Summary: Jokes: Said the officer to the soldier, "Private, why did you salute that refrigerator?" The soldier replied, "Because it was General Electric." "And that jeep?" the officer asked. Replied the soldier, "Because it was General Motors." On Our Mind: Standardized Testing Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski 2 big events: Earth Science Week - Oct. 10th - 16th National Fossil Day - Oct. 13th From the Twitterverse: Advisory: How do people spend their money? http://www.creditloan.com/infographics/how-the-average-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/ Tera & Bella An elephant and a dog become best friends. We use it to talk about how people might be different, but can still get along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0TjfOKnF-c The follow up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcfWFZaYzs Tech Tools: Visual Words Here are six visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help your students better understand the meanings of words. From Free Technology for Teachers. Snappy Words Visuwords Lexipedia Merriam Webster's Visual Dictionary Wordia Got Brainy http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/six-visual-dictionaries-and-thesauri.html Quiz Break What is QuizBreak!? QuizBreak! is a highly flexible program that allows teachers to create fun, Jeopardy©-like games for the language classroom. QuizBreak! allows you to: Write clues in any script (left-to-right, right-to-left, and non-Roman scripts will all work) Add images to clues Record or upload audio and/or video clues Program Features User-friendly editing interface for easy category-creation Prize amounts can be displayed using any currency symbol Multi-platform program works on PCs and Macs http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/ Webspotlight: BBC News: Faces of the U.S. Civil War http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11470304 OK, this one is just silly- but with a good cause behind it. The idea plays off of the talking baby meme. You can type in up to 600 characters, pick a baby and listen/watch the fun. The cause supports no baby born with HIV by the year 2015. Check it out. http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/widget.html How to be a Good Commenter: Karen shared her Paper Blog activity with me a few months ago and I've used it with my students to get them ready to blog with the "real thing." My students have practiced writing and most of all commenting appropriately. http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-be-good-commenter.html 7 Delightfully Nerdy Apps for Math and Science Geeks Celestia Stellarium OSXplanet Smell-O-Mints GNU XaoS Eigenmath Magic Number Machine http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/7-delightfully-nerdy-apps-for-math-and-science-geeks/ ISTE 2010: Steve Hargadon’s “Birds of A Feather” Session Events & Happenings:
