Podcast 83- Fine Me Already!
Some excuse notes:
“Please excuse John for being absent Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33.”
“Mary could not go to school because she was bothered by very close veins.”
“Ralph was absent yesterday because of a sour throat.”
“Please excuse Joey Friday. He had loose vowels.”
“Please excuse Joyce from jim today.”
“Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. He fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.”
“Karl was hit yesterday playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.”
“John was absent yesterday because he had a stomach.”
“Please excuse Gloria. She has been sick and under the doctor.”
“My son will have to get out of school as soon as I call the orthodontist, one of his wrie’s is brusted and sticking in his Gum’s.”
“Please excuse Sarah from being absent yesterday. She was sick and I had her shot.”
“My son is under the doctors care and should not take P.E. Please execute him.”
“Irving was absent this morning because he missed his bust.”
“Please excuse Johnny for being. It was his father’s fault.”
Shout outs:
1. Todd Williamson: Thanks for the feedback and the plug at your PD session! (MiddleTalk is 1.0?)
2. Russian poster: Genadiy P. Running your posts through the Google Translator as we speak …
3. Dave Carroll: “United Breaks Guitars” catchy tune that I can’t get out of my head …
4. Jenny Mcavoy-Anteau: Special Education Discussion
From the Twitterverse:
* russeltarr PhotoPeach: Create movies from photos (simpler than Animoto – for younger students?): http://tinyurl.com/mn3zqm
* russeltarr 30 (and more) things every newbie should know before starting Second Life: http://tinyurl.com/mhsq3p
* schoolwise Interesting article on Rhee & D.C. testing results: http://tinyurl.com/nouco8
* suewaters Scotty beam me up am sitting with true geeks #bcperth09 & swear they aren’t talking English I may need people tweeting jokes to help me 🙂
* mguhlin Links for 2009-07-17 [del.icio.us] http://ff.im/-5nF2I
* suewaters New blog post: Personal Identity & Your Online Persona (or – Don’t get pwn’d) http://bit.ly/vn7iR
* mguhlin Future of Education Interview July 16th: “Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American… http://ff.im/-5nt14
* clifmims Wanting to start my own online radio station. Which of the many services (Last.fm, blip.fm, pandora, Playlist.com, etc.) do you suggest?
* eduinnovation Professional Learning Communities are expert at looking internally, but now we need the external focus too. http://twurl.nl/rumpdz
* pcmike Police chief denounces ‘cowardly’ iPhone users monitoring speed traps | http://ow.ly/hzbX
* rmbyrne Funny, but sadly sometimes true posters about tech in education. Grumpy Old Teacher: Inspirational Posters http://ff.im/-5n1E0
* gardenglen Downloading http://gawker.sourceforge.net/ as a way to create Time Lapse video on Macs
* asbellaRT @ecctech: My new best friend for PD tech training http://bit.ly/roBIJ
* russeltarr Amateurs use Google Earth to uncover Kim’s sinister secrets: http://tinyurl.com/kmhete
* suewaters Okay people help me out here – Mr14 needs to interview some one who is extra ordinary in terms did something really cool, money, etc
* eduinnovation I always wanted to “be somebody”, but now I realize that I should have been more specific.
* teach42 One more shoutout: Looking for education examples of specific Web 2.0 sites. http://tinyurl.com/l7nnye to see the list. Would like the help!
*
Woodlawn Elementary thinks outside the book to pull D to a B
By Sylvia Lim, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Last fall, Woodlawn Elementary’s math teachers locked up their textbooks in a music room closet. Instead of textbooks, teachers used games, group assignments and other materials. They also focused on showing students different ways to solve the same problem.
“It was scary for people at first, but just about everybody embraced the idea of what we were trying to do,” she said.
Students seemed to respond.
“With our school population, they like things to be a little faster and fun. We need to bring that into math.”
“We took the math book out of classroom so teachers won’t follow it page by page,” Proper said. “We were trying to get children to do some critical thinking.”
Those included looping, where teachers stay with the same students for two years in a row. The school started a reading challenge, where students are asked to read a book for 15 or 30 minutes a night. School administrators formed a writing team that assisted teachers and students in classrooms.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article1014663.ece Source: Education Innovation
Students hit with a $15 fine for cell phones in school.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8074283&page=1
Texas passed a law which allows schools to confiscate student cell phones and charge $15 for their return. The money goes into the school’s coffers and can only be used for enrichment activities that go beyond the classroom.
Parent Involvement Meta-analysis
namely academic socialization, that has the strongest positive relation with achievement during middle school. School-based involvement was also positively related to achievement, but less strongly so. Finally, the results for home-based involvement were mixed. Involvement that entailed assisting with homework was not consistently associated with achievement, whereas other types of home-based involvement were positively related to achievement.
Academic socialization includes parents’ communication of their expectations for achievement and value for education, fostering educational and occupational aspirations in their adolescents, discussing learning strategies with children, and making preparations and plans for the future, including linking material discussed in school with students’ interests and goals.
http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev453740.pdf
New Classroom Rules:
http://educationinnovation.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/new-classroom-rules.html
1. Come to school every day, unless you would rather just go on line.
2. Come to class on time, or log into your online class anytime day or night, whenever it is most convenient to you.
3. Leave your seat only when necessary, which should be often to go collaborate with others or demonstrate something to the class.
4. Bring required materials, including your laptop and cell phone every day.
5. Talk only when permitted, text at all other times.
6. Don’t Talk to your neighbors, unless you are sharing your ideas, asking for help or giving help.
7. Use polite speech when speaking, blogging, texting, Twittering, instant messaging, etc.
8. Do not cheat, but remix, re-purpose, and sample other peoples’ work and ideas and give them credit.
9. Follow the teacher’s directions immediately and your peers’ directions too.
10. Be polite, courteous, and respectful at all times in both physical and virtual space.
11. Complete all assignments neatly and on time and submit on line or post to your blog or wiki, and share it with your followers on Twitter.
12. Keep your hands to yourself, but share all your ideas and knowledge with others in your Personal Learning Network.
13. Be quiet in lines, hallways, and restrooms, unless you are at home and logged into your on line classroom, in which case you can dance and play music.
14. If you need help raise your hand, but don’t wait for the teacher get help from your neighbors and post your question to your online Personal Learning Network.
15. Know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge.
Source: Education Innovation
Homework:
Cooper said the amount of homework in America actually hasn’t changed that much over the past 50 years except that there has been an increase in the amount given in the early grades.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31910894/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/
National Advocacy for Middle School
On June 26, 2009, Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) reintroduced Success in the Middle (H.R. 3006/S. 1362) a Act bill that would authorize grants to states and school districts to help improve middle grades education and turn around low-performing middle schools.
http://www.nmsa.org/Advocacy/MessagesfromNMSA/SuccessintheMiddleAct/tabid/1482/Default.aspx
Top Ranked Finland Gives A Reason for Rejecting National Testing
http://schoolsmatter.blogspot.com/2009/07/top-ranked-finland-offers-reason-for.html
Social Media: What Employers Think
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31924270
Twitter 101 for Educators
http://www.examiner.com/x-12200-Dallas-Educational-Technology-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Twitter-101-for-educators
Tech:
Resources:
http://teachersconnecting.com/
Save yourself money on your cell phone: http://www.myvalidas.com/
Back to School Shopping:
* Coldwater Creek promo code: Enter Offer Code WKH6141 in offer code box at checkout. Also try WKH6144 for 25% off of online purchases.
* Footsmart: 60% off shoes.
* The SkinStore is having a 50% off sale on skin products/warpaint . . .
* J. Jill has 25% off selected items through July 26, 2009.
Library of Congress has collections of primary sources for teachers to use in their classrooms. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/
Spinscape is looking for educators to help pilot their roll out into the education sector. Spinscape is a collaborative information sharing technology that could help your students create
collaborative and informative projects.
Events & Happenings:
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
1. NMSA’s Annual Conference: NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video: Indianapolis, IN Conference November 5-7, 2009. Individual Registration is now open.
2. ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall. Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus. With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference? There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love: our students. Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless. Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details. Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
3. NMSA 09 Housing Information now available.
4. NMSA 09 Conference Connection: Stay connected before, during, and after the conference! Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!
5. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced: Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
6. NMSA has a new publication on the role of middle grades in drop-out prevention. You can download it as a pdf file.
7. Middle Level Promise and Practice Moorhead, Minnesota August 5, 2009
Speakers: Mark McCleod & Monte Selby
Other News:
1. ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
2. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 4-5, 2010 in Dexter, MI. MAMSE will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary!
3. Theater Education Opportunity: Eastern Michigan University’s Quirk-Sponberg Theater has announced their Fall 2009 Season.
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10
4. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
5. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: This week’s discussion is on “Telling Stories with Digital Threads” for Teachers. Archived content is available.
6. Second Life:
* No Events specified. Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
* Video: Educational Uses of Second Life