Category: MSM

Middle School Matters podcast related information

MSM, PodcastBy Shawn McGirr

Podcast 83- Fine Me Already!

Some excuse notes:

“Please excuse John for being absent Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33.”

“Mary could not go to school because she was bothered by very close veins.”

“Ralph was absent yesterday because of a sour throat.”

“Please excuse Joey Friday. He had loose vowels.”

“Please excuse Joyce from jim today.”

“Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. He fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.”

“Karl was hit yesterday playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.”

“John was absent yesterday because he had a stomach.”

“Please excuse Gloria. She has been sick and under the doctor.”

“My son will have to get out of school as soon as I call the orthodontist, one of his wrie’s is brusted and sticking in his Gum’s.”

“Please excuse Sarah from being absent yesterday. She was sick and I had her shot.”

“My son is under the doctors care and should not take P.E. Please execute him.”

“Irving was absent this morning because he missed his bust.”

“Please excuse Johnny for being. It was his father’s fault.”

Shout outs:

1. Todd Williamson: Thanks for the feedback and the plug at your PD session! (MiddleTalk is 1.0?)
2. Russian poster: Genadiy P. Running your posts through the Google Translator as we speak …
3. Dave Carroll: “United Breaks Guitars” catchy tune that I can’t get out of my head …

4. Jenny Mcavoy-Anteau: Special Education Discussion

From the Twitterverse:

* russeltarr PhotoPeach: Create movies from photos (simpler than Animoto – for younger students?): http://tinyurl.com/mn3zqm
* russeltarr 30 (and more) things every newbie should know before starting Second Life: http://tinyurl.com/mhsq3p
* schoolwise Interesting article on Rhee & D.C. testing results: http://tinyurl.com/nouco8
* suewaters Scotty beam me up am sitting with true geeks #bcperth09 & swear they aren’t talking English I may need people tweeting jokes to help me 🙂
* mguhlin Links for 2009-07-17 [del.icio.us] http://ff.im/-5nF2I
* suewaters New blog post: Personal Identity & Your Online Persona (or – Don’t get pwn’d) http://bit.ly/vn7iR
* mguhlin Future of Education Interview July 16th: “Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American… http://ff.im/-5nt14
* clifmims Wanting to start my own online radio station. Which of the many services (Last.fm, blip.fm, pandora, Playlist.com, etc.) do you suggest?
* eduinnovation Professional Learning Communities are expert at looking internally, but now we need the external focus too. http://twurl.nl/rumpdz
* pcmike Police chief denounces ‘cowardly’ iPhone users monitoring speed traps | http://ow.ly/hzbX
* rmbyrne Funny, but sadly sometimes true posters about tech in education. Grumpy Old Teacher: Inspirational Posters http://ff.im/-5n1E0
* gardenglen Downloading http://gawker.sourceforge.net/ as a way to create Time Lapse video on Macs
* asbellaRT @ecctech: My new best friend for PD tech training http://bit.ly/roBIJ
* russeltarr Amateurs use Google Earth to uncover Kim’s sinister secrets: http://tinyurl.com/kmhete
* suewaters Okay people help me out here – Mr14 needs to interview some one who is extra ordinary in terms did something really cool, money, etc
* eduinnovation I always wanted to “be somebody”, but now I realize that I should have been more specific.
* teach42 One more shoutout: Looking for education examples of specific Web 2.0 sites. http://tinyurl.com/l7nnye to see the list. Would like the help!
*

Woodlawn Elementary thinks outside the book to pull D to a B

By Sylvia Lim, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Last fall, Woodlawn Elementary’s math teachers locked up their textbooks in a music room closet. Instead of textbooks, teachers used games, group assignments and other materials. They also focused on showing students different ways to solve the same problem.

“It was scary for people at first, but just about everybody embraced the idea of what we were trying to do,” she said.

Students seemed to respond.

“With our school population, they like things to be a little faster and fun. We need to bring that into math.”

“We took the math book out of classroom so teachers won’t follow it page by page,” Proper said. “We were trying to get children to do some critical thinking.”

Those included looping, where teachers stay with the same students for two years in a row. The school started a reading challenge, where students are asked to read a book for 15 or 30 minutes a night. School administrators formed a writing team that assisted teachers and students in classrooms.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article1014663.ece Source: Education Innovation

Students hit with a $15 fine for cell phones in school.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8074283&page=1
Texas passed a law which allows schools to confiscate student cell phones and charge $15 for their return. The money goes into the school’s coffers and can only be used for enrichment activities that go beyond the classroom.

Parent Involvement Meta-analysis

namely academic socialization, that has the strongest positive relation with achievement during middle school. School-based involvement was also positively related to achievement, but less strongly so. Finally, the results for home-based involvement were mixed. Involvement that entailed assisting with homework was not consistently associated with achievement, whereas other types of home-based involvement were positively related to achievement.
Academic socialization includes parents’ communication of their expectations for achievement and value for education, fostering educational and occupational aspirations in their adolescents, discussing learning strategies with children, and making preparations and plans for the future, including linking material discussed in school with students’ interests and goals.
http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev453740.pdf

New Classroom Rules:

http://educationinnovation.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/new-classroom-rules.html

1. Come to school every day, unless you would rather just go on line.

2. Come to class on time, or log into your online class anytime day or night, whenever it is most convenient to you.

3. Leave your seat only when necessary, which should be often to go collaborate with others or demonstrate something to the class.

4. Bring required materials, including your laptop and cell phone every day.

5. Talk only when permitted, text at all other times.

6. Don’t Talk to your neighbors, unless you are sharing your ideas, asking for help or giving help.

7. Use polite speech when speaking, blogging, texting, Twittering, instant messaging, etc.

8. Do not cheat, but remix, re-purpose, and sample other peoples’ work and ideas and give them credit.

9. Follow the teacher’s directions immediately and your peers’ directions too.

10. Be polite, courteous, and respectful at all times in both physical and virtual space.

11. Complete all assignments neatly and on time and submit on line or post to your blog or wiki, and share it with your followers on Twitter.

12. Keep your hands to yourself, but share all your ideas and knowledge with others in your Personal Learning Network.

13. Be quiet in lines, hallways, and restrooms, unless you are at home and logged into your on line classroom, in which case you can dance and play music.

14. If you need help raise your hand, but don’t wait for the teacher get help from your neighbors and post your question to your online Personal Learning Network.

15. Know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge.

Source: Education Innovation

Homework:
Cooper said the amount of homework in America actually hasn’t changed that much over the past 50 years except that there has been an increase in the amount given in the early grades.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31910894/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

National Advocacy for Middle School
On June 26, 2009, Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) reintroduced Success in the Middle (H.R. 3006/S. 1362) a Act bill that would authorize grants to states and school districts to help improve middle grades education and turn around low-performing middle schools.
http://www.nmsa.org/Advocacy/MessagesfromNMSA/SuccessintheMiddleAct/tabid/1482/Default.aspx

Top Ranked Finland Gives A Reason for Rejecting National Testing
http://schoolsmatter.blogspot.com/2009/07/top-ranked-finland-offers-reason-for.html

Social Media: What Employers Think
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31924270

Twitter 101 for Educators
http://www.examiner.com/x-12200-Dallas-Educational-Technology-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Twitter-101-for-educators

Tech:

Resources:
http://teachersconnecting.com/
Save yourself money on your cell phone: http://www.myvalidas.com/
Back to School Shopping:

* Coldwater Creek promo code: Enter Offer Code WKH6141 in offer code box at checkout. Also try WKH6144 for 25% off of online purchases.
* Footsmart: 60% off shoes.
* The SkinStore is having a 50% off sale on skin products/warpaint . . .
* J. Jill has 25% off selected items through July 26, 2009.

Library of Congress has collections of primary sources for teachers to use in their classrooms. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/
Spinscape is looking for educators to help pilot their roll out into the education sector. Spinscape is a collaborative information sharing technology that could help your students create
collaborative and informative projects.

Events & Happenings:
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. NMSA 09 Housing Information now available.
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. Middle Level Promise and Practice Moorhead, Minnesota August 5, 2009
Speakers: Mark McCleod & Monte Selby

Other News:

1. 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.
2. 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!
3. Theater Education Opportunity: Eastern Michigan University’s Quirk-Sponberg Theater has announced their Fall 2009 Season.

“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10
4. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
5. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: This week’s discussion is on “Telling Stories with Digital Threads” for Teachers. Archived content is available.
6. 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

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

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #79: The Rube Goldberg Show!

Advisory! Advisory! Advisory!
Tinker Toys…create exact same structure while seated back to back
Machines…place name of machines on index cards, distribute to groups, have them act them out

From the Twitterverse:

* russeltarr PhotoPeach: Create movies from photos (simpler than Animoto – for younger students?): http://tinyurl.com/mn3zqm
* vtdeacon Two of my students made this animoto of stuff we did this school year. Check it!: http://animoto.com/play/fKS…
* russeltarr New iPhone App Lets You Write in Thin Air: http://tinyurl.com/lvkxcu
* Educator Doing it wrong. “Teachers banned from Twitter after principal constantly criticises students” (Telegraph) http://ow.ly/dN9f
* michelledoddRT @kjarrett: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive « http://bit.ly/10ESlj

Shout Outs:
Ric Wiltse, Executive Director-Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning- for accepting Troy’s proposal for Shawn to present.
3:30 – 4:30pm
Professional Learning Networks
Shawn McGirr, Troy Patterson
Content: M/SC/SS
Level: GENERAL
Room: W104
“Networking is a basic tenet of education. Come and learn how you can create your own Personal Learning Network. Learn which tools you can use to develop a network that meets YOUR needs. Learn the continuum of professional learning network development. Learn how to use podcasts, wikis, social networking (facebook, et. al.), social bookmarking (delicious, et. al), webinars, blogs, microblogs (Twitter), and more. This stuff isn’t just for your students anymore.”
News:
Schwarzenegger: Printed texts are old school
Analysis: As a budget-cutting strategy, California’s digital textbook initiative could have national implications

In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google, and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California’s students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday. The governor recently launched an initiative to see if the state’s 6 million public school students could use more online learning materials, including open courseware–perhaps saving millions of dollars a year in textbook purchases. The governor is starting with math and sciences and has asked providers to submit their online postings to state officials by next week. The materials that survive state review will be made available to school districts by Aug. 10. “We expect the first science and math books to be digital by this fall,” Schwarzenegger said. “If we expand this to more textbooks, schools could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to hire more teachers and to reduce class sizes.”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=59180

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. 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. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: This week’s discussion is on “Images 4 Education” 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

advisory, MSMBy Troy Patterson, , ,

Podcast 76 Reading & iPods

  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

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson,

Podcast #75 – Coercive Science of the Twitter!

  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, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

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

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

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Podcast 71- Grading, Bad Segues, and Advisory

When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late.

Funny Faces Joke #1:
Finding one of her students making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to
gently reprove the child.
Smiling sweetly, the Sunday school teacher said…
“Johnny, when I was a child, I was told if that I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would
stay like that.”
Johnny looked up and replied…
“Well, Ms Smith, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”

Funny Faces Joke #2:
“I don’t know where you got your face from, but i hope you have the receipt”.

Teacher…
“What a glum face, what would you say if I came to school with a face like yours?”
Pupil…
“I’d be too polite to mention it!”

A little boy came running into the kitchen…
“Dad, dad,” he said, “there’s a monster at the door with a really ugly face.”
“Tell him you’ve already got one,” said his father.

“My teacher’s got a pretty face if you can read between the lines.”

“You’ve got a face like a million dollars!”
“Have I really?”
“Yes – it’s green and wrinkly!”

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.
  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. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Screencasting 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.

From the Twitterverse:

  • AngelaMaiers World Digital Library Aims to Be “Unrivalled Educational Tool” http://tinyurl.com/clxese.
  • sharon_elin Working on report of survey results: “What’s blocked at your school?”; hope to share it this weekend. Mom’s surgery interrupted the process!
  • cookp For those of you with 1:1 laptop programs, please share your districts main reasons for the models you chose. Looking at Apple over Dell.
  • LadyParadis the only sound heard / in the silence of the night / a beetle scratching #haiku
  • cathyjo RT @hollybounds: Do you think teachers should use Twitter as a way to comm w/ parents? Or do you like the whole “send a note home” routine?
  • willrich45 Reading Nat’l Coun Soc Stud Position Statement on Media Literacy. http://tinyurl.com/cw9cpc Some interesting analysis of the times.
  • deangroom Twelfth Night in Second Life http://tinyurl.com/dahlln Anyas great post and images!
  • liteNup RT @DouglasStuart: Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work. http://jijr.com/hxNI
  • LadyParadis “By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day” ~Robert Frost

Shout-outs:

  1. Congratulations to David Virtue the new editor of the Middle School Journal!

From our Listeners:


WOW!  Now the pressure’s on … 🙂

Web Sightings:

http://www.uri.org/kids/world.htm – Welcome to the United Religions Initiative, a growing global community working to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. From its beginning, URI has been a vision and an invitation. The vision is that people from all different faiths can work together to make the world a better place for everyone. The invitation is to everyone in the world – boys and girls, women and men – to help make this vision a reality.

World Library goes online April 21, 2009

From the above Twitter post:  Warning Label Generator

Advisory Ideas:

4 Corners..Agree A Little, Disagree, Agree, Disagree A
Little…use any topic to discuss points of view
Debate/Opinion Topics

http://www.dosomething.org/

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/29/a9/6e.pdf

Advisory Resource: Gossip Girls and Boys Get Lessons in Empathy (Letters to the Editor about the article)

News:

Senate passes teacher contract bill

BOISE, Idaho – The Senate voted 26-8 to let school districts modify contracts to reduce teacher pay in financial emergencies.
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/813714.html

Plano considers alternative grading policy for middle schools

Cheat on a test, get a zero. Turn in a late assignment, the grade suffers. They are the long-established rules of engagement in school.

Recent research shows that assigning grades by themselves, without teachers providing consistent and specific feedback, doesn’t aid student progress, he said. He supports policies such as the one Plano is considering.

PLANO ISD’S PROPOSAL
Plano schools have begun considering a new grading policy for middle schoolers. School officials hoped to roll out the new policy next school year but are delaying to collect more feedback and input from teachers and principals. Here are highlights from the proposal:
Situation Current practice Recommended middle-school policy
Late work Teachers deduct points for late assignments. Some late work would not result in lost points.
Cheating An assignment receives a zero or a failing grade. School officials would assign a consequence other than a grade reduction.
Nonacademic behavior Students are docked points for disorganization or being off-task. Students would receive conduct grades but not overall grade reductions.
Homework Homework is graded for completion or accuracy. Some homework wouldn’t be graded.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/040809dnmetplanograding.3f3fbb8.html

Student responsibility needs to be nurtured

Whose responsibility is education? Some days it seems that our students view responsibility as a burden, some horrendous task that they are forced to take on. So often, responsibility for just about everything is projected by our students onto someone else.

Reading Test Dummies (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/opinion/23hirsch.html?_r=1)

“Let’s imagine a different situation. Students now must take annual reading tests from third grade through eighth. If the reading passages on each test were culled from each grade’s specific curricular content in literature, science, history, geography and the arts, the tests would exhibit what researchers call “consequential validity” — meaning that the tests would actually help improve education. Test preparation would focus on the content of the tests, rather than continue the fruitless attempt to teach test taking.”

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, , ,

Podcast 70- Advisory, Water, and Getting FIT!

How do you get straight A’S?
–by using a ruler
What happened to the plant in math class?
–it grew square roots
What did the dog get when he graduated from school?
–a pedigree
Why did the teacher go to the beach?
–to test the water
Why was the teacher crossed eye?
–she couldn’t keep her pupils straight

Events and Happenings:

  1. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.
  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. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event now and hurry to get your presentation proposals in before the deadline!
  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.
  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. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Screencasting 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.
  13. From the Twitterverse:
  • From GardenGlen’s blog:  I needed this Zits Teen Translator when my first was 15. I spend WAY too much time asking questions 2 understand meaning:  http://url.ie/1ew8
  • That kid that gets under your skin?  Here’s one for that:  russeltarrRT @quote_daily: Speak in anger and you will hold the best speech you ever regretted.  Winston Churchill.

    • instruisto RT @screamingeagle1:  “Speak when U are angry and U will make the best speech U will ever regret.”— A Bierce (Hmm, interesting . . .)
  • Our poet laureate:  LadyParadis Sunday morning peeks / over my shoulder to see / what I am up to #haiku.
  • instruisto RT @KlKidwell:  There’s a law in TN legisl. wanting to end tenure for new teachers. Boo!! >:( *Do ppl not get the security/$$$ tradeoff?*)
  • rrmurry RT @guykawasaki:  New Bill Would Give Obama Power Over the Internet http://adjix.com/3922 AC. Ummm- YIKES. A national lead controling info? rrmurry RT @guykawasaki:  New Bill Would Give Obama Power Over the Internet http://adjix.com/3922 AC. Ummm- YIKES. A national lead controling info?  (Note: Links to Mother Jones’s website as news source.)
  • instruisto RT @LoriMoreno:  The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly ~G.K. Chesterton
  • geekbert RT:  @WishAponAStar “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genious has its limits.” -unknown

Shout-outs:

Thanks for the additional anonymous evaluation on iTunes!

From our Listeners:

“This is Jack from BrainyFlix .  If I hadn’t done so already, I wanted to thank you for letting your visitors know about our video contest.  We received about 800 video submissions (way more than we had expected!) and you were a big part of that.  Much appreciated.  :]

I was wondering if your visitors would be interested in an update about BrainyFlix .  I ask because the voting for the video contest is coming up next Monday March 30.  Also, we built this new feature called lolcabulary, which lets kids make a flashcard that has a word attached to an image and sentence.  We’ll be running weekly contests to get kids to make flashcards by giving away iTunes to the winners.  We’re thinking we’ll do themes like “make lolcabulary flashcards about ninjas” and then get teachers we’ve met to pick their favorites made that week.”

Web Sightings:

http://www.factmonster.com/ – Fact Monster is an ideal reference site for kids ages 8-14 that provides entertainment and educational resources. It combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once.
In addition to an electronic database that is continuously updated and expanded, the Fact Monster site includes information from the following reference works:

  • The TIME for Kids Almanac®, edited by Beth Rowen of Fact Monster and published by Time Inc.
  • Selected content from The TIME Almanac, with Information Please®, edited by Borgna Brunner of Information Please and published by Time Inc.
  • The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, published by Columbia University Press.
  • Infoplease Dictionary, based on the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
  • The Infoplease Atlas, which includes several hundred maps from Magellan Geographix.

I did find ads on the site.

http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/ – Making Teachers Nerdy

Library of Congress Digital Collection:  http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html

Advisory Ideas:

Life Skill Lessons…how to tie a tie, how to set the table, how to
do anything….celebrate success!!

Q:C:Q: – Quote, Comment, Question…analyze a famous quote, old
or new

Create a Shelter…use newspaper and masking tape to create
shelter the group fits under w/out talking

Tubes and Marbles Race…use half pipes in a race to place a
marble in a bowl on the floor across the room

News:

Structure More Effective In High School Science Classes, Study Reveals

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326114415.htm

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_086010229.html

Student fitness bill raises questions

FIT Kids Act would require new data tracking for schools
By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor

Legislation pending in Congress, called the “Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act” (FIT Kids Act), would update current physical fitness standards in K-12 schools and hold educators accountable for a portion of their students’ health. If passed, the bill would redefine gym class from what it has come to mean for many students and teachers, and the bill also would implement new data tracking and reporting requirements that could necessitate a change in student information system (SIS) software.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=58065