Summary:

Shawn and Troy are back. We talk about summer plans, coming back in Fall, technology competencies, and much more. Dave talks about an Exploration Geologist. 

Jokes:  

I just grilled a chicken.

• Still won’t tell me why it crossed the road

I don’t alway Whoop. 

• But when I do, there it is

I own the world’s worst thesaurus. 

• Not only is it terrible, but it’s terrible

The Black Eyed Peas can sing us a tune, but the chick peas can only hummus one. 

Why are trees so happy in Springtime? 

• They are releafed now that winter is over.

What happens if you get ketchup in your eyes? 

• You develop Heinzsight.

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Exploration Geologists

I was recently reading the March/April 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the section “Career of the Month” written by Luba Vangelova.  Luba wrote an article entitled “Exploration Geologist Quinton Hennigh.”

Exploration geologists, also known as prospectors, look for new sources of mineral deposits.  They use a mix of geological, geophysical, and geochemical knowledge to analyze data and test hypotheses about where deposits are likely to be found.  “You identify targets, drill holes, and try to find treasure,” says Quinton Hennigh.

http://k12science.net/careers-in-exploration-geology-prospecting/

Reports from the Front Lines

• The end is nigh!  
• Moodle HQ 3.11 online training.  
• Summer plans
• LMS selection and use

The Twitterverse  

Typical EduCelebrity  @EduCelebrity

It isn’t the technology your school uses that’s important, it’s how your school markets it to the taxpayers.

Alice Keeler@alicekeeler

Try http://fonts.google.com to discover fonts and font pairings. #googleEDU

MiddleWeb  @middleweb

REVIEW: Building School Cultures That Support Us All. #mschat #educoach #leadupchat #satchat #cpchat #JoyfulLeaders Veteran school system admin @StoneyBeavers highly recommends Handle With Care by @casas_jimmy & @JoyKelly5 to culture-savvy leaders. https://middleweb.com/45304/building-school-cultures-that-support-us-all/

Kimberly Isham  @Isham_Literacy

This is my most recent purchase. First book by the creator of Kid President. #pd4uandme

TeacherGoals @teachergoals

For real! @shesatornado

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Strategies:  

How to Foster Metacognitive Skills for Independent Learning

Resources:

River Runner

https://river-runner.samlearner.com/#annotations:tT5kbskyEeufrMcEibUiPQ

The Day of Mourning and Hope

A virtual discussion of the Soviet deportees from the Baltics to Siberia.  Lines up with some state’s requirement to talk about holocausts.  

https://www.facebook.com/events/814417969186336/?ref=newsfeed

Bean Song

To share with your students.  Beans.  Wonderful stuff.  Josh Groban, take it away  …  

Axis’ The Culture Translator Slang of the Week

sus: someone or something that seems “suspect” or untrustworthy. While it’s nothing new, this term has become more and more popular as a result of the game Among Us in which the goal is to find a traitor in your midst. (Ex: “That leftover meatloaf had green stuff growing on the top… mad sus.”)  

Web Spotlight:  

The Exploratorium

Ever wondered what a LMS course could be?  Check out The Exploratorium for ideas and examples of what you can create in an LMS like Moodle.  

https://learn.moodle.org/course/view.php?id=27769

Busy Being Born

The Macintosh User Interface wasn’t designed all at once; it was actually the result of almost five years of experimentation and development at Apple, starting with graphics routines that Bill Atkinson began writing for Lisa in late 1978. Like any evolutionary process, there were lots of false starts and blind alleys along the way. It’s a shame that these tend to be lost to history, since there is a lot that we can learn from them.

https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Busy_Being_Born.txt

The Pandemic Propelled CPS From The Tech ‘Dark Ages’ Into The Modern Computing Age

CPS bought 170,000 laptops and iPads in the last year. Elated school staff wonder if the tech focus can be sustained.

Over the last year during the pandemic, Chicago Public Schools transformed itself from a school district that was woefully behind in technology by adding roughly 170,000 laptops and iPads at a cost of more than $86 million.

The pandemic computer distribution in Chicago Public Schools stood in sharp contrast to the way the school district used to operate.

Historically, it was mostly left up to principals to prioritize technology for their individual schools and then figure out how to pay for it. That meant some schools might have a lot of computers if they fundraised, won a grant or gave up a security guard or a reading specialist to pay for them. Others had little.

https://www.wbez.org/stories/the-pandemic-propelled-cps-from-the-tech-dark-ages-into-the-modern-computing-age/2f5d55ea-964a-43ff-9833-9a5a4e07ea2f

Want to prevent sexual assault? Focus on middle schoolers.

C. Quince Hopkins is the director of the Levitas Initiative for Sexual Assault Prevention at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. Marissa Neuman Jachman is executive director of the Erin Levitas Foundation. They wrote this for the Baltimore Sun.

CONNECTIONS: Is This Really Important?

https://www.connectedd.org/blog/connections-is-this-really-important#annotations:ummgPMnyEeuo2RvJ9sWupA

Random Thoughts . . .  

It is Superman Day

Cartoonist Chad Frye celebrates Superman Day:  

(Scan the Gratuitous QR Code to go to the image.)  

From Dr. Debbie Silver:  

Personal Web Site   

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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Summary:

Jokes:  

What’s the favorite music at a golf club? 

• Swing

Do they allow loud laughing in Hawaii?

• Or just a low ha?

What did one tectonic plate say to the other when they bumped together? 

• Sorry, my fault

My ophthalmologist moved to a little island off the coast of Alaska. 

• Yep, my doctor is now an optical aleutian

The meaning of opaque is unclear.

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Scientific Literacy

I was recently reading the March/April 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the section “Commentary” written by Andrew Zucker.  Andrew wrote an article entitled “Teaching Scientific Literacy.”

Here are five themes to consider in order to promote scientific literacy:

• Pay attention to the personal and societal contexts of science.
• Relate scientific literacy to traditional forms of literacy.
• Teach about how to find reliable information about science and how to reject junk science.
• Include some important events in the history of science.
• Help females and minority students realize their potential in science.

http://k12science.net/scientific-literacy/

Reports from the Front Lines

• The push to the end of the year . . . 
• Wooclap
• The Eid
• Kids attending school
• What are you keeping?

39 min

Advisory:  

Money Matters

https://www.moneyconfidentkids.com/

Project Database

The Twitterverse  

Joy Kirr @JoyKirr

How’s your battery, and what will you do to recharge today? What’s that next step towards better mental and physical health?  https://twitter.com/ImpactWales/status/1390933636459925506/photo/1  

𝓓𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓢𝓬𝓱𝓶𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓸𝓾 𝓔𝓭.𝓓. @daveschmittou

When people are redundant in their tweets it feels so repetitive. It’s also like they don’t know what to write too. It’s reading the same words over, and over, and over again. Sometimes 280 characters seems like so much, like a lot.

Soundtrap for Education by Spotify  @soundtrap

Teachers! This year has been extraordinary, and the fact that you have kept students engaged & motivated and feeling loved & supported is remarkable.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We are grateful for you this week and all year long.

Chris Jakicic  @cjakicic

How is your team tracking common formative assessment results? Is this information accessible to all of the people who support your team? #atplc

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Strategies:  

Team-Based Quizzes

We complete a quiz every single week – students get 4-5 questions to complete individually in 10 minutes, and then the same questions as a team of 4-5 students.

Your online students are using Zoom and placed into random breakout rooms. Students complete 11 quizzes over the term and we take the best 9 scores – overall the assessment is worth 15%. Half of the marks come from their individual score, half from the team attempt.

The quizzes are open book and open internet – I write new questions every single week and students have access to past quiz questions when they are preparing for the class. The questions focus on application of theory in small case contexts.

My observations over the last 5 years

• Students like the idea of frequent assessment to help them stay up to date with their studies
• There has been an improvement in communication skills, especially for non-English speakers. We provide advice at the beginning of the semester about how to communicate as a group – not one person talking all the time, inviting others who haven’t said anything to contribute
• Students feel less pressure to “study for a test” since they do have access to their resources, but they need to be able to apply that knowledge to practical situations.
• I can see lightbulb moments happening during the assessment – a sign of a great formative assessment item.

Resources:

ASP HOMEROOM

ASP HOMEROOM is a civic engagement collaboration between the Close-Up Foundation and A Starting Point to create a nationwide educational network that will work with middle school and high school educators and students to help educate the next generation of Americans on the most pressing issues of our time. With the goal of inspiring informed participation in our democracy, ASP HOMEROOM creates cross-cultural and interactive learning opportunities between different schools, communities and states on issues surrounding government and politics.

https://homeroom.astartingpoint.com

Free English Books

Gratuitous Folk Song Video

Just as the title says . . . 

Belgian Farmer Accidently Moves French Border

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56978344?fbclid=IwAR14VJAeWs2LXeiFwJN0xZDIwfk4kBloGYfhpcjCE2f_fSWXc0qCjsiI-tg

Web Spotlight:  

Is SAMR Dead?

https://www.techlearning.com/news/is-samr-dead#annotations:YxzboKaTEeucaXP5iEc2Qw

Magnus Carlsen’s Mind-Blowing Memory! World Chess Champion tested

World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen is put to the test by English Grandmaster David Howell! How many games can he recognise?

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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Summary:

Troy and Shawn talk about remote learning moving forward, gamification and more. Dave discusses the importance of curiosity, persistence, and perseverance.

Jokes:  

I’m having a hard time getting rid of old magazines. 

• I’ve got issues. 

I told my 2 year old to pick out a bedtime story. She chose a seed catalog. 

• Lettuce get started. 

My wife is still mad at me. Seems I put super glue on her pen yesterday. She just can’t seem to let it go. 

Eileen Award:  

• iTunes: AllforJMJ

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Technology and Scientific Habits of Mind

I was recently reading the March/April 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the section “Editor’s Corner” written by Ann Haley Mackenzie.  Ann wrote an article entitled “Technology and Scientific Habits of Mind.”

The focus of her article was on the importance of curiosity, persistence, and perseverance.  If we are too busy covering the content instead of providing a place for uncovering the science content with the students, then many chances for curiosity, persistence, and perseverance are lost.  

Reports from the Front Lines

• The push to the end of the year . . . 
• How do you build/develop a course in an LMS?
• Do you share? 
• What do we focus on moving forward?
• Tone setting when kids come back

The Twitterverse  

Michelle Wagner @wagnerlearning

Wayne RESA continues to create short snippets of learning for educators. Perfect for your weekly staff email/newsletter. #WayneLiteracy #WRESA #PDminutes @GabrionLaura @HRottermond @strimbel1 @WayneRESAELA https://lln.resa.net/professional-learning/pd-minutes/

Ditch That Textbook  @DitchThatTxtbk

10 low-prep, high-return activities for class TOMORROW http://ditchthattextbook.com/2018/04/25/10-low-prep-high-return-activities-for-class-tomorrow/… #ditchbook

https://twitter.com/DitchThatTxtbk/status/1388311798768676866/photo/1

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Strategies:  

How to Build a Resilient School Community, Phyllis Fagell, AMLE Mag. Oct. 2020.

1. Establish the Mindset – How will they look at this situation?  
   1. Use family stories of how they overcame a situation, resource materials for class that show how people have overcome adversity in the past.
2. Set up a culture of confidence and competence:  
   1. Create some parenting supports.  
      1. Establish what a learning situation at home looks like.  What teacher skills are useful for a parent in this situation?  Parents won’t be evaluated as teachers, different skill sets.  
   2. Provide supports for the teaching staff. 
   3. Play to student strengths and provide flexible assessments with choice boards that let students have choice in how they show mastery.  
   4. Feedback ratio:  6 positive to 1 negative.  
3. Emotions spread across a social network – Set the tone!  

https://www.amle.org/download/april-2020-duplicate-1/?version=full

Resources:

AMLE Resource Center

Announcing the new AMLE Resource Center. Search for resources and products across 30 categories, each with short, informative descriptors to help you quickly determine what might meet your school’s requirements. The Resource Center will be regularly updated, so you can check back frequently for the latest listings.

https://my.amle.org/Resources/Resource-Center

Axis – The Culture Translator

From Snapchat to SCOTUS

What it is: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Levy (a former high school cheerleader) vs. the State of Pennsylvania.

Why it will set a standard: Freshman Brandi Levy was furious when she discovered, four years ago, that she wasn’t going to advance to the varsity squad. So she did what many teens her age might do; she posted an expletive-filled rant to her private Snapchat account, which she anticipated would disappear after 24 hours. Instead, a screenshot of her post was shared with one of the cheer coaches, and Levy was kicked out of the program completely. A federal court ruled that Levy’s speech took place off-campus, making it within her rights to post whatever she wanted. But social media has changed the way that many people define a “place,” and the school argues that it’s hard to pin down where “campus” ends and private life begins. Current free speech protections for students are mostly based on a SCOTUS hearing on students’ rights to protest the Vietnam War, a ruling that came down in 1969. The SCOTUS verdict, expected in June, will likely set a landmark precedent for students’ free speech rights on social media.

Slang of the Week

issa vibe: when all the details of a situation come together to provoke one sensory feeling or experience. (Ex: “Ice cream, flip flops, my favorite tank top, the smell of the lake and an old beach blanket. Issa vibe.”)  

Web Spotlight:  

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site   

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

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Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss teaching with Tech Tools. Should you change them frequently? Dave has a Cultural Responsive Middle School Science Minute. 

Jokes:  

Why does Waldo always wear stripes?

• He doesn’t want to be spotted

Which coffee place should you never play basketball against? 

• Dukin Donuts

What is an unemployed jester?

• Nobody’s fool

You know a wedding is an emotional day. Even the cake is in tiers.

What do you call an alligator in a vest? 

• An investigator

The Black Eyed Peas can sing us a tune, but the chick peas can only hummus one. 

According to a recent survey, 9 out of 10 people who are afraid of hurdles never get over it. 

What is it called if you are afraid of giants? 

• Feefiphobia

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Culturally Responsive Teaching

I was recently reading the March/April 2021 issue of “Science and Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Note” section, written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn.  Elizabeth wrote an article entitled, “Culturally Responsive Teaching.”

At the heart of Culturally Responsive and Relevant Teaching is a willingness to listen, reflect, and celebrate the richness that cultural and linguistic diversity has to offer.  

AMLE.org reference:  https://www.amle.org/12-questions-to-ask-when-designing-culturally-and-historically-responsive-curriculum/  

Reports from the Front Lines

• The push to the end of the year . . . 
• Tool Talk
• Learning Loss
• Summer Plans
• MiVU – Research – Key Strategies for Engaging Students in Remote Virtual Learning Opportunities.  

The Twitterverse  

Lydia Jennings, Ph.D.  @1NativeSoilNerd

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was informed by the Blackfeet Nation— and he mixed it up, because he didn’t know how to make it fit within America’s individualized culture.

https://t.co/oRaZEUKKzU?amp=1

Larry Ferlazzo @Larryferlazzo

The Best Places To Get Accessible History Texts For ELLs

https://t.co/yBe0etKEYr?amp=1

Will Richardson-BIG Questions Institute  @willrich45

A contractual obligation to hand in lesson plans a week in advance? Wow. That’s an interesting story about trust and power and respect, huh? #justaskin

NJAMLE  @NJAMLE

The Hunger for Learning remains a constant for Middle Level Educators in May & we @NJAMLE have just the recipe. Mrs. Kristyn Corace from @DoverMiddleNJ presents “Helping Learners with Disabilities during Remote Learning” Join us 5/12 at 4:00pm EST for this free virtual workshop!

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Strategies:  

50 English Activities – 5 Minute learning Moments.

The pack contains fifty fun activities that will get your students thinking, talking and collaborating while they learn. Some of them are real classics used by teachers for many years, while others are new ideas sure to inspire your students.  

Video Annotation

Free service from the University of Minnesota. You can annotate videos and share those annotations. Allow your students to annotate as well. 

https://ant.umn.edu/

Pile of Words: Drive Deeper Engagement with Vocabulary at the Beginning of a Unit, Text, or Project

Step 1: Think about the unit, text, or project you are about to start and create a list of vocabulary words and key terms.

Step 2: Group students and give them time to discuss and define.

Step 3: Group the words into categories by shared characteristics and label each category.

Step 4: Ask students to make predictions about what they expect to learn based on the pile of words.

Step 5: As students progress through the unit, text, or project, ask them to revisit their predictions.

<a href=”https://catlintucker.com/2021/04/pile-of-words/#annotations:H2oscqCpEeuieVNcAxJjiQ” data-type=”URL” data-id=”https://catlintucker.com/2021/04/pile-of-words/#annotations:H2oscqCpEeuieVNcAxJjiQ”>https://catlintucker.com/2021/04/pile-of-words/#annotations:H2oscqCpEeuieVNcAxJjiQ</a>

Resources:

Axis:  The Culture Translator

Slang of the Week

lives in my head rent-free: refers to something you dwell on frequently, whether an experience, image, video, or person. (Ex: “I spent so much time learning the TikTok dance for “Savage,” now it’s going to live in my head rent-free forever.”)  

EASY AND QUICK PROMPTS TO HELP STUDENTS CONNECT TO YOUR CONTENT

Web Spotlight:  

Random Thoughts . . .  

Personal Web Site   

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy discuss H5P, kids sneaking in, reopening schools and more. Dave books Middle School STEM. 

Jokes:  

“I read a history of sandpaper recently…The guy who invented it wasn’t sure how to go about it but he had a rough idea.”

“I found a spider in my shoes. He looks ridiculous; they’re way too big for him.”

“My favorite time on the clock is 6:30. Hands down.”

“Why do you never see pigs hiding in trees?

“When musicians perform onstage, the sound bounces around the room off of the walls. When a pigeon performs onstage, the sound does not bounce. 

• Because a coo sticks.”

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Best STEM Trade Books for Middle School Students

The National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council released the 2021 list of the Best STEM Trade Books for Students.  In this podcast we look at the 7 books recommended for students in grades 6 – 8.

• All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team
• Beastly Bionics: Rad Robots, Brilliant Biomimicry, and Incredible Inventions Inspired by Nature
• Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
• Galileo! Galileo!
• Machines That Think!: Big Ideas that Changed the World
• Spaceman: The True Story of a Young Boy’s Journey to Becoming an Astronaut
• Who Gives a Poop?: Surprising Science from One End to the Other

Reports from the Front Lines

• The push to the end of the year . . . 
• H5P Interactive Book Module – Love It!  
• Falsobordone:  1350 – Music for a Plague  
• Reopening Schools
  • Many are open
  • Air filtering (basic dust)
  • Temperature

Advisory:  

You Can Be a Different Person After the Pandemic

Our personalities are not set in stone. They are more like sand dunes.

Changing a trait requires acting in ways that embody that trait, rather than simply thinking about it. 

For example, in one study, putting more effort into homework led students to become more conscientious — a reversal of the popular notion that conscientious students put more effort into their homework. In another, people were able to become more extroverted or conscientious in four months just by listing the ways they’d like to change and what steps they would take to get there.

Here’s what a post-pandemic dispositional makeover might look like: Someone who was chronically late in the Before Times might work on being more conscientious, or timely. One way to show your friends how much you missed them is to start respecting their time.

Through painful isolation, this past year has, perversely, revealed the value of friendships and social ties. For those who want to renew connections that have atrophied, solidify friendships that have migrated to Zoom, or otherwise live differently, it’s very possible to do so. Remember that your personality is more like a sand dune than a stone.

The Twitterverse  

Phyllis Fagell, LCPC @Pfagell

Fair question.

Colby Sharp  @colbysharp

This school year is hard. I’m so tired. Overwhelmed. Everything feels so heavy.

Chad Livengood  @ChadLivengood

#Michiganian  https://twitter.com/i/status/1383216891645231104  

GIFQuote Tweet

Shailin Thomas  @shailinthomas

Michiganders imply the existence of a Michigoose.

Alice Keeler  @alicekeeler

Students Removing Files from Google Drive https://buff.ly/3dmyLLL via @YouTube

Mary Appleget  @teachtothebrain

Teachers Face Burnout More Than a Year Into Pandemic-Era Learning

https://t.co/d90d486zJ3?amp=1

Alice Keeler  @alicekeeler

Free Gamification Badge Game Template https://buff.ly/3dgQ1mR via @YouTube

https://twitter.com/alicekeeler/status/1383193531746029570/photo/1

Will Richardson-BIG Questions Institute  @willrich45

Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset will reportedly weigh less than an iPhone

https://t.co/A0M9iocNDt?amp=1

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Strategies:  

I Didn’t Allow Hand-Raising In My Class. Here’s Why.

https://www.weareteachers.com/student-discussions/#annotations:QeSQvJ1SEeu4l_dpA8JPaw

Resources:

 H5P Free Online Teaching Resources

www.H5P.org  

Top 50 Websites

Use Text Sets to Benefit Bilingual Students

Web Spotlight:  

AMLE Call for Presentations

AXIS – The Culture Translator

Slang of the Week

salty: feeling angry, agitated, upset, or annoyed. (Ex: “I tried to tell her I had to be home by my curfew and couldn’t drive her home, but she got real salty about it.”) 

John Hattie: We need to get better at learning transfer

“Surely, the purpose of teaching a child something is so that they can transfer it to another circumstance?” “Over the last 200 years, it’s kind of been our dirty secret: we know it’s important, but it’s hard to find evidence on how to teach it,” he says. 

Three phases of learning – surface learning, deep learning and transfer of learning – all require a different approach, he says.

Hattie believes too much time is dedicated to the surface-level learning, while the process of acquiring and consolidating deeper knowledge, and the transfer of this to other areas, has been neglected – evidence of which he has seen in a body of recent research. 

https://www.tes.com/news/john-hattie-we-need-get-better-learning-transfer#annotations:EC9NhpuHEeuIRxO7IvQ4mQ

MountainMoot 2021

My favorite conference. 

http://mountainmoot.com/ 

Random Thoughts . . .  

H. Resolution 222:  Supporting National Middle School Month

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/222?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Education%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=38

Polycam

https://poly.cam/

Personal Website   

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summary:

Shawn and Troy share pandemic strategies, a site about paraphrasing, and more. Dave has some Field Trip information for a lifetime. 

Jokes:  

I didn’t understand using mechanical keyboards. I used one the other day, and suddenly

• It clicked

I switched all the labels on our spices at home. I’m not in trouble yet, but

• The thyme is cumin

I went to Spelling bee:

• Announcer: Your word is “embarrassing”
• Student: That’s OK you can say it.
• Announcer: It’s really embarrassing
• Student: I promise not to laugh

There were 3 sailors on a boat. They had 4 cigarettes, but nothing to light them with. How did they solve their issue?

• Throw one of the cigarettes overboard. The boat then becomes a “cigarette lighter”.

You know the rule, i before e except after C. This has been disproved by science. 

I hired a handyman. I gave him a list of jobs. He only did 1, 3, and 5

• Yep, he only does odd jobs. 

Middle School Science Minute  

by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)

Field Trips Last a Lifetime

I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.  In this issue, I read the section “Current Science Classroom” written by Chris Anderson.  Chris wrote an article entitled “Field Trips Last a Lifetime.”

Nothing can replace the authenticity and impact of an in-person field experience for kids, however, until the public health and school funding battles are won it’s up to us to get creative and bring the world to our students.

Reports from the Front Lines

• Roman Emperors – Pokemon Go    
• Weighted Survey in Moodle
• Who is doing the work?

Advisory:  

Rocking Chair Hat Knitter

Challenge: Combine two things into one useful thing. 

https://mashable.com/2018/03/27/rocking-knit/#annotations:561AmIKuEeu8mffpwXW9Ig

The Twitterverse  

Typical EduCelebrity @EduCelebrity

Administrators: when school is fully back to normal, you better have one …. of a special pencil to give on Teacher Appreciation Day.

Bob Harrison  @R_O_Harrison

Engagement is higher when curriculum is a conversation.

Georgia Association for Middle Level Education  @GAMLEtoday

What advice would you offer your former self? #MLEM21AMLE #AMLE #gamle #mschat

Ditch That Textbook  @DitchThatTxtbk

Q3 Where would you guide a new teacher to go to get informal pd and to build their PLN? #Ditchbook

Bob Harrison  @R_O_Harrison

Didn’t know it had a name: The Carrot Principle. One of the 1000+ things that makes @Smhearty the great genuine leader he is. @Gwizzy, @kennibc, tech dept.: I’m sure you’d agree that we don’t have a greater advocate, guide, encourager, or cheerleader than Troy Patterson.  

Dr. Joanne Freeman  @jbf1755

I do wave at the end of Zoom calls. Someone (@TheTattooedProf?) named these end-of-Zoom-meetings waves “muppet waves”—and they will be that for me forever.

#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.  And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” 

Resources:

National Virtual Teacher Association Resources

QuillBot

Paraphrasing tool

https://quillbot.com/

Web Spotlight:  

Female historians and male nurses do not exist, Google Translate tells its European users

If you were to read a story about male and female historians translated by Google, you might be forgiven for overlooking the females in the group. The phrase “vier Historikerinnen und Historiker” (four male and female historians) is rendered as “cuatro historiadores” (four male historians) in Spanish, with similar results in Italian, French and Polish. Female historians are simply removed from the text.

Random Thoughts . . .  

ArchiTechs of Learning

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/architechs-of-learning/id1541761752

Personal Web Site   

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