MSM 276: Picture (almost) Perfect!
Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education.
Jokes You Can Use:
An eight-year-old kid says to his dad, “When I grow up, I want to be a musician.”
The dad says, “I am sorry — can’t have it both ways.”
At a party of professionals, a Doctor was having difficulty socializing. Everyone wanted to describe their symptoms, and get an opinion about diagnosis. The Doctor turned to a Lawyer acquaintance, and asked, “How do you handle people who want advice outside of the office?”
“Simple,” answered the Lawyer, “I send them a bill. That stops it.”
The next day, the Doctor, still feeling a bit reserved about what he had just finished doing, opened his mailbox to send the bills; there sat a bill from the Lawyer.
Mum, what are you cooking??
It’s bean soup!
I don’t care what it has been; I just want to know what it is now!!
A history teacher and his wife were sitting at a table, the wife asked “Anything new at work”, and he replied”, no, I am teaching History”.
Eileen Award:
- Twitter: Julie Brannon, Tanya Knight, Sharon Ricks
Advisory:
Character
Do we really want to send the message to young adolescents that character is nonrecoverable, lost with a single mistake? Or do we want to send messages about learning from mistakes – even really bad ones – and personal growth? I think the latter…
Guide dog lands spot in yearbook next to girl he takes care of: ‘They’re such a great team’
Taxi can alert family and teachers when Rachel is about to experience a seizure. “He predicts she’s going to have a seizure up to an hour and half before it happens,” Teresa explains. “It seems to be a smell that the body emits, but until dogs can talk we can never know for sure.”
http://www.today.com/pets/guide-dog-lands-spot-yearbook-next-girl-he-takes-care-2D79784040
Artist brightens random people’s days with fake classifieds on bulletin boards
Ukranian artist Nastya Vinokurova has been leaving drawings around Kiev that appear to be classified ads. Upon further examination, it becomes apparent that they’re not real estate listings or job postings or anything for sale, but are actually unique little drawings with notes inviting passersby to take one home…
Middle School Science Minute
byDave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
This is the second in a four part series on neuroscience with special guest Aneesha Badrinarayan, Outreach Programs Manager with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, in Ann Arbor, MI. You can visit the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum online at:
In this podcast, we look at the question of “What is the application of Neuroscience?”
From the Twitterverse:
For @mrrexine #ndedchat pic.twitter.com/PuEGWeSK1L
— Craig Nansen (@cnansen) May 31, 2014
Strategies:
Powtoon
We provide all the animation tools you’ll ever need to immediately begin creating your own professional-looking animated explainer videos and animated presentations. From start to finish, you’ll be guided through a surprisingly simple process, resulting in eye-catching videos that will hook your audience without fail.
Maybe you made a PowToon video just to watch all by yourself and never show anyone else…but we sincerely doubt it. You want to get your amazing new animation out to as many people as possible! Fortunately, our easy export system gets your PowToon animated video on YouTube or downloaded to your computer to do with as you wish in just a couple clicks.
All subscription plans are automatically renewed, but can be cancelled at anytime.
http://www.powtoon.com/pricing/edu/
Resources:
Historypin
Historypin is a way for millions of people to come together, from across different generations, cultures and places, to share small glimpses of the past and to build up the huge story of human history.
Everyone has history to share: whether its sitting in yellowed albums in the attic, collected in piles of crackly tapes, conserved in the 1000s of archives all over the world or passed down in memories and old stories.
Each of these pieces of history finds a home on Historypin, where everyone has the chance to see it, add to it, learn from it, debate it and use it to build up a more complete understanding of the world.
Web Spotlight:
Images from the Museum of New Zealand
Over 14,000 images are available under a Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND. If you aren’t familiar with Creative Commons it can look a little complicated, but what it means is you can use those images if attribute the image (we help you do that at each download page). You can’t make money from using the image, and you can’t change the image. Might sound a little restrictive but there is plenty you can still do, like use it in your homework, on your blog, print it and hang it on your wall…
But even better are the 17,000 images that downloadable for any use, any use at all. These images have no known copyright restrictions. Again it would be good if you attributed the original maker of the work, and link to the page on Collections Online so others can find it, but that isn’t mandatory.
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/explore
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/
How (Not) to Talk to Kids About High-Stakes Tests
By day, I’m a calm, mild-mannered middle school teacher who would do just about anything to motivate my students to do their best work and fall in love with learning. I praise their achievements and efforts, not just their high scores, and then watch those scores improve.
By night, I am the mom of two daughters, and much of my hard-won professional acumen goes out the window.
Defenders believe rigorous tests lead to better teaching and better learning only when the tests have sharp teeth: Students, educators, principals, and even whole schools face dire consequences if kids don’t do well. It’s a giant experiment, involving millions of children.
1. Going negative just does not work very well.
2. Praising hard work, not high scores, is more effective.
3. Stereotypes matter.
So the takeaway for parents and teachers swept into the vortex of testing mania? Inspire students by helping them to see that their hard work has a purpose that will improve their lives and the lives of those around them. Build up students’ confidence by teaching them to work hard to improve their skills. Praise their tenacity and curiosity, not just their high scores.
http://www.rewireme.com/explorations/talk-kids-high-stakes-tests/#sthash.aP67okS6.y7GwnHh9.dpbs
Random Thoughts . . .
ISTE 2014
eCommunity for Moodle