MSM 364: Try These Wonderful Resources, But You Could Do That With Moodle . . .
Jokes You Can Use:
Once I told a chemistry joke.
There was no reaction.
Norwegians are putting bar codes on their ships. They go out in the morning and when they return, they Scandavian.
Who earns a living by driving his customers away?
- A taxi driver
If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get?
- MissleToe
Advisory:
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Innovative Teaching
I was recently reading the Summer, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.
In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Innovative Teaching = Learning.” It was written by Patty McGinnis, Editor of Science Scope. The article describes the value of innovative teaching and how it impacts student learning.
From the Twitterverse:
Synthesis of Prof Development on the Implementation of Literacy Strategies for Middle School Content Area Teachers http://bit.ly/2fg8a7d
You can utilize Google’s GTHANKS program idea with eThanks for G Suite schools https://sites.google.com/view/ethanks/home … #BLForum17 #INeLearn
Tuscaloosa, #TCSLearns is committed to making middle school work well for EVERY student. Read about it here -> http://tuscaloosacityschools.com/Page/96
TED.ed is a great source for content for 13 and up @Catlin_Tucker #INeLearn #BLForum17 https://ed.ted.com
How to Change Access Settings in the New Version of Google Forms http://ow.ly/yGlW30dOr1U
Teacher2TeacherVerified account @teacher2teacher
They’re your Ss for one year – and your kids forever. #TeacherLife via educator @justintarte
Teaching the Right Time to Ask a Question http://buff.ly/2uITeGh
Pup Camp is a fun way to get kids ready for the transition into middle school http://ow.ly/M1NnQ #mschat #elemchat
Do you know the 16 characteristics of successful middle schools? This We Believe. http://bit.ly/1MisJqq Chart: http://bit.ly/1HQM6Hj
This is an interesting flexible seating idea – with chalkboard paint or whiteboard paint. http://buff.ly/2ukzBlt
#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”
Strategies:
Why I’m Starting This School Year with a Get-to-Know-You Curation Project…and You Should Too!
My students are always surprised when I tell them about my secret (well, not so secret now) loathing of ice-breaker games. I’m a talkative, friendly person, but the moment you tell me to come up with two truths and a lie about myself I start to feel queasy and wonder if I could sneak off and hide in the restroom while everyone else “circulates and finds another person who has traveled to another state recently.”
I know full well that every other teacher they have will be doing similar, if not the same, things this week. How am I supposed to stand out, make them sit up and pay attention, get them excited about entering my room each day with the same old get-to-know-you activities?
Enter CURATION. An awesome idea for all sorts of project-based learning in the classroom (you can read more about that here), but one that I’m planning on using to get my students to introduce themselves to me (and each other!) in a way I bet they haven’t seen before!
Curation is the process of collecting a bunch of high-quality materials all related to a similar theme, topic, or idea. The curator of a museum might curate a collection of artifacts from ancient Greece, a librarian might curate a group of the latest and best young adult novels for a start of the school year display in the library, and so on. And using the free, online tool elink, I’m going to have my students curate a collection of photos, links, videos, songs, and whatever else they can think of, that will teach me and their classmates all about them!
OR, YOU COULD USE MOODLE!
http://www.funfreshideas.com/2017/07/why-im-starting-this-school-year-with.html?m=1
29 Practical Ways to Empower Learners in Your Classroom
http://ajjuliani.com/practical-ways-to-empower/
Resources:
#FormativeTech by Monica Burns
https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/formativetech/book254514
The book is a quick read. It has a number of tech suggestions for implementing formative assessment in the classroom using technology. Many of them can be done through Moodle, yet Moodle doesn’t get a mention. Yes, I get it, not everyone has Moodle. Yet, it should be mentioned as an option for those who do, or are willing to set up a Moodle and give it a go. For the cost of using all these services, it might just pay to rent some server space.
Next Vista
All videos in the regular collections of NextVista.org are for a student audience, highlighting the creativity of students and teachers around the world. Our three principal collections are:
http://www.nextvista.org/videos/
Web Spotlight:
The Silicon Valley Billionaires Remaking America’s Schools
In San Francisco’s public schools, Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce, is giving middle school principals $100,000 “innovation grants” and encouraging them to behave more like start-up founders and less like bureaucrats.
MTBoS.org
Welcome to MTBoS.org! Working to support the MTBoS community.
Dont know what I’m talking about? The MTBoS is an acronym for “Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere” – it is a community of math teachers who, well, blog and tweet. Mostly, it’s a hashtag that any math teacher who blogs and/or tweets is encouraged to use! Find out more at http://mathtwitterblogosphere.weebly.com or just follow the hashtag #mtbos on Twitter.
This website serves no “official” role – there is nothing official about the MTBoS, it is just a bunch of talking folks!
This Is What Sound Actually Looks Like
If you’ve ever wondered what sound actually looks like traveling through the air, then you’re in luck because apparently, all you need is a high-speed camera and a photography trick called the Schlieren Flow Visualization to help you see sound.
http://digg.com/2017/what-sound-looks-like
Random Thoughts . . .
Personal Web Site
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