Month: March 2011

Jokes You Can Use:

Rules of Life:

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.
6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
1 4. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.
17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.
18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.
25. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.
26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.
27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’
28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
29. You should not confuse your career with your life.
30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
31. Never lick a steak knife.
32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.
36. Your friends love you anyway.

From our Listeners:

This is Eric in Chicago, I haven’t commented in awhile but I still listen faithfully to the podcast and seems to find equal parts enjoyment and information.  So thanks for keeping it going.

On another note.  I was thinking about attending the Michigan Middle school conference.  I am 50/50 right now.  It would be a nice time away learning and hanging with others who do this…so close the deal and talk me into it. 🙂  Is it worth the drive from Chicago?  What will I get from it?

Talk with you soon.

Peace. eric

Eileen Award

Karen Richmond (via iTunes).

Advisory:

The AIR Car:
Meet the Air Pod. Its manufacturers think it could be the future of urban transport. 3 minutes and 30 second video on clean emission car (starts with a commercial first though).
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2010/12/10/ctw.anderson.air.car.cnn

Common Good Forecaster

Those who advocate for greater investment in education often make the economic argument: more education leads to higher wages and is critical for financial stability and independence. They’re right. Robust evidence supports the view that higher levels of educational attainment are linked to higher incomes, less unemployment, less poverty, and less reliance on public assistance.
http://www.measureofamerica.org/forecaster

Read Across America

Pledge to Read
http://readacrossamerica.org/

Internet “Privacy”

Here’s a resource for teaching your students about privacy settings and disclosing personal information on the internet through social networking sites.  This lesson focuses on Facebook, but good advice for the internet in general.  http://classroomtalk.com/?p=318

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Periodic Table- A humorous review
and
International Year of Chemistry

From the Twitterverse:

*dansta RT @opensesamenow Part 1: Creating a Social Learning Environment | OpenSesame

*mcleod CASTLE blog post: Virtual Schooling In The News

*Larryferlazzo RT @PearsonLongman: Pearson Longman USA ESL/EFL daily is out! ▸ Top stories today via @marisa_c

*web20classroom RT @timbuckteeth: Using http://www.jamstudio.com to create music, mix audio and create sounds #saltash11

*ScrivenerApp Scrivener for Windows and Linux beta 1.9 is now available! Lee’s forum thread and main webpage 🙂

*GlogsterEDU RT @kylepace Glogopedia – example Glogs from GlogsterEDU: – Would rec spending time here discussing design w/students.  mbteach Mary Beth Hertz Hearing how @joycevalenza‘s students created more than one Glog and linked them to create more facets to the tool. #tmnj11

*russeltarr How to do research: A great site for classroom use!: http://tinyurl.com/m2hdwd

*tombarrett Our Tudor song – class10jd’s posterous #classblogs

*jennymacant Currently reading http://n.pr/fOQhxd

*tonitones Learning about ePub. Any doc on a Mac just hit export and then ePub to turn into an iBook also dotepub.com for webpages #als2011

*hrheingold #mindamp Recording of tonight’s live session — link also in forum.  (Use the link in the forum)

*MHEducation Did you know that Everyday Math, which became the 1st CCSS math prgram in Aug 2010, now has several supporting iPad apps? http://ow.ly/489Va

*bethstill Just made my first screencast using ScreenJelly. My tutorial was on how to create a hyperlink in a GoogleSite.  http://www.screenjelly.com/

*hrheingold 1998 — the art of hosting good conversations online http://www.rheingold.com/texts/artonlinehost.html

*shannonmmiller Shannon Miller diipo….Education 2.0 social network for your class http://ow.ly/42mv1

*CaliLewis Fun facts about YouTube, and how to check Facebook and Twitter via email (yes, even at work or school) http://webbeat.tv/67

*BratBusters Bullying Reporting Website http://bratbusters.com/bullying-reporting-website/ #bullying

* schoolwise Carol A. Josel & drmmtatom Monte Tatom Why America’s teachers are enraged – #cnn

*maggiecary Great Post for Teens: No Such Thing as Privacy on facebook:

*SmartStorming A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.— Thomas J. Watson, Jr. #creativity

Resources:

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

This is a great pdf document that spotlights bullying of special needs students.
Parents should familiarize themselves with the different forms of bullying that a child with special needs may experience:
MANIPULATIVE BULLYING: This form of bullying occurs when a child with special needs is actually being coerced and controlled by another student.
CONDITIONAL FrIENDShIP: This form of bullying occurs when a child thinks that someone is being their friend, but the times of “friendship” are alternated with times of bullying.
ExPLOITATIVE BULLYING: This form of bullying occurs when the features of the child’s condition are used to bully them either by other classmates or via technology and social media networks.
http://www.abilitypath.org/areas-of-development/learning–schools/bullying/articles/walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes.pdf

The Generation Project

• Each gift donated through The Generation Project will be widely advertised to students, teachers, and principals. Interested individuals need only to meet application requirements to be considered for the gift. This self-selection will ensure that the gifts are being utilized by interested individuals. The Generation Project will also follow-up with recipients to ensure gifts are being used as intended.

And if you’re worried that the gift you design might be too esoteric and might not meet the needs of real-life students…fear not. Educators can always apply for your gift with a proposed “modification” to fit the needs of their students. A teacher, for example, might ask to purchase slightly different materials than you had envisioned, or to implement your vision in a more grade-appropriate way. So even if it turns out you miscalculated when you offered to fund the purchase of a hundred copies of V.M. Zubok’s A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev for a second grade classroom, a second grade teacher might suggest that your gift be used to purchase the Dr. Seuss Cold War analogy The Butter Battle Book–fulfilling your desire to help second-graders learn about the Cold War.

Of course, any proposed modification is subject to your approval as a donor. This is your gift, and we won’t release any funds until you give your go-ahead.

• To cover the overhead costs associated with implementing gifts in low-income schools, The Generation Project charges an implementation fee totaling 13.5% of your Gift amount. Our 13.5% overhead cost makes us one of the most efficient charities in the nation. See Charity Navigator for more information. To procure start-up funding, The Generation Project is actively seeking government and foundation grants, as well as direct donations from generous individuals.

• Donors Choose is a fantastic charity that teachers use to fill shortfalls in their classrooms. Although both charities directly connect donors with teachers, The Generation Project differs from Donors Choose in several important respects:

First, under the Donors Choose model, the ultimate creative force is always the educational professionaldonors just choose which teacher-projects to fund. In contrast, The Generation Project seeks to harness the passion and ingenuity of individuals from all professions. You no longer have to be Richard Branson or Bill Gates to make a targeted impact. The Generation Project hopes to engage a wide range of professionals in educational philanthropy, and attract a diverse array of donors to share their individual passions with students. Our model thus allows students to experience opportunities that their teachers simply might not be aware of.

Second, Donors Choose serves the important role of helping donors address lack of funding for classroom or school projects. But because The Generation Project leaves the ultimate creative control in the hands of donors, we hope to enlist a number of donors to fund annual (or ongoing) projects. If a donor, for example, designs and sponsors an inner-city debate team one year, that donor is likely to want to sponsor that same team again the next year, lest “her project” fall by the wayside. While Donors Choose fulfills teachers’ requests on a more ad hoc basis, The Generation Project is focused on establishing more lasting relationships between community members and low-income schools.

Finally, one benefit of The Generation Project for teachers is that they don’t have to wait for a project to get funded. Because our gifts are pre-funded and available, teachers can apply, get accepted, and immediately start planning their curriculum around an experience or opportunity.

In short, Donors Choose is an amazing charity that has helped bridge many classroom funding shortfalls, but it serves a different role for under-resourced schools than The Generation Project proposes.

Web Spotlight:

Diigo Group

Diigo Group for Middle School Matters:  http://groups.diigo.com/group/middle-school-matters

Google Cloud Connect

For those of you who have not made the full move to Google Docs and are still using Microsoft Office, Google has something great to offer. With Cloud Connect, people can continue to use the familiar Office interface, while reaping many of the benefits of web-based collaboration that Google Docs users already enjoy.

Users of Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 can sync their Office documents to the Google cloud, without ever leaving Office. Once synced, documents are backed-up, given a unique URL, and can be accessed from anywhere (including mobile devices) at any time through Google Docs. And because the files are stored in the cloud, people always have access to the current version.

Flipbook

Create an electronic flip book as a unit project.
http://www.benettonplay.com/toys/flipbookdeluxe/

Free On-line Professional Development

Welcome to OK2Ask, a series of live, online “snack sessions” (available both live and in archived format) for self-directed teacher professional development and exploration. These one-hour sessions, scheduled at convenient times for you to attend from any computer (kick off your shoes!) will share great ideas you can use in your classroom, courtesy of TeachersFirst’s staff. You know our style, so you know these sessions will be useful and teacher-friendly.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/OK2Ask.cfm

BIL Conference

In short, BIL is an open, self-organizing, emergent, arts, science, society and technology unconference held near the famous TED Conference during the trailing weekend of.
The concept of the BIL Conference started in late November 2007, when Cody Marx Bailey proposed the idea of going out to Monterey, CA and crashing the TED Conference to Todd Huffman and Bill Erickson. The idea was to simply get a group of people to make the pilgrimage and hang around the area the TED’sters would be schmoozing at night. As the group quickly snowballed from a handful of people to nearly thirty in a matter of weeks, the decision to hold our own unconference seemed, well, obvious.
Todd Huffman and Reichart von Wolfsheild proposed the name BIL, as it was catchy, short and best of all, unclaimed. It also had a bit of comedic value to take away some of the seriousness as it referenced the most excellent Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Most of the planning was done through the open-to-the-public wiki hosted by PBWiki. This allowed anyone interested in making something cool happen able to contribute. Soon, Alexis Bright, Tyler Emerson (along with the Singularity Institute), Emi Joy, and Simone Syed would begin to play a major part as the potetial attendance neared closer and closer to the fire marshalls limit on the space that was reserved.
The week of TED 2008, the number of RSVPs had eclipsed the space limitations and the group was forced to spread the word that we could not take in any more attendees. BIL at that point had grown larger than anyone had expected.
BIL 2009 was held on the campus of California State University at Long Beach and with over 100 speakers and 500 participants, doubling the size the previous year.
http://www.bilconference.com/

Pecha Kucha

1. A 20 slide multimedia presentation, narrated for 20 seconds per slide or a total of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
2. Learn more on WikiPedia.
3. See an example, “What I Hope You Learned in this Class” (by Wesley Fryer, spring 2010)
4. More examples from .pecha-kucha.org

http://wiki.wesfryer.com/t4t/resources/pecha-kucha-presentations

Book Club

How it works

• Register for free
• Register your free acount and be well on your way to starting your very own online book club.

Start your book club

• Get your personalized book club started in just minutes!
• Invite all your friends to join your book club.
• Make your book club private or public and choose your first book.

Create optional meetings

• Create meetings with meeting locations to discuss your current book.
• Create one meeting or as many as you would like.

Create discussion topics

• Create custom discussion topics or use the plain old chapter by chapter discussion.
• Discuss and share your opinions, reviews, and ideas about books.

It’s not over yet

• Whenever you have finished a book, its time to start over again!
• Browse books and choose your next book.
• Repeat!

http://www.bookclubit.com/

TED Education

Every minute, three hundred new learners are born into this world. How can TED play a role in enriching the education of these individuals? How can TED enrich the education of the billions of learners around the globe? We need your help to answer these questions.

In a few weeks, TED will be launching an online forum. We’re calling it the TED-ED Brain Trust. We’re seeking the expertise of visionary educators, students, organizations, filmmakers & other creative professionals to guide, galvanize & ultimately lead this exciting new initiative.

To express your interest in joining the TED-ED Brain Trust, please click the button below & fill out the short form. To invite capable colleagues, please share this page. We will notify you when we launch the Trust.

http://education.ted.com/

SocioClean

What is Socioclean?
Socioclean is a free service that enables you to monitor and clean your online social profile by analyzing your wall posts, status messages and photos for any ill-advised and inappropriate material that may harm your social reputation.

Will the service scan my private messages or just my public postings?
Socioclean will only scan postings, status messages, and photos that others are able to view as well. We will not scan email inbox or any other private areas.

Will Socioclean store my social network username and password?
We do not store any user information, but rely on social network API’s to make the user experience easier.

Could this be run on my profile without my username and password?
Report cannot be run without the permission of the user. Some API’s allow us to create session keys so to make the it an easier user experience we will not ask for the social network username and password every time the user logs onto Socioclean.

Does the service provide image recognition for pictures?
No, we do not provide image recognition for pictures.

Do the reports have a link to the information captured in the reports (after the service has been run)?
Report will have easy one click access to the posts or anything else that the user wants to delete. User would not have to go and find their post again within the social network interface.

What social networks are currently supported?
Currently, we only support Facebook, but are in the process of adding other social networks as well.

http://socioclean.com/

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

• National Conference: Thursday, November 08, 2011 —Saturday, November 10, 2011 Louisville, Kentucky.
  • Promotional Materials:
    • Crossword Puzzle! (Maryland Conference)

• • • 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 16 – 17, 2011.

• • OMLA Registration Form
  • OMLA Presentation Proposal Form

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

• • MAMSE Presentation Form  (Presenter Deadline Extended!)
• The National Substitute Teacher Association’s Annual Conference July 22-24.
• The North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference March 13-15, 2011
  • Conference Brochure
  • Presenter’s Application
  • Who They Are . . .

• Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.

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

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