Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk a lot about AI in education. Dave discusses the elephant not in the room. 

Jokes:  

What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie? 

• Sofishticated.

Past, present, and future walked into an ice cream store….

•  It was tense.

I used to work in a shoe recycling shop. 

• It was sole destroying.

The other day I was listening to a song about superglue, 

• it’s been stuck in my head ever since.

To the guy who invented zero… 

• thanks for nothing.

You know that cemetery up the road? 

• People are dying to get in there.

Why was Pavlov’s beard so soft?  

• Because he conditioned it.

---

---

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Elephant ID

I was recently reading the September-October 2024 issue of Science Scope, a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” section, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled: “Snapshot Safari: Elephant Edition.” 

Elephant ID is an online project that leverages Zooniverse’s people-powered research platform to address behavior and conservation questions related to the African savanna elephant, a species facing pressing challenges, including habitat loss.  To learn more, visit the project website at:

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/aeuk/elephant-id

http://k12science.net/elephant-id/ 

Reports from the Front Lines

• Kid Crud
• Shawn’s Preferred AI’s
  • JAN – local AI (Mistral 7B), open source
  • ChatGPT – content creation
  • Stable Diffusion
  • Canva
  • Adobe FireFly
  • Gemini
  • NoteBookLM

The Social Web

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘cockalorum’ (18th century): a self-important individual who struts across every stage as though they own it.

Positive Side of 𝕏  @positivesideofx

Paired as pen pals in middle school to practice their cursive writing, they’ve stayed close friends for over 60 years. After all that time, they finally met face-to-face for the first time.  

Tutela  @TutelaCanada

NEW RESOURCES added to the Literacy H5P Resources for Online and Blended Learning Collection on Tutela! Check them out here: https://tutela.ca/Collection?ite  

Strategies:  

My God! I Can’t Believe How Much Time ChatGPT Is Now Going To Save Me In Creating One Of My Favorite Teaching Resources!

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2024/09/16/my-god-i-cant-believe-how-much-time-chatgpt-is-now-going-to-save-me-in-creating-one-of-my-favorite-teaching-resources/

Bribing students: Another ‘magical solution’ that doesn’t work

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2024/09/18/bribing-students-another-magical-solution-that-doesnt-work/

Resources:  

Journeys in Film

We transform entertainment media into educational media by designing and publishing cost-free, educational resources for teachers to accompany carefully chosen feature films and documentaries while meeting mandated standards in all core subjects. Selected films are used as springboards for lesson plans in subjects ranging from math, science, language arts, and social studies to specific topics that have become critical for students to learn.

https://journeysinfilm.org/

Youth in Government

Grants are opening up, registrations are happening, lessons in Civis to learn . . . 

https://www.myig.org

Web Spotlight: 

High School Math Students Used A GPT-4 AI Tutor. They did Worse.

A study of nearly a thousand high school math students found that using AI tutors didn’t add up to success.

Students who had access to an AI tutor for practice exams did better than students without access in these practice exams. However, on a subsequent exam, when none of the students had access to an AI tutor, the students who worked with an AI tutor did worse than other students.

https://www.techlearning.com/news/high-school-math-students-used-a-gpt-4-ai-tutor-they-did-worse

5 concerns about AI in education

1. AI bias can impact students and schools in ways we might not expect.

2. Keep humans in the loop in high-stakes decisions in education.

3. AI doesn’t help us break down historical prejudices. It only reinforces them.

4. AI poses personal and academic threats to students.

5. Protect student data and privacy.

https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai-perils

Why Teachers – & Everyone Else – Should Ignore The Dancing Guy’s Leadership Advice

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2024/09/17/why-teachers-everyone-else-should-ignore-the-dancing-guys-leadership-advice/

Family’s Holocaust Story Too Graphic for District

In the year 2000, Holocaust survivor Felix Goldberg testified at our synagogue in Columbia SC about his experiences as a slave laborer during World War II. I was in the audience, and after delivering that speech, he approached me (knowing that I was an educator) and asked me to “do something with it.”

…with the blessing of the family members, we initially created a website for teachers: www.StoriesofSurvival.org which details his story and that of his wife Bluma, starting before the war and continuing during and after the war. 

We will continue to offer educators in grades 5-12 the classroom sets of our book, after they respond to a series of questions about how they will use the book with students. One of those questions asks them if they will consider inviting us into the classroom so that we can elaborate on the text and visual content and answer student questions.

https://www.middleweb.com/51330/familys-holocaust-story-too-graphic-for-district/

New AI trick: ‘synthetic human memories’

AI-edited photos can alter memories of things you experienced in real life. This knowledge will be weaponized. Here comes the False Memory Industrial Complex.

https://machinesociety.ai/p/new-ai-trick-synthetic-human-memories

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy share Earth, Wind, and Fire Day, experiences in safety and more. Dave brings SEL to Science.

Jokes:  

I used to work for an origami company but they folded.

---

Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Schrödinger: Nice.

---

I asked the surgeon if I could administer my own anesthetic, they said: go ahead, knock yourself out.

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Clem entered the barn to see two horses fighting over a bale of hay. It was the last straw.

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A good dictionary gives meaning to life.

---

I think circles are pointless.

---

Got fired from the custom kitchen shop for making too many jokes about taking countermeasures.

---

How do you keep a moron in suspense?

---

They call them Jersey cows, but if you look closely you can see that they don’t even have numbers on their backs.

---

I have a friend who writes songs about sewing machines. 

• He’s a Singer songwriter. Or sew it seams. 

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Social-Emotional Learning

I was recently reading the September-October 2024 issue of Science Scope, a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the “Editorial” section, written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled: “Social-Emotional Learning in the Science Classroom.” 

Perhaps nowhere else in education is social-emotional (SEL) more crucial than in the middle school science classroom, a place where students are expected to collaborate, communicate, and participate respectfully in the practice of argumentation.  For more information about SEL consider exploring the site for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a nonprofit organization that utilizes research to guide SEL initiatives.  For more information, visit:

https://casel.org

http://k12science.net/social-emotional-learning/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Course on Teaching Exceptional Children
• Movie AD
• Exciting Times – “Testing” the Boot System
• Curriculum Work
  • iReady
  • NWEA
• Apple Vision Pro Update
• Earth, Wind, and Fire Day  

The Social Web

Alice McFlurry @Alice@beige.party

What do they teach in Social Studies nowadays? Like, do they even cover MySpace and Friendster or do kids only learn about those in History class?

Wylfċen  @wylfcen

Another wonderfully specific Old English word: merecandel ‘sea-candle’, the Sun as it rises from or sets in the sea.

Jack Berckemeyer  @JBerckemeyer

Great teams come up with awesome grade level team names along with amazing visuals. This 6th grade team is all in on the mighty ducks. #pumpedup

BERCKEMEYER Breaks are back – Read the Room and show me shocked. Feel free to share with others and if you like these check out our webinar series. http://Jackberckemeyer.com

https://twitter.com/i/status/1835304245572129107

Moodle | Online learning, delivered your way.  @moodle

Free webinar: Moodle AI plugins! Join us on Thursday, 26th September, at 08:00 UTC. Register now: https://moodle.me/aipluginswebinar  #MoodleAcademy  @moodleacademy

Resources:  

REVIEW: Why Don’t Students Like School (Daniel Willingham)

https://readwriterespond.com/2024/09/review-why-dont-students-like-school-daniel-willingham/

Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class

Chris Stanislawski didn’t read much in his middle school English classes, but it never felt necessary. Students were given detailed chapter summaries for every novel they discussed, and teachers played audio of the books during class.

“When you’re given a summary of the book telling you what you’re about to read in baby form, it kind of just ruins the whole story for you,” said Chris, 14. “Like, what’s the point of actually reading?”

Some teachers focus instead on selected passages — a concession to perceptions of shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare for standardized tests and a sense that short-form content will prepare students for the modern, digital world.

Deep reading is essential to strengthen circuits in the brain tied to critical thinking skills, background knowledge — and, most of all, empathy, said Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA specializing in dyslexia research.

“We must give our young an opportunity to understand who others are, not through little snapshots, but through immersion into the lives and thoughts and feelings of others,” Wolf said.

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/09/17/nation/not-so-great-expectations-students-are-reading-fewer-books-in-english-class/

AXIS The Culture Translator

Keeping Accounts

What it is: Meta is rolling out “teen accounts” for minors on the app.

What parents should know: Meta is claiming that this change will provide “protections for teens, peace of mind for parents.” All teens under 16 with Instagram accounts will be automatically opted in to this type of account, and those who sign up for a new account before they turn 18 will be opted in, as well.

Out to Lunch

What it is: MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI are teaming up to launch a Lunchables competitor called “Lunchly.”

Why pre-teens might gobble it up: Lunchly is aimed at the same demographic that has made both MrBeast’s Feastables chocolate bars and Paul/KSI’s Prime Energy drinks a smashing success—young people between the ages of 9 and 13. 

Time to Waste

What it is: Social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt partnered with the Harris Poll firm to try to capture what Gen Z really thinks about social media.

What it shows: The nationwide poll of over a thousand 18-27 year olds asked “Do you wish TikTok was never invented” (47% said yes) and also posed questions about what steps they’re willing to take to limit their social media use. Maybe most eye-opening were the questions about time spent on these apps—over 60% said they spend over 4 hours a day on social media, and almost a quarter said they spend over 7 hours a day.   

Web Spotlight: 

From Book to Podcast in Minutes: My First Experience with Google Notebook

Today, I played with Google’s Notebook, followed Alec Couros’s suggestion, and uploaded a copy of my book. I also added my blog. Within minutes it created this 9-minute audio podcast of my book.

From Book to Podcast in Minutes: My First Experience with Google Notebook

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Moodle, culture of the kids, quiet hallways, and more. Dave styles some learning about Science. 

Jokes:  

R.I.P. boiled water. 

• You will be mist.

My New Years resolution is to stop leaving things so late.

---

I was just looking at my ceiling. Not sure if it’s the best ceiling in the world, but it’s definitely up there.

---

I had a pair of racing snails. I removed their shells to make them more aerodynamic, but they became sluggish.

---

How many seconds are in a year?

---

For Valentine’s day, I decided to get my wife some beads for an abacus.  It’s the little things that count.

---

My child is studying to be a surgeon, I just hope they make the cut.

---

If you ever get a call from an unknown number, pick it up and say “Hi, you’re on the air.”

---

Did you hear about the guy who invented Lifesavers? They say he made a mint.

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Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Learning Styles

I was recently reading the July-August 2024 issue of Science and Children, a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the “Science 101” section, written by Matt Bobrowsky.  He wrote a Q and A article entitled: “Q: If Students Have Different Learning Styles, What Kinds of Science Activities Are Best for Reaching All Students?”  

For a more well-rounded educational experience, teachers can use “multimodal” teaching.  Examples include visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.  But that does not mean that students have specific “learning styles.”  If students believe they have a particular “learning style” it can lead to a self-limiting mindset.

http://k12science.net/learning-styles/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Students in the Hallways
• Annual Training
• ACTEM
  • Thanking Your Past Self – Documentation Tips
• Moodle Movement
• New Curriculum Director

The Social Web

otacke @otacke@chaos.social

Uuuh, the #H5P core is now shipped with CKEditor version 5, so get the latest update of your H5P integration (and hope it supports the latest version of H5P core already)

Marcus Green @marcusgreen@fosstodon.org

This screenshot was taken from a recent version of #Moodle 4.5dev+ (alpha code) which includes the new #AI Subsystem. #Ollama allows you to host #LLM’s on your own hardware. By that I mean you can unplug the internet and interact with various Models.
I am rather excited by it.

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library  @Ford_Library

“Civics for All of US” student Constitution programs kick off this week! Join us for a live webinar and discover how the Constitution connects to our communities: https://civics.archives.gov/webinars #ConstitutionDay #CivicsforAllofUS

iCivics  @icivics

#ConstitutionDay is coming up on Sept. 17! Teach students about the text, history, and relevance of the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and additional amendments with our video series, The Constitution EXPLAINED, created with  @CivicEducation. https://bit.ly/4d1muJG

We have the perfect game for #ConstitutionDay! Our Constitutional Compromise game challenges your students to find a way forward for a young nation as disagreements mount. Experience the main historical debates of the Constitutional Convention with https://bit.ly/4gcMaWb

Street Law  @StreetLawInc

Because #ConstitutionDay (Sept. 17th) falls in the thick of the 2024 election season, check out our curated page of Street Law curricular resources on voting, elections, and the presidency. https://store.streetlaw.org/election-votin

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘bayard’ (16th century): one who has the supreme self-confidence of ignorance.

Strategies:  

Free Reading  

A Way to Increase Free Reading Outside of Class

…pare down the teacher-centered lessons, and free up enough time for “Free Reading Friday,”…

Most students were able to commit to reading 100-150 pages per week. This worked out to be about the same amount of time as they were spending before, but the weekly goal gave them more agency in deciding when to read, and many students reported that this helped them develop a better reading routine.

Students don’t spend “Free Reading Friday” reading. Instead, our Friday class is focused on talking and writing about free reading.

https://www.middleweb.com/51237/a-way-to-increase-free-reading-outside-of-class/

Resources:  

26 Tips for Beginning Teachers, from A to Z

https://www.middleweb.com/51194/26-tips-for-beginning-teachers-from-a-to-z/

AXIS The Culture Translator

1. Impossible Creatures

What it is: The US edition of a fantasy book for middle-graders is expected to be one of the bestselling titles of the year.

What parents should know: Impossible Creatures, by British author (and Oxford fellow) Katherine Rundell, became an instant bestseller when it was published in the UK last year. The premise of the book is simple (and a bit Narnia-esque): a young man discovers a portal to a hidden world where creatures like griffins, sphinxes, and dragons exist. What follows is equal parts action and adventure in the vivid tradition of Robert Louis Stevenson. The book has some darker themes and violence, but reviews say it ultimately serves as a morality tale about duty, sacrifice, and doing what is right.

2. Young Americans, Online

What it is: A newly-published survey showed that Gen Z and millennials say they feel more like “themselves” online than offline.

What it tells us about the rising generation: It is, perhaps, not all that surprising that a majority (45%) of Gen Z say they feel more like themselves online. This is a generation that has grown up expressing themselves in digital spaces. What is a bit of a surprise is that those that feel more themselves online beat out those that feel more at home offline by only 3%. Compare this to the millennial split in the statistics, where 47% said they feel more at home online than offline and 40% felt more fully themselves in person. Gen Z may see online life as indistinguishable from “real life,” but they may also be more likely to bring the same sort of caution to life online that previous generations brought to life offline.

“Monday” Video

A parody on the “Friday” video . . . . But for Monday.  

https://youtu.be/qBEUIxCcqlY

Web Spotlight: 

Infinite Mac

Infinite Mac is a collection of classic Macintosh and NeXT system releases and software, all easily accessible from the comfort of a (modern) web browser.

Pick any version of System Software/Mac OS or NeXTStep/OPENSTEP from the 1980s or 1990s and run it (and major software of that era) within a virtual machine. You can also run a custom version with your choice of machine and virtual disks. Files can be imported and exported using drag and drop, and System 7 and onward have more advanced integrations as well – refer to the welcome screen in each machine for more details.

https://infinitemac.org

Sort out your life! 100 tiny tricks to help with everything from digital overwhelm to lumpy sugar and unpaid bills

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/sep/03/sort-out-your-life-100-tiny-tricks-to-help-with-everything-from-digital-overwhelm-to-lumpy-sugar-and-unpaid-bills

Food Mood

https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/food-mood/HwHnGalZ3up0EA

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about the importance of the first days of school, building relationships, and more. Dave has students focused on Astrophotography. 

Jokes:  

I always wanted to look into why I procrastinate, but I keep putting it off.

---

Me: I feel awful!

Doctor: Tell me what happened.

Me: I was eating an apple and…

Doctor: Wait. How many apples do you eat?

Me: One a day.

Doctor: You’re on your own.

---

I heard there was a new store called Moderation. 

• They have everything there

Shout out to my grandma, that’s the only way she can hear.

---

My new thesaurus is terrible. In fact, it’s so bad, I’d say it’s terrible.

---

Cooking Tip: If you’re tired of always having to boil water every time you make pasta, boil a few litres at the beginning of the week and freeze it for later. You’re welcome!

---

Bought a new jacket suit the other day and it burst into flames. Well, it was a blazer

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I’m reading a book on the history of glue – can’t put it down.

---

What did the hat say to the scarf?

You can hang around. I’ll just go on ahead.

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I went to the zoo yesterday and saw a baguette in a cage. 

• It was bread in captivity.

---

My dog used to chase people on a bike a lot. It got so bad I had to take his bike away.

---

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Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Astrophotography

I was recently reading the July-August 2024 issue of Science Scope, a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association, for middle school teachers.

In this issue, I read the “Scope on the Skies” section.  In the section was an article entitled, “Capturing Photons,” written by Bob Riddle. 

One way to make astronomy more accessible and engaging to students is to introduce them to astrophotography.  The most direct way is probably with the student’s own smartphone.

http://k12science.net/astrophotography/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Students
• Opening Days
• Rules Quiz

The Social Web

Katie Powell  @Beyond_the_Desk

Boredom Busters officially released 5 years ago today! So grateful to ⁦

@burgessdave      @TaraMartinEDU   ⁦⁦@DHarrisEdS, and all those who work behind the scenes in the  @dbc_inc⁩ community for bringing my books to life. It has been such an honor.

otacke @otacke@chaos.social

Aaand yet another #H5P content type brought to you by #NDLA: Escape Room. https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2024/07/23

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘struthious’ (18th century): prone to ignoring unwelcome facts and letting a situation worsen without any intervention. From the Latin for ‘ostrich-like’.

Word of the day, as schools reopen, is ‘merry-go-sorry’ (16th century): a mixture of joy and sorrow.  

Bill of Rights Institute  @BRInstitute

Join us Monday night as we co-host #sschat with  @ConstitutionCtr

. See you Monday, Sept. 9th at 8:00 PM ET! We will be sharing our #ConstitutionDay resources!

Moodle | Online learning, delivered your way.  @moodle

We are pleased to announce that Nolej is now a Moodle Certified Integration! Nolej uses cognitive psychology and generative AI to transform teaching content into engaging, interactive H5P activities. https://moodle.com/news/empowering-educators-with-moodle-certified-integration-nolej/ @nolej_ai

Strategies:  

Typing

Practice touch typing by retyping famous novels. Not only will you improve your typing skills, but you’ll also enjoy some of the greatest stories ever told!

A good place to start is our step-by-step guide that kickstarts your adventure into the world of touch typing.

https://entertrained.app

Resources:  

H5P Content Types – Escape Room and Vocabulary Drill

Escape room lets you set up an escape room inside H5P and use pass codes to advance the story.  Vocab Drill is just that.  Drill.  

Escape Room:  https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2024/07/23/ndla-brings-you-yet-another-h5p-content-type-escape-room/  

Vocabulary Drill:  https://www.olivertacke.de/labs/2024/07/18/ndla-brings-you-vocabulary-drill/  

AXIS The Culture Translator

In Grand Fashion

What it is: This Sunday, some families will celebrate Grandparents Day by making phone calls, reminiscing, and otherwise being grateful for the impact that grandparents have had on their lives.

Why it’s catching on: “Grandparents Day” is not simply the latest hyped-up “holiday” to get thrown on the calendar in an attempt to sell cards and flowers. Grandparents Day was actually first recognized as a national holiday in the US back in 1978. It was the culmination of years of effort from activist Marian McQuade, who herself was the grandmother of 43 children. Economic, cultural, and sociological factors are contributing to a rise in multigenerational households—and people are living longer, too—which means that the role that grandparents play in families is being revisited.  

QR Code Generator

https://fietkau.software/qr

Your Name in LandSat

https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/apps/YourNameInLandsat-main/index.html

Block Posters

https://www.blockposters.com

6 Ways to Tell if Students are Using AI

https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/6-ways-teachers-can-tell-students-are-using-ai

2024 Back-to-school science toolkit for teachers and administrators

Download your back-to-school science toolkit, featuring activities, research, webinars, and guides to help you reach new levels of engagement and strengthen relationships with your peers and students.

Find dynamic tools for administrators, teachers, and caregivers—all designed to activate student curiosity and build your community of scientists and supporters.

You’ll find:

• Administrator exercises to set goals and help every student thrive.
• Grade-banded, first-day classroom activities for students.
• How-to guides and webinars with strategies to apply to your practice today.

https://go.info.amplify.com/fy23_science_backtoschool_national_toolkit_pdf-toolkit_getintouch_optin

Web Spotlight: 

It began with sibling rivalry. Now he has 181 Guinness World Records.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/08/27/david-rush-guinness-world-records

Random Thoughts . . .  

Talk Like A Pirate Day 

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon,^[1] who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate (that is, in English with a stereotypical West Country accent).^[2] It has since been adopted by the Pastafarianism movement.^[3]

September 19th. 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download