Think and Dream in English: 01/10/2011

Life Feast:

Although the site is still in its beta version and an invite is needed to join it, we can already imagine its potential in education. The site allows you to create online flyers and posters by adding text, images, videos, gallery of photos, map, testimonials, events and so on.

http://www.smorepages.com/

A Cupcake Story from Smore on Vimeo.

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween:

"Halloween’s approaching, and I thought people might be interested in seeing a “The Best…” list sharing sites to help English Language Learners find out more about the holiday."

My words are not good enough to describe how amazing Shelly is, so I am just posting some links and a couple of videos that speak for themselves. Thanks for everything Shell!

http://twitter.com/#!/ShellTerrell
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/30-goals-2011/
http://www.youtube.com/shellterrell
http://shellyterrell.podomatic.com/

The Innovative Educator: The Ten No Nos of Teaching with a Projector or Interactive Whiteboard:

"Here are ten no nos to avoid as you teach with technology.

No no: Don't have your back to your participants
Description: This is one of my biggest pet peeves and something I see all the time. The teacher sets her laptop up so that to use it she is facing the screen or whiteboard. The teacher then instructs the class with her back to them. Awkward! Educators should not be talking to a board. They should speak to a class.
Solution: By simply flipping the direction of the laptop the teacher can see the entire class. Additionally, the laptop becomes her teleprompter as she addresses her students.
Advantage: The teacher can maintain eye contact with her participants providing for a more authentic discussion. She can also see their reactions and level of interest."

Desktop Fun: Halloween 2011 Icon Packs - How-To Geek:

"Are you looking for something to give your Halloween-themed desktop that perfect touch? Then bring your desktop icons and app docks over to the spooky side with our Halloween 2011 Icon Packs collection."

Is This the Future of Punctuation - WSJ.com:

"Punctuation arouses strong feelings. You have probably come across the pen-wielding vigilantes who skulk around defacing movie posters and amending handwritten signs that advertise "Rest Room's" or "Puppy's For Sale."

People fuss about punctuation not only because it clarifies meaning but also because its neglect appears to reflect wider social decline. And while the big social battles seem intractable, smaller battles over the use of the apostrophe feel like they can be won."

Bullying Prevention: Tips for Teachers, Principals, and Parents | Edutopia:

"Approximately 32 percent of students report being bullied at school. Bullied students are more likely to take a weapon to school, get involved in physical fights, and suffer from anxiety and depression, health problems, and mental health problems. They suffer academically (especially high-achieving black and Latino students). And research suggests that schools where students report a more severe bullying climate score worse on standardized assessments than schools with a better climate."

Meet Moshi Monsters – the Primary Class Virtual Pets | Digital Play:
By grahamstanley 　
http://www.digitalplay.info/blog/2011/10/16/meet-moshi-monsters-the-primary-class-virtual-pets/

"Moshi Monsters is a virtual pet game and popular safe social network for young kids similar to Club Penguin. The game lets a child adopt a Moshi pet, which they have to look after, feed and play games with."

StrictlyEnglish | Blog » EXTRA! EXTRA! ETS Changes TOEFL Reading Section:

"ETS announced on October 7th that starting November 1, 2011 the Reading section of the TOEFL will have two major changes to it.

1. There will now only be ONE Experimental Reading passage on tests that have a “long” Reading section.

2. TOEFL will no longer break up the Reading section into two differently timed sections."

- Web Tools That Every Educator Should Have in the Bag:

"There are hundreds of web tools that have been developed educators in mind. Although it is not possible for us to know and use all of them, there are some tools that we should all have in the bag."

Warning over children's 'appalling' handwriting skills - Telegraph:

"Children are struggling to write their own name because growing numbers of schools are shunning traditional handwriting lessons, academics have warned."

60+ educational resources for teaching yourself anything.:

"This collection of links and applications highlights just the tip of the iceberg of educational resources that are available on the web. If you are interested in teaching yourself a new skill or learning a new topic indepth in your spare time, hopefully some of these will be of use."

100+ Google Tricks for Teachers | TeachHUB:

"It's Google's world, we're just teaching in it.

Now, we can use it a little more easily. With classes, homework, and projects–not to mention your social life–time is truly at a premium for all teachers, so why not take advantage of the wide world that Google has to offer?

From super-effective search tricks to Google tools specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time."

Steve Jobs ESL English Lesson Plan 1955-2011 | ESL Library Blog:

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” Steve Jobs, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal (Summer 1993)"

How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done - Archives - The Chronicle of Higher Education:

"All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you. The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, such as gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they find the time. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because accomplishing these tasks is a way of not doing something more important."

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