MiddleWeb

Welcome to the MiddleWeb Resources Blog

Thanks for visiting our MiddleWeb blog, where you can browse 100s of resources selected for middle grades educators, parents and others interested in the education of young adolescents.

Scroll down the homepage to see our latest entries and look in Categories for specific interests. Set up an RSS feed and you'll be notified when new material is added. (Need help with RSS?)

You can subscribe to our email newsletter and receive a half-dozen fresh resources in each issue. (You can always unsubscribe here.) Our resources service is made possible with support from Stenhouse Publishers and you will see ads for Stenhouse books from time to time in our listings.

We've launched the new MiddleWeb - Come see.

We've launched the new MiddleWeb site and we think you'll like it.

 

The new MiddleWeb is "All About the Middle Grades" — with a sharp focus on teaching & learning in grades 4-8. We are featuring lots of original content, organized into four big fat threads:

• Interviews: We're chatting with interesting people who have expertise around middle grades education -- or just do great things for middle grades kids and their teachers, school leaders, and parents. Check out our Five Q Interviews. To celebrate our launch, we are rolling out talks with folks like Bill Ferriter, Donalyn Miller, Larry Ferlazzo, Anne Jolly, Gwyneth Jones, Cossondra George, Jessica Shumway, Cindi Rigsbee, Laurie Wasserman, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, and more.

• Resource Roundups: We've always specialized in finding and sharing resources you can use. At our new site we're posting regular Resource Roundups -- our tag for short link-laden essays built around a theme. Examples, you ask? "Algebra in the Middle Grades." "Avoiding the Summer Learning Slump." "The Best Ways to Keep Up with YA Books." "Helpful Resources for New Middle Grades Teachers." With many more to come. And be sure to follow our Quick Links page to keep up with our daily finds.

• Guest Posts: Just what you might expect...first-person articles from the well-known and unknown. We don't distinguish between middle grades education stars and those teachers and school leaders busy up on the front lines who have stories to tell and good practice to share. That said, our recently launched site includes original pieces by Rick Wormeli, Nancy Flanagan, Jose Vilson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Anthony Cody, Marsha Ratzel, Elena Aguilar, Bill Ivey and other insightful middle grades minds.

• Book Reviews: Back in MiddleWeb's early days, we featured reviews of professional books of particular interest to educators working in the middle. We're reviving that tradition and we've made arrangements with many of the major education publishers to share review copies with us. We're recruiting MiddleWeb fans to read (and keep) the books and write the reviews. If you're interested, visit our Book Reviews page, where we're sharing a list of what's available and some basic guidelines for review writing. You pick what you'd like to read.

The new MiddleWeb SmartBrief 

We're also excited about our new partnership with the SmartBrief education news team. On June 19th, the nation's premier professional newsletter organization launched MiddleWeb SmartBrief. We're advising the SB editors about news & resource selection and also providing our own content in each twice-weekly issue. You can subscribe here.

So, to new friends and old...

If you love upper elementary and middle school kids (and learning), follow us to www.middleweb.com

Susan B. Curtis, Co-Editor
John Norton, Co-Editor & Founder

MiddleWeb's New Resources (450)

Dear Readers: Our frankly fantastic new MiddleWeb site will launch in early June, with lots of original content and the best in Gr. 4-8 resources. Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more!

Awesome Stories Retools
With over 2.5 million visits in 2011, Awesome Stories has proven its value to educators, parents, and students. The free site, created by attorney Carole Bos, provides multi-faceted stories of people, events and cultures using primary sources in a wide range of media. The 13-year-old website is the first place to go for info that connects the classroom to recent movies, plus the latest on history, the arts, and more. As Awesome Stories retools, you can help by sharing your advice. What do you find useful in the current site? What would you like to see? Take the survey, be entered in a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card, and sign up for the monthly newsletter. (Yes, we love Awesome Stories!)

from Stenhouse Publishers

Have you ever seen a five-paragraph essay outside school walls? Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay explains the pitfalls of this approach, and gives you practical strategies for reclaiming the literary essay and encouraging thoughtful writing in response to literature. Preview the entire book.

 
Summer, Academically Speaking
Alycia Zimmerman counters ‘summer slide’ with a full-on super send-off for her 3rd-5th graders. In this Scholastic blog post, she describes how she builds excitement about summer reading. She also provides links to Scholastic’s resource packed K-12 Summer Challenge and to parent resources. For later grades: Donalyn Miller, the Book Whisperer, has interesting summer plans for 6th-7th graders. And the NYT Learning Network is hosting its third annual reading contest for kids 13 and up -- and this year offers suggestions for keeping math alive in summer, too.


DIY STEM for Girls
The number of girls interested in STEM has dropped steeply since the 1970’s. Educators and companies are trying to reverse the trend with events like Dare 2B Digital. The California conference brought together 13-16 year olds to experience the excitement of hands-on science and math. Appearing at the event was the young star of Sylvia's Super-Awesome Mini-Maker Show! You and your students can watch 10-year-old Sylvia’s many DIY videos for project ideas and STEM-spiration.

Helping All the Kids All Year
In this Ed Week post, special educator and NBCT Laurie Wasserman shares strategies for keeping students with IEPs (and others with challenges) on course during the year. The sixth graders at her school have benefited from their general and special ed teachers collaborating closely. They are carefully developing and implementing procedures to keep students up to date and looking at lessons from a student’s point of view. Wasserman also makes a plea for teachers to exert whatever leadership is needed to get the extra planning time this level of student support requires.

 
Quick Tips to Capture Memories
Capture photos of end-of-year memories -- from field trips and celebrations to project presentations -- and then make them even more memorable with free, easy-to-use photo editing tools. In this post, teacher-librarian leader Joyce Kasman Valenza profiles web-based editing tools she enjoys: Picnik (now at Google+ Creative Suite), PicMonkey, Aviary, iPiccy and more. Be sure to visit her New Tools libguide (a treasure trove) to see these image editors in action.


Worst Things to Say 
Mindful that teachers often face lots of end-of-year stress, ‘Get in the Fracas’ blogger Dan Brown shares the “5 Worst Things a Teacher Can Say to Students.”  Reading over Brown’s list reminds us that a teacher's words may undermine learning goals, and sarcasm can cause deep wounds. In the comments, readers have added their own phrases to avoid. Some also question #4 on his list. See what you think.

What Engages Kids, in Their Own Words 

Heather Wolpert-Gawron asked her eighth graders "What engages students?" She took all 220 responses and developed a "10 ways to engage" list, including: exchanging ideas with peers, using tech, and learning through projects and hands-on activities. Also on Edutopia, Mark Phillips reports the experience of a troubled, introverted student who found no support from his teachers.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Find out why spiders don’t stick to webs in this Science Friday video. Lots more creatures featured. 

• Want to make the case for the arts in a time of budget cuts? The ArtsEdge research database is just what you need!

• Reading Rockets’ Edgar Rice Burroughs writing contest ended May 4, but the writing prompts are still fun.

• Carl Hiaasen comments on reality TV, animal wranglers, and the kids in his new YA novel, Chomp.

• Kids 12 & up can enter WKCD’s Graduation Speech Contest to answer “What makes a nation strong?” Enter by June 1.

20% Off Any PLP Summer eCourse: Good for One Week Only!

MiddleWeb's New Resources (449)

Dear Subscribers: Our awesome new MiddleWeb site will launch in 30 days, featuring Gr. 4-8 resources, interviews, book reviews and guest posts. Stay tuned!

Resources from our latest newsletter. Free subscription here.

 

The Pineapple & the Hare:
What Could Go Wrong?

How would your students react to this item that appeared in standardized tests used for several years in several states? When test-weary NY eighth graders expressed bewilderment over the Hare vs. Pineapple race, the NY Times helped the story go viral. The original tale was penned by children's author Daniel Pinkwater but heavily altered by testmakers. "It's hilarious...(to) use a passage of mine, because I'm an advocate of nonsense," he said. Pinkwater even heard from concerned  students. Some more serious Pinkwater comments about misuse of education funding were highlighted by EdWeek blogger Anthony Cody. The political fallout included an announcement by the NYSDE that the reading passage’s six questions would not be graded (and assurance that next year's Common Core-aligned questions will be better). Pearson, the source of the E/ LA test, declined comment. For student reaction, read this post by Brooklyn middle school teacher Ariel Sacks, who also noted that draconian test security can perpetuate bad test items. Whew! We enjoyed this wry round-up of the Pineapple affair at the NYT School Book blog.

from Stenhouse Publishers

What are 8 keys to schoolwide math success? Small Steps, Big Changes helps you set goals, create a culture of mathematical thinking, and translate high-level standards such as Common Core into effective classroom practice. Includes examples from diverse schools across the country. Preview the entire book.

 
Web Job Search
Beyond Monster, CareerBuilder, and Flipdog, where do you look online for job openings, in an education landscape littered with pink slips? Members and non-members can browse job listings at the Association for Middle Level Education. AMLE also lets teachers post resumes and offers PDF advice on job searching. Education Week’s Top School Jobs section is well worth a look -- it provides job search for teachers and managers, plus extensive support for job seekers and employers at its Career Coach Corner. The National Association of Elementary School Principals lists leadership openings in grades K-8. The National Association of Secondary School Principals also has open browsing for leadership positions. AND: You can access openings across the U.S. at the federal Career OneStop site.


Online Math Contests
Spring 2012 is bursting with online contests that engage students with math concepts. America is struggling to make math fun, says Reuters. MIT’s Lure of the Labyrinth game, which runs through June 15, involves middle school kids in solving a monstrous mystery (while gathering research data behind the scenes). The game features prizes for kids, lesson plans, a relaxed schedule, and the option for teachers to write a reflection. DimensionU is sponsoring the "DU the Math" multiplayer game competition through May 13 with finals June 16. In addition to lots of techy prizes awarded during the 5-week contest, there are scholarships and music themed top prizes. The Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in NYC, opening later this year, already is sharing the joy of math. Through May 11, teachers – preferably in upper elementary and middle grades – can enter to win a $25,000 prize through the museum’s Innovation in Math Teaching contest. MoMath also hosts a YouTube channel for its Math Encounters. It’s good for PD, but you might also want to share “Soap Bubbles and Mathematics” (starting at minute 15) with students.

Create Engaged Fiction Readers
Ariel Sacks and Rachel Small see reading novels as an opportunity to engage students in collaborative learning. Writing for Ed Week Teacher, Sacks describes the stultifying effects of reading segments of literary works and having students respond to a teacher’s talking points. Instead, she reports her seventh graders flourish when they read a whole novel before they launch into discussions.  She provides a step-by-step process for building student involvement and learning (and meeting standards). In a separate post, fifth grade teacher Rachel Small recounts her evolution from rubric-based teaching of fiction to developing virtual book clubs through Edmodo. Her fifth graders now enjoy sharing their observations with students beyond their school.

 
Leaders Respond to Bullying
Watching the new documentary ‘Bully’ can be wrenching. Teacherken (Kenneth J. Bernstein) describes the experience and the need for action. Two national organizations for principals offer free online resources to help the school community counter bullies. NASSP offers a Bullying Prevention page, which links to Facing History's guide to the film (free by registration). You'll also find web and media links for principals, students and parents. NAESP offers handouts to share with parents and links to district policies and legislation. A NYT Learning Network post highlights anti-bullying awareness lessons and links to recent news and editorials, many in response to ‘Bully.’ 


Where to Look for Civics Tools

Teaching consultant and former Disney Teacher of the Year Rick Wormeli considers the state of civics education in an April Ed Leadership article. He believes that “illiteracy in civics is arguably an arteriosclerosis of our democratic circulatory system, effectively blocking understanding and progress, bringing us closer to a civic stroke.” As a cure, Wormeli recommends the iCivics program championed by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who hopes that "interactive digital media will help preserve American democracy." You can see civics in action in Beth Sanders’ Alabama inner-city classroom, as she engages students in an iCitizenship project. Here’s what one of her students has to say. Sanders also contributed to this EdWeek series of posts on effective social studies instruction.

Catch Their Attention with Science Kids
You can find just about any science topic at Rene Smith’s Science Kids. The former education programmer for the Science Alive center in New Zealand has assembled a wide ranging collection of science games, facts, jokes, and more. Free images and brief videos are plentiful. Lesson plans and projects range from concocting quicksand to building a website. And there are long lists of ideas to spark science fair efforts. Most of the content will appeal to the younger kids in MiddleWeb’s audience.

Cross-Curricular Lesson Planning
In this Ed Week Teacher post, NBCT Sarah Henchey advocates interdisciplinary study to engage students and deepen their learning. After observing teachers at a nearby school plan across content areas, Henchey worked with her school’s other sixth grade teachers to develop a unit on Greek and Roman culture.  She suggests several strategies to meet the challenges of coordination. Among them: build buy-in, start small, communicate efficiently. Henchey told us in an email that "I think there's a lot of potential in these kinds of units, especially in light of the Common Core literacy standards." We plan to ask her more about that in a future interview.

 

Learn More!

__________________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Californian Rebecca Mieliwocki, a seventh-grade English teacher with 14 years in the classroom, was named National Teacher of the Year this week!  

• MSNBC's Rachel Maddow introduces MS national chess champs: they won over high schools! (After an ad.)

• Use these writing blunders to show students that grown-ups can make errors, too. From the NYT. 

• From Hadley Ferguson’s Middle School Matrix: Research shows which class minutes yield greatest learning.

• Steven Engravalle’s iSchoolLeader Magazine blog offers lots of ed news for school and teacher leaders. See if you agree.

• Can’t Confirm That Quotation? Search Google Books. Here’s how, from MindShift.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (448)

From our newsletter: The Three Little Pigs - Remixed •  Inside the Reading Tests • PBL the Muppet Way • Build Projects with Science Buddies • Help Parents Enter 21st Century Learning • Teaching Students How to  Search • Brain Science Changes Education • Digital Storytelling Kits • See History in the Making • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

 

From the Teaching Channel:
The 3 Little Pigs Remixed

Have fun while your students meet the Common Core E/LA standard for discerning ‘theme’ in fiction. Just have them do some remix with the Three Little Pigs and produce variant endings. Other activities build plots from themes, create quick plays from original stories, and more. Watch as teachers describe the unfolding lesson in this Teaching Channel video. Worksheets and handouts included. Since June 2011, the nonprofit Teaching Channel has produced hundreds of free videos about good teaching practice, all presented by teachers themselves.

 

from Stenhouse Publishers

What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests saves valuable time and helps you empower your students without sacrificing high-quality instruction. You'll get strategies and activities for mastering test items across all of the commonly assessed reading standards. Preview the entire book.

PBL the Muppet Way 
Teacher Michael K. Milton recently noticed that the plot of the 2011 movie, The Muppets, mirrors the processes of Project Based Learning. In this @deeplearning blog post, Milton analyzes the PBL-like steps the Muppet gang pursues to save Muppet Productions. Clever and informative. In addition to the movie clip included in the post, find more at Disney’s website for the The Muppets.


Build Projects with Science Buddies
Science Buddies wants K-12 students to enjoy challenging science projects. The free site offers students the Ask an Expert Forum and the Topic Selection Wizard. Teachers will find thoroughly developed guides, enrichment tools, and rubrics. Science Buddies is a nonprofit supported largely through the foundations of tech, energy, and child-oriented companies. For Earth Day, the site's staffers have selected favorite projects, including wiping out ‘vampire’ computer peripherals and modeling the global conveyer belt (ocean currents) in a loaf dish.


Parent Guide: 21st C Learning 
To help more parents acclimate to new trends in teaching and learning, Edutopia has released A Parent’s Guide to 21st Century Learning, available as a PDF to registered users (no cost). After a quick overview of collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking, the guide offers grade leveled resources parents can use at home and within the school community. For teachers, try Edutopia’s 2011 Home-to-School Connections Guide. Teacher Larry Ferlazzo, whose ideas on parent engagement are included in the guide, recently hosted a discussion on ‘Ways to Build Trust Between Parents & Teachers’ at his EdWeek blog, Classroom Q&A.

Teaching Students How to Search
Finding a few minutes to tackle ‘a Google a Day’ (aGaD) can give your students a fun way to practice internet search skills. In a Voices from the Learning Revolution post, middle school NBCT Marsha Ratzel outlines her recently acquired Google a Day strategies, which also help students identify credible sources. ELSEWHERE: In wake of news that the Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer appear in print, the NYT Learning Network has posted lesson ideas for improving students' use of Google, Wikipedia, and Times Topics pages. AND: A recent article in Educational Leadership looks at ways to help students evaluate the quality of resources, including infographics, in terms of expertise, accuracy,  and more. There's also a checklist for judging Wikipedia articles.


Brain Science Changes Education

21st century-learning expert Ira Socol has a message for middle schools: Re-form. Writing at his blog SpeEdChange, Socol cites a recent NatGeo article summarizing findings about adolescent brain development and argues that adults be more accepting of students’ quick changes in interests, varying concepts of time, and other predictable if challenging learning behaviors. Rather than treating teens as adults only when it suits adults’ needs, he suggests that schools be "designed for growth and learning, not compliance and conformity.”  

Digital Kits Save Time
In a recent Tempered Radical post, sixth grade teacher Bill Ferriter shows how to use Google Docs to create digital image kits for student projects, including storytelling. A huge advantage of providing the kits online is that kids can spend more time understanding ideas and less hunting for images. Ferriter also notes that image searches from within Google Docs will limit results to Creative Commons images licensed for reuse and modification. Ferriter’s how-to screen shots should get you off to a swift start as you create your own digital kits. And don't miss his follow-up post with more details about how he uses the kits.

See History in the Making 
Historical film clips can catch the flavor of the period and show Very Important Personages in action. The clips can also catch students’ attention in a hurry. To help teachers make the most effective use of these authentic glimpses into the past, teachinghistory.org offers K-12 lesson plans, strategies to boost learning, and a PDF ("Archives of Historic Footage") describing many clip sources. There's much more at the USDOE-supported site. You might start with the Quick Links pages for elementary and middle school.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Scholastic blogger Addie Albano answers general education teachers’ questions on IEPs.  
.
• Angry Birds have invaded Space, thanks to NASA and Rovio. The mission: understand microgravity .
 
• Teens and teachers can find great spring/summer reading in YALSA’s Best of the Best Reading Challenge.

• The Statistical Abstract of the US has survived abandonment by the Census Bureau, thanks to for-profit companies.

• 4th grade teacher Patti Grayson is using Edmodo, the secure social network for students & teachers, in some creative ways that can work in other grades too.

• Find Antarctic icebergs, weather, penguins and survival tips - in lessons and links - at Countdown to 2041.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (447)

From our newsletter: Bring Balance to Your Day • Xs & Whys of Algebra • Oral Strategies Reinforce Learning • Whither Weather? • Why Value-Added Evaluation Fails • Game Design & Education • Billy Collins Gets Animated • Math the Write Way • ED: Racial Disparities in Schools • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Bring Balance to Your Day
About this time of year, we may find ourselves so busy that it seems hard to find time to re-energize and reclaim balance. Mike  Anderson, a consultant and educator, lists some traps we can fall into and offers strategies to meet them head-on. Among them: act now, exercise in found time, use your own deep breaths. Things we may know but need to be reminded of. As Anderson points out, maintaining a healthy balance is part of the job. His piece is one of several dealing with stress in the March 15 issue of ASCD Express.

from Stenhouse Publishers

All teachers of algebra should have The Xs and Whys of Algebra at their fingertips during planning and instruction. This handy 84-page flipchart cuts through the confusion to help you prevent common misconceptions. 30 modules focus on key standards with instructional strategies, activities, and reproducibles. Click here for details.

 
Teacher Language Matters
What does it look like in the classroom when kids are understanding deeply, especially in science, social studies and other content areas? What helps "understanding" have some staying power? That's the essential question literacy expert Ellin Keene set out to answer as she visited a diverse set of classrooms across the US. In this interview at Choice Literacy, Keene describes what she found, including "particular ways that (teachers) could adjust or modify our (spoken) language" to promote understanding that sticks. Sophisticated vocabulary and varied sentence structure can help.


Whither Weather?
Washington, DC’s cherry trees are blossoming ahead of schedule this year. Forsythia is blooming in Connecticut. So why did the eastern US have such a warm winter after last year’s record breaking snow? What can we expect from such early plant growth? This NYT Learning Network lesson has students look into interactive weather data across the U.S. Kids can also examine the weather impact of bodies of water and landmasses. ALSO: Register now to participate in National Environmental Education Week April 15-21. This year's focus: Incorporating environmental studies and STEM, as students learn about climate and develop hands-on projects in their school yards and communities. Don’t miss the middle level resources.

Why Value-Added Evaluation Fails
Assessing teaching using value-added test data has its uses, but the data is not an accurate measure of individual performance. This recent post summarizes findings by Linda Darling-Hammond and others (published recently in Kappan magazine) on the shortcomings of using value-added scores to rank and reward teachers. Darling-Hammond and her colleagues also suggest strategies for achieving accurate and equitable evaluations.

Game Design & Education
Last fall, researcher James Paul Gee explained to a Buck Institute for Education audience how elements of game design can bring pedagogy into the 21st century. In this Edutopia blog, two BIE leaders talk about Gee’s ideas. For more about how gaming comes alive in schools, see this TED Talk by 7th grade world history teacher Aran Levasseur -- and read his recent article for PBS’s MediaShift, where he highlights the potential of digital games to promote innovative thinking and career role-playing.


Billy Collins Gets Animated

Former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins shares his quiet humor and sharp observations in this new video, where he presents animations of five short poems, part of a Sundance Channel project. Before you share these with your students, read this middle grades teacher post at RAMS English. You’ll have kids looking for ‘cool words’ and unexpected pairings before they settle in to view some or all of the visualized poems. Just in time for National Poetry Month.

 

Math the Write Way
How can you build the benefits of writing into math class? In ‘Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning,’ McREL consultant Vicki Urquhart outlines the research that supports writing about math and offers strategies for adding free writing, biographies, word problems and more.  Though the booklet was written for secondary educators, most of its suggestions should be useful to upper elementary students, too.

ED: Racial Disparities in Schools
Black and Hispanic students face harsher discipline and increased retention rates, and have less experienced teachers, according to data in the latest U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), collected in 2009-10 from schools serving 85% of US public school students. An OFCR press release provides key findings on discipline and retention as well as teacher equity, bullying and harassment, and other issues. Educators can access school and district specific data or visit a CRDC summary.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Access New Deal Works Progress Administration posters on war, health, consumer concerns, theater and more. From the Library of Congress. 

• Kids will enjoy celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day (Thurs, April 26) during National Poetry Month. Read Write Think has suggestions.

• Find an overview of the April 4, 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and video clips of his speeches at History.com.

• For a quick view of the flipped classroom, past and present, visit this Knewton infographic.

• MS teacher Laura Coughlin uses YouTube videos and song lyrics to spark interest in standardized test review.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (446)

From our newsletter: How-to's for Project Learning •  Writing models • Science Standards in 2012 • Develop Better Readers • The Globetrotting Classroom • Retention or Alternatives? What's Best for Kids • TED-Ed: Star in a Teaching Video (free subscription)

How-To's for Project Learning
Patti Grayson’s 4^th graders were really excited when she brought her grad school PBL assignment to the classroom. Soon their hands-on introduction to governance had them creating school rules (based on multi-class interviews) to benefit the whole building. In this Voices from the Learning Revolution blog post, Grayson describes how to develop a multi-faceted project that can engage intermediate students so deeply they learn for keeps.

from Stenhouse Publishers

Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This helps you model writing for a variety of real-world purposes: inform & explain, evaluate & judge, analyze & interpret, take a stand, and more. Includes mentor texts throughout and a chapter on revision & editing. Preview Chapter 1: Moving Writing to the Front Burner.

 
Science Standards in 2012
With the Framework for K–12 Science Education complete, the Achieve organization is coordinating phase two development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the science equivalent of the Common Core Standards in literacy & math. Ohio State's Middle School Portal 2 has resources to help K-12 teachers participate in NGSS's evolution, including a series of four free webinars based on the NSTA Reader's Guide to the Framework. The first webinar (Feb.) is archived and you can register for the live March 21 session now. MSP2’s Kim Lightle expects NGSS to be completed this fall.


Develop Better Readers 
"What is the best advice you would give to teachers trying to help their students become better readers?" By the time you have read Larry Ferlazzo’s 5-part Classroom Q&A series at Ed Week Teacher, your mind will be swimming with ideas from professors, teachers and consultants. Highlights: be a reader yourself, share favorite books with students, schedule as much open reading as possible, let kids select books. And find a way to build a classroom library.

The Globetrotting Classroom
New Zealand, Burma and the 50 states: students are visiting these places and many more on virtual field trips. MindShift describes how the trips amplify learning and cultural awareness in classrooms around the world. Educators frequently use Skype Education to plan virtual travel. And Scholastic offers a tour of Ellis Island set for March 29. For students preparing to globe-trot, the CIA’s World Factbook provides wide-ranging demographics, history, government outlines, and photos for several hundred countries.

Retention or Alternatives: What's Best for Kids?
Ed writer Emily Richmond's article about legislation to retain 3rd graders with reading deficits drew many comments at the Atlantic website. Retention policies around the US affect students across all grades, and most research shows that being retained is detrimental to the student (who is more likely to drop out) and costly to school funders. Researcher David Berliner suggests instead that schools strengthen reading skills through tutoring in upper elementary. For a quick look at the standardization policies that encourage retention nationally, read Ed Week teacher blogger Nancy Flanagan’s take. Or listen to NPR’s report from all sides.


TED-Ed: Star in a Teaching Video

TED, the organization known for short, pithy videos by leading thinkers, is "slow launching" TED-Ed, a new initiative to share and create video-based learning materials. TED will adapt existing content to become more classroom friendly and is also inviting teachers to submit ideas for video lessons of 10 minutes or less. The "winners" will be taped TED-style and augmented with animation. TED-Ed is most interested in ideas that "spark curiosity," not a tight focus on curriculum. For more info, watch the March 12 launch announcement and check out some sample videos.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find just what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• The NYT reports YouTube is making educational videos easier to access with YouTube for Schools. 

• The latest MetLife Survey of the American Teacher finds morale down and plans to leave the profession up. The good news: parent engagement is improving.

• Grab Bag Stories: Each kid gets a random setting, main character, event, and thing, and the writing begins. Ed World supplies everything you need.

• The "Activating Empathy" global competition encourages collaboration. Deadline March 30. Nice prizes!

• MindShift: Middle schoolers learn more math when they begin by making predictions.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (445)

From our newsletter: Create a Digital Sub • Checking for understanding • PhET Simulates Science • Videos Build Math Engagement • Inquiry-Based Punctuation Lessons • Report Shows Principals Matter • The 2012 Election across the Curriculum • Quick Links (free subscription)

Create a Digital Sub  

When Scholastic blogger Jeremy Rinkel has to be away from his secondary classroom, he keeps students engaged through the digital substitutes he creates. Rather than pile on the worksheets he recalls with disdain, Rinkel uses technology to provide lessons via PowerPoint, audio, and video that are followed by writing activities. Read his suggestions for content and his recommended gadgets. ALSO visit Brent Vasicek’s post for a day’s worth of activities for the upper elementary substitute. 21st-centurizing is optional.

from Stenhouse Publishers

See how to make formative assessments a powerful part of your everyday instruction. In So What Do They Really Know?, best-selling author and English teacher Cris Tovani shares successful lessons and strategies for getting to know your students well, differentiating instruction, giving feedback, grading, and more. Preview the entire book online.

 
PhET Simulates Science  
There's nothing like a cannon firing weird projectiles (a Buick coupe?) to interest middle level kids in physical phenomena. PhET interactive simulations from UC-Boulder offer insights across physics and other science subjects. They're searchable by age and reinforced by activities submitted by teachers. Try clicking to “Build an Atom” and visit the “Energy Skate Park.” PhET’s goal is to help students "make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science.”


Videos = Math Engagement
Intriguing videos can build kids’ engagement in math, as Australian educator Neville Barnard demonstrates at his Exploring Education blog. Your students may need Google to find out who Ma and Pa Kettle are, but they'll likely be intrigued by an old movie clip of their mangled math manipulations. Also featured: Pattern blocks and tessellations. Elsewhere, Barnard puts the "Ah!" back in arithmetic with clips showing the patterns underlying prime numbers and spirals.

Inquiry Meets Punctuation
As teacher Elizabeth Schlessman watched her upper elementary students learn about mosses by close observation and inquiry, she wondered: Could you do the same when studying punctuation? Getting beyond the stultifying application of rules, she guided her students to see the verbal patterns into which punctuation fits. In this article from Rethinking Schools, Schlessman details her methods and her students' discoveries.

 
Report Shows Principals Matter
A recent study in Texas finds that good principals have a significant effect on student success, especially in high poverty schools. The study, which looked at data collected on 7,400 school leaders, is summarized at the Ed Week blog Inside School Research. MORE: Education Trust writer Karin Chenoweth cites the Texas study and other recent research on principal effectiveness in a Huffington Post piece.


The Cross-Curricular 2012 Election

The New York Times Learning Network makes the 2012 election engaging for students with some recent posts packed with lesson ideas and resources. In this post, learn to create profiles of this year’s candidates, develop stump speeches, and examine political caricatures. A second post offers a long list of activities to involve students in the math of the election, from delegate counts to fundraising. For a look at history’s impact on the current election, NYTLN offers a story on the passage of the 19^th Amendment, when women’s votes began to impact political outcomes.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Go beyond pie to celebrate Pi Day Mar 14 (3.14). Look through this wikiHow article for educational options. 

• If kids have questions about St. Patrick’s Day (Mar 17), get the cultural basics from around the world and in the U.S.

• Day and night aren’t really equal on the Vernal Equinox (Mar 20). NatGeo tells you why.

• Celebrate National Poetry Day (Mar 21) with ReadWriteThink.

• Whether studying WWII or the US/Soviet space race, remember Wernher von Braun on his 100^th birthday (Mar 23).

MiddleWeb's New Resources (444)

From our newsletter: The Historic 1940 Census Release • Inside Reading Tests • Writing Very Short Stories • Maslow in the Classroom • The iBook Wars • Japan, Then & Now  • Writing to Learn Science • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

The 1940 Census Release:
Great Stories about Our History

Under federal privacy laws, historians, genealogists -- all of us, in fact -- must wait 72 years to examine the complete details of each decennial United States Census. That's one reason why excitement is building about the April 2 release of the census of 1940. The '40 census will also provide important story lines emerging from the decade of the Great Depression. And this will be the first time that complete records of a census are released online. Think about it: in the 10 years since the 1930 census was made public (on paper & microfilm), online genealogical research has mushroomed. What can we learn today about America on the eve of WWII, simply by connecting with a laptop or smartphone?
 
For ideas about the learning potential of this historic release, check out these resources:
 
• The National Archives offers a look back to 1940 with videos and materials from that year. The Archives also explains how to use the census data. 
• A group of online genealogical sites provides an overview of questions asked for the first time in 1940, plus links to online webinars that explain how to use census information. 
• As the 1940 Census records come online, teachers & students can use Scholastic's resources and lesson plans (produced for the 2010 Census) to understand how the US carries out the Census and uses the gathered data.
• The Census Bureau also provides extensive teacher resources at its Census in Schools site, such as this online guide for middle level students and the Census for Kids activities for younger students.
• Congressional redistricting, using the 2010 census, in still underway in some states. MS and HS students can get a taste for the challenges of redrawing district lines from this simulation on PBS.

from Stenhouse Publishers

What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests saves valuable time and helps you empower your students without sacrificing high-quality instruction. You'll get strategies and activities for mastering test items across all of the commonly assessed reading standards. Preview the entire book .

 
Writing: Very Short Stories 
A story in 25 words? Tempered Radical blogger Bill Ferriter reports his sixth grade students can craft a mini-story with opening, middle and end with a result so short they can share it by phone or online in moments. The writing, however, takes a little longer. Why do it? For one thing, Ferriter says, "They force students to think more carefully about word choice." You can examine the process in a handout Ferriter includes in his post. And if you want a real-world connection, did you know that screenwriters must be able to pitch an entire movie idea in a single sentence? It's called the "logline."  


Maslow in the Classroom 
Most of us learned about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs back in college. Well, it follows us to the classroom, too. In a recent Ed Week Teacher blog post, David Ginsberg reminds us not to assume all young people are within a rung or two of our own status, but to become attuned to where all students find themselves on Maslow's ladder. The theory can improve our practice when we understand what students need before they're ready to learn.

Coming Soon: The iBook Wars
Visit Apple’s iBooks textbooks for iPad site to see one potential future for the venerable (and heavy) classroom staple. Digital textbooks are portable, interactive, quickly available, easily updatable. Major textbook publishers are already offering several iBooks and there's free Apple software to create your own. Not everyone is delighted with the prospect of Apple dominating the e-textbook market, however. Wade Roush, Xconomy's chief correspondent, reviews objections to Apple’s entering the K-12 market and suggests reasons for the vehemence of opponents. For educators who want the challenge of using Apple's iBook Author to craft their own iPad-compatible textbook, MakeUseOf outlines the process and notes a couple of limitations. ALSO: Science teacher Dolores Gende suggests some other options.

 
Japan, Now & Then, for Everyone 
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers "fun, flavorful, fascinating" insights into Japanese culture and history at this wide-ranging site. In the Kids Web area, youngsters can find FAQ’s from geography to demographics, see children performing traditional arts, visit elementary and middle schools, and find out what’s cool, including TV superheroes. Students ready for a more mature presentation will find details on government and culture on the Factsheet  and historical spotlights at the Atlas. Contemporary arts and design come alive at Creative Japan while multi-layered treatments of traditional arts are centered in the Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts. Don’t miss the Museum’s Café, where videos of festivals and martial arts abound.


Writing to Learn in Science 

NBCT Marsha Ratzel provides suggestions for adapting writing techniques to the science classroom in this Ed Week Teacher post. Rather than have her sixth grade students simply record data, she guides them through the writing process, from pre-writing to final draft, so that they see the relationship between their language arts skills and science related knowledge. Find out how she avoids unpopular outlining, provides enough structure so that kids know what’s expected, comes up with "authentic" tasks, and involves students in each others’ learning.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Suggest innovative ways to use computer & video games in your classroom & win a sizeable challenge grant. Apply by April 6 to the Entertainment Software Assn. Foundation. 

• Little Bird Tales isn’t just for youngsters. Middle level students are combining images, sound & narratives online to tell stories and more.

• Bright, disruptive students may need an attitude adjustment – on the part of their teachers as well as themselves.

• Seven misconceptions about how kids learn? See if you agree with this Independent Curriculum Group list.

• End-of-year tests are the reality in most schools. Scholastic’s Mary Blow suggests how to make interim assessments a useful tool all year long.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (443)

From our newsletter: Questionable Standards? • Action research • Resilient Leaders Anchor Schools • Think Like a Math Student • Chemistry Lessons to Go • Spell Rite • Saddle Up Your Google Jockey • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Questionable Standards? 

Here's a 3rd grade teacher with thoughts that 4-8 teachers can relate to. When Gaetan Pappalardo writes “Do we really have a standard teacher…A standard learner?”, teachers busy aligning Common Core standards to lessons may empathize. He wonders if standards writers understand the stages of child development. Elsewhere, a recent Brookings Institution report suggests it's unlikely CCSS will improve school and student performance on a large scale. Standards in education "are best understood as aspirational, and like a strict diet or prudent plan to save money for the future, they represent good intentions that are not often realized.” As even CCSS's strongest supporters say, it's all about implementation.
 
 
from Stenhouse Publishers

The most relevant research is your own. Living the Questions takes you step-by-step through designing and implementing teacher research projects that extend your everyday inquiry and solve pressing problems. See how to incorporate new tech tools and get extensive examples with teacher narratives. Preview the entire book.

 
Resilient Leaders Anchor Schools
With recession and change buffeting school systems, educators sometimes feel overwhelmed. Resilient leaders can help sustain themselves and their co-workers as they work to make positive changes for students. In this Ed Leadership article, Elle Allison, president of Renewal Coaching, points out challenges to resilience and outlines practices that build stamina and "heart." The good news: resilience is a quality that can be consciously developed.


Think Like a Math Student

When it comes to math, what do students bring to the table (or desk)? The News Leader reports that teachers in Staunton, VA, are making an effort to think more like their students as they seek to engage them in tackling problems. "Student-Centered Math," the teachers say, challenges everyone in the classroom, including themselves. Read about PD resources that are guiding the process. ALSO: If you're gearing up for Common Core math standards, there's a good article in the current issue of NCTM's "Teaching Children Mathematics" examining the structure of CCSS-M and the major ideas that will influence implementation. Free download.

Chemistry Lessons to Go
Get out your goggles and look into solids, liquids, gases, chemical change and more middle-level chemistry. The American Chemical Society provides six sets of lessons, complete with lab directions and quick animations. Visit the ACS homepage to find Molecules of the Day and a year’s worth of daily factoids ranging from the origins of the Periodic Table in the 1860’s to the first-ever limit on aerosol sprays introduced by Sweden in 1978. ALSO: For some nutritious hands-on science, see what 4th graders learn about chemical reactions when they bake bread.

Spell Rite  

It started with a recent Wired magazine column by college prof Anne Trubek, asserting that standardized spelling is old-school. Most comments were critical of her view, including this: “Clearly the author is taking kickbacks from the Chick-fil-A cows.” Even Wired's copy desk demurred. After a Twitter exchange with Trubeck, web grammar star Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl) posted a podcast outlining why she disagreed with just about every point Trubeck made.


Saddle Up and "Google Jockey"

It’s a noun! It’s a verb! It’s a vibrant tactic to involve your students across the curriculum in real-time additions to the sum of class resources. Voices from the Learning Revolution bloggers Shelley Wright and Marsha Ratzel discuss how they added Google Jockeying -- instant info searches by students -- to their science classrooms. Ratzel outlines the challenges of scaffolding computer skills for her sixth graders. Both teachers report a rise in students’ enthusiasm as they quickly search relevant subjects. ALSO see these GJ comments by a Danish science educator. And how about history?

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Lisa M. Dabbs’ 5-part New Teacher Academy at Edutopia is complete. Find lesson planning, classroom mgt, delivery & more. 

• The Two Writing Teachers’ 5th Slice of Life Challenge invites teachers to write in March. (Comments by previous slice participants are below the video ad.) 

• Nearly 200 years of African American newspapers appear online by title, date and region, curated by Marist University.

• Educators who use social media tools need to understand "timelines." See why Facebook’s Timeline is unique and Evernote Hello is a twist on expectations.

• 7th graders, some on the autism spectrum, bond together during multiple field trips around their town in this ASCD article.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (442)

From our newsletter: White House STEM Fair •  Visual Literacy • Build Your Own PLN • Reaching Parents to Help Kids • Recognize & Counter Racism • CCSS Speech Standards • Being Smart versus Working Hard • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

White House Science Fair
STEM and its school-aged practitioners took over the East Room of the White House recently for a science fair honoring winners of nationwide competitions. This CNN story captured the moment when 14-year old Joey Hudy fired off his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon with an assist from President Obama. Among other student creations: dissolving sugar packets (to decrease paper use), video robots for old folks, a study of mussels’ environment. The CNN story links to a White House list of entries, fertile ground for growing STEM interest in your own nascent scientists. And see the President’s comments promoting science in schools.

from Stenhouse Publishers

  It's essential that we explicitly teach kids how visual information works —how to comprehend it and how to communicate with it. I See What You Mean is a practical guide to incorporating visual literacy—maps, diagrams, tables, graphs, and charts—throughout your curriculum. Preview the entire book online.

 
How to Build Your Own PLN
Building your own Personal Learning Network takes time and commitment, but it’s worth the effort, according to Dr. Mark Wagner, a former teacher and now president of EdTechTeam and director of the Google Teacher Academy. In a recent post at gettingsmart.com, Wagner offers 10 tips to help you structure your own connected learning resource, ranging from successful networking to selecting online tools.


Reaching Parents to Help Kids
The results are revealing. Education World took an informal survey of teachers and parents to find what each wished the other knew. In part, teachers want parents to support learning at home and share concerns in a timely way. And parents want fairness that recognizes the specialness of their kids. MORE: Sixth-grade teacher Bill Ferriter offers a humorous take on ways to (seriously) improve teacher/parent communication. And novice teachers will find helpful insights about teacher/parent conferences in this 2009 Ed Leadership article.

Recognize and Counter Racism

How can we understand the underlying discrimination in schools and respond as individuals to help counteract it? Writing for Edutopia, Dr. Danielle Moss Lee, president and CEO of Harlem Educational Activities Fund, outlines the reality of racism and suggests classroom strategies to help ensure that kids are treated fairly and have the support they need to succeed. She includes questions that can help uncover subliminal preconceptions about race.

 
CCSS: Reading, Writing AND Speaking
The Common Core literacy standards not only address reading and writing but public speaking. Former teacher Erik Palmer, author of Well Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students, shares strategies for helping students build and perform their speeches in this AMLE Middle Level Insider article. In another Palmer article for the Colorado Reading Council Journal, you'll get an indepth look at the key elements of successful public speaking and learn about online resources that allow kids to hear and see themselves making speeches.


Being Smart vs. Working Hard

Building self-esteem requires more than general praise, says this Washington Post article. Time was, telling kids they were smart or talented seemed like a good idea. But too much praise can cause kids to seek it obsessively or worry about their intrinsic value. Having teachers and parents note specific accomplishments can help kids see that what they do is more significant than who they are. Studies and brain imagery confirm that teacher recognition of kids’ efforts, even when they fall short of a goal, helps them learn. You'll find suggestions for effective praise in the Post story. Dig deeper at this U of Illinois wiki page.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Former astronaut & U.S. Sen. John Glenn (now 90) talks about his Feb. 20, 1962 space flight, becoming the first American to circle Earth. 

• More teens are turning to Twitter as an alternative to Facebook, where their parents have started hanging out.

• Check out the Thinkfinity math resources & lesson plans most visited by teachers.

• MIndShift explains the redesign of Google's education resources. Lots of links.

• Jason Silva, former co-host of Current TV, is creating brief videos to spark creative thinking. Here are two: patterns and imagination.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (441)

From our newsletter: • March is Women's History Month •  Algebra basics • Youth Media Awards 2012 • February Blues? • Just the Right Quote • The Rush to Revamp Teacher Evaluation • CCSS Math Standards: What, Why, How • Do We Care about Handwriting? • Tidy Up Your Digital Space • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

March is Women's History Month 

We found many good online exhibits at the National Women’s History Museum site. A favorite, “Young and Brave: Girls Changing History,” offers information about young women whose determination helped mold the American experience. The Museum site hosts a brief video on the story of Women’s History Month, a women’s suffrage timeline, bios arranged by contribution, and links to many more sites, such as the Dept. of Education’s women’s history resources list. During February, NWHM is featuring a 7-min. video of African American women in the Civil War period.

from Stenhouse Publishers

All teachers of algebra should have The Xs and Whys of Algebra at their fingertips during planning and instruction. This handy 84-page flipchart cuts through the confusion to help you prevent common misconceptions. 30 modules focus on key standards with instructional strategies, activities, and reproducibles. Click here for details.

 
Just Out: Youth Media Awards 2012
This year's Youth Media Award winners were announced a few weeks ago at ALA's Midwinter Meeting. Leading the list: Newbery Medal winner Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos; Printz Award winner Where Things Come Back, written by John Corey; and winner of the Coretta Scott King author award, Kadir Nelson, writer and illustrator of Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. Many more winners and honor books are here. And don’t miss the Nerdy Book Club's 2011 Nerdies awards, assembled from votes by teachers, librarians, and other obsessive readers. Teachers Donalyn Miller (6th), Colby Sharp (4th) and Cindy Minnich (9-12) are the founding Book Nerds and invite new bloggers to join them. Great idea!


Feeling Stressed Lately? 
It's February. You and your students probably have plenty of reasons to feel stressed. Some stress is good; excessive stress isn’t. This ASCD Update article explains stress’s sources and suggests methods for coping. One idea: Chat informally with colleagues to break out of your classroom isolation. In this Edutopia blog post, teacher Rebecca Alber (and lots of commenters) offer suggestions about how to find the time to "unstress" with co-workers.

Just the Right Quote
Quotations for the classroom: whether they're meant to inspire, spark discussion, dress up a report or project, or simply create an “aha” moment, it has never been easier to find them. Just google, right? Not so fast, says resources hound Larry Ferlazzo. His decade-long search for quality quotation sites has produced only a handful. You can read about Larry's Quote Quest here, but our immediate favorite is the quote service at Dictionary.com, with 60,000 entries by topic, each with a complete source citation. Example: "There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love." (M.L. King Jr) Due diligence: At most of the sites we visited there were some quotes inappropriate for younger students.

 
Principals Question Rush to Revamp Teacher Evaluation 
Even though they may share the goals of more thorough teacher evaluation mandated by RTTT, some principals are raising questions about the basis and practicality of the new strategies. This Christian Science Monitor article shares concerns from principals who worry that rapid implementation of the reforms, often involving increased observations and use of student scores, may do more harm than good. One worries that aggressive evaluation will "destroy the positive culture of our schools."


New Math Standards: What, Why, How 
This brief video at the ASCD website explains how Common Core standards stair-step algebraic thinking year by year through the elementary & middle grades, by developing natural progressions between numbers, operations, and computation skills and knowledge, starting in kindergarten. For more depth, check out this backgrounder at the Teaching Channel on the what, why and how of CCSS math standards, including the decision to cover fewer math topics in each grade. And for some interesting math teacher discussion about CCSS, read this recent blog post and comments. 


Do We Care about Handwriting? 

The 150 attendees at the D.C. summit "Handwriting in the 21st Century?” in January concluded by large majorities that teaching handwriting is ‘very important’ and that ‘both cursive and manuscript should be taught.’ A majority favored instruction in K-5. Sponsored by AASA and Zaner-Bloser (the well-known provider of handwriting curriculum), the summit linked handwriting to motor and mental development. Writing about the long-simmering issue (here are two views at the Daily Beast, for and against), Ed Week’s Jaclyn Zubrzycki pointed out the timeliness of the summit as most states adopt Common Core standards that do not mention handwriting.

Tidy Up Your Digital Space  
If you somehow overlooked your Christmas plan to tidy up your computer for another busy semester, now’s your chance. Gwyneth Jones, the Daring Librarian, offers ten strategies to make your online life faster, safer, and cloudier, in a good way. You can follow her guide to perk up your passwords, crumble those cookies, whip up a wiki, and more.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• “My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose." Remember Valentine’s Day by creating figurative language. From ReadWriteThink. 

• Mark Presidents Day with these paintings and words of George Washington from UVA. Select from 13 lessons. And look for Lincoln here.

• Tuesday was Dickens’ 200^th Birthday. Find extensive resources for now or later from the NYT’s Learning Network.

• Just as you suspected: humor can intensify learning. MRI scans show that funny videos activate kids' brains.

• For Black History Month view the Smithsonian’s inspiring documentary on the Greensboro 4. Some disturbing images.

• How do we teach real-world writing? The Ed Week Teacher book club will host a chat board with expert Kelly Gallagher Feb. 21-23.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (440)

From our newsletter:  • Black History in America •  Opening Minds • Student Questioning •  Independent Reading • Dark Matter • Support for PD • Research without Wikipedia • MathWeb • Lights! Camera! Learn!  • Quick Links  (free subscription)

Black History in America:

Challenges and Triumphs 

With the start of African American History Month just days away, the Smithsonian provides a wide-ranging collection of resources to help your students understand the challenges faced by African Americans over several hundred years. Also go to the History & Culture section of Encyclopedia Smithsonian and select African American history under Topics (left margin). Clicking the search button returns 57 links to exhibitions on cultural and political history, including a site on Brown v. Board titled ‘Separate But Not Equal’. Elsewhere, a National Park Service interactive map reveals significant civil rights locations. At the Library of Congress Civil Rights Voices exhibit, students will find photos of civil rights advocates and read their words. The Census Bureau marks Black History Month with a current statistical profile of African Americans, including the fact that receipts from Black-owned U.S. businesses more than doubled between 2002 and 2007, to $135.7 billion.

from Stenhouse Publishers

Can the language teachers use change their students' lives? In Opening Minds Peter Johnston (author of the groundbreaking Choice Words) shows how words can shape students' learning, their sense of self, and their social, emotional, and moral development. Preview the entire book.

Raise Your Hands, Please
Recent research finds that middle class students as young as third grade are more successful in getting questions answered than working class students. Perhaps not a surprise. This Chicago Tribune article goes beyond the findings to suggest how kids can develop skills to get the help they need. For more on a related topic, read about Six Steps to Help Students Ask Better Questions. "When students know how to ask their own questions, they take greater ownership of their learning."


Reviving Independent Reading 
By late December, students grumbled that they couldn't find any books for independent reading. So Scholastic blogger Alycia Zimmerman re-launched Readers Workshop in her upper elementary classes to recapture the September excitement. She's reorganized her classroom library with student help (and in the process learned more about what they like to read). A last-chance basket & student-led book talks have helped spur interest. To increase choices on a tight budget, Alycia suggests swapping books with another teacher.

A New View of Dark Matter

Researchers have released the biggest images yet detailing dark matter, the mysterious substance that some scientists theorize makes up 85% of the Universe's mass. The sheer awesomeness of seeing ten million galaxies will likely catch students’ attention (try this National Geographic page if you'd like some help putting galaxies in perspective). A related BBC story offers links to background information and its own videos. For an astronomer’s dark matter Q&A session with students, visit this NOVA site.

 
Build Support for PD
Learning Forward outlines best practices for building community support for PD as budgets face ongoing cuts. Helping business and community leaders understand the link between teachers’ skills and students’ learning can grow allies in your district. The Ed Week post links to a detailed guide by Hayes Mizell. ALSO: You can maximize the PD time you have by promoting effective collaboration among teachers. You'll find a decade's worth of ideas about revving up adult learning in these columns and articles by Robert J. Garmston (at the Learning Forward website). 


Research w/o Wikipedia

Looks like most of us survived last week’s Day without Wikipedia. Whether you view the site as the fount of knowledge or the well of constant errors (or both), you can share other options with your students. Edutopia blogger Mary Beth Hertz tell how she guides her 3rd through 7th graders along the research learning curve. She also recommends several other resources, including Sweet Search, a free search engine designed especially for students that limits itself to 35,000 credible sites vetted by educators (there's also a fee-based research tutorial).  PLUS: For upper middle grades research, from using books to accessing websites, peruse the Sayre School guide.

 

Pose a (Math) Problem, Get an Answer  

WebMath may be just what your math students need for help with homework or computer enhanced classwork. With topics arranged under general math and K-8 math as well as other levels, this Discovery Education site gives real-time solutions to problems typed in by students. And not just answers, but also explanations.


Lights! Camera! Learn!
You can take a detailed look at film thanks to media literacy educator and NCTE consultant Frank Baker's new website. ‘The Language of Film' is designed to introduce the teacher and student to the tools and techniques filmmakers use in their work. Though many of the helpfully arranged resources target high schoolers, you’ll find lessons plans on popular films, entertaining activities with special effects, and more for younger students.

__________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• The legacy of children’s author/illustrator Ezra Jack Keats continues through his foundation’s minigrant program. Apply by March 15. 

• Get ready for Presidents Day. Visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library for easy-to-use articles and quotations.

• Are you and your students holding tablets & smartphones in healthy ways? Find out from Lifehacker.

• Everything you could want to know about 2011’s most overused words (and some underused ones) is here, thanks to Internet Scout.

• Education Week offers an overview of new findings on the essential skills of principals.

• ASCD blogger Brad Kuntz suggests ways to increase kids’ self-esteem by building personal relationships with students.

 

MiddleWeb's New Resources (439)

From our newsletter: Top 2011 Ed Posts: Readers’ Choices • Reading Test Secrets • Summer Travel Grants • What’s Ahead for Ed Tech • Myths, Magic & the Modern World • Project Based Learning in Math • Candidates Offer Teachable Moment • New Wildlife Unearthed • Getting Real with Formative Assessment • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Top 2011 Ed Posts: Readers’ Choices

Bloggers everywhere have been busy wrapping up 2011, and we’ve captured some "Best of" lists that might be useful or just plain interesting. Education Week posted its Top 10 list of most read articles as part of its year-end review. Coming in first was “Researchers Probe Causes of Math Anxiety,” a story we featured in this newsletter. ASCD’s Edge online community listed its Top 10, including the irresistibly titled “Preparing Our Kids for 1982: Time Traveling through Testing” from Heidi Hayes Jacobs. How about Top 10 Ed Trends at Huffington Post? We've got lots more. Jump over to the MiddleWeb blog for the complete collection.

from Stenhouse Publishers

What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests saves valuable time and helps you empower your students without sacrificing high-quality instruction. You'll get strategies and activities for mastering test items across all of the commonly assessed reading standards. Preview the entire book.

Summer Travel Grants - Act Fast!

More than 400 teachers from across America traveled in 116 countries on 7 continents last summer, thanks to Fund for Teachers grants. January 27 is the deadline to submit an application for a 2012 summer odyssey that promises plenty of experiences to document and share with students. Teachers (with 3+ years experience) can propose what they want to learn and where. If selected, a teacher will receive a Fund for Teachers fellowship of up to $5,000. Visit the FFT map to see if your school/district is included in the fellowship program, which reaches into almost 40 states.


What’s Ahead for Ed Tech

Among the forecasts for 2012, Ed Tech is grabbing a lot of attention. Writing for ZDNet Education, Christopher Dawson gives a quick preview of what to expect: More and better analytics, tablet choices, the oncoming demise of libraries, and more. Not all his readers agree, which makes for a lively comments section. ALSO: For insights from educators and policy wonks, visit eSchoolNews’ survey of ed tech consumers.


Myths, Magic & the Modern World

Although Hydra and Heracles may be the big draws when launching into Greek mythology, Edsitement's "It Came from Greek Mythology" lesson plan is not just about monsters and super heroes. But there's plenty of that, with activities and links to enthrall your students, whether intermediate or middle level. Begin with a podcast from YA author (and former middle grades teacher) Rick Riordan of Percy Jackson fame -- and continue with activities contrasting kids’ heroes today with the ancient progenitors. Look into how pre-scientific people explained the world and find what remains of myths today. There’s even a scavenger hunt.


Project Based Learning: Math & More

If you missed the Buck Institute of Education webinar (Jan. 11) on sparking math learning through PBL, no problem. You can view it soon at the BIE youtube channel, and also find numerous samples of math projects at the BIE website. For a quick review of PBL, visit this 2010 Ed Week article, “7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning,” written by BIE leaders. Get in on the PBL conversation at BIE’s edmodo site and at the recently initiated #pblchat overseen by New Tech Network. PBL is gaining traction!


GOP Candidates Offer Teachable Moment

Thanks to sixth grade teacher Bill Ferriter for providing teachable moments based on the “Romney-Perry Slugfest” at a recent Republican debate. The Tempered Radical suggests letting students experience that piece of uncivil discourse and then model what civil conversations could achieve. For more on America’s quadrennial exercise in government, visit Scholastic for electoral basics and Richard Byrne for election resources, especially political cartoons and the Electoral College.

New Wildlife Unearthed

Sharing our obsession with best-of lists, Wired Science managed to trim the roster of newly discovered animals from hundreds to ten for its Hot New Animals of 2011. Most show up in colorful photos, notably the psychedelic gecko. Not to be outdone is the huge new crayfish that lives under a rock in Tennessee. At five inches, it is at least twice as large as its nearest kin. Students may find the oversized insects a little unnerving, as well as some of the reader comments following the photos. Teacher discretion advised.


Getting Real with Formative Assessment

Andrew Miller has tangled with the differences in grading and assessing, and has found a shift in thinking that works for him. Not grading formative assessments in the traditional manner has given him more time to concentrate on instruction. Sure he finds ways to use formative activities, but he and his students appreciate that they are being judged by their summative efforts, after all the practice is done. ALSO: For another, companionable view, revisit middle grades teacher Marsha Ratzel's Ed Week post we first shared last March.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Lisa M. Dabbs has New Year suggestions for first-year teachers. (Her new Edutopia advice series starts Jan. 17.)

• Need to do more with less as the budget tightens? EL magazine offers a diverse collection of ideas.

• Submit student booktalks beginning Jan. 20 in the annual StoryTubes contest. You'll find hints for taping the 2 minute talks here.

• Learn more about the future of Common Core assessment in this recent Ed Week story.

• From Edudemic: Over 100 iPad Apps Perfect for Middle School and for Elementary!

• This year's Google Science Fair (ages 13-18) has launched. MindShift has the scoop.

Some of the Best of the 2011 Top 10 Ed Blogs!

(Smile.) Taking up where our January 13 newsletter left off, here are more Top 10 (or thereabouts) lists highlighting some of the best 2011 ed blog posts and articles.

Edutopia, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in the fall with a plethora of top twenty lists (who can forget Todd Finley’s Biggest Teaching Blunders?), offered its staff favorites from 2011. The ASCD community blog, Inservice, listed its five most read blogs, where you’ll find paths to engagement and away from negative social proof.

Larry Ferlazzo posted several end-of-year lists of ideas he had shared during the year. We particularly enjoyed “The Best Articles (And Blog Posts) Offering Practical Advice To Teachers In 2011.” Larry’s Classroom Q & A blog for Education Week, which launched at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, also racked up readership with several top posts providing strategies to build student engagement. 

For social studies and current events teachers, Maps of World produced a global visual display, highlighting the world's top news stories in 2011. There's also a 60-sec. video, which you can view at Free Technology 4 Teachers -- which has a 2011 favorites list of its own!

And for those interested in technology infusion, student inquiry and project-based learning, check out a baker's dozen of top posts at the new group blog Voices from the Learning Revolution (curated by MW editor John Norton). Several of the Voices posts also appeared at Mind/Shift, a popular ed blog sponsored by San Francisco PBS station KQED. Mind/Shift highlighted its own 2011 favorites, reposting the #1 most clicked: 21 Things That Will Be Obsolete in 2020.

Thus ends our counting lesson!

MiddleWeb's New Resources (438)

From our newsletter: Preparing Kids for Tomorrow • Teaching Visual Literacy • Successful STEM Strategies • Poetry & the Common Core • A Year of Super Tech Posts • Timely Talk = Successful Change • Writing for Special Audiences • Art History Online • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Preparing Kids for Tomorrow

In this MindShift blog post, Duke prof Cathy Davidson talks in depth about the best ways to prepare today's children for the uncertainties of tomorrow. An expert in the brain science of attention, Davidson says up to 65% of the next generation's jobs are "not invented yet," so we must cast aside tech fears "and prepare our school-aged kids with important skills, both in technical ways and other less tangible ways." Davidson suggests 3 things parents and teachers can do to help.

from Stenhouse Publishers

It's essential that we explicitly teach kids how visual information works —how to comprehend it and how to communicate with it. I See What You Mean is a practical guide to incorporating visual literacy—maps, diagrams, tables, graphs, and charts—throughout your curriculum. Preview the entire book online.

 

Successful STEM Strategies

How can STEM education succeed in America? In this Hechinger Report interview, Professor David Drew focuses on the need to draw more students into STEM -- girls, minority youth, white kids from poor families -- especially as they enter the middle grades and face stumbling blocks like intensified math anxiety. Drew emphasizes the importance of engaged teachers who can spur student excitement. He also debunks several STEM myths.

 

Poetry & the Common Core

Poet and PD consultant Georgia Heard was skeptical about how the Common Core State Standards would impact the teaching of her favorite E/LA content: poetry. But after reviewing the literacy goals, she's pleasantly surprised -- so much so, in fact, that she's agreed to write a book for Scholastic on poetry and the Common Core. Heard talks about using CCSS with poetry and other genres in this podcast interview at Choice Literacy (transcript provided).

 

A Year of Super Tech Posts

At Free Technology for Teachers, enjoy Richard Byrne’s 25 most-clicked posts of 2011. Find out why and how to use Edmodo, locate several super search engines for students (like Famhoo, KidRex), learn about web safety resources like Your Own Space, an ebook for students. There's much more, including hard-to-resist PPt templates for TV-show based vocabulary games, covering most subjects and just about any age.


Timely Talk = Successful Change

Writing in ASCD Express, organizational development coach Harriette Thurber Rasmussen considers the challenge of balancing authority and adaptive leadership. When collaboration is needed to build support for change, Ramussen recommends “putting the right conversations before the right people at the right time.” Her suggestions for developing those timely conversations can help principals, instructional coaches and other teacher leaders.


Writing for Special Audiences

ESL and other students who need audiences for their writing, says teaching coach Elena Aguilar, might choose to write letters to people who are meaningful in their lives (whether or not they actually deliver them). She describes an assignment inspired by a girl whose traumatized father was difficult to reach. By reading their letters to each other, her students also learned more about each other's lives. Responding to reader comments, Aguilar explains that such revelatory writing can work when a deep level of trust has developed with students and a school has resources to support those who may find the assignment emotionally difficult.

Art History Online

Professors created smarthistory to offer free art history resources not embedded in heavy tomes with lots of superfluous details. The site provides art overviews reaching back to prehistory, along with helpful links and brief video commentaries on selected works. Kids will likely be drawn to Claes Oldenburg’s 1962 Floor Cake as well as ancient works like the 4600 year old Great Lyre from the “King’s Grave” found in Mesopotamia. Objects can spark discussion for social studies and ELA students as well as in art classes.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Can social media and school policies be friends? ASCD challenges assumptions, provides a good infographic on the issue.

• Find out what teacher teams need to succeed in this quick read from the Harvard Education Letter.

• NASA’s GRAIL A and B spacecraft reach the Moon this weekend. Watch for news as the near-twins map the gravity of our nearest neighbor.

• Research shows novelty bolsters learning. And works for teachers as well as students.

• PC users, don’t miss SaveDelete’s 100 tips to speed up your use of Windows, Word, Excel and email.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (437)

From our newsletter: Sharing Light in December • Classroom Management Essentials • Can Apps Conquer Fractions? • Learning through Debate • Spotlight on Odd Creatures • QR Codes in the Classroom • When Teachers (Can) Whine • Live from the Civil War • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Sharing Light in December

We can thank the winter solstice for the cluster of holidays in December, at least in part. Discover how Christmas ended up on December 25 from History.com, where you'll find both ancient and contemporary background info and videos on the traditions that cluster around Christmas. Hanukkah’s history and traditions are also vividly presented, with explanations of why the dreidel is much more than a toy and the menorah an ongoing light in the midst of winter darkness. History.com also explains the much more recent origins of Kwanzaa, a response to 1960’s racial strife in the US, that builds upon African ritual and values.

from Stenhouse Publishers

The cure for shallow classroom discussions. Academic Conversations gives you the structures you need to foster quality conversations in language arts, social studies, science, and other subjects. Students will develop critical skills for exploring an important question, idea, or topic. Preview the entire book!

Classroom Management Essentials

Larry Ferazzo’s current Classroom Q&A posts at Ed Week have lots to offer new and veteran teachers. Larry has collected comments from teachers and other ed experts who explain how preparation, structure, confidence, sensitivity, enthusiasm and more can help build a highly functional classroom that supports learning. The multi-part series begins here. Find the archive of his free (until 2/28/12) recent webinar on the subject at Eye on Education.

Can Apps Conquer Fractions?

What happens when 1,000 eighth graders study fractions, some using iPads and others not? MindShift says the buzz is leaning toward teaching math with the iPad for learning and engagement. Complete results from a 2010 research study are expected next month. MindShift also cites a smaller study, sponsored by the software provider Motion Math. The company says fifth graders learned significantly more about fractions using their popular app (available for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch), "first developed at the Stanford School of Education" and inspired “by academic research into embodied cognition."

 

Learning through Debate

You can pack lots of content and inquiry into a debate-based unit, as middle grades teacher Mary Blow demonstrates in this Scholastic article. In her blow-by-blow account, she shows how students learn by researching a debate topic (in this case, science), preparing debate teams, debating, and writing about the experience. And it's all built around Common Core standards.

Spotlight on Odd Creatures

Run across any crepuscular or cathemeral creatures lately? Scientific researcher Mark Lasbury is intrigued by the oddities that crop up in biology. And he believes the unexpected can catch students’ attention, too. His “As Many Exceptions As Rules” blog introduces kids to some fascinating creatures and provides teachers with lesson resources. ALSO: For a look at research that turned up a sloth and a trio of rice rats on a Costa Rican coffee plantation, visit this recent NYT “Scientist at Work” post. Doctoral student Amanda Caudill shows that even with variables that refuse to be controlled, the scientific method can yield intriguing results.

QR Codes in the Classroom

Those squiggly b/w squares now appearing on just about everything from magazine ads to cereal boxes can take your students across the room or around the world with the click of a smartphone camera. Andrew Miller and his readers offer lengthy lists of ways to enhance learning using Quick Response codes. Create your own QR codes in just three easy steps, using Daring Librarian Gwyneth Jones's tips. Wiziq offers QR strategies to streamline online learning while avoiding malicious codes. Too few smartphones and other handhelds in your classroom? EngagingEducators’ Ben Curran suggests free or low-cost downloads that will trick a computer webcam into handling the decoding task. To generate a simple coded URL, scan the QR above or click here.

When Teachers (Can) Whine

Florida teacher Roxanna Elden, NBCT and author of See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers, shares thoughts on the four ‘wh’s of whining about work: what, where, when, and why. With her light touch for a serious subject, she notes the irresistible urge to complain may be off-putting to the less whine-inclined and could actually reach the ears of the whine-inducers. But it has its place: find out where in her Educational Horizons post.

Live from the Civil War

The Atlantic (first published in 1857) revisits its early years in a special edition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The magazine provides first hand reports of the prewar period, the war itself, and the aftermath, and couples them with responses by contemporaries. Among the contributors are celebrated American writers like Mark Twain, Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. President Obama, Gary Wills and others also have their say. Available in print and digital editions. For an overview of The Atlantic’s editorial priorities during the war, visit this NPR report.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Kids are writing about their interviews with elders in the Listen to a Life contest to ‘connect generations,’ sponsored by EdOptions.

• Mike Fisher explains how teachers are saving resources (paper) and providing students access to materials with Dropbox, a free (up to 2GB) web-based resource.

• The movie based on The Help is just out on DVD. Visit Gary Stager’s teacher's guide for more perspective on the novel’s controversial portrayal of Civil Rights era black women.

• Skype unites an injured boy with his classmates as he heals at home.

• How are your Social Studies colleagues responding to challenges? Find out at the SS Chat Ning. Find out about weekly Twitter chats and join special interest subgroups.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (436)

From our newsletter: Get Feedback for Student Blogs • When Kids Teach Themselves • Really Big Rover Heads to Mars• Financial Literacy on the Fly • Simpsons Unmask YA Lit • What Counselors Are Thinking • Civil War Christmas • Botany for Beginners • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Get Feedback for Student Blogs

Teachers who involve students in classroom blogging projects want to attract comments that provide positive feedback and encouragement. That's the impetus for Comments4Kids, created by a group of teachers to assure students have some authentic audiences for their work. Find out how to recruit commenters (or become one yourself) at the group's website, where you'll also discover helpful commenting guidelines.

 

Stenhouse Publishers

The cure for shallow classroom discussions. Academic Conversations gives you the structures you need to foster quality conversations in language arts, social studies, science, and other subjects. Students will develop critical skills for exploring an important question, idea, or topic. Preview the entire book!

 

When Kids Teach Themselves

In this TED Talk, scientist Sugata Mirtra explains how kids living in poverty can learn simple computing on their own (literally) by accessing a computer built into a wall in their village. Watching the youths' initiative and team work is thrilling and supports the concept of project based, student-driven learning. Find out more about "Minimally Invasive Education" at the Hole-in-the-Wall Education Ltd. website

 

Really Big Rover Heads to Mars

Retracing the 2003 flight path of its two remarkable predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s latest Mars rover Curiosity blasted off toward the Red Planet on November 26. As usual, the American space agency has assembled an impressive website to keep everyone up to date on the 8+ month voyage and the anticipated mission of exploration. At the educators’ page you’ll find PD resources, extensive teaching materials and links, and even an opportunity for kids to take photos of Mars from a satellite.

Financial Literacy on the Fly

Even in a classroom overflowing with curriculum requirements, these suggestions from Edutopia blogger Brian Page can give your 4-8 graders a quick, basic grasp of personal finance. His series offers ideas for incorporating financial concepts into math classes, and Page recommends Jump$tart, a national organization of nonprofits, financial institutions, and state governments, for additional resources. You might also take a look at Channel One's Generation Money, a site that targets older students but can also benefit middle schoolers.


Simpsons Unmask YA Lit

Middle and high school counselors have their say in the just released survey, Counseling at the Crossroads, produced by the College Board’s National Office for School Counselor Advocacy. The counselors' views are summarized in a US News and World Report article. One key finding: a perceived gap between what counselors say schools can and should do to help students and the current reality they describe. Meanwhile, Ed Week reports on the big push to increase college and career counseling in the middle grades. (For a review of research about school counseling, visit the College Board survey's Literature and Landscape Review.)

 

Civil War Christmas

As the commemoration of the Civil War’s 150^th anniversary continues, here’s a look at how Americans observed Christmas during the war. The writer, Kevin Rawlings, begins with the impact of Thomas Nast’s drawings of Santa Claus and continues with reminiscences from soldiers and their families back home, contrasting the experiences of Southerners and Yankees.

Botany for Beginners

Plants get moving at this site hosted by the Birmingham (UK) schools. Youngsters in grades 4-6 should enjoy the charming animations of seed dispersal and plant growth under varying weather conditions. Kids can even try their hands at assembling a plant from the ground up. Being British, the site provides spelling surprises and a few unexpected entries in its interactive directory of plants. The Scout Report, which unearthed this site, also recommends Pathways to Science: STEM, with resources for teachers and students.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• School library budgets are being hit hard. Here’s help finding grants.
• Do your students need contact info on members of Congress, pronto? Try the Government Printing Office’s new app.
• Texting is taking over the world, with billions sending messages. Surprising details in this infographic.
• Does the transition to middle school cause academic setbacks for students? A new study says yes.
• The virtual Museum Box tool can help manage and assess student projects. And it's not just for history.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (435)

From our newsletter: • Relieving Math Anxiety • The Connected Educator • Birds Gotta Flock • Beyond Pottermore • The Arts & Critical Thinking • Classroom Workouts • Instant Translation • Honoring Heroes through Service • Holiday Fever • Quick Links (free subscription)

 

Relieving Math Anxiety

Brain research has already shown us that math anxiety can cause some kids to choke — as surely as a tied score with 10 seconds left on the clock. But new findings from the University of Chicago suggest that students who experience anxiety during math tests can learn to overcome their fear. Using fMRI technology to track blood flow in the brain, UC researchers found that students working on math challenges who were able to engage portions of their brain associated with cognitive control and the regulation of negative emotions more often solved problems correctly. And they say this engagement can be taught. Education Week writer Sarah D. Sparks summarizes the findings in this post. For all the details, see this article published by the journal Cerebral Cortex.

 

Teaching for the 21st Century

The Connected Educator by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall describes how educators can work together in local and global networks, connecting, collaborating and harvesting knowledge they can apply in their schools and classrooms to advance student learning. Look inside and order a paper or Kindle version at Amazon.

Birds Gotta Flock

Whether you’re studying birds, slime mold or other examples of Emergence, it's a concept that will likely capture your students’ attention instantly. In nature, and even among human beings and computers, we find examples where animate things appear to act collectively in groups with no single thing in charge. PBS’s NOVA offers an engaging 12-min. video and vivid slides to demonstrate these phenomena. And a Q&A session with American scientist and professor John H. Holland highlights the complexity of emergence.

Beyond Pottermore

While we wait for J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore to move beyond beta testing, kids can enjoy new books from other favorite YA authors. Rick Riordan’s Son of Neptune launched in October. It’s the second entry in the former middle level teacher's projected 5-book Heroes of Olympus series. And Christopher Paolini concludes the Inheritance cycle, which first introduced 15-year-old dragon fighter Eragon in 2003. Intermediate readers can enjoy another Wimpy Kid adventure, Cabin Fever, from Jeff Kinney. These authors' sites offer lots of online activities. Tweens and teens who enjoyed N.D. Wilson's 100 Cupboards trilogy may enjoy The Dragon’s Tooth, first in the new series Ashtown Burials. ALSO: For a peek at the upcoming movie based on Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, see the first trailer and the Atlantic’s response. Other good sources of tween/teen book info: Reading Rants and Tweendom.

 

The Arts & Critical Thinking

Sure, arts learned at school can provide life-long enrichment. But Andrew Miller points out that they can build critical thinking skills, too. Consider how, at a California school, an atom is re-envisioned more authentically as a beehive and a traditional resume blooms into a colorful poster. While Miller points to the importance of classes dedicated to arts subjects (music, visual arts, performance), he encourages all teachers to use students’ creative thinking skills to build understanding of core subjects. His thoughts on arts integration reinforce recommendations from the White House’s 2011 report, Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools.

Classroom Workouts

Bringing physical activity into the classroom has huge benefits: “it aids cognitive development, increases engagement and motivation, and is essential to a whole child approach to education” according to this podcast at ASCD's Whole Child website. Hear Jill Vialet, founder of a nonprofit that transforms play in urban schools; Michael Opitz, author of Literacy Lessons to Help Kids Get Fit & Healthy; and Andria Caruthers, a DC principal who emphasizes academics and healthy lifestyles. For more research bolstering the learning/moving relationship, see this CDC report (esp. pp 21-23). To find active lessons and videos arranged by grade level and content area, try this NC Fit Kids website.

Instant Translation

Could you use some help communicating with students and their parents when English isn’t their first language? Tim Holt, a 25 year teacher and administrator, has some suggestions for you: Start with a smart phone. Add Word Lens. Take a photo of a sign and watch it change into another language almost instantly. It’s on iPhone now, Android promised soon. For spoken language, you can use Google Translate, already on both platforms and ready now for phrases and short sentences. Two-way translating, in person or via Skype? Holt recommends vocre for now -- and imagines a time soon when apps will handle much more lengthy, complex speaking.

 

Honoring Heroes through Service

Heroism, injustice, civil disobedience: all come to mind with the 56th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, AL, bus (12/1/55). ReadWriteThink has collected interviews and lesson plans to help your students learn more of the Rosa Parks story. And to help you prepare for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (1/16/12), the National Corporation of Community Service has an online booklet that not only highlights Dr. King’s leadership but has service learning ideas for the classroom and in the community.

Holiday Fever!

Jingling bells are just ahead, and intermediate teacher Brent Vasicek has some good suggestions to sustain everyone’s learning as the semester progresses toward the winter holiday break — including some practical ideas for handling squirrely distractions in the classroom.

___________________

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources of interest.

• Defeat Dr. Vick’s Evil Plans in this interactive math game from MD Public TV and Johns Hopkins.

• Google Jockeying is gaining popularity in classrooms. Not familiar? Here are 7 Things You Should Know.

• Here’s another take on Interactive White Boards, with heaps of comments. (Click on last time's newsletter - below - for our earlier resource)

• Say what you think at the Gates-sponsored TeacherWall video collection.

• Tips on how to find your grading compass, from teaching expert Carol Ann Tomlinson.

Our 2011 Edublog Award nominations

The EduBlog Awards are a great way to highlight worthy reading and resource sites in the virtual education community. And they're also one substantive way to thank folks who put in hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of hours a year to share their thoughts and ideas and curate what Ed Web has to offer. Nominations are made through blog and website posts. This is ours! (Find out how to make your own nominations here.)

________ 

Best individual blog

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day might logically go under Best Resource Sharing (resources don't get any better than this) but the category also includes "ed tech" in its descriptor. Larry's blog, with 1000s of links and "best of" lists about all things educational, is not so easily categorized. When you visit you'll see a series of EduBlog Awards badges along the right margin. But no 1st Place. We really need to do something about that.

Best individual tweeter

Our favorite dynamic young teacher has a powerful need to network and share. If you're interested in tech and learning, you should be following @MsSandersTHS.

Best group blog

Voices from the Learning Revolution, which began "transmitting" in March (see their retro logo). There's a great mix of voices here with a common purpose, which the blog describes as "shar(ing) the work and ideas of educators committed to creating a robust vision of teaching and learning in the 21st century." One of our favorite things about the blog? The many articles written by teachers who are not only learning to integrate technology into their teaching but learning to give more and more ownership of learning to their students. And their tendency to write about these shifts in useful detail!

Best new blog

When the editor of Education Week Teacher asked Larry Ferlazzo to come up with a weekly blogging idea, this was the result. At Classroom Q&A, Ferlazzo poses and invites questions about important ed topics, seeks out experts to provide interesting answers and then encourages his sizeable readership to engage in further discussion in the comments section. It's a lot of work for an excellent result.

Best class blog

First-grade teacher Kathy Cassidy never misses an opportunity to take pictures -- and six year olds busy about the business of learning make great subjects. Cassidy, an educator committed to 21st century teaching principles, has the knack for documenting and reflecting on her practice in ways that can help her readers

All of the above can also be said of Marsha Ratzel, a sixth grade science and math teacher who knows how to excite and engage her students with challenging project learning. We'd like to nominate both. Shouldn't there be at least three levels in the Best Class Blog category?

Best ed tech / resource sharing blog

Our usual nominee has won three years in a row and will likely win again. So in the spirit of introducing readers to new sources of good stuff, we nominate the Middle School Math & Science blog, authored by a crew of m/s geeks at Ohio State U who love to share ideas sure to engage students.

Most influential blog post

One of our personal favorites is "Thinking Hard While Running on Empty," which prompted a lot of folks in the edu-techy community to stop and think about whether their connectedness is paying dividends for their students. At Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's 21st Century Collaborative blog. 

Over on the ed policy side, one might choose any of a dozen posts by Anthony Cody, but how about "Bill Gates' Big Play: How Much Can Money Buy in Education?"

Best twitter hashtag

 We're keen on #tlchat - the "tl" standing for "teacher librarian." If you want a steady flow of interesting stuff about teaching and learning, it's still a good idea to turn to your librarian. Virtually, if you must. Best of all, #tlchat is curated daily!

Best teacher blog

Raw teacher growth, straight from the classroom mine. Wright's Room.

Best librarian / library blog

Passionate. Perceptive. Persuasive. And all those cool infographics too! The Daring Librarian.

Best School Administrator blog

Lyn Hilt is principal of a K-6 school in Pennsylvania and a contributor to several group blogs, including Connected Principals. Her personal/professional blog The Principal's Posts regularly shares stories of school life, leavened with frank reflections on policy and practice.

Best free web tool

It's an iPad app. Flipboard. Awesome access to your Personal Learning Network.

Best educational wiki

We keep telling the voters! It's a Bill Ferriter product: Digitally Speaking. No grades 4-8 teacher with a yearn to integrate technology into excellent instruction should be without it

Best educational use of a social network

It's still last year's winner: English Companion Ning!

Lifetime achievement

For her long term commitment to the education community, and to remind us that the connected teacher librarian has a huge role to play in the digital age - Joyce Valenza.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (434)

From our newsletter: Middle School Voices • Stenhouse: 10 things student writers need to know • ScienceNetLinks Re-Launches • Have Some Common Core with That Turkey? • Whiteboard Intervention • Ignite Those Neural Networks • How Should We Grade? • New Poet Laureate: School Days (free subscription)

Middle School Voices

This American Life’s Ira Glass captures middle school culture in this recent episode. After collecting insights from educators and Linda Perlstein (author of the 2003 chronicle of middle school life, Not Much Just Chillin’) Glass presents kids’ voices as they contend with dances, broadcast drama-drenched personal news over school TV, and confront depressing economic realities and isolation. For more ways to access this WBEZ Chicago public radio show, visit this link.

From Stenhouse Publishers

10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know by Jeff Anderson distills what makes writing work in any genre or form. You get a rich collection of mentor texts, tips, and launching points for a variety of writing. Filled with classroom dialogue. Click here to preview Chapter 1 online.

 

ScienceNetLinks Re-Launch

Targeted searching just got quicker at AAAS’s ScienceNetLinks. As part of the site’s recent revamp, the Tools section now lets you specify not only grade(s) and subject area, but also format and audience. The instant search of Thinkfinity resources speeds you up, too. Take the Test Drive to learn more. At Science News, kids can access 60-second audio Science Updates (one tells of dolphin skin healing), and the SNL Educator Blog will take you to podcasts answering questions sure to pique curiosity. Do you know the lifecycle of washer lint?

 

Have some Common Core with that turkey?

Help students in grades 4-8 enjoy Thanksgiving study and meet Common Core State Standards with these suggestions from Scholastic’s Mary Blow. She outlines tactics to enable students to understand primary Pilgrim sources. Kids can also enjoy virtual field trips through Plimoth Plantation and meet time-traveling Pilgrims through Scholastic’s video chats and slide shows. ALSO: If you're still not fully conversant with Common Core standards, visit ASCD to register for their 3 free webinars scheduled for November.


New Poet Laureate: School Days

As Philip Levine assumes the role of US Poet Laureate for the coming year, your students can hear him read a poem imagining his 14-year-old self listening to a lesson from Edgar Degas. Find more about the man known as the workers’ poet (and briefly review poets laureate past) in this Library of Congress release. And for kid-friendly works from recent poets laureate, visit these resources we've put together at the Middleweb blog.

 

Whiteboard Intervention

How are you and your interactive whiteboard getting along this year? NBCT Patrick Ledesma, a middle school tech specialist, has ideas about how to turn IWBs into serious teaching and learning tools. Ledesma brings together two previous posts – one on readiness and the other on possibilities – and provides a checklist for maximizing IWB usage. He also references this Ed Week article, looking at IWB use and effectiveness.

 

Ignite Those Neural Networks

In this post on "executive function," neurologist turned K12 teacher Judy Willis explains how the brain can build on prior learning and suggests ways to trigger brain development in the classroom. She also has ideas for modeling higher thinking skills. For an overview of Dr. Willis’s ideas, view this Edutopia video and check out her ‘Ask Dr. Judy’ webinars from ASCD. You might also share her tips on “How Your Child Learns Best” with parents.

 

How Should We Grade?

Grading is a sure-fire discussion starter anytime three or more educators are gathered together. Educational Leadership knows this too -- and its editors have devoted the entire November issue to the theme "Effective Grading Practices." Non ASCD members can read several key pieces, beginning with "Starting the Conversation about Grading" by Susan M. Brookhart. Thomas Guskey identifies "Five Obstacles to Grading Reform." Two other articles -- one by Fisher and Frey describing a model urban grading system and another by middle grades expert Rick Wormeli's on "Re-dos and Retakes" are, alas, members-only. Not a bad reason to join.

 

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources.

• The Kill Math Project, highlighted at MindShift, declares: "Math needs a new interface."

• It's National American Indian Heritage Month. Resources from ReadWriteThink and Cybraryman.

• Up for a quick trip through 30 years of US education? See EdWeek’s digital timeline.

• Free digital images? Check librarian Phil Bradley’s recommendations.

• Teachers love VoiceThread. Now there's a $3 mobile app.