MSM 507: Creating the Space for that to Happen . . . with some Malapropisms
Summary:
Jokes:
What’s the favorite music at a golf club?
- Swing
Do they allow loud laughing in Hawaii?
- Or just a low ha?
What did one tectonic plate say to the other when they bumped together?
- Sorry, my fault
My ophthalmologist moved to a little island off the coast of Alaska.
- Yep, my doctor is now an optical aleutian
The meaning of opaque is unclear.
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Scientific Literacy
I was recently reading the March/April 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section “Commentary” written by Andrew Zucker. Andrew wrote an article entitled “Teaching Scientific Literacy.”
Here are five themes to consider in order to promote scientific literacy:
- Pay attention to the personal and societal contexts of science.
- Relate scientific literacy to traditional forms of literacy.
- Teach about how to find reliable information about science and how to reject junk science.
- Include some important events in the history of science.
- Help females and minority students realize their potential in science.
http://k12science.net/scientific-literacy/
Reports from the Front Lines
- The push to the end of the year . . .
- Wooclap
- The Eid
- Kids attending school
- What are you keeping?
39 min
Advisory:
Money Matters
https://www.moneyconfidentkids.com/
Project Database
The Twitterverse
How’s your battery, and what will you do to recharge today? What’s that next step towards better mental and physical health? https://twitter.com/ImpactWales/status/1390933636459925506/photo/1
𝓓𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓢𝓬𝓱𝓶𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓸𝓾 𝓔𝓭.𝓓. @daveschmittou
When people are redundant in their tweets it feels so repetitive. It’s also like they don’t know what to write too. It’s reading the same words over, and over, and over again. Sometimes 280 characters seems like so much, like a lot.
Soundtrap for Education by Spotify @soundtrap
Teachers! This year has been extraordinary, and the fact that you have kept students engaged & motivated and feeling loved & supported is remarkable.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We are grateful for you this week and all year long.
How is your team tracking common formative assessment results? Is this information accessible to all of the people who support your team? #atplc
#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”
Strategies:
Team-Based Quizzes
We complete a quiz every single week – students get 4-5 questions to complete individually in 10 minutes, and then the same questions as a team of 4-5 students.
Your online students are using Zoom and placed into random breakout rooms. Students complete 11 quizzes over the term and we take the best 9 scores – overall the assessment is worth 15%. Half of the marks come from their individual score, half from the team attempt.
The quizzes are open book and open internet – I write new questions every single week and students have access to past quiz questions when they are preparing for the class. The questions focus on application of theory in small case contexts.
My observations over the last 5 years
- Students like the idea of frequent assessment to help them stay up to date with their studies
- There has been an improvement in communication skills, especially for non-English speakers. We provide advice at the beginning of the semester about how to communicate as a group – not one person talking all the time, inviting others who haven’t said anything to contribute
- Students feel less pressure to “study for a test” since they do have access to their resources, but they need to be able to apply that knowledge to practical situations.
- I can see lightbulb moments happening during the assessment – a sign of a great formative assessment item.
Resources:
ASP HOMEROOM
ASP HOMEROOM is a civic engagement collaboration between the Close-Up Foundation and A Starting Point to create a nationwide educational network that will work with middle school and high school educators and students to help educate the next generation of Americans on the most pressing issues of our time. With the goal of inspiring informed participation in our democracy, ASP HOMEROOM creates cross-cultural and interactive learning opportunities between different schools, communities and states on issues surrounding government and politics.
https://homeroom.astartingpoint.com
Free English Books
Gratuitous Folk Song Video
Just as the title says . . .
Belgian Farmer Accidently Moves French Border
Web Spotlight:
Is SAMR Dead?
https://www.techlearning.com/news/is-samr-dead#annotations:YxzboKaTEeucaXP5iEc2Qw
Magnus Carlsen’s Mind-Blowing Memory! World Chess Champion tested
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen is put to the test by English Grandmaster David Howell! How many games can he recognise?
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