Curious Classroom

 image by Jurgen Appelo via http://www.noop.nl/

Recently, the Nebraska Education Chat (#nebedchat) organizers (of which, I am one) have invited some state lawmakers to moderate our humble little chat. #nebedchat is always open to all educators, regardless of location, but this semester, we have been getting a little Nebraska-centric. In fact, we held a chat that we literally called our Nebraska-centric chat earlier in the semester, and last week marked a first for our chat as well.

Senator Suzanne Geist was our first Nebraska senator to take on the challenge of chat moderation. I commend her for her bravery! No one “owns” a hashtag, so you never know who might show up. It truly is as public a digital forum as you can get

Hollahhhhh to Nebraska Senator Adam Morfeld and Nebraska Senator Meg Hunt for offering to moderate upcoming chats on April 2 (Morfeld, Topic: Mental Health) and May 14 (Hunt, Topic TBD). You are brave too, and I know you can handle it. I’ve seen you both tackling some really important and sometimes contentious issues of late.

In any case, the #nebedchat community is thankful for the opportunities these three senators have offered us. Being able to interact in real-time with people who have the ability to enact meaningful change at any level of our government is a powerful experience for all people, but oftentimes teachers don’t feel like they have a voice, so I am SO grateful. THANK YOU.

As a result of inviting these three moderators who have not moderated a chat prior to their #nebedchat experience, I’ve come up with a  little “cheat sheet” which I hope will be helpful for anyone moderating a Twitter chat for the first time. If it is helpful, please use and share!

TWITTER MODERATION CHEAT SHEET

If you notice any content, grammar or spelling errors, please let me know. If you have suggestions for how to improve this cheat sheet, I’ll take those too.

#nebedchat always begins at 9PM CST and lasts for 45 minutes.

Upcoming chats that are not already mentioned above:

• 4/9/19 Erin Konecky and yours truly –> Trauma-Informed Education
• 4/16/19 Chad Boyes –> Creating School Culture and Climate
• 4/23/ 19 Dr. Monica Housen –> Innovation and Embedding 21st Century Skills
• 4/30/19 Joslynne Stauss –> Topic TBD
• We still need moderators for our 5/14 and our 5/21/19 chats. Could it be you? Please reach out, if it is.

 

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On 4/2/19 Senator @amorfeld will be moderating #nebedchat (on Twitter). On 5/7/19 Senator @nebraskamegan will be moderating (9 PM as usual). I hope you can join us for this unique opportunity to speak directly to lawmakers in the state of Nebraska. #savethedate #nebraska #education

A post shared by Mrs. Morgenson (@mizmorgetron) on Mar 25, 2019 at 8:50pm PDT

Hope to “see” you soon.

Gauthier DELECROIX – 郭天 via Compfight

As busy as we are as educators, it is easy to get behind on current events, and pop culture as well as topics that interest us personally. I have found myself filling in some of those gaps through the use of podcasts. I listen to them whilst showering, driving, or falling to sleep at night. The more I listen to podcasts, the more I think about the educational applications they have. I was listening to a podcast this morning about conspiracy theories that spurred historical events, and now all I can think about is sharing a portion of that podcast with my World History students as we head into our unit on revolutions. There are countless applications for pretty much any subject taught in school, which I would like to process through writing in the near future. For now, I’ll leave you with this: Sharing parts of (or whole) podcasts with students mixes up the way I deliver information. They often pose opportunities for critical thinking and discussion. I have a lot more to say, but limited time, so for now, I’ll post some links to some of my favorites that have potential for use in a high school classroom.

• Radiolab
• This American Life
• Levar Burton Reads
• Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips
• TED Radio Hour
• The Truth (fiction)
• StoryCorps

Krissy Venosdale via Compfight

DIRECTIONS: Choose one of the following as a prompt for this week’s BLOG entry (due FRIDAY). (Post your response in your own blog.)

OPTION 1
What are you really learning at school?

OPTION 2
Read at respond to the following article. (If you need a paper copy, I have one.)

How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities? (Note that this article is from 2012.)

OPTION 3
In light of an upcoming standardized test that you may or may not be taking … or tests that you’ve already taken … are standardized tests helpful or harmful? useful or worthless? Explain your stance. (Keep in mind that standardized tests include the ACT, SAT, MAP, State Tests, AP exam and others not listed.)

OPTION 4
Read at respond to the following article. (If you need a paper copy, I have one.)

Is School Stressing You Out? (Note that this article is from 2010.)

OPTION 5
Read at respond to the following article. (If you need a paper copy, I have one.)

Let’s embrace competition in advanced placement courses.