Jokes You Can Use:  

I was struggling to hear properly so I went to see the doctors.
He said “Can you describe the symptoms?”
– I said “Homers a fat fella and Marge has blue hair”

A vegan said to me: “People who sell meat are disgusting”
– I replied: “People who sell fruit and veg are grocer.“

Last night a hypnotist convinced me I was a soft, malleable metal with an atomic number of 82.
– I’m easily lead.

My laptop is broken. It just keeps playing “Chasing Pavements” over and over again.
– Probably because it’s a Dell.

I noticed that the local convent has no security around the building, so I helped myself.  
– No ‘fence.
– Nun taken.

I went round MC Hammer’s house the other day. It was very frustrating, he wouldn’t let me touch anything.

I really need to confront my phobia of German sausages, but I fear the wurst.

I used to play the triangle in a reggae band but left because it was just one ting after another.

Advisory:

Dollar Street

In the news people in other cultures seem stranger than they are.

We visited 264 families in 50 countries and collected 30,000 photos.

We sorted the homes by income, from left to right.

• See how people really live

https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix

11 Secrets Of Irresistible People

1. They Treat Everyone With Respect
2. They Follow The Platinum Rule
3. They Ditch The Small Talk
4. They Focus On People More Than Anything Else
5. They Don’t Try Too Hard
6. They Recognize The Difference Between Fact And Opinion
7. They Are Authentic
8. They Have Integrity
9. They Smile
10. They Make An Effort To Look Their Best (Just Not Too Much Of An Effort)
11. They Find Reasons To Love Life

https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2015/08/31/11-secrets-of-irresistible-people/#3701b2313a0a

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Outstanding Engineering Trade Books for 2018

I was recently reading the February, 2018 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 article on the “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12: 2018.  In this podcast, I feature Engineering Trade Books:

1.  “Chasing Space, Young Readers’ Edition” by Leland Melvin
2.  “Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers’ Edition” bu Ashlee Vance
3.  “Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science” by Jeannine Atkins
4.  “Mosquitoes Don’t Bite Me” by Pendred E. Noyce
5.  “Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World” by Laurie Lawlor

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2018/6/7_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Outstanding_Engineering_Trade_Books_2018.html

From the Twitterverse:  

Rick Wormeli‏ @rickwormeli2

Mike captures a growing concern well, let’s get the conversations going on this: Google, ISTE, and the Death of EdTech https://crowleym.com/2018/06/30/google-iste-and-the-death-of-edtech/ … via @crowley_mike

Alice Keeler‏ @alicekeeler

Is using a Google search cheating or is it evidence that our quizzes are outdated??? #iste18

MoodleNews‏ @moodlenews

Plugins with the @MoodleAssoc members seal of approval alive are PoodLL, BigBlueButton, Questionnaire and Level Up! Fellow members unite! http://j.mp/2tJaB7v  @MoodleNews #MoodleWorldCup

Sarah Berryman‏ @srberryman

Love this simple info graphic of meaningful student work options! @cultofpedagogy

Eric Curts‏ @ericcurts

Create Video Mash-Ups with Google Slides http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/06/slides-video-mashups.html … #edtech

Jamie Mullenaux‏ @JamieMullenaux

Are you your biggest obstacle? If you knew you wouldn’t be judged what would you do? #iste18 @TheTechRabbi #hcpspln

Julie Woodard‏ @woodard_julie

Oh, Snap !!! Somebody asked me for this … I so very much apologize … I can’t remember who needed it …. eeesh

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

ISTE 2018

• SketchNoting
• Google Tour Creator
• Leslie Fisher
• Oculus GO
  • Gear VR compatible
• Merge Cube
• Cisco CSR

Strategies:

Grit

• Duckworth defines as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” that captures the public imagination.
• In a recent peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Educational Controversy, I examined the history of the discourse surrounding this special trait. It far predates Duckworth’s research, of course. My investigation led me to two conclusions. The first is that the widespread assumption that grit is a salient concept for low-income students is a stark misconception. The second is that while grit theory offers little of value to those disadvantaged students, it can certainly harm them, by romanticizing hardship.
• … More
• grit was understood as an antidote to the ease and comfort of wealth, which produced spoiled children who lacked the vigor of their ancestors.
• celebrated Horatio Alger books were written and sold as instructive tools to teach middle and upper class children about the virtues that came from struggling against hardship.
• In the economic boom following World War Two, sales of Horatio Alger books jumped once again, setting the stage for the 1968 novel and John Wayne film True Grit,
• Today, however, this history is forgotten
• To temper the tedium of synthesized academic studies, Tough sprinkles his narrative with interviews with impoverished young people. Most are exemplars of Horatio Alger-style grit, having overcoming absentee parents, racism, and violence before succeeding academically.
• … More
• Here, though, is the fundamental problem with the notion that the importance of grit has to do with bettering the chances of disadvantaged students. Children raised in poverty display ample amounts of grit every day, and they don’t need more of it in school.
• … More
• grit is not a fixed quality but one that can be developed. And what better arena for developing grit than facing the hardships of poverty and surviving? Poor children, therefore, are not the ones who need to be taught grit.
• … More
• Duckworth’s foundational research was conducted in largely privileged populations: Ivy League undergraduates, West Point cadets, and high-achieving contestants in the National Spelling Bee.
• … More
• historically, the grit discourse is driven primarily not by concerns about disadvantaged students but by the anxiety of middle and upper-class parents about the character of their own children.
• overemphasis on character education means that fewer resources will be spent on teaching disadvantaged students the skills and knowledge they need to actually succeed academically and professionally.
• … More
• Sisyphus had plenty of grit, but it didn’t get him very far.
• “[C]an you imagine the outcry if, let’s say, an old toxic dump was discovered near Scarsdale or Beverly Hills and the National Institutes of Health undertook a program to teach kids strategies to lessen the effects of the toxins but didn’t do anything to address the toxic dump itself?” Rose’s point is not that social and emotional learning programs are a waste of time; rather, the problem is that describing these as panaceas can be a dangerous distraction from more pressing issues.
• … More

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/05/10/the-problem-with-teaching-grit-to-poor-kids-they-already-have-it-heres-what-they-really-need/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e082b1ab4ab8#annotations:AToOZnGpEeiyhidqm7MlZA

Resources:

The Global Problem Solvers (GPS the Series)

“Students focus on real-world social, economic, and environmental problems around the world. Through the program, they learn that coming up with ideas is just the first step in problem solving. While interacting with each other, they discover the stages of making ideas real – design, manufacturing, deployment, maintenance, and funding.”  – Cisco CSR Group

https://www.gpstheseries.com/en-us/teachers/  

Sero Assessment

https://www.serolearn.com/

Flipgrid

Microsoft has acquired education technology startup Flipgrid, Inc., and immediately announced that the subscription social learning platform will be free to all educators.

https://flipgrid.com/

https://blog.flipgrid.com/news/bettertogether

https://educationblog.microsoft.com/2018/06/flipgrid-microsoft-education/  

Wheel Decide

Think Wheel of Fortune, but you pick the topics (or names, choices, etc).

“Wheel Decide is a free online spinner tool that allows you to create your own digital wheels for decision making, prize giveaways, raffles, games, and more. Browse through our wheels and spin to randomize your life and make the decisions that have no wrong answers.”

http://wheeldecide.com

Web Spotlight:

Improving Teaching Effectiveness: Final Report

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2242.html#annotations:pRe8anVOEeikuRucRPTy3A

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site

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