MSM 475: What Shawn is doing -or- What is Shawn doing? Inflection is everything.

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Jokes:  

Classical music themes are easy to come up with. 

  • I could make you a Liszt.

What did the chemist say when he found two isotopes of Helium?

  • HeHe

What happens when you forget to take your restless leg medicine?

  • You want to kick yourself

8 vowels, 11 consonants, an exclamation point, and a comma appeared in court today. 

  • They are due to be sentenced next week. 

Hey, I just got a job offer at a coffee bar. 

  • Pays not great, but it has a lot of perks.

I think the Discovery Channel should be on a different channel number every day. 

I went to see a show about puns.

  • It was just a play on words.

Never lie to an x-ray technician.

  • They can see right through you.

To the guy who invented the zero:

  • Thanks for nothing!

Is your wife technically your ex-girlfriend?

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Middle School Science Minute: Create Your Own Rainbow

I was recently looking at ideas for at-home learning and I came across a fun investigation from “Physics Central.”

The investigation is entitled: “Create Your Own Rainbow.”

The investigation and rainbows share the same principles:

  • refraction — light bending
  • reflecting — light bouncing back

Reports from the Front Lines

The Twitterverse

Mr. Gupton @GuptonTeaches

I. Want. To. Be. In. The. Building. With. My. Kids. Being selfish today. Ignore me.

NJAMLE @NJAMLE

Special thanks to Lori Chen, @StephJWhite14 @AdamsntheMiddle @LynnThompsonELA @tinamonte @ProfJPizzo for helping me @snydesn2 to establish the first 23 episodes of the Middle Ground Minute. Check out the @NJAMLE website for the Archive and more in the near future. #njed @Amle

Typical EduCelebrity @EduCelebrity

Don’t get too caught up in the aesthetics of your virtual classroom. While building the airplane that you’re trying to fly at the same time, few are worried about the in-flight movie.

Bridget Bryson @BrysonBridget

Had wonderful and uplifting @AMLE virtual ‘bonfire’ yesterday. Mod’ asked us to share positives about the current teaching scenario. Awkward silence. A brave teacher found one…then ideas flowed. Mine? The sheer joy and humor of amateur videos & unexpected during live meets

Look for your host, Todd Bloch, to have a middle school topic all ready to go!  Make it a strategic part of your personal professional development.

Strategies:  

Resources:

The Perfect Blend:  A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences

Michele Eaton, Author

Annotate PDFs Collaboratively Using Google Drive

The sequence goes something like this:

  • Upload a PDF to your Google Drive (New>File upload, or click-and-drag the PDF into your Google Drive).
  • Click the PDF to preview it.
  • (Optional) Click the share button in the upper right to add other people, or get a link to share.
  • Click on the annotate icon in the upper right to start adding notes.  Highlight text or illustrations throughout the document to comment on them.
  •  
https://sites.hampshire.edu/hamp-it/2018/05/18/annotate-pdfs-collaboratively-using-google-drive/#annotations:HP9rfOSFEeqOE69lApWWlg

Web Spotlight:  

Make Your Classroom More Like…El Pollo Loco?

Most people have a favorite restaurant. I go to El Pollo Loco for the avocado salsa. I go for the green sauce. 

http://www.brentcoley.com/blog/make-your-classroom-more-likeel-pollo-loco#annotations:OrQsyOSWEeqOtjOVcsVaKA

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site  

Codicil

  1. Content Resource Ideas:  
    1. Begin the year with a Team Olympics:  https://ditchthattextbook.com/end-the-school-year-with-epic-review-olympics-free-templates/  (You’ll have to modify some of this.)
    2. Make a video about myself (the student):  Bill Ferriter  @plugusin

Remember that quick @Flipgrid activity I shared with y’all last week? The private Introduction Video that I asked students to make with 3 facts about them, 2 questions for me and 1 clear pronunciation of their name?  Can be done in Moodle as well.  

  1.  Warm-up ideas:  https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Efd2lwYWkAE-xOV?format=jpg&name=4096×4096  
  2. Create a self-portrait and share it to the group:  https://t.co/lfBvXNmqLe?amp=1  
  3. Dave Burgess’ 50 back to remote learning activities:  https://t.co/Igha8MUr2U?amp=1  
  4. Teacher created Kahoot Trivia Challenges
    1. Wooclap . . . meme chose.  
  5. Digital Citizenship Presentations:  Digital Citizenship Tips   
  6. Self-Care Challenge:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFT1w59feNVneXGqU-eWa5PwmpBec1eQeMIR8ihmXmY/edit?usp=sharing  
  7. Three Family Sale (online radio drama):   https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFT1w59feNVneXGqU-eWa5PwmpBec1eQeMIR8ihmXmY/edit?usp=sharing  
  8. Building an Empowered Community (Dr. J. Spencer):  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XSH-iSvAfMj3w1VdE6zkpBzQT9ran13q87ri54EiTf0/edit
  9. Create Team Online Expectations?
    1. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LGpT1NZ8m07Q7YLGxMztMa0k8kJ-LJobXx07e55Y4M0/edit?usp=sharing  
  10. Design a structure for “Team Meetings” 

    Potential topics to cover the first week:  

    1. School Schedule  
    2. How the team works
    3. What Distance Learning looks like this year vs. last year.
    4. Team expectations
    5. How a Team Meeting works
    6. What the sticker in the envelope is for.
    7. Introduction letter we sent home and the booklet inside.  
    8. Setting a goal for the first five weeks.
    9. Setting up a learning zone in the house.
    10. What does it mean to study?
    11. Finishing the job – the assignment gets done.
    12. Team/Teacher expectations for online interactions.
    13. Definitions and examples of Civil Discourse.  
    14. How to find an assignment online.
    15. Understanding a calendar.  
      1. Creativity takes time video
    16. Digital Citizenship materials from Wayne RESA.  
      1. Password security
    17. Wellness check as a repeated activity each advisory.  
    18. Cardinal Challengers Olympics – Wooclap (or other) trivia game, basic facts I should have learned in 6th grade, Science, Math, English, Social Studies general knowledge questions.  
    19. Student code of conduct (I heard the planners are in this year . . . )  
    20. People at Strong faces recognition game “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” in Wooclap, or other type of app.  
    21. AMAA – Ask Me Almost Anything 
    22.  Table Topics Cards – Conversation starters  
    23. Explain to me:  
      1. how 
        1. to play your favorite game (video or otherwise).  
      2. When 
        1. Is a good time to do homework?
      3. Where 
        1. Is a good place to study?
        2. Is the best place to get ice cream?
        3. Are your little siblings hiding during this Google Meet ‘cause I can hear them!  🙂  
      4. Why 
        1. Did you choose this spot?
        2. Do you listen to that particular music?  
      5. To what extent do you 
    24. Brainstorm a list of things you (the student) can do at home to make someone’s day better.  
      1. Make a plan and do it.
    25. Short podcasts we could play to generate discussion:  
      1. Astropup and the Seven Mountains of Genius (Video Game addiction):  https://www.storynory.com/astropup-and-the-seven-mountains-of-genius/  
      2. Which is more important:  Liberty or Security?  https://tuttletwins.com/podcast/which-is-more-important-liberty-or-security/  
      3. The Swing (Robert Louis Stevenson) – Short poem:  https://www.storynory.com/the-swing/  
      4. The Moon (Robert Louis Stevenson) – Short poem:  https://www.storynory.com/the-moon-poem/  
      5. The Moon Song (goes with above):  https://www.storynory.com/the-moon-song/  
      6. Six Honest Serving Men (Kipling):  https://www.storynory.com/six-honest-serving-men/  
    26.  Reasons why should dihydrogen monoxide be banned – make a list:  
      1. https://www.dhmo.org/facts.html  
      2. https://www.dhmo.org/truth/Dihydrogen-Monoxide.html  
      3. https://www.gulfcoast.edu/current-students/academic-divisions/natural-sciences/biology-project/chemistry-1/documents/dihydrogen-monoxide.pdf
    27. 99Math.com competition (not every day) when it gets ready for the new year:  https://99math.com/live-games  

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