Waffle Bytes

From Christine Schneider, MeL Education Specialist: Not only do we celebrate reading in the month of March, we also celebrate women!  Here are some suggestions for using MeL resources to read about women who have made some major contributions in STEM: BookFLIX : Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall is considered to be the world’s foremost expert of chimpanzees. Introduce children to her endearing subjects and work as both a scientist and activist with this  featured pair  from BookFlix. Britannica School : Britannica offers leveled reading on a multitude of subjects. Plus they include over 46,000 biographies. We’ve pulled together some resource packs you can use with your students.  First, click into any level of Britannica ( Elementary ,  Middle , or  High ), and then click on either  Women in STEM – Elementary  or  Women in STEM – Secondary . eBooks : Learn more about women and careers in computer programing, ...

I am looking for teachers that are willing to participate in a classroom challenge with their students! This challenge is open to all K-12 classrooms and student clubs in participating REMC12E districts. (This is nearly all school districts in Branch and Calhoun county.  Not sure if your district is included?  Email me to ask! Title: Build Model Test Course for New Vehicles Type : Engineering and Programming Challenge Challenge/Problem to Solve : You have been asked to develop a model test course for new vehicles. This course will test the controllability and speed of the vehicles as they move through the course. Challenge Parameters : Challenge is limited to 8-10 teams  Students must create all elements for the challenge  The designed course must contain the following:  An incline and decline of at least 24”  At least 4 turns, 2 each left and right  Tests for the model going slow, medium, and fast speeds  Time Frame : approximately...

The "new" Google Sites has another new setting.  When deciding who can view your site, you now have more options than just the standard "Anyone" and "Everyone in my organization" - a huge improvement if you are trying to find ways to share data to a limited number of people.  This feature has been available when you create a new site; as of today, I could also use this setting on an existing site (created with the "New" Google Sites of course). When you have existing site, you need to change this in the following way. 1. Click on the Share icon (silhouette with plus), like you would when adding an editor to your site - 2. Look for the new option of "Published" which will let you control who views your site.  Click on the Change... at the end of the line - 3.  Select "Specific people can view when published" - 4. Type in the name of the person or group you want to be able to view the site -  5.  Cha...

If you are a Michigan educator and are not aware of all that the Michigan electronic Library has to offer, you really need to check it out!  If you are not confident exploring a site on your own, check out some of their webinars which will help orient you to the site.  This is a site that is provided for all Michigan residents! From the MeL team: Michigan libraries across the state work very hard every day to make meaningful, positive impacts in their communities. MeL databases are there to assist you with the best information available for your patron’s business, educational, health, financial, consumer needs, and more. The Library of Michigan and MCLS work together to bring relevant, timely, and accessible MeL databases training to all Michigan library staff and teachers. The focus is to meet the needs in real time, and through MeL provide libraries with the tools and acumen to better serve and educate their communities; thereby strengthening our libraries and state....

There is a free webinar on Feb 20 where you can learn tips & tricks for integrating the @USCIWitness Challenge into your classroom.  It would be great to see some local teachers participate in this! From the website : Make the World Stronger Than Hate. Educators have a powerful opportunity to educate and inspire students to make change now. The 2018 IWitness Video Challenge, created by USC Shoah Foundation and in partnership with Discovery Education , provides an actionable way to promote equality, challenge bias, discuss tolerance, and engage students in a service-learning project that inspires action. Teachers and students can be part of a movement that counters hatred in all its forms, from racism to antisemitism to xenophobia. Prizes This important opportunity for youth to be Stronger Than Hate—and inspire their friends, school, and community to join them—also comes with the chance to win scholarships and grants totaling $10,000. FOR STUDENTS: First...

Black History Month Library - Google Drive Folder This resource, created and shared by Charles Preston , may provide some outstanding resources beyond what you have previously used.  The resources cover a wide range of history and people that may or may not be familiar to you.  This is a community contributed to work, so you will also see resources contributed by addition people.  Please note : many of the shared works are copyrighted, you be aware of Fair Use guidelines in using them with your students during classroom activities.  (The works that are creative commons licensed or in the public domain works have no such limitations.) Thank you to Charles Preston for sharing this out via Twitter - he may be someone you should follow.

Looking for some activities that focus on the Great Lakes?  Check out the Center for Great Lakes Literacy ! The site includes curriculum resources, professional development and webinars that you can use to help tie your science lessons to the Great Lakes.  Many lessons in the curriculum resources are multi-disciplinary and convey the complexity of problems faced when looking at Great Lakes issues.    Additionally, teachers may apply to for a shipboard professional development opportunity.  Selected teachers spend a week aboard a research vessel on one of the Great Lakes, working alongside and learning from scientist.  Housing and meals are provided for this experience, along with a $500 stipend.  The target audience is educators in the Great Lakes basin. that work with 4th-12th grade students

A small update has happened in Google Docs.  The Page break and Column break have now been grouped together into a sub-menu called Break .  They can still be found under the Insert menu. 

Lots of updates are happening in the MeL Gale databases! Just shared from Christine Schneider, MeL K-12 Education Specialist: Great news! Gale has just announced a number of enhancements to many of the Gale databases you are using from the Michigan eLibrary (MeL).  These enhancements provide increased functionality, easier access to Gale’s most used tools, and more.  The following highlights will automatically become available on FEBRUARY 7, 2018 : All MeL Gale Databases:   Updated tools on the document page .  “Send to Google Drive” and “Send to OneDrive” now appear in the tools list, without having to click on “Download”.  Also, the most used features have been moved to the top for easy access. Enhanced Highlights and Notes . Highlights and notes sent to Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive now include hyperlinked document titles and citation information, making it easier for users to navigate back to the original content and properly cite informati...