Author: Shawn McGirr

Co-host of Middle School Matters Podcast.
MSM, Podcast, TechBy Shawn McGirr

Podcast #81 MIJEC, National Standards & the IRS.

Microsoft runs the I.R.S.

If Microsoft Ran The IRS

“Government should be run like a business.” We’ve all heard that chestnut. Here is how the Internal Revenue Service (nobody’s favorite government agency) would be like, if only it were run like Microsoft Corp. (a successful private enterprise).

— The IRS, as always, announces new tax forms will be mailed the week before the new year. However it will follow Microsoft’s example and actually ship them the following May.

— Responding to pressure from some large corporations and a users’ group, some early copies of the tax forms will actually be released in March. The recipients must sign non-disclosure agreements.

— In June, the forms will be recalled because the IRS loses a suit for appropriating some other country’s intellectual property.

— When you move, the IRS will continue to send mail to your previous address forevermore, just like Microsoft sends its product upgrade notices.

— When you upgrade from form 1040 EZ to 1040 A, and then to 1040, you will pay an upgrade fee each time. Also you need to send in a new registration card and get a new Social Security Number. In order to upgrade, you have to submit the original first page of your previous year’s form.

— Like Microsoft, when you file a late or amended tax return the IRS will reject it on the grounds that the the prior year is no longer supported.

— The IRS telephone help will remain similar to Microsoft’s, staffed by ill-trained, high-turnover personnel who sometimes give a correct answer, but the IRS will have to discontinue using a toll-free phone number.

— After struggling with reams of dense documentation of complex options and rules, you discover that you will need publication 3297, with a ten-word-long title, in order to answer (you hope) a single obscure question. The IRS, like Microsoft, will charge a minimum of $40 for that publication.

— The IRS, like Microsoft, will continue to issue immense volumes of bug fixes, interpretations, and clarifications. However the tax-rule updates should be neither easily searchable nor well-indexed.

— Instead of three-ring binders containing complete sets of tax code bugs and interpretations, IRS rulings will be promulgated in a haphazard fashion by individual taxpayers via BBS, Usenet, and Compuserve. A for- profit publishing subsidiary would also be nice.

— The new all-powerful (and eccentric) Commissioner of Internal Revenue will jet around the country giving speeches and granting numerous interviews, but only to sycophantic reporters. Changes to the tax code will be at the whim of the Commissioner and largely kept secret until they are published.

Michigan Joint Education Conference

Traverse City Special Education Visual Guide

HyperStudio 5

For Michigan Educators:
http://mel.org/SPT–BrowseResourcesNewMeL.php

Shout Outs:

Jeff LaRoux & Teresa Sutherland:  Thanks for the Interview!
Kevin Galbraith:  Thanks for the mention in your session on Podcasting at MI Champs!

From the Twitterverse:

News:

Texas shuns common standards for schools

By LINDSAY KASTNER SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Texas has always been known for its independent streak.

Now the state is one of four that is sitting out an effort to create voluntary national standards for what students are expected to learn in school.

Forty-six states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are on board with the project, which is spearheaded by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is a backer. Sunday he sweetened his support with $350 million in federal stimulus money to be used for the creation of national tests.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6491086.html

House barely agrees, 58-57, to send the bill to Perdue

BY LYNN BONNER, JENNIFER KLAHRE AND LUCI CHAVEZ – STAFF WRITERS

Students and administrators might as well be living on different planets when it comes to school bullying.
Students say it is common for bullies to taunt and hit them or their classmates, and for teachers to do little to stop it. Superintendents and principals say that bullying is a small problem and that policies to discourage it work well.
The bill requires that teachers, students and volunteers report any incidents of bullying, but it leaves the details of reporting procedures and punishments up to the school districts.

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1581091.html

Executive Summary

The Opportunity Equation. Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy

The United States must mobilize for excellence in mathematics and science education so that all students— not just a select few, or those fortunate enough to attend certain schools—achieve much higher levels of math and science learning. Over the coming decades, today’s young people will depend on the skills and knowledge developed from learning math and science to analyze problems, imagine solutions, and bring productive new ideas into being.
Knowledge and skills from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the so-called STEM fields—are crucial to virtually every endeavor of individual and community life.

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. NMSA 09 Conference Connection:  Stay connected before, during, and after the conference!  Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!
  5. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  6. NMSA has a new publication on the role of middle grades in drop-out prevention.  You can download it as a pdf file.
  7. Institute for Middle Level Leadership Santa Ana Pueblo, NM July 12-15, 2009; Ft. Lauderdale FL July 19-22, 2009
    Registration Still Open Deadline Extended
  8. 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.
  9. 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!
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on “The BUZZ about LearnCentral” 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

http://www.opportunityequation.org/report/executive-summary/

advisory, MSM, PodcastBy Shawn McGirr

Podcast #80: Departmentalization of School: Twitter, Cell phones, and Content!

Teacher Questions & Answers:

Are you in the top half of your class?
No, I’m one of the students who make the top half possible!

The picture of the horse is good, but where is the wagon?
The horse will draw it!

Why are you picking your nose in class?
My mother won’t let me do it at home!

Why are you reading the last pages of your history book first?
I want to know how it ends!

What can we do to stop polluting our waters?
Stop taking baths?

Can’t you retain anything in your head overnight?
Of course, I’ve had this cold in my head for two days!

Shout Outs:

From the Twitterverse:

Sparkly Moments:

Marzano  & Smartboards:
http://www.edutopia.org/interactive-whiteboards-technology-success

News:

Palm Beach County elementary school changes face opposition

Students in grades 3 through 5 will switch classes
By Marc Freeman |South Florida Sun Sentinel6:54 PM EDT, June 8, 2009

Parents at A-rated Boca Raton area elementary schools are raising the threat level over a mandatory plan to drop the traditional one-teacher model in grades 3 through 5. The plan is called departmentalization, in which students have different teachers for reading/language arts, math, science and social studies, similar to middle school. Principals are free to use this model for first and second grades and even kindergarten. Students who are eligible for gifted classes will continue to receive the same amount of specialized instruction, Hernandez said. At the Del Prado meeting, parents asked for research or some proof that student performance improves under departmentalization. Some parents also opposed the change on the grounds that their schools are already performing at high levels and should stay the course.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-palm-elementary-classes-p060809,0,4191006.story

Rising Above I.Q.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: June 6, 2009
In the mosaic of America, three groups that have been unusually successful are Asian-Americans, Jews and West Indian blacks — and in that there may be some lessons for the rest of us. These three groups may help debunk the myth of success as a simple product of intrinsic intellect, for they represent three different races and histories. Richard Nisbett cites each of these groups in his superb recent book, “Intelligence and How to Get It.” In any case, he says, the evidence is overwhelming that what is distinctive about these three groups is not innate advantage but rather a tendency to get the most out of the firepower they have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/opinion/07kristof.html?_r=1&em

Guidance program promising

Instead of telling kids to avoid bad behavior, “Positive Action” sets out a framework

By Susan Essoyan

A new study shows that fifth-graders in Hawaii who took part in a schoolwide behavioral program called “Positive Action” were about half as likely to try drugs, alcohol, weapons or sex as their peers in other schools. Unlike programs that focus simply on avoiding risky behaviors, Positive Action gives students a comprehensive framework to guide their behavior, with daily 15-minute interactive lessons. Ala Wai Elementary Principal Charlotte Unni said yesterday that initially she was reluctant to try the program, but now is a convert. Positive Action, a kindergarten-to-12th-grade curriculum, was created more than two decades ago, but this was the first randomized, scientific trial of its efficacy, according to Brian Flay, principal investigator in the study. Those results contrast with studies of DARE, the most widely implemented program on preventing drug abuse in the country, which takes place in fifth or sixth grades. In 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General concluded that DARE does not deter substance abuse. The program costs about $300 to $400 per classroom up front, plus 10 to 15 percent of that per year, Flay said. “It’s very cost-effective, because the costs to society of a kid who becomes a drug user or engages in violence are very high,” he said.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090619_Guidance_program_promising.html

Survey: Many teens use phones in class to text or cheat

One-fourth of teens’ cellphone text messages are sent during class, a new survey finds, despite widespread classroom bans on cellphones at school. The survey of 1,013 teens — 84% of whom have cellphones — also shows that a significant number have stored information on a cellphone to look at during a test or have texted friends about answers.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-06-17-cellphones-in-class_N.htm

But What Do I Say?

Benjamin Dotger and Mara Sapon-Shevin

John Smith, a 15-year-old student who is interested in music, has started avoiding the band room. He’s wary of that side of the school and asks his mother to drop him off each morning near a different entrance.

Ms. Laffett is a young teacher who recently received her teaching certificate. She loves the pace of her job and thrives on the challenge of teaching English to teenagers, but she has no idea what to say when Mrs. Smith comes in for a conference.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/summer09/vol66/num09/But_What_Do_I_Say%C2%A2.aspx

No Longer Letting Scores Separate Pupils

Sixth graders at Cloonan Middle School here are assigned numbers based on their previous year’s standardized test scores — zeros indicate the highest performers, ones the middle, twos the lowest — that determine their academic classes for the next three years. So in an unusual experiment, Cloonan mixed up its sixth-grade science and social studies classes last month, combining zeros and ones with twos. These mixed-ability classes have reported fewer behavior problems and better grades for struggling students, but have also drawn complaints of boredom from some high-performing students who say they are not learning as much. Educators have debated for decades how to best divide students into classes. Some school districts focus on providing extra instruction to low achievers or developing so-called gifted programs for the brightest students, but few maintain tracking like Stamford’s middle schools (tracking is less comprehensive and rigid at the town’s elementary and high schools). David Rudolph, Cloonan’s principal, said that parents have long complained that the tracking numbers assigned to students dictate not only their classes but also their friends and cafeteria cliques.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/education/15stamford.html?_r=1

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. NMSA 09 Conference Connection:  Stay connected before, during, and after the conference!  Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com!
  5. Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  6. NMSA has a new publication on the role of middle grades in drop-out prevention.  You can download it as a pdf file.
  7. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  8. Institute for Middle Level Leadership Santa Ana Pueblo, NM July 12-15, 2009; Ft. Lauderdale FL July 19-22, 2009
    Registration Still Open Deadline Extended
  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. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on “The BUZZ about LearnCentral” 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

advisoryBy Shawn McGirr, ,

The Detroit Historical Society: Modern Day Adventurer Program

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.

TechBy Shawn McGirr, , ,

Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom Free eBook!

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.

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr,

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

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.

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr,

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

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.”

advisoryBy Shawn McGirr

Susan Boyle as an Advisory Idea

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?