MSM- 137 Title: Better late than never …

/ , , /

Jokes:

Said the officer to the soldier, “Private, why did you salute that refrigerator?” The soldier replied, “Because it was General Electric.” “And that jeep?” the officer asked. Replied the soldier, “Because it was General Motors.”

On Our Mind:

Standardized Testing

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski
2 big events:
Earth Science Week – Oct. 10th – 16th
National Fossil Day – Oct. 13th

From the Twitterverse:

*colwar Colin Warren
twitter’s like being at a parade & catching s(t)weets thrown into the crowd. Some we pick up, some we miss, but there’s always more. #yam
*phsprincipal Dave Meister
RT @bhsprincipal: RT @web20classroom: Some Cool Lesson Plans Using Various Google Apps: Nice! #PCHS
*RichWhite Rich White
Design Blocks is a lot like MIT Scratch but in the browser … http://www.designblocks.net … Dan Green shared with me today #Scratch
*phsprincipal Dave Meister
RT @bjnichols: Challenge/Competition Resources… 21 Century Skills and PBL For All Subjects… Part One #PCHS
* iPads replacing paper for German parliament (schools too!): http://www.9to5mac.com/29571/ipads-replacing-paper-for-german-parliament
* mbteach  @chrislehmann @BeckyFisher73 I wonder why they don’t hold themslves accountable 4 not hiring these ‘amazing’ teachers they want in 1st place.
* mischakrilov  Warning, puns can cause physical damage: “England doesn’t have a kidney bank; but it has a Liverpool.”
* jutecht  What Administrators Need? I Need Teachers Who Think like Distance Runners

Advisory:

How do people spend their money?
http://www.creditloan.com/infographics/how-the-average-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

Tera & Bella

An elephant and a dog become best friends. We use it to talk about how people might be different, but can still get along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0TjfOKnF-c
The follow up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcfWFZaYzs

Tech Tools:

Visual Words

Here are six visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help your students better understand the meanings of words.
From Free Technology for Teachers.

  1. Snappy Words
  2. Visuwords
  3. Lexipedia
  4. Merriam Webster’s Visual Dictionary
  5. Wordia
  6. Got Brainy

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/six-visual-dictionaries-and-thesauri.html

Quiz Break

What is QuizBreak!?
QuizBreak! is a highly flexible program that allows teachers to create fun, Jeopardy©-like games for the language classroom.
QuizBreak! allows you to:

  • Write clues in any script (left-to-right, right-to-left, and non-Roman scripts will all work)
  • Add images to clues
  • Record or upload audio and/or video clues

Program Features

  • User-friendly editing interface for easy category-creation
  • Prize amounts can be displayed using any currency symbol
  • Multi-platform program works on PCs and Macs

http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/

Webspotlight:

BBC News: Faces of the U.S. Civil War

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11470304

OK, this one is just silly- but with a good cause behind it. The idea plays off of the talking baby meme. You can type in up to 600 characters, pick a baby and listen/watch the fun. The cause supports no baby born with HIV by the year 2015. Check it out.
http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/widget.html

How to be a Good Commenter:

Karen shared her Paper Blog activity with me a few months ago and I’ve used it with my students to get them ready to blog with the “real thing.” My students have practiced writing and most of all commenting appropriately.
http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-be-good-commenter.html

7 Delightfully Nerdy Apps for Math and Science Geeks

  1. Celestia
  2. Stellarium
  3. OSXplanet
  4. Smell-O-Mints
  5. GNU XaoS
  6. Eigenmath
  7. Magic Number Machine

http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/7-delightfully-nerdy-apps-for-math-and-science-geeks/

ISTE 2010:  Steve Hargadon’s “Birds of A Feather” Session

Website for this session:  www.tinyurl.com/iste10crb and http://tinyurl.com/isteclassrom2-0
Note:  It looks like the links are broken …
Format:
Ask a question, take two or three answers from the audience.
Show a site or something online that you like.
Posterous will upload anything for free.
Pearson will sponsor a NING, but it’s limited and you’re tied to the vendor.
Topos will transition stuff from NING to another site.
Site Show Off:
Scientists Space (NING)
Click on members
Kids took on the persona of a scientist and they worked on the project in groups of three.
They could use any number of Web 2.0 tools to show their understanding of the content.
Wordle
Graphics
Music
Kid who posted it is below grade reading level.
These were SPED kids who put together the Mendeleev page.
Question:  For the scientist site:  They’re using a gmail hack (cheat).  Use a gmail account with a + but all the email account escheats+(scientist name)@gmail.com
Web demo:  TypeWithMe  (www.typewith.me)
Web demo:  WallWisher
Post a question and get responses.
Is there a way to merge the stickies?
It’s designed to be strictly online.
Software:  Microsoft Mouse Mischief
Instead of the wall wisher website.
Does work with wired mice.
Highest number mentioned so far has been six mice at a time.
Site Show Off:  www.historyplace.com/speeches
Use with www.wordle.net
Tagxedo is a Wordle in a picture/art work form.
Note:  Tagxedo is a pay site.
Just for fun:  Copy and paste a school policy into Wordle …
Jen Wagner is posting a puzzle called “Guess the Wordle”
jenuinetech.com/gtw
Put people’s tweets in there to see what their interests are.
General Question:  How do you avoid teacher burnout?
Look at what you are teaching first and then look to apply the tool.
Quizlet.com
General Question:  How do you define Web 2.0?
Ask Todd Williamson
Website:  www.voki.com
Create characters that talk.  Speaking avatar for everyone (free).
Site Show Off:  National Lab Day
Scientists commit to help out for a day.
e.g. Civil war Sally
e.g. Madame Curious (Madam Curie) and sent her around the world to different scientists and had them use the “doll” like Flat Stanley.
Site Show Off:  Adobe Connect Now
Polling system.
Twitucate:  designed for classrooms.
Edmodo
Global Education Conference.com   www.globaleducationconference.com

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

  • 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.
    • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
  • The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.
  • Second Life:
    • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
    • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life