MSM, StrategyBy Troy Patterson

troy@rmmade.com

troy@rmmade.com

 

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

What is tall when it is young and short when it is old?

  • A candle

 

I decided to make my password “incorrect” because if I type it in wrong, my computer will remind me, “Your password is incorrect.”

 

Why didn’t the witch fly on her broom when she was angry?

  • She didn’t want to “fly off the handle”

 

What do you call a man attacked by a cat?

  • Claude

 

Did you hear about the hungry clock?

  • It went back for seconds

 

 

Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory today.

  • Sure hope there isn’t a “pop” quiz

 

I have a stepladder. I never knew my real ladder.

 

Who cares if you pee in the shower?

  • Apparently, the bride and guests.

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

Journey North

 

In this issue, I read the the Citizen Science article, “Navigate Classroom Citizen Science Throughout the School Year with Journey North,” written by Jill Nugent. The article describes the free online citizen science platform that actively engages students in the study of seasonal change.  For more information, please visit:

http://learner.org/jnorth

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/9/25_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Journey_North.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Regretfully, we can’t all become teachers…

 

Planet Classroom‏ @PlanetClassroom

What’s new in #learning? http://Planetclassroom.world  has ideas.

Joyce Yattoni NBCT‏ @MrsYattoniELA

Be a reading role model. Ts & Ps what are you reading today? Great #IF from @jenniferlagarde and @TechNinjaTodd. #yearofya #nerdybookclub

TeachThought‏ @TeachThought

The Padagogy Wheel – It’s Not About The Apps, It’s About The Pedagogy – TeachThought PD http://bit.ly/2fPxOOJ  #edtech #education

Matt Miller‏ @jmattmiller

11 class activities w/sensors you didn’t know your phone had http://ditchthattextbook.com/2015/01/01/11-class-activities-with-sensors-you-didnt-know-your-phone-had/ … #DitchBook #googleedu #gtaatx

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

 

Strategies:

 

Retrieval Practice: The Most Powerful Learning Strategy You’re Not Using

 

Retrieval practice is the act of trying to recall information without having it in front of you. Suppose you’re studying the systems of the human body—skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and so on.

What’s new is the research: In recent years, cognitive psychologists have been comparing retrieval practice with other methods of studying—strategies like review lectures, study guides, and re-reading texts. And what they’re finding is that nothing cements long-term learning as powerfully as retrieval practice.

Over the course of a year and a half, while the teacher continued teaching as normal, students were regularly quizzed on the material with no-stakes quizzes, meaning they wouldn’t count against their grades. These quizzes only covered about one-third of what was being taught. The teacher left the room for every quiz, so she had no knowledge of what was included in the quizzes.

The very act of being quizzed actually helped students learn better.

In other words, if we do more asking students to pull concepts out of their brains, rather than continually trying to put concepts in, students will actually learn those concepts better.

 

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/retrieval-practice/

 

10 Things I Wish I Knew My First Year Of Teaching

  1. Prioritize—and then prioritize again.
  2. It’s not your classroom.
  3. Students won’t always remember the content, but many will never forget how you made them feel.
  4. Get cozy with the school custodians, secretary, librarian.
  5. Longer hours isn’t sustainable.
  6. Student behavior is a product.
  7. Don’t get sucked into doing too much outside of your class.
  8. Help other teachers.
  9. Reaching students emotionally matters. A lot.
  10. Literacy is everything for academic performance.

 

https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-my-first-year-of-teaching/

 

Resources:

 

QR Code Monkey

 

https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/

 

37 Insanely Smart School Teacher Hacks

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/insanely-smart-school-teacher-hacks?utm_term=.gia375NM6#.bpJE47Nyx

 

Reading Strategies That Work, According To Science

 

https://www.weareteachers.com/science-backed-reading-strategies/

 

Web Spotlight:

Michigan Historical Society Resource

Teaching with primary sources.  “We invite you to check out the Teaching with Primary Sources Inquiry Kits. This resource allows students to select a research topic of interest and evaluate themed primary sources from the Library of Congress. A partnership between Maryland Humanities, Maryland Public Television, the Maryland State Department of Education, and the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program made this possible. We appreciate them sharing their work with History Day students across the country. View the Inquiry Kits at http://www.thinkport.org/tps/.”

 

NBC Learn

Video Resources.

http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/resources

 

This is Your Brain on Art

WHEN WE EXPERIENCE ART, WE FEEL CONNECTED TO SOMETHING LARGER. WHY?

If you think about it, having a great time at the theater defies logic in many ways. We’re surrounded by strangers, bombarded with unusual images and often faced with a wordless language of symbols. Yet, on a good night, we generally laugh more, cry more and enjoy ourselves more at a live performance than when we’re watching TV at home. We may even lose ourselves and feel connected to something larger. How does this happen?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/your-brain-on-art/?utm_term=.6545ebdd77f4

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

MSMBy Troy Patterson

MSM 368: Wait, Wait, Wait, Time for Classroom Management at 4 O’Clock   

MSM 368: Wait, Wait, Wait, Time for Classroom Management at 4 O’Clock   

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist:

While you guys were arguing about whether the glass of water was half full or half empty, I drank it.

Sincerely,

The Opportunist

 

An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. “In English,” he said, “a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn’t a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative.”

A voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”

 

Is it just me, or are there fewer minimalists every year?

 

2 Wise Guys (mobsters) decide to go hunting. When these two are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services.

He gasps: “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says: “Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: “OK, now what?”

 

Two friends are playing golf one day at their local golf course. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer.

His friend says: “Wow, that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You truly are a kind man.” The man then replies: “Yeah, well we were married for 35 years.”

 

Two planets meet.

The first one asks: “How are you?”

“Not so well”, the second answered “I’ve got the Homo Sapiens.”

“Don’t worry,” the other replied, “I had the same. That won’t last long.”

 

A helicopter was flying around above Seattle yesterday when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment.

Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to the airport.

The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said “WHERE AM I?” in large letters.

People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER.”

The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely.

After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER” sign helped determine their position in Seattle.

The pilot responded “I knew that had to be the MICROSOFT building because, similar to their help-lines, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer.”

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

STEM Integration

I was recently reading the September, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “STEM Integration: A Tall Order.”  The article describes the challenges of integrating STEM into the middle school curriculum.

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/9/7_Middle_School_Science_Minute__STEM_Integration.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Russel Tarr‏ @russeltarr

*NEW on Tarr’s Toolbox: ““Quote them out of context”: a ‘Fake News’ exercise for evaluating sources” http://www.classtools.net/blog/quote-them-out-of-context-a-fake-news-exercise-for-evaluating-sources/ … #historyteacher

 

Tanmay Vora ✍‏ @tnvora

“Learning anything new is not a daunting challenge, but a journey where each step counts.” http://qaspire.com/2017/09/04/micromastery-a-hidden-path-to-learning-and-happiness/ … #book #sketchnote

Tanmay Vora ✍‏ @tnvora Sep 21

“I have a rule: If I keep complaining about something, I either do something about it or let it go.” – @swissmiss http://qaspire.com/2017/01/30/dont-complain-create/ …

Tim Eagan🏳️‍🌈‏ @tjeag 

Love this! @cultofpedagogy !

Tony Vincent‏ @tonyvincent Sep 21

With iOS 11 we can finally record an iPad or iPhone’s screen without using a computer! Great for how-tos and think-alouds…

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

 

Strategies:

 

The Fisheye Syndrome: Is Every Student Really Participating?

 

Greta just had an amazing discussion with her fifth period history class. They’ve been studying the Holocaust, and in today’s class, they just nailed it. She had originally planned for about ten minutes of discussion, but things were going so well, she let it go for the whole period. Days like this rock.

 

Except for the stuff she didn’t notice. Like Haley.

 

And Becky and Kyle? The super shy ones? Naturally, they also stayed quiet. Oh, and three other students secretly texted the whole time. In fact, in Greta’s class of 28 students, only nine of them actually contributed to that discussion: Four of those were really into it, five commented once. The other nineteen just sat there. The whole time. Really.

 

Greta doesn’t realize that she is suffering from the Fisheye Syndrome. It’s a condition that impacts our perception, as if we’re looking through a fisheye lens – the kind they use in peepholes. To those afflicted with fisheye, some students appear “larger” than others. They take up more energy and grab more of our attention, making the others fade into the periphery. We have a vague sense that the others are there, and we nag ourselves to include them, but those magnified students are just too hard to resist.

 

Here are some ways to balance things out:

  • Make your intentions transparent.
  • Increase wait time.
  • Pre-load discussions.
  • Vary discussion formats.
  • Use icons.

 

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/fisheye/

 

I Banned Fun in my School… by @BST_Principal

I have a confession to make. A few years ago I banned fun in my school.

Let me give you a little context. I was speaking to all of our teachers, teaching assistants and support staff at the very start of the first INSET session of the new school year. My reasoning was straightforward:

I wanted fun to be superseded by joy.

 

https://ukedchat.com/2017/09/08/banned-fun-school/

 

Resources:

The Four O’Clock Faculty by Rich Czyz  

If you aren’t getting the professional development you need, go get it yourself or make your own opportunities.  The book includes ideas for creating your own PD clubs at school and orchestrating your own learning through events you can organize yourself.  The “Angry Administrator Update” section gives some insight into potential administrative responses.

 

Science Lesson Plans

Here you’ll find short, lively activities to focus your class trip, or full-period lessons to integrate into your yearly curriculum. Dive in!

https://www.calacademy.org/educators/lesson-plans   

 

Responding to Disruptive Students

Negative attention communicates that an educator doesn’t know any other language to access the relationship with a student. Negative attention’s function is self-protective and unconsciously anti-inclusive. Negative attention’s pattern sounds loud and looks clumsy.

 

“The only behavior teachers can control is their own,” Rappaport and Minahan advise. What follows is an idea that can help teachers change their responses to challenging, disruptive behavior.

 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/responding-disruptive-students

 

Web Spotlight:

For Crown or Colony by PBS

Mission US is a multimedia project featuring free interactive adventure games set in different eras of U.S. history. The first game, “For Crown or Colony?,” puts the player in the shoes of Nat Wheeler, a 14-year-old printer’s apprentice in 1770 Boston. As Nat navigates the city and completes tasks, he encounters a spectrum of people living and working there when tensions mount before the Boston Massacre. Ultimately, the player determines Nat’s fate by deciding where his loyalties lie.  

 

Cathy O’Neill

https://www.ted.com/talks/cathy_o_neil_the_era_of_blind_faith_in_big_data_must_end

 

How to Achieve Classroom Engagement With the 4 Minutes That Matter

https://medium.com/future-focused-learning/how-to-achieve-classroom-engagement-with-the-4-minutes-that-matter-7dc73034207

 

The NTN Student Learning Outcomes and Rubrics

A key pillar in the New Tech Network model is the use of outcomes that matter to guide our schools’ support of students and their long-term success.The NTN Student Learning Outcomes are a set of research-based outcomes aimed at preparing students for postsecondary college and career success.

https://newtechnetwork.org/resources/ntn-student-learning-outcomes-rubrics/

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Moodle Spelling

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 367:   “Corny” jokes, more Moodle, giving 100% or less.

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

Grammarly‏Verified account @Grammarly

What a corny pun.

Santa Claus has the right idea …

Visit people only once a year.

~Victor Borge

 

What would men be without women?

Scarce, sir .. mighty scarce.

~Mark Twain

 

I was married by a judge.

I should have asked for a jury.

~Groucho Marx

 

My wife has a slight impediment in her speech.

Every now and then she stops to breathe.

~Jimmy Durante

 

I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.

~ Zsa Gabor

 

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living.

The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

~Mark Twain

 

What’s the use of happiness?

It can’t buy you money.

~Henny Youngman

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.

~Herbert Henry Asquith

 

I don’t feel old.

I don’t feel anything until noon.

Then it’s time for my nap.

~Bob Hope

 

The cardiologist’s diet: If it tastes good … spit it out.

~Unknown

 

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.

~Billy Crystal

 

Advisory:

 

Boxes

 

http://www.templatemaker.nl/

 

Icebreakers

 

http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2017/08/08/backtoschoolicebreakers/

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

Getting Their Names Right

 

I was recently reading the Summer, 2017 issue of “The Science Teacher,” a magazine written for high school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the “Health Wise” section article, “Getting Their Names Right.” It was written by Michael Bratsis.  Even though the article was written for a high school audience, it is very appropriate for middle school teachers and describes how mispronounced names can add to the difficulties that students have in the classroom.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/8/22_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Getting_Their_Names_Right.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

WE Middle School‏ @WestEssexMS

Academic Teams doing activities to establish norms and procedures. Relationships are everything! @AMLE @NJAMLE @JBerckemeyer

 

Beth Houf‏ @BethHouf

Tweet Fairy is on the loose at #fmsteach #leadlap #tlap #KidsDeserveIt

DoInk Tweets‏ @DoInkTweets

MT @edtechneil: If you’ve ever wondered how to use a ‘green screen’, here’s a quick & easy guide I created #edtech

Beth Houf‏ @BethHouf

A2: Our school hashtag helps us to build and maintain a strong school culture. I will keep modeling and supporting! #leadlap #TeacherMyth

Aaron Hogan‏ @aaron_hogan

Want to lead well? Value people and their ideas. #LeadUpChat #LeadLAP

Miguel Guhlin‏ @mguhlin 1h1 hour ago

RT This is what happens in an internet minute: http://ly.tcea.org/wfsdm . #technology via #TCEA

Dave Burgess‏ @burgessdave 22h22 hours ago

The start of the year is intense! Are you giving 100% to school? Well, that may be a mistake in the long-run. Wisdom from #TeacherMyth #tlap

New Tech Network‏ @newtechnetwork

We have major updates to our rubrics! Check them out & download them here => http://ow.ly/qNBe30dosnc  #PBLChat #PBL #deeperlearning

Craig Vroom‏ @Vroom6

Thanks @RACzyz for the read! Appreciate the personal touch and sending my way! #4OCF #TLAP

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

 

Strategies:

 

Owl Eyes

 

https://www.owleyes.org

 

Science Notebook Corner

Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists. Sample our easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your classroom.

https://www.calacademy.org/educators/science-notebook-corner

 

How Technology Should Have Already Changed Your Teaching

  1. Giving letter grades
  2. Classroom design
  3. Where the learning happens
  4. The pace of student progress
  5. The audience for student thinking
  6. What is studied
  7. Where the questions come from
  8. Who provides learning feedback, and when
  9. Starting and stopping class the class, correcting misbehaviors
  10. Using curriculum maps to create finished units and lessons
  11. “Covering” your content

http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/how-technology-has-changed-education/

Resources:

 

Wilson Center

Collections contain selected sets of historical documents related to a specific topic, region, or event.

 

http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collections

 

The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America. Here’s help.

#CharlottesvilleCurriculum: That’s the new Twitter hashtag for educators, parents and anyone else looking for resources to lead discussions with young people about the violence that just erupted in Charlottesville, when white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members marched and clashed with counterprotesters. One woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car rammed into the counterprotesters, and two state police officers assisting in the response died when their helicopter crashed on the outskirts of town.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/08/13/the-first-thing-teachers-should-do-when-school-starts-is-talk-about-hatred-in-america-heres-help/

 

10 things every white teacher should know when talking about race

 

https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/10-things-every-white-teacher-know-talking-race/

 

Why Do We Murder the Beautiful Friendships of Boys?

 

Research shows that between 1999 and 2010 suicide among men, age 50 and over, rose by nearly 50%. The New York Times reports that “the suicide rate for middle-aged men was 27.3 deaths per 100,000, while for women it was 8.1 deaths per 100,000.”

 

Driven by our collective assumption that the friendships of boys are both casual and interchangeable, along with our relentless privileging of romantic love over platonic love, we are driving boys into lives Professor Way describes as “autonomous, emotionally stoic, and isolated.” What’s more, the traumatic loss of connection for boys Way describes is directly linked to our struggles as men in every aspect of our lives.

 

In America, men perform masculinity within a narrow set of cultural rules often called the Man Box. Charlie Glickman explains it beautifully here. One of the central tenets of the man box is the subjugation of women and by extension, all things feminine. Since we Americans hold emotional connection as a female trait, we reject it in our boys, demanding that they “man up” and adopt a strict regimen of emotional independence, even isolation as proof they are real men. Behind the drumbeat message that real men are stoic and detached, is the brutal fist of homophobia, ready to crush any boy who might show too much of the wrong kind of emotions.

 

And so, by late adolescence, boys declare over and over “no homo” following any intimate statement about their friends.

And so, there it is, the smoking gun, the toxic poison that is leading to the life killing epidemic of loneliness for men, (and by extension, women,) look no further. It’s right there: “no homo.”

 

https://medium.com/@remakingmanhood/why-do-we-murder-the-beautiful-friendships-of-boys-3ad722942755

Web Spotlight:

 

Silicon Valley Courts Brand-Name Teachers, Raising Ethics Issues

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/02/technology/silicon-valley-teachers-tech.html

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

Podcast, StrategyBy Troy Patterson

MSM 366: And the polar bears gnawed at their bones

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one – and let the other one off.

 

Another one was: “Doc, I can’t stop singing the ‘Green Green Grass of Home.’ He said: “That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome.” “Is it common?” I asked. “It’s not unusual” he replied.

 

A man walks into an ice cream shop with a roll of tarmac under his arm and says: “Cone please, and one for the road.”

 

My mother-in-law fell down a wishing well, I was amazed, I never knew they worked.

 

A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named “Amal.” The other goes to a family in Spain, they named him “Juan.” Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his mom. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wished she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds, “But they are twins. If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Amal.”

 

I was in Target and I saw this man and woman wrapped in a barcode. I said, “Are you two an item?”

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

Heat Affects Density

 

I was recently reading the Summer, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the Disequilibrium section article, “How Heat Affects the Density of Water.” It was written by Todd Hoover.  The article describes how heat affects the density of water and provides teacher instructions to demonstrate this phenomena to students.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/8/3_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Heat_Affects_Density.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Wanda Terral‏ @wterral

Lots of bullets #SketchADay #EdTechTeam #GSuiteEDU #GoogleDocs

Dr. Justin Tarte‏ @justintarte

Basic classroom participation shouldn’t be a part of a student’s grade; quiet doesn’t always mean not engaged… #edchat #sblchat #education

 

Heidi Hayes Jacobs‏ @HeidiHayesJacob

Now here’s a lively book study! #BOLDMOVESforSchools Greenfield Schools G21 Ambassadors @GSDtweet @mariealcock @ASCD @WisconsinASCD

 

Sarah McBride Miller‏ @SarahMcBrideM

4 Digital Tools to Help Students Increase Appreciation and Self-Worth in Any Classroom #edtech https://buff.ly/2eMgZUM

 

Eric Curts‏ @ericcurts

Kahoot releases new collection of high quality standards-aligned math Kahoots https://create.kahoot.it/profile/Math_by_Kahoot … #edtech #mathchat

AMLE‏ @AMLE

Help expand the knowledge base on middle grades #teacherprep at the Symposium on Mid Lev Teacher Educ at #AMLE2017 http://bit.ly/1IJtVEl

0 replies 1 retweet 2 likes

Tabina Adam, Ed.S.‏ @TabinaAdam

8 Reflective Questions To Help Any Student Think About Their Learning – http://crwd.fr/2eN2RKY

 

Eric Curts‏ @ericcurts

20 YouTube Channels for Social Studies http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/09/social-studies-youtube-channels.html … #edtech

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

 

Strategies:

 

Videos as Visual Writing Prompts

If you teach poetry, creative writing, or are just looking for a way to help your students find inspiration for writing, you need to watch the following time-lapse video.

 

http://www.techsavvyed.net/archives/1947

 

Resources:

 

Edulastic

Choose from a bank of technology-enhanced questions, create your own, mix and match and collaborate with colleagues in your school. Auto-grading saves time and syncing with Google Classroom makes it seamless for students.

 

http://edulastic.com

 

EdX

Our Mission

Increase access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere

Enhance teaching and learning on campus and online

Advance teaching and learning through research

Our Story

Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere.

With more than 90 global partners, we are proud to count the world’s leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions as our members. EdX university members top the QS World University Rankings® with our founders receiving the top honors, and edX partner institutions ranking highly on the full list.

Our Difference

We were founded by and continue to be governed by colleges and universities. We are the only leading MOOC provider that is both nonprofit and open source.

Open edX is the open-source platform that powers edX courses and is freely available. With Open edX, educators and technologists can build learning tools and contribute new features to the platform, creating innovative solutions to benefit students everywhere.

https://www.edx.org/

 

Learn Anything

 

https://learn-anything.xyz/

 

Udemy

 

https://www.udemy.com/

 

Factitious

http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/

 

StoryLine

 

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more.

Storyline Online receives over 100 million views annually from children all over the world.

Reading aloud to children has been shown to improve reading, writing and communication skills, logical thinking and concentration, and general academic aptitude, as well as inspire a lifelong love of reading. Teachers use Storyline Online in their classrooms, and doctors and nurses play Storyline Online in children’s hospitals.

http://www.storylineonline.net/

 

Andrée Balloon Crash: A Photographic Journey through the Most Surreal Arctic Disaster

FEW IMAGES ARE MORE STRANGE and haunting than those discovered on some frozen film in 1930. They reveal the mysterious fate of the S. A. Andrée Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897, where a hot air balloon meant to sail over the North Pole instead crashed into the ice.

It wasn’t until the remains of their camp were discovered in 1930 that anyone knew what exactly happened to the Andrée crew.

Remarkably, the remains of not just the three expedition members — their bodies gnawed by scavenging polar bears — were found, but diaries, cameras, and film as well. Even more incredibly, 93 photographs were able to be saved. Below are some of the eerie photographs of the unfortunate journey of the Andrée balloon expedition from that discovered film and other sources.

 

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-andree-balloon-crash-a-photographic-journey-through-to-most-surreal-of-arctic-disasters

Web Spotlight:

Letting Teens Sleep In Would Save The Country Roughly $9 Billion

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/09/01/letting-teens-sleep-in-would-save-the-country-roughly-9-billion-a-year/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.511358c006ef  

 

“The net nationwide benefit from increased academic performance and lower car crash rates would reach $9.3 billion a year, equivalent to the annual revenue of Major League Baseball.”

 

How “Words with Friends” Proved to Me that Edward Deci Is Right about Motivation

 

Typically, studies of merit pay programs show that teachers offered a bonus for higher scores are not likely to produce higher scores than teachers who were not offered a bonus. Teachers are not hiding their best lessons, waiting for someone to offer them a bonus for higher scores. I remember Al Shanker saying, sardonically, “So if you offer teachers a bonus, students will work harder.”

 

The best book I found on the subject, which spurred other books, was Edward L. Deci’s “Why We Do What We Do.” Deci, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, subsequently inspired the work of Daniel Pink (“Drive”) and Dan Ariely (“Predictably Irrational”). He and Ariely served on the panel of the National Academies of Science that produced a report, “Incentives and Test-Based Acoountability,” which concluded that neither strategy improves education.

 

It is one thing to read books about motivation. It is another to test it in your own life.

 

https://dianeravitch.net/2017/08/28/how-words-with-friends-proved-to-me-that-edward-deci-is-right-about-motivation/

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

MSM, Podcast, StrategyBy Troy Patterson

MSM 365: It could be dark, Don’t go to sleep on this one…

MSM 365: It could be dark, Don’t go to sleep on this one…

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

First rule in cannibal baseball: Never wok the leadoff man.

 

“Something about subtraction just doesn’t add up.”

 

I spend three minutes every day choosing a TV channel to leave on for my dog.

Then I go to work, and people take me seriously as an adult.

 

“Did you hear about the nun who procrastinated doing her laundry? She had a filthy habit.”

 

Don’t trust atoms. They make up everything.

 

Why is a river rich?

  • Surrounded by banks.
  • Two banks on either side.
  • Banks all around.

 

Why did the man name his dogs Rolex and Timex?

  • They were “watch” dogs.

Advisory:

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Globe at Night

I was recently reading the Summer, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

In this issue, I read the the Citizen Science section article, “Summer Night Sky Citizen Science with Globe at Night.” It was written by Jill Nugent.  The article describes how middle school students and teachers can get involved in the Citizen Science Project – “Globe at Night” to measure and report the brightness of the night sky in their geographic location.  To participate, please visit:

http://www.globeatnight.org

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/7/26_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Globe_at_Night.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Scrivener‏ @ScrivenerApp

News regarding Scrivener 3 for both macOS and Windows: ‘3 – That’s the Magic Number’ http://www.literatureandlatte.com/blog/?p=1032 . 🙂 All the best, L&L.

 

Dave Burgess‏ @burgessdave

Ditch That Homework is OUT!! #DitchHW Awesome collaboration between @alicekeeler & @jmattmiller #DitchBook #tlap https://www.amazon.com/dp/1946444391/ref=sr_1_2_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501112750&sr=8-2&keywords=ditch+that+homework …

 

RUTH BUZZI‏Verified account @Ruth_A_Buzzi

Am I getting old, or are supermarkets playing really great music?

 

RUTH BUZZI‏Verified account @Ruth_A_Buzzi

My cat is now ready to take on the dog.

Ian Jukes‏ @ijukes

6 Things Science Says Kids Need To Succeed In Education And Business http://buff.ly/2u7oPgC

 

ABC News‏Verified account @ABC

After months of violence and instability, Venezuelans head to the polls to choose delegates to rewrite constitution http://abcn.ws/2uLIWCK

 

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

Love this problem solving wheel to help students figure out how to handle their own problems!

 

Shelly Sanchez‏ @ShellTerrell

Cool Back to School activity! Student Interest Surveys (PDF) http://buff.ly/2vOOP2v  #edchat #Back2School #Back2School2017 #education

 

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

Welcoming Parents Into Your Classroom – great ideas for Meet the Teacher night or Back to School Night! http://buff.ly/2uGiiwQ

 

Engaging Educators‏ @engaginged

The latest The #CommonCore Gazette! http://paper.li/engaginged/1328450564?edition_id=905eaf20-7466-11e7-8f01-0cc47a0d1609 … Thanks to @aahbuhkuh @BCSB_Prep @lflwriter #commoncore #ccss  

Direct link to article (i.e. bypass Paperli):  https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/middle-school-suicides-double-as-common-core-testing-intensifies/  

 

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

 

Strategies:

 

Schools Are Missing What Matters About Learning

Curiosity is underemphasized in the classroom, but research shows that it is one of the strongest markers of academic success.

When Orville Wright, of the Wright brothers fame, was told by a friend that he and his brother would always be an example of how far someone can go in life with no special advantages, he emphatically responded, “to say we had no special advantages … the greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was always much encouragement to intellectual curiosity.”

 

The power of curiosity to contribute not only to high achievement, but also to a fulfilling existence, cannot be emphasized enough.

 

In recent years, curiosity has been linked to happiness, creativity, satisfying intimate relationships, increased personal growth after traumatic experiences, and increased meaning in life.

 

“giftedness is not a chance event … giftedness will blossom when children’s cognitive ability, motivation and enriched environments coexist and meld together to foster its growth.”

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-underrated-gift-of-curiosity/534573/

 

12 back-to-school hacks with EXPO markers

 

https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/12-back-school-hacks-expo-markers/

 

Resources:

 

A Turnaround Success Story

 

http://www.educationalleadership-digital.com/educationalleadership/2017summerfree?pg=72#pg72

 

There Are No Digital Natives

Oh, kids these days. When they want to know something they Google it. When they want to buy something they go to Amazon. When they want to date someone they open Tinder.

 

It’s almost like they’re from a different country, one where technology has bled into every aspect of life. These so-called “digital natives” are endowed with the ability to seamlessly interact with any device, app or interface, and have migrated many aspects of their lives to the Internet.

 

But “digital natives” don’t exist—at least according to new research—and it may be a fool’s errand to adapt traditional methods of learning or business to engage a generation steeped in technology.

 

The true existence of digital natives has come under question in the years since, as multiple studies have shown that Millennials don’t necessarily use technology more often and are no better at using basic computer programs and functionalities than older generations.

 

Bringing new forms of technology into the classroom might not necessarily help younger kids learn, and, likewise, your new hire won’t have mastered the Adobe Suite just because they’re under 25.

 

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/07/27/20443/#.WXyUvNPytdA

 

Web Spotlight:

Listenwise

Listenwise is an audio resource on the web.  Teachers can sign up for free and get NPR curated stories by category.  If your school buys a license, well  . . .

 

Thinglink from ISTE’s HackED UnConference EduBloggerCon

https://www.thinglink.com/edu  

 

iOS Updates Coming

Clean up/out your apps on your Apple devices.  You’d be surprised . . .

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

Podcast, Web SpotlightBy Troy Patterson

MSM 364:  Try These Wonderful Resources, But You Could Do That With Moodle . . .

MSM 364:  Try These Wonderful Resources, But You Could Do That With Moodle . . .

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

Once I told a chemistry joke.

There was no reaction.

Norwegians are putting bar codes on their ships.  They go out in the morning and when they return, they Scandavian.

 

Who earns a living by driving his customers away?

  • A taxi driver

 

If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get?

  • MissleToe

 

Advisory:

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Innovative Teaching

 

I was recently reading the Summer, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Innovative Teaching = Learning.” It was written by Patty McGinnis, Editor of Science Scope.  The article describes the value of innovative teaching and how it impacts student learning.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/7/13_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Innovative_Teaching.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

AMLE‏ @AMLE

Synthesis of Prof Development on the Implementation of Literacy Strategies for Middle School Content Area Teachers http://bit.ly/2fg8a7d

 

Susie Highley‏ @shighley

You can utilize Google’s GTHANKS program idea with eThanks for G Suite schools https://sites.google.com/view/ethanks/home … #BLForum17 #INeLearn

 

Andrew Maxey‏ @ezigbo_

Tuscaloosa, #TCSLearns is committed to making middle school work well for EVERY student. Read about it here -> http://tuscaloosacityschools.com/Page/96

 

Susie Highley‏ @shighley

TED.ed is a great source for content for 13 and up @Catlin_Tucker #INeLearn #BLForum17 https://ed.ted.com

 

Richard Byrne‏ @rmbyrne

How to Change Access Settings in the New Version of Google Forms http://ow.ly/yGlW30dOr1U

 

Teacher2Teacher‏Verified account @teacher2teacher

They’re your Ss for one year – and your kids forever. #TeacherLife via educator @justintarte

 

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

Teaching the Right Time to Ask a Question http://buff.ly/2uITeGh

AMLE‏ @AMLE

Pup Camp is a fun way to get kids ready for the transition into middle school http://ow.ly/M1NnQ  #mschat #elemchat

 

AMLE‏ @AMLE

Do you know the 16 characteristics of successful middle schools? This We Believe. http://bit.ly/1MisJqq  Chart: http://bit.ly/1HQM6Hj

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

This is an interesting flexible seating idea – with chalkboard paint or whiteboard paint. http://buff.ly/2ukzBlt

 

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

 

Strategies:

 

Why I’m Starting This School Year with a Get-to-Know-You Curation Project…and You Should Too!

My students are always surprised when I tell them about my secret (well, not so secret now) loathing of ice-breaker games. I’m a talkative, friendly person, but the moment you tell me to come up with two truths and a lie about myself I start to feel queasy and wonder if I could sneak off and hide in the restroom while everyone else “circulates and finds another person who has traveled to another state recently.”

 

I know full well that every other teacher they have will be doing similar, if not the same, things this week. How am I supposed to stand out, make them sit up and pay attention, get them excited about entering my room each day with the same old get-to-know-you activities?

 

Enter CURATION. An awesome idea for all sorts of project-based learning in the classroom (you can read more about that here), but one that I’m planning on using to get my students to introduce themselves to me (and each other!) in a way I bet they haven’t seen before!

 

Curation is the process of collecting a bunch of high-quality materials all related to a similar theme, topic, or idea. The curator of a museum might curate a collection of artifacts from ancient Greece, a librarian might curate a group of the latest and best young adult novels for a start of the school year display in the library, and so on. And using the free, online tool elink, I’m going to have my students curate a collection of photos, links, videos, songs, and whatever else they can think of, that will teach me and their classmates all about them!

 

OR, YOU COULD USE MOODLE!

http://www.funfreshideas.com/2017/07/why-im-starting-this-school-year-with.html?m=1

 

29 Practical Ways to Empower Learners in Your Classroom

http://ajjuliani.com/practical-ways-to-empower/

 

Resources:

#FormativeTech by Monica Burns

https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/formativetech/book254514  

The book is a quick read.  It has a number of tech suggestions for implementing formative assessment in the classroom using technology.  Many of them can be done through Moodle, yet Moodle doesn’t get a mention.  Yes, I get it, not everyone has Moodle.  Yet, it should be mentioned as an option for those who do, or are willing to set up a Moodle and give it a go.  For the cost of using all these services, it might just pay to rent some server space.  

 

Next Vista

All videos in the regular collections of NextVista.org are for a student audience, highlighting the creativity of students and teachers around the world. Our three principal collections are:

http://www.nextvista.org/videos/

Web Spotlight:

 

The Silicon Valley Billionaires Remaking America’s Schools

In San Francisco’s public schools, Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce, is giving middle school principals $100,000 “innovation grants” and encouraging them to behave more like start-up founders and less like bureaucrats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/technology/tech-billionaires-education-zuckerberg-facebook-hastings.html

 

MTBoS.org

Welcome to MTBoS.org! Working to support the MTBoS community.

Dont know what I’m talking about? The MTBoS is an acronym for “Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere” – it is a community of math teachers who, well, blog and tweet. Mostly, it’s a hashtag that any math teacher who blogs and/or tweets is encouraged to use! Find out more at http://mathtwitterblogosphere.weebly.com  or just follow the hashtag #mtbos on Twitter.

This website serves no “official” role – there is nothing official about the MTBoS, it is just a bunch of talking folks!

http://mtbos.org/

 

This Is What Sound Actually Looks Like

If you’ve ever wondered what sound actually looks like traveling through the air, then you’re in luck because apparently, all you need is a high-speed camera and a photography trick called the Schlieren Flow Visualization to help you see sound.

http://digg.com/2017/what-sound-looks-like

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

advisory, ISTE, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 363: Where Was I Going With This?

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

For a period, Houdini used a trap door in every single show he did…I guess you could say it was a stage he was going through.

 

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

 

Q: What did the duck say when he bought lipstick?

A: “Put it on my bill.”

 

Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and has only 1 letter in it?

A: Envelope.

 

There are six eggs in a basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket?

  • The last person took the basket.

Advisory:

 

Riddles:

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night. You see three people waiting by a bus stop.

  1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
  2. An old friend who once saved your life.
  3. The perfect partner that you’ve been dreaming about.

 

Your car is a two seater. Thus, there can only be one passenger in the car. Who would you choose?  

 

*A: You pull up and give your friend the keys.  He drives the old lady out of harm’s way, he is a hero after all.  You stay with the perfect partner of your dreams and everybody lives happily ever after.  

Wise Words

 

https://9gag.com/gag/a3B4Vg8?ref=pn

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

WILDCAM GOROGOSA

 

I was recently reading the April/May, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

 

In this issue, I read the the Citizen Science section article, “It All Adds Up.” It was written by Jill Nugent.  The article describes how middle school students and teachers can get involved in the Citizen Science Project – “WildCam Gorongosa” to identify wildlife from trail cam images found in the park.  To participate, please visit:

http://www.wildcamgorongosa.org

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/7/6_Middle_School_Science_Minute__WildCam_Gorogosa.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Jason Gribble‏ @ForestPrincipal

Book number 3 for this summer’s reading. Started it last night. I cannot put it down. Everyone needs this one. #empowerbook – at Lake Erie

http://www.spencerauthor.com/empower/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073HJR8HR/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

 

Common-Core Materials Continue to Vary in Quality, According to Textbook Review http://crwd.fr/2lOzL06

 

Chad A. Stevens‏ @k12cto

Teachers: 6 social assignments for online learning | eSchool News http://ow.ly/vPuw30dnmcI  #edtech

 

Richard Byrne‏ @rmbyrne

Six Types of Classroom Video Projects  https://t.co/FPSMPw8ZsW  

 

Book Creator Team‏Verified account @BookCreatorApp

Top 5 Things I’ve Learned About Creativity – from @TheTechRabbi http://bit.ly/2tYEGlP  via @EdTechTeacher21 #edtech #creativity

Sari Rautiainen‏ @SariRautiainen

In Finland, PhDs are awarded sword as a symbol to defend what’s right and true. My sword stays at home today, but I #marchforscience

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

 

Strategies:

50 Activities for the First Day of School by Walton Burns  

“Never stress about the first day of school again!  With this book you can walk into any classroom and start the class off.  With no prep, start learning student names, building rapport, assessing knowledge, introducing language, and establishing rules.”  More free resources at:  www.alphabetpublishing.xyz/book/first-day-of-school/  

 

Explainer GIF’s

 

https://www.commoncraft.com/explainergifs

 

Resources:

 

Padlet  

https://padlet.com/  

Apps for (most) any device

From Padlet’s website:  

Don’t miss any of the action, even when you’re away from a computer.

  • Available on iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, and Kindle devices
  • Posts appear instantly across devices
  • Take photos and scan QR codes from within each app
  • Stellar app ratings (see what we did there?)

Easy and intuitive.  Even if you’ve never used any kind of software before, Padlet is familiar and fun.

  • Add posts with one click, copy-paste, or drag and drop
  • Works the way your mind works – with sight, sound, and touch
  • Changes are autosaved
  • Simple link sharing allows for quick collaboration

 

Web Spotlight:

Academic Standards:  Breaking Whole Things Into Broken Bits  

http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/academic-standards-breaking-whole-things-into-broken-bits/  

“A drive to break the Standards down into ‘microstandards’ risks making the checklist mentality even worse than it is today. Microstandards would also make it easier for microtasks and microlessons to drive out extended tasks and deep learning. Finally, microstandards could allow for micromanagement: Picture teachers and students being held accountable for ever more discrete performances. If it is bad today when principals force teachers to write the standard of the day on the board, think of how it would be if every single standard turns into three, six, or a dozen or more microstandards. If the Standards are like a tree, then microstandards are like twigs. You can’t build a tree out of twigs, but you can use twigs as kindling to burn down a tree.”

 

Current Events Webinar

Looking to cover current events next school-year, or need some ideas on how to tackle controversial issues? We have you covered at Share My Lesson this summer with our live and on-demand Summer of Learning professional development webinars covering a wide range of current topics from fake news, to immigration, to how to encourage civil discourse.

All webinars are available for one-hour of professional development credit.

https://sharemylesson.com/collections/current-events-across-curriculum-webinars

Apple Teacher Certification Program

  • Becoming an Apple Teacher:  Fuel Your Passion for Learning
    • Apple Teacher Learning Center
    • Free iBooks today.  
  • Every Learner is a creator.
    • Expect a lot from classroom technology.  
    • User Experience, Accessibility, Apps to Create.  
    • Everyone should learn how to code.  
      • Playgrounds app on the iPad
    • Apple Teacher Program
    • Deployment and Management  
      • Classroom Manager and App
  • How do you fuel your passion for learning when you’re not at ISTE?
  • Apple Teacher
    • Just-In-Time Resources  
    • Teachers choose the skills they want to work on.
    • Free self-paced program.  
  • Keynote
    • Use Keynote as a vocabulary activity.  
    • Scavenger hunts
  • Additional Learning Opportunities
    • Teacher Tuesday at the Apple Store
    • EdTechTeam – Apple Teacher Conferences  
  • Next Steps
    • Sign up using your Apple ID and password:  appleteacher.apple.com
    • Explore:  Apple Teacher Learning Center and take a Quiz.
  • What’s your Apple Teacher story?
    • #AppleTeacher or @AppleEDU
  • Website:  apple.co/education-iste  
  • apple.com/education for apple resources.  
  • West lobby has a social media mosaic.  
  • @ForTheLoveOfLearning  

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

Personal Web Site

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

Conferences, ISTE, MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 362:   #ISTE? Jennie, we got your number.

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

NASA put a bunch of cows into orbit. They call it the herd shot round the world.

 

Have you ever tried eating a clock? It’s very time consuming.

 

Broken puppets for sale….

No strings attached.

 

What did the Tin Man say when he got run over by a steamroller?

“CURSES, FOIL AGAIN!”

 

What kind of exercise do lazy people do?

Diddly-squats.

 

I went to my Doctor and he suggested I do some exercises. Here is my new regiment…

 

  1. Jump to conclusions
  2. Climb the walls
  3. Drag my heels
  4. Push my luck
  5. Make mountains out of molehills
  6. Bend over backwards
  7. Run in circles
  8. Put my foot in my mouth

 

The village blacksmith hired an enthusiastic new apprentice willing to work long, hard hours.

He instructed the boy, “When I take the shoe out of the fire, I’ll lay it on the anvil. When I nod my head, you hit it with the hammer.”

The apprentice did exactly as he was told, and now he’s the new village blacksmith.

 

 

Advisory:

 

Fish Problem

Use the link below for support materials:

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-fish-riddle-steve-wyborney

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

 

EMPATHY IN STEM EDUCATION

 

I was recently reading the April/May, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

In this issue, I read the the article, “The Importance of Cultivating Empathy in STEM Education.” It was written by Kathy Liu Sun.  The article describes how there are three ways to embed empathy in STEM classes:

  1.  Connect STEM content to real people.
  2.  Bring in a guest to share his or her perspective.
  3.  Add a “human-user” to an existing project.

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/6/30_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Empathy_in_STEM_Education.html

 

 

From the Twitterverse:  

MiddleWeb‏ @middleweb

Scaffolding Grit – great piece from @tweenteacher Heather Wolpert Gawron. (It starts with passion-based learning.) https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-grit-heather-wolpert-gawron …

 

Shannon Miller‏ @shannonmmiller

Where are my @flipgrid lovers? Here are 15+ ways to use Flipgrid in your class! http://ow.ly/lV3a30cTvRt  #EdTech #FutureReady #EdChat

 

Liz Kolb‏ @lkolb

Classroom Games and Tech: Essential Summer Reading – The Triple E Framework http://classroomgamesandtech.blogspot.com/2017/06/essential-summer-reading-triple-e.html?spref=tw

 

Jennie Magiera‏Verified account @MsMagiera

Reflecting on #ISTE17. TY to all for so much love & support, to those who shared & @BrianRSmithSr for this video: https://www.pscp.tv/1to1Brian/1MnxnalkDbXJO?t=2s …

Jonathan Wylie‏ @jonathanwylie

30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers via @ericcurts http://bit.ly/2ty8ohE

 

Kevin Michael‏ @teacherMrMic

Small changes can make a big difference. #ShiftThis @JoyKirr

Class Ideas‏ @class_ideas

More teachers leaving profession, new DfE research shows http://crwd.fr/2qvPXnM

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

 

Strategies:

 

Meet the Teacher Flyer

 

Create a flyer to pass out with expectations, web links, contact info, and things that you want parents to know.

 

 

 

New Study Shows the Impact of PBL on Student Achievement

Does project-based learning (PBL) raise student achievement? If you’ve been involved in PBL for long, you’ve undoubtedly encountered this question. Over the last few years as education researchers at University of Michigan and Michigan State University, we have worked to address this question through a large study of the effects of PBL on social studies and some aspects of literacy achievement in second-grade classrooms. We call this initiative Project PLACE: A Project Approach to Literacy and Civic Engagement.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-study-shows-impact-pbl-student-achievement-nell-duke-anne-lise-halvorsen

Resources:

 

#ISTE17:  ISTE 2017 Annual Conference Keynote #2 – Jennie Magiera  

Chicago Public Schools Chief Technology Officer

http://www.teachinglikeits2999.com/  

It starts with a story in Seoul, South Korea.  Teachers can help you be your whole self.  “Stereotypes aren’t wrong, they’re just incomplete.”  They lack from a complete telling of the story.  As educators, whose story are we telling?  How are others getting an incomplete story and how can we advocate for our students, ourselves and our profession to tell our story?  Theme:  “I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging . . . and it is very difficult to find anyone.”  – Gandalf the Grey  Teachers are wizards.  The untold story of Wizards:  The Single Story of Resistant Colleagues (“I love ISTE!  It feels like a wizard convention!), The Untold Story of Innovation, The Untold Story of Our Inner-selves, and how Technology Helps Us Shatter the Single Story.  Find the untold stories and set them free!  

Courageous Edventures, Jennie Magiera  

Chart a course to innovation using educational technology. Let’s go on an edventure! Want to leverage digital tools to innovate and take risks in your teaching? Looking for ways to troubleshoot common classroom challenges? Jennie Magiera charts a course for you to discover your own version of innovation, using the limitless possibilities of educational technology. Packed with lesson plans, examples and practical solutions, Courageous Edventures will show you:

  • How to make school innovation approachable for all educators
  • How to create your own Teacher-IEP (Innovation Exploration Plan) how to use it to guide you through Problem Based Innovation
  • Strategies and solutions for tackling common educational technology problems
  • Methods for putting learning into the hands of students
  • How to find innovation in everyday places

Broken into four sections to scaffold your journey. The chapters are organized to steer each step of your innovation odyssey but also allow you to simply pick up the book, find what you need and dig in.

  • Part 1 “Charting Your Course” helps you prepare for a digital transformation
  • Part 2 “Navigating Your Problems” leads you through Problem Based Innovation to help you first identify and overcome problems through new digital strategies
  • Part 3 “Sailing into the Great Beyond” pushes you further to take bigger risks to transform your practice
  • Part 4 “Reflecting on Your Edventure” helps you reflect and share your journey

Important Features:

  • Acknowledges the hurdles in the pathway of attempting digital transformation and innovation and provides numerous practical strategies to overcome them
  • Breaks down actual classroom problems of practice in the areas of Assessment, Differentiation, Planning and Parent Communication to focus digital transformation in strong classroom instruction and pedagogy.
  • Focuses on strategies over tools, but still provides a companion website for step-by-step tutorials, examples of student work and ready-to-use templates

https://www.pscp.tv/1to1Brian/1MnxnalkDbXJO?t=2s

Padlet  

https://padlet.com/  

Apps for (most) any device

From Padlet’s website:  

Don’t miss any of the action, even when you’re away from a computer.

  • Available on iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, and Kindle devices
  • Posts appear instantly across devices
  • Take photos and scan QR codes from within each app
  • Stellar app ratings (see what we did there?)

Easy and intuitive.  Even if you’ve never used any kind of software before, Padlet is familiar and fun.

  • Add posts with one click, copy-paste, or drag and drop
  • Works the way your mind works – with sight, sound, and touch
  • Changes are autosaved
  • Simple link sharing allows for quick collaboration

 

Web Spotlight:

 

 

Why mythbusting fails: A guide to influencing education with science

“If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong,” physicist Richard Feynman said. “In that simple statement is the key to science.”

By this measure, the learning-styles hypothesis has failed too many times to count.

 

https://deansforimpact.org/why-mythbusting-fails-a-guide-to-influencing-education-with-science/

 

The Best Sites Where Students Can Transcribe Historical Texts

 

 

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2017/06/29/the-best-sites-where-students-can-transcribe-historical-texts/

 

10 Risks Every Teacher Should Take With Their Class

As I work with students and teachers there is one common thread that the “stand-out” classrooms share: They take risks. Not only do these students and teachers take learning risks, but they also take them together.

http://ajjuliani.com/10-risks-every-teacher-take-class-2/

 

 

How Did I Do? Reflecting on My Stretch Goals

 

https://www.middleweb.com/35082/how-did-i-do-reflecting-on-my-stretch-goals/

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

ISTE Unplugged session:  HackEd 2017.  One of these people can be heard on Middle School Matters!  Can you find them?  

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

 

 

 

MSM, PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 361:  Myth #1: This is going to be a short show.

MSM 361:  Myth #1: This is going to be a short show.

Jokes You Can Use:  

 

Q: Why can’t you trust an atom?

A: Because they make up everything. 

 

Q: What did Cinderella say when her photos did not show up?

A: “Someday my prints will come.”

 

Q: Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants?

A: In case he got a hole in one.

 

Q: What is the difference between a cat and a comma?

A: One has claws at the end of its paws and the other is a pause at the end of a clause.

 

I just read a book about Helium. It was so good that I can’t put it down.

 

A teacher asks her class what their favorite letter is. A student puts up his hand and says ‘G’. The teacher walks over to him and says, “Why is that, Angus?”

 

Books:  

 

 

Middle School Science Minute  

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

Keeping Math in Perspective

I was recently reading the April/May, 2017 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.  

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Keeping Math in Perspective.” It was written by Patty McGinnis, Editor of Science Scope.  The article describes how students, who aspire to be scientists should be encouraged to follow their dream regardless of their mathematical ability.

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/6/15_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Keeping_Math_in_Perspective.html

 

From the Twitterverse:  

MiddleWeb‏ @middleweb

MiddleWeb Retweeted NPR’s Education Team

A good weekly education news summary from NPR… for all of us who have trouble keeping up!

MiddleWeb added,

NPR’s Education TeamVerified account @npr_ed

This week, DeVos rolled back a number of Obama-era regulations. Read our weekly roundup for all the details. http://n.pr/2s2D2OM

 

Steve NorlinWeaver‏ @SteveSnorlin56

AMLE2017 – Annual Conference for Middle Level Education. C u there!

0 replies 1 retweet 0 likes

 

Vicki Davis‏ @coolcatteacher

Google Apps for the iPad and iOS (The COMPLETE list!) http://bit.ly/2skMjPV

edutopia‏Verified account @edutopia

5 videos to explore growth mindset: http://edut.to/2sBzRyb . #growthmindset

1 reply 77 retweets 100 likes

EL Magazine‏ @ELmagazine

These five provocations inadvertently cause student resistance, stress, and acting out. What to do instead: http://bit.ly/2qRcITT

Dr. Justin Tarte‏ @justintarte

The quality of relationships among the adults within a school have a significant & far-reaching effect on the culture of the school. #edchat

 

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

 

Strategies:

 

Deeper Learning Is By Discovery, Not Delivery

I remember one of my mentors gave me this advice, “Make them (the students) think.”

 

There are numerous advantages to discovery learning. Students will remember more of the facts and fundamentals of the discipline when they learn this way. They will have more context to connect ideas and make learning stick. They will also develop skills as independent learners, something that will serve them well their whole life.

 

How could you improve your lesson design so that learning becomes more discovery and less delivery?

http://www.davidgeurin.com/2017/06/deeper-learning-is-by-discovery-not.html

Resources:

 

 

Explode These Feedback Myths and Get Your Life Back

Each year I’m faced with the dilemma: do I assign more writing, confining my life to the 8-1/2 x 11 page or 1366 x 768 screen? Or do I scale things back, then fret about whether kids are getting the feedback they need to succeed?

 

The only reason many of us will stop pushing ourselves to the breaking point is if it turns out that it’s not only bad for us, it’s also bad for students. As it turns out, that actually seems to be the case.

 

How can we shatter these myths, providing better feedback while modeling a life worth living? Here are the myths phrased as four “shoulds”:

  1. Feedback should be immediate
  2. Feedback should come from the teacher alone
  3. Feedback should be individualized
  4. Feedback should include a grade

Implied in many such myths is the idea that feedback should be objective, able to be quantified, scored, or rated by an outside observer. But in spite of our online gradebooks — which arrogantly assert achievement can be calculated to the hundredth place (implying 10,001 levels of performance!)— assessment and grading remain a fundamentally subjective endeavor.

https://teachersgoinggradeless.com/2017/06/02/feedback-myths/

 

Web Spotlight:

 

Google not, learn not: why searching can sometimes be better than knowing

 

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/google-not-learn-not-why-searching-can-be-better-than-knowing-79838f7a0f06

 

 

 

46 THINGS I WISH PARENTS KNEW

 

http://www.coolcatteacher.com/45-things-wish-parents-knew/

4 ways to attend ISTE 2017 virtually – pssst, they’re free!

https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=372&category=ISTE-Connects-blog&article=4+ways+to+attend+ISTE+2017+virtually+%E2%80%93+pssst,+they%E2%80%99re+free  

    1. Follow #ISTE17 and #notatISTE on Twitter and Instagram.  

 

  • Follow #PresentersOfISTE to see what they’re saying and for access to the resources they share.  
  • Download the ISTE App.

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

#ISTE2017 See you there!  

 

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

PodcastBy Troy Patterson

MSM 360: We’ve come full circle.

MSM 360: We’ve come full circle.

  Jokes You Can Use:

 

Google’s self driving car has an ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button – the car drives you to a random new spot.

 

Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?

 

If it’s zero degrees outside today, and it’s supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow…

Just how cold is it going to be?

 

Velcro… what a rip off!

 

Why did the student take a job at the bakery?

Kneaded dough

 

Fred is having a tough life. He went to the top of a mountain and shouted “I Love You”, then waited for the echo.

It came back “I have a boyfriend”.

 

Then Fred went to the Doctor. They told him that he had Type A blood. Turns out it was a Typo.

 

What did the right eye say to the left one?

Something smells between us.

 

The Fidget Pen:

 

Advisory:

 

3 Surprising Reasons Students DON’T Get Into Top Colleges

 

MISTAKE 1: TAKING *ALL* THE TOUGH CLASSES

MISTAKE 2: DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAXIMIZE TEST SCORES

MISTAKE 3: NO EXTRACURRICULAR FOCUS

 

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/college-admission-mistakes/

Middle School Science Minute  

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

 

ECLIPSE 2017 WHAT’S UP?

 

This is the fourth and final podcast in a multipart series on Eclipse 2017 utilizing the resources from NASA that can be found at:

http://eclipse2017.nasa.gov

 

Five short stories can be downloaded from the What’s Up? series, for use in newsletters or to share with students.   They include:

  1.  Eclipses, Transits, and Occultations
  2.  Many Moons
  3.  A Relative Eclipse
  4.  Lunar Libration
  5.  The Very Last Solar Eclipse!

These short stories can be downloaded at:

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/whats-up

 

http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/6/1_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Eclipse_2017_Whats_Up.html

 

 

From the Twitterverse:  

Dru Tomlin‏ @DruTomlin_AMLE

Improve Attendance & Grit: Put More Music in the Middle Grades! Let the @AMLE ABCs blog sing 2U: http://www.amle.org/Publications/BlogABCsofMiddleLevelEducation/TabId/937/ArtMID/3115/ArticleID/824/Music-in-the-Middle-Grades.aspx … #mschat #satchat

AMLE Conference Video:  https://youtu.be/79PdLmU-lpY  

 

Dave Burgess‏ @burgessdave

Hey! Watch the #TEDx talk of #KidsDeserveIt co-author, @TechNinjaTodd Exciting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSdl3KIkT44&feature=youtu.be&list=PLsRNoUx8w3rNM9fPF7B0cmlJJzYpQS4Fm … #tlap #LeadLAP #LearnLAP #DitchBook

 

Kelly Malloy‏ @kellys3ps

What happens when 10 minutes a day is added to student’s reading

Alan See‏ @AlanSee

Don’t give up in the face of criticism. Learn to brush aside what people who don’t know you have to say.

 

Todd Russo‏ @MrRussoRH

Thank you @drneilgupta and #leadupchat friends for a great chat this morning! Finish strong!

 

Alan See‏ @AlanSee

If we help someone in the hope of getting something in return, this is not giving but lending.

cocreateSA‏ @cocreateSA

#EduTech | Despite #digital divide, low-income parents believe in edtech benefits via @EdTech_K12 @edtechteam #CC2A http://buff.ly/2rymGgd

 

Tara M Martin‏ @TaraMartinEDU

“Try to start the year with blank walls” @JoyKirr #ShiftThis https://www.amazon.com/Shift-This-Implement-Gradual-Classroom/dp/194644409X … Yes.To.This  #tlap #BookSnaps #satchatwc #LEADlap

 

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

 

Strategies:

 

For teachers, deeper learning is about letting go

“Sometimes good instruction is not just about what you can add but what you can remove to allow deeper learning to happen. I’ve discovered it often means removing me,” She said. “I had to learn to empower my students to lead their learning, not to keep coming to me for information.”

Traditional teacher-led instruction is typically what most teachers experienced in their own childhoods, so envisioning something new can be hard. Executing it can be even harder. While Stone said she had always done projects with her class in the past, she now realizes those were just teacher-led activities rather than authentic deeper learning experiences for students. “My concept was if they were doing something hands on, then that was a project,” Stone said. “But now I understand if I’m giving them supplies, if I’m telling them what to do, if I’m telling them how to make it, that’s not deeper learning.”

http://www.hewlett.org/teachers-deeper-learning-letting-go/

 

 

 

Hands-Off Teaching Cultivates Metacognition

As a teacher, you put a lot of thought into how to make your class and the material as accessible and engaging as possible.

If you want your students to learn as much as possible, then you want to maximize the amount of metacognition they’re doing.

The only problem is that most classrooms are set up to promote metacognition in the teachers, not the students.

His peer instruction approach has since grown into the flipped classroom movement, and research shows that it consistently produces better results than traditional lecture-based classrooms. No wonder! Flipping the classroom shifts the metacognitive balance toward the students. We want our students to do as much thinking as possible, and that’s why the world’s greatest teachers actively avoid teaching.

 

Today’s students have incredible resources — and a troubling lack of resourcefulness.

 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/hands-off-teaching-cultivates-metacognition-hunter-maats-katie-obrien

 

 

The Five Biggest Fears that Kept Me from Empowering Students

We want to empower students. However, this can be scary for teachers. Here are some of the fears I felt as a teacher as I made this shift toward student ownership.

http://www.spencerauthor.com/fears-empowering-students/

Resources:

 

What does SVG have to do with teaching kids to code?

Jay Nick is a retired electrical engineer who volunteers at local schools in his community by using art as a creative way to introduce students to mathematics and coding. Reflecting on the frustrations that his own children experienced in college programming classes, he decided to use his own experience with Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to create an approach to coding that combines principles of mathematics and art.

https://opensource.com/article/17/5/coding-scalable-vector-graphics-make-steam

 

 

Free E-Books

 

http://www.cattocreations.com/ePub3.html

100 day Summer Challenge

 

https://brilliant.org/100day/

 

 

Brain Bashers

You will find a wide range of puzzles on BrainBashers™. Some are easy, some are hard, but hopefully most are interesting and a little bit fun. Some of the puzzles are tricks, or Gotchas, some require a little bit of head scratching, some of which could keep you thinking long into the night. Many of the puzzles also have hints to help you along, so you can still have a go without seeing the answer.

http://www.brainbashers.com/puzzles.asp

 

Web Spotlight:

 

The Case for the Rebel

But what if what made Einstein a change agent was his rebellious nature rather than his intelligence?

I have a student like this in my class right now. He is a brilliant creative writer. I give him highly intellectual books, articles, and authors to read on his own because he often asks me highly intellectual questions that I can’t quite answer, but for which I know he will find answers in those texts. He typically brings the book back to me in a few days, having read it cover to cover and dog-eared most of its pages.

He is, in short, a huge pain. But when his parent came in to have a conference with me last fall, I found myself looking a worried adult in the eye and telling him what I believe to be the truth: His son is going to be okay. In fact, I told him that his son will someday stand out from the others; he will find a career he loves because he is passionate, intense, brilliant, and fiercely independent. Even though this student is a pain to teach, he is someone I will likely respect when he matures into an adult.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/05/the-case-for-the-rebel/525147/?utm_source=twb

 

The Silent Tragedy Affecting Today’s Children

There is a silent tragedy developing right now, in our homes, and it concerns our most precious jewels – our children.

 

Today’s children are being deprived of the fundamentals of a healthy childhood, such as:

  • Emotionally available parents
  • Clearly defined limits and guidance
  • Responsibilities
  • Balanced nutrition and adequate sleep
  • Movement and outdoors
  • Creative play, social interaction, opportunities for unstructured times and boredom

 

If we want our children to grow into happy and healthy individuals, we have to wake up and go back to the basics. It is still possible! I know this because hundreds of my clients see positive changes in their kids’ emotional state within weeks (and in some cases, even days) of implementing these recommendations:

 

https://yourot.com/parenting-club/2017/5/24/what-are-we-doing-to-our-children

 

Random Thoughts . . .  

 

 

 

Personal Web Site

 

 

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