Summary:
Shawn and Troy talk about ISTE, accents, and more. Dave has some Real-World Problems.
Jokes:
Once you get past my sense of humor, intelligence, charm, and good looks, ONLY my modesty will stand out.
Planning to take up meditation. I figure it’s better than sitting around doing nothing.
I got a job organizing opera singers in northern New England. I’m the aria manager.
Sometimes it would take my entire 8-hour shift to get nothing accomplished.
Love ruining the plot of Dorian Gray for people.
- Never gets old
I think the sailor was a little in to into sweeping the deck.
- He went overboard.
I used to work for autocorrect until they fired me for no raisin.
Why are button-controlled remotes better than voice command?
- It goes without saying.
I had a thought…
- Then poor little thing died a lonely death.
My sock collection is by far the best.
- It is simply unmatched.
Why don’t vampires bet on horses?
- They can’t handle the stakes.
“Have you seen the dog bowl?”
- “I didn’t know he could.”
The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used in the first century BCE to criticize writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words.
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
K12Science Podcast: Real-World Problems
I was recently reading the July-August 2025 issue of “Science and Children”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.
In this issue, I read the section, “Editor’s Note” written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn. She wrote an article entitled, “Exploring Real-World Problems.”
Students in classrooms are encouraged to act as problem-solvers, inventors and young scientists. Real-world problems, big or small, offer meaningful opportunities to engage students in authentic science that matters.
https://k12science.net/real-world-problems-2/
Reports from the Front Lines
- ISTE Session: Student Agency in Education
- Poll: Troy’s Accent: https://app.wooclap.com/KARKFY?from=status-bar
The Social Web
Review: MOVING PAST MATH ALGORITHMS TO DEEPER REASONING Developing Mathematical Reasoning is a valuable resource offering fresh insights. An eye-opening read that will reinvigorate your approach to teaching #math, says
@Kathie_Palmieri . #mtbos #mathchat https://middleweb.com/52456/math-rea
NEW: Strong Sentence Frames to Support Your ELLs. Sentence frames built on clear objectives serve as effective scaffolds for English language learners. Ortiz-Agib & Cummins share their classroom-tested strategies.
@SundayCummins #ELLs #ESL #edutwitter https://www.middleweb.com/52443/strong-sentence-frames-to-support-your-ells/
How to hire for middle school success? Resumes aren’t enough. In his fifth and final leadership lesson, Dr. Cedrick Gray outlines his 5 must-haves for middle school staff. Don’t miss our new Strategies for Middle School Leadership video series: Full video: https://ow.ly/PfI150WrZ2E Summary article: https://ow.ly/Hi9b50WrZ2B More resources for leaders: https://ow.ly/J6BW50WrZ2A
https://middleschool.org/resources
National Park Service @NatlParkService
There’s nothing wrong with following your heart, but it doesn’t hurt to check the map now and then.
Strategies:
AI Use Case
How can we use AI to intersect standards to set us up for interdisciplinary lesson design? Here’s one idea.
- Find your priority standards. Find one other team member’s priority standards. I’d recommend putting those in a two column Google document for future reference.
- Ask Perplexity.ai to: “Create a table correlating my state’s ELA standards (put standards codes here) and Social Studies standards (put standards here). Apply the pedagogy of Rick Wormeli, Jack Berckemeyer, Judith Baenan, and Katie Powell to create a table with the English standards in the left column, correlated Social Studies standards in the next column, Interdisciplinary lesson ideas next, and 2 culminating project ideas in the last column.” Insert your own two curricula selections, I just happened to use English and Social Studies. It should be noted that none of the AIs I tried this on have the actual text of any of these authors. According to them.
- Mash Return.
Here’s a sample of what it could look like. Add a twist to yours by asking for another column suggesting products from Imogene Forte & Sandra Schurr’s Curriculum Planner. Have fun with it!
Before You Decorate Your Classroom, Here’s a Better Idea
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/classroom-decor-one-word
Resources:
Our 2025-26 Student Contest Calendar
- Sept. 10-Oct. 22, 2025 – New! Growing Up With A.I.: A Multimedia Contest for Teenagers and Educators
- Oct. 22-Dec. 3, 2025 – My Tiny Memoir: Our 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/learning/our-2025-26-student-contest-calendar.html
Word Lab
Think Wordle. Pick 3, 5, or 7 letter words (or do all three choices).
https://www.weareteachers.com/interactives/word-lab
AXIS The Culture Translator
Slang of the Week: Chopped
This week’s slang of the week is the term chopped, defined as “something messy, ugly, sloppy, or unattractive.” Using chopped as an adjective is the Gen Z equivalent of something looking “busted” or “beat.” It can be used as an insult to describe a person, but it can also describe a thing that was poorly executed or just didn’t turn out the way you hoped it would. (Ex: “I’m so glad he’s not my boyfriend anymore—he’s looking chopped.”)
Spilling the Tea
What it is: A social media app called Tea Dating Advice (or just “Tea”), designed to be a platform where women could warn each other about specific men, was hacked this week.
How it went down: Tea’s creator, Sean Cook, cites his mother’s “terrifying experience with online dating” (which included her being catfished and unknowingly dating men with criminal records) as inspiration for creating this app. It was meant to be a way women could verify information about men before going out with them. Some men, however, became concerned that they were being wrongfully defamed on the women-only app with no way to defend themselves. As retaliation, a group of hackers on the anonymous forum 4Chan stole and began posting images and personal information of women who used the app. The whole debacle creates many opportunities for conversation, including around questions like “What should accountability look like in an online world?” “Where’s the line between a healthy warning and gossip?” and “How can we know whether meeting up with someone we met online is safe?”
Web Spotlight:
WORLD Magazine: ChatGPA
“Flaming is among the first generation of young teachers receiving their diplomas in a world where generative AI tools are fast becoming near-ubiquitous.
The moment feels symbolic—a point of no return for educators who have spent the last few years scrambling to keep up with an ever-expanding universe of labor-saving tools while playing cat-and-mouse with plagiarizing students. While some hail AI tech as a revolutionary key to learning—opening the door to more tailored and accessible strategies—others argue tools like ChatGPT are eroding students’ capacities to think critically and pursue truth.”
https://wng.org/articles/chatgpa-1752553977
Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime.
https://www.propublica.org/article/social-media-arrests-school-threats-law-tennessee
The Science of Sesame Street
https://www.techlearning.com/news/the-science-of-sesame-street
Teens say they are turning to AI for advice, friendship and ‘to get out of thinking’
Random Thoughts . . .
AMLE Interdisciplinary Teaming Survey
Help AMLE better understand interdisciplinary teaming practices across middle schools! Complete the member survey by August 22nd AND we’ll select 5 survey takers to receive an amazon gift card. The results will be posted on September 2nd at amle.org/resources.
AMLE periodically conducts surveys on emerging or hot topics in middle level education to further our understanding of trends across schools. Have a suggestion for a future survey topic? Submit it to membercenter@amle.org.
Dan Olinger
Click the Play button below to listen to the show!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
