Florida League of Middle Schools
Fl or id a Le agu e of Mid dl e Sch o ol s www.flms. org
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From the Desk of the
Executive Director
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Membership Form (New or Renewal)
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Wonderful World of
Websites
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Back to School Tips
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FLMS Facebook/2012
Conference Info
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Meet the FLMS Board
Members
Dr. Chet Sanders, Executive Director
FLMS applauds you, the tireless middle grades educator, for your continuing efforts and enthusiasm on behalf of all the young adolescents in our schools.
We want you to know that your state organization is steadily working to build partnerships and garner resources that will strengthen our ability to support each of you.
Once again, we sent representatives to represent the state of Florida to this year’s national middle grades education conference held in Louisville,
Kentucky. As you may have heard, the National Middle School Association
(NMSA) has changed the name to the Association for Middle Level Education
(AMLE). The hope is that the new name brings great potential that will position the organization to represent all middle grades educators, regardless of school names or grade configurations.
While at the conference our members attended the state affiliates meeting and interacted with other middle grades organizations across the United
States. In addition, FLMS hosted a Florida social event at which a number of attendees from our state were able to meet and network with one another.
In the new year, we will continue to recommit ourselves to the mission of supporting progressive middle grades education throughout Florida and to extend our influence beyond middle schools to include other school configurations as well as students in 5 th and 9 th grade.
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By Terry Golden, Florida Virtual School
Everyday there are countless, innovative websites for our students to utilize to help them with their class work. As a mom and a teacher, I have many favorites that will assist students to create alternative assessments in the classroom. After attending the National Middle School Association Conference I have added numerous new, useful sites to my favorite list. Pinterest and Stumbleupon are my new addictions! Try some of these out and have some fun! It took much deliberation, but here is a list of the top ten:
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www.Prezi.com
Prezi is a fancy PowerPoint. Poster board reports will disappear with this free website. Long gone are the days of spending $30 for the tri-fold display board, punch out letters, and borders. This easy to use site enabled my son to make his first Prezi in less than 20 minutes at it included a tear jerking YouTube Video at the end of the presentation! www.gloster.com
does the same type of thing by adding music, photos and videos.
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www.quizlet.com
Quizlet is a memorization tool that lets users create flash cards, play games, generate different types of test to practice vocabulary or any study material. My daughter uses this site and then post flashcards on Facebook so all of her friends can practice and play games with the words, too.
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http://myfakewall.com
Kids could have a fake Facebook page filled with status updates about characters in novels, science, history, a famous mathematician or artist. Examples: The Tea Party, Dec. 16, 1773
Benjamin Franklin: A righteous cause! Let’s protest taxation by making the entire city smell like chamomile. April 14, 1865 Abe Lincoln’s status update: Going with the missus tonight to the fabulous Ford Theater. I have Box Seats baby!! John Wilkes Booth could “like” it.
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http://animoto.com
and www.voki.com
. These sites will allow you to create stunning video masterpieces to share with the rest of the class. My students like to do book reports and my son likes to complete Science projects using these sites. Students could explain FOIL method in math or speaking as an animal and share its life-cycle/what it eats/habitat using these cool website. Teachers could tape a message for students as a bell-ringer. Students can create their own to show comprehension and learn vocabulary. These course enhancements could be sent in an email
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at the beginning of a lesson or posted on a class website. www.blabberize.com
is super cute because it uses a real picture and just the lips move. Using an avatar is an excellent way to differentiate instruction, meet individual student needs, and build community, confidence and vocabulary…with a giggle!
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www.classtools.net
Create free educational games, quizzes, activities and diagrams in seconds! Host them on your own blog, website, intranet, or send to students in an email! No sign-up, no passwords, no charge!
This site also has a Fakewall (Facebook looking template). Students could make a blog about a book they are reading and send you the website address so you could grade it. This is a great place for timelines, too.
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www.readwritethink.net
This site provides educators and students access to the highest quality and resources in Reading and Language Arts
Instruction. My son loves to make his vocabulary words (from any subject area) into cartoons from this site. If you are attempting to teach writing this is a wonderful and necessary site!
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http://explore.live.com/windows-live-photo-gallery-get-started Microsoft
Photo Story is a free application that allows users to create a visual story
( show and tell presentation) from their digital photos. Kids could take photos on field trips and add their own audio to the presentations. iPhoto is great for this idea and to use for any reports. My son uses these sites for most reports (how the world was formed, presentation on Hawaii, project on influence of TV).
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www.freerice.com
Play games in all subjects and for every correct answer the people from this site will donate 10 grains of rice through the World
Food Progamme to help end hunger. One teacher contacted sports team
(Jacksonville Jaguars) to compete in a contest. They competed in “Who could donate more rice… Jaguars vs. Middle School?” Some teachers use Free Rice for homework. An educator might announce that students need to complete 15 min of Free Rice in Math at level 5 or vocabulary at level 48 for example. One teacher told me she uses this site for family bonding time. She assigns homework for 15 min. but it needs to be completed with a family member. Fun!
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www.Bubble.us
is an easy to use mind map and brainstorming site. It changes colors automatically for each section of your map. My students use this at least once a week.
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http://www.xtranormal.com/ If you can type you can make a movie. Some students like to type the words instead of using their own voice on a video. This site allows the kids be anonymous in their school work.
In January we celebrate New Year’s Day, Martin L. King, Jr.’s Birthday,
National Hobby Month, and Australia Day. In February we celebrate
Freedom Day, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and Black History
Month. Provided below are several creative activities for teachers to use with their students during these months.
January
NEW YEAR’S DAY
• Do we celebrate the end of the old year or the beginning of the new one?
Defend your answer.
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Predict four resolutions you will make in the year 2017. (How old will you be?)
• Design a crossword puzzle using the names of college football teams and key players who participated in the bowl games on New Year’s Day.
• Give examples of paraphernalia used to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
• What color does New Year ’s Day represent to you? Explain.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’s BIRTHDAY
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Define civil rights in your own words and discuss with a partner or small group how civil rights are important to our way of life.
• What responsibilities do leaders have?
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Identify five positive things Martin Luther King, Jr. did for the people of the
U.S.
• If you could have any leadership role, what would it be and why?
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Identify other people who have stood up for what they believed and made a difference.
NATIONAL HOBBY MONTH
• Name at least eight games that use dice.
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Imagine your hobby has gained national attention; create a poster or brochure advertising the opening of a display of your hobby to the public.
• In what ways could you prove “practice makes perfect”?
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Stretch your imagination. Think of all the ways you could use your leisure time.
• Predict what life would be like without hobbies.
AUSTRALIA DAY
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If you were describing your life to an Australian child, what would you tell him/her?
• Describe how it might feel to live in a kangaroo pouch. Can you imagine any human situations that are similar?
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Outback is the answer. What could the questions be?
Complete this thought: Australia is...
Design a collage with pictures that represent the Outback.
February
FREEDOM DAY
• Discuss with your classmates the struggles of one modern-day country as it attempts to gain freedom from oppressive rule; bring in newspaper articles depicting this struggle.
• If you had a freedom treasure chest, what would be inside? Why?
• What does it mean to “let freedom ring”?
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Does freedom feel more like a flag or a rainbow? A poem or a song? A parade or a ball game? New Year’s or the Fourth of July? Explain each choice.
VALENTINE’S DAY
• If you could do whatever your heart desires, what would you do and why?
• Draw a picture illustrating the theme “Love Around the World.”
• With your teacher’s permission, bring in a Valentine’s Day treat to share with your class.
• Brainstorm as many possible Valentine’s Day gifts as you can.
• Wr ite and illustrate a booklet entitled “Love Is a World...”
PRESIDENTS’ DAY
• Imagine what would happen if our presidents had ten-year terms.
• In what ways would life be different if America had a king instead of a president?
• Choose five words that describe the current President of the United States.
• Design a Presidential election campaign poster with yourself as the person running for the office.
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Create a scavenger hunt puzzle that calls for the answers to trivia questions about past presidents.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
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If you could clone one famous black American past or present, who would it be and why?
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Create a time line noting each milestone black Americans have achieved.
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Respond to this statement: Learning history is easy; learning its lessons is almost impossible.
• Differentiate between segregation and integration.
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Design a poster recruiting for participants to join in the 1964 Freedom
March to Washington, D.C.
In June, FLMS joined the millions of other social networkers on Facebook. On the wall, you will find comments about middle level education. Facebook fans of the FLMS page have posted insights, shared
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pictures and commented on the events throughout the conference.
With so many companies and organizations using Facebook, it is important for FLMS to have a presence in the digital community. The goal of the FLMS Facebook Wall is to keep you informed with as much up-to-date information as is possible. So, while you are networking be sure to add the Florida League of Middle Schools as a friend!
This year’s conference is a week earlier from June 9 th –June 10 th ! We will have some great sessions, an excellent selection of baskets, and our usual fantastic
Sunday brunch with Florida’s Teacher of the Year, Alvin Aureliano Davis, as our
Keynote Speaker. Look for more details to follow in the next edition of
Powerlines.
Executive Director Chet Sanders Alachua
Chairperson/ Region 5 Director Janet Spence Hillsborough
Treasurer Shirley Fox Orange
Secretary
Membership Chair
Website Editor
Laura Hinds St. Johns
Sharen Lewis Sarasota
Natalie Angelis Orange
State Conference Chair Kathy Shewey Alachua
State Conference-Exhibitor Information/ Region 4 Director
Cathy Egley Volusia
Exceptional Education Representative Wynne Tye Hillsborough
Journal Editor/Collegiate Contact
Journal Co-Editor
Newsletter Editor
Board Advisor
Board Advisor
Region 1 Director
Region 3 Director
Paul George Alachua
Reisa George Alachua
Maureen Shankman Alachua
Santo Pino Collier
Gene Pickler Seminole
Jeff Garthwaite Escambia
Shane Andrew Alachua
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Power Lines Newsletter Ideas
Once again, Power Lines will be coming to you throughout the year to serve as a tool to use in your schools. We would love to have your input! If you are interested in submitting an article for publication, please contact Maureen Shankman at shankmmb@gm.sbac.edu
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