MSM 542: Summer is Coming

Summary:

Troy and Shawn talk about OER, creating a citizenship resource, the schedule for the rest of the school year, and more. Dave shares some great STEM books. 

Jokes:  

What happens if you ask Rick Astley for his copy of the Movie “UP” and he can’t share it with you?


Guys. I’ve been trying to find a new job since last November. I’ve even considered changing careers.

  • I’m an electrician by trade but that certainly has its positives and negatives.
  • Lift operators make a ton of money but it’s also got its ups and downs.
  • A mirror installer is actually something I can see myself doing. 
  • A baker but couldn’t rise to the occasion.
  • a musician but that fell flat.
  • Well the juice industry was good until I got canned, couldn’t concentrate, they really put the squeeze on me!
  • The trash business, it’s picking up
  • ditch digging but once you get started you’d be stuck in a rut.
  • digital security but I couldn’t hack it
  • teacher if you had any class.
  • cowboy if you knew the ropes
  • Sheetmetal fabricator. It’s riveting stuff.
  • Safety Advisor, but it’s a risky business.
  • forklift job, its very uplifting.
  • welder and put a spark in your life

Thought maybe y’all could offer some input.



A friend of mine is turning 32 this year. I told him not to get too excited as he’ll only be celebrating for half a minute. 


What happens if a 9-year-old uses a cream that makes you look 10 years younger?

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Best Middle School STEM Books

I was recently reading the March/April 2022 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, the National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council, selected the best STEM books for 2022.  

In this podcast, we look at the nine middle school STEM books that were featured:

  1. A Shot in the Arm: Big Ideas that Changed the World #3 — by Don Brown
  2. Bones Unearthed (Creepy and True #3) — by Kerrie Logan Hollihan
  3. Eat Bugs! #1: Project Startup — by Laura D’Asaro, Rose Wang, and Heather Alexander
  4. Molly the Mathematical Mysteries: Ten Interactive Adventures in Mathematical Wonderland — by Eugenia Cheng
  5. Race to the Bottom of the Earth: Surviving Antarctica — by Rebecca E. F. Barone
  6. Scene of the Crime: Tracking Down Criminals with Forensic Science — by Hp Newquist
  7. Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections — by Rowena Rae
  8. What is Nintendo? (What Was?) — by Gina Shaw
  9. Wonder Women of Science: Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World — by Tiera Fletcher and Ginger Rue

http://k12science.net/best-middle-school-stem-books/

Reports from the Front Lines

The Twitterverse  

AIMS  @aimsnetwork

The #AIMSNetwork is thrilled to announce the 2022 Summer Splash Event dedicated to the best middle school practices! Join the AIMS Network this June to celebrate the work being done across the state in middle school classrooms. #Event #Register https://aimsnetwork.org/summer-splash-

Moodle | moodle.com  @moodle

A look at the new dashboard in Moodle 4.0! What do you think?! See more: #RoadToMoodle4

Typhaney Bennett | typhdev.eth  @TyphaneyBdev

Update your chrome browsers again #web3 #webdevelopment #cybersecurity

Richard Byrne  @rmbyrne

Tract’s “Learn Through Teaching” lesson plan provides a fun way to wrap-up the school year. https://buff.ly/3usfVwC

WeAreTeachers  @WeAreTeachers

A 2021 study showed a strong correlation between school happiness and teacher autonomy.

Erik Murray  @MrSTEmurray

Well, after yesterday everyone seemed to get excited over the tools I use to cut cardboard. Here are my favorite activities to do with cardboard.

Todd Whitaker@ToddWhitaker

We have to stop giving power to negative people. It hurts the morale of everyone else. #MLDSchat

Joy Kirr (she/her)  @JoyKirr

Does anyone else have a summer “to do” list already started?? I may or may not have six items on it already….. #TeacherLife

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Resources:  

Anecdata

Anecdata is a free online citizen science platform developed by the Community Lab at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Anecdata is used by hundreds of individuals and organizations to gather and access citizen science observations and provides a platform to easily collect, manage, and share their citizen science data.

How Anecdata works:

  • Project managers create projects, creating datasheets that participants fill out to share their observations.
  • Participants join projects and use the Anecdata website or mobile app to share their observations with the project.
  • Project data is now available for anyone to view and download!

https://www.anecdata.org/projects#annotations:qQrq5LqXEey5KA8io6U52w

PhiVideo

“Create video animations and slide shows from your photos and images.

Choose your photos/images. Annotate your photos with text, shapes and images and save your slideshow as a video file (.mp4 or .webm) or animated GIF. Optionally, add background music. Free, online, safe and fast.”

*Hat tip to Richard Byrne

https://www.phideo.com/#createVideo

AXIS the Culture Translator:

Stan Mail

What it is: Teens are messaging their favorite celebs with news about their lives, never expecting a reply.  

Split Screen Sadness

What it is: An article in The Atlantic presents a unified theory of the teenage mental health crisis.

That Nagging Feeling 

What it is: Warmer weather means the summer’s in view, which can also mean a season of nagging lies ahead. Vox has some ideas for how to more productively remind your kids to do things.  

Slang of the Week: 

 “My poor little meow meow”: used to describe a celebrity or fictional character that’s earned a particular soft spot with the speaker, even if they don’t deserve it. (Ex: “Whenever Loki gets hold of any power, death and destruction seems to follow, but my poor little meow meow just wants to prove to his dad that he’s as worthy as Thor.”)

Web Spotlight:

Florida Rejects Publishers’ Attempts to Indoctrinate Students

https://www.fldoe.org/newsroom/latest-news/florida-rejects-publishers-attempts-to-indoctrinate-students.stml

Banned Books for All

Beginning today through the end of May, anyone can browse, borrow, and read these books for free on any iOS or Android device with SimplyE (note that, as per the Library’s policies on materials accessible to SimplyE users under the age of 13, only King and the Dragonflies is available to those with children’s accounts). While there are hundreds of thousands of titles in the app available to New Yorkers with an NYPL library card, these books will be available through the Books for All Collection, with or without a library card, and with the added bonus of unlimited downloads—no waits, no fines. 

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2022/04/13/books-for-all-nypl-supports-right-read-banned-books

Random Thoughts . . .  

Insult Like Shakespeare Day is April 23rd

INSULT LIKE SHAKESPEARE day is April 23rd! Get your free, fun, and engaging Shakespeare Insult Generator here: InsultLikeShakespeare.com 

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