Summary:
Shawn and Troy discuss using AI to make up lesson plans, develop parent newsletters, and more. Dave has some disciplinary science tips.
Jokes:
Just ordered a takeaway from the local Chinese. I ordered a 7, a 13, a 21, and a 33, unfortunately, I had to take them all back, though.
- They tasted odd.
You can only “ran” through a campsite as it’s past tents.
My new thesaurus is terrible. In fact, it’s so bad, I’d say it’s terrible.
The biggest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from eating too much pi.
I was in New Mexico and a cowboy asked me if I could help round up 18 cows. I said: Yes, of course, that’d be 20 cows.
I was on the Oreo website and I clicked Accept All Cookies.
- Now we wait…
If it’s not related to elephants…
- It’s irrelephant.
Walking into solid objects can be painful, according to a recent pole.
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
K12Science Podcast: Disciplinary Literacy
I was recently reading the July-August 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.
In this issue, I read the section, “Editor’s Corner” written by Brooke A Whitworth. She wrote an article entitled, “Developing Disciplinary Literacy.”
We can think of disciplinary literacy in two ways, when it comes to science:
1. Broadly, in terms of how science compares to other content areas.
2. Specifically, in terms of how the subdiscipline of chemistry differs from biology or physics or earth science.
https://k12science.net/disciplinary-literacy/
Reports from the Front Lines
- What I Did With AI This Week:
- Team/Building Newsletter for Parents (Sora)
- First Quarter English & Social Studies Integration 10 Day Unit.
- Prompt Process:
- What are the commonalities of these Michigan GLCE standards: RL: 7.1* RL: 7.2* RL: 7.3* RL: 7.4* RL: 7.5* RL: 7.10* W: 7.3a* W: 7.3b* W: 7.3c* W: 7.3d* W: 7.3e* W: 7.4* W: 7.10* SL: 7.1a* SL: 7.1b* SL: 7.1c* SL: 7.1d* SL: 7.6* L: 7.6*
- Ok. How do these Michigan GLCE standards intersect with those English standards and what are 5 interdisciplinary projects I could propose to the English teacher? Standards: H1.1.1, H1.2.1, H1.2.2, H1.2.5, H1.4.2, H1.4.3 H1.1.1, H1.2.1, H1.2.2, H1.4.2, H1.4.3, W1.1.2, G4.3.2
- Please take option 3 and turn it into a two week mini-unit with day-by-day tasks, text sets, and a co-grading rubric with content and language objectives.
- Ok. Give me 2 complete versions of Lesson 1. Include student readings, formative and summative assessment questions.
- Ok. Do the same thing for Lesson 2 in the Unit Plan.
- Unit Plan Published
- Prompt Process:
- Results of Last Week’s Poll: Should Troy do the podcast in a Maine accent?
- Posted the updated Michigan History Day course to MoodleNet.
The Social Web
Take a bite out of B2S classroom management! @beyond_the_desk shares a favorite boredom buster that’s perfect for building relationships and getting kids moving at the start of the year. https://x.com/i/status/1953531658579193978
I’ve separated the Male and Female voices in a #NotebookLM audio overview (the one backing this video).
The top track is the male voice, the bottom the female voice.
Unsurprisingly reproducing biases of the training data, etc…
#AI #LLM #Podcasts #Sexism #AIBias
https://scholar.social/deck/@MrBerard@mastodon.acm.org/114987255586821177
Set your clocks social studies peeps. @CarlAzuz. Is. Back.
Quote
Carl Azuz @CarlAzuz
BE THERE— Monday, August 18th— When The World from A to Z returns!
Before you can use technology as an instructional tool, there are some basic technology skills students MUST master. Download my free tech skills checklist: https://chrmbook.com/student-technology-skills-checklist/ #GoogleEDU #chromebookEDU
Gemini’s Guided Learning: https://controlaltachieve.com/2025/08/guided-learning.html
Instead of Gemini giving the answer Gemini guides students through the learning process Great for HW, essays, review, learning & more! Watch my demo video #edtech #GoogleEDU #earlyaccess @GeminiApp @GoogleForEdu
The NotebookLM about @waygroundai https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/9d88860c-78a0-4f4b-b541-41ca9dade2c5
Check it out, try the chat!
I uploaded almost the entire help center from http://wayground.com to NotebookLM It was a LOT OF PAGES. No way to read them all individually, Google NotebookLM to the rescue!!
https://twitter.com/alicekeeler/status/1952852131456672227/photo/1
Resources:
AXIS The Culture Translator
The Third Summer of Turning Pretty
What it is: Popular teen romantic drama The Summer I Turned Pretty is back for a third season, and teens are eating up the melodrama and love triangles.
Why audiences love it: As of this writing, there are five episodes (about half of the season) available on Amazon Prime, and they’re packed full of soap-opera-esque drama, poor communication skills, cheating, a marriage proposal, and a not insignificant amount of sex and sensuality. It’s also full of themes of responsibility, familial conflict, and yearning. The show often feels cheesy, but it’s also escapism in the purest sense; it’s easy to forget your own troubles when you’re caught up in the drama of fictional characters figuring out their own feelings.
Getting the News From TikTok
What it is: A recent poll from Pew Research Center found that 39% of 18- to 29-year-olds say they regularly get their news from TikTok.
Web Spotlight:
Maybe It’s Time to Make Peace With Your Smartphone
This much we know: Smartphones are making us dumber.
What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/kids-smartphones-play-freedom/683742
Random Thoughts . . .
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