Middle School Matters

Podcast #66 Sorry Jack, National Standards and a "New" Route to Depths of Understanding. Shout out to everyone who chatted up Jack and Apologies to Jack. Middle School Matters Calendar: Media Literacy Test Advisory Activities: News: National Standards Gain Steam Students Benefit From Depth, Rather Than Breadth, In High School Science Courses NMSA08: Web 2.0: Navigating the new web Jonathan Edquid

Items, Events, and Other: Websites: 1. Twiddla : Its like Elluminate, just without all the expense. (Thanks to Jenny for the heads up on this one!) 2. Forward Thinking Museum : A virtual museum worth checking out. "Letters from our Listeners": Shawn and Troy I've spent some time in 5-8, 6-8 and K-8 school environments. Sometimes 5th graders were self-contained while older students moved from teacher to teacher. In other circumstances, 5th grade was used as a transition with single-teacher classrooms and locker access during passing time. I'm currently in a New Jersey K-8 school with no passing time, no lockers and 6-8th graders changing classes. Knowing all too well the challenges of adolescent behavior and academic performance, I wonder what thoughts you had on the appropriate breakdown of grade levels for elementary vs. middle school. At what grade level should middle school begin (beside the legal requirements for teacher certifications)? Can a single administrator effectively manage a staff who work with students from kindergarten age to their teens, or should different principals handle different grade ranges? What impact does the proximity of 7th and 8th graders to elementary aged students have on academics and/or behavior? How about 5th and 6th graders? In my search for answers on this topic, I found a study done by Duke University in 2007 entitled "Should Sixth Grade be in Elementary or Middle School? An Analysis of Grade Configuration and Student Behavior." Is there such a thing as either an elementary or middle school mentality? Can a teacher have both? Can a principal? What are your thoughts on this topic? News: Public Schools Outperform Private Schools in Math Instruction In another “Freakonomics”-style study that turns conventional wisdom about public- versus private-school education on its head, a team of University of Illinois education professors has found that public-school students outperform their private-school classmates on standardized math tests, thanks to two key factors: certified math teachers, and a modern, reform-oriented math curriculum.“According to our results, schools that hired more certified teachers and had a curriculum that de-emphasized learning by rote tended to do better on standardized math tests,” Lubienski said. “And public schools had more of both.” Of the five factors, school size and parental involvement “didn’t seem to matter all that much,” Lubienski said, citing a weak correlation between the two factors as “mixed or marginally significant predictors” of student achievement. They also discovered that smaller class sizes, which are more prevalent in private schools than in public schools, significantly correlate with achievement. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226093423.htm Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap Throughout his now-famous "Last Lecture," the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the "head fake." It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously. We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/26/23sutton-com.h28.html?tmp=804479676

Shawn & Troy discuss Advisory ideas, Why I didn't turn in my homework, Shout-outs, Graduation, and Debbie Silver's Lion Taming 101. Why I didn't turn in my homework... * I lost it fighting this kid you said you weren't the best teacher in the school. * I was mugged on the way to school and the mugger took everything I had. * Our furnace stopped working and we had to burn it to stop ourselves from freezing. * I didn't do it because I didn't want to add to your already heavy workload. * My father had a nervous breakdown and he cut it up to make paper dolls. * I didn't do it, because I didn't want the other kids in the class to look bad. * ET stopped by my house and he accidentally took it home with him. Shout outs: 1. C-O Connections bloggers . 2. Will Richardson 3. Jenny from Facebook Webspotlight: History Before and After Humans Shows an overview of the development of Homosapiens and the potential future of humans. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7348103/ Grad Nation: A Guidebook to Help Communities Tackle The Dropout Crisis It is a guidebook that provides a road map to help communities tackle the dropout crisis. It is designed to help communities develop tailored plans for keeping students on track to graduate from high school, prepared for college, work and life. Grad Nation is a natural outgrowth of our local summit work to ensure that solutions are developed to put our youth on a path to success. Grad Nation also includes ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources, in addition to research-based guidance. It provides information and tools for developing and implementing a customized program that’s right for individual communities. News: Project Management Keeps Learning on Track Like other teachers spearheading ambitious collaborative units, Smith's two-pronged approach to managing the Monster Project -- developing his students into self-directed learners while also harnessing technology tools to help keep things on track -- has allowed him to smoothly complete complex projects while maximizing student learning opportunities. "Teachers are only successful if they understand how to manage the project cycle," notes Bernie Trilling, global director for education strategy and partnerships for the Oracle Education Foundation, which emphasizes project learning. San Jose dad in jail — and mom's on the way — for 13-year-old girl's chronic truancy It started back in third grade with polite letters from the school principal to the East San Jose couple: Your daughter has had a series of unexcused absences; please contact us. Back then, Carol Reynoso and Jayvee Geronimo's youngest attended school about 80 percent of the time. Now, Vanessa said she's willing to do anything if only the court would spare her mother from jail, including face her worst fear — school. "I'm willing to really try this time, to go to school,'' said Vanessa, whose family says she was mercilessly teased about her weight. "I know I've said that before, but I mean it.'' http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11743743?source=rss Why All Teachers Must Learn How to Teach Online Patrick says that public education has struggled to incorporate technology into schools and just adding computers piecemeal is not enough to engage students. Educators properly trained to use the Internet and digital tools can teach in a traditional manner and have unlimited resources at their fingertips. Online learning can also help create more personalized learning plans for each student. http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/patrick-speaker-spotlight.html NMSA '08 Conference Sessions Lion Taming 101 by Dr. Debbie Silver

Our new Twitter feed (MSMatters), we discuss events: # NMSA's Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting. He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA. # NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video # Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township. Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount. # Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH. Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells. # North Carolina Middle School Association's Annual Conference will be March 16-17 in Pinehurst, NC. Keynote speakers include Bill McBride and Rick Wormeli. Ron Williamson from Eastern Michigan University will also be speaking at the conference this year. # The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June. See the flyer at their website for details. # Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA. # NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year. The deadline has been extended to February 8, 2009. Applications can be made online. # Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment? Try The Second Question. # NECC is coming this summer! Here's an excuse to travel to Washington D.C. # If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we'll want these from Plastic Logic. "Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?" # Classroom 2.0's Ning Blog: "The topic this Saturday (January 31) is "Classroom Blogging" with guest speaker Kathy Cassidy, author of blog "Primary Preoccupation". Kathy will discuss classroom blogging platforms, the pros/cons of blogging platforms and how she uses her classroom blog with her students. Our Newbie Question of the Week will be: "What is a blog and how do I find good blogs to read?" Information on how to watch or join in at http://live.classroom20.com. # Second Life notices: * 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop: Appearance (ISTE Island 3) * 2/3 ISTE Speaker Series (TBA) * Video: Educational Uses of Second Life Shout outs: 1. Paul Nichols, thanks for letting us know you're listening! 2. Ron Miller, thanks for the email. 3. Jenny McAvoy-Anteau, congrats on your SL presentation! Web spotlight: http://www.onceuponaschool.org/ News: Online Safety Technology and Learning Gates Foundation Listener Letter

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose) 1. NMSA's Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009. Robert Balfanz will be keynoting. He has done a bunch of research on 6th grade transition factors that has been cited by NMSA. 2. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video 3. Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference March 12 & 13 at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township. Mr. Ron Clark will be keynoting. Approximately 20 days left for the early registration discount. 4. Ohio Middle School Association’s Annual Conference will be February 19-20 in Sandusky, OH. Keynote speakers this year include Mr. Mark McLeod and Mr. Ty Sells. 5. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June. See the flyer at their website for details. 6. Teacher Preparation Symposium information at NMSA. 7. NMSA is accepting presentation proposals to their Annual Conference in Indianapolis next year. 8. Interested in a Science Quiz show online and in a virtual game show environment? Try The Second Question. 9. NECC is coming this summer! Here's an excuse to travel to Washington D.C. 10. If Mr. Berckemeyer dawdles on getting us the Kindles, soon we'll want these from Plastic Logic. "Did you bring pencil, eraser, and epaper with you to class today?" 11. Thing To Try This Week: Create a flash mob of faculty at the corner of one of your hallways. Ideas for the flash mob can be posted here at www.middleschoolmatters.com. 12. From Steve Hargadon's Classroom 2.0: "Looking for Lincoln: Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race" with speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 13. 14. Second Life notices: * 1/25 ISTE Island Tours * 1/27 ISTE Seminar: Virtual Renaissance & Education - Virtual Harlem's role as a learning community. * 1/29 Data Visualization around the Campfire on ISTE island. * 1/31 Basic Skills Workshop: Appearance (ISTE Island 3) * 2/3 ISTE Speaker Series (TBA) Webspotlight- http://www.studystack.com/ • Hernando School Board says administrators should get raise, despite what they say • Suit filed over longer middle school day • Standards Help Minn. Vie With Top Nations • An Early Warning System: by promptly reacting to student distress signals, schools can redirect potential dropouts onto the path to graduation. * A final grade of F in mathematics. * A final grade of F in English. * Attendance below 80 percent for the year. * A final “unsatisfactory” behavior mark in at least one class. Solutions: * Whole-school interventions: Weekly or monthly attendance parties, one individual who intervenes at the first absence, placing or creating a school culture that rewards intrinsically or extrinsically good attendance. * Targeted interventions * Intensive interventions

News: Pasco schools say virtual ed's a real budget breaker As Pasco schools look to the future of education, online courses for kindergarten through eighth grade rate high on the priority list. "I'm not being funded to do it. I'm just being told I have to do it," said Fiorentino, who is leading a statewide effort to get a reprieve. "We just can't afford doing it this year." She said her staff has estimated the startup costs for the program — including such things as curriculum development and infrastructure — could run as high as $1-million. Although over time it would be expected to become self-sufficient, the school's initial price tag looks too steep when the district can't even afford employee raises, she added. http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article967362.ece Hard times cut state cyber school enrollments The state's 11 cyber charter schools -- online, at-home alternatives to traditional public schools -- are the latest victims of the recession. Facing the threat of layoffs or mortgage foreclosures, some parents are sending their children back to brick-and-mortar public schools because a stay-at-home spouse had to get a job, said Joe Lyons, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School in Norristown, second-largest in the state. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_606700.html Davis sixth-grader's science experiment breaks new ground By Niesha Lofing University of California, Davis, scientists are redirecting their research after a professor's son discovered that a major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over other nuts. The sixth-grader's experiment showed that female navel orangeworms preferred to lay their eggs in pistachios rather than almonds or walnuts, and researchers now are trying to use the information to better control the pests, according to the California Farm Bureau. http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/1530953.html Economy brings reprieve to teacher shortage http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_11408218?source=rss Fair Isn't Always Equal http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=8982&r=sb090112b&REFERER= First Chapter Free Socratic Circles presentation (Ballroom 3) Mary Dooms, Marge Strand of Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois email: marge.strand@lz95.org and mary.dooms@lz95.org Book: Socratic Circles by Matt Copeland Overview Rooted in Socrates' philosophy that critical thinking and reason skills ar enhanced when the learneer begins to question. Questioning continues the though process while answers stop it.

Items, Events, Calendar, Eclectic Stuff (truc et chose) Discussion of Social Networking and Education: 1. Use by Teachers for professional development 2. Use by classrooms 3. Use by students Web Spotlight: Animoto: Grab all those pictures you took in Advisory (you did take some, didn't you?) and throw them into Animoto. Let groups of students pull together music they'd like to set the pictures to and let Animoto do the rest. Thousands of possible combinations let each group's work turn out different with the same base material. What a great way to motivate the kids through the dark winter months. The Art of Revision (702) Board Quotes: Writing makes our thinking visible for ourselves and others. - unknown Feed your brain with words. Read till your eyeballs fall out - Wilson Rowls A writer takes a sentence, cuts it within an inch of its life, adds a clause, tucks in a few adjectives and then - when it can hardly stand up - hacks away at it again. It's hard work and don't let anyone tell you its' not - Helen F. Brassel The writer is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know. - Annie Dillard You have to do a lot of bad writing to get the good writing. - Don Murray Writing is long periods of thinking and short periods of writing. - Ernest Hemingway It is perfectly okay to write garbage as long as you edit brilliantly. Until you have something down on paper, even if its terrible, there's nothing to work with, nothing you can improve - C.J. Cherryh Use as many words as you need and not one you can live without. R. Jordan The best stories are not written, but rewritten. - Scott Willis Show, don't tell. Writing and reading are acts of discovery. 'Telling' robs a story of the feel of discovery - Rick Jones Regard your writing as literature - unknown Poetry is fewer words that say more. - unknown Carol A. Josel Bio: Has a smart big sister. Valerie went to Yale, Cornell, and Penn. Valerie is also an artist. Two things I could do: Swing by my head and get nose drops on the green velvet sofa. Good advice: You need to find something that you're good at. University of Maine started as a nursing student. Didn't do well in Organic Chemistry. She has a free e-newsletter. Please sign up for one. She has a blog! Carol's ideas for making writing an everyday expected activity: 1. Message each other frequently by leaving notes on pillows, desks, mirrors, wherever. 2. Make letter writing a habit for all, sending them to friends, relatives, even Santa. 3. Write your autobiography as a gift to your child. 4. Have your child write an annual “Year in Review”--an ongoing record of your lives. 5. On birthdays, give written gifts of family stories and recalled moments. 6. Send postcards to each other—without going anywhere. We all love mail. 7. Make the sending of thank you notes a must for everyone. 8. Keep a family journal, a record of your lives over time—and include captioned photos. 9. Writing letters to the editor keeps the juices flowing. 10. Promote journal writing—and respect privacy. 11. Encourage your child to write and perform skits or puppet shows. Think Popsicle sticks. 12. Contact Student Letter Exchange for pen pals: 516-887-8628; www.pen-pa.com

Events and more: Web Spotlight: Created for middle school teachers: A direct path to selective online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library. Enter each subject pathway below to browse a list of topics and take an in-depth look at teachable concepts in science and mathematics. http://msteacher.org/ Letters from our listeners: Happy New Year to you both I'd like to consider a differing perspective on the terminology "digital native" vs. "digital immigrant." I feel that these categories are as restrictive as other stereotypes which we as educators battle to abolish. We make assumptions that children who grow up with technology are native to it. Yes, they do experience the use of computers, cell phones, DVD's, wide-screen TV's with cable and digital downloads, the internet, SMS and AIM at a very young age. But the connotation is that they somehow have an advantage over those of us who as children had B&W television with VHF/UHF-only programming, dial phones hard-wired to the wall, LED calculators, VHS tapes, cassettes, and even computers with a whopping 128k of RAM. Children are native to whatever they experience as they age. They will embrace the ubiquitous technology with as much fervor as some of us did with our 8-track tapes and AM radios. Does this make them more likely to be successful in its use? Perhaps it gives them a better start. But they are using things that have no context. As teachers, we are well aware of how important context is to what kids learn. We, the so called "immigrants" are not really immigrants at all. If anything, we are the philosophers and archivists of knowledge. We have the context that kids lack because we lived the technology as it changed and grew. For example, ask the average middle school student today about how the Macintosh OS relates to Windows in a historical perspective. They have little clue and don't even see its relevance. But wasn't WW I relevant to WW II? Are the military personnel who didn't grow up with the option of Cruise missiles considered immigrants? I'm not saying that kids today don't have a different perspective than many of us in our 30's, 40's, or even 50's. But if anything, we are perhaps the true natives. We lived off the land of tubes to transistors and circuit boards. We evolved in our usage of computers and microwaves, and we had keen perspective to evaluate, compare and contrast, and contribute to further development. It seems that, at the very least, we need one other category to better describe the generational rift. Consider the title "digital scholar." Many of us are walking encyclopedias and history books of technology. We felt, tasted, and touched the evolution, the revolution, and the contribution. We have an altogether different appreciation for what the digital age has given us, and as scholars, we have an obligation to share as much as we can with today's youth. Because only armed with this context can they bring things forward and make the tough decisions ahead. These digital natives will need to determine the difference between "can we" and "should we." Let us hope they choose wisely. Thanks for all your hard work with this podcast. News: Culturally relevant, technology inservice, art of cursive, kids ready to start school, and California education cuts.

MSM 57- Arne Duncan Doughnuts in the Teacher's Lounge!

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

Shawn & Troy continue the NMSA08 conference summary, discuss Disrupting Class and more. ... SchoolTube has videos are posted from NMSA08 for you to either relive the experience or get a taste of the convention from the folks who attended. ...YouTube is perhaps best known for its cavalcade of homemade performances and TV clips, but many people like Nissim are turning to it for free tutoring in math, science and other complicated subjects. ...The Big Shift is coming in access to this technology and how it is being used to engage students, either for good or evil. ...Think about this as building networks and not just a transfer of what we did on paper to now doing it on the web.

MSM 54 Families and Media Ecology, What is the Future of Education? NMSA08 Wrap Up

MSM 53 Getting on the Bus with Jim Collins and the Gang at NMSA08

2. The Ohio Middle School Association's Annual Conference will be held at Kalahari February 19-20. 3. The National Middle School Association's Annual Conference will be November 5-7 in Indianapolis, IN. The theme will center around globalization and service learning. 4. The Middle Level Essentials Conference will be held at the Red Rocks in Nevada April 23-34. Tell your high school colleagues about the special "conference in a conference" on ninth grade teams. 5. Crime does not pay! Worried teaching tech skills might open doors to nefarious activities? This creative internetter used Craigslist to create a caper outside a bank in Washington. A suspect is in custody. Bonus points for creativity, not so much for community service content. Considering the recent economy let me also add this: Don't do this at home. 6. We've compared education and technology to the RIAA and piracy laws. Here's another take on that conversation for your perusal. 7. The MacArthur Foundation is spending $50 million dollars on a 5 year study seeking to understand digital life and youth. Three years of the study are reported out in Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of the Findings from the Digital Youth Project. Read about the study here in the New York Times article. We might pull this for discussion in a future podcast. 8. What if we thought of internet access like water, gas, electricity and other utilities? Will Richardson has found an interesting quote from a future Obama official concerning the regulation of the internet and increasing availability in communities across the country. As proposed, the deregulation would increase competition and lower price making it more available to households. 9. Quote for the week: "In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm? i=56127 Wagner said the problem is that you can have all the equipment and technology you want, but "if you don't teach kids how to think, how to think beyond multiple choice, you've got a problem." "I realize education is a very risk-averse sector," said Wagner, "but assessments either drive instruction for the better or for the worse, and right now in the U.S., it's for the worse. If our assessments measured performance and 21st-century skills, like the European PISA assessment, that would be another story." "They're multi-taskers, they are drawn to graphics, they like instant gratification, they use Web 2.0 tools to create, and they love collaboration," he said. "If we can figure out how to grab their interest in learning, they'll become great thinkers and be eager to learn the basics." Wagner presented a list of seven "survival skills" that students need to succeed in today's information-age world, taken from his book The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--And What We Can do About It. It's a school's job to make sure students have these skills before graduating, he said: 1. Problem-solving and critical thinking; 2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence; 3. Agility and adaptability; 5. Effective written and oral communication; "We are making [Adequate Yearly Progress] at the expense of failing our kids at life. Something has to change," he concluded. Elements of a staff recognition program: Motivating Behaviors: Manager personally congratulates 8 • Book: Here comes everybody! by Sharkey

A look at educational news: Obama's lessons, Teachers & Facebook, Tenure (how much is it worth to you), and Wisconsin's potential $200 million loss. We also look at some events and happenings. Our wrap up discussion of NMSA08 centers around our first break out sessions.