Summary: Jokes: ABCs Little Freddy's second-grade teacher was quizzing them on the alphabet. "Freddy," she says, "what comes after 'O'?" Freddy says, "Yeah!" Mothers Miss Jones had been giving her second-grade students a lesson on science. She had explained about magnets and showed how they would pick up nails and other bits of iron. Now it was question time, and she asked, "My name begins with the letter 'M' and I pick up things. What am I?" A little boy on the front row proudly said, "You're a mother!" On Our Mind: WOOT! It’s Christmas Break! (then 2 weeks ‘till exams after that . . . ) Australian schools got out this past week for their summer break … Edublog Awards: Congrats to all the winners! 2nd Runner up: EdTechCrew 1st Runner up: LearnEnglish The 2010 Winner: PortableRadio.ca Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Advisory: What kids can do http://whatkidscando.org/ Teaching Strategy: "Managing Students in the Computer Lab" From the Twitterverse: NSMA 2010 Session 5: Getting the Most out of Your Networked World News: Put PISA in Perspective By Walt Gardner on December 8, 2010 7:05 AM NMSA on the Tube Taking Teacher Evaluation to Extremes By Kenneth Mitchell http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/12/17/15mitchell.h30.html?tkn=TLOFwiP0tsOnR6JT3k/eb9Op9p6gM3PcMctB&cmp=clp-edweek Webspotlight: New words of the Decade: Video is 2 minutes and 10 seconds. http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2010/12/time-video-new-words-born-this-decade.html Events & Happenings: Calendar of Events: NMSA News: * National Conference: Thursday, November 08, 2010 —Saturday, November 10, 2010 Louisville, Kentucky. o Need a letter to your administrator explaining the benefits of attending NMSA? How about this one? o Promotional Materials: + Crossword Puzzle! (Maryland Conference) Other News: * ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education. o The ISTE Special Interest Group: Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 - 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island. * The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 - 18, 2011. o OMLA Registration Form o OMLA Presentation Proposal Form * The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 17-18, 2011 in Coopersville, MI. Coopersville Middle School is a National Schools to Watch School. (Phone: (616) 997-3400) o MAMSE Exhibitor Form o MAMSE Registration Form o MAMSE Presentation Form (Presenter Deadline Extended!) * The North Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference March 13-15, 2011 o Conference Brochure o Presenter’s Application o Who They Are . . . * Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar. o Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog: Archived content is available. * Second Life: o Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details. Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week. o Video: Educational Uses of Second Life
