MSM 623: Talking Tik-Toky & Spicy Bees!

Summary:

Shawn and Troy return the Eileen Award, talk about student reflection, certainty-based grading, and more. Dave looks for climate justice.

Jokes:  

I asked the surgeon: can I administer my own anesthetic?

  • The surgeon said: Go ahead, knock yourself out.

OK, so naked running.

Apparently this means running without GPS, music and any other tech.

I wish I knew this an hour ago.


Frankenstein enters a bodybuilding competition and finds he has seriously misunderstood the objective.


I ate a clock yesterday. 

  • It was so time consuming.

What do you get when you cross a police dog and a skunk? 

  • Law and Odor.

I saw my wife trip and fall while carrying a laundry basket full of ironed clothes. 

  • I watched it all unfold.

I thought about going on an all-almond diet. 

  • But that’s just nuts.
  • If two vegans are having an argument, is it still considered beef?

Did you hear about the bread factory burning down? 

  • They say the business is toast.

What do police officers do when there’s a fly annoying everyone at the station?

  • Call the swat team.

The mime community has been very quiet as of late.




Middle School Science Minute  

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

Climate Justice

I was recently reading the March/April 2024 issue of “Science and Children,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Note” section written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn.  She wrote an article entitled, “Climate Justice.”

Education is a critical agent in addressing the issue of climate change.  The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change assigns responsibility to Parties of the Convention to undertake educational and public awareness campaigns on climate-change, and to ensure public participation in programs and information access on the issue.

http://k12science.net/climate-justice/

Eileen Award

  • New Listener… Megan Gomez!  

Reports from the Front Lines

The Social Web

hlseward@mstdn.socialHelen@hlseward@mstdn.social

Teaching can be a tough, joyless job sometimes, but on other days you get a Yr 8 student who reimagines Much Ado by having Disney-style talking cows for characters and calling it “Much A-Moo About Nothing” and you literally cry with laughter

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘fudgel’ (18th century): to make a big show of working hard whilst actually doing very little.

National Park Service  @NatlParkService

There’s nothing wrong with following your heart, but it never hurts to check the map too.

Katie Powell@Beyond_the_Desk

“I told you to stop eating bees. They’re spicy, and you don’t like them.” Me, to the dog.

The Modest Teacher  @ModestTeacher

We are officially entering the “can I do extra credit” portion of the school year.

Strategies:  

Reflection Ideas for The Classroom: The Why

https://www.hollyclark.org/2020/05/10/reflection-ideas-for-the-classroom

HOW TO MAKE FLEXIBLE, DATA-INFORMED STUDENT GROUPS

https://blog.tcea.org/data-informed-student-groups

4 Instructional Strategies Teachers Can Count On

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-4-instructional-strategies-teachers-can-count-on/2024/05

Resources:  

Teaching Kids How To Use a Phone

AT&T produced instructional films to accompany the introduction of dial telephones to guide subscribers in how to use the new technology.

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/senate-stories/videos/dial-telephones-1936-att.htm

12 Logic Puzzles That Will Test Your Smarts

https://www.rd.com/article/logic-puzzles

Image Accessibility Creator

https://asuo-images.streamlit.app

Patriarchy

Using the Barbie movie and other media (movies, TV shows) as a guide, Pop Culture Detective delves into what “patriarchy” actually means (mirrors: Patreon & archive.org).

We’re going to use the movie as a sort of primer to help explain what patriarchy actually is, what it isn’t, and how it ends up harming everyone, including men. To have any kind of productive conversation, we have to get over that defensiveness that so many men feel whenever they come across the word “patriarchy”. Contrary to popular belief, patriarchy is not a synonym for men, nor is it a code word for masculinity, and it certainly has nothing to do with hating men.

https://kottke.org/24/05/patriarchy-according-to-the-barbie-movie

AXIS The Culture Translator

Moms Make It Happen

What it is: As Mother’s Day approaches, people are talking about “kinkeeping”—the role of planning celebrations, managing communication, and maintaining closeness within a family—and the work it requires.

May the Fourthnite

What it is:  May 4—known to some as the day Star Wars fans unite to do Star Wars-themed things and say the phrase, “May the Fourth be with you.”

Why it’s what teens are talking about: To commemorate May 4, Fortnite will release a package of Star Wars content this weekend—including skins, music, vehicles, challenges, and in-game rewards. Disney+ will debut a new animated series called “Tales of the Empire.” And “The Phantom Menace” will return to theaters in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary. There are also deals and discounts on nearly every Star Wars video game ever made…and there are a lot.

Better Than Quiet Quitting – Preventing Burnout

World Magazine Article – 

FOR THE LAST couple of years, we’ve been hearing about the “quiet quitting” trend among American workers. Quiet quitting, in which people do only the bare minimum required for their jobs, became a means for coping with workplace burnout. The pandemic caused many office workers to reflect on their work, and some decided it wasn’t worth doing, or at least not worth any extra effort. In Slow Productivity (Portfolio, 2024), Cal Newport is sympathetic to these workers’ malaise, but he thinks quiet quitting is the wrong solution.”  

Web Spotlight: 

AI Resources

https://pinokio.computer

Spec Feedback

This form will be open until May 22nd, and your early thoughts will help us develop a robust process for gathering and incorporating feedback across a wide range of stakeholders—including users, developers, policymakers, trusted institutions, domain experts, and more. 

Over the next year, we will share updates about changes to the Model Spec, our response to feedback, and how our research in shaping model behavior is progressing.

https://openai.com/form/model-spec-feedback

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