Instructify

Five Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations -Michael Hyatt’s blog, Working Smart, has these 5 great tips to spice up your next PowerPoint. The article is written from a business perspective, but that doesn’t mean these tips won’t help you when teaching the Civil War or Beowulf. One of the more important tidbits of advice is #4: Less is More. Amen, Mr. Hyatt.

40 Places for College Students to Find Free Unabridged Books Online -Your students, whether they are going to college or not, can surely benefit from more reading. In a digital age, why waste all the paper it takes to reprint a book when they are often archived online. These resources are, of course, free and include a list of places you can download audio versions of your favorite classics. Thanks to Education-Portal.com

Eleven Worst Foods Americans Eat Daily - It might be high time to get back on a health kick for your author, and what better place to start than identifying and limiting or eliminating certain foods from my diet. You can get on the train with me, and start the school year off right. HealthAssist.net presents this list of 11 kinds of food you should think twice before eating. Unfortunately for you, me and the good people at Krispy Kreme, doughnuts lead the list. Bummer, Bear Claw.

(25) Funny Metaphors Used in High School Essays -Because we aren’t without a sense of humor around here, (hopefully, you have one, too) so here are Help.com’s 25 examples of ridiculous metaphors used by high school students in various essays. Please note: some of these might be considered similes.  Among my favorite: From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30 and He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

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)

12 Superfoods You Need to be Eating - If there’s anyone who loves to eat, it’s me. Unfortunately, I don’t always pay too much attention to what I am putting in my body. Lucky for me, and everyone else out there who trying to get beach ready, StartCooking.com offers this list of some of the foods you might already be eating, and some that you should start. Thankfully on the list: peanut butter. Nom.

60 Selected Best Famous Quotes - “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”—Wayne Gretzky. For this and other gems of wisdom, point your browser over to Litemind to discover some highly thought provoking quotes just in time for dinner party season. Or, I guess you can dole some out in your classroom to help you students realize how well-read you are. I’m thinking this is where I’ll go when I need something to open my first novel.

100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library - I never thought I would include a blog called The Art of Manliness on a education blog, but here I am. This list isn’t exclusively for men, of course, but it does offer some great reads for those of us who don’t fancy Little Women. Maybe this list can inspire some of your guy students to want to read this summer. Not surprisingly included on the list, A Catcher in the Rye.

15 Ways to Teach Kids About Money - Most of us are pinching pennies right now, but that doesn’t mean our youngsters know what the words “recession,” “inflation,” or “insufficient funds” mean. Right now might be the best time to teach them though, according to this list from Family Education:

Help children learn the differences between needs, wants, and wishes. This will prepare them for making good spending decisions in the future.

Those are words we can probably all benefit from. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

20 World Geography Facts That Might Surprise You - If the world were flat, we would all be spinning out of control right now, because 90% of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere. See, there are facts like that about our world’s geography that you did not know, but you soon will thanks to Boots-n-All. Also, did you know that France is about 30% larger than the state of California? No, you did not.

43 Amazing Resources for Writers - I know, I know, I write about writing a lot, but I think it is important. Also, as it turns out, there are a lot of resources out there for writers. In fact, here are 43 of them from Cath Lawson and they are all very amazing.

100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World - Stanford, MIT, Berkley, and other colleges are embracing the wonders of podcasting and making them available to you. Who needs to break the bank on expensive tuition when you can just plug in your eardoos and listen your way to knowing Engineering Ethics. Cultivate Greatness has compiled this list that has some great colleges to choose podcasts from… even (shudder) Duke.

The Top 101 Websites for Teachers - Thank me later– or now, if you want– for these 101 websites just for you. This blog is not terribly unlike our own, but you know, not as snarky. Presented by AssortedStuff.com, a site that is just as valuable as this list, but not quite as compartmentalized. There are some great resources here, but if you really want the tools and sites that will help you teach at your best, there is only one source you need. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Counting your Blessings: 5 Ways to Increase Happiness - I know that this probably doesn’t apply to you, but if you are the least bit unhappy, there might be some info here that will turn your frown upside down. Via Goodlife Zen (I know, what a wretch-worthy great title for a blog), this list will help you realize how important gratitude is in both giving and receiving.

The Top 10 Qualities Of A Good Teacher - Here’s something wonderfully relevant and perfect for you. Sure, there are probably hundreds off qualities that make a good teacher, but the blog Ripples of Improvement has boiled it down to the top 10. How many do you exhibit? (Also, surprisingly not on the list: a sense of humor. Hmm.)

100 Best First Lines from Novels - Not that I’ve read 100 novels, but someone surely has. Check out American Book Review’s list of the best of the initiations in fiction. If nothing else, these might inspire you to think of some of your own, and they might prove to be great prompts for students. Anything’s better than “It was a dark and stormy night…” (My personal fav: “All this happened, more or less.” -KV)

Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008 - Again, a very topical and appropriate list for you teachers and learners. There might not be much new on here that you aren’t already using or have at least heard of, but maybe now is the time you start to use them to your advantage. Courtesy of Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.

Alas, this might be my last MBTN for a little while, but I’m confident in my co-authors to bring you the best of the web in numbered list form at the beginning of each week. If they don’t you let me know, friends. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo via: solar ikon on flickr.)

Top Ten Things Parents Can Do to Help Their Children Succeed in School (and in Life) - Lisa is a teacher. She is also a blogger. She seems to know what she is talking about. Check out this list on her page: Letters from Lisa. After you’re done perusing this list, check out some of her other entries. Lisa is one smart cookie.

9 Things to Stop Worrying About Right Now - Put down that glass of water, people! As it turns out, you don’t really NEED 8 glasses a day, so there is no sense in wasting precious space in the stomach for Mountain Dew. MSNBC’s Today Show puts some rumors and myths to bed so you too can sleep easy.

Picasso’s Top 7 Tips for Creating an Exciting Life - If you think “unabashed creativity” and “exciting” go hand in hand, then who better to take advice from than Pablo Picasso? The Positivity Blog brings us this interesting and fun list.

10 Practical Uses For Psychological Research in Everyday Life - Do you know when someone is lying to you? If you answered “yes,” then good, you’ve recognized that a lot of people are probably liars. If you said “no,” then you are also right. In fact, you are the most right. Yep… no one lies. Not ever. Check out PsyBlog’s list of ways you can use the findings of psychological research in your daily life. You might even figure out how to use reverse psychology to outwit your students, but then again… you probably won’t. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: misocrazy on Flickr.)