Instructify

Baptism by Fire: 100 Essential Tips and Resources for Student Teachers
If you or someone you care about is scared to death about his/her first student teaching assignment, this list will take away some of that stress. You’ll find tips on everything from classroom management to lesson plans to resume and interview help.

8 Essential Skills They Didn’t Teach You In School
School’s important, but there are some lessons it doesn’t cover. Your students — and maybe you, too — can try adding a few soft skills to the ol’ resume after reading this list. These skills are useful to folks of any age. I found some I’m already doing (listening to audiobooks while driving or doing mundane tasks) and a few I need to work on (networking). Defining the problem is half the battle, so if you feel you’re deficient in any of these skills, now’s as good a time as any to shore them up.

TED Talks: Predicting the next 5,000 days of the web
The interweb as we know it today is a ripe old 5,000 days old. We’ve come a long way since Prodigy, baby. Wonder what the next 5,000 days hold? Check out this TED Talks video.

TED’s Top 10 Videos - A (Free) Goldmine Of Inspiration
Speaking of TED, they’re an all-around compendium of awesome videos, tantalizing us with what’s possible. Here’s a handy Top 10 list, courtesy of Mike Stopforth, of cool, inspiring TED Talks to get you excited about the coming school year.

Photo credit: Sister 72 on flickr

35 Scholarships Anyone Can Get - CollegeDegree.com has put this list of scholarships together that just about anyone is eligible for. The list includes scholarships in various amounts, as well as essay writing contests and some unorthodox contests like the Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Scholarship.

50 Things from Ben Jones - Ben Jones blogs for the M.I. T. admissions department. This letter, addressed to the incoming freshman, is a quick and dirty “here are the things I wish I’d known” list, with such advice as: All nighters are highly overrated. You said it, Ben.

101 Tips to Help You Make Money Doing What You Love - If you love teaching, don’t ever stop. But if your students have no idea what to do with their lives, then point them towards continuing to do the things they love. These tips from InspiredMoneyMaker.com should do the trick.

No Takebacks! Five Playground Rules to Live By - When the kids are at recess, you might do yourself some good by paying attention to what they’re yelling at one another. As it turns out, those tried and true rules like: No cutting and No do-overs might be more applicable to your adult life than you thought. From Dumb Little Man. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo by: HeavyWeightGeek on Flickr)

50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do - Do you know how to build a fire? How about CPR, do you know it? Or give directions? All of these things are essential life skills that you should know if you don’t already. This list from Marc and Angel covers everything from swimming to changing a tire in order for you to be more self-reliant.

6 Things Money Cannot Help You Achieve - Even Bill Gates and Steve Jobs still have to deal with the same time that you and I do, even if they could buy and sell you and me in a heartbeat. Surely there are other things than the ones presented on this list by Dumb Little Man, but these 6 make good sense. Money can’t buy you self-esteem, unfortunately, nor will it buy happiness.

52 Character Building Thoughts for Children - These might not be great tips for your older students, but the elementary crowd could really benefit from them. Leah Davies, M. Ed. brings us these great quotes on KellyBear.com. There are some real gems here, like this: When I am sad, I help myself feel better by thinking of things that are good in my life.

9 Ways to Save At The Movies - I know this isn’t completely related to teaching, but since school is out for most of us, we might have some more free time on our hands. Unfortunately, free time allows you to spend more money. If you plan to see any of the awesome, or not awesome movies this summer, here are some ways you can save from The Consumerist. My favorite on the list: Be careful with the concessions. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo by Jo Jakeman on Flickr)

You may have had the opportunity to read this earlier piece on Scott Elias and how to improve Power Point presentations. Dean Shareski adds his two-cents to the discussion in YouTube - PowerPoint Extreme Makeover, which gives concrete before-and-after examples with a few helpful tips.

The highlights:

1. More high-quality visuals: use a picture to not just illustrate but to tell the story;
2. Don’t try to make your PowerPoint stand alone, your delivery counts;
3. Don’t show the text you are reading in your narration;
4. Make the text you use stand out using contrast and fonts;
5. Get a remote clicker.

Stop killing your audience’s attention and start making killer presentations with these helpful tips. -ALICE MERCER

YouTube - PowerPoint Extreme Makeover
Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? - Presenting… Me!

Related Stuff:
Make PowerPoint More Than a Snazzy Overhead Presentation

Welcome to the Carnival of Education Career Fair! We’ve retracted the bleachers and set up the booths on the gymnasium floor so these brave teachers can see what they might be doing if they weren’t teaching (perish the thought).

Motivational Speaker
Mr. D at I Want to Teach Forever agreed to sport a freaking mohawk as long as his students worked hard, which was about three weeks. Sadly, his motivational experiment has concluded. Long live the mohawk.

Camp Counselor
As a kid, my wife got to go to Space Camp and Marine Science Camp. Had Tisha Kulak and American Consumer News been around back then to point out how to save money on tuition to summer research camps, I might’ve been able to go, too.

Productivity Consultant
Instructify-favorite studenthacks.org has some great tips for students who want to learn how to write a research paper.

Pro Athletes
The Jose Vilson uses Derek Jeter as an example of how nurturing students’ talent and leadership ability early on can reap great results.

And over at Jay P. Greene’s Blog, the author talks about the importance of identifying students’ talents, whether they’re a left tackle or potential honor student.

Economist
ESL teacher Larry Ferlazzo knows that money is the international language.

Translator
Melissa B. at The Scholastic Scribe provides a handy-dandy English-to-Eduspeak dictionary.

Director
Mathew Needleman at Creating Lifelong Learners takes a proactive approach to managing disruptive students during a class movie project.

Advice Columnist
Let’s Play Math! has some advice on teaching math to a struggling student.

Detective
OverwhelmedMom gets to the bottom of problems that gifted students face.

Investigative Reporters
The proprietor of a voice from the middle knows the means to discovery is asking the right questions.

In addition, eduwonkette responds to a Wall Street Journal article about the criteria used to evaluate teachers.

Game Developer
Alvaro at SharpBrains shares a few games to stimulate your temporal lobe.

Diplomat
Coach Brown tries to reach an understanding with hostile parents.

Nutritionists
At Homework. Dinner. Life. Angela points out that good nutrition habits ought to be maintained year-round, not just a few days before the test.

Meanwhile, Chanman at Buckhorn Road says all that caffeine students drink can’t be good for them.

Cartographer
Dan Callahan, a.k.a. geek.teacher, harnesses Google Maps for a lesson in community mapping.

Librarian
@EDU takes the work out of student research by pointing them toward Google Alerts.

Politician
Jane Artabasy at Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Network unloads the loaded word of the day, “elitism,” showing it’s nothing to be frightened of - especially in schools.

The folks at Golden Apple also mull over the differences in races and learning styles.

Astronaut
HowDoWhy asks, what is a solar system, anyway? Furthermore, just how big is ours?

Human Resources Specialist
Over at Right on the Left Coast, Darren discusses the sticky situation of a teacher dating an 18-year-old student at a different school.

Mentors
Allison Jones at Entry Level Living wants to revamp the way young people think about leadership.

The folks at the Efficient Leadership Files have some ideas on that as well.

Statistician
Lead from the Start crunches the numbers about the disconnect between teachers and EdSector.

Strategist
Seth Pearce at NYC Students Blog has an intriguing idea on how to overcome schools’ non-stop test preparation.

Lobbyist
PZ Meyers at Pharyngula has some news about a disturbing bill in the Oklahoma legislature regarding religion in schools.

Road Grader
As the great homework debate rages on, Shabam School makes a good case for grading homework.

Kindergarten Teacher (sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything else)
Kiri at Elbows, Knees, Dreams shares her thoughts (and asks for others’ opinions) about early entrance to Kindergarten.

Photo credit: ou_ags on flickr

Get Smarter: 12 Hacks That Will Amp Up Your Brainpower
Exercise your mind with these 12 strategies from Wired designed to max out your brainpower. Tips include exercising wisely, putting the right kinds of information in your brain, and even finding out the optimum dosages of caffeine.

40 Ways to Spice Up Your Spelling Words
Who doesn’t love memorizing spelling words? Your students, probably. Plenty of adults have trouble with spelling, meaning it’s probably even tougher for kids. Help them out by making your spelling words more interesting with these ideas.

50 Handy Tricks
File this under “Grab Bag.” Instructables presents this list of 50 Handy Tricks encompassing nothing in particular. You’ll learn how to do everything from taking blink-free photos to making a bow-and-arrow out of skis. Not necessarily teaching-related, but a creative soul like you can certainly figure out a way to build a lesson plan around reupholstering your couch with duct tape, can’t you?

10 virtually instant ways to improve your life
Want to add some quality to your quality of life? The folks at Stepcase Lifehack have some ideas, most of which can be summarized by the word, “relax.” Avoiding drama, not being a perfectionist, and not taking things personally will all help you make a fitter, happier and more productive life for yourself. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: Kaptain Kobold on flickr

The only specific memory I have of a field trip I took as a student was an elementary school trip to the local planetarium. Why? Because it was the first time I experienced astronaut ice cream. It tasted like regular ice cream…but…it was crunchy…??!! My mind was blown.

In retrospect, my teacher probably dreaded these trips at least a little bit – most of us students probably climbed back on the bus whirring with sugar buzzes. To reflect further, wouldn’t it be great it my most vivid school field trip memory wasn’t a fond reminiscence of something I’d encountered in a gift shop? Wouldn’t it be better if my mind had been blown by something that had actually happened inside the planetarium? Like, say, the notion of our lonely little planet spinning at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, perhaps one galaxy of millions in the universe? Shouldn’t that be more intriguing than the idea that some guy in a food lab figured out how to dehydrate ice cream?

Your students deserve better than this. To help make sure you maximize the educational value of your trips outside the classroom walls, you’d be wise to read this Kidcast blog post about podcasting and field trips. The post offers eight excellent suggestions on how to use podcasting to engage your students in the learning process before, during, and after the field trip. Each one is a great application of podcasting that uses the technology to scaffold learning: having students create a quiz show about the field trip location, for example, or recording a public service announcement to advertise the site.

Many thanks to Kidcast for reminding us there’s more to field trip preparation than permission slips. -EMILY JACK

Kidcast 53 - Podcasting and Fieldtrips

If a hard drive crash scares you more than a house fire, you need to back up your data. Pictures, documents, music, all of it could be history. Fortunately, you can back it up safely and cheaply with Mozy.

Mozy gives you your first 2GB of data free. To salvage more than that, it costs a measly five bucks a month. But you can store a lot with 2GB–that’s a good chunk of photos, a few vital albums, and even your unfinished novel you’ve been kicking around for years. -BILL FERRIS

Mozy

Related Stuff:
Back that Thing Up: Backup to Email

Note: I heard about Mozy from Leslie Fisher at the NCaect conference. She’s knows about lots of gadgets and do-dads. Check out her site!

5000+ Resources to Do Just About Anything Online - If you have time to look through everything on this list, congratulations. Otherwise, check out Mashable’s list of resources by their categories, which encompass everything from Podcasting to Life Tools. There’s really no reason to explore all 5000+ tools here, but with that many, you’re bound to find something useful.

100 Best Books (For Kids) - TeachersFirst.com gives us this great list of essential books for your young students. Selected by the National Education Association in 1999 - these books are all classics and should be read and reread. Looking through this list is like a virtual window to what made me interested in reading in the first place - Madeline L’Engle, my heart still belongs to you.

35 Chocolate Activities from Becky Settlemoir and Friends! - I don’t know who the heck Becky Settlemoir is, but I like her list. Education World delivers 35 cocoa-licious and educational activities here, but the list might just inspire you to think of some of your own. One of my personal favorites: making chocolate disappear. Nom nom nom…

20 Things I’m Glad Life Taught Me - I’m starting to think DumbLittleMan isn’t so dumb after all. In fact, the musings shared in this article are some great inspirational tactics that might help you keep your life on track, or at least get it back to a place that you feel comfortable and confident. Pass this info along to your students, they’ll thank you for it. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: Robbie1 on Flickr)

Welcome to your romantic and eerily educentric Valentine’s Day date. But will it end in love, tears, or possibly food poisoning from an undercooked Valentine’s dinner? These kind educators were gracious enough to share their Valentine’s Day experiences:

Dinner and a Movie: Benjamin Baxter at On the Tenure Track invites you to a live recreation of Saving Private Ryan in his own classroom.

Dining by Candlelight: Larry Ferlazzo at In Practice and Eric at Teachers Call say teachers should include more modern means of illuminating young minds.

Set the Mood with Music: Alvaro at SharpBrains says musical training stimulates the brain. Meanwhile, Creating Lifelong Learners tells you how to make the most of your iPod in class.

Send a Valentine’s Card: Ms. Cornelius says principals who care, trust and lead by example are sooo her type.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Minus the Suicide: The Bard Blog knows there’s no better way to woo someone than with poetry. Learn how to read Shakespearean verse like a true Romeo.

Even More Poetry: Eduwonkette has the same idea. Send your Valentine a funny poem.

On a Budget: American Consumer News has tips on how to get great books for cheap. Speaking of books, Money Blue Book talks about a few things you didn’t know your library could do.

On a Budget, Part II: Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog tells parents and students how to get a free college education. And Thursday Bram at Wise Bread tells students where to shop when they have to start buying their own textbooks.

Propagating the Species: GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life has the skinny on a guide to teaching evolutionary theory.

Lovers’ Quarrel: Mr. Walker, The English Teacher, prompts a heated discussion on tracking.

Kiss and Make Up: Resolve conflicts with colleagues by employing these strategies, courtesy of Pat at Successful Teaching.

Share a Few Laughs: Scenes from The Battleground pokes fun at the idea of blaming the victim in education.

Spend Some Time with Your Kids: TutorFi’s Colleen Palat asks, “Does My Child Need a Tutor?“If so, not to worry. The kid can still excel in school.

Find a Special Someone where you Least Expect It: Joanne Jacobs dishes on Principal Shimon Waronker, a Hasidic Jew, ignoring potential culture shock to turn around a prominently black and Hispanic school.

Watch the Sunrise: Circle Time “Lead From The Start” discusses teaching with both sides of the brain to usher in a new tomorrow in student learning.

Remembering the Way We Were: The Tempered Radical’s Bill Ferriter asked beginning teachers to remind older colleagues they’re still learning how to do this job.

Stand by Your Man (or Woman): Nancy Flanagan, a Teacher in a Strange Land, sticks up for teachers in the face of claims that the professions isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Get Some Alone Time: Dana at Principled Discovery doesn’t like the idea of the federal government butting in and bossing around local schools.

Remembering it’s the Thought that Counts: Like many parents reared on New Math, NYC Educator struggles to help his daughter at math. But he’s a dear for trying.

Fending off Suitors: Ms_Teacher isn’t interested in ETS’ insultingly low wages.

Dumped: To MasterPapers.com and CustomEssays.co.uk - We both knew this was coming. Selling essays to students is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And your advice on essay writing is pure fluff. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Photo Credit: Candy hearts at cryptogram.com.

Sorry to not have your precious MBTN done yesterday, voracious reader. Here it is today to make up for it. (February is a beast!)

10 Tips to Retain More of What You Read Online - You took the time to click on it, so you might as well actually digest what you’ve just read. Vandelay Website Design presents 10 ways to help, including these: Read at times you can focus, trim the fat, be aware of visual cues.

10 Books for Inquiring Minds - I’m sure that ALL books slake some sort of inquiry, but these books are for those of us who really want to delve. I am most interested in Seven Deadly Colours - about how nature creates color and how we perceive it. Neat.

Dale Carnegie’s Top 10 Tips for Improving Your Social Life - I don’t know who Dale Carnegie is, but if I had a social life, maybe my friends could tell me. Seriously, though, what is everyone doing tonight? Wanna hang out?

10 Simple Ways to Do Only Three Things Today- I don’t know if these tips are as beneficial as some of these others, but hey, we all can use some time to just be lazy, right? Even still, if you only do 3 things today, make them count.

40 Inspirational & Motivational Songs That’ll Keep You Refreshed! - Please note, these songs also happen to all be terrible, in my opinion - but I hope they help you stay motivated and inspired. Des’Ree, I hope you are happy with yourself. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: Eddie~S)

Are you constantly feeling like you’re forgetting things? People tend to think that their memories are quite bad, but the human brain is capable of storing an amazing amount of information. The Memory Page has activities and tutorials aimed at exercising the memory muscle.

If memory works by association, we actively work to create an association between two bits of information. For example, for the plane that we need to catch at 2 P.M., we can imagine the plane in our mind, and notice that it has 2 wings. Two wings, 2 P.M. There’s an association. We are now ten times more likely to remember the take-off time long after it has faded from our short-term memory.

The exercises won’t just be beneficial for you; there’s a treasure trove of information on the site for helping students with vocabulary, multiplication tables, and reading retention. It won’t be long before you’re a memory whiz– even if you don’t end up in the Mind Sports Olympiad, at least you’ll be able to go grocery shopping without a list in your hand. –ROSS WHITE

The Memory Page

One of the main things that kept me writing in college was actually going to class and doing the exercises assigned to me. Unfortunately, without deadlines and structure, writer’s block and excuses for not writing are easier to come by. Luckily, you, me and everyone else who wants to become a (better) writer can benefit from these free online writing classes. Education Portal brings us a list of 10 Universities Offering Free Online Writing Courses.

Among the list are MIT, Utah State and Purdue, and topics range from Fiction Writing to Covering Breaking News. Most of the courses are self-guided, and therefore self-paced. Some of the Universities require you to register, but at no cost. Overall, the courses seem appropriate for students and teachers alike - we could all benefit from being better writers, after all. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

10 Universities Offering Free Online Writing Courses

This utility means you’re never more than two clicks away from peace of mind. If you’re a Windows user, Backup to Email sends a backup copy of important files to your email address. The best part? Rather than logging on to your email, filling out your address, adding an attachment, then giving up because of the hassle and swearing you’ll do a full-scale backup “over the weekend,” Backup to Email takes about three seconds, and works for any file type. It splits large files so your inbox won’t be overwhelmed by one behemoth attachment.

Remember: a failure to plan is a plan for failure. And a hard drive failure can drive you to smack your head against a hard surface. This is a fast solution that beats burning a bunch of fragile CDs, and is infinitely better than “I’ll back up my files tomorrow.” –BILL FERRIS

Backup to Email

Face it, things are just not getting any better. Your life is humdrum, your friends are lame, and your students don’t respect you. You can probably just deal with it and go about your business and live your cruddy little life. That’s fine if you want to do that. Guess you’ll go eat worms, huh? Nobody cares anyway, right?

Wrong. You can continue to be miserable, or you can identify the things that make you miserable and do something about them. Check out The Positivity Blog’s article, 9 Great Ways to Make Yourself Absolutely Miserable. (My favorite: Spend too much or your time in the past / future) The article might enlighten you as to the choices that you’re making and how they affect your outlook on life. You might be victimizing yourself to any of these 9 suggestions and not even realize it, but there is no time like the present to change things. Now might be your opportunity to become a seriously less lame individual. Think positive; you can do it! –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

photo via ang(3 girls and a boy) on flickr.

9 Great Ways to Make Yourself Absolutely Miserable