MSM 353:  The “Myth” Adventures of Teaching with Styles!  FREE eBOOKS!!!  (That’ll get their attention!)

 

Jokes You Can Use:

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?

A: No, 35 children is enough.

 

Q: I’m two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?

A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

 

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby’s sex?

A: Childbirth.

 

What does a skeleton order at a restaurant?

Spare ribs.

 

Why should a skeleton drink 10 glasses of milk a day?

It’s good for the bones.

 

Why don’t skeletons like parties?

They have no body to dance with.

Advisory:

 

Superstitions

Have the students share the superstitions that they know about. Create a variety of wild superstitions to compare with ones from around the world.

http://twentytwowords.com/16-popular-foreign-superstitions-that-make-absolutely-no-sense/

 

http://www.distractify.com/old-school/2014/10/21/very-superstitious-1197796927

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/weird-superstitions-around-the-world-2016-9/#if-you-happen-to-be-in-india-during-a-solar-eclipse-stay-indoorsthe-belief-that-the-suns-rays-become-toxic-during-an-eclipse-is-so-pervasive-that-local-newspapers-continue-to-report-on-the-phenomenon-1

 

A Stanford dean on adult skills every 18-year-old should have

 

https://qz.com/644491/a-stanford-dean-on-adult-skills-every-18-year-old-should-have/

 

https://www.amazon.com/First-National-Bank-Dad-Foolproof/dp/1416534253  

 

Create a Treasure Hunt

Have the kids create it.

http://jamesalansturtevant.com/46-utilize-the-entire-school-building-with-this-engaging-scavenger-hunt-starring-caroline-craig-bowden-and-sandy-smith/

 

Millionaire creator of ‘Hamilton’: Waiting until age 28 to open a credit card was a mistake

Looking back, “there is so much I wish I knew about money when I was first starting out my adult life, but in particular, the importance of building good credit,” Miranda says.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/22/hamilton-creator-didnt-open-a-credit-card-until-age-28.html

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Just for Dave . . . and you too.  

 

Essential Substance – Water

 

I was recently reading the February, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “The Essential Substance.” It was written by Patty McGinnis, Editor of Science Scope.  The article describes how water is a precious resource.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/3/15_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Essential_Substance_-_Water.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Eric Stockmeyer‏ @Stockmeyer1

Struggling to keep your students engaged? Try these 7 Tools That Make Interactive Content Creation Easy. #edtech

https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/flip.it%2FccPWq_-7-tools-that-make-interactive-content-c/f-11c3f6d4db%2Fentrepreneur.com

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

What a great kinesthetic way to teach fractions http://buff.ly/2nlZrDG

Dru Tomlin‏ @DruTomlin_AMLE Mar 23

Here R the questions 4 2nite’s #mschat #MLEM17 tweet up! Join the middle grades celebration at 8pmET & raise the praise 4 the middle grades!

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

Looking for a fun way to review concepts? Your students will love this fish bowl review game! http://buff.ly/2mB0xwH

Heidi Hayes Jacobs‏ @HeidiHayesJacob

Serious Play Conference: Game Design Thinking for Leaders, Teachers http://seriousplayconf.com

 

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”  

 

Strategies:

 

Teachers must ditch ‘neuromyth’ of learning styles, say scientists

Teaching children according to their individual “learning style” does not achieve better results and should be ditched by schools in favour of evidence-based practice, according to leading scientists.

They say it is ineffective, a waste of resources and potentially even damaging as it can lead to a fixed approach that could impair pupils’ potential to apply or adapt themselves to different ways of learning.

School leaders say the enthusiasm for learning styles in schools has faded, but research in 2012 among teachers in the UK and Netherlands found that 80% believed individuals learned better when they received information in their preferred learning style.

“Teachers need to be armed with up-to-date evidence of what has been shown to be effective so that schools are not wasting time or money on unsubstantiated practices that do not help students,” the letter says. “It is hard to establish the cost to the education system of using learning styles. Some schools have it as part of their teaching ethos whereas others bring in external consultants or send teachers on training courses.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education

 

Four neuromyths that are still prevalent in schools – debunked

Many “neuromyths” are rampant in our classrooms, and research suggests that people are often seduced by neuroscientific explanations, even if these are not accurate or even relevant. Research also shows that explanations accompanied by images of the brain also persuade people to believe in their validity, however random the illustration.

 

  • Learning styles
  • You only use 10% of your brain
  • Right brain v left brain
  • Playing brain games makes you smarter

 

https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/feb/24/four-neuromyths-still-prevalent-in-schools-debunked

 

You Probably Believe Some Learning Myths: Take Our Quiz To Find Out

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/03/22/520843457/you-probably-believe-some-learning-myths-take-our-quiz-to-find-out

Resources:

FREE eBook Library

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/library-page?view=image&query&type=book&age_group=Age+9-11&book&book_type&series

 

Web Spotlight:

 

OER

http://fod.msu.edu/oir/open-educational-resources

 

Healthy Lunches

For more than a decade, standardized-test scores have been the dominant metric for measuring what public-school students know and are able to do.

…there’s one option that may have been overlooked: the ubiquitous school lunch.

Test score data from some 9,700 elementary, middle, and high schools found that contracting with a healthy meal vendor correlated with increased student performance by between .03 and .04 standard deviations—a statistically significant improvement for economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, Anderson said, adding that the size of the effect “is not huge … but it is notable.”

…that correlated with a rise of 0.1 standard deviations in the student’s test score. To put that statistic into perspective, healthier meals could raise student achievement by about 4 percentile points on average.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/do-healthy-lunches-improve-student-test-scores/520272/

 

Fake News

https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site

 

MSM 352:  Almost no Oscar, Almost …Vocabulary, Comics and MAMSE

 

Jokes You Can Use:

 

This sentence contradicts itself… no, wait, actually it doesn’t.

 

The Law of Volunteering”

If you dance with a grizzly bear, you had better let him lead.

 

“The Law of Avoiding Oversell”

When putting cheese in a mousetrap, always leave room for the mouse.

 

“The Law of Common Sense”

Never accept a drink from a urologist.

 

“The Law of Reality”

Never get into fights with less attractive people, they have less to lose.

 

“The Law of Self Sacrifice”

When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last.

 

“Weiler’s Law”

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.

 

“Law of Probable Dispersal”

Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.

 

“Law of Volunteer Labor”

People are always available for work in the past tense.

 

“Conway’s Law”

In any organization there is one person who knows what is going on. That person must be fired.

 

“Iron Law of Distribution”

Them that has, gets.

 

“Law of Cybernetic Entomology”

There is always one more bug.

 

At a church in Mississippi, the pastor announced that their prison choir would be singing the following evening. I wasn’t aware there was a prison in the vicinity, so I looked forward to hearing them.

 

The next evening, I was puzzled when members of the church approached the stage. Then the pastor introduced them.

 

“This is our prison choir,” he said, “they’re behind a few bars and always looking for the key.”

 

Eileen Award:  

  • iTunes:  And the Oscar goes to . . . Tsunami_rtr!  

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Systems Thinking

 

I was recently reading the January, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Systems Thinking Solutions.” It was written by Patty McGinnis, Editor of Science Scope.  The article describes how the cross-cutting concept of systems and system models is critical to science because it fosters understanding of the interconnectedness of system components.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/3/9_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Systems_Thinking.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

AMLE‏ @AMLE

#MiddleSchool educators, submit an article to AMLE Magazine & share your sch & classrm ideas that make a difference http://bit.ly/2kQmljC

MiddleWeb‏ @middleweb

Ready to sharpen up your vocabulary instruction? Check out the excellent articles in our collection: https://www.middleweb.com/category/articles/vocabulary-articles/ … #elachat @ncte

Todd Bloch‏ @blocht574

Look who showed up @MI_MAMSE #MAMSE Great to have Pam here in Michigan! Next year it’s you Dru! #mschat

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

Easy to make math game for practicing math facts http://buff.ly/2mL2rcV

Diane Ravitch‏ @DianeRavitch

Singapore Will Drop Grades, Reduce Testing http://dianeravitch.net/2017/03/11/64299 …

 

Mental Floss‏Verified account @mental_floss

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” —Douglas Adams, who was born on this day in 1952

 

Troy Hicks‏ @hickstro

Dr. Johnston makes me wonder why, WHY we are so focused on Lexile scores and reading logs when a reading life is so much more. #mrapassport

 

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

10 Classroom Discussion Techniques my guest post @RachelLynette ‘s Minds in Bloom blog http://buff.ly/2noJTMF

 

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”  

 

Strategies:

 

Teachers create coding course

 

http://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/westland/2017/02/22/teachers-create-coding-course/98231362/

 

Comics with Google Slides

How to Create Comic Strips in Google Slides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcTbckKjvpM

 

 

Resources:

 

Tinycards

Easy way for students to study using Flashcards. Easy to create. Study process is automated with some choices.

https://tinycards.duolingo.com

 

Strong Passwords

It is more important than ever to have a good password.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2017/03/how-to-create-strong-passwords.html#.WMQVmBIrJdA

 

Web Spotlight:

 

Working from home

 

https://youtu.be/Mh4f9AYRCZY

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site

MSM 351:  Fire that Fox (or Bringing Shawn’s web to it’s knees), Moodle Use and Grading.

 

Jokes You Can Use:

 

What’s the difference between Roast Beef and Pea Soup?  

 

If fortune tellers know the future, how come it’s so difficult to find a happy medium?

 

The manager of a large city zoo was drafting a letter to order a pair of animals. He sat at his computer and typed the following sentence: “I would like to place an order for two mongooses, to be delivered at your earliest convenience.”

He stared at the screen, focusing on that odd word “mongooses.” Then he deleted the word and added another, so that the sentence now read: “I would like to place an order for two mongeese, to be delivered at your earliest convenience.”

Again he stared at the screen, this time focusing on the new word, which seemed just as odd as the original one. Finally, he deleted the whole sentence and started all over. “Everyone knows no fully stocked zoo should be without a mongoose,” he typed. “Please send us two of them.”

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

Citizen Science — Nova’s Energy Labs

 

I was recently reading the December 2016 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

In this issue, I read the the Citizen Science article, “Power Up Science Learning with NOVA’s Energy Lab.” It was written by Jill Nugent.  The article describes the process by which students and teachers can get involved in a citizen science project — NOVA’s Energy Lab..  For more information, please visit:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/about

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/2/24_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Citizen_Science-NOVA_Labs.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Dr. Justin Tarte‏ @justintarte

The problem with typical grading methods visualized beautifully here by @tguskey: #sblchat #education #edchat

Graph showing passing as A-D, and failing as F. Passing is thus a large area versus failing being a small area. Another graph shows percentage grading scale where passing is a small area (100-70) and failing is a large area.

Miguel Guhlin‏ @mguhlin

RT An excellent resource for helping students discern fake news: http://ly.tcea.org/xqpmc . #students #cybersecurity via #TCEA

AMLE‏ @AMLE

Middle Level Education Month is in full swing. Shine a spotlight on the great things at your school! #MLEM17 http://bit.ly/1pIIXUK

MiddleWeb‏ @middleweb

See our TOP POST this week? Teaching writing doesn’t have to be scary. @jserravallo #elachat #educoach #nwp #ntchat https://www.middleweb.com/34208/5-ideas-to-make-writing-more-fun-to-teach/ …

Jonathan Oosting‏Verified account @jonathanoosting

Michigan schools can avoid potential closure under a new ‘partnership’ model from state.  

Miguel Guhlin‏ @mguhlin

MT Chrome Extension: AnyoneCanView http://alicekeeler.com/2017/01/26/chrome-extension-anyonecanview/ … http://alicekeeler.com/2017/01/26/chrome-extension-anyonecanview/ … via https://twitter.com/alicekeeler/status/837893838010212352 …

 

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”  

 

Strategies:

 

Who uses computers for math drill and practice? [SLIDE]

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Scott-McLeod-Slides.007.jpeg

 

12 structures to keep kids focused when using the internet in class

Listen:  https://www.acast.com/angelawatsonstruthforteachers/s5ep04-twelve-structures-to-keep-kids-focused-when-using-the-internet-in-class  

 

How to search for publicly shared Google Documents, Presentations, and Spreadsheets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYDR4vaLBGE

 

Resources:

Three Myths About “Reading Levels”

 

Psychologists love to measure things, and perhaps nothing has been measured as much by psychologists as reading–both texts and readers.  

 

Such misguided policies and practices are based on three very prevalent myths about reading levels:

Myth #1: Each text has a discrete, accurately measurable reading level.

Myth #2: Each reader has a discrete, accurately measurable level of reading skill.

Myth #3: Readers should (almost always) read texts very near their reading level.

 

Reading research has repeatedly demonstrated the effects of prior knowledge on reading comprehension; simply put, it is easier to read and understand texts that talk about things you already know a lot about.

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-minds/201702/three-myths-about-reading-levels

 

Web Spotlight:

 

I AM A CHRONIC ABSENTEE.

 

A few weeks back, a local news channel here in the Triangle covered an issue that they feel is a major problem:  Teachers who are “chronically absent.”  

Their definition of “chronically absent?”

Any teacher that misses more than 10 days of school in a single school year.

  • 6 for PD and conferences
  • 2 for a sick daughter
  • 1 for being sick “as a dog”
  • 1 to get first hour covered to set up for students.

http://blog.williamferriter.com/2017/03/03/i-am-a-chronic-absentee/

 

ISS Video Feed

https://www.urthecast.com/live/

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site