Month: February 2010

advisory, MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM-110- Your Master Teacher knows that next week will be even better …

Jokes:

A Fisherman’s Tale
Two guys are fishing in a boat under a bridge. One looks up and sees a funeral procession starting across the bridge. He stands up, takes off his cap, and bows his head. The procession crosses the bridge and the man puts on his cap, picks up his rod and reel, and continues fishing. The other guy says, “That was touching. I didn’t know you had it in you.” The first guy responds, “Well, I guess it was the thing to do – after all, I was married to her for 40 years.”

Animal Talk
A mother is reading a book to her 3 year old daughter. Mother: “What does the cow say?” Child: “Moo!” Mother: “Great! What does the cat say?” Child: “Meow.” Mother: “Oh, you’re so smart! What does the frog say?” The wide-eyed little 3 year-old looks up at her mother and in her deepest voice replies, “Bud.”

On Our Mind:

Code Organ:
http://www.codeorgan.com/

From our Listeners:

Thanks for all of your efforts to try to keep me up to speed. At my age (23) … I need all the help I can get!

My middle school uses Dropbox to track student discipline and parent contacts by team using Excel. We have found this to be an excellent way to keep track.

Thanks!
Linda

Hi guys,
Here are a couple more middle school science items you might like to use.  On a side note, I did a recent podcast on a one day science institute I went to and did a summation of each of the sessions I went to, similar to what you do with the NMSA sessions you attend.  I like the idea of summarizing things we attend–good idea, thanks!  It is the “Power of Technology” and can be heard at:
http://k12science.net
Keep up the good work,
Dave

11a. US Dept of Energy Grant Program for Middle School Teachers
Fermilab is offering a limited number of positions in its DOE ACTS cohort starting in the summer of 2010. Priority
for this cohort will be given to mid-level teachers (grades 5-9). Participants will meet at Fermilab for four weeks
each summer for three years. During the academic year following each summer, as participants implement their
summer work in their schools and work on small projects, they will be supported by program staff and by each
other, primarily through online meetings, with one or two face-to-face meetings as well.
The program combines three strands of professional development: scientific research, teaching & learning, and
educational leadership. Each year teachers will participate in a research project which will be woven together with
the other two strands to strengthen and reinforce one another. Participants will receive an $800/week stipend for
their summer work. Non-local participants will also receive housing and travel. All participants will be eligible for
grants to support classroom equipment purchases and travel to professional development conferences.
Go to:
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov
and click on DOE ACTS under “Programs for Teachers.” The deadline to apply is March 7, 2010. Please visit:
http://ed.fnal.gov/acts/
—————————————————————–
11b. Young Scientist Challenge
The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is the premier national science competition for students in
grades 5 through 8. The Young Scientist Challenge is designed to encourage the exploration of science and
innovation among America’s youth and to promote the importance of science communication. In 1999, Discovery
Communications launched the competition to nurture the next generation of American scientists at a critical age
when interest in science begins to decline. In 2008 3M joined forces with Discovery Education in a quest to nurture
the next generation of American scientists with an innovative and interactive science program open to every middle
school student in America. Over the last ten years, more than 600,000 middle school students have been nominated
to participate in the competition, and winners have gone on to speak in front of members of Congress, work with the
nation’s top scientists, and pursue academic careers in the sciences. For more information, please visit:
http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com/
—————————————————————–

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

You Can’t Send a Duck to Eagle School
http://www.walkthetalk.com/pages/inspirational-movies.htm

Webspotlight:

Obama Pitches Education Proposal to Governors

By PETER BAKER and SAM DILLON

Published: February 22, 2010

The president’s proposal, part of the administration’s recommendations for a Congressional overhaul of the No Child Left Behind education program initiated by President George W. Bush, would require states to adopt “college- and career-ready standards” in reading and math to qualify for federal money from a $14 billion program that concentrates on impoverished students.
The president praised efforts by 48 states — all but Alaska and Texas — to develop common standards in math and reading, coordinated by the National Governors Association. The collaboration was a bipartisan project at variance with the highly polarized political mood in Washington that has frustrated many of Mr. Obama’s top priorities in Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/education/23educ.html

What Your Master Teacher Knows

Marge Scherer

“Teaching is the most difficult profession of them all,” educator Lee Shulman recently told a group of teachers and psychologists. The only time a physician comes close to doing what a teacher does is when the doctor faces an emergency room of multiple patients with multiple conditions, all of whom need immediate attention.
Shulman described a few of the basics required of the expert teacher: cognitive understanding of how students learn; emotional preparation to relate to many students whose varied needs are not always evident; content knowledge from which to draw different ways to present a concept; and, finally, the ability to make teaching decisions quickly and act on them.
Willingham goes on to say that ignoring research-based principles of learning—for example, that “factual knowledge precedes skills” or that “proficiency requires practice”—can have negative effects on student learning. He also critiques many familiar principles that he regards as lacking a research base, for example, learning styles theory. “Knowledge of students’ learning style is not necessary,” he says. “Think of lesson content driving decisions about how to teach, not student differences.”
In “One Kid at a Time,” Carol Ann Tomlinson (p. 12) recalls the students who challenged her “certainties” about teaching and started her thinking about the principles that underlie differentiated instruction. Scott taught her how to connect with a student’s interests. Golden taught her how important it is to allow a student to enter the curriculum at a place that makes sense for him. Geoff taught her how to give students permission to pursue their passions and work at their own pace. Figuring out how to make learning work for one student left her better prepared to address the needs of all.
Includes audio
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb10/vol67/num05/What_Your_Master_Teacher_Knows.aspx

The Title I program would be rebranded “College and Career Ready Students” and financed at $14.5 billion in fiscal 2011, not including money provided under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic-stimulus program.

Kentucky has become the first state to adopt common academic standards that were drafted as part of a nationwide initiative to establish a widely shared and ambitious vision of student learning.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/02/11/22kentucky_ep.h29.html?tkn=Q[QFS3g6%2B4Lphrh9bFmf3dIJegR8pxdCt7lG&cmp=clp-edweek

http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog_elizabeth_helfant/art_contemporary_learning

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

  • Second Life:
advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Title: Q & the Mysterious!

Jokes:

Wedding Woes
At a friend’s wedding, everything went smoothly until it was time for the flower girl and her young escort to come down the aisle. The boy stopped at every pew, growling at the guests. When asked afterward why he behaved so badly, he explained, “I was just trying to be a good ring bear.”

Sacrifice
Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one has to drop off, otherwise they are all going to fall. They were not able to choose that person, but then the woman made a very touching speech. She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because as a woman she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, and for men in general, without ever getting anything in return. As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping their hands.

On Our Mind:

Retirement plans change for State of Michigan employees and teachers.  (Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals)
New retirement rules for Michigan

  • Retirement years cap at 30 years of earned time.  Purchased years do not count.
    • If you continue beyond 30 years, your employer will contribute 4% to a defined contribution account and the employee will contribute 3% and may contribute up to an additional 3% for a total of 10% cap.
  • If this goes through there will be an incentive for districts to retain teachers with 30 or more years.  Retirement contributions will go from 19% to about 10%.

Thanks to Dave Bydlowski for the feedback:
Check out his podcast here: http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Podcast.html

Here is some information from my February 11 — 24 Michigan Science
Matters eBlast:

……………
NASA/USA Today No Boundaries Competition
NASA and USA Today partnered to bring the No Boundaries science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career curriculum and
competition to middle and high school classrooms.  No Boundaries is a
free, eight-week, cross-curricular project that introduces 7th to 12th
grade students to NASA careers in STEM through a cooperative learning
experience.  Students collaborate to gather web-based research on the
variety of career options available with NASA. Students then develop a
fun and creative way to present the opportunities to other students.
Cash prizes will be awarded (up to $2,000) in addition to a “VIP NASA
experience.”  More information and all project resources are available
at the No Boundaries website at:
http://www.noboundaries-stemcareers.com/

……………..
Instill Interest in Biotechnology
The WGBH Educational Foundation recently launched the new Biotechnology
collection on Teachers’ Domain. These digital media resources are
designed to deepen the teaching and learning of biotechnology in middle
and high schools throughout the United States. Digital video and
interactives explore laboratory techniques used in biotechnology for
treating disease and improving diagnosis. Video profiles of
biotechnology scientists and technicians offer students compelling
examples of available career pathways into the field.  Please visit:
http://www.teachersdomain.org/special/biot/

……………….
Climate Change Art Contest for MS Students
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, would like to invite
6th-8th graders residing in Michigan to participate in the U.S. EPA
Climate Change Art Challenge.  The contest will ask students to create a
drawing or a painting that responds to the question, “What is Climate
Change?” on their own – without a teaching prompt from adults.  The
purpose of the contest is to see what 6th-8th graders think climate
change is, based on what they already know. The artwork will be
educational for the EPA, parents, and teachers, showing us what children
are learning about climate change from the media, parents, and in
schools.

Entries must be one-dimensional, must be no larger than 11” X 17” and
must be mailed or shipped (via USPS or FedEx) with completed Entry Form.
To apply, visit the EPA website:
http://www.epa.gov/region5/air/airinfo.html

Winners will be chosen based on the most creative and representative
depictions of climate change. All participants will receive a
certificate of recognition. 1st and 2nd-place winners will receive award
plaques and winning art will be posted on the U.S. EPA Region 5 website
in April 2010.  For more information, please contact Cynthia Meyer at
meyer.cynthia@epa.gov or (312) 886-5868, or Elizabeth McWhorter at
mcwhorter.elizabeth@epa.gov or (312) 353-5069.  All entries must be
received by the EPA, no later than Monday, March 22, 2010.

………………….
STEPS Summer Camp Experience for 7th Grade Girls
For the ninth consecutive summer, the Regional Math and Science Center
and the Seymour and Esther Padnos College of Engineering and Computing
at Grand Valley State University will hold two sessions of a Science,
Technology and Engineering Preview Summer camp (Sgirls. This year’s camps will be held during the weeks of June 21-24 and
June 28-July 1, 2010.  The deadline to apply is March 15.  For more
information, please visit:
http://www.gvsu.edu/steps/

………………
Go Green
Register for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, the nation’s
premier sustainability challenge where K-8 students create solutions to
environmental problems in their own backyard.  Simply visit:
http://www.wecanchange.com
to sign up.

……………….
Inspire Environmental Preservation
Action For Nature’s International Young Eco-Hero Awards recognize the
individual accomplishments of young people (aged 8–16) whose personal
actions have significantly improved the environment.  Action For Nature
will award cash prizes of up to $500 to young Eco-Heroes whose
individual initiatives will inspire others to preserve and protect the
environment.  The deadline to apply is February 28, 2010.  Please visit:
http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/

MathCounts
MathCounts is seeing a drop off in participation in our area.  Check it out.  It might be a neat enrichment class idea or an Advisiory component to your middle school.

To secure America’s global competitiveness, MATHCOUNTS inspires excellence, confidence and curiosity in U.S. middle school students through fun and challenging math programs. With the generous support of all MATHCOUNTS sponsors and volunteers, and leadership of the National Society of Professional Engineers at the local and state levels, MATHCOUNTS is providing today’s students with the foundation for success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory.

Currently in our 27th year, MATHCOUNTS is one of the country’s largest and most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. President Barack Obama and former Presidents George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald W. Reagan have all recognized MATHCOUNTS in White House ceremonies. The MATHCOUNTS program has also received two White House citations as an outstanding private sector initiative. Particularly exciting for our Mathletes® were the hour-long ESPN programs on each of the National Competitions from 2003-2005.

MATHCOUNTS offers two unique programs to middle school teachers and students:  The MATHCOUNTS Competition Program and the FREE MATHCOUNTS Club Program.

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory:

Be Lucky (Richard Wiseman):

  • After many experiments, I believe that I now understand why some people are luckier than others and that it is possible to become luckier.
  • The findings have revealed that although unlucky people have almost no insight into the real causes of their good and bad luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their fortune.
  • Take the case of chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.
  • Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people’s ability to notice the unexpected.
  • unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else.
  • My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.
  • In the wake of these studies, I think there are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune:
    • Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell – a reason to consider a decision carefully.
    • Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.
    • Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky-its-an-easy-skill-to-learn.html

Webspotlight:

‘Algebra-for-All’ Push Found to Yield Poor Results

By Debra Viadero
Quite a bit of disagreement over the value of teaching algebra to 8th graders. Apparently the results are mixed (feign surprise here).

Among the newer findings:

• An analysisRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader using longitudinal statewide data on students in Arkansas and Texas found that, for the lowest-scoring 8th graders, even making it one course past Algebra 2 might not be enough to help them become “college and career ready” by the end of high school.

• An evaluation of the Chicago public schools’ efforts to boost algebra coursetaking found that, although more students completed the course by 9th grade as a result of the policy, failure rates increased, grades dropped slightly, test scores did not improve, and students were no more likely to attend college when they left the system.

• A 2008 paper by the Brookings Institution suggested that as many as 120,000 students nationwide were “misplaced” in algebra programs, meaning they had test scores on national exams that put them about seven grades below their peers in algebra classes. Further, it said, states with a high proportion of students taking algebra in 8th grade didn’t necessarily outperform other states on national math assessments.

Just putting students in Algebra doesn’t seem to work. Students who are adequately prepared for it seem to do well. However, those students who are far behind struggle. 8th grade is considered the pivotal year. Some opine that the low level courses are absolutely worthless. Chicago tried “double dosing” those students who were prepared. There seems to some finger pointing in terms of research technique, data analysis and data collection. There’s also discussion about whether or not what is taught in Algebra class is really Algebra.

An as of yet unpublished study from Michigan State University shows students who were enrolled in Algebra did better than those who weren’t.

Some are wondering about the difference between causal and correlative data. Does Algebra really help prepare kids for college or is it that kids who were taking Algebra were going to college anyway. The point is made that one size doesn’t fit all. There is also that issue of students who are doing well in math. Those students have benefited from tracked classes. More students entering into Algebra may have a derogatory effect on their achievement.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/02/10/21algebra_ep.h29.html?r=327944615

Blue Ribbon Middle School

A team of researchers hired by the U.S. Department of Education is spending much of this week at Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School in Baton Rouge trying to learn what makes that school tick.

The federal agency has in the past issued “best practice” reports drawn from a selection of Blue Ribbon schools, but this year the plan is try a multimedia approach.

“This is the first time we’re trying to do this with audio and video,” said Carol Keirstead, a senior research associate with RMC.

Keirstead said the team is looking at six aspects of Sherwood: teacher leadership; the rigor of the curriculum; the quality of professional development; transition help for incoming sixth-graders; use of classroom technology; and the school’s culture.

Sherwood is a magnet school in which students need a 2.5 GPA to enroll. Even so, teachers there say some of the students enter well behind their peers and the school has to work hard to catch them up.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/84098087.html?index=1&c=y

Math comes to YouTube at Palmyra Area Middle School

By BARBARA MILLER, The Patriot-News

It’s the first such use of YouTube in the district, said Collene Van Noord, assistant superintendent, although there are other sites, such as TeacherTube, a similar service for teachers. Since YouTube is blocked at school, students have to view Binkley’s videos at home.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/02/math_comes_to_youtube_at_palmy.html

Q-Matrix

Get your kids to generate questions with a Q-Matrix.
http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/assessment/files/pages/strategies/Question_Matrix.pdf

Marble

Marble is a Virtual Globe and World Atlas that you can use to learn more about Earth: You can pan and zoom around and you can look up places and roads. A mouse click on a place label will provide the respective Wikipedia article.

Of course it’s also possible to measure distances between locations or watch the current cloud cover. Marble offers different thematic maps: A classroom-style topographic map, a satellite view, street map, earth at night and temperature and precipitation maps. All maps include a custom map key, so it can also be used as an educational tool for use in class-rooms. For educational purposes you can also change date and time and watch how the starry sky and the twilight zone on the map change.

In opposite to other virtual globes Marble also features multiple projections: Choose between a Flat Map (“Plate carré”), Mercator or the Globe.

The best of all: Marble is Free Software / Open Source Software and promotes the usage of free maps. And it’s available for all major operating systems (Linux/Unix, MS Windows and Mac OS X).
http://edu.kde.org/marble/

FCC Expands Broadband Access at Schools
http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CTECH/ntechnologyNews_uUSTRE61H6ZR20100219

Essentially, the bandwidth not being used by schools during school hours will be open to the community.

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

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 Annual Conference February 2011, Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, OH.
  • Second Life:
MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

MSM-108- An Interview with Dr. M. Monte Tatom

We had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. M. Monte Tatom. Dr. Tatom is a university professor who teaches upcoming teachers and administrators. Dr. Tatom also presented at the NMSA annual conference this past November. He has a long history in education and is especially tuned to middle school kids. He has taught middle school, been an assistant principal and a principal as well as working at the central office level. We hope that you enjoy the interview.

advisory, MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM – 107- I’m a Wall Wisher

Podcast 107:  I’m a WallWisher, I’m a WallWisher watchin’ Walls Go By . . . .

Jokes:

Gifts…
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really pissed. She told him “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!” The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Bob has been missing since Friday.

Only Three Doors
A group of middle school students went on a field trip. They were staying overnight. In the morning, 3 students were missing. The teachers went up to the room. They opened the door and found the three of them sitting in the middle of the room. The teacher asked: Why didn’t you guys come down. “There are only three doors in here,” they sobbed, “one is the bathroom, one is the closet, and one has a sign on it that says ‘Do Not Disturb’!”

On Our Mind:

MAMSE
www.mamse.org

From the Twitterverse:

Shout Out:

Thanks Alex for the feedback!

Advisory:

Project Implicit
Discover the bias within.

Stupid Inventions:
http://students.ou.edu/R/Basil.G.Rayan-1/

Webspotlight:

Word Clouds, Student Writing and Ownership

http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/02/word-clouds-student-writing-and.html

Doodle for Google

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/doodle-4-google-tell-us-what-you-would.html
Example:  http://www.google.com/doodle4google/2009/images/us_doodle4google2009.gif
Competition
http://www.google.com/doodle4google/index.html

World Maths Day

This year features an exciting new format with multi-levels for all age groups. Teachers, parents and media are invited to participate for the first time. Can we beat last year’s world record of 2 million students from 204 countries correctly answering 452,681,681 questions?
http://www.worldmathsday.com/2010/Default.aspx?

Interview Of The Month: Marvin Marshall On Positive Classroom Management

from Larry Felazzo:

Marvin Marshall, author of the influential education book “Discipline Without Stress, Punishment or Rewards” and the newer book “Parenting Without Stress.”
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/02/02/interview-of-the-month-marvin-marshall-on-positive-classroom-management/
See also:  Responsible Thinking Process by Ed Ford.

16 Ways to Use WallWisher
http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_436f8kscmdc

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

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.
  • Second Life: