MSM 589: The Most Organized Chaos I’ve Ever Seen
Summary:
Shawn and Troy talk about transitioning the year, organized chaos, moving and more. Dave has part 2 of Scientific Literacy.
Jokes:
A book about proposed accomplishments in your life:
- oughtobiography
A pizza is basically a real-time pie chart of how much pizza is left.
Down at the concert hall, the premiere of “Concerto for Kazoo and Timpani” turned out to be rather humdrum.
How do baseball and congress differ?
In baseball you’re out if caught stealing.
To the person who stole my place in line — I’m after you now.
Entered what I ate yesterday into my new fitness app and it sent paramedics to the door.
The early worm gets the bird.
You never hear about people having hootenannies anymore.
He tried so hard to quit spelunking.
But he caved.
John opened a successful telescope factory.
Things are looking up.
How long did jousts last?
Usually until knightfall.
YouTube videos on how to use a fire extinguisher should not start with a 30-second ad.
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
K12Science Podcast: Encouraging Scientific Literacy
I was recently reading the May/June 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.
In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner” column, written by Ann Haley MacKenzie. She wrote an article entitled, “Promoting Scientific Literacy in the Science Classroom.”
This is the second of a two-part podcast series on Scientific Literacy. In this podcast we will look at the strategies for encouraging scientific literacy:
1. Incorporate real-world examples
2. Encourage critical thinking
3. Provide hands-on learning opportunities
4. Use many kinds of media resources
5. Address misconceptions
6. Collaborate with community resources
7. Creating a culture of making student thinking visible
http://k12science.net/encouraging-scientific-literacy/
Reports from the Front Lines
- 25 Years – Moving Day
- End of the Year/Beginning of New Year activities
The Social Web
It’s Friday, so here’s a reminder that as well as a ‘snaccident’ (the inadvertent eating of far too many crisps etc.), A gentle reminder of the word ‘matutolypea’: grumpiness or downheartedness first thing in the morning. Based on Latin and Greek, literally ‘morning grief’, or ‘sorrow of the dawn’.
I was in a pie eating contest at my daughter’s preschool carnival today. I won!
Figma’s design tools are now free for all US school students https://buff.ly/3qOhIwq
The skills required for life in the era of AI will primarily be human skills. (graphic from Serena Sacks-Mendel)
15 Google Forms templates you can use in class TOMORROW! Interest Survey Digital Escape Room Brain Dump Self correcting quiz Lesson reflection and MORE! https://ditchthattextbook.com/google-forms-templates/ #Ditchbook
As of today, my #H5P content type GameMap is under review of the H5P core team. Should be available on the H5P Hub soon – fingers crossed. Until then, feel free to download the demo content from https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2023/03/02/heres-game-map-my-25th-h5p-content-type-thats-publicly-available/ if you want to install it now.
Ugh. I keep telling them… I AM human!!!
When your favorite student asks you if you’re going to be their teacher next year:
Resources:
EdTech Books
Free Textbooks and Journals by Industry-Leading Professors and Other Experts.
K-12 Teaching Collection
These free books were specifically designed with K-12 teachers in mind.
They address a variety of topics and may be useful in many settings, including teacher education, licensure, and professional development.
HASPI Lessons & Labs
The HASPI Anatomy and Physiology resources were created through collaboration with industry members, higher education representatives, high school science teachers, and middle school science teachers. The resources are meant to be used in an anatomy and physiology course OR as a supplement for health career oriented courses. http://www.haspi.org/anatomy-and-physiology.html
AXIS The Culture Translator
Slang of the Week
Delulu: Shorthand for the word “delusional,” this term is used to refer jokingly to the decision to believe something—a relationship, a dream job, a perfect life—is real and possible despite there being no evidence to support that belief. The word is most often used when people reinterpret insignificant interactions as romantic in nature, and has also given rise to the word “delusionship,” referring to a whole imagined relationship. (Ex: “I think Jungkook and I might end up together.” “I think you’re delulu.”)
Web Spotlight:
Literacy and NAEP Proficient
In February, 2023 Bari Weiss produced a podcast, “Why 65% of Fourth Graders Can’t Really Read” and Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist, wrote “Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It.” Both headlines are misleading. The 65% and two-thirds figures are referring to the percentage of 4th graders who scored below proficient on the last reading test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), administered in 2022.
The problem is this: scoring below proficient doesn’t mean “can’t really read” or “struggling to read.” It also does not mean “functionally illiterate” or identify “non- readers” as some of the more vituperative descriptions on social media have claimed. It doesn’t even mean “below grade level in reading,” one of the milder distortions.
This post is on what scoring NAEP proficient means.
NAEP’s definition isn’t what most people think—or most dictionaries say—that the word means.
https://tomloveless.com/posts/literacy-and-naep-proficient/
In Praise of Waffling
If there are any continuing threads at this blog, one is certainly that education in general and teaching in particular are about balance, about managing the tension between a wide variety of conflicting forces and ideas. Students need direction. Students need freedom. Direct instruction. Discovery. Learning mastery takes whatever time it takes.
Balancing them as we move from circumstance to circumstance, from class to class, from student to student– it looks a lot like waffling.
There is lots of very specific teacher advice to be had, and every last bit of it is only useful in specific circumstances. “You must not get personally connected to the students” and “You have to forge more of a personal connection with the students” are both perfectly solid pieces of advice in entirely different specific circumstances. “Tighten up and act more like the adult in the room” and “loosen up and don’t be so strict” are both great pieces of advice in the right moment, and terrible pieces of advice in the wrong moment.
“Use a hose to shoot thousands of gallons water at the house” is great advice when the house in on fire. It is terrible advice if the house is caught in rising flood waters.
https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2023/06/in-praise-of-waffling.html
All Shootings at Schools From 1970-Present
All shootings at schools includes when a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, or day of the week.
Unlike other data sources, this information includes gang shootings, domestic violence, shootings at sports games and afterhours school events, suicides, fights that escalate into shootings, and accidents.
This information is recorded to document the full scope of gun violence on school campuses.
Use of this data must be cited with: Riedman, David (2022). K-12 School Shooting Database.
https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings
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