MSM 132 Advisory Snowballs
Jokes:
Customer Service
“I’m not saying that the customer service in my bank is bad, but when I went in the other day and asked the clerk to check my balance … she leaned over and pushed me.”
Job Application
Employer: “In this job we need someone who is responsible.” Applicant: “I’m the one you want. On my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.”
The Blame Game
This is the story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. Consequently, it wound up that Nobody told Anybody, so Everybody blamed Somebody.
Laughing
The boss returned from lunch in a good mood and called the whole staff in to listen to a couple of jokes he had picked up. Everybody, but one girl laughed uproariously. “What’s the matter?” grumbled the boss. “Haven’t you got a sense of humor?” “I don’t have to laugh,” she replied. “I’m leaving Friday.”
On Our Mind:
iWork ‘09 Update- ePub creation is now possible.
Listeners:
Hi,
I’ve been a fan of your blog for awhile, after stumbling upon it a few months ago. Thanks for the great content! We here at oedb.org take good content seriously, and we recently published an article “100 Ways Google Can Make You a Better Educator” that you may be interested in sharing with your readers. For your convenience, here’s the link: (http://oedb.org/library/features/100_ways_google_make_you_better_educator ) if you’d like, you can also find the story on our blog home page.
I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your time and take care!
Julia Watson
Like the show, but you should also put info on the podcast for the kids that also like the show. Please give me a shoutout.
infamous40000
From the Twitterverse:
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bhsprincipal RT @4thGrdTeach: RT @Thanks2Teachers: Why teach in a system that rewards test scores rather than passion? http://bit.ly/cMpYp5 #cpchat
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tomshepp RT @kylepace: iPad 4 Edu – a place to ask questions about using the iPad in education. http://ipad4edu.com/ #edtech
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web20classroom RT @plugusin: Here’s a great list of online video sources for educators: http://bit.ly/aJOmiy
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- Teaching With Infographics – Many Good Resources http://is.gd/eIfh0
jonbecker A report that’s an indictment of Sec. Duncan’s “work” in Chicago. Also a lovely report design, BTW. http://is.gd/eIhvS (h/t @DianeRavitch)
rmbyrne Welcome CNN Viewers! via Free Technology for Teachers – Welcome to those arriving after hearing about Free … http://tinyurl.com/2do5ozx
ChristianLong History teachers: Oh, my! http://origin-www.fastcompany.com/1685237/new-yahoo-search-tool-keeps-track-of-the-future-proves-predictions-wrong
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msstewart Love post-it note lesson plans RT @johntspencer: my best lesson plans aren’t written in a bk, but on scraps of paper/post-it notes/napkins
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ipadeducators
- Promising apps lists for iPods and iPads in ed: http://digitalroberto.haikulearning.com/digitalroberto/digitalroberto/cms_page/view/141515
- Content management for iPods in the classroom: http://digitalroberto.haikulearning.com/digitalroberto/digitalroberto/cms_page/view/147384
- Control everything in your classroom using Doceri – a promising ed. tool: http://doceri.com/
- Great collection of iPad in education sites: http://www.diigo.com/list/trubol/i_padin_ed
DanielBeylerian Podcast Production | Engaging Boys: Powerful Possibilities for All Learners http://bit.ly/aLoqOi via www.diigo.com/~danielbeylerian
Advisory:
My kids like the ‘snowball fight’. Everyone writes something about themselves on a piece of white paper but they don’t name it. Then they scrunch the paper into a ball and on the teacher’s signal a snowball fight ensues. After everyone’s had the chance to throw a lot of paper around ( a few minutes) another signal announces the end of the ‘fight’. Each student picks up the snowball closest to them and takes turns to read out the info and maybe guess who it belongs to.
Anne De Manser ( http://twitter.com/Aaannne )
Tech Tools:
RubiStar
Want to make exemplary rubrics in a short amount of time? Try RubiStar out! Registered users can save and edit rubrics online. You can access them from home, school, or on the road. Registration and use of this tool is free, so click the Register link in the login area to the right to get started now.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Webspotlight:
Science YouTube Videos from Mashable
Do you ever stare off into the cosmos, wondering about all the matter and particles swirling about in the universe? Or gaze into the spiraling petals of a rose and contemplate the Golden Ratio and all it connotes?
No? Well, take some time out from your weekend of quietly quaffing to think, really think, about why, oh why the forces of nature chose to forge us within this mighty smithy we call life. Strain your mind, dear reader, and test the mettle of your brain fibers ruminating on the fact that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy…
Or, you could just watch this week’s YouTube ( roundup, the theme of which is science!
Take a look down below and get yourselves some education, you desk set daredevils.
http://mashable.com/2010/08/27/youtube-roundup-science/
News:
Reshirting the Little Ones
By PAMELA PAUL
Sitting out Kindergarten to gain an advantage. “Redshirting” of kindergartners — the term comes from the practice of postponing the participation of college athletes in competitive games — became increasingly widespread in the 1990s, and shows no signs of waning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/fashion/22Cultural.html?_r=2
Common Core Standards
By Stephen Sawchuk
More than two-thirds of the states—including Massachusetts, a state long famed for excellent academic-content standards—have adopted common grade-level expectations, as the movement to align nationwide what students are learning continues to gain steam.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/08/06/37standards.h29.html?tkn=LYQFx%2FKcK6NQoGyVPUaQ1jxL%2BVGTKhbLgyMt&cmp=clp-edweek
Class Size. Does it Matter?
By Tamara Henry
Conventional wisdom says the smaller the classes, the better the education, because teachers can pay more attention to each child. But while smaller classes are popular, decades of research has found that the relationship between class size and student outcomes is murky.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-26-classsize26_ST_N.htm
ISTE 2010
Mindy Johnson, Dr. Boris Goldowsky, and Ge Vue.
Overview
What is the problem?
Why smart content?
What does it look like?
Reframing Literacy
Learners are diverse.
Sustain desired difficulties.
Reduce undesired difficulties.
Universal Design for Learning
What?
Provide multiple means of representation.
How?
Provide multiple means of action and expression.
Why?
Provide multiple means of engagement.
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
(See the video on the index page.)
Smart Content
Is accessible
Contains learning supports
Has opportunities
The world is moving in a different direction from books.
UDL Editions: Free on the Web.
Integrated with Google Maps
How can teachers build it?
Standard Open formats
Smart Content is time intensive and repurposable
HTML
ePub
aim.cast.org
DAISY
This is the CAST format of choice.
www.daisy.org
NIMAS format is the government standard.
Presentation will be on the ISTE website.
You can save a document as DAISY format in Word and Open Office.
www.openlibrary.org
Xmlmind XML editor
Daisy players
Gives the reader control over content.
nimbus2html
National Educational Technology Plan: It’s a Smart Document
http://cast.org
UDL Inquiry Science Project
University of Michigan’s iQuest project for middle schools.
Kids can upload “other literacy” type of responses.
Ultimately we will be able to do this.
What is the impact?
Being able to read text at grade level.
Unlocking student understanding.
The teacher becomes the innovator.
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:
- Promotional Materials:
- 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.
- 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)
- Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
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- 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. Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
- Video: Educational Uses of Second Life