Monthly Archives: April 2010

MSM – 117 – Tales from the Web

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Jokes:

Qualifications for Presidency
An eighth grade teacher was leading a discussion on the qualifications for being president of the United States. After the teacher commented that a person must be a natural-born citizen, one of the students raised her hand. Does that mean that if you were born by Caesarean section that you can’t be president?

From the Twitterverse:

Webspotlight:

Wacky Web Tales
http://www.educationplace.biz/tales/

Relaxed Minds Learn better
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62N4VJ20100324

Difference Between:
http://www.differencebetween.net/

Tagxedo:
http://www.tagxedo.com/

America on the Move:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/

Hear Names:
http://www.hearnames.com/index.php

Video Science
http://www.sciencehouse.com/videoscience-experiments.html

Virtual Owl Pellet:
http://www.kidwings.com/index.htm

MiddleTalk:  This We Believe
http://www.nmsa.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/MiddleTalkListserve/tabid/1212/Default.aspx

Siftables:
http://sifteo.com/

Etherpad Alternatives
http://tech4teaching.org/wpblog/?p=929

Ning Ends Free Service:  (See TechCrunch’s Article)
Alternatives:
–Cubetree
–Jabbster
–Shoutem

Texas’ Textbook Influence
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/04/22/30texts_ep.h29.html?tkn=ROMFSqn2MnKy5KlKQ6xol0G2%2BkVr2NP6ZRwL&cmp=clp-edweek

Math Curriculum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvKWEvKSi8

Events & Happenings:

#WAMLE10 this Friday and Saturday!

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:

MSM #116:Show Me The Money! (Next week’s show is done too.)

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Jokes:

Drill Sergeants
A drill sergeant had just chewed out one of his cadets, and as he was walking away, he turned to the cadet and said, “I guess when I die you’ll come and dance on my grave.” The cadet replied, “Not me, Sarge…no sir! I promised myself that when I got out of the Army I’d never stand in another line!”

During a recent password audit, it was found that a
young woman was using the following password:

“MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento”

When asked why she had such a long password, she said
she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters
long and include at least one capital.

On Our Mind:

Class Size
http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/class-size-really-irrelevant?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+LFA+%28Public+School+Insights%3A+What+is+WORKING+in+our+Public+Schools%29

What can you do with an iPhone (or 4)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QD5Mj_wC-I&feature=related

New Directions for Music Programs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QD5Mj_wC-I&feature=related
(There are other videos of this lady performing other pop songs without the OMG cat.)

From our Listeners:

Troy & Shawn, Thanks for all that you do! I’ve attached a 4 minute
comment on your current podcast.  (Any chance on sharing what apps the University puts on those iPads/iPhones/iPod Touches?)
(FHU’s iKnow + FHU)
Rationale, Applications, Research structure, Paradigm,

Hey guys, interesting article about paying for performance in schools.  If this catches on, then I will write my former middle school, asking for my “back pay” from when I was a student there.

Robert  (Mr. Jackson to some of us.  😉  )

PS  What is a good book for advisory about study skills?
Carol Josel
1.  Other-wise and School-wise could be a resource  (http://www.schoolwisebooks.com/html/owsw.html)
2.  The Parenting School-wise Tips book certainly could be used to teach kids study skills.
3.  I’d sign up for the newsletter also.  That and the cooking ideas at the end of the newsletter are rather tasty!
Susan Krueger
Haven’t tried it, but:  SOAR Curriculum.
7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens, Sean Covey
Have tried it.  You can also get it in audio format and use with the kids.  Make sure you have money committed to the program over time.
The Middle School Student’s Guide to Ruling the World! by Susan Mulcaire
We’ve reviewed this work in a previous podcast.

Should Kids be Bribed:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100409/us_time/08599197858900
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1978589,00.html

From listener Dave Bydlowski
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Middle School Science
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9a.  Bring Local Earth Science Into Your Classroom

The Museum of the Earth and the Knabusch Mathematics and Science Center welcomes your application to participate in a professional development program that is focused on Virtual Fieldwork Experiences and the Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the Midwestern Region. This programs if for middle school and high school teachers.  Spend time in the field with scientists and fellow educators to learn ways of incorporating local Earth system science into your classroom! The workshop will be held at the Knabusch Mathematics and Science Center in Monroe, MI on July 28-30, 2010.

Comments from educators that attended past Teacher-Friendly Guide and Virtual Field Experience workshops include:
“I came in wondering and left inspired!”
“This is definitely a project my students can do and I hope to incorporate into my curriculum.”
“When I leave excited & energized, the experience is an excellent one!”

For more information and to apply visit:  http://www.virtualfieldwork.org/PD_Application,_Summer_2010.html

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9b.  National Lab Day Set for May 12, 2010

May 12 will be the first official National Lab Day for middle school and high school science students and teachers! A number of key events in Washington and in selected states are being planned.

Not signed up yet? Not to worry: even if May 12 doesn’t work for you, National Lab Day is more than just a day. Whether you are looking for help with your science fair, or maybe someone to host a field trip, advise an after-school program, help with a hands-on activity, or supply some cool lab equipment, National Lab Day can help.

At the NLD website you simply sign up then submit your idea for a project (or what you need in your classroom) and the website matches your request with a STEM professional who has also joined the NLD hub. (And you can also get funding for your classroom or project by registering on Donors Choose on the NLD site!)
Learn more and to sign up your project for National Lab Day at:
http://www.nationallabday.org
today.

David Bydlowski
http://k12science.net

From the Twitterverse:

iPad Review

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After taking the iPad to work and using it for just a bit, here are my thoughts.
1. It is early on in the development of the iPad. There will be a lot more applications soon that will make the iPad even more useful.
2. I love the iPad. It is very useful for what I wanted. Just for information, I wanted a “newspaper” replacement and something for the kids to post to Facebook. It does these things well.
3. Taking notes is surprising better than expected. Even without an external keyboard, notes are good.
4. For students to create, it’s not quite there yet. We are not a “cloud” based school at all yet. There doesn’t seem to be a way to let students save documents to their “I” drive. We also use Moodle. Moodle uses a non standard text editor. That renders some things unusable. This should be fixed with Moodle 2.0 in July.
5. The iPad is incredibly fast.
6. Management is another issue. I’m not clear yet how easy these would be to manage for the classroom. Generally, the iPad is associated with one iTunes account. I don’t know how this works with a classroom set.

All in all, I’m hopeful. I won’t be buying a bunch for my school yet, but the future looks bright.

Podcast #115: iPad, iPad, iPad

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Advisory:

Online Personal Finance Game from the Council on Economic Education:  http://www.genirevolution.org/index.php
Set up in a popular game format, students work their way through challenges answering key questions to earn points to advance through the game.  If you’ve been to the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. you’ll be familiar with the “cloak and dagger” feel of the mission briefings, information gathering, and operative training incorporated in the game.

http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/

On Our Mind:

Thanks to all of our Facebook Fans!
Looking for some more iTunes reviews.

Samsung Grant:
Digital Presenter Contest
http://www.samsunggrants.com/

From The Twitterverse:

From our Listeners:

Hi Guys,
I have been enjoying the podcast, but I get lazy about sending out science information.  I hope you don’t mind if I continue to send it along to you.  I hope these work out for you.  Enjoy your Spring Break!!
Dave Bydlowski
Podcast Site:  k12science.net
In the iTunes store, just do a search for:  k12science
Twitter:  twitter.com/k12science
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Middle School Science
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11a. ISS EarthKAM Spring 2010 Mission
NASA has exciting news! EarthKAM has just launched a new beta version of its Web site. Middle school educators
are invited to join NASA for the International Space Station Spring 2010 Mission from April 27-30, 2010, and be
beta testers of the new site and software. Find out more about this exciting opportunity that allows students to take
pictures of Earth from a digital camera aboard the International Space Station. Just visit:
http://www.EarthKAM.ucsd.edu
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Middle School and High School Science
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10a. The Siemens STEM Institute for 6th – 12th Grade Educators
A premier STEM immersion program brought to you by the Siemens Foundation, and administered by Discovery
Education in conjunction with the College Board. It will take place from August 1 – August 6, 2010. The location is
Discovery Communications world headquarters in Silver Spring, MD (outside of Washington D.C.) The application
deadline is April 16, 2010.  The Siemens STEM Institute is a unique immersion program that promotes hands-on, real-world integration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the classroom. Fifty educators will be selected as STEM
Fellows to attend this all expenses-paid, week-long professional development experience, hosted at the world
headquarters of Discovery Communications, located just outside of our nation’s capitol in Washington D.C.
For additional information on the resources and opportunities available through the Siemens STEM Academy,
please visit:
http://www.siemensstemacademy.com
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10b. ReaL (Regional and Local) Earth Inquiry: Professional Development
On behalf of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), you are invited to participate in an exciting new
initiative to improve Earth science education across the nation to take place in Monroe, MI from July 28 – 30. PRI
and its Museum of the Earth is a non-profit organization based in Ithaca, New York. Composed of scientists and

educators, its outreach program aims to make the Earth and its life—and the science by which we understand it—

accessible to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. As part of that mission, they are currently developing a series
of Teacher-Friendly Guides to North American Earth System Science. Supported by the National Science
Foundation, the project is a five-year initiative that will bring regional and local Earth system science into
classrooms across the nation.  Stipends and support for travel and lodging total $800.00 per participant.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 3, 2010. For more information and to apply go to
http://www.virtualfieldwork.org/PD_Application,_Summer_2010.html

Letter from Mr. Jackson

Webspotlight:

Social Media Explained in 4 minutes:
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/03/social-media-explained-visually.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29

Four Day Week?
The Illinois House has sent to the Senate a bill that would allow local school boards to adopt a four-day week. Our first response: Bad idea. Shortening the school week is a move in the wrong direction. Illinois kids need more time in school, not less. They need a longer school day, and a longer school year. U.S. children spend far less time in school than their peers in Europe and Asia. And Chicago public school students spend less time in school than their peers in many charter schools, in suburban schools, and around the country.
Further research, though, provoked our second and prevailing response: A four-day week might be a good option — remember, this would be voluntary — for downstate districts with few students but vast territories. Those districts still would be required to teach the same number of total hours per year. So kids might get longer school days.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-4day-20100330,0,1138284.story

Video Editing:
http://jaycut.com/

Freeology
http://freeology.com/

Google For Teachers Guide
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/03/free-33-page-guide-google-for-teachers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

  • Second Life: