Summary: MSM 273: Maestro, my Kindergartener is now “College and Career Ready”. Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: ally-funny Eileen Award: Twitter: Jason Hovey, Tara Becker-Utess, Anna Asti, Andrea McKay, Kevin Sigaty, Jerri Wood, Google+: Heather Valdespino Advisory: 10 Jobs that will http://mashable.com/2014/04/28/jobs-of-the-future/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-HAND WASHING I was recently reading the January, 2014 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. One of my favorite sections in each Science Scope is the "Scope on Safety" section, written by Ken Roy, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Glastonbury Public Schools. Ken shares his advice on hand washing. From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” Strategies: Google Lesson Plans http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html Resources: Curriculet Create/Use classroom texts that include mark ups, notes, and quizzes. Uses Google sign in. www.curriculet.com Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories. http://twinery.org/ Google Classroom http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/ Web Spotlight: Digital Reading Poses Learning Challenges for Students By Benjamin Herold Comprehension may suffer when students read on the digital devices now flooding into classrooms, an emerging body of research suggests. When reading on screens, for example, people seem to reflexively skim the surface of texts in search of specific information, rather than dive in deeply in order to draw inferences, construct complex arguments, or make connections to their own experiences. Research has also found that students, when reading digitally, tend to discard familiar print-based strategies for boosting comprehension. And many of the multimedia elements, animations, and interactive features found in e-books appear to function primarily as amusing distractions. ...also quick to acknowledge a big problem: "I understand better when [text] is on paper, because it's all right there, and it's not skipping ahead and back all the time." A study last year by Heather R. and Jordan T. Schugar, a wife-and-husband research team at Westchester University of Pennsylvania, found that a small sample of students comprehended traditional books at "a much higher level" than they comprehended the same material when read on an iPad. "We live in two worlds now," she said. "We have to adapt." http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/07/30reading_ep.h33.html?tkn=PMMFo4tLGmh6NCiNzQJqSzJEzUsX5Cmy25wx&cmp=ENL-DD-NEWS1 Kindergarten show canceled so kids can keep studying to become ‘college and career ready.’ Really. An annual year-end kindergarten show has been canceled at a New York school because the kids have to keep working so they will be “college and career” ready. Really. This didn’t come out of the blue. Kindergarten (and even preschool) has increasingly become academic — at the expense of things such as recess and the arts — in this era of standardized test-based school reform. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/26/kindergarten-show-canceled-so-kids-can-keep-working-to-become-college-and-career-ready-reallyV Random Thoughts . . . eCommunity for Moodle Personal Web Site
