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You have probably heard of Dave Eggers. If not, get yourself over to McSweeneys.net or better yet, pick up a copy of any of his great books. From A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius to What is the What, Eggers is an amazing and hardworking author. He even oversees one of my favorite Best American series, Best American Nonrequired Reading. Though Eggers is the editor, the content is selected by high school students. It is a yearly collection of, you guessed it, literature and essays that can’t be found on any required reading list. 2008’s collection is introduced by everyone’s favorite children’s and young adult fiction author, Judy Blume.

Now, Dave is normally the type of author who remains behind the page, but you can check out a speech he made at TED this past February about his initiative to start 826 Valencia, a writing center for students in the San Francisco community. The initiative started with one branch, and has since expanded to include cities such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and others.  The centers serve as locales for budding young writers to get tutoring, guidance, and to see their work come to life in the form of books. Eggers gives some great insight to the way 826 Valencia works, including how he and others collaborated with teachers’, tutors’ and students’ feedback to create a great, creative environment. See the video for more. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Dave Eggers at TED

826 Valencia

So one day you’re checking your mailbox at school and there is a letter from central office delineating your CEUs. You scan it and see that you’re in good shape except…yikes! Renewal is due at the end of this school year and you’re short some content area credits. What are you going to do? Never fear, NSTA’s Web Seminars are here.

Like everything else produced by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), these seminars are well worth the time — and of that they don’t take much. The seminars are offered on weekday evenings and typically last one-and-a-half hours. You can participate in them from home (in your PJs if you like), and they’re free to everyone! What could be better?

The seminar topics should appeal to a wide range of science teachers — from elementary to high school level. While NSTA hosts, coordinates, and provides reliable technical support for the seminars, they are taught by experts in the field, or produced by such big name organizations as NASA, NOAA, and the FDA to mention a few. If you can’t decide which seminar would be most useful, you can see the state standard correlations for each topic in order to help you select the best one. The seminars are presented using the Elluminate platform. The program allows you to hear and see the lecturer, their slides and diagrams, and chat with other seminar participants. Once you sign up for a seminar, NSTA will guide you through setting up and using the program both before and on the day of the seminar.

Still not enough time to take the seminar live? See one on the list that you missed? Well, luckily, the seminars are also archived so you can still view the ones you missed.

All in all, this is a very painless way to accrue content area CEUs. The seminars are interesting and relevant, not to mention quick and free. So, when that dreaded renewal notice comes, you’ll be prepared with a great way to catch up on some professional development. –REBECCAH HAINES

NSTA’s Web Seminars

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If you missed our original post on the subject, we’re giving away free professional development. We’ll randomly select one comment made between December 19, 2008 and January 14, 2009. The winner will receive a free spot in his or her choice of one of LEARN NC’s new e-Learning for Educators courses:

• Science 2.0: Using Web Tools to Promote Inquiry-Based Science (beginning on January 21)
• Using Patterns to Develop Algebraic Thinking (January 21)
• Integrating Primary Sources into the Social Studies Classroom (January 26)
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Using Objective Measures to Improve Student Learning (January 28)
• Getting Ready for Algebra by Using Virtual Manipulatives (February 25)
• Classroom Assessment Enhanced by Technology (April 22)

Make a comment, win a prize (maybe). Good luck. -BILL FERRIS

As a writer-type person, I have several writer-type friends. And I know that these writers are always looking for new, more convenient, and more effective ways to write, publish and share their work with other writer-type folks. I think it’s safe to say that most writers want their work published somewhere and read by someone, and that they’re always looking for inspiration.

Well, now there’s Scribd, a place for writers to upload their work, be it completed or a work-in-progress, for 50 million Scribd users (or maybe just a handful of friends) to see. The cool part is that Scribd automatically transforms your document, whether it’s a PDF, Word document, or PowerPoint file, into a sharp-looking web-based document, then indexes every word so it can be found through search engines.

Scribd is a great place to upload your course syllabus, a PowerPoint slideshow lesson, or even your own creative work to share with thousands of other teachers. And with Scribd’s vast database of documents, browsing the site can be a great source of inspiration for class writing projects.  -LAUREN FROHNE

Scribd

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If you’re a computer lab teacher in primary, do you sometimes feel like a Kinko’s outlet with all the coloring books you print out? Do you feel guilty that all that paper you go through kills both trees and your school’s budget for toner cartridges? I’m not crazy about having students come into the lab and spend 10 minutes looking for the perfect picture from PBSKids to print. They also get frustrated — crayons are so low-fi in this age of online painting. Thanks to Kevin Jarrett at NCS- Tech, I have a list of sites to share with you that will let students do the coloring part online (you can decide if you want the kids printing their work).

The most educational seems to be Enchanted Learning’s Dinosaur Pages to Color. The pictures list the scientific name for each dinosaur, and has some text giving details about the animals. Since we don’t know the colors or textures of dino hide, your students can get really creative as they color these creatures.

Next up is Coloring.com, which as Kevin points out, has not just colors, but textures, and a really big selection.

Finally, Kendra’s Coloring Book, which doesn’t have textures, but will let you mix colors (sorta like a blendy pen?)

In the case of Enchanted Learning, the coloring could definitely be tied into a thematic unit on dinosaurs. The other two are suitable for student choice, or reward time. Enjoy these sites, and stay inside the lines! -ALICE MERCER

Enchanted Learning’s Dinosaur Pages to Color

Coloring.com

Kendra’s Coloring Book

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Sometimes I think about how the internet has become such a dominant presence in our lives and how it’s changed everything about how we communicate with each other around the world, and I get scared. I mean, I once used Skype in order to have a quick meeting with a professor who was in China, and it was like we weren’t even half the world away from each other. We were just looking at each other and talking about normal stuff like we would in person. With all of these new web-based technologies, sometimes I worry that we will never ever have to leave our houses again in order to do the things we do everyday. That’s the scary part. What if the internet turns us all into reclusive hermits who never have to leave the house because we can teach our classes, attend our meetings, and meet our friends for lunch over the internet?!?!

Contributing to my paranoia and hysteria is Dimdim, a web-based conferencing tool that makes it easy to not only have a web conversation, but also allows you to show pictures, PowerPoints, PDFs, live screens, and even video as part of your conversation. With Dimdim, you don’t even need a desktop client like Skype or Outlook, and it’s totally free. Basically, it is so advanced and so effective, you may never have to leave your house again.

Dimdim is a great site to use to set up a “virtual classroom” and share class materials on the web, or even to gather colleagues from around the world for a quick meeting. Just remember that even though the internet has made it so that we don’t have to go outside anymore, you should step out and see the sun every once in a while. -LAUREN FROHNE

Dimdim

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I misspelled a word in the title of the first research paper I ever wrote in school (”The Death Penalty Contraversy”). That’s when my teacher, Mr. Goedken, told me about this magical thing called “spell check” (don’t laugh, this was quite a novel concept for me at the time). As a result, I became a better speller, wound up with an English degree and get to edit this blog.

Sometimes a clever piece of technology can help students learn a difficult concept or shore up a few weaknesses they have. At Instructify, we want to hear what nifty tech toys you’ve used in 2008 to help your students, whether they’re stand-alone programs, web sites, class movie projects, whatever. Tell us about it in the comments. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: Matthew Clark Photography & Design on Flickr

This time of the year usually focuses on year-in-review posts, taking stock, etc., which makes this month-in-review stuff kinda anticlimactic. Nevertheless, our December posts deserve their place in the spotlight too, so try to muster up a polite smattering of applause for our best posts this past month.

Owl pellet dissection made easy

Candy as a way to teach science? I’m in!

Create web forms and polls with Google Docs

Cold weather science for kids

The Educator’s Guide to the Creative Commons

Missing the point: teacher confiscates free software

Someday when computers are animatronic robot pals, all you’ll need to say to them is “LogMeIn, Hamachi.” Well, provided your robopal is named Hamachi.

Protect yourself from pop-ups — and much, much worse

Merlin Mann on Time and Attention

Karaoke to learn English? I thought it was Japanese?

Happy New Year from Instructify. At the risk of jumping the gun with a whole day left in the year, we’re rolling out this list of Instructify’s 10 most popular posts of 2008:

1. Add Flash, Widgets, All that Stuff to Your Website with Sprout
2. Missing the point: teacher confiscates free software
3. Johnny Lee: Interactive Whiteboard From a $40 Wii Remote
4. Have Students Take Your Tests Online with ClassMarker
5. Owl pellet dissection made easy
6. Access, Analyze, Act: Three cheers for representative democracy!
7. Learn Languages with LingQ
8. The new essentials: Top 10 school supplies for today’s students
9. Access Firewalled Videos with KeepVid
10. Ask the readers: Smart Boards for administrators

Thanks for reading, and we hope you’ll keep reading in 2009. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: holeymoon on Flickr.

Who can forget those first images from Hubble once it got its “cataract” surgery? This image of gas pillars from the Eagle Nebula is the first one I got to see and it blew me away! It’s had some breakdowns, but with repairs it should last into 2013 when it gets replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope.

If you love astronomy and the Hubble, like I do, then you’ll love hubblesite.org, which provides information and lots of great images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The site has a gallery section (which has my favorite, a video called Revelations loaded with tons of awesome images, with a thumping techno track), information on the telescope, discoveries it’s made, and a section for education and museums with activities for students. You can even see the new James Webb Space Telescope which the site informs us will be almost a million miles from Earth and operate in near zero temperature conditions (makes this winter almost seem warm in comparison). Learn about space, space telescopes and see some great images from space at HubbleSite.org. -ALICE MERCER

HubbleSite.org

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Seriously! Karaoke is good for more than just drunken businessmen (and others) letting off steam. It can be a great way for language learners to practice and improve English language skills. The lyrics rhyme and are repeated, it comes with a written prompt, and the music helps to bring it all together. As Larry Ferlazzo says, singing is a lot less threatening to language learners than having a conversation (since it’s acceptable to hum through the parts you forget or don’t get).

So where to go? My two favorite sites are Sims on Stage. Both are easy to use and have a minimal registration process. You will need a microphone if you are recording your or your students’ singing, but you can just practice. You can find easy classics under the Kids category. My school does a monthly “sing-a-long” assembly. I had the kids practice singing “Jingle Bells” for this month’s show. -ALICE MERCER

All of these ideas are stolen come from Larry Ferlazzo and his great blog

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Welcome to the last week of 2008. It’s been a fun year for us here at Instructify, and we hope that 2009 brings good tidings and an onslaught of (attainable) resolutions for you and your classroom. Here are a few lists to end the year right.

77 Colorful Words - Stop trying to think of another word for “red” and just use this handy reference guide to pick the right one. Not much here except for different words for all your favorite basic colors, but there are a few activities that might be great for some simple fun around the classroom. Via TeachersDesk.org.

Archaeology’s Top 10 Finds - While most of us are content not digging in the earth for relics of history, there are many who go in search of our world’s buried treasures to discover more about the past. The real life Indiana Joneses at Archaeology Magazine have compiled their top 10 finds for 2008, and amongst the list are such wonders as the Masked Mummy and, erm, “Brown Gold” in Oregon. Check out the rest at MSNBC’s CosmicBlog.

430 Best Books of 2008 - When your students aren’t busy reading all that “required” stuff, let them know about these books, courtesy of Goodreads. The rankings are based on user votes, so social media decides who’s who in the world of lit here. Which, I guess is why it is no surprise that Stephanie Meyer holds the #1 & #2 slots for books in her Twilight series.

50 Best Websites of 2008 - Time Magazine presents this list of helpful, fun, odd, and otherwise creative websites that hit the scene in 2008. These are the best that 2008 has to offer for the World Wide Web, and cover topics ranging from finding good gas prices to peer advice to celebrity gossip. Surprisingly, Instructify didn’t make the cut this year, but there’s always a chance to make the 2009 list, right? Happy New Year, everyone. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr

During this holiday season, we at Instructify hope you put down your computer to spend time with loved ones, drink some egg nog, and recharge your batteries for next semester.

To help you do this, we’ll be cutting back on posts for the remainder of the year.But don’t fret, we’ll be back in full force January 5. Until then, cough all the chalk dust out of your lungs and relax. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: krisdecurtis on flickr.com

2009 is nearly upon us. Y2K… err, IX. The New Year holiday is always a moment to reflect. Whether you’ll be pensively staring out the window from a comfortable easy chair or passionately throwing a whiskey bottle at your reflection in the mirror, the question remains the same: “What am I doing with my life?”

That’s a heavy existential question, and I don’t know what to tell you. Also, for certain legally binding reasons, I’m no longer allowed to tell you what to do with your life. If you’re searching for brilliant advice on how you manage your time and attention, however, I would recommend none other than Merlin Mann.

This isn’t the first time Mann has shown up in Instructify. I’ll just leave it at saying that he has a lot of solid advice on productivity, has built an impressive web presence and that I’ve swiftly become a fan. I recently discovered 43 Folders and I was hooked. I’ve been poring through all of his other websites and projects, too. You’ll just have to search for his other stuff on your own. I’m approaching my link limit.

Check out this presentation of his about managing limited time and working in a team in this video from the Google Tech Talks presentation series. One thing you should factor into this is that he’s speaking to an audience of Google employees so the translation to the education sector is a little rough. For example, you should mentally dub in the word “semester” whenever he says “cycle.”

This video isn’t going to provide you with direct instructions about how to manage your time, but it does frame the issue of how your time can sometimes get railroaded. Identifying the obstacles in your way is the first step to solving them—we all know that. Mann points out that you need to identify when well-intentioned helpers also turn into obstacles, like the “ding” noise your email makes to let you know you just got an email. -NICK YINGLING

Google Tech Talks: Merlin Mann on Time and Attention

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It seems that the news lately has been full of teachers running afoul of technology. There’s the case (ably covered by Instructify editor Bill Ferris) of the Austin teacher who incurred the Wrath of the Internet by writing, very mistakenly indeed, that “No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful.” There’s the case of the “Drunken Pirate” student teacher who posted a rollicking picture to her MySpace page, was denied her degree in Education just before her graduation from Millersville University, and then sued — and lost.

And then there’s the case of Julie Amero. In 2004, Amero was substituting in a seventh-grade classroom when inappropriate, possibly pornographic pop-ups began appearing on the computer. Amero was arrested and then convicted in January 2007 of four counts of child endangerment, and she was facing up to 40 years in prison until her conviction was vacated a few months later and a new trial ordered.

When I first heard the case described on the radio, it was immediately obvious to me that the computer had been hijacked by malware. I’ve only had a computer hijacked once, but once was more than enough, believe me. No one who has been startled by the appearance of multiple pop-up windows that spawn yet more pop-up windows when you try to close them would be likely to doubt Amero’s protestations that she hadn’t been deliberately visiting porn sites in class. Since my own hijacking, I’ve been very careful about installing and automating programs like the free Ad-Aware on my own computers. Ad-Aware updates itself and scans my system automatically, but every once in awhile I look at it, and it’s catching some nasty stuff every time, let me tell you. All the major web browsers now also allow pop-up blocking, and I make darn sure that it’s turned on, especially since I can grant pop-up exceptions when I need to. Your school’s IT staff almost certainly puts such protections in place for your classroom’s computer(s), but it might be worth a delicate inquiry — especially since evidence shows that the IT staff at Julie Amero’s school weren’t taking basic precautions.

It’s widely agreed in the tech community that the Julie Amero case was a tragedy and a travesty and a farce and just, well, extremely frustrating. At least it’s now over: on November 21st, 2008, Julie Amero chose to end a four-year court battle by pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, paying a fine of $100, and having her Connecticut teaching credentials revoked. What does she think about computers, after all this trouble? She doesn’t “touch them except for e-mail.” — AMANDA FRENCH

State of Connecticut vs. Julie Amero (Wikipedia)

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