MSM #79- The Rube Goldberg Show!




Middle School Matters show

Summary: Podcast #79: The Rube Goldberg Show! Advisory! Advisory! Advisory! Tinker Toys...create exact same structure while seated back to back Machines...place name of machines on index cards, distribute to groups, have them act them out From the Twitterverse: * russeltarr PhotoPeach: Create movies from photos (simpler than Animoto - for younger students?): http://tinyurl.com/mn3zqm * vtdeacon Two of my students made this animoto of stuff we did this school year. Check it!: http://animoto.com/play/fKS... * russeltarr New iPhone App Lets You Write in Thin Air: http://tinyurl.com/lvkxcu * Educator Doing it wrong. "Teachers banned from Twitter after principal constantly criticises students" (Telegraph) http://ow.ly/dN9f * michelledoddRT @kjarrett: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive « http://bit.ly/10ESlj Shout Outs: Ric Wiltse, Executive Director-Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning- for accepting Troy's proposal for Shawn to present. 3:30 - 4:30pm Professional Learning Networks Shawn McGirr, Troy Patterson Content: M/SC/SS Level: GENERAL Room: W104 "Networking is a basic tenet of education. Come and learn how you can create your own Personal Learning Network. Learn which tools you can use to develop a network that meets YOUR needs. Learn the continuum of professional learning network development. Learn how to use podcasts, wikis, social networking (facebook, et. al.), social bookmarking (delicious, et. al), webinars, blogs, microblogs (Twitter), and more. This stuff isn't just for your students anymore." News: Schwarzenegger: Printed texts are old school Analysis: As a budget-cutting strategy, California's digital textbook initiative could have national implications In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google, and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California's students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday. The governor recently launched an initiative to see if the state's 6 million public school students could use more online learning materials, including open courseware--perhaps saving millions of dollars a year in textbook purchases. The governor is starting with math and sciences and has asked providers to submit their online postings to state officials by next week. The materials that survive state review will be made available to school districts by Aug. 10. "We expect the first science and math books to be digital by this fall," Schwarzenegger said. "If we expand this to more textbooks, schools could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to hire more teachers and to reduce class sizes." http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=59180 Events & Happenings: 2. NMSA's Annual Conference: NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video: Indianapolis, IN Conference November 5-7, 2009. Individual Registration is now open. 3. ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall. 4. NMSA 09 Conference Connection: Stay connected before, during, and after the conference! Start your packing lists for the conference using packwhiz.com! 5. Keynote speakers for NMSA '09 have been announced: Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes. 6. NMSA has a new publication on the role of middle grades in drop-out prevention. You can download it as a pdf file. 7. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C. Conference registration info. 8. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event. 10. The Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Annual Conference is coming up March 4-5, 2010 in Dexter, MI. MAMSE will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary!