Tweet from Chris Toy (@cmtoy)

	Chris Toy (@cmtoy)
12/3/12, 12:30 PM A terrific opportunity for one of your students...but deadline is soon wp.me/pVzFP-VA via @wordpressdotcom

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Tweet from JillSpencer (@JillSpencer)

	JillSpencer (@JillSpencer)
12/3/12, 12:11 PM Be sure to read Ed Brazee's post on Bright Futures related to an exciting opportunity to recognize students:... fb.me/1LS7wvnyY

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Social media in the news

Today on my long commute, I heard NPR stories about the pope getting a twitter account, the meeting in Dubai focusing on the future of the Internet as determined by international treaties, the role of the Internet in pharmaceutical marketing, and a story on how SMS can support those who are trying to quit smoking.

Anyone want to argue that we can ignore information technology in our classrooms?

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Tweet from AMLE (@AMLEnews)

	AMLE (@AMLEnews)
11/30/12, 9:20 AM Educators must be more proactive in communication efforts. The best place to start: The individual school. bit.ly/QVYOfA via @NSPRA

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Twitter (@AngelaMaiers)

	Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers)
11/29/12, 9:58 PM 12 Most Basic Twitter Etiquette Tips goo.gl/RsztE via @12Most

It is time for educators to adopt this "new" tool... Here is a good place to start so you can avoid looking like a total noob. :)

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Fwd: November 29, 2012 Weekly Blast From NELMS

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Begin forwarded message:

From: nelms@nelms.org
Date: November 29, 2012, 1:43:45 PM EST
To: "Dr. Gary L. Ackerman" <gary@hackscience.net>
Subject: November 29, 2012 Weekly Blast From NELMS
Reply-To: NELMS <nelms@nelms.org>

Connecticut Association of Schools &
New England League of Middle Schools Present

"Preparing Middle Level Educators for the Demands of the Common Core State Standards

December 7, 2012
30 Realty Drive, Cheshire, CT 06410

What: State experts will discuss the paradigm shift in thinking and practice as a result of Common Core State Standards (CCSS), review the requirements of the CCSS and provide an overview of the Smarter Balanced assessments, including the sample released items and performance tasks.

Meet the Presenters:

Jerome Belair–Superintendent, Waterford Public Schools, former principal, East Lyme Middle School, James Garvin Distinguished Service Award Winner

Cristi Alberino, Ph.D.–ELA Assessment Consultant, Connecticut State Department of
Education

Gail M. Pagano–Mathematics Assessment Consultant, Connecticut State Department of
Education

Amy F. Radikas–Language Arts Consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education
Charlene Tate Nichols–Mathematics Education Consultant, Connecticut State Department
of Education.

For more information and/or to register please click here.
 

Literacy Summit Day 2-December 7, 2012

Wyndham Andover Boston
123 Old River Rd., Andover, MA 01810

How to Implement the Common Core in Your Middle School Classroom

With the common core, literacy instruction is the responsibility of all content teachers - it is no longer an option, it is a necessity. At the summit you will learn practical comprehension, vocabulary and writing strategies that all teachers can implement immediately to meet the Common Core standards. In addition, you can learn a practical and effective framework to develop a district or school wide literacy plan that will help guide Common Core instructional implementation.

NELMS is partnering with Keys to Literacy to bring you the Literacy Summit. We selected Keys to Literacy because their programs are an effective way to implement the Common Core in the classroom. We have organized the Literacy Summit around these programs to provide participants a practical, easy to implement and effective way to meet the Common Core objectives.

Summit Presenters

Elissa Arndt, Ph.D.

Elissa is a speech-language pathologist and reading specialist with experience providing instruction and intervention in language and literacy to students Prek-8th. She received her bachelor's degree from Gordon College, her master's degree from MGH Institute of Health Professions and her doctorate degree in Reading and Language Arts from Florida State University. Prior to working at Keys to Literacy, Elissa was a curriculum and intervention specialist at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) at Florida State University. She serves as an adjunct faculty member in the graduate education department at Gordon College teaching graduate classes on reading foundations, adolescent literacy, instruction, assessment, and intervention.

Lisa Klein, M.Ed

During Lisa's 15-year career as an educator, she has been a classroom teacher in private and public schools, a literacy trainer, and a Reading Specialist. She has held several positions in both urban and suburban schools in the Palm Beach County, Florida school system. Lisa is a literacy consultant providing guidance on both Reading and Writing curriculum. In addition, she also worked for a publishing company presenting teacher training for district-wide adoptions across the state of Florida. Lisa graduated from Rivier College with a M.Ed. in Reading and B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education.

For more information about the agenda and/or to register please click here.

Save the date for the NELMS 32nd Annual Conference

April 4 & 5, 2013 • RI Convention Center • Providence, RI

Tom Burton - Keynote - Thursday April 4, 2013

Carol Ann Tomlinson - Keynote - Friday April 5, 2013
The Demographics, Research and Ethics of Differentiation

Registration forms will be online by mid-January 2013.

From one of our sponsors...

 

 

 

 

Literacy Summit
Day 2 - 12/7/12

Join us on Facebook and Twitter

©2012 New England League of Middle Schools.. All Rights Reserved

 

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Tweet from Chris Sousa (@csousanh)

	Chris Sousa (@csousanh)
11/28/12, 5:36 AM Great e-zine for middle school kids & classrooms. tweentribune.com. Thnx @MrsDi! #edchat #midleved

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Gift ideas for middle school students

constructingmodernknowledge.com/cmk08?p=1747

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Homework!

http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/26/homework-an-unnecessary-evil-surprising-findings-from-new-research/


- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Transforming Learning - middle level education Archives - Education Week

Friends of NELMS from Maine contribute here:


http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/transforming_learning/middle-level-education/?tagID=0&blogID=118&categoryID=1525


- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Educational IT - David Weldon - Ed Tech's Attention Deficit

Your friend, gary@hackscience.net, thought the following from Educational IT might be of interest to you.

gary@hackscience.net included this note:
Vrey interesting little article here... Weldon's 11 trend is real!

Educational IT - David Weldon - Ed Tech's Attention Deficit

View this online at:
http://www.educationalit.com/author.asp?section_id=2180&doc_id=254706

Tweet from Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent)

	Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent)
11/26/12, 9:50 AM Trading Cards is a free app for iPad. Create cards about people, places, objects & events: tonyv.me/tradingcards #iosedapp

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Is homework necessary?

Homework is one of those unquestioned assumptions about schooling. I can heard the responses now, "Of course, homework is essential to learning, the research shows it." Skeptic or researcher replies, "Can you show me the studies?" 

... and the scenario continues with no one convinced or even more knowledgable because they read a study. 

Alfie Kohn considers the myth of homework in this blog:

www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/alfie-kohn/homework-research_b_2184918.html

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Questions Surround Software that Adapts to Students

Interesting for the single reason that one of the experts interviewed stated that an educational product must be tested in a controlled manner before claims about its efficacy can be accepted. 

Questions Surround Software that Adapts to Students
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW | NOVEMBER 26, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/fJmqV
By carefully logging students' every action online, a company called Knewton says, it can personalize questions and lessons to help people learn faste... Read more

--
Sent via Pulse

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Tweet from AMLE (@AMLEnews)

	AMLE (@AMLEnews)
11/19/12, 1:05 PM Live webcast tomorrow: Free games spark middle schoolers' interest in STEM careers! bit.ly/Txu3bd #midleved @changeequation

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Statistics & technology

So, a switch breaks interrupting DNS for our ISP and one of the two major cell providers in the area. It breaks just as our group is scheduled to join a webinar. 

We have three iPhones: one iPhone 4, one iPhone 4S, one 5. We have a dongle to project the webinar- it is compatible with the 4S. The 4 and the 5  have access to the Internet... the dongle is compatible only with the 4S. We only listened to the webinar via phone. 

This situation looks like a great statistics problem... P(phone has access to 'net)... P(phone is compatible with the dongle)... I miss teaching math.

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Tweet from Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers)

	Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers)
11/18/12, 4:15 PM Answering Essential Questions (in our Sketch-Reflection Journals) goo.gl/i0jE0 via @eliza_peterson

Download the official Twitter app here

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Brains

Very interesting infographic:

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mind-in-pictures-your-brain-by-the-numbers

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Fwd: Corrected information and apologies

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Begin forwarded message:

From: nelms@nelms.org
Date: November 16, 2012, 9:04:19 AM EST
To: "Dr. Gary L. Ackerman" <gary@hackscience.net>
Subject: Corrected information and apologies
Reply-To: NELMS <nelms@nelms.org>

Apologies

Yesterday the weekly blast from NELMS contained outdated information regarding the upcoming conference described below. The web developer would like to apologize to all who were inconvenienced by that erroneous information. What follows is the correct information…

Connecticut Association of Schools &
New England League of Middle Schools Present

"Preparing Middle Level Educators for the Demands of the Common Core State Standards

December 7, 2012
30 Realty Drive, Cheshire, CT 06410

What: State experts will discuss the paradigm shift in thinking and practice as a result of
Common Core State Standards (CCSS), review the requirements of the CCSS and provide
an overview of the Smarter Balanced assessments, including the sample released items
and performance tasks.

Meet the Presenters:

Jerome Belair–Superintendent, Waterford Public Schools, former principal, East Lyme Middle School, James Garvin Distinguished Service Award Winner

Cristi Alberino, Ph.D.–ELA Assessment Consultant, Connecticut State Department of
Education

Gail M. Pagano–Mathematics Assessment Consultant, Connecticut State Department of
Education

Amy F. Radikas–Language Arts Consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education
Charlene Tate Nichols–Mathematics Education Consultant, Connecticut State Department
of Education.

For more information and/or to register please click here.

 

 

Literacy Summit
Day 2 - 12/7/12

Join us on Facebook and Twitter

©2012 New England League of Middle Schools.. All Rights Reserved

 

You are currently subscribed to nelms as: gary@hackscience.net Add nelms@nelms.org to your email address book to ensure delivery Forward to a Friend  |  Manage Subscription  |   Subscribe  |   Unsubscribe

Fwd: November 15, 2012 Weekly Blast From NELMS

- Dr. Gary Ackerman

Begin forwarded message:

From: nelms@nelms.org
Date: November 15, 2012, 1:29:38 PM EST
To: "Dr. Gary L. Ackerman" <gary@hackscience.net>
Subject: November 15, 2012 Weekly Blast From NELMS
Reply-To: NELMS <nelms@nelms.org>

Wondering how to find funding to attend a NELMS event like the Annual Conference coming up in April 2013?

Find the funding you need…
Start planning now!

We know that at times funding for quality professional development can be a challenge. Following are some suggestions and options for financial support.

• School Improvement Grant (1003g) and 1003a Title I SIG
• Title II funds
• Title III funds
• IDEA funds
• Propose whole team participation funded through local professional development budget
• Make a funding request to a local civic organization. Civic organizations often are very supportive of educational initiatives and they welcome having a follow up presentation from the recipient(s)
• Request a mini grant/funds from a local bank, business, corporation

Remember that education is important and a valuable asset to our communities. Support, including financial, is often available if we make a request.

Connecticut Association of Schools &
New England League of Middle Schools Present

"Meeting the Demands of CCSS in the Middle(CCSS 101)"

December 7, 2012
CAS Offices, 30 Realty Drive, Cheshire, CT 06410

Presenters: Jerry Belair, Charlene Tate Nichols, Amy Radikas, Cristi Alberino and Gail Pagano
Description:Using a backwards design approach, this conference is targeted to teach the substance of the CCSS as well as connect the standards to middle school philosophy and practice. Sample assessments will be used to demonstrate what the CCSS expects students to know and demonstrate on the SBAC assessment.
For more information and/or to register please click here.

NELMS 2012 Literacy Summit
Common Core Strategies For All
Middle School Teachers

Literacy Summit Day 2-December 7, 2012

Wyndham Andover Boston
123 Old River Rd., Andover, MA 01810

How to Implement the Common Core in Your
Middle School Classroom

With the common core, literacy instruction is the responsibility of all content teachers - it is no longer an option, it is a necessity. At the summit you will learn practical comprehension, vocabulary and writing strategies that all teachers can implement immediately to meet the Common Core standards. In addition, you can learn a practical and effective framework to develop a district or school wide literacy plan that will help guide Common Core instructional implementation.

NELMS is partnering with Keys to Literacy to bring you the Literacy Summit. We selected Keys to Literacy because their programs are an effective way to implement the Common Core in the classroom. We have organized the Literacy Summit around these programs to provide participants a practical, easy to implement and effective way to meet the Common Core objectives.

Summit Presenters

Elissa Arndt, Ph.D.

Elissa is a speech-language pathologist and reading specialist with experience providing instruction and intervention in language and literacy to students Prek-8th. She received her bachelor's degree from Gordon College, her master's degree from MGH Institute of Health Professions and her doctorate degree in Reading and Language Arts from Florida State University. Prior to working at Keys to Literacy, Elissa was a curriculum and intervention specialist at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) at Florida State University. She serves as an adjunct faculty member in the graduate education department at Gordon College teaching graduate classes on reading foundations, adolescent literacy, instruction, assessment, and intervention.

Lisa Klein, M.Ed

During Lisa's 15-year career as an educator, she has been a classroom teacher in private and public schools, a literacy trainer, and a Reading Specialist. She has held several positions in both urban and suburban schools in the Palm Beach County, Florida school system. Lisa is a literacy consultant providing guidance on both Reading and Writing curriculum. In addition, she also worked for a publishing company presenting teacher training for district-wide adoptions across the state of Florida. Lisa graduated from Rivier College with a M.Ed. in Reading and B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education.

For more information about the agenda and/or to register please click here.

Save the date for the NELMS 32nd Annual Conference

April 4 & 5, 2013 • RI Convention Center • Providence, RI

Tom Burton - Keynote - Thursday April 4, 2013

Carol Ann Tomlinson - Keynote - Friday April 5, 2013

Rick Wormeli
Nov. 13 & 14, 2012

Literacy Summit
Day 2 - 12/7/12

Join us on Facebook and Twitter

©2012 New England League of Middle Schools.. All Rights Reserved

 

You are currently subscribed to nelms as: gary@hackscience.net Add nelms@nelms.org to your email address book to ensure delivery Forward to a Friend  |  Manage Subscription  |   Subscribe  |   Unsubscribe