MSM 195: Conversion, Collaborate, and Smell.
Jokes You Can Use:
Fred met a friend that he hadn’t seen a while. They exchanged some pleasantries. Fred then inquired about the old friend’s wife.
“She’s in heaven now”.
“Oh, I’m so sorry”, said Fred. He immediately realized that this was not the best possible answer and could be misconstrued.
“I mean, I’m glad” he stammered.
Then he realized that might be even worse. He tried again.
“Well, what I really mean is, I’m surprised”.
Paraprosdokians
- I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
- You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
- To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
- Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
- We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.
- I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather, not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
- I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
- If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?
- Hospitality: making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were.
- Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.
- Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.
- “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.” — Groucho Marx
- I can read minds, but I’m illiterate.
- “I haven’t slept for ten days, because that would be too long.” — Mitch Hedberg
- The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
On Our Mind:
Eileen Award:
- Ron King: Diigo contributions.
Advisory:
Jason Eifling @jeifling
- What School Lunches Look Like In 20 Countries Around The World buzzfeed.com/mjs538/what-sc… via @BuzzFeed
Building Relationships Through Tools of Communication
Chris Klein is a graduate of Hope College, and is the driving force for Clay Vessel Inc (http://www.clayvesselinc.org ), a not-for-profit resource for assistive technology. Chris was born with cerebral palsy, and uses augmentative communication to help support his work with Clay Vessel, be a Motivational Speaker, be an active member of his community and local church, and live independently in Holland, Michigan. Chris strives to live his life to the fullest.
This video was produced by Chris Klein and David McNaughton as part of the work of the AAC-RERC (http://aac-rerc.com ). The AAC-RERC is funded by NIDRR under grant #H133E080011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dupabkw46Qk
Pictures from Around the World
In 1909, millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn decided to enlist the era’s burgeoning photographic technology in a mission far greater than aesthetic fetishism, and set out to use the new autochrome — the world’s first true color photographic process, invented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and marketed in 1907 — to produce a color photographic record of human life on Earth as a way of promoting peace and fostering cross-cultural understanding.
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/23/the-dawn-of-the-color-photograph-albert-kahn/
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Eww, that smell. Can’t you smell that smell?!
This middle school science minute is about safety in the classroom. In the January, 2012 issue of Science Scope (NSTA publication) Ken Roy answered a question about foul odors found in some of the sinks in the back of a classroom. He shares some possible solutions and some possible causes.
From the Twitterverse:
 Steven W. Anderson @web20classroom
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 Diane Ravitch @DianeRavitch
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 * Luann Lee @stardiverr
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 Kevin Creutz @kevcreutz
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 Ruth Ayres @ruth_ayres
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 Scott McLeod @mcleod
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 John Norton @johncroftnorton
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View media Larry Ferlazzo @Larryferlazzo
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 pammoran @pammoran
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 Michelle Nebel @mnebel
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 * Steve @2learn2
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 * ABC News @ABC
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News:
Why don’t top private schools adopt corporate-driven reforms?
By Valerie Strauss
This was written by Bruce D. Baker, a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. This first appeared on his School Finance 101 blog.
By Bruce D. Baker
Really… if running a school like a ‘business’ (or more precisely running a school as we like to pretend that ‘businesses’ are run… even though ‘most’ businesses aren’t really run the way we pretend they are) was such an awesome idea for elementary and secondary schools, wouldn’t we expect to see that our most elite, market oriented schools would be the ones pushing the envelope on such strategies?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-dont-top-private-schools-adopt-corporate-driven-reforms/2012/02/17/gIQACrL3KR_blog.html?wprss=answer-sheet
Resources:
Looking for an image?
Try http://jpg.to/ . This site will return one image based upon your search criteria. This can be really handy if you want to find an image quickly without getting overly distracted.
http://jpg.to/
Collaborative Whiteboard
Mark up websites, graphics, and photos, or start brainstorming on a blank canvas. Browse the web with your friends or make that conference call more productive than ever. No plug-ins, downloads, or firewall voodoo – it’s all here, ready to go when you are. Browser-agnostic, user-friendly.
http://www.twiddla.com/
The iPad as…..
Over the past few months, iPads have exploded throughout schools and classrooms. Their flexibility, versatility, and mobility make them a phenomenal learning tool. In webinars and blog posts, we have talked about the iPad as….
- Reader
- Creator
- Student Response System
- Classroom Manager
- Study Tool
- Organizer
- Differentiator
http://edtechteacher.org/index.php/teaching-technology/mobile-technology-apps/ipad-as
Transforming Education
For more than 150 years, the public school system in Connecticut has been successful at providing children with access to a quality education. But that’s no longer enough. Thanks to the dawn of the Information Age, the transition from a manufacturing economy to a service economy and the development of a global economy, a new system is needed to best prepare our children to succeed in 2011 and beyond.
In short, our public education must be transformed. With effective leadership and the help of every citizen in Connecticut, CAPSS truly believes that’s possible. This report recommends exactly how we can benefit all students in our state.
http://www.ctnexted.org/pdfs/CAPSS_0101-FullReport.pdf
Web Spotlight:
Woolly Mammoth Video
Last week, a new video surfaced claiming to show a live woolly mammoth — an animal scientists think has been extinct for at least four millennia — crossing a river in Russia.
The video became an Internet sensation, making headlines around the world. Some Bigfoot believers and Loch Ness Monster lovers murmured their tentative approval, hoping it proved that large unknown (or assumed extinct) animals still exist in Earth’s remote wilds.
Good opportunity to show hoaxes. This site includes both videos (the “woolly mammoth” and the original).
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0213/Shocker-Video-of-live-woolly-mammoth-not-entirely-authentic-videos
Science & YouTube
From: Richard Byrne (Free Tech for Teachers)
The Spangler Effect is a new YouTube channel from Steve Spangler Science. Unlike his popular Sick Science videos which are no more than short demonstrations of science experiments students and parents can do at home, The Spangler Effect videos offer longer (15 minutes or so) explanations of science experiments. The Spangler Effect videos explain the science of do-it-yourself experiments and how you can recreate those experiments at home or in your classroom.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/02/spangler-effect-experiments-and.html
Bullying Strategies That Don’t Work
Via: Scott McLeod
In a review of bullying-reduction programs, Farrington and Ttofi (2009) found that interventions that involve peers, such as using students as peer mediators or engaging bystanders to disapprove of bullying and support victims of harassment, were associated with increases in victimization! In fact, of 20 program elements included in 44 school-based programs, work with peers was the only program element associated with significantlymore bullying and victimization. (In contrast, there were significant and positive effects for parent training and school meetings in reducing bullying.)
http://www.minddump.org/bullying-interventions-that-involve-student-p
Events & Happenings:
Calendar of Events:
Ohio Middle Level Association:
- The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference.
AMLE Affiliate Conferences:
- The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 2012 in Warren Woods, MI.
- The North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference March 13-15, 2012
Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
- Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available.
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