Summary:
Shawn and Troy talk about frustrating and empowering students. Dave moves kids from learning about to figuring out.
Jokes:
The first time I got a universal remote control I thought to myself, “This changes everything”
Did you know? By replacing your coffee with green tea, you can lose up to 92% of what little joy you still have left in your life.
In the House of Lords today, Lord Bellamy passed a note to Lady Billingham.
- This is an example of peer-to-peer communications.
What do you call two guys hanging out by your window?
- Kurt & Rod.
does refusing to go to the gym count as resistance training?
Hello everyone, welcome to Plastic Surgery Addicts Anonymous
- I see a lot of new faces here tonight
Where did you learn to make ice cream?
- Sunday school.
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
K12Science Podcast: Sensemaking
I was recently reading the January – February 2025 issue of “Science Scope”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.
In this issue, I read the section, “From the Editor’s Desk,” written by Patty McGinnis. She wrote an article entitled, “Helping Students Make Sense.”
Creating a classroom in which the emphasis shifts the learner role from “learning about” to “figuring out” requires students to engage in the collaborative task of sensemaking. The type of classroom discussion is critical to sensemaking. STEM Teaching Tools, at:
https://stemteachingtools.org/tools
http://k12science.net/sensemaking/
Reports from the Front Lines
- Clocks
- Classwise to ban ChatGPT
- BossJock JR
- Students creating Interactive Books using H5P
The Social Web
Word of the day is ‘whiffling’ (17th century): fickle, inconstant, and making it up as you go along.
RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
What’s the Irish for catfish? How 3,000 new Irish words are created every year. By Aoife Ryan-Christensen with insights from Gearóid Ó Cleircín @dublincityuni.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2…https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0306/1500101-new-irish-words-gaeilge-tearma-an-coiste-tearmaiochta-national-terminology-database-for-irish/?a
ALTUK.bsky.social @altuk.bsky.social
Our Open Education Conference, OER25 will bring together #OE specialists from across the globe to leverage shared expertise for change in policy and practice on 23 – 24 June 2025. Explore the Keynotes from last year – buff.ly/4byRwJP Follow #altc for the latest #OER25 updates. #OEWeek25
Rick Wormeli @rickwormeli.bsky.social
I wrote this for a middle school journal (AMLE), but as I work with high schools, it applies there, too. It’s focus is on how the adolescents learn best and thereby, what that means when using generative AI in our classrooms, including eight important guidelines: www.amle.org/with-a-i-let…
Per my last post on the cautions of using generative A.I. with middle and high school students, I offer a particularly insightful new book (Feb 2025) from
Marion McGarry @marionmcgarry.bsky.social
For Pancake Tuesday – read all about the Irish traditions of this day via
@rtebrainstorm.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2… @atu-ie.bsky.social
Strategies:
Sherlock Holmes and Covert Thieves of Attention
These covert thieves of attention are not harmless. They negatively impact student motivation, student rating of how important the lesson is, how many notes are taken, and how students perform on assessments. What is especially alarming is the finding that students are pretty good at recognizing whether those around them are attentive or inattentive, but they do not seem to recognize that those behaviors have an impact on themselves.
https://theeffortfuleducator.com/2025/03/03/sherlock-holmes-and-covert-thieves-of-attention/
Resources:
Fun Facts
https://www.weareteachers.com/weird-fun-facts/
AXIS The Culture Translator
Reeling
What it is: Last week, the algorithm for Instagram’s Reels briefly went haywire. When they opened the app, some scrollers (including minors) were deluged with pornographic material and videos of people being maimed or killed.
Why it’s revealing: Users often operate with the expectation that social media algorithms will weed out this sort of grotesque content.
AMLE Free Sticker!
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