Jokes:

Business Plans
Two women were comparing notes on the difficulties of running a small business. “I started a new practice last year,” the first one said. “I insist that each of my employees take at least a week off every three months.” “Why in the world would you do that?” the other asked. She responded, “It’s the best way I can learn which ones I can do without.”

Friends
Pete and Larry had not seen each other in many years. They had a long talk trying to fill in the gap of those years by talking about their lives. Finally, Pete invited Larry to visit him in his new apartment. “I got a wife and three kids and I’d love to have you visit us.” “Great. Where do you live?” “Here’s the address. And there’s plenty of parking behind the apartment. Park and come around to the front door, kick it open with your foot, go to the elevator and press the button with your left elbow, then enter! When you reach the sixth floor, go down the hall until you see my name on the door. Then press the doorbell with your right elbow and I’ll let you in.” “Good. But tell me, what is all this business of kicking the front door open, then pressing elevator buttons with my right, then my left elbow?” “Surely, you’re not coming empty-handed.”

Mosquitoes
Two young men were camping out in the forest one night. But the mosquitoes were so fierce that the boys had to hide under their blankets to keep from getting bitten. Then one of the boys saw some lightning bugs. “We may as well give up,” he told his friend. “Now they are coming at us with flashlights.”

On Our Mind:

Gearing up for the school year.
iPads in the classroom.
Eric’s Shirt.

Listeners:

Guys,

I hope you are having a super fantastic summer.  Yes, during my 6 days in the States, I picked up an iPad. I was very skeptical at first, but WOW!  This thing is amazing.

My question is about the practical use of the iPad in the class. I see that Apple just upgraded iBooks to allow videos and audio within the epub format. This means that textbooks could have audio/video boxes that support the main text or apply material in a cross curricular presentation. My question is this – who is creating the open source etexts that we can use in class, and how can I help?

Robert

Sent from my iPad

Related links we sent Robert:
http://open-education.org/
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000027.html
http://www.opentextbook.org/about/
http://web.me.com/mcgirr/Summer_PD_Notes__ISTE__MiJEC____MSC_/pages/20.html

From the Twitterverse:

• courosa OpenScholar looks like a useful (and free) tool for academics. http://is.gd/dZcsi
• drmmtatom Technology Tools for Learninghttp://tinyurl.com/2wv463s
• willrich45 Open source textbooks a viable option? Der. http://nyti.ms/97f6GB
• akipta Copyrights for Educators: Everything you wanted to know, but didn’t ask. http://goo.gl/fb/kiQyo
• marynabadenhors Very cool Numeracy teaching notes (downloadable) http://billsteachingnotes.wikispaces.com/Numeracy+Teaching+Notes #kedu #elemchat #vicpln
• NMHS_Principal Vodcasting: Education of the Future #edtech
• kellyhines RT @kcollazo: Several Google Form templates so I didn’t have to figure out the formulas to auto grade! Yes! http://trunc.it/9zp6w
• kiwicarol 15 Mind Blowing Thins [sic] about the Internet via Jane Hart
• samharrelson This is up there with “we didn’t land on the moon” craziness for me. 8th grade is still “hard” folks. No worries 🙂
• Larryferlazzo  US Dept. of Ed prepares to launch “2010 National Education Technology Plan 1.0”
• GuyKawasaki  The blurry rules of plagiarism for college students http://idek.net/2uW5
• kusdiva  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder & it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid/misinformed beholder a black eye. ~Miss Piggy
• eduinnovation  Teacher- “Stop networking, searching, creating with your cell phones now. Put them away. I am going to teach U the skills for future!”
• web20classroom   RT @gcouros: 70 Ways to Keep Students Engaged Some great ideas here!

Advisory:

Is “What you see, What you get?”
Here are 5 optical illusions that you could share with your students (or class). Good lead in to discussion about perception, point of view, etc.
http://mashable.com/2010/08/01/optical-illusions-videos/

Stats on Soft Drinks
http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/softdrinks/  (Link removed at the request of www.onlineschools.org.  Search their site for update link.)

TED Talk:  The Art of Choosing:  http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html

Tech Tools:

Teacher’s First

TeachersFirst is a rich collection of lessons, units, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format. We offer our own professional and classroom-ready content along with thousands of reviewed web resources, including practical ideas for classroom use and safe classroom use of Web 2.0. Busy teachers, parents, and students can find resources using our subject/grade level search, keyword search, or extensive menus.
http://teachersfirst.com/index.cfm

Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is an open-source, standards-compliant, customizable, modern, community-building discussion forum.
http://vanillaforums.org/

KnoteBooks

http://knotebooks.com/

Webspotlight:

Firing the Wrong Teachers?

http://hechingered.org/content/firing-the-wrong-teachers_1801/

Teacher inspires students to work through adversity

By Donna Vickroy
Juanita Lopez understands adversity – and the rewards of overcoming it.
“Believe it or not, the kids seem to work harder, to have more respect when they see you as a real person, with real struggles,” she said. “I have fewer discipline problems in the classroom because of it, too.”

http://www.southtownstar.com/lifestyles/vickroy/2551488,080110vickroy.article

Tiering Lessons
http://help4teachers.com/samples2.htm

News:

Minnesota rejects National Standards

The U.S. Education Department is offering about $350 million to help develop tests — but only for states that adopt the national standards by the end of 2011.
http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_15655121?nclick_check=1

5 Developing Themes at ISTE ‘10

By Henry Thiele
I attended EduBloggerCon, the Constructivist Consortium, the opening events, and more at ISTE ’10, and through my interactions there, I have begun to see some themes developing in the conference:
1 It has been a rough year. Between budget cuts, leadership challenges, and the increasing responsibilities associated with technology in schools, everyone was mentally exhausted heading into the conference. Excitement about changing practices and adding resources to schools has been tempered by budget concerns.
2 We have some pretty big decisions looming about how we are going to handle an influx of personal mobile computing devices into our society. With the iPad, the new iPhone, Android devices, and the continued growth of netbooks, there are a lot more discussions of how we are going to respond to this trend as schools. These conversations center on network infrastructure, policy, instructional strategies, and preparing teachers for this change.
3 Digital divide. The changes described in number 2 are starting to show how ugly the digital divide is becoming. The gap between those able to have the world’s information in their hands and those unable to is a growing social problem. When connectivity is factored in along with access to hardware, the difficulty becomes greater and more complex.
4 Assessment: Many educators are struggling more with assessment and its design. It seems that most agree with attaching some form of accountability to assessment. But nobody has quite figured out how to do it. It is becoming apparent, however, that technology will have to be involved in whatever solution does present itself, if for efficiency if nothing else.
5 Personalizing education: More people are talking about making teaching and learning more personal, saying that education has to be tailored to each individual. There is a lot of frustration and confusion about how to make this happen when we are still working in an environment designed to “press out parts” rather than create individual masterpieces.
http://www.techlearning.com/article/31550

ISTE 2010

CEO’s presentation.
Panel discussion begins at 18:08
Three agendas
New global citizenship
Global citizenship first and national citizenship second.
New skills agenda
New learning teaching and education technology agenda.
– Jean Francois Rischard
21st Century Learning in the new global classroom.
This is an activist agenda.
Table
See pic
21st cent skills
Karen C.
We need to change the focus and flip the conversation in the classroom.
Shaun Koh
Standardized testing kills dreams.
Use technology to inspire the dream in each student.
The teacher is more of a shepherd. (paraklete principle).
He wishes he had been taught interdisciplinarily and how subjects interact.
Jennifer is a nut.
Look up Tony Wagner as an author.
Karen Cantor says outright that national assessments are worthless.
But we’re on the train and can’t stop to fix the wheels.
We’re asking schools to make three changes taw once and the curriculum doesn’t give much leeway.
“Dictatorship of the Curriculum”.
Why don’t schools do “FedEx” days?
How do we learn to learn?
Denmark lets seniors use Google on their Senior exams.
How to grow a global citizen?
Stop teaching US History.
Teach problem solving.
Think multiculturally.
“Raised in Singapore, grew up on the Internet”
Get your culture from TV and the Internet.
National technology plan.
Need to download.
Why are educational systems so slow to change?
The Charles TED Talk.
It’s not enough
Side Notes:
The hostess was perky and covering for JFR’s shortcomings.
Jennifer was way to much of an advocate for “one world government” as was the other Canadian and JFR.
The University of Michigan kid has learned his subject, but hasn’t learned how to live.  He’s rudderless and lacks a grounding philosophy.
Tony Wagner Books:
Global Achievement Gap:  Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach The New Survival Skills Our Kids Need.
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Achievement-Gap-Survival-Need/dp/B003P2VC02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278627763&sr=8-1

Reinventing Americas Schools

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Grade-Reinventing-Americas-Schools/dp/0415927625/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278627763&sr=8-4

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA? How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    • Individual and small group registration
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
  • Housing
    • Follow this link to either online housing registration or PDF forms.

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
  • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI. Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.   (Phone:  (616) 997-3400)
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.  (Note:  No event this week due to EduBloggerCon in Denver this week.)

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Jokes:

Danger
One night a husband and his wife were sleeping and suddenly the wife woke up. “Dear, there’s a burglar eating the cake downstairs!” said the wife. “So should I call the police or the ambulance?” asked the husband.

Circles
During basic army training, a sergeant was telling his group how a submachine gun sprayed bullets. He drew a circle on a blackboard and announced that it had a 260 degree angle. “But, sergeant, all circles have 360 degrees,” called out a conscript. “Don’t be stupid,” the sergeant roared. “This is a small circle.”

Tee Time
Two men were talking about golf. One of them said, “I shoot in the 70’s.” The other replied, “That’s great!” The first one said, “Yeah, if it gets any cooler than that, I go to the clubhouse.”

On Our Mind:

PLNs enforced by administration.
http://thetechnorateteacher.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/great-pln-backlash-of-2010/

Listeners:

To Eric:  Thanks for the email!
To reviewer #28 thanks for the stars on iTunes!

From the Twitterverse:

• WESatD2L  The six levels of Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as found in Pirates of the Caribbean
• russeltarr  e-Textbooks: Feasible or Futile? http://tinyurl.com/njpxaf
• web20classroom  RT @gcouros: 70 Ways to Keep Students Engaged Some great ideas here!
• mcleod  Coach Brown: “Bad prof devt is a monumental waste; can’t remember good use of prof devt within my own district.” http://goo.gl/M2wS
• Curriki  Popular this month: Teaching Understanding By Design http://ow.ly/2fJhV
• markbarnes19  How do you Teach Creativity? | ISTE Connects – Educational Technology http://ow.ly/2fQ8U
• erinmisegadis  User guide for Edmodo – http://www.edmodo.com/guide
• rmbyrne  Screenjelly – Quick and Easy Screencasting via Free Technology for Teachers – Screenjelly is a free … http://tinyurl.com/33evthh
• web20classroom  Educational Grants For The 2010-2011 School Year:

Advisory:

Library of Congress:  The Exquisite Corpse . . .
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-library-congress-the-exquisite/id374009707

Tech Tools:

Gradebook:

LearnBoost’s product allows teachers to manage their classroom by offering an amazing gradebook and software for managing and creating lesson plans, tracking attendance, maintaining schedules, integrating calendars including Google calendars, seamless tagging of Common Core State Standards, and so much more.
Manage your gradebook, lesson plans, calendars, scheduling, and more from one place: LearnBoost.
Once you switch, you’ll wonder what life was like before LearnBoost.
Sign up for your free account!
Standards Supported
The majority of states have announced support for the Common Core Standards. We’re the first to fully support and integrate these leading standards across our gradebook and lesson plan software.
You’ll love how we let you “tag” standards to your lesson plans, gradebook, and more.
http://www.learnboost.com/

LearnPort

A National Online Library of Professional Development Resources Compiled to Help Bridge Research, Policy and Practice.
Across states, national organizations and technical assistance investments, an extensive amount of professional development material is available. This library provides local educators with easy access to an array of resources that can be used or customized to meet their needs.
http://www.learningport.us/

Survey Tools:

Free Tech 4 Teachers:
A wonderful write up of 9 tools that you can use to create surveys. Interesting. The list does NOT include Google Forms, which is most commonly used survey tool.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/07/nine-survey-tools-for-teachers-and.html

Webspotlight:

Schoolwide
Videos useful for Professional Development.
The Schoolwide Network was created in response to the lack of quality video (and print) resources available on the Internet today. With all of the rich media now available via the Internet and mobile technologies, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information being pushed toward us and our children every day.

Schoolwide believes, however, that it is quality—not quantity—that defines any successful educational practice or professional development enterprise. Since our inception, quality has always been at the core of our educational efforts, from the very first Student-Run Bookstore that got us started to the thousands of Fundamentals Units of Study we have sold to school districts across the country.

Schoolwide also believes that with so much information just a keystroke away, never before has the need for practical and useful professional development resources been more paramount. To this end, our primary objective is to provide educators with the tools and resources to help them be better teachers for their students—not only with the quality content we provide but also in the way we present, organize, and provide educators access to this information.
http://www.schoolwidenetwork.com/?search_type=grade_9

Tiering Lessons
http://help4teachers.com/samples2.htm

Shout out:

To Eric. It’s on the way.

ISTE 2010

ISTE 2010:  Virtual Schools

Virtual School Initiative:  21st Century Learning and Teaching
Dr. Kathy Hayden:  Assistant Professor of Educational Technology, California State University, San Marcos khayden@csusm.edu
Stacey Campo via Skype (teacher):  Poway Unified School District

• Stacey is an Apple Professor at Cal. State.
• Path to Growth
• This developed out of a book they read.
  • Does your district offer online courses?
• Articulating the Vision
  • “Our district goal that every student is using technology to engage in learning customized to their needs, master rigorous content which develops 21st century literacy skills and culminates in college readiness.”
• Articulating the vision:  Support learning activities delivered from a shared knowledge of principles of effective learning with multiple opportunities …
• Summit feedback:  The online learning summit participants recognized that a successful launch of a PUSD Virtual High School will require:
  • On-going staff development in online pedagogy.
  • Teacher Union/Administrative Counseling suport.
  • Curriculum alignment with PUSD and CA standards.
  • Technical Support
  • Sufficient, sustainable technical resources.
  • Competition was a driving force.
• Modeling and embedding principles of effective learning and teaching.
  • Tier 1:  Basic integration
  • Tier 2:  Integrated practices.
  • Tier 3:  Thought Leaders
• Professional Development
  • 1.  Directly engage staff
  • 2.  Leverage technology
  • 3.  Create alternative evaluations
  • All of this comes with a pay raise.
• TLC:  Teaching and Learning Cooperatives
• Partnership:  Poway USD and California State University
  • Distinguished Professor in Residence Grant
  • 360 Hours of support
  • Professional expertise and experience
• Polling question:  Should teachers be certified to teach online?
  • Audience answer:  25% yes.
• Health is one of the first things that high schools take online.
• “Learning Point Portal” on the screen now.
• Teacher Pay
  • $2500 to develop the course.
  • If they teach the course, they get a fractional pay for it.
  • Additional pay if they are teaching outside their content area.
  • Site to check out:  http://floridaitunesu.org
• Find interesting ways to have conversations in an on-line settng.
  • INACOL: Standards (not a perfect match)
  • Essential Elements:  Concord Consortium
  • PUSD Virtual School
  • Discussion Forums
    • It is important that these kids talk.
    • It led to kids reconnecting with kids they had been friends with at other schools.
  • Scaffolding for success
    • Constant communication in multiple mediums.
    • If they fell below the 70% line, parents were called by the grading software.
      • ConnectEd messages.
    • Real-world thinking
    • Decision-Making
    • Authentic Learning
    • Engaged the teachers and students in project based learning.

ISTE 2010:  10 Essential Technology Leadership Components (http://leaders.wikispaces.com/iste2010)
This session is filled with folks.  Standing room only.  10 mins. to go to presentation too!
“Very quick and inappropriate video”. Old lady sets off airbag. Very funny.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBVJAFrN0U

Sponsor info:
www.skoodat.com
Chris O’Neal, University of Virginia Professor.

Storm the stage. Alternate title.
Chris.wikispace.com
Ten Considerations for Technology Leadership
Equity of access. (http://leaders.wikispaces.com/equity)
This should include access at home.
We should have this between 8 & 3:30
We should not use tech as a reward but as a tool.
Our problem is not enough tech to use in the classroom.
Understanding and Using Data.   (http://pewinternet.org/)
Rigor and relevance.
Effective Professional Development.  (http://www.nsdc.org/)
Think individual schools and individual grades.
Walk the walk, talk the talk.  (http://www.edutopia.org/)
We have to model the tech we want people to use.
Vision: collaborative and authentic:  http://tinyurl.com/istelead
Using a google survey/form in a faculty meeting.
Establish a Common Vision  (http://profilerpro.com/)
Does everyone speak the same language and work toward the same ultimate goals?  Does everyone see where technology can take us?
Reward and encourage innovation.  (http://www.iste.org/)
Do we encourage, praise, reward those who move forward, innovate, show growth?  Are some of your non-techies at this conference?
Look for the ASCD survey on rewards
Genuine Reflection  (http://docs.google.com/)
NSD says that reflection is critical to integrating PD.
Student-driven technology  (http://genyes.com/)
Get student managers.  They are less likely to disengage if they’re able to offer expertise on issues.
PLN. (http://www.twitter.com/ #edchat)
Do you rely on only yourself or journals?
Your topic is …?
Why is that important?

Chris.wikispaces.com
Web 2.0 for Leaders
onealchris on Twitter.  onealchris@gmail.com  http://chris.wikispaces.com
Technology Leadership by Modeling
NETS-A Based
Google Apps for Education http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html
Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Wordle  http://www.wordle.net/
Delicious  http://delicious.com/
Wikis  http://www.wikispaces.com/
Creative Commons  http://creativecommons.org/
Skype  http://www.skype.com/
Challenge to Leaders for Summer 2010:  Play around over the summer.  Build a few “back to school” faculty meetings:
Model a new, relevant technology (His suggestion:  Animoto)
Lead higher-order conversations about technology.  (http://tpck.org/)
Ensure classroom-level digital equity.  (http://leaders.wikispaces.com/equity)
Ten Web 2 Apps for Leaders
Google Apps:  Google Docs Education Version  (http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/)
Blogging:  21 Classes or Edublogs  (http://21classes.com/)
Wikis:  Wikispaces for Education  (http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers)
Social Bookmarking:  Delicious  (http://delicious.com/edleadersonline)
Copyright:  Creative Commons  (http://creativecommons.org/)
Social Presentations:  http://www.slideshare.net/)
Free audio & video chat:  Skype  (http://www.skype.com/)
Audio recording and Podcasting:  Audacity  (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
Social Video – the Education Version:  SchoolTube  (http://www.schooltube.com/)
Microblogging:  Twitter  (http://www.twitter.com/onealchris)
Web 2.0 questions/issues to consider
Student engagement
Student safety
Curricular worthiness
Reliability of tool
Cost
Technical issues (storage, bandwidth)
Professional Development and/or Support needs.  (http://prodev.wikispaces.com/)
Other Web 2 Sites to Explore:
School 2.0: http://school2.wikispaces.com
Educator’s Social Network: http://classroom20.ning.com
Wikicommons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Librivox: http://www.librivox.org
Learn Out Loud: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com
Glogster: http://www.glogster.com/edu
Animoto: http://animoto.com/education
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/
Netvibes: http://www.netvibes.com
Gliffy: http://www.gliffy.com/
Government/Policy:
ISTE’s Advocacy and Policy:  https://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Advocacy
United States Department of Education:  http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
State Departments of Education:  http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/ccseas.asp
21st Century Skills
Edutopia:  http://www.edutopia.org
Partnership for 21st Century Skills:  http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Organizations
ISTE:  http://www.iste.org
CoSN:  http://www.cosn.org
ASCD:  http://www.ascd.org
VASCD:  http://www.vaascd.org
VSTE:  http://www.vste.org
Multimedia Archives:
Internet Archive:  http://www.archive.org/
Teacher Tube:  http://www.teachertube.com/
Google Video:  http://video.google.com/
Zamzar:  http://www.zamzar.com/
Blogs/Podcasts:
Assorted Stuff:  http://www.assortedstuff.com/
21st Century Collaborative: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/
Technology Times Live Podcast: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/podcasts/TechnologyTimesLive.xml
The List at elearnspace.com: http://www.elearnspace.org/edutechblogs.htm
Principals/Administrative Blog: http://www.leadertalk.org/
Dangerously Irrelevant: http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/
Sharing/Utility:
Box.net: http://www.box.net
SendSpace: http://www.sendspace.com/
Backpackit: http://www.backpackit.com/
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/
ThinkFree Online Office Suite: http://www.thinkfree.com
Furl: http://www.furl.net
Open Source Software:
Open Source Assistive Technology: http://www.oatsoft.org/
SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/
SchoolForge: http://www.schoolforge.net/
Online Professional Development:
Edutopia George Lucas Videos on iTunesU (link will launch iTunes): http://tinyurl.com/3wwkus
Virginia’s iTunes University (link will launch iTunes): http://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browsev2/vdoe.brpbs.org
Get a Free Education Online: http://tinyurl.com/lkgsq
Microsoft’s Education Competencies: http://www.microsoft.com/education/competencies/allcompetencies.mspx
PT3 Now!: http://www.pt3now.org/
Netfiles: http://www.netfiles.org
Annenberg Media: http://www.learner.org/
Internet Safety:
NetSmartz: http://www.netsmartz.org/
SafeKids: http://www.safekids.com/
Buying Stuff:
ZDNet: http://review.zdnet.com
CNET: http://reviews.cnet.com
Educational Leadership Readings:
UbD and Technology
Change and Leadership
Marzano’s Classroom Instruction that Works
Presenters:
Chris O’Neal:  http://www.edleadersonline.org
Karen (?):  http://www.ivyrun.com
ISTE 2010 Site for this presentation:  http://leaders.wikispaces.com/iste2010

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA? How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    • Individual and small group registration
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
  • Housing
    • Follow this link to either online housing registration or PDF forms.

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
  • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI. Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.   (Phone:  (616) 997-3400)
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.  (Note:  No event this week due to EduBloggerCon in Denver this week.)

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Jokes:

Counting
A man rushed into a doctor’s office, jumped on his back, and started screaming, “One! Two! Three! Four!” “Wait a minute!” yelled the doctor, trying to get free. “What do you think you’re doing?” The man said, “Well doctor, they did say I could count on you!”

On Our Mind:

ISTE 2010 Swag!

Listeners:

Letter 1:
“Hi guys,
I listened to the June 26 podcast today while driving to my summer job, (a teacher with a summer job?!).  Thanks for the moderation of the the theme music.  I enjoyed the discussion and your thoughts.  I teach at a fairly small rural school and our cell phone policy is pretty simple.  You can have it.  You can use it with permission in class, it sits on the desktop, off, no ringer, no vibrate. I find that you are using it, without permission,  you have lost it for 24 hours, or until the next time class meets, (don’t get caught on a Friday!) you can use it at passing times and at lunch.
The high school was pretty good with this policy, it was a group of HS students that convinced our principal to adopt this policy.  The MS kids had a harder time with it, there were a small number  that just could not follow these simple rules.  I am not sure where we will be with this policy next year.  We are going to 1 to 1 computers (MacBook) in 6-12 next year so there will be a lot of changes in the next school year.
Keep up the good work, summer is about over, argh!!! ;)”

Craig

Letter 2:
Shawn and Troy~~

I wanted to share how much I enjoy your podcasts.  They actually make me look forward to my daily exercise when I have to opportunity to listen.  I have just started listening and I am catching up on old ones.

Your topics and enthusiasm give me a refreshed outlook for the school year.  I have been spending the last 2 hours reviewing your webpage and found so many interesting links.  In a time that can be very negative toward education, you have given me a reason to continue my positive outlook and remind me each time I listen why I got into teaching.

Thanks so much~~

Kerry

Letter 3:
From AK Jenny:  http://www.conquercollegewithld.com/

Letter 4:
Dear Shawn & Troy,

On behalf of the stakeholder and partner organizations of the Michigan Joint Education Conference (MIJEC), I want to express my appreciation to you for sharing your expertise with the attendees of last month’s conference at Thurston High School in South Redford.

By sharing your best practices with other educators, you enhanced our conference and helped to further the professional development of our attendees.

I hope that you will consider presenting next year’s Michigan Joint Education Conference, which will be held on Wednesday, June 22.  Watch the MIJEC website for announcements concerning our call for presenters.

Thanks again for your participation in the 2010 Michigan Joint Education Conference.

Sincerely,
Ric Wiltse, MACUL

From the Twitterverse:

• WhiteheadsClass  RT @JamiePortman: 15 ways to foster a love of learning. Great stuff!!
• thart74  Video: STUDENTS use tools to assess the effectiveness of instructional strategies and teaching techniques.
• thart74  Catching Readers Before They Fall – instructional strategies,PD guide, group activities. Preview entire book online!
• brasst  Apps for interacting with US govt resources – APPS via www.diigo.com/~brasst
• elemenous  If you’re interested in finding more apps, try Appolicious http://tinyurl.com/mof69f #psls
• getschooled  Even with rising #collegecost, 4 year degree is still important to earn more than your parents http://ow.ly/29msV
• posterous  I’ve started using http://NutshellMail.com to manage my Facebook and Twitter accounts through one simple email.
• johnrwoodman  Nobody who bought a drill actually wanted a drill. They wanted a hole. – Perry Marshall
• hrheingold  Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies http://tinyurl.com/5rct2w about 9 hours ago via Seesmic
• SMART_Tech  New! SMART Certified Interactive Teacher program available. Be the first to be Certified in your school!
• getschooled  Men may earn less today than in 1979 if they don’t have a college degree. http://ow.ly/29fJe
• ngcbrown  #clcs10 try gamesalad for Mac. Bit like scratch but glossier. Can make itouch/phone games with it
• russeltarr  The 15 most inspiring teachers in films (would be an interesting vote during a staff training day!): http://tinyurl.com/muco5f

• drmmtatom  ISTE Unplugged Recordings Now Available http://tinyurl.com/289a3xs
• russeltarr  Collection of Free Mathematics Classroom Posters: http://tinyurl.com/2vucuqp
• moodlenews  interested in the #Blackboard acquisition? Read this now: #moodle @cytochromec
• lesliefisher  I learned that the staff at the Apple Store can only sit down when you do, so, when you like the person, sit down! If not, run in circles!
• russeltarr  AutoMotivator is for making printable motivational posters or parody demotivational posters.: http://tinyurl.com/ksfqum
• cmtoy  ‘You’re racing toward our old model!” Chinese educator to American educator. Who the heck is leading us and why are they taking us there?
• solennial  Teachers in Pender Co. can’t be Facebook friends with students WECT.com – Wilmington, NC news and weather –
• WhiteheadsClass  More than a million creative writing prompts at
• .FakeAPStylebook  hacker – Anyone who knows anything at all about computers beyond e-mail/web browsing, and therefore is a troublemaker.

Advisory:

8 Ways to get to know a new class:
http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_650dvtj3dgk

Tech Tools:

SnagIt for Mac (beta)

http://www.techsmith.com/snagitmac/

Book Suggestion engine
Uses Amazon and LibraryThing
http://bookseer.com/

SlideSix
Allows voiceover of uploaded powerpoint, keynote, OpenOffice presentations.
http://slidesix.com/

ISock
www.guppiesinthedark.com
http://itunes.apple.com/nl/app/isock-de-pratende-sok/id346782860?mt=8

Webspotlight:

Big Thinkers:  T. Barry Brazelton on Parents as Partners in Education

Scientists answer the question of which came first, the Chicken or the Egg?
http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2010/07/newsy-video-chicken-or-the-egg-question-finally-solved.html

Should we require educators to use RSS?
http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2010/07/should-we-require-school-employees-to-have-rss-readers-part-2-more-questions.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dangerouslyirrelevant+%28Dangerously+Irrelevant%29

Schoolwide
http://www.schoolwidenetwork.com/?search_type=grade_9

Shout out:

Kerry, Craig and Jenny thanks for the feedback!

News:

ISTE 2010:  Virtual Schools

Virtual School Initiative:  21st Century Learning and Teaching
Dr. Kathy Hayden:  Assistant Professor of Educational Technology, California State University, San Marcos khayden@csusm.edu
Stacey Campo via Skype (teacher):  Poway Unified School District

• Stacey is an Apple Professor at Cal. State.
• Path to Growth
• This developed out of a book they read.
  • Does your district offer online courses?
• Articulating the Vision
  • “Our district goal that every student is using technology to engage in learning customized to their needs, master rigorous content which develops 21st century literacy skills and culminates in college readiness.”
• Articulating the vision:  Support learning activities delivered from a shared knowledge of principles of effective learning with multiple opportunities …
• Summit feedback:  The online learning summit participants recognized that a successful launch of a PUSD Virtual High School will require:
  • On-going staff development in online pedagogy.
  • Teacher Union/Administrative Counseling suport.
  • Curriculum alignment with PUSD and CA standards.
  • Technical Support
  • Sufficient, sustainable technical resources.
  • Competition was a driving force.
• Modeling and embedding principles of effective learning and teaching.
  • Tier 1:  Basic integration
  • Tier 2:  Integrated practices.
  • Tier 3:  Thought Leaders
• Professional Development
  • 1.  Directly engage staff
  • 2.  Leverage technology
  • 3.  Create alternative evaluations
  • All of this comes with a pay raise.
• TLC:  Teaching and Learning Cooperatives
• Partnership:  Poway USD and California State University
  • Distinguished Professor in Residence Grant
  • 360 Hours of support
  • Professional expertise and experience
• Polling question:  Should teachers be certified to teach online?
  • Audience answer:  25% yes.
• Health is one of the first things that high schools take online.
• “Learning Point Portal” on the screen now.
• Teacher Pay
  • $2500 to develop the course.
  • If they teach the course, they get a fractional pay for it.
  • Additional pay if they are teaching outside their content area.
  • Site to check out:  http://floridaitunesu.org
• Find interesting ways to have conversations in an on-line settng.
  • INACOL: Standards (not a perfect match)
  • Essential Elements:  Concord Consortium
  • PUSD Virtual School
  • Discussion Forums
    • It is important that these kids talk.
    • It led to kids reconnecting with kids they had been friends with at other schools.
  • Scaffolding for success
    • Constant communication in multiple mediums.
    • If they fell below the 70% line, parents were called by the grading software.
      • ConnectEd messages.
    • Real-world thinking
    • Decision-Making
    • Authentic Learning
    • Engaged the teachers and students in project based learning.

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA? How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    • Individual and small group registration
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
  • Housing
    • Follow this link to either online housing registration or PDF forms.

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
  • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI. Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.   (Phone:  (616) 997-3400)
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.  (Note:  No event this week due to EduBloggerCon in Denver this week.)

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Jokes:

The Book
Lunching with a friend in a fast food restaurant, I was telling her about a teenager who had rear-ended my car. The teen blamed me for the accident. “She called me every name in the book!” I said. Just then I looked over to the next table where two nine-year-old boys had apparently been paying close attention to my story. One said to the other, “There’s a book?”

A Birthday Number
A couple phoned a neighbor to extend birthday greetings. They dialed the number and then sang “Happy Birthday” to him. But when they finished their off-key rendition, they discovered that they had dialed the wrong number. “Don’t let it bother you,” said a strange but amused voice. “You folks need all the practice you can get.”

On Our Mind:

“Graduation”

Summer Time

From the Twitterverse:

• mrhgaddis RT @tomwhitby: If Admins do not take Tech and PD seriously, how can we expect teachers to do so? #edchat
• educatoral RT @NMHS_Principal Educational iPad apps #edtech
• DoTheMathBooks If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. Oscar Wilde #quote
• datruss I think I’ll be getting the book ‘What Makes a Great Teacher?’ A good ‘reminder’ post for teachers
• mguhlin BlogNotes – Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom http://ff.im/-lf0DR
• adambrice Data + Graphing + Google Forms = Engagement http://post.ly/i0JK
• dianadell The 10 Best Free Educational Games Online: http://ow.ly/1RKHA
• mguhlin ‘No God’ comment on fbook adds up to no job for fired math teacher
• Curriki Learn how to transform your classroom into a 21st Century Classroom with these skills: http://ow.ly/1Toec
• rmbyrne 100 Ways to Use VoiceThread in Education via Free Technology for Teachers – 100 Ways to Use VoiceThread in … http://tinyurl.com/2bbq7gf
• cybraryman1 Some suggested topics we can cover for new teachers: Organizing Pages: #ntcamp
• NMHS_Principal The PLN, fueled by intrinsic motivation+dedicated educators, is the best form of prof dev around.
• russeltarr TubeChop allows you to easily chop a section from any YouTube video and share it: http://tinyurl.com/nytp53
• lthumann Watching the videos at School Technology Integration Ideas: Teaching with #iPads the Movie (Take Two) http://bit.ly/bAimOK
• lgEduGator 5 Steps to Increasing Teacher Technology Integration | #Edchat Recap http://ow.ly/1RmOv

Advisory:

Bullying Awareness Project

Teacher Page:
http://www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/rpt/RPT_Zero_Tolerance/teacher.html
Student Page:
http://www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/rpt/RPT_Zero_Tolerance/student.html

Listeners:

Robert sent along the web site:
http://www.hippocampus.org/

Tech Tools:

Notalon
http://bitbucket.org/saketh/notalon/overview

Webspotlight:

UDL Discussion

http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-wont-more-teachers-set-up-udl.html?spref=fb

Rethinking Schools

As a special introduction to our new website, the text of the entire summer issue of Rethinking Schools is accessible here, free of charge. If you aren’t already a member of Rethinking Schools, we hope a look at the exciting and thought-provoking articles in this issue will inspire you to join.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml

Will the iPad make kids smarter?

http://www.examiner.com/x-46117-Long-Island-iPad-Examiner~y2010m6d5-Will-the-Apple-iPad-make-kids-smarter?cid=channel-rss-Gadgets_and_Tech

News:

Districts’ Financial Crisis Is Not the Time to Talk Reform

Financial chaos does not promote positive change. When districts’ funding is uncertain, administrators and school boards have no time to worry about innovation and transformation. All life is sucked from discussions of reform. The nitty-gritty of how to balance the budget, whether it is how many teachers to fire or which programs to cut, drowns out any consideration of real, long-term improvement.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/03/33kwalwasser.h29.html?tkn=XQQF13b3BxIwIjwm%2FHgRJ0uyoj6rmBYizVXS&cmp=clp-edweek

4 Day Weeks gain popularity

During the school year, Mondays in this rural Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma’s house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center.

Don’t bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/04/358869usfourdayschoolweek_ap.html?tkn=WVTFdqIRlkDrbw0wXdYDRUmFzEFsRwCKamBh&cmp=clp-edweek

States’ Fiscal Condition Still Dismal, New Report Finds

By Alyson Klein on June 3, 2010 10:30 AM
State finances remain as bad as they have been in decades, and the fiscal picture isn’t likely to clear up anytime soon, according to a report released this morning by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2010/06/states_are_still_in_terrible_f.html

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• NMSA is looking for an Assistant Executive Director.
  
• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA?  How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    
    • Individual and small group registration
      
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
      
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
      

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
  • ISTE 2010 June 27-30, 2010 (Formerly NECC) in Denver, Colorado.
• The Michigan Joint Education Conference will be at Thurston High School in Redford, MI this June 23, 2010.
  
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 16 – 18, 2011.
  

• • OMLA Registration Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI.  Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.    (Phone: (616) 997-3400))
  
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life
• Friendly’s Restaurants
  • Free ice cream Saturday June 5, 2010
    

Jokes:

A newsboy was standing on the corner with a stack of papers, yelling, “Read all about it; Fifty people swindled! Fifty people swindled! Curious, a man walked over, bought a paper, and said, “Hey kid, this is an old paper, wheres the story about the big swindle?” The newsboy ignored him and went on calling out, “Read all about it; Fifty-one people swindled!”

On Our Mind:

Memorial Day Weekend
Red Skelton – Pledge of Allegiance

From the Twitterverse:

• mguhlin Digital audio recorder quest: affordable, powerful, compatible (May 2010) http://ping.fm/Z90kk
• mrhgaddis RT @swalker2: If you want teachers to embrace tech and make steps forward u must take away their fear via support and model #edchat
• cybraryman1 TO ALL PRINCIPALS: Free Story of US DVD. To get History Channel’s free DVD of “America: The Story of US.” for (cont) http://tl.gd/1i8mgm
• zeitz Live WebCam of the BP Oil Leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Lilylauren _________________ could try harder, I just don’t think she wants to #failedreportcomments
  • Lilylauren She gets distracted easily…. sometimes by nothing but herself #failedreportcomments
  • Lilylauren This child has been working with glue too much. #failedreportcomments
  • Lilylauren ___________________ has a photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on. #failedreportcomments
  • Lilylauren Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them. #failedreportcomments
• russeltarr Ipod Touch in Education: http://tinyurl.com/ng74so (http://classtools.net/twitter/tweet.php?message=Ipod%2520Touch%2520in%2520Education&url=http://learninginhand.com/ipod/touch.html)
• connect2jamie It is feeling more like the end of school! And I’m ready, BTW!
• gardenglen RT @science_4_all: All 23 of the “Interesting Ways” presentations in one place #interestingways #EdTech
• web20classroom RT @mwedwards: RT @biguniverse: If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow. -John Dewey
• stevegarfield IRONY: Warner Bros. Sued for Pirating Anti-Pirating Technology
• skipz Sciyo – Hundreds of Free Science Books and Journals – [www_freetech4teachers_com]

Advisory:

1.  10 YouTube Videos of People Doing Amazing Things

*Note- turn the sound off for the breakdance video
http://mashable.com/2010/05/24/youtube-amazing-people/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

2. Time to revisit one of your Advisory activities from the Fall!
Remember measuring your Advisory students’ height this past fall?  We talked about an activity to help your students see their growth over the course of the year.  In case you missed that podcast, you take a length of twine and have the student put one end at their heel and the other end at their head.  Try to get as exact as you can (you’ll be off by a little, don’t worry about it) and then label each students’ string for June.  When the last week of school comes around do the activity again and have the students compare strings.  Some will be dramatically different, some not so much.

Listeners:

From Dave Bydlowski, RESA Science Specialist:

10a.  You Be the Chemist on TV This Week
Watch Students in Grades 5-8 compete in the Michigan championships of the You Be the Chemist contest. The winner advances to the national YBTC championship in Philadelphia.  It will be broadcast on Detroit Public Television on Tuesday, June 1 at 8:00 PM and Wednesday, June 2 at 1:30 AM.  You can view the commercial for the event on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YliqWw99X3s
or just search for You Be the Chemist.

9a.  Introduce Your Students to Nanoscale Science
Nano concepts represent self-contained instructional materials focusing on the key ideas in nano scale science and engineering (NSE) and their applications. Each Nano concept contains a general user introduction, main concept, notes, images and/or simulations. A usage guide and connections to general science concepts aid integration into the classroom environment. You can get more information by visiting:
http://www.nanoed.org/concepts_apps/nanocos
Plus:  The interactive Nanocos game encourages students to learn important science concepts and their role at the nanoscale. Combining both the entertainment of popular card games with the educational value of nano concepts, Nanocos will appeal to both students and educators alike. Contained within each card is a scientific concept that forms the basis of modern nanotechnology.  Because of the varying levels of complexity that unfold during each game, students will never get bored looking for the perfect strategy. Visit the Nano concepts site to download instructions for playing the game.  To play the game, please visit:
http://165.124.3.22/card/nanocos.html

—————————————————————–
9c. New Science Teacher Academy
The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy Foundation is a professional development initiative created to promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. Program expenses will be paid for qualified middle or high school science teachers entering their second or third year of teaching and working a schedule with more than 50 percent of their classes in science.  The deadline to apply is June 21, 2010.  For more information, please visit:
http://www.nsta.org/academy/

—————————————————————–
9d. Spark Interest in STEM Careers

MWM’s inquiry- and design-based STEM program trains teachers on what are called Materials World Modules, teaching units focused on matter and its applications. The idea is to give teachers the lessons and tools to increase student interest and achievement in STEM subjects and careers. The program pairs teachers with scientists and engineers, who will also serve as mentors and resources after the program is completed.  Just visit:
http://www.materialsworldmodules.org/

From the website:

1. Todd Williamson Says:
   May 27th, 2010 at 9:35 pmHey Troy, thanks for your thoughts on the iPad. I’m still holding out (though barely) for the 2nd Generation as I think there will be some significant changes between the 1st and 2nd. I know during one of my MLE sessions someone mentioned having a class set of iPod Touches and that they were able to sync them all to a single iTunes account. I’d love some clarification on that from a legal standpoint, but it seems like that is likely what has happened so far with the Touch. That would mean that Apps purchased for the account were available to all Touch/iPads connected to that account. Seems like a loophole Apple would want to clarify one way or the other.

   I really think we’re going to see a significant price drop or production drop on the eReaders from Amazon and B&N now that apps exist for both companies for the iPad. Overall, those two companies are focused on selling books, both digital and dead tree. Why stay in a market you aren’t built for (eReader hardware design) when there is a platform available that you can pump money into the software side, and still sell your books? Time will tell…

   Thanks again!

Tech Tools:

Online Stickies:
(similar to WallWisher).
http://en.linoit.com/

FedFlix:

http://www.archive.org/details/FedFlix

Technology Assessment

A plethora of links to evaluate technology planning, web resources, technology impact, and evaluations & reports.
http://www.4teachers.org/inttech/index.php?inttechid=ta

GradePad
iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app that lets you take grades in a rubric format while you circle the room.

Webspotlight:

Cognitive Surplus: The Great Spare-Time Revolution

Clay Shirky and Daniel Pink have led eerily parallel lives. Both grew up in Midwest university towns in the 1970s, where they spent their formative years watching television after school and at night. Both later went to Yale (a BA in painting for Shirky, a law degree for Pink). And both eventually abandoned their chosen fields to write about technology, business, and society.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_pink_shirky/all/1

Videos: Making Data Matter

Education leaders and school data experts from the district, state, and national levels discuss how data-driven decisionmaking can be used to drive instruction during a recent Education Week Leadership Forum on “Making Data Matter.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/video-galleries/april10-event-data.html

News:

Banking Giant Offers Financing for Charter Schools

JPMorgan Chase & Co., a global financial-services company, has announced a $325 million effort to support building, expanding, and renovating charter school facilities.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/05/28/33jpmorgan.h29.html?tkn=PPYFbNdxAuarBPKe2qcSOmnhI+20xtqZ+oV6&cmp=clp-edweek

School’s out, but should it be?

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• NMSA is looking for an Assistant Executive Director.
  
• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA?  How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    
    • Individual and small group registration
      
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
      
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
      

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
  • ISTE 2010 June 27-30, 2010 (Formerly NECC) in Denver, Colorado.
• The Michigan Joint Education Conference will be at Thurston High School in Redford, MI this June 23, 2010.
  
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 18 & 19, 2010. Jack Berckemeyer will be keynoting.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI.  Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.    (Phone: (616) 997-3400))
  
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Jokes:

Ugly Suits
When the store manager returned from lunch, he noticed his clerk’s hand was bandaged, but before he could ask about the bandage, the clerk had some very good news for him. “Guess what, sir?” the clerk said. “I finally sold that terrible, ugly suit we’ve had so long!” “Do you mean that repulsive pink-and-blue double-breasted thing?!” the manager asked. “That’s the one!” “That’s great!” the manager cried, “I thought we’d never get rid of that monstrosity! That had to be the ugliest suit we’ve ever had! But tell me, why is your hand bandaged?” “Oh,” the clerk replied, “after I sold the guy that suit, his seeing-eye dog bit me.”

On Our Mind:

Thanks for the ratings. We’ve added to the iTunes rating and really appreciate that.
School year is coming to a close.

From the Twitterverse:

• gardenglen “Google Apps highlights” http://is.gd/ckuWA Gr8 ideas 4 those migrating 2 Google Apps #EdTech
• hrmason 137 Tech Resources For Teachers and Students
• andymanj micromobs: Real time messaging for your groups – Feedmyapp
• andymanj Need a #free temporary webpage for anything at all? Here’s a Free Temporary Web Page Builder –
• cybraryman1 Teachers can get free or inexpensive supplies for classrooms at Contact Chamber Commerce #gno #BingLearn
• cookp RT @clifmims: “Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.” — Josef Albers
• SirKenRobinson Disciplines evolve as tools and techniques evolve. If Shakespear had a movie camera he’s write for it. And he’d probably blog. #artsed
• mthman Awesome..thinking my middle school could learn from this! RT @Pags21 @Parentella: Beautiful story by @NMHS_Principal. http://icio.us/33ekof
• russeltarr Why Don’t Teens Tweet? We Asked Over 10,000 of Them.:
• joe_bower The shelf life of grading and the factory model http://ow.ly/17q1Vw
  http://tinyurl.com/na8mvh
• AngelaMaiers Free Technology for Teachers: Google Wave Opens to Everyone – Now It’s Useful http://ow.ly/1NslU
• shareski Education vs. Employment
• russeltarr 3-dimensional cubes for you to construct with a picture on each face: http://tinyurl.com/oartux
• hshawjr Grading simply stated is a teachers belief of the work a student did for that teacher, nothing more & nothing less 🙁 #edchat
• blairteach In countless mtgs, I am SPARTICUS! seen how little info grades communicate; often indicate degree of student compliance, not learning. #edchat

Advisory:

Ad Hoc idea:  Info Please/ChaCha – Here’s an idea to let your kids use those smart phones in school.  Grab some worksheets from your teammates and hold a surprise review quiz in Advisory.  They can use two resources to help them find the answers:  Info Please and ChaCha.  Info Please is a reference site put together by Pearson.  Tons of resources at the ready.  Not enough computers in your Advisory classroom?  Fine.  Let the kiddos pull out their cell phones and get the answers from ChaCha, a cell phone based search engine.

Try these:

1.  Who is Jeff LaRoux?

2.  How many feathers are in a peacock?

3.  What is the average flight speed of an African Swallow?

Tech Tools:

Gpanion:
Gives you an online dashboard to your Google Apps and life.
http://gpanion.com/

Timeline tools:
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/05/five-ways-for-students-to-build.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29
XTimeline
TimeGlider
Time Toast
TimeRime
Dipity

Facebook search engine:

Openbook draws attention to the information Facebook makes public about its users via its search API. Facebook exposed this service on April 21st, 2010.

Our goal is to get Facebook to restore the privacy of this information, so that this website and others like it no longer work.

Anybody can search, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. However, if you are logged into your Facebook account, you’ll see full profile pages when you click on a user.
http://youropenbook.org/

AutoMotivator

AutoMotivator is for making printable motivational posters or parody demotivational posters. You choose the picture, colors, and text, and we make your poster.

You can put the poster on your website, or even get a print for just $9.95. A giant, 36″ wide print is just $19.95!

http://wigflip.com/automotivator/
e.g.: Mistakes Poster http://site.despair.com/images/dpage/mistakes03.jpg

Webspotlight:

Net Generation:
Downloadable information revolving around the Federal Government and its IT capabilities. Also has sections on Net Generation, use of web 2.0 tools, etc.
http://www.slideshare.net/DepartmentofDefense/net-generation?from=embed

News:

Common-Standards Draft Excludes ELL Proficiency

The writing teams for common standards have sought the advice of researchers on English-language learners, but the organizations that are coordinating the venture don’t plan to produce a set of English-language-proficiency standards to go with the common standards.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/05/20/33common-ell.h29.html?tkn=MQOFnULgtF%2Fgh5hnaIt1UWPBxqDYo516eELj&cmp=clp-edweek

Education officials may scrap MCAS test

Massachusetts education officials are quietly putting together a proposal to scrap the controversial MCAS exams in English and math and replace them with new tests they are developing with about two dozen other states.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2010/05/20/education_officials_may_scrap_mcas_test/

Are We Really Teaching Them How To Fish (by Jennifer Wagner)

Teaching teachers to fish instead of simply relying on PLN’s for all the answers.
http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/29850

Opportunity:  Knowledge For Teaching Study
http://www.ets.org/Media/Campaign/13700/
What makes a good teacher?  Here’s a study to find out and a chance for you to participate in a study that is designed to find out those very things.

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• NMSA is looking for an Assistant Executive Director.
  
• National Conference: Thursday, November 04, 2010 —Saturday, November 06, 2010 Baltimore, Maryland
  • Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA?  How about this one?
  • Registration forms are now on the website:
    
    • Individual and small group registration
      
    • Large Group registration (20 or more)
      
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle!
      

Other News:

• ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
• The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 18 & 19, 2010. Jack Berckemeyer will be keynoting.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Form

• The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI.  Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School.    (Phone: (616) 997-3400))
  
  • MAMSE Exhibitor Form
  • MAMSE Registration Form

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

• • Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.

• Second Life:
  • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
  • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life