Copyright Fight looms over College Textbooks
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54684;_hbguid=1a943a6a-3bb8-4f98-9bd7-ab945e14b76c
The high cost of college textbooks has spawned a new battleground in the fight to keep students from downloading copyright-protected materials over the internet: textbook file sharing.

Court upholds Teacher firing for looking at porn
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54693;_hbguid=80f259df-0ff1-423f-8e9c-c0b047174269


Visually very polished. Most of the subject area categories have between 1-10 episodes. Many of the episodes are around 1 minute in length. There are some gems. (A video on Formative Assessment includes









Podcast #40 – Google, Wisdom in Group Learning, and More Technology in Education!

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Book Update: 
Troy:
Getting to Got It! – Done

Shawn:
Alan November – Done
Wisdom of Crowds – In progress

News & Events

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH. 
3.  Institute for Middle Level Leadership.  July 13-16 & 20-23
4.  Best Practices for Student Success.  July 28 & August 6 
5.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample) 
6.  Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)
7.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Interesting tidbit:  “It is crucial that all presenters send a copy of their session handouts to NMSA no later than September 21, 2008. It is our plan to offer ALL session handouts to participants electronically. For this reason, we prefer to receive the handouts electronically, but can accept paper copies as well. Please plan to prepare your handouts accordingly.” – from the NMSA Annual Conference website.  It appears that all presentation notes and handouts will be available in electronic form to all conference attendees.  One third of my handouts from one of my presentations this year walked out the door without the person taking it hearing the presentation.  Its good for more exposure to a wider audience, but at the same time the handout doesn’t contain the visuals and the examples that a presentation gives either.  Is this a good balance?  I admit, it was nice having Rick DuFour’s presentation on my iPhone so I could look at it whenever I wanted to.

Shout outs:

  1. Pamela in Farmington, thanks for the email.
  2. Ron in New Jersey, thanks for the email.
  3. Van Drinkard of Bishopville, South Carolina


Reader & Listener questions:

  1. How can Core Content Curriculum Standards keep up with the speed of technology advancement when entire technologies evolve or become irrelevant within the span of a child’s elementary to middle school years? (i.e. floppies to flash memory to network storage)
  2. With an emerging group of older adults moving out of the business world and choosing education as their new career path, what are your thoughts about the value they bring to the middle school classroom environment where real-world connections to content are more critical then ever?


From the net:

  1. Advice needed, everyone!  I have a math teacher friend who wants to set up a website that will allow:
    Kids to keep it up-to-date at school.
    Kids to access it at home.
    Kids to access a blog section.
    Also, of course, she would like to be able to enter in the regular
    stuff, like problem of the day and homework.
    She also wants to be able to keep a long term record of what has been
    on the site during the year.
    And – of course – she wants to be able to do this within the confines
    of a teacher’s salary.

    Any great ideas, anyone?


SAT Scores:  Better indicator with or without a writing section? 
Several years ago schools jumped into action because the SAT was adding a writing section to the test.  So what has been the impact of the change? 

TED Talk – Visual Perspectives – Chris Jordan – Picturing Excess
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/279


Will We Let Google Make Us Smarter?
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/06/will_we_let_goo.php



Middle School Matters #39 – Book Talk, Hacking, & Transformation

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News & Events

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference, February 19-20, 2009 in Sandusky, OH. 
3.  Institute for Middle Level Leadership.  July 13-16 & 20-23
4.  Best Practices for Student Success.  July 28 & August 6 
5.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 (Video sample) 
6.  Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)
7.  Canadian National Middle Years Conference, November 5, 6, & 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 


Shout outs:

  1. Folks in Rock Hill, SC and Black Diamond, WA:  Thanks for listening! 
  2. Ron for the email.


News:

Text Message ruling could affect school policies. Seems as though work issued cell phones could be exempt from search unless a warrant or employee permission is given.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54232;_hbguid=11811143-391a-4171-a124-ad9529840329&d=top-news

Teens face felony charges of computer break-ins
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-cheaters18-2008jun18,0,1317744.story

How do we transform our schools? Use technologies that compete against nothing … Education Next journal
http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/18575969.html
In order to create change, do we have to blow everything up and start from new? Highlights here. 

From Literacy to Digiracy
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11392128
“So, no surprise that when we incarcerate teenagers of today in traditional classroom settings, they react with predictable disinterest and flunk their literacy tests. They are skilled in making sense not of a body of known content, but of contexts that are continually changing.”

Is Google Making Us Stupid?
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google


Mailbag Followup:

Hey guys,

Just to follow-up on some of your questions from the podcast…our schedule is six 50-minute classes.  We are a team of four with 115-120 kids with an “advanced” class for each core subject (makes scheduling tricky).  As far as the flex class, all the details have yet to be flushed out.  Here is what we have been told.  We will have a three week focus (the first being LA/Math) made up of our unintentional non-learners.  We talked about offering “other activities” for those are do not need to extra time.  Some ideas we came up with include club activities (chess, gaming, etc.) as well as simple SSR time, open gym, etc.  Our building uses the Honor Level Discipline System and the move to this flex schedule nullifies a daily reward (a 10-minute break between second & third periods).  I suggested (I also teach leadership) a bi-weekly assembly that is fun for kids (mock-olympic style games, game shows, skits, etc.) to replace this daily reward since our honor level system required students to be compliant for 7-10 days before they get their privileges back.  Anyway, students would have a choice of activities to participate in (including some on different halls with their friends they don’t typically get to spend much time with during the day) if they are….???….caught up on homework, not failing any classes, ???  We really haven’t figured that part out yet.


Did I miss anything?

Ron

Ideas: 

  1. The Kid’s Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference 500 service learning projects that you could implement with kids.

  2. There’s one school in Ohio (and if I can remember their name I’ll post it) that had their teachers take their personal interests create a class centered around it and then they tied it in with their state standards and went to the board with it as a curriculum.  The kids thought it was just fun time when they were learning skills.  I thought it was a creative way to tie in standards and student interests.  Students could sign up for the classes and then take them for the 3-4 weeks the class ran and then they would let kids sign up for another round of classes.  The teachers wouldn’t have to redo the class every time since there are probably a number of kids who want the class, but can’t get in every class they want in each rotation. 

  3. Academic assemblies:  Hold Olympic style events for academic subjects:  use Keynote/Powerpoint to create content questions team classrooms can answer as a challenge, do a “Password” style game where pairs of students sit opposite of each other and the teacher flashes a term from the unit on the screen where only one of the pair can see it (Dave Wilkie’s idea), create multiple choice style questions and give the students A-B-C-D-E answer cards they hold up.  Kids can create a drama series based on current content. 

  4. Mass Study Hall: Actually this becomes a “self-select”. Teachers are available for additional support. Kids who are not in need of “catch-up” report to a large common area. See DuFour’s Research.

Add your ideas to the Comments!
Summer Reading lists

Shawn’s:

  1. Education Next (Summer ’08)
  2. Regina Silsby’s Phantom Militia by Thomas J. Brodeur
  3. “Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning!” by Marc Prensky
  4. Not Quite Burned Out but Crispy Around the Edges by Sharon M. Draper
  5. Web Literacy for Educators by Alan November (Opening lines:  “Long, long ago, there was a magical invention called paper . . . “)
  6. Lighting Fires by Joseph Tsujimoto
  7. Embattled Courage by Linderman (a re-read)
  8. Middle Grades Education: A Reference Handbook by Dr. Pat Williams-Boyd (re-reading sections)
  9. Service Learning in the Middle School: Building a Culture of Service by Fertman, White and White
  10. Energizers – Calisthenics for the Mind by Carl Olson
  11. Promoting a Successful Transition to Middle School by Akos, Queen, and Lineberry
  12. Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom: Using Performance Criteria for Assessing and Improving Student Performance by Arter and McTighe
  13. History Makers by Myra Zarnowski 


Troy’s List:

  1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
  2. Getting Things  Done by David Allen( a re-read)
  3. Getting to Got It! by Betty K. Garner
  4. “Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning!“by Marc Prensky
  5. Transformative Assessment by W. James Popham
  6. The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google by Nick Carr
  7. Fair is not always equal by Rick Wormeli
  8. What Works in the Classroom by Marzano
  9. Classroom Assessment & Grading That Works by Marzano
  10. A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink




Podcast #38 The Mail Bag Grab Bag: Eclectic discussions this week on Middle Level Education!

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News & Events

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Innovative Practices Across the Curriculum, June 24 in Minnesota. 
3.  Institute for Middle Level Leadership.  July 13-16 & 20-23
4.  Best Practices for Student Success.  July 28 & August 6 
5.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 
6.  Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)
7.  Michigan Joint Education Conference, June 25 in Holt, MI.  Integrated Education Conference. 


Reader/Listener Mailbag:
*some parts of the email below were deleted for privacy sake.

Fellow Teachers

There is a disturbing trend happening in school technology education in New Jersey. From my experience as a middle school computer teacher, it appears that school districts think technology can be thrown-in as an add-on to academic subjects like Language Arts or Math. I’m seeing the addition of laptop carts as a way to integrate technology into the classroom, but having more hardware and software at student’s fingertips does not provide proficiency any more than additional textbooks on a classroom shelf. My previous school district decided that teachers can be trained to add computer skills into their curriculum allowing the elimination of computer rotation in exploratory arts. While I agree that computers are a wonderful tool for student learning, and laptops provide flexibility and limited time-wasting, the technology that they represent is extremely content laden unto itself. Technology education in not an ACADEMIC ACCESSORY any more than teaching is a FALL-BACK PROFESSION.

When I began teaching computer technology, I was too naive to realize that many teachers viewed specials as a chance for their prep time and for kids to relax their brains for REAL education later in the school day. Therefore, I included things such as tech-specific vocabulary, quizzes, tests, hands-on projects, independent research and collaborative learning. I held kids accountable for CONTENT, and I handled my grades 5 through 8 as if they were any other academic class. I did my best to connect the dots, from simple to complex, word processing to page layout,  bitmap painting to multi-layered vectors and pixels, single-use programs to software suites and acronyms of WWW to GIF, TIFF and JPEG. And we were just scratching the surface. Podcasts, Blogs, Websites and Video were to come as we partnered together, students and teacher, and grew the program to another level. How can all of this possibly be integrated into the already overburdened schedule of academic teachers whose main function is to please administrators with student proficiency demonstrated on standardized testing?

Shortsightedness is described as “lacking imagination or insight.” The bigger picture was very clear to me. As we provide the opportunity for students to grow in their hands-on skills, and we continue ongoing training for teachers to be on-level with their students, integration of technology in the classroom comes through the assignment of projects that utilize these very skills. The Social Studies teacher wouldn’t expect me to teach the kids about ancient Mesopotamia, so why would I expect them to teach paragraph vs. line breaks, document formatting, or picture editing techniques?

Technology in NJ, as of 2007, is now subject to scrutiny at the 8th grade level by the state. We as teachers needed to assess students and show an acceptable level of proficiency, and my guess is that some type of structured test is to come. Is now the time to cut back our training and content? Aren’t we going in the wrong direction, or am I just missing the point?

Thanks
Ron
New Jersey

First….thanks for the shout-out to the hard working folks down here in Lacey, WA.  Out of curiosity, why?  I hope it has to do with the great many listeners you get from our area.  (Ed. Note:  It does.)

I just finished listening to podcast #37 and I had a couple of thoughts (and maybe future topics).  I was wondering if you could talk about creative scheduling to meet the needs of students that don’t learn.  For instance, in our school next year, we are implementing a seventh period flex-class (30 minutes) everyday except our early-release Wednesdays.  The time is dedicated to reaching non-learners, but not necessarily the intentional non-learners.  There are built-in incentives to push kids to take more responsibility for their learning, etc.  What are some other things that have been tried?

Personally, I am an eighth grade math teacher (Pre-Alg & Alg) in a building that has a teaming model.  I feel that I am at a crossroads in my teaching because our principals have taken away many of the “fun things” that kids look forward to during the school year and in many ways have changed us into a results-oriented staff.  While I endorse the standards movement, I wonder how you (and your audience) feel about the move to focus on the content standards instead of the process standards. 

Our building also got rid of football and baseball several years ago due to a double-levy failure and 1 part of the fallout is our buildings losing some of their spirit and personality.  What have you seen done to pump-up the spirit level in your buildings?

Ron
Lacey, WA

Shawn & Troy had lots to say about the letters. Now we need your input.

  • How do you feel about technology? should it be integrated or taught separately?
  • How do we address content standards and process standards?
  • How do you integrate technology into your class? Why?
  • What would you like to do in integrating technology? What is holding you back?
  • How do we address students needing extra opportunities for learning?

Your thoughts? Please add to the comments or drop us an email.

MSM #37 Advisory Resources and Tape

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News & Events

1.  Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2.  Innovative Practices Across the Curriculum, June 24 in Minnesota. 
3.  Institute for Middle Level Leadership.  July 13-16 & 20-23
4.  Best Practices for Student Success.  July 28 & August 6 
5.  NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1 
6.  Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)

MiddleTalk question:  Where can I find some resources on teambuilding to incorporate into Advisory on a teacher’s paycheck? 

There are a number of stock resources that can be used for advisory.  Some of the best are strategies that you can apply to content. 


Video Taping of Teacher called to question:
District Superintendent Carol Whitehead revealed Friday in a two-page letter to district employees that the district used a video camera to record Powers’ classroom between May 10 and June 11 last year. A district lawyer just last month denied a surveillance camera was used.
It was done to determine who was entering and leaving the classroom on weekends, she said, adding that it is the 18,500-student district’s “paramount duty to protect students,” Whitehead said.
Powers was placed on leave in June and fired in November for helping students publish an underground newspaper despite a warning not to do so. She was reinstated in April to a teaching post at Henry M. Jackson High School after reaching a settlement with the district.
http://heraldnet.com/article/20080528/NEWS01/396823946

Internet2
With an average speed of 100 gigabits per second, Internet2 supports even the most bandwidth-heavy research projects and group collaborations, such as high-definition video conferencing, telemedicine, and tele-immersion, or shared virtual reality.
Participation in the Internet2 network was expanded to include K-12 schools a decade ago. As of last year, nearly 4,300 K-12 school districts were connected to the network, and this number has been climbing slowly but steadily each year, said Greg Wood, director of communications for the Internet2 initiative.
 http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53893;_hbguid=f6e3cf57-d645-46ee-8e62-f0c89d8551a2

Arizona Presses e-Learning
Backers of “e-learning” in Arizona are trying to maintain their state government’s momentum in helping provide digital curricula to schools across the state, even as the state’s economic headwinds stiffen.
Although advocates of e-learning in Arizona—including state officials and groups representing school boards, technology, and e-learning businesses—say the state needs to make heavy investments in helping its rural schools have robust access to the Internet, they have instead focused on crafting policies and on limited experiments that will keep the initiative advancing during the expected lean years ahead.

One, an amendment tacked on to a bill on student bullying would would have given school districts greater flexibility in issuing bonds for the purchase of instructional technology, rather than funding it only through state allocations for curriculum materials, including printed textbooks, as is now done.

The amendment also would have required school districts to forego textbooks if they invest state money in digital curricula and laptops for every student, unless the digital curricula failed to meet state standards. But the Senate narrowly rejected that amendment last week.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/06/11/41digital.html


Hurdles Remain for ELL students
Ong Vue’s very first day of school came when she was 15 and was enrolled in 9th grade at Luther Burbank High School after arriving here as a refugee from Thailand.

The Hmong teenager says her family couldn’t afford to send her to school in Thailand. When she started at Luther Burbank, she spoke Thai and Hmong, but no English.

Four years later, Ms. Vue is a senior at the 1,970-student school and has passed the math section of California’s high school exit exam. She plans to attend community college in the fall, and hopes to become an elementary school teacher.

Despite her clear academic progress, Ms. Vue’s showing on standardized tests has been a handicap in her school’s quest to meet the yardstick for adequate yearly progress, or AYP, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/06/04/39sacramento_ep.h27.html


Podcast 36 Plagarize This!

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Podcast #36

News & Events

1. Start planning for October’s Month of the Young Adolescent!
2. Innovative Practices Across the Curriculum, June 24 in Minnesota.
3. Institute for Middle Level Leadership. July 13-16 & 20-23
4. Best Practices for Student Success. July 28 & August 6
5. NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1
6. Summer Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program registration is open. (free)
7. Transition Practices Research (RMLE Online)
Interesting quotes: “The fact that discipline problems increase upon school transitions suggest that this new school environment poses a challenge to students during early adolescence.”
“The ideal middle school environment engages young adolescents by helping them feel capable of meeting academic challenges, offers them choice and control over their learning, and makes them feel safe and secure in their learning environment (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000). Interventions such as the Coping Power Program—a prevention/intervention program implemented the year prior to and immediately following the middle school transition—can help adolescents meet the new demands associated with transition (Lochman & Wells, 2002).”

Alan November’s Books


YouTube lawsuit test copyright law:

“This would have a profound impact on education, where the benefits of Web 2.0 [technologies] are only just beginning to be realized. These sites offer myriad educational opportunities to reinforce key 21st-century skills, and their diversity offers educators a wide range of choices to include in their lessons and/or practice.”

From eschoolnews.com


Plagarism allegations jolt school
School District 203’s superintendent moved to reassign Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill next school year, while student Steve Su is being asked to return his valedictorian’s medal, after each plagiarized portions of speeches they gave during commencement events last week, the district announced Thursday.


Student Demo uses for Google Phone OS
What do you want your cell phone to be able to do? Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Hal Abelson put that question to about 20 computer-science students this semester when he gave them one assignment: Design a software program for cell phones that use Google Inc.’s upcoming Android mobile operating system.


The 23 Things Wrap up.

Social Bookmarking
18. Learn about tagging and social bookmarking.
19. Set up your account and experience del.icio.us.
20. Revisit RSS and subscribe to new feeds.

Online Video
21. Explore online video sharing sites.
22. Embed and download video from video sharing sites.

Click the link below to listen.

Download: (Note: Please use this link and not the one below)

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