Podcast 76 Reading & iPods

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  1. Nominate an outstanding teacher for the John Lounsbury Award!  Deadline:  June 1, 2009
  2. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  3. NMSA’s Annual Conference:  NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.  Individual Registration is now open.
  4. ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  5. NMSA 09 Conference Connection:  Stay connected before, during, and after the conference!  Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!
  6. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  7. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  8. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  9. 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.
  10. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 4-5, 2010 in Dexter, MI.  MAMSE will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary!
  11. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on “Mathcasts” for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  14. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.
    • Training on Presentation Tools (part 1) May 16, 2 to 4 pm.

Advisory!  Advisory!  Advisory!

  1. Duct tape a kid to the wall . . .
  2. What’s in a cigarette? http://middleschooladvisory101.blogspot.com/
  3. The Quiz: http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Quotation-Quizzes/h/Humorous-Quotations-Quiz.asp

From the Twitterverse:

Shout Outs:

  1. Thanks to Jenny Anteau for the mention in her PLN presentation!

Web Sitings:

http://etymonline.com/ Dean Shareski’s blog.
http://www.monteselby.com/

A CRITICAL MISSION:  Making Adolescent Reading an Immediate Priority in SREB States

Nationwide, students in the middle grades and high school are failing to develop the
reading and writing skills they need in order to meet higher academic standards later
in their educational careers.

While most of the 16 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have seen
recent gains in reading achievement in the early grades, the same cannot be said
of achievement in the middle grades and high school. There is also evidence that
students who struggle to meet academic standards in subjects such as science and
mathematics have poor reading skills.
The good news is clear: We now know how to solve this problem.

Too many students begin to fall behind in reading after they leave the early grades.
By ninth grade, many struggling readers are destined to become high school
dropouts. By college, one in four freshmen must take remedial reading classes —
and few of these students finish a degree.

Students who leave eighth grade with weak reading skills quickly fall behind in
high school. More students in SREB states repeat ninth grade than any other grade,
swelling ninth-grade enrollment by 14 percent in the SREB median states in 2005.
Students who falter in ninth grade are likely to become high school dropouts.

Although formal reading instruction stops after the early grades for most public
school students, many researchers and educators now realize that it should continue
through high school. Reading skills do not advance automatically, even for students
who read at grade level when they begin the middle grades. While most students
continue to develop speaking skills naturally, they do not develop advanced reading
skills on their own — particularly the ones they need for success in high school and
college.

“Most [teachers] devote little, if any, class time to showing students, explicitly, what
it means to be a good reader or writer in the given subject area. And most students
engage in very little discussion of what they have read,” according to a 2007 Alliance
for Excellent Education report.

Across the country, states have an obligation to take immediate action to improve
students’ reading and writing skills. Accordingly, the Committee recommends that
each state set policies that will lead to improved practices at the state, district and
school levels. These policies should call for each state to:

  • define the specific reading skills students need in order to master each key subject.
  • identify the best teaching strategies to help middle grades and high school students develop their reading comprehension skills in each subject.
  • ensure that these strategies are applied statewide in all public schools by including them in professional development for current teachers and in preparation and licensure for new teachers.
  • provide the extra help that struggling readers need, so that all students read at grade level in the middle grades and high school.

http://www.sreb.org/publications/2009/09E01_Critical_Mission_Reading_.pdf

Reading Programs Found Ineffective

A federal study intended to provide insight on the effectiveness of programs for reading comprehension has found that three such programs had no positive impact, while a fourth had a negative effect on student achievement.

In other words, the conclusion is that none of the four programs studied—Project CRISS, ReadAbout, Read for Real, and Reading for Knowledge—is effective.

They concluded that Project CRISS, developed by Creating Independence Through Student-Owned Strategies; Read About, produced by Scholastic Inc.; and Read for Real, created by Chapman University and Zaner-Bloser, had no effect on reading comprehension. In addition, they found that Reading for Knowledge, created by the Success for All Foundation, had a negative impact on the composite test scores and the science-comprehension test scores for students using that curriculum.

http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/education/selectsupplreading.pdf

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast #75 – Coercive Science of the Twitter!

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  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.  Individual Registration is now open.
  4. ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  5. NMSA 09 Conference Connection:  Stay connected before, during, and after the conference!  Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!
  6. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  7. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.  (Vote for Jeff LaRoux! No NMSA campaign funds were used in this endorsement.)
  8. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  9. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  10. 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.
  11. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 4-5, 2010 in Dexter, MI.  MAMSE will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary!
  12. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  14. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the preparation for NECC 2009 for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  15. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.
    • Training on Presentation Tools (part 1) May 16, 2 to 4 pm.

Shout Outs:

  1. Thanks to ERyan S, and Mrs. C in FL for their reviews on iTunes!
  2. Big thanks to Teresa S. for the kind comments at yesterday’s meeting!

iTunes:

We’re at 10 comments, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 15 comments.

From the Twitterverse:

Advisory Idea:

  1. StickK.com:  Here’s a tech based way to help your students modify their behavior.  StickK.com is a website that helps you establish a goal you want to achieve, develop a plan to get there, and provide some motivation along the way.  Students can put in a goal, establish a person as a Referee that monitors their progress toward that goal and inputs that information into the StickK.com website.  The student can designate other StickK members as their friends to help them along the way with encouragement and co-participation.  There is a second part to the site as well, but only for credit card holders.  You can make it a financial motivation by inputting your credit card, designating an amount, and if you don’t reach your incremental goal, $10 is charged to your credit card that week.  At the end of the challenge the money is sent to a charity you have designated in your name from the StickK site.  The contract/financial motivation is optional.
  2. Build self-confidence and help students get to know each other: Paper Bag Self.
    The students decorate the outside of a paper bag with pictures and words that represent their “outer selves,” such as favorite color, sport, food, etc. Then, they put a word or picture inside their bag that reflects a personal concern, such as health, divorce, peer problems, grades, etc. As a way of introducing themselves to the class, students share the outside of their bag. If they feel comfortable, they are welcome to share the inside of their bag privately with their peers or advisor.
  3. Another advisory group activity that creates the feeling of “family” and focuses on the individual as part of a whole is a puzzle activity. Each member of the class, including the advisor, is given a large cardboard puzzle piece to decorate. The puzzle piece features their name and artwork that reflects their uniqueness. When the pieces are complete, they are joined together to form a puzzle that represents a united advisory group.

Letters:

From: Jenny McAvoy-Anteau:
(Lots & Lots of information, here’s just a snippet):

Western Michigan University (WMU)_ researchers have discovered no significant advantage to teaching students through experimenting instead of teaching them through direct instruction.
www.physorg.com/news153990337.html (the summary includes this — “The data, while marginally favoring inquiry, really show that as long as the instruction is good either way, the two approaches (inquiry vs direct instruction) lead to no significant difference- at least as far as science content understanding is concerned”  William Cobern of WMU’s Mallinson Institute for Science Education).

Ideas for Middle School Science.
http://fc.dc-grimes.k12.ia.us/~gklocke/Class%20notes – Eighth-grade science teacher Gary Klocke shares his teaching materials, including lesson plans, templates for class notes, review and practice sheets, and PowerPoint presentations at the above link.

Students have been given cell phones loaded with educational software as part of a project at Trinity Meadow Intermediate School in Keller, Texas.
www.ur.umich.edu/0809/Feb16_09/04.php (in story — “5th graders recieved phones containing “Mobile Learning Environment” software developed by University of Michigan scientist Elliot Soloway and Cathleen Norris, a regents professor at the University of North Texas.  The software turns the phones into computers that can do almost everything a laptop can for a fraction of the price claims Soloway.  Students use the phones  to map concepts, animate drawings, surf “relevant” sites on the internet and integrate material into their lessons.  The phones also have mini versions of Microsoft Word and Excel.  The school district will examine whether listening to recordings of texts enhances at-risk student’s reading comprehension and will assess student’s technological savvy before and after the project.)

Web Sitings:

Press Kit for promoting the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference.   http://www.nmsa.org/annual/AbouttheConference/PromotionalTools/tabid/1882/Default.aspx
Edublogs Live :  Video recorded Elluminate education discussion events.  Sue Waters, an Australian educator, hosts these discussions.
Fancy Talking Blocks:  http://siftables.com/
NMSA’s Al Summers is posting his own blog about the NMSA 2009 Annual Conference in the run up to the big event.  This from that blog:  “NMSA is currently looking for “tech savvy teachers” to feature. We would like to highlight especially those who are doing project-based learning with a community and/or global impact. If you know of any teachers doing cutting edge work like this through technology, please e-mail me information—PLEASE DON’T POST IT ON THE BLOG. My e-mail is asummers@nmsa.org”
NASA is Twittering from Space to increase its face time with readers & taxpayers here on Earth.
Obama Administration is cutting the Educational Technology budget by 63%.  The money budgeted goes from $163 million dollars to $100 million dollars.  I’m not sure I could even wrap my head around spending $100 million dollars just by myself.
Make A Video For Mom:  It is what it is.  Enjoy.  🙂
Get your Cursive Handwriting App from the iTunes Store! Learn Cursive Today!
Future of Education (.com)  Michael Horn of Distrupting Class will be on their podcast coming up.

Comic: www.xkcd.com

Books We’re Reading (or going to):

  1. The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles:  Walt Whitman meets Baseball.  Good story for kids.
  2. The Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
  3. Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
  4. Moodle Teaching Techniques & Moodle by William H Rice IV
  5. MindSet by Carole Dweck
  6. The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey

News:

My Coercive Classroom

By Cossondra George

When we become adults, life itself is coercive by nature. Most everything we do, we do with some amount of coercion present, in one form or another.
My curriculum is coercive. But while I often complain that the guidelines set forth by the state limit what I can and must teach students, I also know that – in the larger scheme – without those grade-level content expectations, students would be left to the whims of individual teachers as to what they are taught in school.
However, I think it’s unreasonable to hope for unfettered freedom in our current K-12 public education system.

It seems only fair to my students that I keep my classroom coercive. I want kids to leave the learning environment we’ve shared for a year knowing a lot more about math than when they arrived. I want to be satisfied that we have maximized our time together. I want them to learn, to grow, and to leave wanting to learn and grow even more—carrying with them the core math skills they’ll need in the grades and years to come.

If that takes a little arm twisting on my part, then so be it.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/05/06/050609tln_george.h21.html?r=881287244

MSM #74 – You Swine & The Mighty-Morphing Middle School!

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The school board decided to remove speech and debate from the course schedule; there was no argument.

The best part of going back to school is seeing all your friends. The worst part is that your teachers won’t let you talk to them.

School is where you always try to do your best-except when your friends are watching.

Teacher: I told you to stand at the end of the line ?
Pupil: I tried, but there was someone already there !

Walking through the hallways at the middle school where I work, I saw a new substitute teacher standing outside his classroom with his forehead against a locker. I heard him mutter, “How did you get yourself into this?” Knowing that he was assigned to a difficult class, I tried to offer moral support. “Are you okay?” I asked. “Can I help?” He lifted his head and replied, “I’ll be fine as soon as I get this kid out of his locker.”

One morning I was called to pick up my son at the school nurse’s office. When I walked through the main entrance, I noticed a woman, curlers in her hair, wearing pajamas. “Why are you dressed like that?” I asked her. “I told my son,” she explained, “that if he ever did anything to embarrass me, I would embarrass him back. He was caught cutting school. So now I’ve come to spend the day with him!”

Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.  Individual Registration is now open.
  4. ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  5. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  6. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.  (Vote for Jeff LaRoux!)
  7. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  8. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  9. 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.
  10. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  11. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Copyright and Creative Commons for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  14. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

iTunes:

We’re at 8, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 10.

From the Twitterverse:

Listener’s Letters:

Gents,

Again, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your show.  Once a week, I get up early with the birds, make a cup of coffee and listen to your podcast in silent reverence.  Actually, scratch that.  I get up with my two little ones, plug in my headphones as I run around trying to get ready for the day…but your show does have a Zen quality that calms me down and gives me confidence to face the day with my MS students.

I do have a question…next year, I am implementing a 1:1 notebook program with our middle school students.  What resources would you recommend as I start staff training in using moodle and notebooks in the classroom?  I know this is a huge question…but to whom else can I turn in my time of need?

Thanks guys and keep up the good work.

Robert Jackson
Kyiv International School

We also discussed New Tech High School.

The Detroit Historical Society: Modern Day Adventurer Program

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The Detroit Historical Society is presenting A Guide To Being A Modern Day Adventurer on Saturday May 30, 2009.  Some of the modern tools cited include flashlights, iPhones, and GPS devices.  They are opening up their archives for one night only.  Guests get a reception in the transportation storage facility and a guided tour through the archives.  Items from Native American artifacts to Motown outfits will be on display.  Tickets must be purchased by Friday May 23, 2009 by calling (313) 833-7938 or on the website at www.detroithistorical.org.  This isn’t a field trip opportunity for your students, most likely.  It might be a good field trip for teachers who could then pull some of these resources into their classroom from the experience.

Podcast #73 Award Award Assembly Conundrum!

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Why were you late ?
Sorry, teacher, I overslept.
You mean you need to sleep at home too !

Teacher: Class, we will have only half a day of school this morning.
Class: Hooray
Teacher: We will have the other half this afternoon!

Teacher: You missed school yesterday didn’t you ?
Pupil: Not very much !

Teacher: I’d like to go through one whole day without having to tell you to stop talking.
Pupil: You have my permission !

Be sure that you go straight home
I can’t, I live just round the corner !

Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.  (Vote for Jeff LaRoux!)
  4. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  5. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  6. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  7. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
    • Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  8. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  9. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Copyright and Creative Commons for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  12. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

iTunes:

We’re at 8 reviews on iTunes, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 10.

From the Twitterverse:

Listener’s Letters:

Hello famous iTunes podcasters

Just for fun, I googled the words “student award certificates” and received 481,000 relevant entries. Certainly I know as a teacher the importance of celebrating the success of our students. And providing the incentive for recognition at an awards assembly can be a motivator for some. But there are two things I question, from what I have seen, on which you might have opinions.

Observation #1: At an awards assembly in a 5-8 middle school, the principal asked the 300+ student body to hold up and wave any awards they had received during the presentation. As I glanced around the bleachers, it seemed that everyone had something to show for their accomplishments. But I wonder if this is too much. If everyone is rewarded, how effective an incentive can recognition be? At college graduation ceremonies, academic excellence awards such as Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude are marked individually with sashes or cords of various colors. And you don’t tend to see the entire graduating body displaying this accomplishment. And yet, they have all met the undeniably outstanding goal of a college education. They are beaming with self-esteem regardless of whether they were displaying the adornments of high academic success.

If we are truly preparing students with authentic content and experiences, shouldn’t we be clear on the reality that everyone does not earn honors, an award, or a certificate for doing what is already expected of them as students? Every single child is a winner just by virtue of them learning both academic content and life skills as they attend school each and every day throughout the school year. Shouldn’t we be stressing self-management and recognition of worth instead of tying it so heavily to extrinsic displays of pomp and circumstance?

Observation #2: Following streams of students receiving one certificate after another, I would have expected to see recognition for a teacher’s success as well. From the students’ view, one would believe that teachers are neither striving for nor attaining success on a regular basis in their own lives. Yet, how many teachers during a marking period or school year attend seminars and workshops or pursue ongoing academic fulfillment in graduate courses? If we are acting as role models to our students, don’t we need to do a better job reflecting our commitment to ongoing education and love of learning? What role does our school administration have in this process?

As intelligent and experienced educators, this good work that you do is expected. But even though I provide no certificate, ribbon or award, I’m sure you are self-motivated by the intrinsic satisfaction received from your website and podcast success. Itunes ratings cannot compare to your internal mechanisms that generate the love of learning and sharing with others. It is appreciated.

Web Sitings:

Press Kit for promoting the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference.   http://www.nmsa.org/annual/AbouttheConference/PromotionalTools/tabid/1882/Default.aspx
Differentiated Classroom:  Characteristics and reference for the classroom.
tuesdays with Karen:  An educator’s blog.
EdTech Conference on iTunesU.
MyRead http://www.myread.org/
NMSA’s suggestions for how you can spend your Education Stimulus money!
Math and Technology Comics.

Shout Outs!

  1. Karen C. Seddon, thanks for the review on your blog!
  2. Teresa Sutherland & Jenny McAvoy-Anteau for their shout-outs on Twitter this week!

News of the Weird:

News:

Superintendent Thinks Small in Plan to Revamp Middle Grades

“If you haven’t got them by the end of their eighth-grade year, you’re going to lose them,” Summers said.
Under Sherman’s plan, George Washington Middle School, which has 950 students, would be divided into two schools. Hammond Middle School, which has 1,350 students, would be split into three.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041603943.html?hpid=sec-education

Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom Free eBook!

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Ever listen to teachers talking about how they connected their classroom to one far, far, away?  Told yourself, “I’d like to do that!”  Then this is the handy-dandy book for you.  On ISTE Island tonight the authors discussed their classroom connection.  You can get a free download of the ebook Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom.  You can see the archive of their presentation at the ISTE SL webpage.

MAMSE Wrap-Up: Academic Achievement: “Achieving Excellence” by J. Sherbeck & J. Gronski

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White Pine staff Jayne Sherbeck and Jennifer Gronski presented their take on the “Zeroes Aren’t Permitted” concept they use on their team.  In a ZAP program students are given levels of intervention to get their work in to the teacher.  Parents are told about the program through a letter sent home by the teaching team.  Students get a ZAP form each time they have missing work.  If they get “Zapped” they can come in before, during, or after school to make the work up.  The number of ZAPs diminishes over time when students realize that teachers are following through on the program.  “Lunch Buddies” are students pulled from lunch to eat in a teacher’s room and complete missing work.  The school counselor takes these kids twice a week to spell the teachers.  Pink sheets are given to students to remind them to show up to their before/lunch/after school work session.  After school sessions are held 2-3 days a week with certified personnel staffing the session.  Teams communicate with the after school team through folders and notes.  The end of each team’s day is spent in GYST (Get Your Stuff Together) where they get 15 minutes to complete any missing work, or get help from a teacher.  If all the work is in, they can study, do SSR, or that day’s homework.  The driving idea is to get them ready for the next day’s work.  For students needing more intervention the team prepares an Individual Student Accountability Sheet.  Students with D’s or E’s in their Core classes are put on the sheet and the team records what they’ve done to assist the student that week.  It includes things like parent phone calls, emails, parent meetings, and their attendance in the ZAP program.  Each team has a “redo” policy.  If the student turns in an assignment, just to turn it in, it gets returned until it is up to the teacher’s standards.  Students doing poorly on tests must fill out a retake form which includes making a plan to study to retake the test, not just retaking the test because that’s what they’re supposed to do.  They have to show how they’ve prepared for the test or quiz.  Their grading program is automatically set up to send an email to the parent notifying them if their student’s grade falls below a C-.  Students receive weekly parent communication sheets listing the assignments from the previous week from the Team.  Students can return the sheets to their teachers for classroom points.  Any student not returning a sheet receives a call to their parents.  Some students participate in “Study Island” where they receive MEAP style questions in subjects in which they need additional work.  Completing sections of the program gets them blue ribbon recognition in the hallway.  There’s more to the program than what’s listed here and you can contact them at jmsherbe@stcs.org or jjgronsk@stcs.org.

MAMSE Wrap-up: Center for Excellence in Education (CMU)

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If we keep adding stuff to the show, we’re going to be well into a 2 hour podcast.  With all the news that’s coming along I could keep putting off my MAMSE notes forever.  It took a long time to get through our NMSA 08 wrap-up!  Considering that, here’s part of my MAMSE wrap-up for MAMSE 09.

This year’s conference was held in Saginaw Township and one of Michigan’s Schools to Watch.  Lots of cold weather this year countered by warm friendships.  In no particular order, and I’m sure I won’t have all the ones I attended, here are the sessions I attended.

Central Michigan’s Center for Excellence in Education:  Instructional Strategies to Support Differentiated Instruction by Polly Matyorauta & Pat Benson.  This was a well done presentation on strategies used to support differentiated classroom instruction on the fly.  Those of you who are familiar with Kagan Structures will recognize some of these.

  • 30 Second Speech – After a reading or presentation of new content, students are asked to create a short 30 second speech to deliver to one other person in the classroom.
  • Air Traffic Controller – The teacher poses a question but before taking responses assigns numbers in which the answers “land” and then goes from response to response withholding any teacher feedback after each response.
  • Attention First – The teacher can reclaim lost chatter time by using a physical cue to indicate that attention needs to come back to the teacher.
  • Corners – Students select a corner of the room to discuss a particular topic or aspect of the reading or presented information.  For example, a teacher might put four quotes around the room and allow students to select the quote they want to discuss before coming back to their desks to reflect or write about the quote as a prompt.
  • Graphic Organizers – visual frames to organize information.
  • Metaphorically Speaking – Students are given objects and then asked to come up statements from the learning that use the object as a metaphor.  For example, the Scientific Method is like a Road Map because it provides a path to help me find solutions.  (Ok, I shouldn’t be giving the examples on this one . . .)
  • Minute Fingers – While students work in cooperative groups, sometimes they need more time.  The teacher can ask the groups to come to an agreement on how much time they need (which can also be zero) and then hold up the number of fingers indicating the amount of time they want.
  • Most Important Point (MIP) – Students summarize the class period on a sticky note and post it on the wall or door as an exit ticket as they leave for the day.
  • Quiz-Quiz-Trade – This is a Kagan Structure where students write down a question from the content on a 3 X 5 card with the answer.  They pair up and each asks their questions.  Whether they get it right or wrong, they trade cards and then find new partners.
  • Say Something – Students pair up for a reading.  One student reads for a bit and then the other summarizes what the first student read, switch roles.
  • Show, Don’t Say – When the kids are in cooperative groups, don’t just tell them how much time they have left.  Tell them they have “this many minutes” left, and hold up a number of fingers forcing them to look at your hand to see how many minutes are left.

One of the pieces they used that I kept and didn’t turn in was a reflective writing sheet.  In a square at the top of the page was typed, “What Squares with my thinking?”  Halfway down the page was written, “What’s still circling around in my head?”  At the bottom of the page in a triangle they put, “Three points I want to remember from today.”

Podcast 72: The Twitterverse, Jail??, and Free Stuff!

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Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  This video spotlight focuses on the building of the technology demonstration classrooms at last year’s Denver Annual Conference.
  4. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.
  5. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  6. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  7. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  8. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  9. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  10. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Digital Storytelling for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  13. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

iTunes Reviews:

We’re at 8, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 10.

From the Twitterverse:

Web Sitings:

Letters

“Troy and Shawn,
Great show this week.  I liked the idea about decorating classroom doorways.  I think we’ll try it this September as an ice breaking activity.
Two questions:  1) I am trying to come up with an all school middle school read for the summer.  My school is mainly boys.  Any suggestions?  2) I would like to assign a book to the teachers for the summer as well.  Any suggestions for us teachers?
Keep up the great work!  Maybe I’ll have all the teachers listen to all 70 some-odd MSM podcasts over the summer. It’s worth it.”

Book Ideas:

  • For the kids:
    • What if . . .
      • You tied in a historical fiction piece to your social studies curriculum?
      • You tied in a piece of local biography or state/local history?
      • You then had them present their stuff in some format when they returned from summer break?  Learning Contracts?
      • You made it a fundraiser through Barnes & Noble where the kids could purchase off of a preselected list?  This gives you control over the choices, but still gives them a choice.
  • For the teachers:

Izzit.org

“FYI

http://teachertechblog.com/izzitorgquality-articles-and-discussion-questions-for-current-events-free/79/

Beth Wellington said:

I’m not sure of the excellence of the [izzit.org] teachers guides. Looking a recent one on pay caps for executives who receive bailout money, for instance, while there are two articles w. differing views, the discussion questions have a conservative skew. My suspicions were aroused further by the fact that there is no staff page, nor a funding page, which you will find at many non-profits.
Anyone know who the funders are for this site? The staff? The The email to teachers offering a free video on how sun spots cause climate change came from Kara Glaven, who lists her title as “Teacher Support.” When I looked her up on LinkedIn, however, her title was “Marketing/Customer Service at Palmer R. Chitester Fund.”

Rob Levine’s Media Transparency profile says

The Palmer R. Chitester Fund was created…with startup money from the Bradley Foundation, to create right wing “popular” media, and lately has taken to selling educational materials based on the error-prone reporting of ABC TV’s arch-conservative correspondent John Stossel. Its Idea Channel distributes “intellectual” videotapes on conversations between mostly members of the right wing movement on topics ranging from political science to economics to history.”

Beth Wellington?

Izzit Staff page.
Kara Glaven presents at the Ohio Council for the Social Studies.
Kara Glaven on another teacher resource page.
Kara Glaven cited in the newspaper.
Kara Glaven marketing videos.
Kara Glaven marketing more videos.
Rick Platt presents at the Florida Council for the Social Studies.
Rick Platt presents awards.
Rick Platt also works for Free To Choose Media (a PBS series).
Rick Platt works with Good Neighbor Law to fund inner-city trips for kids.  (“Throughout the whole presentation, students and teachers were asked to generate their own questions for further discussion.”)
Rick Platt‘s post in Businessweek.
Candy Mead
Dawnn Warner ‘s Linkedin page.
Dawnn Gilbert Warner‘s production credit page.

Persons referenced in Izzit.org’s videos:
Host Scott Bakula’s political contributions.
Drew Carey’s political contributions.
David Robinson references.
Milton Friedman’s Bio.  His Facebook group page.
Leonard Read’s Bio and his essay referenced in one of the videos.

John Stossel was at one time directly affiliated with Izzit.org.  He has his own video distribution network.  His site is linked to Izzit.org.
Stossel’s political essays.
Praise & Criticism
New York Times Articles
ABC video
Conservative Watchdog Report on Stossel
Liberal Watchdog Report on Stossel

News:

Let’s just put them all in jail 24/7

“…and let’s face it, we’re talking about nothing less than institutionalizing “child labor” to satisfy a failed belief that higher standardized test scores will reliably lead to a stronger economy, more prosperous citizens, and a vibrant democracy.”

Anyone who can master something that he or she is passionate about,

Can learn anything!

Bring passion back into education — and kick out the standards!

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Virginia Mobile Learning Apps Development Challenge

http://www.lwbva.org/applications.cfm

Virginia to use iTunes U in new education initiative

http://www.macworld.com/article/139969/2009/04/virginia.html?lsrc=rss_main

Susan Boyle as an Advisory Idea

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There’s been a lot made about Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s national talent show.  If it hasn’t popped up in your area yet, Miss Boyle is from a village in Scotland and sings in the church choir with a little karaoke on the side.  She appeared on Britain’s Got Talent with the hope to launch a singing career.  

Many of the news (NBC, Today, ABC, CBS, Fox) sites focus on her incredible voice and how she made the curmudgeons on the judging panel change their attitude from her pre-performance interview to her after-performance accolades.  You can catch the whole segment from the show on YouTube (tear jerker alert) and its worth the watching not only for the singing, but for the audience reactions that come through.  

Several cuts focus on audience members questioning her talent before she performs.  One of the cuts before she begins to sing is a young lady covering her face in anticipation of impending failure.  Confidently she tells the judges why she’s there, what she plans to sing (which they infer is a little ambitious (see time code 1:40ish)) and then . . . . knocks their socks off.  

Tie that in with this human interest article from The Herald on her background.  Sounds like a set up for an Advisory discussion.  

Comedian Ken Davis poses three questions on his site to think about as one watches the video that would be great discussion generators: 

“1.  Why was the audience so incredibly rude in the beginning?   (0:00 – 1:54) 
 2.  Why were the Judges surprised that this woman could sing?  (1:55 – 4:25) 
 3.  What was YOUR wake up call as you watched?”  (4:26 – 7:07) (Questions and emphasis his, time codes mine.)

Additional pages:  NBC Today, Facebook Fan Page 1, Facebook Fan Page 2, Fan Page 3, Fan Page 4, Blog, Possible Example Ans. to #3, Paul Potts.    

One of the teams in my building used to present each student on the team a “Cracker Jack” award in their team meetings to recognize the hidden prize inside each student.  The presentation could be anything from serious to silly depending on the student and the talent being recognized.  Wouldn’t this be a nice lead-in to such a meeting?

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