Middle School Matters

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: How does Jack Frost get to work? Why did the face of Joe go to the party by himself? What happened when Ali found out his toaster was not waterproof? How often does Dave Bydlowski make Chemistry jokes? In fact, he told one the other day... Why did Cleopatra fall off the swing? What is orange and sounds like parrots? Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Facebook: Google+: iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Modeling Share the video with the students. Ask them to describe how the puppy learns to go down the stairs. How can we apply this to our learning? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fDKDC_IUnOA Brief Interruptions Challenge the kids to explain how they multi-task. Use the information from this article to help them realize how they can improve their work. http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/brief-interruptions-spawn-errors/ Sexism in Ads http://adsvoice.pblogs.gr/2013/01/sexism-in-vintage-ads.html Misperception Pickpocket at work. Have the kids pay attention to see what he steals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OLm_dQzoC5E Then on Fox news station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dTa7rC1oUnk Finally, On NOVA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fdqSmUnd4cU Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) I was recently reading the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Green Teacher Magazine, a magazine that cares about Education for Planet Earth. I read an article entitled "Zambian Girl Inspires Water Action" written by Michelle Macdonald. It traces the story of a girl named Tikho, who lives in Zambia. She was asked to share the story of her daily life as it related to water, sanitation and hygiene. Her story has provided an example for North American youth to recognize local and global water challenges and look for solutions. From the Twitterverse: Are you smarter than an 8th Grader from 1912? http://bullittcountyhistory.org/bullitthistory/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html … #midleved #mschat #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: Three Ways to Create a Digital Classroom Library for Your Students http://www.angelamaiers.com/2013/01/three-ways-to-create-a-digital-classroom-library-for-your-students.html Three Tools Students Can Use for Collaborative Brainstorming on the Web One of the first challenges that students face when beginning to work on a group research project is organizing and connecting all of their ideas. These three tools can help students collaboratively organize their ideas on the web. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/01/three-tools-students-can-use-for.html Guide to Budgeting https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1611/26335/9h/dramsey.download.akamai.com/23572/daveramsey.com/media/broadcast/mytmmo/pdf/guide-to-budgeting.pdf?ictid=btxt.ny13 Creating Comics Comics apps such as Comic Zeal are compatible with a couple of DRM-free comic book file formats, namely .cbr and .cbz. Those are both compressed formats, related to RAR and ZIP files, respectively. http://www.macworld.com/article/2023746/convert-image-files-to-comics.html http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/01/06/a-taxonomy-for-understanding/ Web Spotlight: Why Scratch Club? By Wesley Fryer On January 10, 2013 Learn more about the IES Scratch Club on scratchclub.yukonps.com. Check out Mason’s Scratch project,“About Me” on the Scratch community website. http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2013/01/10/why-scratch-club/ Reading Like a History http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh News: Vending Machine Dispenses MacBooks for Student Use AMLE Annual Conference Sessions:

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: What do you call a 4 foot psychic who escapes from jail? Why did the mermaid wear seashells? What concert costs 45¢? How did the hipster burn his tongue? What do get when cross the Atlantic with the Titantic? What did one eye says to the other eye? Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Richard Ball, Kenna Wilson Facebook: Google+: iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Seeing things differently http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/01/brilliant-urban-interventions-by-oakoak-turn-crumbling-city-infrastructure-into-a-visual-playground/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Heat Safety I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association for middle school teachers. In the monthly section, "Scope on Safety "written by Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, CT, he wrote about using heat sources safely in the middle school science laboratory. The article was entitled "Turning Up the Heat on Safety." Safety-wise, the hot plate is probably by far the best choice. From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: How We Know the Earth is Round http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o_W280R_Jt8#! Banished Word List http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php The Power of Mindset http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pN34FNbOKXc Essay Bank 9000 essays to steal look at. http://www.essaybank.com/ Web Spotlight: The Power of Love The effect of a teacher and the effect in the classroom. Very motivating. Useful for principals especially. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9bSu_Snlbsw#! Dying teacher's quest: Did I make a difference? ..nothing to do with my speaking, more to do with my listening... http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/23/inspirational-teacher/1785739/ News: More Evidence Showing The Dangers Of Using High-Stakes Testing For Teacher Evaluation http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/01/04/more-evidence-showing-the-dangers-of-using-high-stakes-testing-for-teacher-evaluation/ Sure, Big Data Is Great. But So Is Intuition. By STEVE LOHR

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Christina B. Steele, Ryan Becker Facebook: Google+: King Almojuela, iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association for middle school teachers. There was a very interesting article on clouds written by Tina Cartwright, Rommel Miranda, Ronald Hermann, and Deb Hemler entitled, "Clear Skies Ahead: Clearing Up Confusion About Clouds." They provided a very helpful semi-dichotomous cloud key that seems very helpful in helping students in the cloud identification process. A version of the cloud key containing color photos of each cloud type can be found at: http://wvscience.org/clouds/Cloud_Key.pdf From the Twitterverse: Resources: Books to Read http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/tempered-radical/12-2012/three-professional-reads-are-worth-your-time All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome Kathy Hoopman http://www.amazon.com/dp/1843104814/ Explania Welcome to Explania! Watch hundreds of animated explanations, interactive tutorials and instructional videos, and feel free to embed them on your own web pages. http://www.explania.com/en Free NASA e-Book This book is available for download on your iPad with iBooks or on your computer with iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hubble-space-telescope-discoveries/id588428410?mt=11 BadgeMaker Make your own ID card, press pass, name tag, unofficial Flickr badge, or any other kind of identification. Print it out, laminate it, wear it with pride! Make any kind of identification* easily in just a few seconds. http://bighugelabs.com/badge.php Web Spotlight: When Creative Musical Genius Meets YouTube By Wesley Fryer On December 26, 2012 There are some people in this world who have creative, musical genius that absolutely knocks your socks off when you hear and see it. Jon Cozart (Paint on YouTube) is one of those people. His 104 second video with himself, “Lord of the Rings in 99 Seconds,” has 1.3 million YouTube views to date. It makes the video I created with my kids in the summer of 2011, “The Hobbit In Five Minutes,” look like a far more coarse and amateurish attempt at a 3 novel / movie plot summary. http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2012/12/26/when-creative-musical-genius-meets-youtube/ What’s the difference between Holland and The Netherlands? Posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2012 at 12:11 pm. PT Written by Shawn King Have you ever wondered what the difference between “Holland” and “The Netherlands” is? Of course you haven’t – not many have. But just in case you have even a mild interest, this video by C. G. P. Grey does an amazing job of explaining this odd little quirk of geography. And, for even more explanation of geographic and historical anomalies, check out his“The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained”. http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/12/23/whats-the-difference-between-holland-and-the-netherlands/ TregoED SCAN So I gave it a go this last marking period and . . . . News: Half-Baked Idea . . . So I got these “electronic resource devices” for my classroom and I tried this idea on the day before Christmas break . . .

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Bethany Beaudrie, Derek McCoy, Vinnie Stocker Facebook: Google+: iTunes: eMail: Dr. John Harrison Advisory: Unrelated People Who Look Like Each Other http://twentytwowords.com/2012/12/13/portraits-of-people-who-arent-related-but-look-like-each-other-6-pictures/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Middle School Science Minute -- Citizen Science I was recently reading the November, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association. In the magazine, Jennifer Fee and Nancy Trautmann, wrote an article entitled "Connecting to Your Community Through Birds and Citizen Science." Within the article they explained what is meant by the term "Citizen Science." They defined a citizen scientist as a person who collaborates with scientists to gather data on projects and contributes to scientific research. From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: Teachers are talent scouts Spotting talent and helping students see their own gift is one of those things that makes teaching so intoxicating to me. I get to do this? I am a talent scout. Are you? http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/12/teachers-are-talent-scouts.html Web Spotlight: Bomb Sight Mapping http://bombsight.org/#16/51.5034/-0.0987 INFOGRAPHIC: A POWER HUNGRY INTERNET http://www.infographicsarchive.com/tech-and-gadgets/infographic-a-power-hungry-internet/ Amazing Anamorphic Illusions! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBNHPk-Lnkk&sns=em Anatomy of Preservation http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VwT6RLsYe1c#! Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=doN4t5NKW-k How long will we live — and how well? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/healthy-life-expectancy/ Taking Responsibility This was apparently from a group project. http://i.imgur.com/mEOv7.jpg AMLE Annual Conference Sessions: State Affiliate Meeting

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Facebook: Joyce Capcara Fisher, Nelly Korman, The Simply Scientific Classroom Google+: iTunes: eMail: Jokes You Can Use: Advisory: Perceptions: Here’s an interesting video. It is an interesting take on perception. Entertaining and instructive. 4:33 long. (via Larry Ferlazzo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FUv-Q6EgEFI A blind person describes color http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=59YN8_lg6-U What would you do? Here is a 12-year-old middle school wrestler,Justin Kievit showing a great amount of humility and sportsmanship to his fellow competitor Jared Stevens. I dare you to watch this video and not let out a tear or two. http://cosbysweaters.com/2012/12/04/middle-school-wrestler-shows-us-all-what-sportsmanship-is-about/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Culturing Microorganisms I was recently reading the December, 2012 issue of the Science Teacher, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association. In the magazine, Key Roy, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Connecticut wrote an article entitled, "Dangers in a Dish." In this article he shares the dangers of culturing microorganisms in the K-12 classroom. From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: Gallery of FakeBook Profiles Some good examples of fake FaceBook profiles. http://www.classtools.net/main_area/fakebook/gallery/ Sign Up Genius If you are a group leader and find yourself organizing volunteers, meals, service projects, or events... we want to make your life a lot simpler! Now you can coordinate it all online... FREE! http://www.signupgenius.com/ Introduction to the Living Wage Calculator http://livingwage.mit.edu/ Web Spotlight: Books to Read ‘Tis the time of year that many people pick up additional books to read. Here are some thoughts: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/04/best-psychology-philosophy-books-2012/ Whole Novels http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/shoulders-giants/11-2012/my-co-teachers-weigh-whole-novels 7 Habits of Effective Teachers who use Technology: http://blog.alwaysprepped.com/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers-who-use-technology/ News: The Weight of Obesity http://visual.ly/weight-obesity Top 10 Bad Tech Predictions http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/top-10-bad-tech-predictions/ STEM Students Must Be Taught to Fail http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/11/23/stem-students-must-be-taught-to-fail 2 Mesa students forced to hold hands as punishment for fighting http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/two-mesa-students-forced-to-hold-hands-as-punishment-for-fighting

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Facebook: Google+: Patti Gray iTunes: eMail: Jokes You Can Use: Advisory: Cost of a penny http://what-if.xkcd.com/22/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Public Laboratory (not lavatory :) Troy Patterson, of the "Middle School Matters" podcast mentioned Raspberry Pi recently, and it got me to wondering if most people knew what it is. Raspberry Pi is is a credit-card sized computer which can help kids do spreadsheets, play games, watch HD videos and learn programming, all for about $25. It got me to thinking of other "Do It Yourself" gadgets that middle school students might also enjoy. This then took me to the Public Laboratory: http://publiclaboratory.org a community where you can learn how to investigate environmental concerns using inexpensive "Do It Yourself" techniques. From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: Transcribe http://transcribe.wreally.com/ Why Everything Sucks *Note - some Not Safe For Work Language (NSFW) is present. http://twentytwowords.com/2012/11/25/craig-fergusons-rant-against-the-deification-of-youth-and-stupidity/ Questioning Autism? Questioning Autism? is an iOS app designed to help concerned parents understand the signs and symptoms of autism, and to convey their observations to their pediatrician. The app features 12 simple questions, and the ability to share the observations with notes via email. Parents and caregivers can track a child’s progress over time, and save their observations for multiple children. Also included are helpful resources and the ability to share the app socially. http://asddad.com/2012/11/20/questioning-autism-app-is-available/ 15 Cheesy Christmas Music Videos on YouTube http://mashable.com/2012/11/24/cheesy-christmas-music-videos/ Historical Figure Greeting Cards This morning I used the web version of the Trading Card Creator to create an Abraham Lincoln trading card. To create the card I found a public domain image of Lincoln, uploaded it to the template provided by RWT, and completed the fields that asked for information about Lincoln's life. When my card was completed I was able to download it to my computer. I could have also emailed it to myself or to a friend. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/create-trading-cards-for-historical-and_27.html Web Spotlight: Primary Sources Docs Teach offers seven free tools that teachers can use to create interactive learning activities based on primary source documents and images. The seven tools are Finding a Sequence, Focusing on Details, Making Connections, Mapping History, Seeing the Big Picture, Weighing the Evidence, and Interpreting Data. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/create-your-own-interactive-primary.html I used to think... In a beautifully candid and beautifully written piece for PLP Network's Voices from the Learning Revolution, Canadian teacher Shelly Wright examines how her thinking and her classroom practice have changed. http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/teachmoore/11-2012/read-i-used-think-teacher-reflections http://plpnetwork.com/2012/11/08/think/ The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves Too many kids already hate school. Why do we want to make them do more of it? http://practicaltheory.org/blog/2012/11/23/the-beatings-will-continue-until-morale-improves-2/ News: Homework http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/23471.html?emailID=23471 AMLE Annual Conference Sessions: Dr. John Medina: Brain Rules

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Eileen Award: Advisory: You are Predictable Make the board ahead of time, or put it on a Promethean Board. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DaWcL3oOd-E Business Cards Have the kids design business cards for famous people, fictional characters, historical figures, etc. http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/35780275184/business-cards 10 Bets that you can win Use these to create a challenge for students. Encourage them to think together. This can help prime the thinking. These are really just problem solving opportunities. http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2012/11/another-10-bets-you-will-always-win.html Perceptives On the cover of American Prospect, Joel Sternfeld’s ode to roadside America, was a ghoulish photo. A fireman shops for a pumpkin as the farmhouse — whose fire presumably brought him to this very acres — burns in the background. Its fiery destruction perfectly complemented the wintry leaves, the spoilt pumpkins, and from the foreground, with his hands tightly clasped upon a prized possession, the orange-clad firefighter: an American Nero. http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/joel-sternfeld-mclean-virginia-december-1978/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Reflecting on Data Recently I gave a talk at a new teacher orientation for the Rouge Education Project, a water quality monitoring project on the Rouge River, in the Michigan counties of Wayne and Oakland. The purpose of the talk was to share ideas on curriculum. The two areas I focused in on were: 1. Inquiry Analysis and Communication 2. Reflection and Social Implication To learn more about the Rouge Education Project, please visit: http://www.therouge.org From the Twitterverse: Save the date 2/6/13 Digital Learning Day @sjhayes8 #ncte12 #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Resources: Circuits http://www.circuits.io/ 8 GREAT GRADING APPS FOR IPAD http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/11/8-great-grading-apps-for-ipad.html Web Spotlight: A Cure for the Mania of Multiple Drafts, Multiple Formats, X 100 By Ariel Sacks In my last post, I described my utter failure to effectively organize and manage my students' drafting process for writing projects. This job has become much more complicated over the years with the availability of various technological tools for writing. New, clear parameters are definitely necessary. http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/shoulders-giants/11-2012/cure-mania-multiple-drafts-multiple-formats-x-100 Everything That Will Go Extinct In The Next 40 Years Futurist website nowandnext.com put together this awesome infographic predicting all of the technologies, behaviors, and ideas that will probably be distant memories by 2050. Among their predictions: no more retirement four years from now, no more secretaries six years from now, and no more free parking or sit-down breakfasts by 2019. The European Union is seen as surviving the current crisis before extinct in 2039. http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-that-will-go-extinct-in-the-next-40-years-2012-8#ixzz29zsNrc6U News: The [editor of Phi Delta Kappan] concludes by asserting that “every classroom should have excellent teaching every hour of every day.” I would add that every child should also have an excellent parent who serves them excellent food and provides them with an excellent home in an excellent neighborhood. Let’s also add excellent healthcare and excellent supervision every hour of every day as well. If we could accomplish all of that, we would have the highest achieving students on earth. http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2012/11/while-we-wait-for-wise-lawmakers-to-emerge.html AMLE Annual Conference Sessions: Dr. Debbie Silver, paid session.

Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Facebook: Steve Ralston Google+: iTunes: Steve Ralston eMail: Jokes You Can Use: Advisory: Antipodes http://www.jasondavies.com/maps/antipodes/ Last Wish Lifelong football fan Danny Webber had one last wish - to meet QB Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. With help from the Colts organization and wonderful workers at the Heritage House, his wish was granted. Watch as Inside the NFL cameras were there to capture this truly heart-warming story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1sK9HLpFo&feature=youtu.be Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Volcano Safety This podcast is based on the Question of the Month from the Scope on Safety section of the October, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The question of the month is written by Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, Connecticut. The question of the month deals with the use of ammonium dichromate in the classroom. From the Twitterverse: Resources: Higher Order Thinking Strategies and Tools http://learningcurveplanner.com.au/thinking-tools.html The Victorians Learn to work like a historian http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/victorians/resources.htm http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/victorians/Default.aspx A visual A-Z of the hidden treasures of language. As a lover of language and words, especially obscure and endangered words, I was instantly besotted with Project Twins’ visual interpretations of unusual words, originally exhibited at the MadArt Gallery Dublin during DesignWeek 2011. http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/07/02/project-twins-unusual-words/ Public Domain Comics We are the best site for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age Comics. All files here have been researched by our staff and users to make sure they are copyright free and in the public domain. To start downloading just register an account and enjoy these great comic books. We do not charge per download and the goal of the project is to archive these comic books online and make them widely available. http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/ Web Spotlight: Can Your Kid Read Graphs and Charts? As these visual displays become more and more ubiquitous, it is all the more important that students know how to read, interpret, and summarize the information presented. It's become an essential element of overall literacy. As students get older, it's important for them to learn not only how to be intelligent viewers of graphic representations, but wary and cautious viewers. While charts and graphs obviously are a boon to our ability to communicate information about large numbers or complicated relationships, there are also hidden pitfalls. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/can-your-kid-read-graphs-and-charts/263689/ http://tedmccagg.typepad.com/drawings/2012/10/back-in-my-day.html News: Ethiopian kids hack OLPCs in 5 months with zero instruction http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php Events & Happenings:

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Call for Action: iTunes Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Dr. Catherine Hart Facebook: Josh Flory Google+: iTunes: eMail: Advisory: A $20 Bike Made Of Cardboard Is Headed To Market http://www.businessinsider.com/20-cardboard-bike-headed-to-market-2012-10 Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) This podcast is based on the Editor's Roundtable from the October, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The roundtable was written by Inez Liftig. The purpose of the roundtable was to emphasize the importance of genetics education in middle school. It is important not only because it plays a prominent role in the new Next Generation Science Standards but also because genetic testing and gene-based medicine will play a large part in their lives. From the Twitterverse: Resources: Fun Student Responses: http://hypervocal.com/culture/2012/18-best-students-on-the-internet/ Next YouTube EDU Gurus: Introducing the YouTube Next EDU Gurus. Want to learn something new? Check out these channels today! http://www.youtube.com/playlist?annotation_id=annotation_312811&feature=iv&list=PLEoqe4x_0u5PEmoFoQNecNRJMqw2DXYHn&src_vid=KvZcVVV7CrU Restorative Discipline Web Spotlight: Thinking About Cursive in a Digital World Events & Happenings:

Advisory: How do you get to school? http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/12/14390958-risky-river-crossing-filipino-kids-tube-to-get-to-school Everything I Need to Know I’m Learning From My Sixth Graders http://transformed.teachingquality.org/blogs/10-2012/everything-i-need-know-i-m-learning-my-sixth-graders Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) This podcast is based on an article from the Fall, 2012 issue of Green Teacher. The article was entitled "Children's Rights and Climate Change." The article was written by Paula Gallo and Barbara Strang. The purpose of the article was to help teachers help young people realize their right to a healthy planet. Teachers, have an invaluable role to play in generating the power of students, and they can do so by exploring with students the world of climate change and other environmental issues, as seen through the lens of children's rights. From the Twitterverse: Resources: The Flip: End of a Love Affair http://plpnetwork.com/2012/10/08/flip-love-affair/ The Google Cultural Institutue Awesome materials presented in a very visual manner. The concept is to promote and preserve culture on line. We have created this site to provide a visually rich and interactive online experience for telling cultural stories in new ways. Discover exhibits by expert curators, find artifacts, view photographs, read original manuscripts, watch videos, and more. http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/#!home Make InfoGraphics http://piktochart.com/ Web Spotlight: What happens if there is a tie in the President Election? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHEDXzOfENI#! Common Core Resource Smarter Balanced sample items illustrate the rigor and complexity of the English language arts/literacy and mathematics items and performance tasks students will encounter on the Consortium’s next-generation assessments. http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/ News: Events & Happenings: Calendar of Events:

Jokes You Can Use: A vertically challenged psychic was arrested one day. He escaped from jail and the newspaper headline read, "SMALL MEDIUM AT-LARGE." Hoss rode into town to buy a bull. Unfortunately, when he bought it, he was left with one dollar. Hoss needed to tell his wife to come with the truck and get the bull, but telegrams cost one dollar per word. Hoss said to the telegram man,"OK. I have my one word-'comfortable'." Why do you want to tell her that?” asked the telegram man. "Oh, she's not the best reader," Hoss said. "She'll read it really slowly". Did you hear about the accountant with insomnia? He decided to try counting sheep, but he made a mistake and was up all night trying to find it! Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Jennifer Larson Facebook: Google+: Alec Couros, Wes Fryer iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Rationalization & Dishonesty Dan Ariely does an RSA animate speech. Warning there are swear words (hell is used twice). There is also a discussion about confession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XBmJay_qdNc#! Belgian Coal Miners * Note there are lots of images at the base site. They have a warning about needing to be over 14. Interesting, I was given a warning about several pictures for which absolutely no warning was needed. http://vintagephoto.livejournal.com/5767874.html Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) This podcast is based on an article from the September, 2012 issue of Science Scope. A magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The article was entitled "Successful Co-Teaching in the Science Classroom." The article was written by Leslie Forbes and Stacy Billet Co-teaching has become a popular concept in the field of education, especially as related to special education. There are five main types of co-teaching: lead and support; station teaching; parallel teaching; alternative teaching; and team teaching. Although the research on co-teaching is limited, it is growing and what is available is generally positive. From the Twitterverse: Don’t forget #mschat on Thursdays at 8:00 pm EST on Twitter! Resources: Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do Larry Ferlazzo http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct12/vol70/num02/Eight-Things-Skilled-Teachers-Think,-Say,-and-Do.aspx Mysteries of Vernacular Clew? http://www.mysteriesofvernacular.com/ Historical Thinking Matters Welcome to Historical Thinking Matters, a website focused on key topics in U.S. history, that is designed to teach students how to critically read primary sources and how to critique and construct historical narratives. Read how to use this site. http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/ How to tell students they are wrong Web Spotlight: How Americans Spend Their Money Events & Happenings:

Jokes You Can Use: The teacher said; “Take a pencil and paper, and write an essay with the title ‘If I Were a Millionaire.’” Everyone but Joe, who leaned back with arms folded, began to write feverishly. “What’s the matter,” the teacher asked. “Why don’t you begin?” “I’m waiting for my secretary,” Joe replied. Why were all the ink spots crying? Their father was in the pen. A fellow bought a new Mercedes and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. "There's no way they can catch a Mercedes," he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100.... Then the reality of the situation hit him. "What am I doing?" he thought and pulled over. The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. "It's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go." The guy thinks for a second and says, "Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!" "Have a nice weekend," said the officer. Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Rovy Branon , Allison Petersen Facebook: Ella Sherman Google+: iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Picture books Have your students make picture books for elementary students. (This can be done the “old fashioned” way or electronically. http://www.culturestreet.org.uk/activities/picturebookmaker/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) "A Special Assignment from NASA" This podcast is based on an article from the September, 2012 issue of Science Scope. A magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The article was entitled "A Special Assignment from NASA" - Understanding Earth's Atmosphere Through the Integration of Science and Mathematics. The article was written by Justine E. Fox and Nicole J. Glen. The purpose of the special assignment was to help students understand the role of NASA scientists, while asking real world questions about the atmosphere. The unit begins with the reading of "Here's the Crusher" from the book "Even More Everyday Science Mysteries." The mystery is about a boy, Eric, who washes a water bottle under hot water and then observes what happens to the bottle. This leads students in the classroom to re-enact the mystery and then apply the knowledge to a better understanding of why certain technological items like satellites, airplanes, etc. are found in certain atmospheric levels and not others. They study the height and the temperatures of the atmospheric levels. From the Twitterverse: Resources: Run for President: http://adomatic.us/ DIY ISTE: Interactive, Customizable, Free: Using Open Source FlexBooks News: “Using VAM to evaluate teachers is akin to using Lysol as a mouth wash because it does a good job killing germs on your kitchen counter. - Principal Carol Burris, in The Answer Sheet “ http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2012/09/quotes-no-such-thing-as-good-use-of-vam-data-for-evaluation.html No Soft Retirement Web Spotlight: The day I quit teaching Posted by Brad Flickinger on Sep 20, 2012 As it turned out, technology wasn’t the problem, I was. http://www.schooltechnology.org/2012/09/20/the-day-i-quit-teaching/ iCivics (www.icivics.org) Events & Happenings:

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Scoopit: Twitter: Aaron Morris, Chris Billings Facebook: Google+: Lori Anderson, iTunes: eMail: Advisory: Old Man Toilet Paper Roll Faces http://twentytwowords.com/2012/09/10/17-bizarre-ugly-and-awesome-old-man-faces-made-out-of-toilet-paper-rolls/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) RABBITS IN THE CLASSROOM This podcast is based on the Question of the Month Column, from the Scope on Safety Section of the September 2012 issue of Science Scope magazine, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. It was written by Ken Roy. This month’s question deals with letting rabbits run free in the middle school classroom. Ken shares advice from the Humane Society of the United States and the American Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences. From the Twitterverse: Resources: Free Electoral Maps http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/Special-Offers.aspx 2012 Electoral Voting Map: Frequent updates. http://electoral-vote.com/ YouTube Launches "Star Search" for Teachers Starting today and running through October 1st, YouTube is looking to identify tenYouTube EDU Gurus. YouTube has partnered with Khan Academy to run this contest. The ten chosen finalists will receive $1,000 toward for video production equipment, attend a three day workshop with Khan academy staff, and have work featured on YouTube EDU. To enter you have to submit video samples and answer two short essay questions (responses limited to 200 words). http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/09/youtube-launches-star-search-for.html MemStash Stop forgetting. Start Remembering. Simply highlight any text you want to remember, and click the bookmark "Stash It". We'll email or SMS you 10 minutes, 24 hours, and 7 days later to make sure you memorize it. Optional: Push your notes automatically to your Evernote account. Save everything. Remember everything. http://memstash.co/ Vintage Book Posters http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/11/vintage-ads-for-libraries-and-reading/ Web Spotlight: David Byrne on How Music and Creativity Work Among the book’s most fascinating insights is a counterintuitive model for howcreativity works, from a chapter titled “Creation in Reverse” — a kind of reformulation of McLuhan’s famous aphorism “the medium is the message”into a somewhat less pedantic but no less purposeful “the medium shapes the message”: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/13/david-byrne-how-music-works/ Banned from school: http://www.worldsstrangest.com/mental-floss/10-things-public-schools-have-banned/ Events & Happenings:

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. AMLE Feature: Jokes You Can Use: Q: What do you get when you cross a perm with a rabbit? A: Curly hare. 1. A day without sunshine is like night. 2. On the other hand, you have different fingers. 3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. 4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5. Remember, half the people you know are below average. 6. He who laughs last; thinks slowest. 7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap. 9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture most people have. 10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. 12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. 13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand. 14. OK, so what's the speed of dark? 15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now. 17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges? 18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. 19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice? 20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name? 21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?' 22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off. 23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow. Eileen Award: Advisory: Open University 60 second Adventures in Thought http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/60-second-adventures-thought?track=69508b9e11 Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-ICE CUBES, STEM AND 5E This podcast is based on the article "Should Ice Be Cubed?" written by Richard H. Moyer and Susan A. Everett. The article can be found in the September 2012 issue of Science Scope magazine, a magazine for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. All four STEM areas were integrated throughout the 5E lesson as students were engaged, they explored, they developed explanations, they extended their learning and were evaluated. Science was represented through heat transfer, cooling rates, and melting. Technology was integrated through the use of the different types of ice cube trays -- novelty, giant cube, household, and student built. The activity allowed students to become engineers by testing three different ice-cube-tray designs. Finally, the mathematics was used in measuring the surface-area and volume relationships between the ice cubes. From the Twitterverse: Resources: Periodic Chart Lots of really great information about elements. Don’t miss the navigation bar on the right. Also includes printables. http://chemreference.com/ Find the Data Incredible amounts of data. http://www.findthedata.org/ Events & Happenings:

AMLE Feature: Interview with Dr. Kristina Doubet “Dr. Kristina Doubet is an Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. With over ten years of experience teaching middle and secondary English, she now prepares future middle and high school teachers for careers in the classroom. Dr Doubet completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at The University of Virginia where she studied the impact of differentiated instruction on student performance in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Her publications also focus on assessment and differentiated instruction and include AMLE’s, Smart in the Middle: Classrooms that Work for Bright Middle Schoolers (co-authored with Carol Tomlinson). Dr. Doubet works regularly with practicing teachers from all grade levels and content areas as a staff developer for schools/districts implementing initiatives in the areas of Common Core Standards, formative assessment and differentiated instruction.” Dr. Doubet is cited here: Differentiation You can get more of Dr. Doubet from Amazon.com. Contact info: doubetkj@jmu.edu Some Resources: https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/doubet.pdf Jokes You Can Use: “The speed of time is one second per second.” - Monsieur Loach Kulula Airlines. Real airplane. Real paint job. Real funny. :-) On Our Mind: Eileen Award: Eric Huff Scoopit: Twitter: Todd Bloch, Jennifer McFarlane, #mschat, Deanna @ldgermany312, Brian Tonniges @BTonniges, Stephen Davis. Facebook: Google+: Ciera Robinson, Jennifer Fox, iTunes: eMail: Patti Kinney (NASSP), Dr. Monte Tatom, Advisory: Dollar Artist Sculptures Challenge your students. http://dollarartist.com/sculptures.html SPARK YOUR FUTURE Discover a career and find the right education. http://www.insidejobs.com/ Who’s Reading What? http://mashable.com/2012/08/26/reading-stats-infographic/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-MATH, SCIENCE AND THE NGSS This podcast is based on the editorial column of Science Scope Magazine, September, 2012, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The editor of Science Scope is Inez Liftig. Her column is entitled, "Editor's Roundtable." Her editorial focused on finding the common ground between math and science. She cited the commonalities between the eight Practices of Science and Engineering, from the Next Generation Science Standards and the eight Practices of Mathematics outlined in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. From the Twitterverse: Resources: TimeMaps http://www.timemaps.com/ myHistro http://www.myhistro.com/ The Parent Rap A little fun for teachers who are parents. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N_NspDWssIY#! For Those Who Want to Lead, Read ISTE: Combining Social Studies and Language Arts Sandra Wozniak Share Resources: livebinders.com and search: ISTE 2012 tregoED Limits to Time on Task http://www.joebower.org/2012/08/limits-of-time-on-task.html Web Spotlight: Teacher’s Ultimate Digital Kit Online PD for teachers who are learning to teach with technology. There’s a great one on using QR codes in the classroom . . . Events & Happenings: