Category: MSM

Middle School Matters podcast related information

MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, ,

Podcast #65: “Somewhere, A Place For Us . . . “: What Grade Are You?

Items, Events, and Other:

  1. Book sale!  Clearance prices!
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis,  IN Conference.
  4. NMSA ’08 Technology Focus Video.
  5. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission calendar:
    1. “March 4, 2009 Coolidge Auditorium, Jefferson Building
      Library of Congress
      Join the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, and Lincoln scholars Harold Holzer, James McPherson and Douglas Wilson as we commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

      Full details of the symposium can be found here.
      _______________
    2. ALBC Commemorative Coin:
      The ALBC Commemorative Coin is on sale now. Available for order on the U.S. Mint Web site, the pure silver coin is available as a proof coin (which has a mirror-like background) and as an uncirculated coin (featuring a more satiny background).
      For the first 30 days after the coin goes on sale (beginning Feb. 12, 2009), they can be purchased for $37.95 (proof) and $31.95 (uncirculated) each. A $10.00 surcharge on each coin, which is included in the cost quoted, benefits the ALBC.  After the first 30 days, the coin’s regular price of $41.95 will take effect.
      For details and to purchase the coin, visit the Mint’s website here.

      _______________

    3. Visit the ALBC Calendar detailing all Lincoln events throughout 2009 —
      http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/calendar/default.aspxisit the ALBC Calendar detailing all Lincoln events throughout 2009″

  6. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  7. North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  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. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Ning in the classroom.  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
  14. From the Twitterverse:

Websites:

  1. Twiddla :  Its like Elluminate, just without all the expense. (Thanks to Jenny for the heads up on this one!)
  2. Forward Thinking Museum : A  virtual museum worth checking out.

“Letters from our Listeners”:

Shawn and Troy

I’ve spent some time in 5-8, 6-8 and K-8 school environments. Sometimes 5th graders were self-contained while older students moved from teacher to teacher. In other circumstances, 5th grade was used as a transition with single-teacher classrooms and locker access during passing time. I’m currently in a New Jersey K-8 school with no passing time, no lockers and 6-8th graders changing classes.

Knowing all too well the challenges of adolescent behavior and academic performance, I wonder what thoughts you had on the appropriate breakdown of grade levels for elementary vs. middle school. At what grade level should middle school begin (beside the legal requirements for teacher certifications)? Can a single administrator effectively manage a staff who work with students from kindergarten age to their teens, or should different principals handle different grade ranges? What impact does the proximity of 7th and 8th graders to elementary aged students have on academics and/or behavior? How about 5th and 6th graders? In my search for answers on this topic, I found a study done by Duke University in 2007 entitled “Should Sixth Grade be in Elementary or Middle School? An Analysis of Grade Configuration and  Student Behavior.”

Is there such a thing as either an elementary or middle school mentality? Can a teacher have both? Can a principal?
What are your thoughts on this topic?

NMSA Teacher Preparation Standards.

News:

Public Schools Outperform Private Schools in Math Instruction

In another “Freakonomics”-style study that turns conventional wisdom about public- versus private-school education on its head, a team of University of Illinois education professors has found that public-school students outperform their private-school classmates on standardized math tests, thanks to two key factors: certified math teachers, and a modern, reform-oriented math curriculum.“According to our results, schools that hired more certified teachers and had a curriculum that de-emphasized learning by rote tended to do better on standardized math tests,” Lubienski said. “And public schools had more of both.”

Of the five factors, school size and parental involvement “didn’t seem to matter all that much,” Lubienski said, citing a weak correlation between the two factors as “mixed or marginally significant predictors” of student achievement.

They also discovered that smaller class sizes, which are more prevalent in private schools than in public schools, significantly correlate with achievement.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226093423.htm

Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

Throughout his now-famous “Last Lecture,” the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the “head fake.” It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously.
We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/26/23sutton-com.h28.html?tmp=804479676

Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/26/23sutton-com.h28.html?tmp=804479676

As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has noted: “[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children’s academic skills.” Indeed, character education’s very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students’ academic skills.

A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:

1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.

2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.

3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.

4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.

5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.

6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.

7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.

8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.

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

MSM Podcast #63 This discussion is anything but Academic

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. Book sale!  Clearance prices!
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  3. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  4. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  5. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  6. North Carolina Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  7. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  8. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  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. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  12. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  13. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  “The topic this Saturday (February 7th) is “Using Tags” with special guest Jennifer Dorman, author of the blog “Cliotech”, will join us to talk about using tags to save links and resources in Diigo and why it is so important to do so. More information and log-on details at http://live.classroom20.com.”  Archived content is available.
  14. From the Twitterverse:
  15. Second Life:
    • 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop:  Appearance (ISTE Island 3)
    • 2/10   ISTE Speaker Series (TBA) (Watch the board on the island for the Thursday Socials)
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life

Shout outs:

  1. Paul Nichols, a great for twitterverse links.
  2. Gardenglen
  3. Scott Merrick
  4. The Library of Congress

10 Bad Signs for Good Teachers…

Teachers are trained to watch for signs: signs that the students are learning something, that the students aren’t learning anything, that the students are onto something, that the students are up to something. There are some signs that teachers have not been taught to watch for: signs that could spell disaster. Here is a list of 10 such bad signs – if you happen to see one of them, beware!

1. The principal smiles at you. This is a very bad sign. It means the principal is up to something, and that something somehow involves you. It could mean the principal is about to ask you to volunteer to be the new coach for the girls’ soccer team, or to write his two-hour speech for the Mothers’ Club, or to accept three new students from the local home for delinquent children. If the principal not only smiles but asks, “How are you doing?” that’s even worse. And if he or she then adds, “Could I please see you in my office for a minute at your convenience?” – run for your life!
2. Things are going well for you in the classroom. Many inexperienced teachers take this for a good sign, but more seasoned educators know it means things are going to go bad for you-very bad and very soon. Maybe you are about to change to another class, or smitten by a rare tropical disease, or your classroom is about to be invaded by a herd of wild plastic-eating termites. I know several teachers who believe in this bad omen so firmly that they have peace only when things are going horribly in the classroom.
3. Your classroom is completely equipped with audio-visual aids. If you walk into your room and see a record player, an overhead projector, a tape recorder, and a movie projector-that’s bad. It’s a sure sign that none work-because if they did, they would have been “borrowed” long before this. Just in case you test the equipment and discover that everything does work (you realize, of course, that the chances of this happening are one in a million), that’s still a bad sign. It means that you have just been put in charge of maintaining all the audio-visual equipment for the entire school.
4. Your students tell you that you’re their favorite teacher. If this happens, brace yourself. It means the kids want something. That something could be something relatively small: “Let’s not talk about colons and semicolons today. Let’s talk about football.” Or your students could be bargaining for something bigger: “Let’s not have any homework this year, okay?”
5. You are prepared for all your classes for the coming week. Any teacher who does this is only asking for trouble. You cannot tempt Fate so blatantly without expecting dire consequences. And what could some of those consequences be? Maybe you will be struck with the five-day flu on Sunday evening, or there will be a battery of psychological tests this entire week.
6. You have all your report cards finished a day ahead of schedule. This sign, closely related to #5, simply means that the administration has just introduced a new kind of report card, and the old kind (127 of which you have just finished filling out) is now obsolete.
7. Your students do poorly on your test. This is a bad sign- or at least the administration interprets it as a bad sign-which makes it so for you. It means you are an incompetent teacher who ought to be booted out of the classroom as soon as possible. If your students do poorly on a test sh-h-h!-don’t tell anyone, not even your students. Destroy the tests, give a retest, and hope and pray that the kids do better-but not too much better. (See the next sign.)
8. Your students do very well on your test. This too is a bad sign. in fact, it’s a worse sign than #7. It can only mean one of three things: 1) the test was too easy; 2) you are a stupid teacher; or 3) the kids cheated.
9. You have a few free minutes to yourself after school. If this happens, one of the following events is bound to occur: 1) another teacher will report you to the principal for not having enough to do; 2) some kid will come in and ask if he or she could talk to you for a minute and stay 2 hours; or 3) the principal will ask if you could give the janitor a hand with cleaning the bathrooms after school.
10. You receive positive feedback from a parent. Although this sign rarely occurs, it portends trouble. You can be sure that if one parent is praising you, another one is already initiating legal proceedings to have you removed from the classroom. When all is said and done, it’s a better sign to receive no parental feedback than any kind at all.

WebSpotlight:

http://www.nmsa.org/Advocacy/AdvocacyToolstoUse/FundamentalsPresentation/tabid/793/Default.aspx

News:

Powerhouse School District Reaches Beyond the Elite

After decades of grooming a handful of high school students in an exclusive research class to succeed in the elite national Intel Science Talent Search, school administrators this year, for the first time, required every seventh grader to do original research. With similar goals in mind, the district has added honor societies in English, art and music — for a total of seven — to recognize students whose overall grades may keep them out of the National Honor Society. Since 2003, it has expanded its menu of Advanced Placement courses to 25 subjects and opened them to students who previously would not have qualified. And it instituted a policy prohibiting students from being cut from the orchestra, band and most sports, adding “junior varsity 2” teams to accommodate extra players. The district’s unusual focus on these average students in recent years has pleased many but has also drawn criticism that A.P. classes have become less rigorous, students have been coddled, and music groups and sports teams saddled with marginal players.

Students in A.P. classes say that some teachers, now required to accept students who did not pass a qualifying exam or get a teacher’s recommendation, have been known to weed out the weak with heavy reading loads, daily pop quizzes, and zeros on biology labs.

Joe Barrett, 17, a senior, said his United States history teacher went to the opposite extreme in the 2007-8 school year, presenting “elaborate PowerPoints with music videos to keep people interested.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/nyregion/06middle.html?_r=1

Palo Alto superintendent: Achievement gap can’t be eliminated

When it comes to closing the achievement gap, Palo Alto schools Superintendent Kevin Skelly says educators are deluding themselves. And he dares to say what’s become almost unspeakable publicly:

“It’s just not possible for the average kid who comes to this country in seventh or eighth grade, or even third grade, without a word of English and parents with little formal education, to match the achievement levels of kids whose mom has a Ph.D. in English from Stanford and can afford to stay home and spend time supplementing the education of her kids.”

Yet totally eliminating the gap would be “the triumph of hope over experience,” said Skelly, who came from San Diego 19 months ago to take the helm of Palo Alto’s 17 schools. When educators set that lofty goal, “we’re not being honest, and it’s to our detriment,” he said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11613034?source=rss

‘Capturing Kids Hearts’ is goal of more West Michigan school districts

by Beth Loechler | The Grand Rapids Press

Bobbie Fletcher, a science teacher at Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Belmont, is part of a growing trend at area districts where teachers and other school staff put an emphasis on “Capturing Kids’ Hearts.”

Fletcher believes that even the greatest teachers won’t get through to students unless they establish a personal connection with each and every one.

“It’s not just what we teach, it’s how we teach,” she said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/02/bobbie_fletcher_a_science_teac.html

Academic debates fall short on Twitter

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3601/on-twitter-academic-debates-fall-short
Remember how we were always told that the three things to remember in Real Estate were location, location, location?  Well evidently in the Twitterverse its more about timing than anything when it comes to having an academic discussion on a topic.

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #62 Twitter This! Once Upon A Podcast . . .

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. North Carolina Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Greensboro, NC.  Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli.  Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year.    
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  8. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.  The deadline has been extended to February 8, 2009.  Applications can be made online.
  9. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  10. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  11. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  “The topic this Saturday (January 31) is “Classroom Blogging” with guest speaker Kathy Cassidy, author of blog “Primary Preoccupation”. Kathy will discuss classroom blogging platforms, the pros/cons of blogging platforms and how she uses her classroom blog with her students. Our Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a blog and how do I find good blogs to read?”  Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  13. Second Life notices:

Shout outs:

  1. Paul Nichols, thanks for letting us know you’re listening!
  2. Ron Miller, thanks for the email.
  3. Jenny McAvoy-Anteau, congrats on your SL presentation!

Follow us on Twitter.

Web Spotlight:

Once Upon a School
This site is an online initiative developed in response to author and philanthropist Dave Eggers’ 2008 TED Prize wish to inspire and collect the stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools. Each year, three individuals are granted the TED Prize, which provides winners with a wish to change the world, $100,000 in seed money, and the support of the TED community in making the wish come true. Dave looked to the community to build a website that would collect these stories. 826 National, Hot Studio, and Carbon Five stepped up and created Once Upon a School.
Check out some of the Stories for ideas.
http://www.onceuponaschool.org/

News:

Challenging Assumptions About Online Predators

Sunday, January 25, 2009; Page F01- The Washington Post
The study, released by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, finds that it’s far more likely that children will be bullied by their peers than approached by an adult predator online.

Alas, there’s no easy fix for the risks that children face on the Web, according to the group that authored the report. The Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force reviewed 40 technologies designed to protect children online, but none won an endorsement.

Parents’ concerns about Internet predators are sometimes overblown, said Parry Aftab of WiredSafety.org, but it’s nearly impossible to tell how overblown they are; when quizzed about online activity, kids don’t usually tell the truth if their parents are around, she said.

“One stupid little form just needs a checkbox,” Aftab said. Without better data, “we might as well hang up our hats and go fishing.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012400182.html?hpid=topnews

Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games.
“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield said. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.”

“By using more visual media, students will process information better,” she said. “However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination — those do not get developed by real-time media such as television or video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.

“Studies show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary,” Greenfield said. “Reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills. Students today have more visual literacy and less print literacy. Many students do not read for pleasure and have not for decades.”

These and other studies show that multi-tasking “prevents people from getting a deeper understanding of information,” Greenfield said.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm

Gates Foundation to show excellent teaching

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates says his foundation hopes to post online videos of exemplary teachers plying their craft as a way to inspire other educators and help students learn. “It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school,” he wrote.
“Whenever I talk to teachers, it is clear that they want to be great, but they need better tools so they can measure their progress and keep improving. So our new strategy focuses on learning why some teachers are so much more effective than others and how best practices can be spread throughout the education system so the average quality goes up.”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=56948

Listeners who Write:

Fellow technology advocates

I love technology. There is no doubt. With my iPhone in hand, Macbook in lap, and hardware graveyard in my attic, no one would accuse me of supporting the luddite movement any time soon. My belief in the use of technology in education is sacrosanct.

Therefore, when a book came to my attention entitled “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future,” I was compelled to digest the studies and inevitable conclusions within its pages. In summary, author Mark Bauerlein makes the point that our youth, who have vastly more available to them than previous generations thanks to technology, are an ill-informed and time-wasting group of individuals whose cavalier digital lifestyle threatens the very core of our american heritage.

Compelling statistical data from various studies seem to show that the vast digital resources available to our youth are wasted on video games, chat, uploads and downloads, texting and social networking instead of thoughtful reading and study or civic responsibilities.

At the very least, this book is an eye-opening tale of how careful we must be in the facilitation of technology to our students in school and children at home. I recommend it as a alternate perspective to the belief that students always benefit from their immersion in all things digital.

Happy reading!

MSM, NMSA08, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #61 Middle School Good News Week!

Today’s Quiz:
Teaacher: Can anyone give me the name of a liquid that won’t freeze?
Teacher: Does anyone know which month has 28 days?
Why was the head teacher worried?
Teacher: I told you to stand at the end of the line?
Teacher: I said to draw a cow eating some grass but you’ve only drawn the cow?
Teacher: Why are you standing on your head?
Teacher: That’s quite a cough you have there, what are you taking for it?
*For answers, listen to the podcast.

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.

    • “Robert Balfanz is a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Talent Development Middle and High School Project, which is currently working with more than fifty high-poverty secondary schools to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive whole-school reforms. His work focuses on translating research findings into effective reforms for high-poverty secondary schools.

      Balfanz has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. Recent work includes Locating the Dropout Crisis, with co-author Nettie Legters, in which the numbers and locations of high schools with high dropout rates are identified.  He is currently the lead investigator on a middle school-dropout-prevention project in collaboration with the Philadelphia Education Fund, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

      Balfanz received his PhD in education from the University of Chicago.”

  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  6. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Thing To Try This Week:  Create a flash mob of faculty at the corner of one of your hallways.  Ideas for the flash mob can be posted here at www.middleschoolmatters.com.
  13. From Steve Hargadon’s Classroom 2.0:  “Looking for Lincoln: Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race” with speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    The time for this event is 8:00pm Eastern (USA) / 5:00pm Pacific (USA). A link for international times is HERE.
    PBS Teachers® and Classroom 2.0 are partnering on a series of free monthly webinars designed to help preK-12 educators learn new ways to integrate online instructional resources in the classroom and engage students in curriculum lessons. The webinar series features leading education experts, authors, and PBS producers who will discuss timely and relevant curriculum-related topics, and share their knowledge and ideas on using digital media to create rich learning experiences for students
    Dr. Gates will discuss how Americans’ understanding of President Lincoln and African American history and culture continues to evolve, and ways to approach this topic with students. Dr. Gates is the host of the documentary “Looking for Lincoln,” which premieres in February. The program addresses the controversies surrounding Lincoln about race, equality, religion, politics, and depression by carefully interpreting the evidence from those who knew him and those who study him today.
    A recorded version of the event will be available soon afterwards at http://live.classroom20.com in the archive section.

  14. Second Life notices:
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours
    • 1/27 ISTE Seminar:  Virtual Renaissance & Education – Virtual Harlem’s role as a learning community.
    • 1/29 Data Visualization around the Campfire on ISTE island.
    • 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop:  Appearance (ISTE Island 3)
    • 2/3   ISTE Speaker Series (TBA)

News:
Hernando School Board says administrators should get raise, despite what they say

BROOKSVILLE — Four out of five School Board members agreed Tuesday that Hernando County administrators deserve a raise this year.

But at least 16 principals and other senior officials are saying just the opposite, that hard times are not the time for senior staff to be taking extra public money.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969147.ece

Suit filed over longer middle school day
The Pinellas teachers union filed a lawsuit Tuesday hoping to force the School District to abandon a seven-period middle school schedule that the union claims violates the teachers’ contract.  District officials have maintained for months that reverting to the old schedule would be too disruptive for about 22,000 middle school students and that some would be forced to drop electives they need to get into special high school programs. The standoff began in June, when the School Board voted to lengthen the school day by 14 minutes and add an additional period as a means of cutting $2.2-million from the budget. Officials said the change also would make room for elective courses aimed at getting students more engaged in academics before they reach high school.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article969259.ece

Standards Help Minn. Vie With Top Nations
Thirteen years ago, Minnesota was a state with no academic standards in mathematics and science and what some observers said was a mixed record in grounding students in crucial academic content, such as number skills and algebra.  As one of only two U.S. states to participate in a prominent international measurement of academic skill, Minnesota is scoring at or near the level of many of the highest-performing countries on that exam, and its scores in some categories have jumped significantly since it first took part in 1995.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/01/21/18minnesota.h28.html?tmp=472824768

Web Spotlight:

Flashcards

  1. Find data to study or add your own data.
  2. Study and play with data online as flashcards, hangman game, crossword puzzle, matching, word search, or word scramble.
  3. Study anytime/anywhere by printing data or exporting flash cards to your cell phone, PDA, or iPod.

http://www.studystack.com/

Journal Article:
An Early Warning System:  by promptly reacting to student distress signals, schools can redirect potential dropouts onto the path to graduation.

  • A final grade of F in mathematics.
  • A final grade of F in English.
  • Attendance below 80 percent for the year.
  • A final “unsatisfactory” behavior mark in at least one class.

Solutions:

  • Whole-school interventions:  Weekly or monthly attendance parties, one individual who intervenes at the first absence, placing or creating a school culture that rewards intrinsically or extrinsically good attendance.
  • Targeted interventions
  • Intensive interventions

http://www.jhsph.edu/preventyouthviolence/Test/An_early_warning_system.pdf

advisory, MSM, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, ,

Podcast #60: Team Building, Online, and Socratic Circles (NMSA08)

Math Problem:
If your father gets $300 and gives your mother half, what does she have?
Why did the student tell his parents that low grades in January weren’t a problem?
What did Paul Revere say at the end of his ride?
The plural of man is men. What is the plural of child?
What is a synonym?  (It’s like the Rats of Nymh … The Sin O’Nym … ?)

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting.  He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA.
  2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.  Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.  Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!  Here’s an excuse to travel to Washington D.C.
  10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we’ll want these from Plastic Logic.  “Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?”
  11. Saturday, January 17th, 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm GMT: “Google Forms.” The Newbie Question of the Week will be: “What is a feedreader and why do I need one?” Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com.
  12. Second Life notices:
    • 1/22 ISTE Island Social:  Data Visualization- using graphs in SL to visualize data.
    • 1/25 ISTE Island Tours.  Travel with ISTE and see the SL world.

Web Spotlight
http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

News:
Pasco schools say virtual ed’s a real budget breaker
As Pasco schools look to the future of education, online courses for kindergarten through eighth grade rate high on the priority list. “I’m not being funded to do it. I’m just being told I have to do it,” said Fiorentino, who is leading a statewide effort to get a reprieve. “We just can’t afford doing it this year.” She said her staff has estimated the startup costs for the program — including such things as curriculum development and infrastructure — could run as high as $1-million. Although over time it would be expected to become self-sufficient, the school’s initial price tag looks too steep when the district can’t even afford employee raises, she added.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article967362.ece

Hard times cut state cyber school enrollments
The state’s 11 cyber charter schools — online, at-home alternatives to traditional public schools — are the latest victims of the recession. Facing the threat of layoffs or mortgage foreclosures, some parents are sending their children back to brick-and-mortar public schools because a stay-at-home spouse had to get a job, said Joe Lyons, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School in Norristown, second-largest in the state.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_606700.html

Davis sixth-grader’s science experiment breaks new ground
By Niesha Lofing

University of California, Davis, scientists are redirecting their research after a professor’s son discovered that a major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over other nuts.

The sixth-grader’s experiment showed that female navel orangeworms preferred to lay their eggs in pistachios rather than almonds or walnuts, and researchers now are trying to use the information to better control the pests, according to the California Farm Bureau.

http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/1530953.html

Economy brings reprieve to teacher shortage
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_11408218?source=rss

Fair Isn’t Always Equal
http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=8982&r=sb090112b&REFERER=
First Chapter Free

Net threat to minors less than feared.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10142096-238.html?tag=mncol

Unexpected Twist: Fiction Reading Is Up
Survey Shows Reversal Of Longstanding Trend
For the first time since the NEA began surveying American reading habits in 1982 — and less than five years after it issued its famously gloomy “Reading at Risk” report — the percentage of American adults who report reading “novels, short stories, poems or plays” has risen instead of declining: from 46.7 percent in 2002 to 50.2 percent in 2008.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102337.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Socratic Circles presentation (Ballroom 3)
Mary Dooms, Marge Strand of Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois
email:  marge.strand@lz95.org  and  mary.dooms@lz95.org
Book:  Socratic Circles by Matt Copeland
Overview
Rooted in Socrates’ philosophy that critical thinking and reason skills ar enhanced when the learneer begins to question.
Questioning continues the though process while answers stop it.
Purpose
Develop critical thinking skills
Construct meaning
Deepen understanding
Shift responsibility for group discussion from the teacher to the student
Practice reading strategies
Build vocabulary
Improve verbal and written expression
Enhance listening skills
Practice civility and respect.
Socratic Circle Process Overview
Step One:  Text selection is read and critically annotated.
Step Two:  Students question reading based on:
Fact
Interpretation
Evaluation
Step Three:  Students meet in two concentric circles.
Inner circle discusses text.
Outer circle observes dialogue.
Step Four:  Concentric circles are reversed.
Debrief:  What did you notice here?
What was the best question asked here?
What was the best answer here?
Step Five:  Written reflection pieces are completed.
Keys to a successful circle
Teacher preparation – assume nothing!
Select the reading/media for analysis
Determine the essential question(s)
Determine the behaviors to be assessed (rubric here)
Find a good video of a Socratic circle to teach them how to behave and how to make it work.
Who looks engaged and who looks on task?
Who looks at others?
Prepare the students
Model process of annotating text and developing insightful questions.
Discuss assessment criteria and expectations using Looks Like/Sounds Like T-Chart (Frayer Model)
Inner Circle Engaged/On Task
Looks Like
Eyes focused on speaker
Leaning In
Pens moving
Pages turning to refer to text
Sounds like
“Based on what you said, I’m not thinking …”
“I had trouble understanding why …”
“I agree/disagree with what you say because …”
Put it on chart paper and pull it out during the year.
Teach the behaviors that allow them to engage in conversation with each other respectfully.
Inner Circle Encourages Participation – Let’s complete a T-chart
Looks Like:
Turn towards the person
nonverbal cues
Hand touching arm of another student
Eyes on a non-participant as verbal invitation to participate is given
Gentle smile of encouragement
Sounds Like:
“Looks like Joe has something to say …”
Do you want to add something?
Outer Circle Observation Mode
Looks Like:
Pens moving on paper
Eyes on group
Leaning in
Sounds Like
Pens moving across the page
Silent voices.
Outer Circle Feedback Mode
Looks Like
Eyes on ourter circle speaker
Patiently witing turn by sitting still.
Sounds Like:
“When Ben asked the question …., the discussion shifted from … to …”
“Claire’s pen tapping was a bit much.”
“The group compared … to, and that made the reading easier to understand. ”
A Socratic Circle on the novel The Book Theif:  A group of 7th graders meet to gain a deeper understanding of the book.  (Emmit Till:  the book)
Always stop it short of completely talking about the topic.
Lets run a Socratic Circle
… on the Pledge of Allegiance.
Handout:
The Pledge of Allegiance:  “I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
This pledge is something that we say every day in school.  Yet, it is something we do not analyze very often.  Consider the following:
Choice of words
What exactly is being said?
Why is there controversy about saying this in school?
Do students have the right not to say the pledge?
Wy would someone object to saying the pledge?
Mock Circle Debriefing
Observations and feedback from the outer circle
Audience critique (+/-)
Assessments
Rubric
Scorecard
Reflection on Content form
Reflection on Performance form
Socratic Circle Feedback form.
Suggestion
Use Kagan gambit chips to engage in conversation and regulate the number of times a student participates
Examples for the Teaching Process
Pledge of Allegiance
“Born in the U.S.A.” lyrics
The Gettysburg Address

MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson, , , ,

Podcast 58 Natives are Restless, Immigrants are Coming, and Scholars are To-Be-Defined!

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose)

  1. Alightlearning is looking for votes and support for a software venture that will incorporate technology and education.  They are competing for a $10,000 grant to start-up their venture.  Generalized information is available on the website.
  2. NMSA ’09 Invitation Video
  3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township.
  4. Ohio Middle School Association‘s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH.
  5. MIT Vocab Contest!:  Have your students produce a video defining standard SAT vocabulary words.  For every 5 videos uploaded one iTunes download will be awarded up to 1000 downloads per the event in total.  In other words, get ‘am in early and often if you’re looking for the iTunes motivator.  Only 1000 available for the entire WORLD!  Oh, and check out the website.
  6. NMSA is looking for nominations for the Board To nominate yourself (or Troy) click here or go to the NMSA’s main page.
  7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year.
  8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment?  Try The Second Question.
  9. NECC is coming this summer!

Web Spotlight:
Created for middle school teachers: A direct path to selective online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library. Enter each subject pathway below to browse a list of topics and take an in-depth look at teachable concepts in science and mathematics.
http://msteacher.org/

Letters from our listeners:

Happy New Year to you both

I’d like to consider a differing perspective on the terminology “digital native” vs. “digital immigrant.”

I feel that these categories are as restrictive as other stereotypes which we as educators battle to abolish. We make assumptions that children who grow up with technology are native to it. Yes, they do experience the use of computers, cell phones, DVD’s, wide-screen TV’s with cable and digital downloads, the internet, SMS and AIM at a very young age. But the connotation is that they somehow have an advantage over those of us who as children had B&W television with VHF/UHF-only programming, dial phones hard-wired to the wall, LED calculators, VHS tapes, cassettes, and even computers with a whopping 128k of RAM.

Children are native to whatever they experience as they age. They will embrace the ubiquitous technology with as much fervor as some of us did with our 8-track tapes and AM radios. Does this make them more likely to be successful in its use? Perhaps it gives them a better start. But they are using things that have no context. As teachers, we are well aware of how important context is to what kids learn. We, the so called “immigrants” are not really immigrants at all. If anything, we are the philosophers and archivists of knowledge. We have the context that kids lack because we lived the technology as it changed and grew. For example, ask the average middle school student today about how the Macintosh OS relates to Windows in a historical perspective. They have little clue and don’t even see its relevance. But wasn’t WW I relevant to WW II? Are the military personnel who didn’t grow up with the option of Cruise missiles considered immigrants?

I’m not saying that kids today don’t have a different perspective than many of us in our 30’s, 40’s, or even 50’s. But if anything, we are perhaps the true natives. We lived off the land of tubes to transistors and circuit boards. We evolved in our usage of computers and microwaves, and we had keen perspective  to evaluate, compare and contrast, and contribute to further development. It seems that, at the very least, we need one other category to better describe the generational rift.

Consider the title “digital scholar.” Many of us are walking encyclopedias and history books of technology. We felt, tasted, and touched the evolution, the revolution, and the contribution. We have an altogether different appreciation for what the digital age has given us, and as scholars, we have an obligation to share as much as we can with today’s youth. Because only armed with this context can they bring things forward and make the tough decisions ahead. These digital natives will need to determine the difference between “can we” and “should we.” Let us hope they choose wisely.

Thanks for all your hard work with this podcast.

In the News:

SCSU to help teachers create ‘culturally relevant’ classrooms
Her philosophy is that teachers can instruct students more effectively if they understand their cultural backgrounds.
“People have got to understand the culture in which these kids come from,” said state Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman. Matthews, a former educator, says teachers who are able to grasp students’ backgrounds can motivate them to learn.
http://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2008/12/29/news/13385212.txt

Kansas Schools Emphasize Technology, Training
“Technology has changed a great deal since the old purple mimeograph, filmstrip projector and overhead projector that I started with 30 years ago,” Turnbull said. “We thought yellow highlighting markers were a cool tool then.”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/12/26/215019kspnpittsburgtechnology_ap.html?tmp=47036604

The dying art of cursive
Handwriting was reinstated into the Sunshine State standards in 2006, after educators became concerned that it was slipping away from classrooms. According to state guidelines, third-graders must begin learning cursive, fourth-graders must have legible writing, and fifth-graders must be fluent in the script.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20081229/NEWS13/812290311/1006/NEWS01

Kids not ready for kindergarten cost Minnesota schools $113 million a year
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/36860224.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciatkEP7DhUsI

Schwarzenegger seeks education cuts
California schools could eliminate a week of instruction and increase class sizes next year under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new plan for solving the state’s budget crisis.
Matosantos said the state’s plunging economy could have forced far deeper cuts in education than the ones Schwarzenegger proposed.
http://www.sacbee.com/arnold/story/1510332.html

MSM, NMSA08, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #56 Teaching the Middle School Brain, Facebook issues, and Disrupting Class!

Special Notice: Due to web server space limitations, we will be removing some early shows. If you’d like to hear a show that is unavailable, please email us!

Items & Events

  1. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Annual Conference will be held in Saginaw Township on March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School.
  2. The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be held at Kalahari February 19-20.
  3. The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be November 5-7 in Indianapolis, IN.  The theme will center around globalization and service learning.
  4. The Middle Level Essentials Conference will be held at the Red Rocks in Nevada April 23-34.  Tell your high school colleagues about the special “conference in a conference” on ninth grade teams.
  5. A link to Will Ricardson’s featured presentation at NMSA ’08.
  6. The LEAGUE’s Knight Scholarship Competition:
    The KNIGHT scholarship is a national scholarship competition where 3 students will receive $5,000 each for their writings or reflections on civic experiences in one of three categories: Persuasive Essay (building awareness and inviting action for change in your school, community or the world), Personal Narrative (experiences with service and volunteerism), or News Story (creating newspaper articles that reports acts of service and volunteerism by young people). The scholarship is open to high school seniors from all over the country, even students who are not part of a LEAGUE classroom can apply! The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (http://www.knightfoundation.org) promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities. Since 1954, the foundation has given more than $300 million in journalism grants. Applications will be posted at www.theleague.org beginning January 5th.  Students must submit their applications before the March 6th deadline. For more details about The LEAGUE and the KNIGHT scholarship please visit www.theleague.org.
  7. ACT has a new report on The Forgotten Middle .  You can read the report as a PDF file directly from the NMSA website.
  8. See the folks who attended NMSA08 this year and left a message on the virtual wall at SchoolTube! Videos are posted for you to either relive the experience or get a taste of the convention from the folks who attended.
  9. Recommended website:  Carol Josel was a presenter at this year’s NMSA Annual Conference.  She has a website with wonderful tips for both parents and teachers that draw from her years of teaching experience.  Sign up for her newsletter and get a newsletter bonus feature:  a new receipe from a featured nutritionist!  Do check out her compilation of free articles on her website.
  10. Catch Dr. Debbie Silver at the following locations in January:  Anderson, MO Teacher’s Conference January 5, 2009; California League of High Schools, Monterry, CA January 16; and other Teacher In-Services in a district near you!
  11. Do some Christmas Break PD!  Check out the Second Life Education screen casts here.
  12. Job Opportunity!  The New England League of Middle Schools is looking for a “visionary leader” to guide them into the coming years.  The position of Executive Director is open and persons interested should submit a resume, letter of intent, three letters of recommendation, salary requirements to Mr. Paul Freeman of the East Lyme Public Schools.

Book Update! – Disrupting Class Latest reading update from Troy.

Space Concern: Due to web site space issues, we will be removing some of the early shows.

News!
Student Sues High School over Facebook Suspension:
A former Florida high school student who was disciplined for “cyberbullying” a teacher on Facebook is suing the school principal on allegations of violating her free speech rights.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/us-student-inte.html

Sending Racy photos via phone common amongst Teenagers:
Sending or posting nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures starts at a young age and becomes even more frequent as teens become young adults, according to a new survey that suggests the racy-photo problem might be bigger than many adults realize.
“Teenagers are early adopters of technology–from the latest social-networking sites to the hottest new cell phones,” said Susan Schulz, special projects editor for Hearst Magazines (which publishes Cosmo Girl). “While this tech savvy can be seen as positive, our study reveals there’s also a negative side. Teenagers should be aware of the real consequences of this type of behavior, and we need to provide them with guidance and encourage them to make smarter choices.”
The survey also indicated that 15 percent of teens who have sent sexually suggestive content such as text messages, eMail, photographs, or videos say they have done so with someone they know only online.

To help warn teens and young adults of the dangers associated with sending or posting sexually suggestive material online, the National Campaign has published a list of 10 suggestions.

For parents, the initiative recommends:

1. Talking to kids about what they are doing in cyberspace.
2. Knowing who kids are communicating with.
3. Considering limitations on electronic communication.
4. Being aware of what teens are posting publicly.
5. Setting expectations.

For teens:

1. Don’t assume anything you send or post is going to remain private.
2. There is no changing your mind in cyberspace–anything you send or post will never truly go away.
3. Don’t give in to the pressure to do something that makes you uncomfortable, even in cyberspace.
4. Consider the recipient’s reaction.
5. Nothing is truly anonymous.

Shout outs!:

  1. Mary Henton:  Thanks for the inclusion on the Conference Connections page of NMSA ’09!
  2. Todd Williamson:  Congrats on the new kid and future middle schooler!
  3. Santa Claus:  a new mic for Troy, Apple stock for us both, Kindles for Jack, Troy, & Shawn, and server space.

Teaching the Middle School Brain (Stop by the booth for a handout on the session.)
1.  Principles of Brain Friendly teaching.
2.  Align instruction with how brain best learns through structures.
3.  Silly sports & Goofy games that align with brain friendly instruction.
4.  Deepen our understanding of our 3 pound miracle.
The quiet signal:
1.  Raise your hand.
2.  Full focus attention on Dr. Kagan
What the brain attends to the more the brain retains.
3.  Signal others.
Good brain instruction involves structured interaction and a high level of engagement.
Structure:  Take off, Touch Down
If it’s true, stand up.  If the second statement is true move again.
Why is it brain friendly?
It increases blood and glucose and oxygen in the brain to stand up and sit down a couple of time.
The brain consumes 20% of all the glucose in the body.  It is only 2% of the body’s weight.
Put your two fists together.  That’s the size of your brain.  Disappointed?
Brain dendrites fire 200 times per second.
100 billion neurons.
Standing up and sitting down puts more glucose and oxygen in the brain.
Better nourishment:  Frequent muscle movements are important.
Book:  Spark by John J Ratey, MD.
Evidence for more phys. ed. in  the schools to grow better brains.
Aerobic movement is required.
Brain attends to Novelty.
Stand up, Hand up, Pair up
RallyRobin
Why is RallyRobin more brain friendly?
Frequently stop and have students process information.
Why frequently process?
1.  More energy for new learning.
Inhibiting impulses takes a ton of energy.
2.  Clarify and refine thinking.
Became aware of what you know and what you don’t know.
3.  Store in long-term memory.
4.  Clear working memory.
It’s what we can hold in our heads at one time.
Not usually more than ten things.
Number 11 replaces one of the original 10.
5.  Engage multiple intelligences and multiple memory systems.
Episodic memory is the most engaging of the memory systems.
The brian processes in episodes, something that takes place at a location, has a beginning and an end and a location.
More brains active
More brain parts active
Social Interaction
Episodic memory
Team Interview
Teambuilding
Favorite snacks
anything fun will serve as a teambuilder
Ways to spend $1000.
Fun things to do after schooll
Movies you have liked.
Describe a sceene from a movie you enjoy.
See the Personal Questions page he has prepared.  (Sells?)
Favorites
Academic content
Science:  View on cloning; inert elements
Math:  Geometry Proof; prime numbers
Language arts:  Verbs; metaphors
Social Studies:  Causes of event; consequences of an event.
How will I use?
Interview each other (gambit chips?) and create a 5 paragraph essay based on the information they’ve gleaned from their partners and incorporate transtitions between paragraphs.  3 main paragraphs are based on each of the 3 people interviewed.
What happened in the brain?
The amygdalae
There are 2.
Left processes tone of voice
Right processes faces.
Both sides are threat sensors
When do they fire most?
Stranger
Other race
Fearful face
Angry face > Happy face
out-group > in-group
Linked to all major parts of the brain.
Prefrontal Cortex
Decision making
Emotional Control
Attention, thinking, working memory
The Amygdala can shut this down.
The Amygdalae explain
Impared learning (high stress destroys brain nerves).
Silly Sports
Hagoo:  Inuit game.
If they can make the other person smile, they cross over the line and join their team.  Teams are in two lines.
No touching, can say anything they like.
Great picture of a “teenage brain”
What is white matter?
Myelination of neurons helps them fire 200 times faster.
The teenage brain is not completely myelinated.
Independent Memory systems
There is not one thing called memory!
Memory Test
1 Night
2  tired
3  wake
4  dream
5  sleep  (not on list!)
6  bed
7  rest
8
9 (
10  (slumber)
Memory pinciple:  Memory is not a place it is a process!
SPEWS & Structures (matrix made by Kagan)

MSM, NMSA08, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #55 Disrupting, NMSA 08, This Changes Everything!

Items & Events

  1. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Annual Conference will be held in Saginaw Township on March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School.
  2. The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be held at Kalahari February 19-20.
  3. The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be November 5-7 in Indianapolis, IN.  The theme will center around globalization and service learning.
  4. The Middle Level Essentials Conference will be held at the Red Rocks in Nevada April 23-34.  Tell your high school colleagues about the special “conference in a conference” on ninth grade teams.
  5. A link to Will Ricardson’s featured presentation at NMSA ’08.
  6. The LEAGUE’s Knight Scholarship Competition:
    The KNIGHT scholarship is a national scholarship competition where 3 students will receive $5,000 each for their writings or reflections on civic experiences in one of three categories: Persuasive Essay (building awareness and inviting action for change in your school, community or the world), Personal Narrative (experiences with service and volunteerism), or News Story (creating newspaper articles that reports acts of service and volunteerism by young people). The scholarship is open to high school seniors from all over the country, even students who are not part of a LEAGUE classroom can apply! The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (http://www.knightfoundation.org) promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities. Since 1954, the foundation has given more than $300 million in journalism grants. Applications will be posted at www.theleague.org beginning January 5th.  Students must submit their applications before the March 6th deadline. For more details about The LEAGUE and the KNIGHT scholarship please visit www.theleague.org.
  7. Virtual Pioneers invite you to their website:  www.virtualpioneeers.ning.com.  VP conducts virtual social studies trips in Second Life.
  8. See the folks who attended NMSA08 this year and left a message on the virtual wall at SchoolTube! Videos are posted for you to either relive the experience or get a taste of the convention from the folks who attended.
  9. Recommended website: http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/ Thanks to Teresa for the recommendation on the website!
  10. New report posted on NMSA’s website:  Middle Level is the Turning Point for College and Career Readiness.

Book Update! – Disrupting Class

Algebra on YouTube:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j27byHk1EAb3KhBo1ePXyg0h7rogD950NKS80
YouTube is perhaps best known for its cavalcade of homemade performances and TV clips, but many people like Nissim are turning to it for free tutoring in math, science and other complicated subjects.
Nissim typically scours the video-sharing Web site for clips of bands and comedy skits. But this time she wasn’t there to procrastinate on her homework. It turned out YouTube was also full of math videos. After watching a couple, the psychology major says, she finally understood trig equations and how to make graphs.  (Khan clip)

Session I:  A Web of Connections:  Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything (601)

Blogs Wikis, and Podcasts:  Book related to this session.  Will Richardson
http://willrichardson.wikispaces.com for the notes to this session and the links.
Provide feed back at the discussion space of the wiki.
Begin with stories about kids to contextualize.
1.  Laura Stockman (Buffalo, NY)
25 Days to Make a Difference is her blog.
This turned into 10 months of making a difference.
All the conversations are monitored by Mom and Mom makes the posts.
This site is blocked at her school.
2.  Sara’s Story
She texts over 600 messages a day.
The point:  She has a learning network that is local.  That is if we use the technology to make it learning.
Schools response
We don’t let them blog.
We don’t let them text.
We don’t let them use the technology that they are already are using.
The web is now a Read/Write Web technology today.
The Big Shift is coming in access to this technology and how it is being used to engage students, either for good or evil.
Book:  Here Comes Everybody: How Digital Networks Transform Our Ability to Gather and Cooperate by Sharkey
The Techtonic Shift:  This changes the game, think Printing Press and its impact on Western Civ.
We cannot escape this group forming ability provided by the Web.
Will Richardson is an upset pubic school parent because his children are not being prepared for their future.
8,000 affinity groups within the Obama campaign which in essence is the platform of the campaign.
This gives the members power of choice within the groups and in the campaign and as a result empowerment.  (Local control)
Kansas State Rep running for office:
Kid put up a post about needing a “group” and got an average of $8.19 per donation and a total of $90,000 for his campaign.
Newspapers aren’t going to survive in the current business model.
Christian Science Monitor is going web based totally.
surfthechannel (The TV guide to illegal content on the net.)
Can go to see all the tv channels of the world.
Pick your tv show and you can watch.
Based in Sweden.  Different Laws Apply!
Amazon.com
Businesses are about groups with common interests.
People read the posts about the product to make a decision on purchase.
Book:  Wikinomics (The more you share, the more you get)
Facebook
“For Mike” A social spot to grieve for a fallen friend.
Kids are going home to unfiltered worlds.  Ironically we’re doing harm by not giving them the opportunity to fail.
Learning is changing.
His blog (as example).
Clustr-Web Traffic tracker
Each dot becomes someone in his group and someone he can learn from.
www.fanfiction.net  Write a new chapter to the book that you really like.
Twilight.  Harry Potter
Kids are going to be Googled during their lifetimes.
We need to teach them the best way to do this without exposing them to the damaging things of social networking.
Social networking is not inherently a bad thing.
Richardson wants his kids found on the net as a networking tool.
We’ve been Datelined to death on the dangers of the internet.
Clarence Fisher and his blog.
Teaches his kids how to blog and as a result increases their learning opportunities.
Learning is changing.
Text 46645 to text google to find the answer to a question.
Why are we asking kids to memorize information when they could use a device to find it more rapidly.
Joke:  Give an open phone test!
Content is not scarce, it is ubiquitous.
MIT has every course online for you to take.  (MITopencourseware)
Teach content evaluation skills and then turn them on to other content sources to learn and bring to the classroom.
Content is not static anymore.
Wikipedia.
Considers this the most important website on the the net at this time.
Content has been proven to be current, accurate, and dynamic.
Textbooks are not dynamic enough.
We need to teach in hypertext environments.
FLYP media.com  www.flypmedia.com
Making our classrooms with “thin” walls.
Learning is a everywhere experience.
Yugma- tool for ?
Flat Classrooms project.
Teachers are everywhere, we need to help our students find them and identify.
Key advantage:  Create a web page or blog and kids will use the experience to learn from their productions.
Willow Web  (Radio WillowWeb)
Kids become invested in the learning.  They do real work for real audiences and create real learning in the process.
Its not enough to just do a paper on it.
Challenge:  What’s stopping you from doing this stuff in your own personal learning environments?
Think about this as building networks and not just a transfer of what we did on paper to now doing it on the web.
How are you going to build your Map?

MSM, NMSA08, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson

Podcast #53 – Getting on the Bus with Jim Collins and the Gang at NMSA08!

Items & Events

  1. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Annual Conference will be held in Saginaw Township on March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School.
  2. The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be held at Kalahari February 19-20.
  3. The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be November 5-7 in Indianapolis, IN.  The theme will center around globalization and service learning.
  4. The Middle Level Essentials Conference will be held at the Red Rocks in Nevada April 23-34.  Tell your high school colleagues about the special “conference in a conference” on ninth grade teams.
  5. Crime does not pay!  Worried teaching tech skills might open doors to nefarious activities?  This creative internetter used Craigslist to create a caper outside a bank in Washington.  A suspect is in custody.  Bonus points for creativity, not so much for community service content.  Considering the recent economy let me also add this:  Don’t do this at home.
  6. We’ve compared education and technology to the RIAA and piracy laws.  Here’s another take on that conversation for your perusal.
  7. The MacArthur Foundation is spending $50 million dollars on a 5 year study seeking to understand digital life and youth.  Three years of the study are reported out in Living and Learning with New Media:  Summary of the Findings from the Digital Youth Project.  Read about the study here in the New York Times article.  We might pull this for discussion in a future podcast.
  8. What if we thought of internet access like water, gas, electricity and other utilities?  Will Richardson has found an interesting quote from a future Obama official concerning the regulation of the internet and increasing availability in communities across the country.  As proposed, the deregulation would increase competition and lower price making it more available to households.
  9. Quote for the week: “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”  – Eric Hoffer
  10. A link to Will Ricardson’s featured presentation at NMSA ’08.
  11. The LEAGUE’s Knight Scholarship Competition:
    The KNIGHT scholarship is a national scholarship competition where 3 students will receive $5,000 each for their writings or reflections on civic experiences in one of three categories: Persuasive Essay (building awareness and inviting action for change in your school, community or the world), Personal Narrative (experiences with service and volunteerism), or News Story (creating newspaper articles that reports acts of service and volunteerism by young people). The scholarship is open to high school seniors from all over the country, even students who are not part of a LEAGUE classroom can apply!

    The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (http://www.knightfoundation.org) promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities. Since 1954, the foundation has given more than $300 million in journalism grants. Applications will be posted at www.theleague.org beginning January 5th.  Students must submit their applications before the March 6th deadline. For more details about The LEAGUE and the KNIGHT scholarship please visit www.theleague.org.

  12. Virtual Pioneers invite you to their website:  www.virtualpioneeers.ning.com.  VP conducts virtual social studies trips in Second Life.

News:

No Effect on Comprehension seen from “Reading First”
The $6 billion funding for the federal Reading First program has helped more students “crack the code” to identify letters and words, but it has not had an impact on reading comprehension among 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders in participating schools, according to one of the largest and most rigorous studies ever undertaken by the U.S. Department of Education.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/11/18/14read.h28.html?tmp=2107097694

Middle School Substitute Teacher & Spyware:  http://www.pcworld.com/article/154611/how_spyware_nearly_sent_a_teacher_to_prison.html
Amero was an unlikely porn surfer. Four months pregnant at the time, she said she had only just learned to use e-mail. The case ruined her life. She believes that stress from the arrest caused her to miscarry her baby, and her career as a teacher is finished. A heart condition landed her in the hospital after she fainted several times. And while she was briefly employed at an area Home Depot last year, she was fired from the job shortly after an employee posted news clippings about her trial in the employee lounge. Alex Eckelberry, the CEO of Sunbelt Software, who contacted her after hearing about her case. After looking at the evidence, he and other security professionals concluded that Amero had been wrongly convicted.

What Students Want from Teachers:

  • Take Me Seriously
  • Challenge Me to Think
  • Nurture My Self-Respect
  • Show Me I Can Make a Difference
  • Let Me Do It My Way
  • Point Me Toward My Goals
  • Make Me Feel Important
  • Build on My Interests
  • Tap My Creativity
  • Bring Out My Best Self

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/What_Students_Want_from_Teachers.aspx

Session 3
Exploring the Role of the Literacy Coach in the Middle Grade Schools:

Literacy coach is walking, talking Professional Development.
Watch the perception that the coach knows what they are doing while the teacher doesn’t. Be sure to differentiate between the HS coaches and ours.

See notes Coaching Implementation

Literacy Lunches:
Teachers get an article to read and/or a strategy to highlight. If they’ve read the article, they get pizza and a pop. Held once a month.

Friday morning:
Jim Collins Keynote:
Good is the mortal enemy of Great
Greatness = Conscious choice and Discipline
Beat of the Odds Study – Arizona Center of Education website
The Signature of mediocrity of not lack of change. The signature of mediocrity is constant change. It is not allowing enough time for changes to work.
jimcollins.com
There is a free diagnositic tool. There
How many key seats do we have on the bus?
How many are filled with the right people?
What is our plan for getting to 100%?

On a personal level:
Build a council
Write out a vision
What is your ratio of questions to statements? Can you double it?

Work is infinite – Time is finite.
Manage your time, not your work.
Not a job but a responsibility.

Shout Out to MikeTeacher for the iTunes Comment. Thanks MikeTeacher wherever you are.

Happy Birthday! to Us. (Since this is our 53rd show, in some strange sense, we are a year old. Never mind that we’re quite a way into our second year of podcasting).

MSM, NMSA08, Podcast, TechBy Troy Patterson, , ,

Podcast #52 – Snowed Under! NMSA08 continued

Items & Events

  1. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Annual Conference will be held in Saginaw Township on March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School.
  2. The Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be held at Kalahari February 19-20.
  3. The National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be November 5-7 in Indianapolis, IN.  The theme will center around globalization and service learning.
  4. The Middle Level Essentials Conference will be held at the Red Rocks in Nevada April 23-34.  Tell your high school colleagues about the special “conference in a conference” on ninth grade teams.
  5. Crime does not pay!  Worried teaching tech skills might open doors to nefarious activities?  This creative internetter used Craigslist to create a caper outside a bank in Washington.  A suspect is in custody.  Bonus points for creativity, not so much for community service content.  Considering the recent economy let me also add this:  Don’t do this at home.
  6. We’ve compared education and technology to the RIAA and piracy laws.  Here’s another take on that conversation for your perusal.
  7. The MacArthur Foundation is spending $50 million dollars on a 5 year study seeking to understand digital life and youth.  Three years of the study are reported out in Living and Learning with New Media:  Summary of the Findings from the Digital Youth Project.  Read about the study here in the New York Times article.  We might pull this for discussion in a future podcast.
  8. What if we thought of internet access like water, gas, electricity and other utilities?  Will Richardson has found an interesting quote from a future Obama official concerning the regulation of the internet and increasing availability in communities across the country.  As proposed, the deregulation would increase competition and lower price making it more available to households.
  9. Quote for the week: “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”  – Eric Hoffer
  10. A link to Will Ricardson’s featured presentation at NMSA ’08.

News:
Seven Skills Students Desperately Need
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=56127
Teaching to the test is a mistake, Harvard’s Tony Wagner reminded the audience of his Nov. 18 keynote address to the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), because it interferes with transmitting the seven “survival skills” every student should acquire before graduating.
“A lot of people think the skills that students need to learn for the workforce and the skills they need to learn to be a good citizen are two separate sets. But they’re not. What makes a student successful in the global workforce will make a person successful at life,” he said.
Wagner said the problem is that you can have all the equipment and technology you want, but “if you don’t teach kids how to think, how to think beyond multiple choice, you’ve got a problem.”
“I realize education is a very risk-averse sector,” said Wagner, “but assessments either drive instruction for the better or for the worse, and right now in the U.S., it’s for the worse. If our assessments measured performance and 21st-century skills, like the European PISA assessment, that would be another story.”
According to Wagner, students of this generation are not unmotivated; they’re just differently motivated.

“They’re multi-taskers, they are drawn to graphics, they like instant gratification, they use Web 2.0 tools to create, and they love collaboration,” he said. “If we can figure out how to grab their interest in learning, they’ll become great thinkers and be eager to learn the basics.”

Wagner presented a list of seven “survival skills” that students need to succeed in today’s information-age world, taken from his book The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need–And What We Can do About It. It’s a school’s job to make sure students have these skills before graduating, he said:

1. Problem-solving and critical thinking;
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
3. Agility and adaptability;
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship;
5. Effective written and oral communication;
6. Accessing and analyzing information; and
7. Curiosity and imagination.

“We are making [Adequate Yearly Progress] at the expense of failing our kids at life. Something has to change,” he concluded.

Tony Wagner’s Web Site (Note that he has a bunch of articles free for download to registered users – registration is free).


Session 2:
Staff Motivation – Diane Hodges.
US has 2.8 million teachers serving 46 million students
Employee Needs & Motivators:
_____ Good wages
_____ Job security
_____ Interesting work
_____ Full appreciation for work done
_____ Feeling “in on things”
_____ Sympathetic help with personal problems
_____ Promotion/growth opportunities
_____ Good working conditions
_____ Personal loyalty to workers
_____ Tactful discipline

Elements of a staff recognition program:

  • Staff members need to be part of the development and implementation program
  • Define what behaviors you want rewarded (attendance, trying new strategies, initiative,
    teamwork, positive attitudes, etc).
  • Recognition should be differentiated
    • Auditory – some want to “hear” the recognition (public praise)
    • Visual – Some want to “see” the recognition (letters, articles, bulletin board)
    • Kinesthetic –  some want to “feel” (hug, handshake, pat on the back)

The techniques that have the greatest motivational impact are practiced by the least number of managers, even though they are easier and less expensive to use.


 Motivating Behaviors:
Motivating Behavior Rank Frequency
Manager personally congratulates
employees who do a good job		 1 42
Manager writes personal notes for
good performance		 2 24
Organization uses performance as
a major basis for promotion		 3 22
Manager publicly recognizes
employees for good performance		 4 19
Manager holds morale-building
meetings to celebrate success		 5 8
* Professor Gerald Graham, Wichita State University 1991

Some motivational ideas:
http://www.dianehodges.com/motiv.php
http://playfair.com