MSM 90: Digital Learning: Get those 1’s and 0’s in order!

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Jokes:

I’m failing geometry because I refuse to believe that pie are squared.
The school board decided to remove speech and debate from the course schedule; there was no argument.
Today in Art class we were going to paint a nude model, but the teacher sent her to the office for violating dress code.

How does a blind skydiver know they’re nearing the ground?  The leash goes slack . . .

From the Twitterverse:

On Our Mind:

Clocks. Is it necessary to know how to read an analog clock?

MEAPs coming up, state mandated testing.  Do you put the pressure on or do you soft-shoe it into the testing period?

DropBox
http://www.getdropbox.com/iphoneapp

Advisory:

Return to the overview:
During the first month of school have every student take a piece of string and place one end under their shoe then stretch the string so it reaches the top of their head. Cut the string and fold it up. Place a piece of masking tape with the student’s name around the folded piece of string. Put all of the strings into a bag and do not open it until the last week of school. Then have them take their string and see how much they have grown over the last year. Many of your students will be amazed at how much they have grown.
A way to show what adolescents stand for is to have them outline their foot and then list all of the things they believe in inside the outline.
http://www.nmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/publications/On_Target/advisory/advisory_8.pdf

October is MOYA!  www.nmsa.org/moya

Webspotlight:

Educon 21 at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA.
http://educon21.wikispaces.com/

Stumbleupon
http://www.stumbleupon.com (or in Troy’s universe:  stumbleupon.com)

VUE 3.0- The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) is an Open Source project based at Tufts University. The VUE project is focused on creating flexible tools for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning and research. VUE provides a flexible visual environment for structuring, presenting, and sharing digital information.
http://vue.tufts.edu/

News:

Surfing the Net with kids: Phonics

Phonics is a widely used method of teaching children to read. It is based on connecting sounds of spoken English with the letters that represent those sounds. Today’s websites stand at the intersection of education and recreation, using games to reinforce phonetic concepts.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2009/10/02/surfing_the_net_with_kids_phonics/

House Panel Targets Teacher Distribution, Pay

Differing opinions about incentive-pay programs, the role of test scores in pay and evaluation, and how prescriptive the federal government should be in seeking to boost teacher effectiveness were aired at a House hearing.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/02/06teach.h29.html?tkn=XLXF2b3tQQks2uYCPFvfd64lCGoFEfUQJLwE

Online education expanding, but awaits innovation

The online education sector grew 13 percent last year, but it had been growing at about 20 percent in previous years, Reuters reports — leading some to suggest that online learning is starting to plateau until further innovations are introduced.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/around-the-web/index.cfm?i=61047

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.  September 30th early registration deadline is approaching  (Use MAMSE09 as your source code.)
  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. Dan Pink is keynoting the conference.  Here’s a teaser at TED.
  4. NMSA 09 Housing Information now available.  Some hotels are nearing full if not so already.  Special housing rates end October 5th.
  5. NMSA 09 Conference Connection:  Stay connected before, during, and after the conference!  Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!

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 Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 18 & 19, 2010.  Jack Berckemeyer will be keynoting.
  3. 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!
  4. The Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educators is holding their Annual Conference October 8-9, 2009.
  5. 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 at 10:00 am.  Tickets $4.00 for students and every 15 students gets a chaparone in for free.

  6. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  7. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  Archived content is available.  This week’s session:  “Interesting Ways to Use a Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom“.
  8. 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