Monthly Archives: January 2009

Podcast #62 Twitter This! Once Upon A Podcast . . .

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Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. North Carolina Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Greensboro, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  8. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.  The deadline has been extended to February 8, 2009.  Applications can be made online.
  9. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  10. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  11. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  “The topic this Saturday (January 31) is “Classroom Blogging” with guest speaker Kathy Cassidy, author of blog “Primary Preoccupation”. Kathy will discuss classroom blogging platforms, the pros/cons of blogging platforms and how she uses her classroom blog with her students. Our Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a blog and how do I find good blogs to read?”  Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  13. Second Life notices:

Shout outs:

  1. Paul Nichols, thanks for letting us know you’re listening!
  2. Ron Miller, thanks for the email.
  3. Jenny McAvoy-Anteau, congrats on your SL presentation!

Follow us on Twitter.

Web Spotlight:

Once Upon a School
This site is an online initiative developed in response to author and philanthropist Dave Eggers’ 2008 TED Prize wish to inspire and collect the stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools. Each year, three individuals are granted the TED Prize, which provides winners with a wish to change the world, $100,000 in seed money, and the support of the TED community in making the wish come true. Dave looked to the community to build a website that would collect these stories. 826 National, Hot Studio, and Carbon Five stepped up and created Once Upon a School.
Check out some of the Stories for ideas.
http://www.onceuponaschool.org/

News:

Challenging Assumptions About Online Predators

Sunday, January 25, 2009; Page F01- The Washington Post
The study, released by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, finds that it’s far more likely that children will be bullied by their peers than approached by an adult predator online.

Alas, there’s no easy fix for the risks that children face on the Web, according to the group that authored the report. The Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force reviewed 40 technologies designed to protect children online, but none won an endorsement.

Parents’ concerns about Internet predators are sometimes overblown, said Parry Aftab of WiredSafety.org, but it’s nearly impossible to tell how overblown they are; when quizzed about online activity, kids don’t usually tell the truth if their parents are around, she said.

“One stupid little form just needs a checkbox,” Aftab said. Without better data, “we might as well hang up our hats and go fishing.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012400182.html?hpid=topnews

Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games.
“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield said. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.”

“By using more visual media, students will process information better,” she said. “However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination — those do not get developed by real-time media such as television or video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.

“Studies show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary,” Greenfield said. “Reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills. Students today have more visual literacy and less print literacy. Many students do not read for pleasure and have not for decades.”

These and other studies show that multi-tasking “prevents people from getting a deeper understanding of information,” Greenfield said.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm

Gates Foundation to show excellent teaching

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates says his foundation hopes to post online videos of exemplary teachers plying their craft as a way to inspire other educators and help students learn. “It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school,” he wrote.
“Whenever I talk to teachers, it is clear that they want to be great, but they need better tools so they can measure their progress and keep improving. So our new strategy focuses on learning why some teachers are so much more effective than others and how best practices can be spread throughout the education system so the average quality goes up.”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=56948

Listeners who Write:

Fellow technology advocates

I love technology. There is no doubt. With my iPhone in hand, Macbook in lap, and hardware graveyard in my attic, no one would accuse me of supporting the luddite movement any time soon. My belief in the use of technology in education is sacrosanct.

Therefore, when a book came to my attention entitled “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future,” I was compelled to digest the studies and inevitable conclusions within its pages. In summary, author Mark Bauerlein makes the point that our youth, who have vastly more available to them than previous generations thanks to technology, are an ill-informed and time-wasting group of individuals whose cavalier digital lifestyle threatens the very core of our american heritage.

Compelling statistical data from various studies seem to show that the vast digital resources available to our youth are wasted on video games, chat, uploads and downloads, texting and social networking instead of thoughtful reading and study or civic responsibilities.

At the very least, this book is an eye-opening tale of how careful we must be in the facilitation of technology to our students in school and children at home. I recommend it as a alternate perspective to the belief that students always benefit from their immersion in all things digital.

Happy reading!

Podcast #61 Middle School Good News Week!

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Today’s Quiz:
Teaacher: Can anyone give me the name of a liquid that won’t freeze?
Teacher: Does anyone know which month has 28 days?
Why was the head teacher worried?
Teacher: I told you to stand at the end of the line?
Teacher: I said to draw a cow eating some grass but you’ve only drawn the cow?
Teacher: Why are you standing on your head?
Teacher: That’s quite a cough you have there, what are you taking for it?
*For answers, listen to the podcast.

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  6. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Thing To Try This Week:  Create a flash mob of faculty at the corner of one of your hallways.  Ideas for the flash mob can be posted here at www.middleschoolmatters.com.
  13. From Steve Hargadon’s Classroom 2.0:  “Looking for Lincoln: Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race” with speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    The time for this event is 8:00pm Eastern (USA) / 5:00pm Pacific (USA). A link for international times is HERE.
    PBS Teachers® and Classroom 2.0 are partnering on a series of free monthly webinars designed to help preK-12 educators learn new ways to integrate online instructional resources in the classroom and engage students in curriculum lessons. The webinar series features leading education experts, authors, and PBS producers who will discuss timely and relevant curriculum-related topics, and share their knowledge and ideas on using digital media to create rich learning experiences for students
    Dr. Gates will discuss how Americans’ understanding of President Lincoln and African American history and culture continues to evolve, and ways to approach this topic with students. Dr. Gates is the host of the documentary “Looking for Lincoln,” which premieres in February. The program addresses the controversies surrounding Lincoln about race, equality, religion, politics, and depression by carefully interpreting the evidence from those who knew him and those who study him today.
    A recorded version of the event will be available soon afterwards at http://live.classroom20.com in the archive section.

  14. Second Life notices:
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours
    • 1/27 ISTE Seminar:  Virtual Renaissance & Education – Virtual Harlem’s role as a learning community.
    • 1/29 Data Visualization around the Campfire on ISTE island.
    • 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop:  Appearance (ISTE Island 3)
    • 2/3   ISTE Speaker Series (TBA)

News:
Hernando School Board says administrators should get raise, despite what they say

BROOKSVILLE — Four out of five School Board members agreed Tuesday that Hernando County administrators deserve a raise this year.

But at least 16 principals and other senior officials are saying just the opposite, that hard times are not the time for senior staff to be taking extra public money.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969147.ece

Suit filed over longer middle school day
The Pinellas teachers union filed a lawsuit Tuesday hoping to force the School District to abandon a seven-period middle school schedule that the union claims violates the teachers’ contract.  District officials have maintained for months that reverting to the old schedule would be too disruptive for about 22,000 middle school students and that some would be forced to drop electives they need to get into special high school programs. The standoff began in June, when the School Board voted to lengthen the school day by 14 minutes and add an additional period as a means of cutting $2.2-million from the budget. Officials said the change also would make room for elective courses aimed at getting students more engaged in academics before they reach high school.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969259.ece

Standards Help Minn. Vie With Top Nations
Thirteen years ago, Minnesota was a state with no academic standards in mathematics and science and what some observers said was a mixed record in grounding students in crucial academic content, such as number skills and algebra.  As one of only two U.S. states to participate in a prominent international measurement of academic skill, Minnesota is scoring at or near the level of many of the highest-performing countries on that exam, and its scores in some categories have jumped significantly since it first took part in 1995.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/01/21/18minnesota.h28.html?tmp=472824768

Web Spotlight:

Flashcards

  1. Find data to study or add your own data.
  2. Study and play with data online as flashcards, hangman game, crossword puzzle, matching, word search, or word scramble.
  3. Study anytime/anywhere by printing data or exporting flash cards to your cell phone, PDA, or iPod.

http://www.studystack.com/

Journal Article:
An Early Warning System:  by promptly reacting to student distress signals, schools can redirect potential dropouts onto the path to graduation.

  • A final grade of F in mathematics.
  • A final grade of F in English.
  • Attendance below 80 percent for the year.
  • A final “unsatisfactory” behavior mark in at least one class.

Solutions:

  • Whole-school interventions:  Weekly or monthly attendance parties, one individual who intervenes at the first absence, placing or creating a school culture that rewards intrinsically or extrinsically good attendance.
  • Targeted interventions
  • Intensive interventions

http://www.jhsph.edu/preventyouthviolence/Test/An_early_warning_system.pdf

Podcast #60: Team Building, Online, and Socratic Circles (NMSA08)

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Math Problem:
If your father gets $300 and gives your mother half, what does she have?
Why did the student tell his parents that low grades in January weren’t a problem?
What did Paul Revere say at the end of his ride?
The plural of man is men. What is the plural of child?
What is a synonym?  (It’s like the Rats of Nymh … The Sin O’Nym … ?)

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.
  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Second Life notices:
    • 1/22 ISTE Island Social:  Data Visualization- using graphs in SL to visualize data.
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours.  Travel with ISTE and see the SL world.

Web Spotlight
http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

News:
Pasco schools say virtual ed’s a real budget breaker
As Pasco schools look to the future of education, online courses for kindergarten through eighth grade rate high on the priority list. “I’m not being funded to do it. I’m just being told I have to do it,” said Fiorentino, who is leading a statewide effort to get a reprieve. “We just can’t afford doing it this year.” She said her staff has estimated the startup costs for the program — including such things as curriculum development and infrastructure — could run as high as $1-million. Although over time it would be expected to become self-sufficient, the school’s initial price tag looks too steep when the district can’t even afford employee raises, she added.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article967362.ece

Hard times cut state cyber school enrollments
The state’s 11 cyber charter schools — online, at-home alternatives to traditional public schools — are the latest victims of the recession. Facing the threat of layoffs or mortgage foreclosures, some parents are sending their children back to brick-and-mortar public schools because a stay-at-home spouse had to get a job, said Joe Lyons, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School in Norristown, second-largest in the state.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_606700.html

Davis sixth-grader’s science experiment breaks new ground
By Niesha Lofing

University of California, Davis, scientists are redirecting their research after a professor’s son discovered that a major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over other nuts.

The sixth-grader’s experiment showed that female navel orangeworms preferred to lay their eggs in pistachios rather than almonds or walnuts, and researchers now are trying to use the information to better control the pests, according to the California Farm Bureau.

http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/1530953.html

Economy brings reprieve to teacher shortage
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_11408218?source=rss

Fair Isn’t Always Equal
http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=8982&r=sb090112b&REFERER=
First Chapter Free

Net threat to minors less than feared.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10142096-238.html?tag=mncol

Unexpected Twist: Fiction Reading Is Up
Survey Shows Reversal Of Longstanding Trend
For the first time since the NEA began surveying American reading habits in 1982 — and less than five years after it issued its famously gloomy “Reading at Risk” report — the percentage of American adults who report reading “novels, short stories, poems or plays” has risen instead of declining: from 46.7 percent in 2002 to 50.2 percent in 2008.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102337.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Socratic Circles presentation (Ballroom 3)
Mary Dooms, Marge Strand of Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois
email:  marge.strand@lz95.org  and  mary.dooms@lz95.org
Book:  Socratic Circles by Matt Copeland
Overview
Rooted in Socrates’ philosophy that critical thinking and reason skills ar enhanced when the learneer begins to question.
Questioning continues the though process while answers stop it.
Purpose
Develop critical thinking skills
Construct meaning
Deepen understanding
Shift responsibility for group discussion from the teacher to the student
Practice reading strategies
Build vocabulary
Improve verbal and written expression
Enhance listening skills
Practice civility and respect.
Socratic Circle Process Overview
Step One:  Text selection is read and critically annotated.
Step Two:  Students question reading based on:
Fact
Interpretation
Evaluation
Step Three:  Students meet in two concentric circles.
Inner circle discusses text.
Outer circle observes dialogue.
Step Four:  Concentric circles are reversed.
Debrief:  What did you notice here?
What was the best question asked here?
What was the best answer here?
Step Five:  Written reflection pieces are completed.
Keys to a successful circle
Teacher preparation – assume nothing!
Select the reading/media for analysis
Determine the essential question(s)
Determine the behaviors to be assessed (rubric here)
Find a good video of a Socratic circle to teach them how to behave and how to make it work.
Who looks engaged and who looks on task?
Who looks at others?
Prepare the students
Model process of annotating text and developing insightful questions.
Discuss assessment criteria and expectations using Looks Like/Sounds Like T-Chart (Frayer Model)
Inner Circle Engaged/On Task
Looks Like
Eyes focused on speaker
Leaning In
Pens moving
Pages turning to refer to text
Sounds like
“Based on what you said, I’m not thinking …”
“I had trouble understanding why …”
“I agree/disagree with what you say because …”
Put it on chart paper and pull it out during the year.
Teach the behaviors that allow them to engage in conversation with each other respectfully.
Inner Circle Encourages Participation – Let’s complete a T-chart
Looks Like:
Turn towards the person
nonverbal cues
Hand touching arm of another student
Eyes on a non-participant as verbal invitation to participate is given
Gentle smile of encouragement
Sounds Like:
“Looks like Joe has something to say …”
Do you want to add something?
Outer Circle Observation Mode
Looks Like:
Pens moving on paper
Eyes on group
Leaning in
Sounds Like
Pens moving across the page
Silent voices.
Outer Circle Feedback Mode
Looks Like
Eyes on ourter circle speaker
Patiently witing turn by sitting still.
Sounds Like:
“When Ben asked the question …., the discussion shifted from … to …”
“Claire’s pen tapping was a bit much.”
“The group compared … to, and that made the reading easier to understand. ”
A Socratic Circle on the novel The Book Theif:  A group of 7th graders meet to gain a deeper understanding of the book.  (Emmit Till:  the book)
Always stop it short of completely talking about the topic.
Lets run a Socratic Circle
… on the Pledge of Allegiance.
Handout:
The Pledge of Allegiance:  “I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
This pledge is something that we say every day in school.  Yet, it is something we do not analyze very often.  Consider the following:
Choice of words
What exactly is being said?
Why is there controversy about saying this in school?
Do students have the right not to say the pledge?
Wy would someone object to saying the pledge?
Mock Circle Debriefing
Observations and feedback from the outer circle
Audience critique (+/-)
Assessments
Rubric
Scorecard
Reflection on Content form
Reflection on Performance form
Socratic Circle Feedback form.
Suggestion
Use Kagan gambit chips to engage in conversation and regulate the number of times a student participates
Examples for the Teaching Process
Pledge of Allegiance
“Born in the U.S.A.” lyrics
The Gettysburg Address

Middle School Matters #59 Carol Josel’s Revision Presentation @ NMSA 08 and Social Networking in Schools.

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Quick Quiz:

What did 1 math book say to the language arts book?
Why did the middle schooler bring a ladder to school?
Which word is always spelled incorrectly?
What is a pirate’s favorite subject?

* Want the answers? Just listen to the show.


Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. Alightlearning is looking for votes and support for a software venture that will incorporate technology and education.  They are competing for a $10,000 grant to start-up their venture.  Generalized information is available on the website.
  2. NMSA ’09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. NMSA is looking for nominations for the Board To nominate yourself (or Troy) click here or go to the NMSA’s main page.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!
  10. Five questions for Arne Duncan.  Well, maybe from Arne Duncan.  Steve Hargadon has posted the five questions Arne Duncan would like answers to at a teacher’s round table discussion.  Carol Broos has them posted on her blog.  Here are the five:
    • 1. What is the one most important education issue you wish Secretary Duncan to focus on during his tenure and why?
      2. How shall the tenets of the No Child Left Behind act be altered or invigorated? What are its positives? How can its negatives be improved?
      3. How should the new administration respond to the nation’s need for better prepared and more qualified teachers?
      4.What should the new administration do to increase student engagement in mathematics, the sciences and the arts?
      5. How should funding equity issues be addressed?
  11. Go on a virtual field trip!  Land of Lincoln has the Lincoln White House, a typical town, the CSS Hunley, and several other biographical items related to the Lincoln Administration in Second Life.  Use a screen shot recorder (like Snapz Pro) to record a tour to show in class as a virtual field trip.  The Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth is February 12, 2009.
  12. Second Life notices:
    • 1/11 ISTE Island Wolverine Island Tour 6 pm SLT.  Meet up at ISTE HQ.
    • 1/17 ISTE Island Basic Skills Workshop check the calendar for time and place.
    • From the email bag:  “Cafe 101 is starting up a new semester!  New speakers, new events and a few new teacher tools in the 2nd floor freebie shop!  Come and take a look at Virtual Texas State Technical College’s new sim design while you’re here.
      Play some Una (Uno) on the Cafe roof with a friend, and test your skills at Memory!  Have a great Spring Semester, Everyone!  Cafe 101: Get Your Learn On.”

Discussion of Social Networking and Education:
1. Use by Teachers for professional development
2. Use by classrooms
3. Use by students

Web Spotlight:  Animoto:  Grab all those pictures you took in Advisory (you did take some, didn’t you?) and throw them into Animoto.  Let groups of students pull together music they’d like to set the pictures to and let Animoto do the rest.  Thousands of possible combinations let each group’s work turn out different with the same base material.  What a great way to motivate the kids through the dark winter months.

News:
Are We Testing Kids Too Much?

As a third-grader last year at Portage’s Amberly Elementary School, here’s what Cole took:

• The Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests, which involves more than eight hours of testing during two weeks in October.

• The Standardized Test for Assessment of Reading, a computer exam given four times annually to determine his grade-equivalent reading level.

• The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills test, administered three times during the school year to check reading progress.

• The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, which is essentially an IQ-type exam.
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/portage_tenyearold_cole_curtis.html

School Officials: Cuts needed to pay teachers
While districts across the state have explored the idea of a four-day school week, and state officials have tossed it around as a possible cost-cutting measure, most superintendents say the minimal savings isn’t worth the disruption.
The district also wants to redesignate money set aside for summer school, then conduct a less expensive summer program through online courses.
http://www.thestate.com/statewire/story/641683.html
Budget Pain Dampening K-12 Efforts
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/01/07/16session_ep.h28.html?tmp=1659392755

More and More, Schools Got Game
The logic for the importance of improving school mathematics programs is reasonably unassailable. But the problems with mathematics in the United States are just as clear. A depressingly comprehensive, yet honest, appraisal must conclude that our typical math curriculum is generally incoherent, skill-oriented, and accurately characterized as “a mile wide and an inch deep.” It is dispensed via ruthless tracking practices and focused mainly on the “one right way to get the one right answer” approach to solving problems that few normal human beings have any real need to consider. Moreover, it is assessed by 51 high-stakes tests of marginal quality, and overwhelmingly implemented by undersupported and professionally isolated teachers who too often rely on “show-tell-practice” modes of instruction that ignore powerful research findings about better ways to convey mathematical knowledge. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301556.html

Teaching Intangibles With Technology
Teach students some facts, and they learn for one exam at a time. Teach students to think and they learn how to learn for the rest of their lives. Ambitious work from European and Israeli researchers is making it easier to help students learn to think for themselves. This is exciting stuff for teachers.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106083838.htm

The Art of Revision (702)

Board Quotes:
Writing makes our thinking visible for ourselves and others.  – unknown
Feed your brain with words.  Read till your eyeballs fall out – Wilson Rowls
A writer takes a sentence, cuts it within an inch of its life, adds a clause, tucks in a few adjectives and then – when it can hardly stand up – hacks away at it again.  It’s hard work and don’t let anyone tell you its’ not – Helen F. Brassel
The writer is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write.  He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know. – Annie Dillard
You have to do a lot of bad writing to get the good writing. – Don Murray
Writing is long periods of thinking and short periods of writing. – Ernest Hemingway
It is perfectly okay to write garbage as long as you edit brilliantly.  Until you have something down on paper, even if its terrible, there’s nothing to work with, nothing you can improve – C.J. Cherryh
Use as many words as you need and not one you can live without.  R. Jordan
The best stories are not written, but rewritten. – Scott Willis
Show, don’t tell.  Writing and reading are acts of discovery.  ‘Telling’ robs a story of the feel of discovery – Rick Jones
Regard your writing as literature – unknown
Poetry is fewer words that say more. – unknown

Carol A. Josel
Bio:  Has a smart big sister.
Valerie went to Yale, Cornell, and Penn.  Valerie is also an artist.
Two things I could do:  Swing by my head and get nose drops on the green velvet sofa.
Good advice:  You need to find something that you’re good at.
University of Maine started as a nursing student.
Didn’t do well in Organic Chemistry.
She has a free e-newsletter.  Please sign up for one.
She has a blog!
Journaling
Kids should journal everyday on a topic or on themselves.
Have a writer’s journal of your own.
Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn 10 times.
Stars:  We twinkle in the cold sky air we are there all night if you try to pull us down we will burn a hole in your pocket.
Ralph Fletcher- “Writing becomes beautiful when it becomes specific.”
Maniac Magee example.
Ralph Fletcher’s book:  Adam (descriptive language, speciific)
Write what you see, not what you’re supposed to see.
Example:  stapler
It’s not a stapler.  It’s a small paper viper, dangerous to paper, and only harmful to humans if they poke at it and provoke it to anger.  You can tell when it has struck by the two tiny holes in the corners of papers.
Play “This is not a …”
Adjectives and adverbs can clutter up a piece of writing.
Example:  “Very gradually, it go really, really windy.  The wind blew a lot.”
Revised:  “At first there was just a breeze.  Later that afternoon, though, a cat blew by my window.”
In the journal put favorite words
Lollipop
Smack
Revision activity:  Fold paper in half make two columns.  Left side put the first word.  Right side put the verbs from each sentence.
Good way to check for the 23 non-action verbs.
Find great leads to read to students.
Leading Types:
1.  Leisurely:  “The first week of August hangs at the firey top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the seat of a Ferris Wheel when i paused in its turning.  The weeks that came before are only a climb from the balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless and hot.  it is curiously silent, too, with blank white downs and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.  Often at night, there is lightning, but it quivers alone.  There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.”  – Tuck Everlasting.
Thought shots
2.  Beginning at the end.
3.  Introducing the narrator
4.  Unreiable narrator
5.  Starting in the middle:
6.  A sound effect:
7.  Dialogue
Now its our turn in the packet.
Practice Leading:  Directions:  Here are some 8th graders’ leads.  Consider them carefully, deciding on their effectiveness.  Then its your turn …
Topic:  The German invasion of Poland which triggered WWII.  A loud roar echoes throughout the Polish countryside, the clear blue sky quickly turning black with billowing clouds of smoke.  (Kelly Ballady)  See packet for more.
Practice:  Roach Facts  Make a lead from the facts.
Was Kafka wrong?  Imagine what you could do in the Olympics if you could run 90 miles per hour!  You’d stay at a roach motel be able to eat a Danish and, if injured, regrow lost appendages.
Barry Lane activity:  Twenty questions.
starter:  There was this dog.
Students ask questions about the dog with no yes/no questions.
Find the best sentence in lot and use that as your leading sentence.
Carol’s ideas for making writing an everyday expected activity:
1.  Message each other frequently by leaving notes on pillows, desks, mirrors, wherever.
2.  Make letter writing a habit for all, sending them to friends, relatives, even Santa.
3.  Write your autobiography as a gift to your child.
4.  Have your child write an annual “Year in Review”–an ongoing record of your lives.
5.  On birthdays, give written gifts of family stories and recalled moments.
6.  Send postcards to each other—without going anywhere.  We all love mail.
7.  Make the sending of thank you notes a must for everyone.
8.  Keep a family journal, a record of your lives over time—and include captioned photos.
9.  Writing letters to the editor keeps the juices flowing.
10. Promote journal writing—and respect privacy.
11. Encourage your child to write and perform skits or puppet shows. Think Popsicle sticks.
12. Contact Student Letter Exchange for pen pals: 516-887-8628; www.pen-pa.com

Podcast 58 Natives are Restless, Immigrants are Coming, and Scholars are To-Be-Defined!

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Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. Alightlearning is looking for votes and support for a software venture that will incorporate technology and education.  They are competing for a $10,000 grant to start-up their venture.  Generalized information is available on the website.
  2. NMSA ’09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. NMSA is looking for nominations for the Board To nominate yourself (or Troy) click here or go to the NMSA’s main page.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!

Web Spotlight:
Created for middle school teachers: A direct path to selective online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library. Enter each subject pathway below to browse a list of topics and take an in-depth look at teachable concepts in science and mathematics.
http://msteacher.org/

Letters from our listeners:

Happy New Year to you both

I’d like to consider a differing perspective on the terminology “digital native” vs. “digital immigrant.”

I feel that these categories are as restrictive as other stereotypes which we as educators battle to abolish. We make assumptions that children who grow up with technology are native to it. Yes, they do experience the use of computers, cell phones, DVD’s, wide-screen TV’s with cable and digital downloads, the internet, SMS and AIM at a very young age. But the connotation is that they somehow have an advantage over those of us who as children had B&W television with VHF/UHF-only programming, dial phones hard-wired to the wall, LED calculators, VHS tapes, cassettes, and even computers with a whopping 128k of RAM.

Children are native to whatever they experience as they age. They will embrace the ubiquitous technology with as much fervor as some of us did with our 8-track tapes and AM radios. Does this make them more likely to be successful in its use? Perhaps it gives them a better start. But they are using things that have no context. As teachers, we are well aware of how important context is to what kids learn. We, the so called “immigrants” are not really immigrants at all. If anything, we are the philosophers and archivists of knowledge. We have the context that kids lack because we lived the technology as it changed and grew. For example, ask the average middle school student today about how the Macintosh OS relates to Windows in a historical perspective. They have little clue and don’t even see its relevance. But wasn’t WW I relevant to WW II? Are the military personnel who didn’t grow up with the option of Cruise missiles considered immigrants?

I’m not saying that kids today don’t have a different perspective than many of us in our 30’s, 40’s, or even 50’s. But if anything, we are perhaps the true natives. We lived off the land of tubes to transistors and circuit boards. We evolved in our usage of computers and microwaves, and we had keen perspective  to evaluate, compare and contrast, and contribute to further development. It seems that, at the very least, we need one other category to better describe the generational rift.

Consider the title “digital scholar.” Many of us are walking encyclopedias and history books of technology. We felt, tasted, and touched the evolution, the revolution, and the contribution. We have an altogether different appreciation for what the digital age has given us, and as scholars, we have an obligation to share as much as we can with today’s youth. Because only armed with this context can they bring things forward and make the tough decisions ahead. These digital natives will need to determine the difference between “can we” and “should we.” Let us hope they choose wisely.

Thanks for all your hard work with this podcast.

In the News:

SCSU to help teachers create ‘culturally relevant’ classrooms
Her philosophy is that teachers can instruct students more effectively if they understand their cultural backgrounds.
“People have got to understand the culture in which these kids come from,” said state Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman. Matthews, a former educator, says teachers who are able to grasp students’ backgrounds can motivate them to learn.
http://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2008/12/29/news/13385212.txt

Kansas Schools Emphasize Technology, Training
“Technology has changed a great deal since the old purple mimeograph, filmstrip projector and overhead projector that I started with 30 years ago,” Turnbull said. “We thought yellow highlighting markers were a cool tool then.”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/12/26/215019kspnpittsburgtechnology_ap.html?tmp=47036604

The dying art of cursive
Handwriting was reinstated into the Sunshine State standards in 2006, after educators became concerned that it was slipping away from classrooms. According to state guidelines, third-graders must begin learning cursive, fourth-graders must have legible writing, and fifth-graders must be fluent in the script.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20081229/NEWS13/812290311/1006/NEWS01

Kids not ready for kindergarten cost Minnesota schools $113 million a year
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/36860224.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciatkEP7DhUsI

Schwarzenegger seeks education cuts
California schools could eliminate a week of instruction and increase class sizes next year under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new plan for solving the state’s budget crisis.
Matosantos said the state’s plunging economy could have forced far deeper cuts in education than the ones Schwarzenegger proposed.
http://www.sacbee.com/arnold/story/1510332.html

Will Richardson & Web Literacies

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Will Richardson is holding an impromptu discussion on 21 Century Web Literacies.  Follow this link. (Please note that the link was hot during the discussion and now will only point to Elluminate in general.)  Interesting conversation on literacy itself as it unfolded throughout the hour or so.  Here are some links associated with the online discussion.

Emerging Tech

Educon (conference)

21st Century Literacies transcript

Thanks to Will Richardson for hosting!