MSM 272:  POST! You gotta fix that. Oh, and get me engaged (not that way).

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.

Jokes You Can Use:

During training exercises, the Lieutenant driving down a

muddy back road encountered another car stuck in the mud

with a red-faced colonel at the wheel.

 

“Your jeep stuck, sir?” asked the Lieutenant as he pulled

 

“Nope,” replied the Colonel, coming over and handing him

the keys, “Yours is.”

 

Little Johnny was not paying attention in class so the math teacher called on him and said, “Johnny! What are 5, 2, 28 and 40?” Little Johnny quickly replied, “NBC, CBS, HBO, and Cartoon Network!”

 

Okay, so a Texan rancher comes upon a farmer from Maine. The Texan looks at the Mainer and asks, “Say, how much land you think you got here?” Mainer: ‘Bout 10 acres I’d say.” Texan (boasting): Well, on my lot, it takes me all day to drive completely around my property!” Mainer: “Yep, I got one of them trucks too.”

 

A man put in 10 puns for a pun contest, hoping that at least one of them would win. But sadly, no pun in ten did.

 

Wife: “How’d your doctor appointment go?

Husband: “Well, there’s good news and bad news. My blood pressure’s high and

I’m overweight. But, at the doctor’s suggestion, I’m going to take up golf!”

Wife: “And the good news?”

 

Advisory:

 

Birthday Celebrations Around the World

Warning, could give students some ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWLGvaeDAlU

 

Positive Messages

https://twitter.com/FHUPrincipal/status/453508594554531840/photo/1

 

Middle School Science Minute

byDave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Place-Based Inquiry

I was recently reading the January, 2014 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  In this issue, I was reading the article, “Using Place-Based Inquiry to Inspire and Motivate Future Scientists,” written by Callin Switzer.

In this article, Callin explains the meaning of scientific inquiry and compares and contrasts place-based education and field-based education.

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2014/2/7_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Place-Based_Inquiry.html

From the Twitterverse:

Karen McMillan ‏@McTeachA Visual Guide to The Use of Google Books for Researchhttp://zite.to/RxezeY  (Very helpful visuals)
iColorType ‏@iColorTypeWhy Should I Attend An EdTech Conference?http://buff.ly/1hUbmAP  #Edtech
Angela Maiers ‏@AngelaMaiersWhy Are There So Many Edcamp First Timers?http://ln.is/buff.ly/1sjI0  via@kristenswanson
KevinHodgson ‏@dogtraxDigital Poets! Web Tools, Apps, & Lesson Ideashttp://flip.it/Eb9HJ
Scott McLeod ‏@mcleod“Prepare for compliance.” Gotta love the heavy hand of government…pic.twitter.com/07gYzFbo3p
Caroline Lucas ‏@CarolineLucasRT@SirKenRobinson: You can’t improve education by alienating teachers < wishing#NUT14 a great#Brighton conferencepic.twitter.com/i1q3jd1FY5
Todd Bloch ‏@blocht574Twitter can be the teachers help desk to everything when used correctly!#NT2t#mschat
Chad Lehman ‏@imcguyClass Tech Tips: 23 Virtual Tools for Tablets (all free!)http://buff.ly/1hVvClx
Dan Callahan ‏@dancallahanHow Should Learning Teams Choose Essential Outcomes? (Via@plugusin)#bpschathttp://www.teachingquality.org/content/how-should-learning-teams-choose-essential-outcomeshow-should-learning-teams-choose …
British Pathé ‏@BritishPatheWe’re pleased to announce the uploading of 85,000 films to YouTube. View and share here:http://www.youtube.com/user/britishpathe …pic.twitter.com/3xOvgAgTrD
Teacher ‏@Primary_EdRT@willrich45: The irony of “personalized” learning is that it gets every child to meet “standardized” outcomes.#edtech#edchat#satchat
Kevin Cummins ‏@edgalaxy_comHundreds of creative writing ideas for teachershttp://brev.is/Xom3
#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”

 

Strategies:

 

BookTrack Classroom

Create texts for your students. The texts can include sounds. This could be a reading of the book or background music.

http://cdn.booktrack.com/education-studio/index.html#!/

 

Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

This practice guide provides four recommendations that address what works for English learners during reading and content area instruction. Each recommendation includes extensive examples of activities that can be used to support students as they build the language and literacy skills needed to be successful in school. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, administrators, and other educators who want to improve instruction in academic content and literacy for English learners in elementary and middle school.

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide.aspx?sid=19

Resources:

Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?

NPR had a terrific April fool’s joke.

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297690717/why-doesnt-america-read-anymore

Web Spotlight:

More Than Half of Students ‘Engaged’ in School, Says Poll

Students who strongly agree that they have at least one teacher who makes them “feel excited about the future” and that their school is “committed to building the strengths of each student” are 30 times more likely than students who strongly disagree with those statements to show other signs of engagement in the classroom—a key predictor of academic success, according to a report released Wednesday by Gallup Education.

 

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/04/09/28gallup.h33.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

Random Thoughts . . .

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