Useful Links

  by  gcouros 

• 25 Things About Creating Characters Listed here are the author’s best 25 hints about creating characters that will develop the story. “Get the characters wrong, and the story will be wrong, no matter how well plotted.”

• WRITING PROMPTS | Heather E. Wright A lot of ideas that could be great writing prompts for use with classes.

• Amanda Patterson (So you want to get published?) A flowchart that steps writers through the publishing process.

• How To Write A Novel: A Blueprint For Success The post offers a blueprint for those writers who need structure and a detailed, step-by-step process to get their writing under way.

• http://d3k9gxxxyh3lif.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/101BestWebsites101.pdf Writer’s Digest’s 12th annual 101 Best Websites for Writers. This is their definitive list of the top online destinations for the resources, information and inspiration you need for writing information.

• Amanda Patterson (Editing and Proofreading Tips) A good chart with useful tips to refer to when involved in the process.

• A Quick Guide To Twitter Hashtags For Professional Development – Edudemic – Edudemic The handy infographic takes a look at the benefits of using hashtags in your Tweets, and how to optimize using them.

• 15 Ways Art Can Increase Innovation in Your Science Class Some simple but effective ideas are discussed.

• What’s Skow-ing on in 4th Grade??: Anchor Charts for Writing Offers some great charts that help explain the writing process.

• risarodil | Redbubble Risa Rodil is a talented artist who has on her on-line shop site, Redbubble, lots of great fan-related posters available: Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Sherlock Holmes, and more.

• Learning Never Stops: 7 outstanding science based websites you may not know A nicely annotated list of these 7 websites, explaining the strengths of each and linked to the sites.

• Dan Pink: How Teachers Can Sell Love of Learning to Students | MindShift An interesting article that would be a good starting point for teachers to discuss learning. It offers food for thought as we tackle the ever increasing battle over meaningful accountability as opposed to limited testing styles and impact on student learning.

• Writers Write Creative Blog A lot of ideas and prompts for aspiring writers.

• Snagit for Google Chrome Snagit for Chrome is based on the Snagit app for Windows and Mac that has been around for a while. It comes in the form of an extension and an app. The extension lives in your browser bar with the rest of your Chrome extensions, and is used to take screenshots of whatever you want to capture inside of Chrome. The app is launched as soon as your screenshot is captured and allows you the ability to add annotations or view previous captures. it is still in Beta form at the moment but offers potential for many educational uses.

• Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Fun Physics Games for Students The five games mentioned here are well reviewed and offer some alternatives to hands-on demos. “They may not be as much fun as hands-on but they could still be good for getting students interested in various physics concepts.”

• The 7 Cs of Effective 21st Century Teaching ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning “Included in the post is a graphic that was based on an article published in Edge under the title” 7 Cs for Effective Teaching “. The person behind these 7 Cs is Ronald Ferguson from the Harvard Kennedy School . He is an educational researcher who presented his work on teacher effectiveness in a recent keynote in an educational assessment conference. One of the things you will notice in this classification is the absence of the digital component. Technology is a tool and not an end and the 7 Cs mentioned here are behavioural strategies which technology or any other tool can be used to achieve. This is the only explanation I can think of for the absence any technology from these Cs.”

• Plate Tectonics – Geology For Kids – By KidsGeo.com This site offers students a good way to begin their understanding of geology. Chapter 3 “Earth inside out has some good information about plate tectonics, earthquakes and all aspects on volcanoes.

• AASL Unconference – @joycevalenza NeverEndingSearch A great description of how the unconference was conducted and the best points highlighted. There are also great links to other useful resources. A very positive and thoughtful reflection.

• ▶ BookTubes Explained! – YouTube Video that explains what BookTubes are. In short they are book promotional trailers created by students to be shared with other students”.

• 10 Different Insights into What Makes a Great Teacher A post that has put together 10 presentations. There are links to some interesting insights about teaching, learning and education from some good educators.

• Amazon launches Australian Kindle ebook store – Tablets “The new Kindle Store is customised for Australian customers, with local best sellers and curated lists relevant to Australians. There will be many titles from local publishers and authors, such as Tim Winton, Karly Lane and Kate Morton. Australian independent authors and publishers will also be able to self-publish their e-books to the store for free using the new local version of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Authors using KDP will be able to earn up to 70 per cent royalties, received in Australian or New Zealand dollars, on sales, while maintaining control of copyright.”

• Teacher Librarians at the Heart of Student Learning – YouTube “Published on 12 Jan 2013. School library and information technology programs are a vital resource for student learning. This video to highlight the essential role teacher librarians play in information and technology literacy instruction, reading advocacy, and information management”

• The Smithsonian Will Let Anyone 3D Print Recreations Of Historical Artifacts | Elite Daily

• Flip This Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution | School Library Journal Although written in 2008, there is still a lot worth reading and thinking about for school libraries today.

• Redefining Literacy – Interview with David Warlick by Mike McQueen A 20 minute interview about literacy in today’s world. A good range of things discussed including how information has changed over the years by becoming increasingly more digital and in copious amounts. “Information scarcity vs. Abundancy” It also specifically looks at some issues particular to boys and reading.

• Library Advocate.: AASL Infographic: Strong School Libraries Build Strong Students Infographic

• 21 Literacy Resources For The Digital Teacher

• 8 things educators need to know about copyright and open resources | Open Education Europa

• Judge says Google is allowed to scan all the books on earth, upload them online | Death and Taxes Google has been scanning millions of books and uploading them so they can be read for free online. There are currently 20 million books that can be accessed for free through books.google.com, with the company’s stated goal of having every book ever printed available. The major publishers of the world have been trying to sue them to stop this from the time they began the project. “Lawsuits trying to stop Google Books have been ongoing since 2005, and Thursday, eight years later, a judge finally ruled in Google’s favour. Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. district court wrote that Google’s scanning constitutes fair use because it alters the form the text appears in, and also uses some clever code to prevent the material from being copied en masse by users. Google Books “advances the progress of the arts and sciences, while maintaining respectful consideration for the rights of authors and other creative individuals, and without adversely impacting the rights of copyright holders.”

• Student Designed Infographics: Process & Products | Catlin Tucker, Honors English Teacher

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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