MiddleWeb

MiddleWeb's New Resources (433)

From our newsletter: • Ready for NaNoWriMO? • Stenhouse: Students as "historical thinkers" • Bloom-friendly Apps • See Math Come Alive • Boost Active Learning • 300+ Years of History • Promoting Positive Behaviors • Quick Links (free subscription)

Ready for NaNoWriMo?

Book Whisperer Donalyn Miller can hardly wait to immerse her students in the National Novel Writing Month’s Young Writers Program beginning November 1. In this blog entry, she’s invited YWP director Chris Angotti to explain how K-12 students can participate and how they benefit from writing a novel in just 30 days. Kids "win" when they reach their target word count. At the YWP website you’ll find out how classrooms and individual students can take part. You’ll have access to resources like a virtual classroom, a Young Novelist's Workbook pdf in the kids’ section, a free classroom kit (for up to 35 kids), lesson plans, and more.

 

From Stenhouse Publishers

Traditional history instruction doesn't work. "Why Won't You Just Tell Us the Answer?" shows you how to move beyond just lectures and textbooks toward a more question-centered approach that fosters historical thinking and leaves a lasting impact. Includes 6 sample American history units. Preview the entire book online.

  

 

Bloomin' iPad Apps

Apps are everywhere. To help you narrow the field and find apps that support Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, Kathy Schrock has provided Bloomin’ iPad, a clickable display of Apple-friendly apps to take you from Remembering (SimpleMind+) to Creating (Fotobabble). An online prof who's been an ed tech director and school librarian, Schrock earlier offered Bloomin’ Google to show where Google tools fit into Bloom’s. You can find more ed tech resources at her Guide for Educators.

 

See Math Come Alive

UC Berkeley math ed professor Dor Abrahamson wants to bring math to life for kids: not just scribbling numbers but understanding the interaction of their world and the math they encounter in class. In this brief Edutopia video, he uses humor as well as objects, some of his own invention, to show how math – even in a first encounter with traditionally challenging fractions – can come alive.

Boost Active Learning

Roadblocks to active learning abound. In this TeachHUB article read about four of them and find suggestions for meeting each head-on. You may increase participation of just about everyone by trying out the grouping strategies and student/teacher interactions outlined here. For more on engaging students, revisit a 2009 favorite which outlines ten ways to keep kids attuned to class.

300+ Years of History

Working with the Library of Congress, Scholastic has assembled a one-stop American History collection. As part of their Teach 'Dear America' Diaries promotion, Scholastic offers scrapbooks, whiteboard-ready slides, and more, all neatly arranged by historic periods. You can get an idea of the range of the LOC offerings by visiting the Colonial and Thanksgiving resources, complete with an up-to-the-minute Thanksgiving teacher guide. If you are following the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War this year, be sure the look over the extensive list of resources for that era.

Create Positive Social Proof

What do you do when a student disrupts the class? Elementary PD director and presenter Bryan Harris suggests that responding to each disruption will only encourage "negative social proof," with students seeing that negative behavior receives attention. Instead, build positive social proof by rewarding positive behaviors. Commenters (scroll down) share their challenges as well as strategies for building a successful learning environment.

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MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a quick look at some other resources. 100 characters or less.

• New Teachers - Five Things Not to Do After a Bad Day.
• YouTube launches Education channel to complement Teachers channel. Hunt & pick.
• Mobile app game models safe networking: BeSeen!
• Highlights of proposed NCLB rewrite, from Ed Week. Has bipartisan support.
• Self-paced Web 2.0 teaching primer - Rev up your 21st century classroom, for free.

MiddleWeb's New Resources (432)

From our newsletter • Dan Pink: Motivating Students • Stenhouse: Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This • Candy
Corn in Space • New Teachers: After the Honeymoon • Student Research Unbound • Teaching Kids Self-discipline • 7 Golden Tech Rules • Our new Quick Links (free subscription)

Rethinking Drive & Motivation

Scholastic’s Top Teaching blogger Stacey Burt recently discovered Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. In two posts (part 1, part 2), she shares his ideas about motivating students: both the principles (autonomy, mastery, purpose) and some everyday how-to’s. You can also hear Pink talk about motivation to learn and how students respond to his ideas in a 2011 video interview. PLUS: If you're a visual learner, join the 6 million people who've viewed Cognitive Media’s lively animation of Pink’s core thesis.

From Stenhouse Publishers

Get your students to buy into writing as a valuable skill with Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This. You'll see how to 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. Click here to order.

Science: Candy Corn in Space

If you're a science teacher, you've probably listened to Science Friday on NPR. But have you seen the geeky-yet-cool videos on the SciFri website? Here's a corny space experiment with a seasonal theme: Watch NASA astronaut Don Pettit's gravity-free explanation of how soap works, using a baseball-sized sphere of candy corn. Pettit also notes that at the right concentration, the candy ball becomes rigid, not unlike an arch. Speaking of arches, should you have need of some virtual manipulables for a Newtonian physics lesson, this interactive tool at PBS’s Nova site lets students play around with medieval arch-building, sometimes with thunderous results. (Hints are provided, but you'll need to supply your own dust & sound track).

New Teachers: After the Honeymoon

The school year is fully underway, writes middle grades teacher Cossondra George, and teachers and students "are settling into routines—which can be comforting but can also confront new teachers with the reality of how tiring a teacher's life can be. It's when you need to develop habits that will sustain you—and keep your excitement and enthusiasm flowing—throughout the school year." Take advantage of George's wise advice. ALSO: If you haven't yet discovered the teacher's superpower (eyes in the back of the head), 8th grade teacher Ariel Sacks tells all here.

Student Research Unbound

Most students will need to know how to assemble a research paper or book report. But what other formats may catch the attention of young researchers? School librarian and teaching innovator Joyce Valenza shares 50 ideas about ways students might report on what they're learning without resorting to traditional forms. Trip itineraries, mock trials, performance pieces, online surveys, even battle re-enactments may be just what you need for memorable E/LA, history or science study. Also note (in the comments) Valenza's invitation to contribute your ideas, including those in math and science. There's also a link to her TED-X talk on the future of librarians.

Teaching Self-Discipline

Here's a good Edutopia piece on teaching students to manage their own behavior. It includes both a video and a story about the "developmental discipline" approach being used in Louisville KY with students in the late elementary and early middle grades. "This strategy changes teachers from being punitive to really helping kids -- and adults too -- examine why something happened, and then consider what we can do to make it right and to make sure it doesn't happen again," says one principal. ALSO: New ASCD columnist and nationally respected educator Carol Ann Tomlinson writes about "the most powerful attribute a teacher can attain" — Respect for Students.

Tech in Schools: 7 Golden Rules

The MindShift blog ("How we will learn") recently featured 7 golden rules offered by edutech author Adam Bellow at last summer's ISTE conference. Many who read them have suggested they be laminated and nailed to the door of school board and principal offices. (Especially the one about professional development.) In a recent follow-up, fourth grade teacher Patti Grayson offered her take on the 7 rules, after serving for a year as a member of her school's teacher leadership team on digital learning. It's time to get past the fear factor, Grayson says. Digital tools and technologies are here to stay, and it's the job of schools to help students cope with the new reality, not hide from it.

MiddleWeb's Quick Links

Didn't find quite what you need? Here's a new feature we'll include in all future newsletters. 100 characters or less.

• Artsonia is a huge student art gallery on the Web. It's a free space (created by teachers) and if parents choose to purchase 'custom keepsakes,' schools share.
• Understanding Science is a teacher resource goldmine. We've been prospecting there; you should too!
• ReadWriteThink's monthly literacy events calendar is awesome. October includes Black Poetry Day & Teen Read Week.
• Math Problem-Solving Strategies? The Middle School Math Portal has plenty of teaching ideas.
• Social Studies Chat - Looking for a collaborative community? Here's the doorway.