MSM 647: Self-Regulate to Success!

Summary:

Troy and Shawn talk about Common Courtesy, pedagogy around Social Studies, some jokes, and more. Dave not only is a Gem, but shares a Gemologist perspective. 

Jokes:  

I used to be a banker, 

  • but I lost interest.

What do you call a convicted criminal going down the stairs? 

  • Condescending

As we were driving down the road, Sweet Caroline came on the radio. I said to my son, Little known fact, Neil Diamond used to be called Neil Coal. Until the pressure got to him.


if you like telling dad jokes and you’re not a dad.

  • You’re a faux pa.

I used to work at a stationery store.  But, I didn’t feel like I was going anywhere.

  • So, I got a job at a travel agency.  Now, I know I’ll be going places.

I failed my fire safety course when I was asked what steps I would take in case there was an explosion.

  • Really large ones was an unacceptable answer apparently.

I tried taking some high resolution photos of local farmland, but they all turned out a bit grainy.


Did you know that you can be a world famous writer in only two steps?

  • Choose a selection of words 
  • Put them in the correct order



Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Gemologist

I was recently reading the November/December 2024 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Career of the Month” column, written by Luba Vangelova.  She wrote an article entitled, “Gemologist Nathan Renfro.” 

Gemologists study and assess the properties, quality and rarity of gemstones.  They can work in jewelry stores, appraisal firms, gemstone trading companies, or laboratories.

 http://k12science.net/gemologist/

Reports from the Front Lines

The Social Web

Cult of Pedagogy  @cultofpedagogy

Even the best-laid plans can fall apart. This week I interview Claire English from The Unteachables about how to get your classroom management back on track.  https://t.co/Lo7PtvW5GU  

Randy   @Randy_Man_h

I found the route that my parents took to school and back.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1872821807138652310

John R. Sowash  @jrsowash

Student Skills Checklist: Help students master essential tech skills with this comprehensive checklist, tailored for all grade levels:  http://chrmbook.com/back-to-school-survival-kit-13-classroom-templates-every-teacher-needs/ 

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

A few potential words of the day: Joblijock: a disturber of domestic peace (small children, cantankerous uncles, etc). Yule-hole: the furthest notch in your belt that you need to resort to at Christmas. Confelicity: joy in other people’s happiness.

Susie Highley  @shighley

This article also shares many of the benefits for those who do read. (Also connected to fewer readers- loss of certified librarians and well-stocked libraries.)  https://www.upworthy.com/teacher-reveals-the-really-obvious-reason-teens-no-longer-read-its-not-just-the-phones  

Quote from the article:  “Adults have lowered the bar for how much you should read as a teenager so far that the bar cannot be found.”  

‪Gerard Elwood‬ ‪@gerardelwood.bsky.social‬  

The annual release of State Papers reveals details of events from 1994 to 2004, including Boris Yeltsin’s Shannon Airport mishap and government disputes over Israeli arms deals. 📜🇮🇪

www.rte.ie/news/2024/12…  

Christopher Harris‪@principalh.bsky.social‬

Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops.

#education #teachers #EduSky

Resources:  

86 Stories of Progress from 2024

https://fixthenews.com/86-stories-progress-2024

Create Art or Modify Images

https://openart.ai/home

Three Keys to Being A Great Teacher

https://blog.acthompson.net/2024/12/three-keys-to-being-great-teacher.html

Image Accessibility

Enhance the accessibility of your course images with our intuitive tool. Designed to effortlessly generate alt text and detailed descriptions, as well as extract text from slides and images that are not accessible, our tool simplifies the creation of inclusive content. Just upload your image and hit ‘Create Image Details.’ Within seconds, you’ll see the generated content appear on the right side of the screen. Need to tailor the descriptions further? Easily add more specifics with the ‘Add Details’ option and generate updated descriptions to perfectly meet your needs.

This tool currently utilizes the GPT-4o model provided by OpenAI. We are using their API platform, which ensures the data sent is not retained or stored to improve their training or models.

https://asuo-ai-labs.streamlit.app/Image_Accessibility

Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List

Web accessibility evaluation tools are software programs or online services that help you determine if web content meets accessibility guidelines. This page provides a list of such tools.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/list

Public Domain Day

January 1, 2025 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1929 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1924!

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025

Web Spotlight: 

AXIS The Culture Translator

Top issues among teens for 2024

3. Gen Z’s Response to the War in Gaza: At the close of 2023, most conversations around the October 7 attack on Israel were still centered around the hope of getting Israeli hostages back

2. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: Even though concerns about smartphones and social media aren’t new, the publication of The Anxious Generation by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt seemed to represent a tipping point.

1. “Brain Rot”: Oxford declared “brain rot” to be their word of the year, which refers to the “supposed deterioration” of someone’s brain, caused by engaging with “trivial or unchallenging” (as Oxford puts it) online content.  

The Unteachables Academy 

“You want to run your classroom with calm confidence, but oh boy you know that is easier said than done! That’s where I come in. I’m passionate about providing the training, resources, and support needed to transform the behaviours and culture of your classroom, so you can get back to teaching! Have a browse of how you can have me in your corner.”

https://www.the-unteachables.com

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

MSM 646: Not A Drone

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss Moodle Update, Greek God Projects, Drones, and more. Dave asks “Why”?

Jokes:  

We all know Albert Einstein was a genius

  • but his brother Frank was a monster.

I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went.

  • Then it dawned on me.

Werewolves are notoriously hard to find…

  • Otherwise they’d be known as Therewolves.

My movie about the ceasefire…

  • Is on its last day of shooting.

What kind of bug can you wear?

  • A Yellow Jacket

What do you call it when the crew gives the Captain the silent treatment?

  • A Muteny

Did you know that now is a good time to buy Angel’s Wings?

  • There on Clarence

It’s time for people to stop looking up and complaining every night. 

  • There’s no reason to DRONE on and on about it.
  • I won all the trophies at the Janitor Association Awards.
  • It was a clean sweep.

wife texts here husband "Can you start cooking those sausages? Then added <3 as a cute heart. He cooked 2 sausages.

Door with a sign that says "Test Today". Kids discussing whether the it's an actual test, a pre-test, a practice test, a post test to the pretest, etc.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Asking Why

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the November-December 2024 issue of “The Science Teacher,” a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

Within this issue, I encountered the “Right to the Source” section, authored by Michael Apfeldorft. His article, titled “Joyfully Asking Why,” provided insightful information on a list of questions compiled by Carl Sagan and his wife, author/producer Ann Druyan.

In the mid-1990’s, Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan conceived of an interesting way to help young learners confidently ask questions and think about the world around them.  Carl and Ann compiled a list of 150 questions to develop a book series, where the title of each book would begin simply with the word WHY?   To download this manuscript of questions, please, visit:

https://www.loc.gov/item/cosmos000083

http://k12science.net/asking-why/

Reports from the Front Lines

  • Break Plans
  • How Did You Handle the Day Before Break
  • Sweets!

The Social Web

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘apanthropist’ (18th century): someone who dislikes company and desires to be left alone.

NJAMLE  @NJAMLE

Happy Holidays from NJAMLE! We wish everyone a wonderful and restful break and a Happy New Year!

Image

Figen  @TheFigen_

So smart Grandma.  https://x.com/i/status/1870248833868874027  

‪Bronwyn Desjardins‬ ‪@bronwynwritehttps://x.com/i/status/1870248833868874027s.bsky.social‬

Just leaving this here #EduSky

Students need to read books. Entire books. Our society is distracted, unfocused, and in a hurry. A curriculum that rushes through content perpetuates the anxiety of our time.

Glow Scot  @GlowScot

Looking to create a Christmas quiz for your learners? You can make your own quizzes for learners to complete using H5P in #GlowScot Blogs! Take a look at these examples for some ideas! https://ow.ly/yqAW50UsoVs  @H5PTechnology   #glowspotlight

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/h5pexamples/examples/

Rebecca Gulka‪@yesyoucanteachthat.bsky.social‬

“No, but Rebecca, Google just told me that penguins are mammals’ is why I teach literacy, ok

Matt Wolfe  @mreflow

We’ve been seeing a lot of amazing video models over the past couple weeks from the big companies. But let’s talk about open-source for a minute. LTX Video is generating 5-second videos and it’s taking only 4-seconds to generate them… And you can do that locally on a consumer-grade RTX 4090 GPU! It’s especially good at image-to-video conversion. …And because it’s open-source, the community is helping to improve upon it and iterate off of it, so we’re only going to see this model get better and better. LTX Studio is an ongoing partner and sponsor of mine and I’m super excited to see what they, and the open-source community, build with this technology!

Strategies:  

Gateway to Grammar: Question Tags – What Are They and How Do They Work?

https://www.wrightenglish.com/blog/gtg-questiontags2

Resources:  

Framadate

Useful for collecting information for scheduling. AND, can also collect information in a grid. Privacy forward. Open-source. 

https://framadate.org/abc/en

Trinket.io

Python that runs in the browser

https://trinket.io/python

Web Spotlight:

No Phones?! Now What? Catching Kids’ Attention

https://www.middleweb.com/51606/no-phones-now-what-catching-kids-attention/

The carbon impact of artificial intelligence

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-020-0219-9

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

MSM 645: ChatGPT and Crestfallen Faces

Middle School Matters Podcast surrounded by headphones. A microphone is in the front.

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss projects with Greek Gods, Moodle Database, and more. Dave flutters royally.

Jokes:  

What did Cinderella say when her photos didn’t show up?

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


It’s remarkable that there are old people the same age as me.


What’s the difference between a seal and a sea lion?

  • An ion!

Now this brings back memories.

The image shows a boomerang with two RAM sticks attached to it. The boomerang is made of wood and has a blue and green design.

Ever have a stirfry outside?

  • it’s just a wok in the park.

The field of yo-yo design has its ups and downs


Studies show that fertility is hereditary.

  • If your parents didn’t have children, chances are, you won’t either.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Monarch Butterflies

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the November-December 2024 issue of “Science Scope,” a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

Within this issue, I encountered the “Citizen Science” section, authored by Jill Nugent. Her article, titled “Journey of the Monarchs: Studying North America’s Nomadic Butterfly,” provided insightful information on the migration of Monarch populations.

 Journey North, a participatory science project based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, offers a special way for educators to bring the study of the monarch butterfly migration into their classrooms.  To learn more about this project, visit:

https://journeynorth.org/monarchs

http://k12science.net/monarch-butterflies/ 

Reports from the Front Lines

  • Preparing for break
  • Suicide Prevention Training
  • Student Use of AI
  • Computer Distribution

The Social Web

Tamasha James‬ ‪@relations-routines.bsky.social‬

Educators:

With the high demands of our roles not diminishing anytime soon, what is one thing you want to strengthen or improve after the break? 

Specifically something that is in your control. 

#BlackEduSky

#EduSky

‪Emily Camar‬ ‪@emilyandedtech.bsky.social‬

💡 Pro tip: Keep a ‘sandbox’ class in your LMS to test and explore new tools. It’s the perfect space for experimenting without impacting students. Share your tips! #EduSky #EmilyAndEdTech #EduCoach

‪Alessandra Giampaolo Keener‬ ‪@alessandrak.bsky.social‬

Teacher [going over class rules on 1st day – this was before cellphones]: You may NOT leave the room unless I hand you a hall pass.

Student: What if you’re having a heart attack? 

Lesson learned: Make absolute rules & you create a challenge for students to undermine you.

RUTH BUZZI  @Ruth_A_Buzzi

Don’t you hate spelling errors! Mix up a couple of letters and your whole post is urined.

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the weekend is ‘williwaw’ (19th century): a sudden violent squall or toppling gust of wind.

JNL@jnl@hcommons.social

14 year olds severely underestimate the nexus between obnoxiousness and interpersonal outcomes

D2L  @D2L·

The future of learning is open and interactive.  D2L is now accepting submissions for the 2024 H5P Awards, celebrating those using open-source tools to create impactful learning experiences.

Kyle Niemis@kyleniemis.bsky.social‬

Don’t ask students to share a “Fun Fact” about themselves but instead ask them to share a “Boring Fact” 😃

I can tell you as someone who made the switch a few years back, it results in a ton more “fun” facts and whole lot less anxiety in your students 💜

Great for adults too 😎

 #edchat #edusky

Resources:  

AXIS The Culture Translator

Don’t Believe Your Eyes

What it is: This week, the creators of ChatGPT debuted their much-anticipated text-to-video AI tool, Sora.

How it’s going so far: At its launch, OpenAI’s Sora was only available to people who had a subscription to the paid version of ChatGPT. But even with this restriction, massive demand for the new service seems to have overwhelmed their ability to keep up, and people trying to log in to Sora for the first time are being told that the ability to create new Sora accounts has been temporarily suspended. The sample videos on Sora’s homepage appear to be freed from the glitches and unexpected mutations that previous AI-generated videos suffered from, although critics say there are still a lot of issues to be worked out. Soon, it will be unthinkably easy for our sons and daughters to seamlessly generate high-fidelity videos of anything they can think of. What could go wrong?

Web Spotlight: 

American Students Outperformed the Rest of the World During the Pandemic

By now, you’ve probably registered the alarm that pandemic learning loss has produced a “lost generation” of American students.

American students improved their standing among their international peers in all three areas during the pandemic, the data says

https://archive.md/XYLN2

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

MSM 644: AI Options for Teachers

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about AI in education, oven mitts on trees, and more. Dave reads science. 

Jokes:  

Where do birds meet for coffee?

  • Nest Cafe

What do you get if you copy a mockingbird 1,999 times?

– 2 Kilo Mockingbird


I can’t find a German who knows the square root of 81.


Not to brag, but I fall between being a genius and a complete idiot.


I accidentally took my cats meds last night. 

  • Don’t ask meow.

Did you know you should always take an extra pair of pants golfing? 

  • Just in case you get a hole in one.

The average height of an Imperial Stormtrooper is about 5’11”, or 180cm for a Metric Stormtrooper.`


I’m ashamed to say I haven’t cleaned my mirror in years.

  • It reflects badly on me.

My great grandmother used say that things were better in Russia before the revolution, but I think she was being Tsarcastic.


They say, “Dress for the job you want,” which is why I just shuffled past your cube in my bathrobe and slippers. 


Have you heard about the owl sanctuary job opening? It’s all night shifts but they’re all a hoot over there.


I’m not a fan of the 1970s female solo singers because of how vain they are. 

  • They are a bunch of pre-Madonnas.

ME: I thought Tom Jones was a dead English singer, but he’s alive and Welsh.

WIFE: You write some awful jokes.

ME: It’s not unusual.


Middle School Science Minute  

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

Reading in Science

k12science.net/reading-in-science

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the November-December 2024 issue of “Science Scope,” a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association.

Within this issue, I encountered the “From the Editor’s Desk” section, authored by Patty McGinnis. Her article, titled “Reading in the Science Classroom,” provided insightful information on the science of reading.

Reading plays a pivotal role in all disciplines, and science is no exception. If you are seeking reading-based strategies to incorporate into your classroom, The California Academy of Sciences offers several before, during, and after active reading strategies that can assist students in comprehending science texts. To access these active reading strategies, kindly visit:

https://www.calacademy.org/educators/active-reading-strategies

To listen to this podcast, please visit:

https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/k12science/id/33998732

Reports from the Front Lines

The Social Web

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘librocubicularist’ (early 20th century): someone who loves nothing better than reading in bed.

Etymology of the day is ‘jargon’, from the old French ‘jargoun’, meaning ‘the chattering of birds’.

AMLE  @AMLE

AMLE relies on volunteer committee members to guide the work of our association. If you are passionate about middle level education and want to volunteer your time to advance your profession, consider applying for one of AMLE’s constituent committees! http://amle.org/get-involved

NJAMLE @NJAMLE

#NJAMLE2025 Annual Conference Call for Presenters! Interested in presenting at our annual conference on March 19th at Brookdale Community College? Submit a proposal here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1N-XYAZaNavbqBwDomDlL18wOXdYDD_oLFqn3SewfVsrnfQ/viewform  Submissions due by December 15th!

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld·  

This morning, I was walking down the street and I was hit by a violin, then a clarinet, and then a french horn! I think it was an orchestrated attack.

‪Hart Wilson‬ ‪@riversidehart.bsky.social‬

For my fellow Moodlers, a couple of presentations from the true US Moot held each summer In Helena, MT, the justly famous Mountain Moot. Here’s my first from 2022 when we were still on 3.11: My Favorite Moodle Hacks (presented to audible gasps and the odd “shut up!”) docs.google.com/presentation.

Asterija Rudienė

oestrdoSnp5 e 51etc38D418fea5Pi6ma r14 2bm9923:m90Mttm1m14u36

AI Tool to Help your Students Understand Any Video, in any Language, in seconds!

Theodosis KarageorgakisAI for Teachers

oestrdoSnp5 e 51etc38D418fea5Ai6ma r12 2bm9913:m90Mttm1m14u96

Wayin AI Link:  https://youtu.be/qVJ7X_Z-YoI  

Strategies:  

Zoom In on Reflection in Math Problem Study

There are four seemingly simple but powerful steps in Word Problem Workshop that engage every learner in problem-solving.

Step 1: Launch – Prepares students to make sense of the problem and take the first step toward a solution.

Step 2: Grapple – Gives students time to dive into the problem, take risks, and learn through trial and error as they work through their solution pathway.

Step 3: Discuss – A student-led discussion where 2-3 selected students share their strategies, allowing everyone to consider different approaches.

Step 4: Reflect – Offers time to review the experience of solving and discussing, helping students solidify and apply their new learning to future problems.

https://www.middleweb.com/51542/zoom-in-on-reflection-in-math-problem-study/

Take good notes

Facts are important, but facts don’t create learning. Stories do.

A story fits into (and changes) our understanding of the world. Good teachers are storytellers, and storytellers are teachers.

Notes, then, aren’t recitations of facts. They’re story prompts. A good note reminds you of a story that you already understand.

​​https://seths.blog/2024/11/take-good-notes-2/ 

Using Student Discourse to Increase Engagement

…when students are compliant, it is because the adult is doing all the work or talking. A simple yet powerful strategy to move from compliance to engagement is discourse through turn & talk. 

Student discourse, the interaction and exchange of ideas among students, is a vital component of learning. When students engage in meaningful conversations, they are not only actively constructing knowledge but also developing essential competencies for academic and personal success.

https://esheninger.blogspot.com/2024/11/using-student-discourse-to-increase.html

Resources:  

NotebookLM on Project 2025

https://www.speedofcreativity.org/2024/11/28/notebooklm-on-project-2025/

Why School?

Twelve years ago (!), TED Conferences asked me to write an ebook about my thoughts on the state of education and schooling in that moment. It actually sold pretty well, (probably because the price was $2.95). Recently, TED took the book off of its list and offered me the copyright, which I gladly accepted.

That means I can share it freely…so for anyone interested, here you go!

Twelve years feels like a long time given how quickly things seem to be changing, but as I’ve reread what I wrote, there is so much that still holds true today. Back then, the emphasis on interrogating “why?” was on the affordances of the Web. Today, there are a whole bunch of things going on right now that should prompt us to ask the “Why School?” question with even more urgency. But it is interesting how the underlying systems, structures, and practices of school remain largely unchanged.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to do…enjoy. Would love to hear your reactions.

​​https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4D1FAQEnZmrKGd7OUA/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/0/1731337686524?e=1733961600&v=beta&t=WcV1EbgMj0QN5qaLQKEROD_CMpZUy0hV8g0PdUMgcEU 

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Australia Bans Social Media Under 13

What it is: Australia just passed a bill effectively banning social media for children under the age of 16.  

Why it could just be the beginning: As we’ve previously reported, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt strongly argued in The Anxious Generation that age 16 should become the enforceable minimum age for social media use. As Reuters puts it, Australia’s ban “sets a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.” 

MiddleWeb Article

https://www.middleweb.com

The Six Characteristics of Effective Praise by Barara R. Blackburn

  1. Positive
  2. Reinforces High Expectations
  3. Appropriate
  4. Independence is Promoted
  5. Sincere
  6. Effort and Progress are Noted

Consider supporting MiddleWeb:  https://middleweb.substack.com/about  

Web Spotlight: 

Bongo

https://www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2024-12-07/bongo

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!