MSM 196: iPads, Too much good stuff, and Paper (li & plane)

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Jokes You Can Use:

Some people think that movies would be better if less film were shot and more actors.

On Our Mind:


Eileen Award:


Advisory:

Languages

http://ourmothertongues.org/Home.aspx

Paper AirPlanes

http://twentytwowords.com/2012/02/29/new-world-record-distance-for-a-paper-airplane-flight/

Middle School Science Minute

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

This middle school science minute is about life jackets, engineering, volume and density. In the February 2012 issue of Science Scope (NSTA publication) Richard Moyer and Susan Everett wrote an article entitled: “Increase your v to lower your D.”  They developed a 5E lesson that can easily be used by teachers.  The lesson integrates all of the STEM disciplines, while focusing on the core ideas of criteria and constraints in engineering and the practice of engineering design.  It also is focused on the concepts of density and volume.

BTW, Dick Moyer, in this article, teaches over at UM-Dearborn.  Pretty well known in the area.

From the Twitterverse:

* patrizia ‏ @4titania
* Jane Balvanz ‏ @JaneBalvanz
* Will Richardson ‏ @willrich45
* Kevin Creutz ‏ @kevcreutz
* Will Richardson ‏ @willrich45
* Larry Ferlazzo ‏ @Larryferlazzo
* Vicki Davis ‏ @coolcatteacher

  • All About Creative Commons And Copyright – LiveBinder – Steven Anderson’s livebinder on creative commons and… vsb.li/cQKeCl
* Ryan Gallwitz ‏ @rgallwitz
* Tom Whitby ‏ @tomwhitby

  • Virginia Teachers Plan “Wake” For Public Education In Light Of Bill That Slashes Retirement Benefits zite.to/wGpi8R #Edchat
* Diane Ravitch ‏ @DianeRavitch

Don’t forget #midleved on Friday, 8:00 EST on Twitter!

News:

ISTE Virtual Presence

ISTE opens a site on EduIsland9 to replace the four islands it once maintained in Second Life.

The Middle School Plunge

In 2010, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school district shuttered four of its eight middle schools, opting to serve students in elementary schools spanning kindergarten through grade 8. In so doing, it followed in the footsteps of urban school districts such as Baltimore, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York City, all of which have in the past decade expanded their reliance on the once ubiquitous K–8 model.
…policymakers nationwide continue to wrestle with a basic question: At what grade level should students move to a new school?
http://educationnext.org/the-middle-school-plunge/

Resources:

iPad Resources for Administrators

From: Eric Sheninger
http://pinterest.com/esheninger/ipad-apps-for-administrators/

HelloSlide

Simply type the speech for each slide, instead of recording it, and HelloSlide automagically generates the audio.
It gives more exposure to your presentations, making them searchable, editable, and available in 20 different languages.
http://www.helloslide.com/

Canvas LMS

Learning enriches living. Discover how major universities and K-12 school districts are boosting teacher effectiveness, student success and parental engagement with the Canvas learning management system.

Learn more about canvas

http://www.instructure.com/

1,000 Educational Apps

Sure, there are plenty of apps you can use in education. There are even apps created specifically for use in education. Apple has a whole category dedicated to education in the App store. But how do you really know which ones are worth downloading, or possibly even paying for?
TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) to the rescue! TCEA regularly tests available apps andrecommends apps that teachers should be using.
TCEA maintains a list of recommended apps in a shared document via Google Docs. The list is organized by subject area and free apps are color coded in white.
http://adecardy.visibli.com/share/C46fkd

*Tip: You can access the Google Doc below. Select Make a Copy. You can then filter the document to items that you want.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvFbfb1mWoNwdGlweWtkZkFRS1gzUDMtTUtoTEw0MkE#gid=0

Web Spotlight:

“Bully” gets rated R

The MPAA rated the movie R on the basis of language used in the film — language that young teens hurled at a 13-year-old.
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/weinstein-company-considers-leaving-mpaa-over-bully-rating-35681

Cognitive Neuroscience Tools

FreeEDUCATIONAL TOOLS FOR COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Free access to materials for students, educators, and researchers in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Includes Memory Tests that students can take.
Sections include:

  • Change Blindness
  • Visual Search
  • Implicit Memory Test
  • Monsters & Globes Problem


This includes videos, demos and more.
This site could be used for Current Events, Social Studies, Science and more.
http://gocognitive.net/

Stop Selling Dreams

What is school for?

The economy has changed, probably forever.

School hasn’t.

School was invented to create a constant stream of compliant factory workers to the growing businesses of the 1900s. It continues to do an excellent job at achieving this goal, but it’s not a goal we need to achieve any longer.

In this 30,000 word manifesto, I imagine a different set of goals and start (I hope) a discussion about how we can reach them. One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’ve been getting.


Our kids are too important to sacrifice to the status quo.

http://www.squidoo.com/stop-stealing-dreams

Socrates Fails his Teacher Evaluation

The results were posted in the Agora for all to see  the quality and performance of their teacher.  Socrates failed.    He simply spent too much time asking them to think.   A walk- through evaluation by his supervisor (undisclosed), determined that “ sometimes Socrates’s  students meander through endless dialogues examining challenging questions that do not have one right answer.”    Hopefully, he will be replaced or perhaps go through an intensive summer professional development program in Sparta.
http://edge.ascd.org/_SOCRATES-FAILS-TEACHER-EVALUATION/blog/5822005/127586.html

Students Engaged

So, how do they know if a student is engaged? What do “engaged” students look like? In my many observations, here’s some evidence to look for:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-engagement-definition-ben-johnson

12 Must See Teacher Movies

http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-must-see-teacher-movies 

AMLE 2011:

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

Association of Middle Level Education

  • Annual Conference

AMLE Affiliate Conferences:

Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.