Author: Shawn McGirr

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

Animoto: Vote Early, Vote Often

We’ve talked about Animoto on the podcast a little and I saw a presentation using it so I decided to delve into it further.  Here’s three short videos I made using the Animoto website.  I kept a lot of it the same as I made small changes to show off the variences they talk about when referring to remixing video multiple times to get different products.  Which one do you like?  Cast a vote in the comments section.

1.  Middle School Matters #1

2.  Middle School Matters #2

3.  Middle School Matters #3

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference

Hope you’re planning to attend your state association’s annual conference.  I realize for some of you that was much earlier in the year and if that is your case, I hope you went.  This year the Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference will be in Saginaw, MI.

Links:

Association:  www.mamse.org

Site:  http://www.stcs.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectionid=2

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

From Facebook . . .

“I have just started listening to the MSM Podcasts. I download them from iTunes U and listen to them on the way to work. Today I am home with a sick child and I am listening to a marathon of MSM, spending my day with Shawn and Troy. lol.

I am a special education teacher at the secondary level and have shared the MSM link and iTunes U info on the podcast with the tech department for my school to distribute to the school, because MSM highlights and covers content that isn’t limited soley to the middle school level.

MSM is an incredible resource for newbies to the tech world. . . like me. . . because Troy and Shawn provide a thorough and comprehensive review of current education, technology, pedagogy and its practice information available from a variety of sources.

Listening to Shawn and Troy at MSM matters has “elevated the level of my game” so to speak. They are thoughtful and thought provoking in their content and coverage of material. . . all provided with a good dose of . . . humor!”

Thanks Jenny!  We appreciate your spreading the word!

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

Will Richardson & Web Literacies

Will Richardson is holding an impromptu discussion on 21 Century Web Literacies.  Follow this link. (Please note that the link was hot during the discussion and now will only point to Elluminate in general.)  Interesting conversation on literacy itself as it unfolded throughout the hour or so.  Here are some links associated with the online discussion.

Emerging Tech

Educon (conference)

21st Century Literacies transcript

Thanks to Will Richardson for hosting!

advisory, PodcastBy Shawn McGirr,

Advisory Research & Support

Looking for a reason to keep Advisory around?  Check out the dissertation and its findings here with the abstract listed below.  You can also find this on the NASSP’s podcast in iTunes.
Abstract:  “This study examines the characteristics of advisors and advisory programs that foster student connectedness and the ways in which students and their advisors perceive the impact of advisory programs on academic achievement. Student connectedness, a concept that refers to a school culture in which students have meaningful relationships with adults within the school, are engaged in the school, and feel a sense of belonging to the school, correlates directly with low instances of student dropout and high academic achievement.  While improving school connectedness is critical at all educational levels, it is particularly urgent in middle school because the roots of alienation take hold during young adolescence.  The sample was comprised of 501 students and 31 advisors in three California middle schools.  I used student and teacher questionnaires to identify advisories producing high levels of student connectedness, and then used student focus groups, teacher interviews, and advisory observations to further analyze my quantitative findings. My findings show that both students and advisors report that advisories improve students’ academic performance. In the nine strongest advisories, the perception that the advisory improves students’ academic performance is significantly stronger than in the other 22 advisories in the sample. The nine advisories with the highest connectedness scores engender students’ and teachers’ positive associations with the advisory program, address topical community issues, and foster open communication amongst all members of the advisory.  The common characteristics of these nine advisors is that they all know and care about their students as individuals, monitor their academic progress, and help them to solve academic and social problems. Comparing the advisory programs at the three sites indicates the importance of the developmental stage, structure, and role of the advisory program in determining school connectedness.”

UncategorizedBy Shawn McGirr

It’s coming.

It’s rumored that Walmart will begin selling iPhones at the rumored price of $99.00.  One of my students today caught me after school and asked me what they were getting for Christmas.  (It should be noted that I am Santa’s stunt double.)  Thinking that I was reaching beyond the pale, I guessed he was getting an iPhone.  The look of surprise quickly replaced with a look that the air had been let out of his sails told me I had hit the nail on the head more precisely than I ever could have imagined.  Before I could recover, he mumbled something about my being right and gave me that “how in the world did he know” look as he moved into the crowds headed for the busses.

The bigger stunner for me is what am I going to do with a kid who can surf the web without district restrictions, pretty much at will?  Change or die?  Ok, maybe a little hyperbole …