Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Moodle, Presentations, and more. Dave reviews the Pandemic Impact on Students. 

Jokes:  

A man once tried to sell me a broken protractor.

• I never could figure out what his angle was.

---

The key to a great joke is not delivery…

• it’s Digiorno.

---

Did you hear about the dog that went to the flea circus?

• It stole the show.

---

Fun fact: ancient teachers, when discussing a very important idea, would repeatedly dip the sharpened end of their stylus in honey.

• They felt it was necessary to belabor the point.

---

Why did the duck decide not to have plastic surgery?

• He thought the bill would be too large.

---

What did the linebacker say to the flight attendant?

• “Put me in coach!”

---

Anytime someone says “I can’t even”

• it seems a little odd.

---

Once I did think I was wrong.

• It turns out I was mistaken.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Pandemic Impact on Students

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner” column, written by Ann Haley MacKenzie.  She wrote an article entitled, “Did the Pandemic Impact the Brains of Our Science Students?”  

A recent study in the Journal, “Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science,” found that teen brains aged prematurely during the pandemic.  The paper states that teenagers’ brains aged several years in just a few months during the isolation and stress of the pandemic lockdown.  For more information on this study, please visit:

www.bpsgos.org/article/S2667-1743(22)00142-2/fulltext

http://k12science.net/pandemic-impact-on-students/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Crossword Puzzle for Video (and why you should use Restricted Access)
• Vocabulary, Chrome, and Kids 

The Social Web  

 Help A Teacher  @HelpATeacher

Adorable! 

Success Bound  @successboundorg

@successboundorg

is MIDDLE SCHOOL STRONG!  Celebrate Middle Level Education this month. This year’s theme is #Empowered #Student and @AMLE is centering the voices of students. Learn how you can amplify the voices of your students, click here https://amle.org/middle-level-e

Alexlindsay  @alexlindsay

Replying to @technologylaura I’ve built 100s of presentations on 3 platforms over the last 20 years. Scores: Keynote – 9/10 Power Point – 4/10 Slides – 3/10 Once you build decks in Keynote, going to other platforms is like going from First Class to Economy. You still get from point A to B but style is gone

MiddleWeb  @middleweb

REVIEW: Add SEL to Your Class with Movie Magic. #mschat @AMLE #engchat #elachat  @MsAmberChandler’s feel-good Movie Magic in the Classroom prepares any teacher to guide students through 10 films that address a range of SEL topics, writes @sarahjcooper01. https://middleweb.com/48607/add-movi  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘vertumnal‘ (17th century): spring-like or giving a foretaste of spring, as in the early buds in the garden or the swelling of birdsong. A nod to Vertumnus, god of the changing seasons.

Word of the day is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century: the desire to be away from other people.   

Kara Priest Bullock

Fat Boy Natural BBQ

Resources:  

Handmade Holograms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv-38lwV6vc

Teen girls are struggling. They need our help

Nancy Jo Sales

Girls and young women report rising rates of suicide, depression and sexual violence in North America – and a lot of it has to do with social media.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/28/teen-girls-are-struggling-social-media-tiktok-instagram#annotations:TPuEMrduEe2qpE8U6mSAmw

Under The Sana’a Skyline

Belquis lives in Old Sana’a, an ancient city in Yemen. An exciting writing competition is announced for her class but there’s just one problem: the story is to inspire the world. Belquis is surrounded by the hardships of war and and struggle. What has she seen that is inspirational?

Under the Sana’a Skyline is a story for children and adults alike that beautifully weaves community and history with one girl’s search for humanity.

How will AI change the world?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzkD_rTEBYs&t=2s

Web Spotlight:  

Boeing Engineers Set a New Record for Paper Plane Flight Distance

Dillon Ruble and Garrett Jensen, two engineers working at Boeing, broke a record in December that had only a little to do with their day jobs: They set a new world record for farthest flight by a paper aircraft, sending a sheet of paper 88.318 meters, or almost 290 feet.

Ruble and Jensen studied origami and aerodynamics for months, putting in 400 to 500 hours of creating different prototypes to try to design a plane that could fly higher and longer.

https://jalopnik.com/boeing-engineers-set-a-new-record-for-paper-plane-fligh-1850157043#annotations:TBLKArilEe2JkUPgcwGpdA

Teachers Pay Teachers Bought Out by IXL Learning

https://thejournal.com/articles/2023/03/02/teachers-pay-teachers-bought-out-by-ixl-learning.aspx#annotations:FO5v4rnjEe24UV-wJuNz5Q

AXIS The Culture Translator

TikTok Time Out

What it is: TikTok announced it will institute a limit of 60 minutes per day for users under 18.

Instagore 

What it is: The Washington Post reports that Instagram Reels featuring disturbing and violent content are being reposted to large meme accounts that have hundreds of thousands of teen followers.

“In C.S. Lewis’ book The Magician’s Nephew, the children Polly and Diggory are met with a choice to ring a bell and “bide the danger,” or ignore it and forever wonder what might have happened if they did. Diggory rings the bell, justifying his actions with the words: “We can’t get out of it now. We shall always be wondering what else would have happened if we had struck the bell. I’m not going home to be driven mad by always thinking of that.” The result of his actions is the arrival of the White Witch in Narnia, and a regret that Diggory carries with him for the rest of his life.”

National Geographic’s “Greeking Out!” Podcast Series for Kids

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/greeking-out

Most Popular Slang by State

https://crossword-solver.io/most-popular-slang-by-state-map/

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about the week “off”, middle schoolers being middle schoolers, and more. Dave heats up. 

Jokes:  

Mountains aren’t just funny…

• They’re hill areas.

---

Do pots and pans talk about the news in the drying rack?

• No; moistly they just dish on each other.

---

So i’ve finally completed a PhD in palindromes…

• You can now call me Dr Awkward.

---

How do monsters like their eggs?

• Terrorfried

---

“Had to give up my career due to fallen arches.”

“You were a pro athlete?”

“No. Architect.”

---

Man. Every time I ask what the lowest Army rank is, people say that’s private.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: The Sun’s Heat

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Science 101” column, written by Matthew Bobrowsky.  He wrote a Q and A article entitled, “How Does the Sun’s Heat Get to Us Here on Earth?”  

Heat is the flow of energy from one object to another object because of their difference in temperature.  That energy, thermal energy, results from the random motion of atoms and molecules.  The molecules move around, bouncing off of each other and bouncing off anything with which the object comes into contact.  The hotter the object, the faster the molecules are moving.

http://k12science.net/the-suns-heat/

Reports from the Front Lines

• School’s Out
  • Social Media is wrong about something
  • Kids stayed home
• LOC Browser Extension

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘pertolerate’ (17th century): to endure steadfastly to the end.

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

My mom was a radiologist. She met my dad when he came in for an x-ray. I wonder what she saw in him.

Police have arrested the World Tongue-Twister Champion. They said he’ll be given a tough sentence.  

TeacherGoals  @teachergoals

Get it? 

Fixing Education  @FixingEducation

On Tuesday, 2/21/23, this student violently attacked his teacher aide at Matanzas HS. When deputies spoke with the student, he explained that he was upset because the aide took his Nintendo Switch away during class. Student was described as 6’6”, 270 lbs.  Video:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1629129801087713282  

The Ghost of Ernie   @ErnieHarwell1

The voice of the turtle is heard in our land today! #playball #DetroitRoots #LetsGoTigers

The voice of the turtle is heard in our land today! #playball #DetroitRoots #LetsGoTigers pic.twitter.com/2W3WgFxnmd

— The Ghost of Ernie 🎙⚾️ (@ErnieHarwell1) February 25, 2023

Strategies:

Eliminate Off-Task Behavior During Group Work

https://www.trevormuir.com/blog/off-task-behavior#annotations:PX6MgLOjEe2JrlfL93lwwQ

Who Benefits From Attending Effective High Schools?

All students benefit from attending effective schools, but the least advantaged students experience larger improvements in high-school graduation, college going, and school-based arrests.

Commonly used test-score value-added understates the long-run importance of effective schools, particularly for less-advantaged populations.

Click to access Who_Benefits_JOLE_r1_clean.pdf

Taboo.AI

https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2023/02/25/this-online-taboo-game-using-artificial-intelligence-is-fun-can-be-a-language-learning-tool-for-ells/

https://taboo-ai.vercel.app/

Resources:  

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Rise and Shine

What it is: TikTok’s #5to9 club and #morningroutine videos are inspiring some young people to start their days earlier for maximum productivity.

American Battlefield Trust:  Augmented Reality

Get up close to Abraham Lincoln as he recites his famous Gettysburg Address. Wander around Brandy Station’s historic St. James Church and see what the interior may have looked like. Examine an excavated Spanish piece of eight up close. Bring history to life in your space with the American Battlefield Trust’s collection of Augmented Reality (AR) experiences and your smartphone.  https://www.battlefields.org/learn/augmented-reality  

TEACHING “THE OCKY WAY”

Prepackaged lessons do serve a purpose in education. They give educators a starting point, helping save time. Teachers don’t need to be reinventing lessons every time they teach something new. 

It makes me think of “The Ocky Way” channel found on YouTube/TikTok and Instagram. Where a small deli in Red Hook, NY makes common foods come to life prepared by owner Mohamed. Mohamed has risen to internet fame by taking standard meals, then adds his own touch to them to make them unique for the consumer. Sometimes customers bring in fast food orders from nieghboring stories to have the meal done “The Ocky Way”.

Teaching “the Ocky Way”

STEALTHGPT

Unleash the power of undetectable AI writing

https://stealthgpt.ai/#annotations:JpLEnrE0Ee2TrsPIrD7nAw

Ben Collins Spreadsheet Tips Archives

Ben Collins does a wonderful FREE weekly newsletter. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRjLOmw2lfxvRnyYBqDB3YT_CUmQn337cIoYp8d2bnTxHe3SaVsduZXkbiDS_6HF84CL5eBdfYuzYT_/pubhtml

A Framework for Learning Through the Purposeful Use of Technology

https://esheninger.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-framework-for-learning-through.html

Web Spotlight:  

Becorns

Becorns are little people I make out of acorns and sticks. Then I photograph them in nature with real animals. In this video, I share my process for taking photos with some Eastern Bluebirds. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3auU2OIe_gA#annotations:dDeyrLRMEe28oV_DsHYdzg

https://www.davidmbird.com/

What Is Going On With This Andrew Tate Hand Gesture?

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were seen using the sign during their arrest in Romania, and teachers in the UK say teenage boys are copying it.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z34dgy/andrew-tate-hand-gesture#annotations:8Ikh3rB8Ee2_IsOG8gVz8Q

Little Known Punctuation Marks

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/12710/13-little-known-punctuation-marks-we-should-be-using

Random Thoughts . . .  

The Persona Spectrum

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/xamarin/the-journey-to-accessible-apps/

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about break, creating your own computers, interesting words and more. Dave tells us how kids can get involved with Marine Iguanas. 

Jokes:  

Anyone who can spell the word drawer backwards…

• Will get a reward.

---

I have a friend named David. He had boy and named him Harley. Now, when he introduces himself, he does so

• “I’m Harley, David’s son.”

---

“How much do you charge?” a man asks a lawyer.

“For $100 I answer three questions,” the lawyer answers.

“That’s awfully steep isn’t it?” says the man.

“Yes it is,” replies the lawyer. “Now what’s your final question?”

---

What type of lunch do you get at an air show?

• A plain one.

---

My dog hates holograms.

• They make no scents!

---

Here’s my list of friends who love Palindromes:

Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Marine Iguanas

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column, written by Jill Nugent.  She wrote an article entitled, “Iguanas from Above.”  

“Iguanas from Above’ is a citizen science project designed to answer questions about marine iguanas, their population, and their habitat.  The project will help to determine the current population size of marine iguanas and their locations within the archipelagos.  For more information, visit:

http://k12science.net/marine-iguanas/ 

https://www.iguanasfromabove.com

Reports from the Front Lines

• Break
• Lock Down Browser
  • Exam.net
  • Moodle
• Spreadsheets
• COVID and schools

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is a reminder of ‘ipsedixitism’ (16th century): the assertion that something is ‘fact’ because someone else said so.  

Word of the day is ‘gadwaddick’: old Norfolk dialect for going on a jaunt or a head-clearing pootle.  

benteh @benteh@mastodon.social

Word of the day, a yiddish slang word:

farpotshket (https://forvo.com/word/farpotshket/ )

broken, because someone tried to fix it

This word doesn’t just describe something that is broken, but something that is broken specifically because someone else tried to fix it, making it worse. It is used most commonly today to describe software engineering projects.

Paul Thomas  @plthomasEdD

Pronunciation requires context

Paul Couretas  @MrCouretasPE

“Mr. C, why aren’t you in the Olympics, or the circus? I think you would be great in the circus. Probably not Olympics, but definitely the circus!” Might be the best thing a student has ever said to me.. #physed #education #movement #sports #olympics #circus #clown

Help A Teacher  @HelpATeacher

This is pretty awesome!   Unknown

Jennifer Zimny  @jzimnycricket

Finally set up my Would You Rather station! I loved hearing students reactions to it once I put it up. Templates coming soon.

Deborah Farmer Kris  @dfkris

Middle schoolers are my *favorite* — and I’m delighted CNN let me explain why. With insight (and positive tween vibes) from  @Pfagell & @LDamour.  https://t.co/S3B5lMFvFU  

Strategies:  

Design Fiction Daily

Lots of resources of things that don’t exist. 

*warning, swears on the “About” page. 

https://www.designfictiondaily.com/p/martian-domesteading

Resources:  

There’s an AI for That

https://theresanaiforthat.com/#annotations:3l02vK-WEe2EoHuVQdv1Zw

10 things to know about how social media affects teens’ brains

“Our brains, our bodies, and our society have been evolving together to shape human development for millennia. … Within the last 20 years, the advent of portable technology and social media platforms [has been] changing what took 60,000 years to evolve,” Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association (APA)

Humans are social creatures, and we learn through social interaction. In fact, said Prinstein, “numerous studies have revealed that children’s interactions with peers have enduring effects on their occupational status, salary, relationship success, emotional development, mental health, and even on physical health and mortality over 40 years later. These effects are stronger than the effects of children’s IQ, socioeconomic status and educational attainment.”

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1157180971/10-things-to-know-about-how-social-media-affects-teens-brains#annotations:kFCH0q7gEe2gecvaJNFTsA

How Can I Support My Child in Learning Maths?

https://tommaths.blogspot.com/2023/02/how-can-i-support-my-children-learning.html#annotations:JdBapq4WEe2Z8T-xlPqdKA

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

A Somber Report

What it is: This Monday, the CDC released its 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey report. Out of 17,000 US high school students surveyed in late 2021, nearly 60 percent of teen girls reported persistent sadness or hopelessness.

Losing Their Drive

What it is: Fewer teens seem interested in obtaining a driver’s license than in years past, with only 45 percent of 17-year-olds getting them in 2020—a drop of 17 percentage points compared to 1997.

Web Spotlight:  

 O Kai Sauliūtė Tekėjo – Lithuanian Folk Song

A folk song for the 105th Anniversary of Lithuanian Independence.  Turn on the closed captions and do a “Notice & Wonder” as you listen and watch the video.  

What a conductor actually does on stage

f you’ve ever seen an orchestra perform you’ve probably had a difficult time looking away from the person dead center on the stage – the conductor. It’s hard to miss someone as they swing their arms around pointing at the musicians that seem to be focused instead on their music stands. So what exactly is the conductor doing? 

We decided to ask James Gaffigan – a conductor who recently guest conducted the New York Philharmonic in Central Park – just what it is that makes a conductor so necessary and how their actions shape the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_yIn8V3UcU

Student Solar Project Bridges Digital Divide in Rural Virginia

To bridge this digital divide during the pandemic, the school district set up 32 of these WOW stations throughout the county in parking lots at churches, grocery stores and any other businesses willing to share their parking lots. 

High school students enrolled in both construction and energy and power classes helped build the WOW units.

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2023/02/16/student-solar-project-bridges-digital-divide-in-rural-virginia/#annotations:BOdESq4QEe2QKEN-wM4XoQ

Black History Month For Teachers

Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.

https://blackhistorymonth.gov/for-teachers/#annotations:pFlPxK4PEe2KnDd_zq9AlA

The Science of Measurement | Metrology Matters

Nothing to do with weather, this is about measuring. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q4UWZqNVBk#annotations:4asBCK4NEe27st_-pdzQ0g

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss defenestration, AI, and more. Dave is statistically correct. 

Jokes:  

My Daughter turned 18 last weekend, so I bought her a locket with a picture of herself inside. Thankfully, she’s now finally..

• Independent..

---

I took an elevator up to the eleventh floor for a meeting. As I got out, the operator said “Have a good day, son.”

“Don’t call me son,” I said. “You’re not my dad.”

He scratched his head, “No, but I brought you up, didn’t I?”

After my meeting, I got back on the elevator to go back down, and the same operator was there. I said nothing to him, but when we got to the ground floor, he said to me, “I’m sorry.”

“Because you thought you were my dad?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “No, son, because I let you down.”

---

What do you call a line of people waiting to get their hair cut?

• A barber Queue

---

Pancake jokes? 

• I’ve got a stack of ‘em.

---

Furniture Salesman: “This sofa will seat five without any problems.”

Customer: “Where am I going to find five people with no problems?”

---

One day, I hope to be able to install an indoor soccer pitch in my attic. I know what you’re thinking…lofty goals.

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Statistical Thinking

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Interdisciplinary Ideas” column, written by Kristin Hunter-Thomson.  She wrote an article entitled, “Why Should We All Embrace Statistical Thinking?”  

Statistical thinking is the mindset that we use when doing anything with data.  The mindset is based on the following three criteria:

1.  Any work with data involves interconnected processes.

2.  All processes and data have variability.

3.  Understanding variability and these processes is key to making sense of data.

http://k12science.net/statistical-thinking/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Lock Down browsers
• Spreadsheets
  • Assessment Tracking 

The Social Web  

Alexlindsay  @alexlindsay

You can read 100 books on baking bread but you won’t actually know how to bake bread until you’ve baked 100 loaves yourself. This applies to many things in life.

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘stiff-rumped’ (18th century): obstinate, unbending, and accustomed to taking everyone else for fools.

I have only just discovered that the original meaning of ‘prime time’, in the 16th century, was Spring.  

John R. Sowash  @jrsowash

Unleash the power of reading with this simple Google Form reading log! it’s the perfect tool to kickstart your next reading challenge. https://chrmbook.com/google-forms-reading-log/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=jrsowash&utm_content=edtechposts

#teachertwitter #GoogleEdu

Jonny Hemphill  @worcesterjonny

Cause of disease and treatment across the historical periods all on one page. Trying to help year 11 with their revision with this thinking quilt. Color coding the historical periods and the themes #historyteacher

NBR, Nordic Baltic Region of FIPLV & Egle Sleinotiene  

Resources:  

Our 10th Annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Challenge

We invite students to create a short video that defines or teaches any of the words in our Word of the Day collection. Contest dates: Feb. 15-March 15, 2023.

Student Vocabulary Challenge: Invent a Word

Come up with your own addition to the English language. Suggest a new word by Feb. 28, and it could become our April Fools’ Word of the Day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/learning/student-vocabulary-challenge-invent-a-word.html#annotations:hamkrqcjEe2ORtuJMgChGQ 

Project Look Sharp

Inspire and enrich your teaching by engaging all students in rigorous and reflective analysis of rich media documents.

In today’s media-saturated world, we need to teach our students the habits of critical thinking needed for their academic, career and civic lives. They need consistent practice in asking the right questions and in reflecting on their own meaning-making. Project Look Sharp’s approach integrates materials and methodologies that teach both core subject-area learning with these media literacy skills.

https://projectlooksharp.org/#annotations:QSHLgKloEe2UDZMLXUlVSg

AMLE Book Spotlight – Middle School Superpowers – Raising Resilient Teens in Turbulent Times – Phyllis Fagell

Are you concerned that middle school will wreak havoc on your tween’s well-being and sense of self? Wondering how you can ward off the decline in confidence research shows kids experience during these vulnerable years? Seeking strategies that will help your child emerge from middle school with even more resilience than when they started?   

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0306829754/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Geography Bee!

1200 questions for your Geography Bee at your school!  Downloadable as a Moodle Course and ready to make usable in your school.  

https://moodle.net/resource/4olx2f65uf6u-geography-bee

Web Spotlight:  

On the Road: Middle school football players execute life-changing play

As part of our continuing series “On the Road,” Steve Hartman meets the Olivet Eagles, a middle school football team who took a fledgling player under their wing and executed what may be the most successful play of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ejh_hb15Fc#annotations:bbKRtKYnEe2csQcPYuLe2A

We’ve always been distracted

Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself

https://aeon.co/essays/weve-always-been-distracted-or-at-least-worried-that-we-are#annotations:zL8KgKVyEe2iYn-bq0nsJA

WRBH

WRBH’s mission is to turn the printed word into the spoken word so that the blind and print impaired can receive the same ease of access to current information as their sighted peers.

WRBH’s target audience includes the blind and illiterate as well as individuals who are unable to read due to illness, spinal cord injuries, eye muscle damage, learning disabilities, lack of access to print media, and loss of vision due to age. While the majority of reading services for the blind use mechanized voice software, WRBH is the only organization providing this variety of programming via the human voice thanks to over 150 volunteers who donate nearly 5,000 hours annually to read printed information. 

https://www.wrbh.org/about-us/who-we-are/#annotations:edKTbqY1Ee2bXR8OXyqQVw

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Defining the Situationship

What it is: With Valentine’s Day approaching, many young people are defining their relationships as “situationships,” according to Tinder’s “Year in Swipe” data report for 2022.

The Broom Method

In order to fuel its rockets, NASA scientists must take two of the most basic elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and cool them down hundreds of degrees into their liquid states. In this more efficient form, a rocket’s tank volume can be maximized, providing the needed fuel to achieve lift. This process is a potentially dangerous one, as hydrogen is highly combustible. If at any point during storage, fueling, or flight the liquid form evaporates back into gas, a leak could mean a massive explosion.

During the Apollo missions, scientists and engineers would simply walk through the facilities with a long broom held out in front of them. When the broom touched the invisible burning hydrogen, the end would suddenly combust and they could mark another area which had dangerous gas within it. It was low-tech — but it worked.

https://shop.minimuseum.com/blogs/cool-things/the-broom-method#annotations:5I8QSKZNEe2nnYdCmsV8eQ

Dispositional Realignment

Two Lithuanian films make it onto Netflix and HBO Max

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1887252/two-lithuanian-films-make-it-onto-netflix-and-hbo-max?fbclid=IwAR1CYSTB5QpGFys8Gl0OQYu0O4gf1UODG6Eel0BCeXgDNdGVzm7lo6O0DJw

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk about Parent Conferences, Moodle Flow, AI and more. Dave is trading in some books.

Jokes:  

Why did the dachshund sit in the shade? 

• It was a hot dog.

---

I ran into a lamppost yesterday. 

• Luckily, I only sustained light injuries.

---

Why were the middle ages also called the dark ages? 

• There were too many knights.

---

Why were police called to a daycare center? 

• A 3-year-old was resisting a rest.

---

Why are long fairy tales boring? 

• They tend to dragon.

---

Nobody has seen the zamboni driver lately. 

• I’m sure he’ll resurface eventually.

---

Why did I buy a boat? 

• It was for sail.

---

Cowboys used to hang lanterns off each side off their saddles, to help find their way whilst riding at night..

• This is believed to be the earliest form of saddle light navigation.. 🤔

---

I was debating with my friend about who the greatest vampire was.

I said, “The one from Sesame Street”

He said, “He doesn’t count!”

To which I replied, “Oh yes, he certainly does”

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  2023 Outstanding Science Trade Books for Middle School Students

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read an article on the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students in 2023. 

Here are the 7 books selected as outstanding for middle school students:

• Antarctica: A Melting Continent
• Oceanarium: Welcome to the Museum
• Salmon: Swimming for Survival
• The Code Breaker — Young Readers Edition: Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic Code
• Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research
• How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps
• The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner

http://k12science.net/2023-outstanding-science-trade-books-for-middle-school-students/ 

Reports from the Front Lines

• Parent Conferences
  • In person
  • Remote
  • In the Round, Scheduled
• Moodle Flow
• Webinar

The Social Web  

ChatGPT 2049 @ChatGPT2049

Automated

Holy cow has @OpenAI gimped the ChatGPT tech. It’s almost useless for any sort of creative writing now. I mean, come on.

Peter Forister  @forecaster25

INSANE conditions on Mt Washington, NH. 120mph+ winds and -95°F wind chill. It is above the tropopause, meaning that these are stratospheric winds. Footage from the summit live stream 2:30-2:40pm. #nhwx  https://twitter.com/i/status/1621598650022363142  

Monica Roach  @MonicaRoach15

Hey #vbits ! Did you know that @MergeVR now works with the forward facing camera on Chromebooks?!? Thanks for the info, @lesliefisher!

Susie Dent @susie_dent

Word of the Day (again) is ‘quiddling’ (18th century): busying oneself with trivial tasks as a way of avoiding the important ones.

PUNS @ThePunnyWorld

A shark can swim faster than me, but I can run faster than a shark. So in a triathlon, it would all come down to who is the better cyclist

Sardonicus @Sardonicus@mastodon.social

A cement truck crashed near Winganon, Oklahoma in the 1950s and the mixer was too heavy to move. It’s still there; locals have painted it to look like an abandoned NASAcapsule.  https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/10/the-

MrBerard@MrBerard@pilote.me

#EduGlow telling 12 year old that Instagram runs on Python, the same language they are using. Also telling them Instagram stands for “Instant Telegram”, the name the company was founded under in Victorian times.

Dr. Sean Munger @seanmunger@metalhead.club

Here are all the paper airplanes I confiscated during the course of *one* 8th grade class yesterday. Why did my Ph.D. program not prepare me for this? 

Strategies:  

Creating a Collection of 101 Creative Ideas to Use AI in Education

Creating a collection of 101 creative ideas to use AI in education

The Art of Self-Pacing: How to Build Playlists that Keep Students on Track

The playlist, or individual rotation model, is a highly effective blended learning model that empowers students to take ownership of their learning by giving them control over the pace and path of their learning. This model presents a sequence of carefully curated learning activities tailored to each student’s unique needs and abilities, allowing them to progress toward specific learning objectives at their own pace.

https://catlintucker.com/2023/01/self-pacing-playlists/#annotations:O4dLUJ9yEe2WJgeQ7nWPjw

this is why we should stop giving homework

The United States must examine the underlying inequities of peoples’ lives, rather than focus on increasing schools’ workloads and lessening children’s free time for mythical academic gains that lead to little change.

At Human Restoration Project, one of the core systemic changes we suggest is the elimination of homework. Throughout this piece, I will outline several research studies and reports that demonstrate how the negative impact of homework is so evident that any mandated homework, outside of some minor catching up or for incredibly niche cases, simply does more harm than good.

I’ll summarize four main reasons why homework just flat out doesn’t make sense.

• Achievement, whether that be measured through standardized tests or general academic knowledge, isn’t correlated to assigning or completing homework.
• Homework is an inequitable practice that harms certain individuals more than others, to the detriment of those with less resources and to minor, if any, improvement for those with resources.
• It contributes to negative impacts at home with one’s family, peer relationships, and just general school-life balance, which causes far more problems than homework is meant to solve.
• And finally, it highlights and exacerbates our obsession with ultra-competitive college admissions and job opportunities, and other detrimental faults of making everything about getting ahead.

https://www.humanrestorationproject.org/writing/this-is-why-we-should-stop-giving-homework#annotations:KyBGWp8hEe2fg2-d8-VHiQ

Resources:  

ONE STRATEGY FOR COMBATTING PSEUDOSCIENCE

written by Miguel Guhlin 

Are you a critical thinker? I am not…yet. The gap between knowing what’s possible and where I’m at spurs me to learn more.

And, wow, what an amazing set of resources I have found!

One Strategy for Combatting Pseudoscience

MacWhisper

Quickly and easily transcribe audio files into text with OpenAI’s state-of-the-art transcription technology Whisper. Whether you’re recording a meeting, lecture, or other important audio, MacWhisper quickly and accurately transcribes your audio files into text.

https://goodsnooze.gumroad.com/l/macwhisper#annotations:CdFMyKKcEe26GVfusJc_lw

GifCap

Create animated GIFs from a screen recording.

Client-side only, no data is uploaded. Modern browser required.

https://gifcap.dev/#annotations:O7r7WqGWEe2EgTP7XuKyEQ

PEN America Index of Educational Gag Orders

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tj5WQVBmB6SQg-zP_M8uZsQQGH09TxmBY73v23zpyr0/edit#gid=1505554870

Graphic Organizers

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFMyLVL8e0/VFXNoPFq27ppbHjVlnRYtg/view

Info Wall – H5P

A free H5P content type that allows users to present simple structured lists of information that can be filtered in publishing systems like Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard, Moodle and WordPress. 

Web Spotlight:  

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Duped

What it is: Products that are “dupes”—less costly alternatives to brand name options—are taking over TikTok and Instagram.

We’ve Lost the Plot

What it is: An article in the Atlantic questions if the line between entertainment and real life has become blurred beyond recognition, suggesting that we already live in a sort of socially-conditioned metaverse.

The Hangout House

What it is: A parent went viral on TikTok for sharing his tips for making his house the house where his teenagers and their friends want to spend time together.

Pranks Destroy Scam Callers- GlitterBomb Payback

Chatham-Kent County Renames Snowplows

Random Thoughts . . .  

Jack Berckemeyer – Nuts & Bolts Conference  

“I sent an update to all the Nuts and Bolts Consultants that I am working on a five year plan to work my butt off then slow my roll. By then I will be 60 (damn Jack you looo great) Traveling is wearing me out, I am beat up and tired. I need to work on some personal self care and start to wind down my 30 year career in education.

So what does this mean, nothing changes in the next 5 years I will still be working with schools, still keynoting and doing whatever I can to help struggling schools and educators. However, by 2025 I will be selling Nuts and Bolts – The Never Boring Conference – if you’re interested let’s chat. NB changed my life and brought me so much joy. All stays the same for this summer, great locations and outstanding speakers. I am just looking for some to either take it on or partner with me.”  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss AI in education, PD, and more. Dave has Ecosystem Dynamics.

Jokes:  

My friend told me he’s going on a trip to Spain, but he doesn’t understand a word of Spanish

• So I told him the most important thing you need to remember is to say Mucho as much as possible, because to the Spanish people that means a lot…

---

While admiring some dinosaur bones in the Museum of Natural History, a tourist asks the guard, “How old are they?”

The guard replies, “They are 73 million, four years, and six months old.”

“That’s a rather exact number,” says the tourist. “How do you know their age so precisely?”

“Well,” answers the guard, “The dinosaur bones were seventy three million years old when I started working here, and that was four and a half years ago.”

---

I seem to be developing an irrational fear of German Sausages.

• I fear the würst.

---

I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov  ..

• and on the table was a checkered tablecloth. It took him 20 minutes to pass me the salt.
• At the end of the meal he offered to pay, and said, “Pass me the check, mate.”

---

Three tons of hair was stolen from a wig factory.

• Police are combing the area.

---

How did the hacker get away from the police?

• She ransomware.

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast: Ecosystem Dynamics

I was recently reading the January/February 2023 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk” column, written by Patti McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “Ecosystem Dynamics.”  

A healthy ecosystem can be defined as one that “has the ability to maintain its structure and function over time in the face of external stress.”  Managing ecosystems in a manner that creates resilience and long-term sustainability is more crucial than ever.

http://k12science.net/ecosystem-dynamics/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Remote Work
• PD Day
• Science Teachers
• Moving Buildings
• Spear Phishing
• NOLEJ
  • Experience
  • Iran
  • Google Classroom

The Social Web  

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘bayard’ (16th century): one who shuts their eyes to reality and has all the confidence of ignorance.

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

I hurt my knee slipping on ice in front of the police station. I went inside to complain but they charged me with a felony

MuhsinBashir( #GPT insider )  @muhsinbashir_ai

10 Best alternatives to #ChatGPT #AI  1. GPT-3 by OpenAl 2. BERT by Google 3. XLNet by Google 4. RoBERTa by Facebook 5. ALBERT by Google 6. T5 by Google 7. CTRL by Salesforce 8. Transformer-XL by Google 9. XLM by Facebook 10. Megatron by NVIDIA

Biosension  @norrad

https://lnkd.in/e7HVUA8D “First up, we’ve got Chinchilla – the GPT-3 killer developed by DeepMind. With 70 billion parameters and four times the data as Gopher, this bad boy is sure to impress. But beware, it’s not quite ready for p…https://lnkd.in/ehQJBEFs

Dissident Teacher  @edudissenter

I’ve been teaching for 25 years. I’m tired of building my own curriculum.

NOLEJ  @nolej_app

Autogenerate eLearning interactives in minutes! 1 – Upload or copy URL to any content 2 – Nolej AI will analyze the semantic meaning 3 – It will generate a plug-and-play ready library of interactives

MrBerard  @MrBerard@pilote.me #EduGlow : getting to send a pupil on their way by quoting #Discworld‘s Lord #Vetinari:
“Do not let me detain you.”

MrBerard  @MrBerard@pilote.me #EduGlow: when an eight grader unpacks for you why he thinks “negative numbers aren’t real” and you gotta admit he’s onto something.

Strategies: 

Tired of the Same Old Professional Development? Let Students Lead.

I formed an after-school student activism and leadership club with a small group of seventh grade students. I wanted this club to be youth-led, so I relied heavily on student conversations to guide our work. One thread that quickly emerged from our initial discussions was teacher practice. Students felt frustrated by their teachers’ lack of focus on building classroom community and supporting students’ self-confidence.

After these discussions, I posed a question to my students: “Do you all want to lead a training for us–your teachers–focused on how we could do better?”

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-01-25-tired-of-the-same-old-professional-development-let-students-lead#annotations:26Tp1pzOEe2eZQsbj8SBdQ

Resources:  

Chrono Photo Game

See a picture, guess the year. Five rounds per game. 

Great to have students develop context clues. 

https://www.chronophoto.app/game.html

The Science of Well-Being for Teens

A recent survey found that 37% of teens say they have poor mental health. This 6-week course aims to curb this mental health crisis by bringing together the best insights from Dr. Laurie Santos’ popular Yale course Psychology and the Good Life. In this course, you will explore what the field of psychology teaches us about how to be happier, how to feel less stressed, and how to thrive in high school and beyond. The lessons along with short weekly ‘happiness homework’ assignments will ultimately prepare you to put these scientific findings into practice. The ultimate goal is for you to feel better and build healthier habits. Parents, teachers, and other professionals supporting teenagers may also find the course beneficial.

Note: This course does not confer Yale University grade, credit or student status.

THE SCIENCE OF WELL-BEING FOR TEENS WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO THE GENEROUS FUNDING OF THE ARTHUR M. BLANK FAMILY FOUNDATION AND THE JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being-for-teens#annotations:FS-5Fp53Ee2eUb9Yh6btdw

Looking Behind the Screen: Critical Media Literacy Gives Us Tools to Understand How Media Shapes Our Perception of Others and the World

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2023/01/19/looking-behind-the-screen-critical-media-literacy-gives-us-tools-to-understand-how-media-shapes-our-perception-of-others-and-the-world/#annotations:d34LLJzTEe2y–9Fk0Rg9g

Free Bingo Cards

The fastest and most popular Bingo Card Generator in the world!

• Create randomized bingo cards for free in seconds with our Bingo Card Generator.
• Print your bingo cards at home to play in‑person, or send out links to play a Virtual Bingo Game – we even provide a bingo caller!
• Choose from ready-made Number Bingo Cards or browse through bingo ideas for all occasions.
• All our bingo cards can be customized (edit the title, background, content). Make the perfect bingo cards for your party or event.

https://myfreebingocards.com/#annotations:ncYHuJzSEe2BGoP_9LxU8A

Letters on our national struggle

by Meagher, Thomas Francis, 1823-1867

https://archive.org/details/lettersonournati00meag/mode/2up

Stephen King’s 20 Rules for Writers

https://www.openculture.com/2023/01/stephen-kings-20-rules-for-writers.html#annotations:z_KBdpwKEe2v2zeGYfNvug

Web Spotlight:  

Geometric Primes

Geometric Primes is a series of posters visualizing the complete set of three-digit prime numbers in a series of styles and only using basic geometric shapes based on squares, circles, and triangles.

Each print contains all 143 prime numbers with 3 digits. Each is represented by an image composed of simple geometric shapes based on its digital root and colors based on its digits. Arranging these images sequentially creates colorful collages of prime numbers based on simple rules.

For each poster, a unique shape was assigned to the digital root of each prime number which is calculated by iteratively summing its digits until one remains. (All known prime numbers greater than 3 have digital roots of 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, or 8.)

https://www.c82.net/work/?id=392#annotations:kLyMvp5_Ee2POwtLDd3sXA

Suzanne Ciani Creates The Soundtrack For A Pinball Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r28i-k3mL3o

MINK! — My Mom Fought For Title IX, but It Almost Didn’t Happen | Op-Docs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faL6ERtj5oM#annotations:N959ppwNEe2Oci_m0w17JA

ChatGPT Isn’t the Only Way to Use AI in Education

AI can be a tool to create meaningful connections and learning experiences for children—and may help foster more equitable outcomes.

https://www.wired.com/story/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-education-networks/

My perspective on ChatGPT (and creativity and teaching)

http://tjkendon.ucalgaryblogs.ca/my-perspective-on-chatgpt-and-creativity-and-teaching/ 

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

YouTube U

What it is: Individuals can now earn college credit through Arizona State University by watching YouTube videos through a newly-launched program called Study Hall.

Application fees are $25 per course, and once coursework is complete, students can opt to pay around $400 for transferable college credits from the course.  

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss the NOLEJ beta, discuss AI, the Social Web, and more. Dave demonstrates why we should demonstrate. 

Jokes:  

A man walks into a dentist’s office and says, “I think I’m a moth.”

The dentist says, “You shouldn’t be here. You should be seeing a psychiatrist.”

The man replies, “But I am already seeing a psychiatrist.”

The dentist says, “Well then what are you doing here?”

And the man replies, “Your light was on.”

---

Did you hear that people in Minnesota are very excited this year?

• Summer is forecasted to be on a weekend!

---

There’s a big difference between a bee from the UK and a bee from the US.

• A UK bee carries pollen, a US bee carries data

---

Ice fishing

• The hardest thing about ice fishing is boring.

---

Middle School Science Minute  

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

K12Science Podcast:  Demonstrations

I was recently reading the November/December 2022 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  

In this issue, I read the “Methods and Strategies” column, written by Christopher Roemmele, Steven Smith, Sarah Nern, Brett Criswell, and Miss Holzer.  They wrote an article entitled, “Don’t Forget the Demo.”  

Demonstrations are defined as the manipulation of materials and equipment for learners to observe one or more aspects of scientific principles or phenomena, providing students with the opportunity for engagement of Science and Engineering Practices and Cross Cutting Concepts.

http://k12science.net/demonstrations/

Reports from the Front Lines  

• Nolej.io – Beta Testers
  • Automatically convert documents (Text, Video, Audio) into dynamic active learning content through the use of our AI. What used to take instructional designers hours, can now be done by anyone in minutes. 
  • 
• AI Art
  • Student Presentations
• Fun with Cron Jobs

The Social Web  

Peter Greene  @palan57

How Can We Teach Writing In A ChatGPT World? Via @forbes

https://t.co/i116LDh291

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

Robin: “The Batmobile isn’t starting!” 

Batman: “Did you charge the battery?” 

Robin: “What in the world is a tery?”  

I got into a fight with 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. The odds were against me.

Jason Snell  @jsnell

RIP Twitterrific for macOS.

Susie Dent  @susie_dent

Word of the day is ‘pantophobia’ (19th century): a fear of/anxiety over absolutely everything.

Ray Schroeder  @rayschroeder

A Teacher’s Prompt Guide to ChatGPT – Andrew Herft, Curriculum Advisor at NSW, Dept of Education, Sydney NSW Australia Welcome to this short instructional teachers guide to using ChatGPT. #highered #teachersguide #Chatgpt  https://t.co/LGb7q2AgVw  

Strategies:  

Text Chat Animator

Create realistic fake text chat animations that simulate messaging apps!

Export them for free as a video or GIF to create stories, commercials and memes.

https://chat-animator.com/#annotations:r994OJZ7Ee2hc68e6y3UXA

Strict-sounding teachers less effective in classroom, research reveals

Strict-sounding teachers are worse at inspiring the classroom than their kind colleagues, research has revealed.

https://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2023/01/17/strict-teachers-less-effective-in-classroom

Resources:  

FPV Dive Burj Khalifa Top to Bottom – André Larsen

Diving the Worlds Tallest building, Burj Khalifa has been a big part of my job. Here is one of many dives i’ve done from this building. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccnWu5Ube00

Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time

Advisory idea? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75d_29QWELk

Drawn in 60 Seconds

Important events in history made easy to understand in sixty seconds of animation.

Created by Dr Elliott Watson

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCexA8z6srydx_YruuCKw23A

Web Spotlight:  

The Most Ridiculous and Weird Tech Gadgets From the Last 25 Years

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/the-most-ridiculous-and-weird-tech-gadgets-from-the-last-25-years/#annotations:t9n_wpjdEe2ErE_uchVHGA

The radical, forgotten experiment in educational integration that changed my life

In 1971, kids from Roxbury and Lincoln spent half the year attending school together in the city and the other half in the suburb. Fifty years later, I tracked down my fellow students to see how it shaped them — and whether something like it could work today.

https://apps.bostonglobe.com/ideas/graphics/2023/01/experiential-learning-boston-lincoln/

Benedict Cumberbatch reads a letter from Kurt Vonnegut at Letters Live, Hay Festival

Part of the ‘Letters Live’ event at the Hay Festival 2014. Recorded in the Tata Tent on 31st May 2014. Benedict Cumberbatch reads a letter by Kurt Vonnegut to a headmaster who had just burned all the copies of a particular book by Kurt in the school’s furnace. This letter is taken from the book ‘Letters of Note’ by Shaun Usher

This was the fifth letter Benedict read of the Letters Live event on this day. This also includes the ‘bows’ at the end, with Rob Brydon, Louise Brealey and all the other readers, and Benedict throwing his rose into the audience.

So sorry its a bit wobbly at times but the chairs were quite rocky!

I do not own the copyright, and thank Hay Festival, Letters Live, Shaun Usher, Simon Garfield, Cannongate books, the readers and all behind the scenes for the most wonderful, enlightening event. Who knew Letters could rock quite so much?! If you’ve not read the books they are DEFINITELY worth a read – Letters of Note by Shaun Usher and To the Letter by Simon Garfield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs845wKLldM

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy talk quite a bit about AI. Dave has some solid and gaseous reporting for us. 

Jokes:  

If your sparkling water loses its bubbles…

• Don’t worry, it’s still water

---

A genie granted me one wish, so I said, “I just want to be happy.”

• Now I’m living in a cottage with 6 dwarves and working in a mine.

---

Today I quit my job at the Donut factory..

• I was really fed up with the hole business.

---

I ordered 2 large fries for lunch today but they gave me…

• 75 tiny ones instead.

---

Did you know that 100 little sheep rolling down a hill is called…

• A lambslide!

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Geologist

I was recently reading the November/December 2022 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the “Career of the Month” column, written by Luba Vangelova.  She wrote a column entitled, “Geologist.”  

Geologists study the Earth and the forces that shape its solid, liquid, and gaseous components.  The article featured Michael Loso, the park geologist at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Copper Center, Alaska.

http://k12science.net/geologist/

Reports from the Front Lines

• COVID
• Treasure Hunt
• Trained them in 60 Seconds….And for my next trick – StudentQuiz

The Social Web:

Pratham  @Prathkum

Your free AI writing assistant: 1. Chat with super human http://chat.openai.com 2. Write blogs, content with AI http://rytr.me 3. AI spelling, grammar checker http://quillbot.com 4. Content creation superpower http://writerly.ai

Ditch That Textbook  @DitchThatTxtbk

End the school year with Epic Review Olympics (free templates!) http://ditchthattextbook.com/end-the-school-year-with-epic-review-olympics-free-templates/

#ditchbook

Heather Cooper  @HBCoop_

4 new AI tools for visual content:

1/ Fliki Tweet-to-video app turns your Tweets into videos for YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. Features: • Voiceovers • AI image generator • 850+ voices, 75+ languages Free up to 10 minutes of audio & video per month.  Fliki.ai  

2/ Traw Replayable whiteboard for collaboration. Features: • Share meetings with team • Voice notes Plans: • Free up to 40 mins/meeting and 10 total hours for 10 users • Pro plan with unlimited meeting lengths and users https://traw.io  

3/ Kaiber AI video generator creates videos from text prompts. Plans: • Free up to 50 credits (about 5 videos), watermark • Pro: $120 yearly or $15/month, 1000 credits, no watermark

@KaiberAI

PUNS  @ThePunnyWorld

Who was the builder of King Arthurs round table? Sir Cumference

Tim Allen  @ofctimallen

“It’s easy to be wise after the event.” – Arthur Conan Doyle

NikPeachey  @NikPeachey

Detect GPT https://bit.ly/3CEj7ZE This is a free Chrome extension that detects content created using ChatGPT and other AI. Great for spotting the students who are “cheating”. #esl #efl #elt #tesol #eal #tefl #edtech #edtools  

Jim Weberm  @JimMWeber

The Detroit Lions player intros is like a Key & Peele sketch:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1612267364854239233  

Strategies:  

Highly successful people use this 1 skill to get more from reading, says Northwestern expert

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/12/brooke-vuckovic-how-successful-people-get-more-from-reading.html#annotations:ns6gwpKPEe2oCT-NaMIyeg

Thoughts about the impact of AI text on assessment

https://www.openedtech.global/blog/open-edtech-news-2/thoughts-about-the-impact-of-ai-text-on-assessment-9#annotations:WbpSUJFQEe2tkBdqq5Tbww

Resources:  

Consent Games

Consent has been in the news a lot recently. Unfortunately, one of the reasons consent has been in the news is because some people do not understand – or respect – this fundamental legal concept.

Consent is an important legal concept affects all of us all the time. Although here we are focusing on the meaning of consent as it relates to relationships between people, consent also impacts us in other ways.

So, although for purposes of this site we are focusing on consent between people as it affects dating or sexual relationships, consent still has the same legal meaning in other contexts.

Consent.Games: A Novel Approach to Consent

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Call It Luck

What it is: Lucky Girl Syndrome, also called “LGS,” has been trending on TikTok to kick off 2023. The trend encourages people to believe and say out loud that everything works out for them—claiming that the act of doing so will cause good things to happen.

Hopey New Year

What it is: Gen Z’s top ten New Year’s resolutions looked very similar to, well, most other people’s, according to survey results published by YPulse.

Why do I Model Scale Trees? | River Road ~ Vlog # 152

Modeling a tree makes me a better modeler. A well modeled tree, coupled to support scenery, makes a layout or diorama pop more than any other scenery element in my experience. Sure, they are a challenge, but I never found the path of least resistance advances my skill set much. I would venture to say, most modelers fail to dedicate the necessary time into developing their scenery skill set, yet it seems to pay the greatest rewards. 

In addition, It only takes one well modeled tree to make a dozen generic ones look great! 

Getting Ready for Work

This resource was developed for all post-secondary students preparing for or wanting to learn more about work readiness for work-integrated learning (WIL) and entering the workforce. It covers topics including Indigenous Peoples, communities, and cultural safety; self-management; career goals; workplace essential skills; interpersonal and communication skills; workplace safety; and more. In addition, each chapter includes interactive H5P student activities for you to reinforce and self-assess your learning.

https://collection.bccampus.ca/textbooks/getting-ready-for-work-integrated-learning-bccampus-384/#annotations:Fq09MI-MEe2WgkdLxQwEPA

Word Spinner

Word Spinner offers a free and easy-to use Paraphrase Tool with just the click of button. With many options available to customize your reworded text, and phrases.

https://word-spinner.com/#annotations:5nAsppHcEe2wqGMZM39WzA

Web Spotlight:  

HMH buys NWEA

https://www.nwea.org/news-center/nwea-news/nwea-to-become-part-of-hmh/

https://thejournal.com/articles/2023/01/10/nwea-assets-to-be-acquired-by-houghton-mifflin-harcourt.aspx

Free Browser Extension – Chrome

Explore free to use images from the Library of Congress anytime you open a new tab!

https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/free-to-use-browser-extension/#annotations:ehqfFJKBEe2G7sseUePIDQ

Road Signs

Over the years, the MUTCD has been updated to reflect improvements to road safety and rapidly changing technology, since the first edition was published in 1935.

https://www.beautifulpublicdata.com/the-style-guide-for-americas-highways-mutcd/

The True Size of…

https://www.thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTY1OTg3ODQ.MjkwOTgyNA*MzMwODk4MTQ(NDQwMjMxNA~!CONTIGUOUS_US*MTAwMjQwNzU.MjUwMjM1MTc(MTc1)MQ~!IN*NTI2NDA1MQ.Nzg2MzQyMQ)MA~!CN*OTkyMTY5Nw.NzMxNDcwNQ(MjI1)Mg

Seattle schools sue TikTok, Meta and other platforms over youth ‘mental health crisis’

They’ve hooked students into ‘excessive use and abuse,’ the complaint states.

https://www.engadget.com/seattle-schools-sue-tik-tok-meta-and-other-platforms-over-youth-mental-health-crisis-090607723.html#annotations:2i284JBOEe28xC9dDe3xdA

Astronomy Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230108.html#annotations:pbODHo-GEe2WW2daoUPM8Q

How the Myth of the American Frontier Got Its Start

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-myth-american-frontier-got-start-180981310/#annotations:kQ2WDo-JEe2IhKvr0J7UxQ

Random Thoughts . . .  

Chat GPT as a Motivational Speaker . . . 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss NOLEJ, a beta program, AI, and more. Dave brings Environmental Justice to us. 

Jokes:  

I said to my son, “I need a battery so I can tell the time.” He asked, “Is it for a clock?” I answered…

• “I don’t know! That’s why I need the battery!”

---

My grandma always used to say, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Now, I don’t know if that’s actually true or…

• …just one of Granny’s myths.

---

I thought my new job digging tunnels would be exciting but as it turns out…

• …it’s just boring.

---

This morning I saw a guy dragging a clam on a leash and I thought to myself…

• “Man, it must be hard to walk with a pulled mussel.”

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Environmental Justice

I was recently reading the November/December 2022 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the “Idea Bank” column, written by Fatemeh Mirghassemi.  She wrote a column entitled, “Getting to the STEM of Environmental Justice: Equity Causes Enrich Student Learning in Science Classrooms.” 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as “…the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

http://k12science.net/environmental-justice/

Reports from the Front Lines

• Makin’ a MoodleBox
  • Conferences
  • Classrooms
  • Homework
• NOLEJ Beta Expectations  
• AI Art
  • Bias
  • Limitations

The Omniverse  (The Social Web)

Hardmaru  @hardmaru

A #StableDiffusion model trained on images of Japanese Kanji characters came up with “Fake Kanji” for novel concepts like Skyscraper, Pikachu, Elon Musk, Deep Learning, YouTube, Gundam, Singularity, etc. They kind of make sense. Not bad!

Rohit Ghumare | That #DevOps Guy

@ghumare64

Replying to @ghumare64

1. http://cleanup.pictures Remove unwanted objects from photos, people, text, and defects from any picture.  

2. http://copy.ai Get a great copy that sells. http://Copy.ai is an Al-powered copywriter that generates high-quality copy for your business.

3. http://looka.com Design a Logo, make a website, and create a brand identity you’ll love with the power of Al.

4. http://soundraw.io Soundraw is a music generator for creators. Select the type of music you want genre, instruments, mood, length, etc, and let Al generate beautiful songs for you.

5. http://You.com It provides different ad-free services which can be a game-changer in searching. Services like: YouChat YouCode YouWrite YouImagine YouSocial

The Modest Teacher  @ModestTeacher

The sub trying to take attendance.

G. K. Chesterton  @GKCdaily

All sincere poetry is also philosophy, even if it be unconscious philosophy.

SRI & ETTC  @sriettc

Valentine’s Day STEM Challenges. https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/wp-content/upl

Heather Cooper  @HBCoop_

AI Prompt Writing: If you’re writing about a specific topic, include key phrases in the prompt. Example: “Write an outline about the impact of social media on mental health, including the following key points: online harassment and self-esteem.”

Margreta @margreta@mastodon.oeru.org

@cogdog Hi Alan, take a look at our “Time Machine” – built with H5P Virtual Tour 360. The students travel from room to room by finding out which year they are in. shorturl.at/CDER2 #escaperoom #H5P #history

Doug Holton @dougholton

Handout: Open Educational Resources & Open Pedagogy https://bit.ly/oer2023

Links to resources on the basics of finding, using, and authoring #OER resources, textbooks, etc., including info on student-generated resources (#OpenPedagogy).

I’ll add a 2nd page to the handout in the coming weeks w/resources on #H5P & #Pressbooks in preparation for a workshop.

J. M. Guhlin

@mguhlin@mastodon.education

MyNotes: Writing in Middle School Science CER CERCA

Looking for an easy way to introduce students to CER, or Claim Evidence Reasoning approach? You may want to check out this book. Great, easy read.

https://www.

mguhlin.org/2022/03/mynotes-wr

iting-in-middle-school.html 

Resources:  

AXIS:  The Culture Translator

Through the Looking Glass

What it is: A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that teens who use social media during their formative years have alterations in their brain chemistry, particularly how they respond to social rewards.

Fragile as Glass

What it is: Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote for the Wall Street Journal (paywall) about what he perceives as a lack of resilience among young people.

QGIS

Create, edit, visualise, analyse and publish geospatial information on Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD and mobile devices

For your desktop, server, in your web browser and as developer libraries

QGIS is a professional GIS application that is built on top of and proud to be itself Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

https://www.qgis.org/en/site/

DittyToy

Dittytoy allows you to create generative music using a minimalistic javascript API.

The API syntax is loosely based on the syntax of Sonic Pi. You can find the full Dittytoy API Reference here.

If you don’t like reading documentation and want to see sample code, then these ditties give a good overview of the capabilities of Dittytoy.

https://dittytoy.net/?/

Wingfeather Saga Ep. 3

In a fantasy world of wonder and danger, one boy discovers a family secret that may awaken an ancient power or doom them to capture by a nameless evil.  Episode 4 drops February 10th.  

https://www.angel.com/watch/wingfeather-saga

Gresham College Lectures & Videos

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now#annotations:UEaSQo1eEe2s9r-HXRT5Ug

Dunning-Kruger effect

We all find it hard to admit when we’re wrong. In an increasingly polarised world, it seems as if people are becoming more convinced of their own beliefs and less willing to contemplate other points of view. But could this be to the detriment of our intelligence?

Web Spotlight:  

The epic farewell posts of laid-off employees

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230104-layoff-linkedin-goodbye-posts

Association of Habitual Checking Behaviors on Social Media With Longitudinal Functional Brain Development

Our findings suggest that checking behaviors on social media in early adolescence may tune the brain’s sensitivity to potential social rewards and punishments. Whereas individuals with habitual checking behaviors showed initial hypoactivation but increasing sensitivity to potential social cues over time, those with nonhabitual checking behaviors showed initial hyperactivation and decreasing sensitivity over time. Two primary theories contend over whether hypo- or hyperresponsivity to rewards is more associated with behavior.³¹ The hyperresponsive theory posits that adolescent reward-associated behaviors are associated with greater activation of the ventral-striatal dopamine circuit.^11,24,32 Consequently, adolescents would experience an increased dopaminergic release in response to social feedback and rewards, which further encourages high-reward behaviors. Indeed, compared with children and adults, adolescents show higher activation in the reward system when receiving rewards.^{10–12,24,26} In contrast, the hyporesponsive theory posits that adolescent reward-seeking behaviors may be associated with a deficit in the activity of brain regions associated with motivation.^30,33 This theory argues that repeated exposure to a social reward downregulates dopamine receptors and production, which results in decreased sensitivity of reward circuits. Studies^34,35 suggest that, as adolescents experience fewer or less intense positive feelings from previously rewarding stimuli, they are driven to pursue new appetitive reinforcements through increases in reward-seeking behaviors, which increases activity in dopamine-related circuitry. Indeed, relative to adults, adolescents show less engagement of the VS in anticipation of rewards.^30,36 While for some individuals with habitual checking behaviors, an initial hyposensitivity to potential social rewards and punishments followed by hypersensitivity may contribute to checking behaviors on social media becoming compulsive and problematic, for others, this change in sensitivity may reflect an adaptive behavior that allows them to better navigate their increasingly digital environment.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2799812

Richard Byrne

The First Writing:  The Ancients – A History Hit Podcast

The results of a groundbreaking new study were released today [January 5th] by a group of researchers who believe they have conclusively decoded the earliest known form of proto-writing. 

https://shows.acast.com/the-ancients/episodes/the-first-writing

Pretending at support for technology integration

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2023/01/pretending-at-support-for-technology-integration.html 

Random Thoughts . . .  

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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