Best of Articles & Resources Spring 2011

• Learning to Read on 0 dollars/day an NY Times article about the sorry state of library funding.  The Paly Library needs community support to survive as well.  
• Live and Learn Why We Have Colleges-great article from the New Yorker about the purpose of college
• "Of 5,500 psychology articles in the online reference, only nine have been rated as good by Wikipedia’s peer-assessment process, according to the psychology association." Have a look at the article Academics, in New More, Begin to World With Wikipedia
• OMG is now official.  Learn which new words made the cut for the Oxford English Dictionary this year.  

Check out these Free Curriculum Resources

• Facebook for Educators
• Free Resources for Educational Excellence from the US Gov
• Thinkfinity
• Thinkquest International competition site showcases student-created websites Oracle Education
• Math Forum@ Drexel
• The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge
• Read.Write.Think The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Smithsonian's History Explorer

Unwrap All Your Favorite Subjects

Here are some new and interesting Websites and Webhibits (exhibits on the Web) to UNWRAP at the end the year.  I've got all our favorite subjects COVERED starting with an excerpt from a poem about winter found using The Poetry Tool  Enjoy!

  

February

by Margaret Atwood 

Winter. Time to eat fat

and watch hockey. In the pewter mornings, the cat,

a black fur sausage with yellow

Houdini eyes, jumps up on the bed and tries 

to get onto my head. It’s his

way of telling whether or not I’m dead.

If I’m not, he wants to be scratched; if I am

He’ll think of something......

Science & World History: The Royal Society in London celebrates 350 years of scholarship by opening up its digital archives.  Showcasing many of its spectacular collections is this nifty exhibit called Trailblazing Three and a half centuries of Royal Society Publishing. Explore the time line and view such wonders as Ben Franklin's kite experiment (including his letter confirming his result) and other scientific wonders put into perspective with historic content included as well.  Also check out Science Sees Further, articles about important current topics in science. 

Art & Medicine:  This online exhibition from the National Library of Medicine features very cool Turn the Pages Technology to showcase exquisite antique books.  The Historiae Animalium (Studies on Animals) is amazing. 

Journalism & World Languages: Newseum Today's Front Pages offers the front pages of over 800 papers from 81 countries.  What a great way for students to get a first-hand account of life in another city/country.  The entire Newseum website is a treasure trove of information including its spectacular  Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery.  I highly recommend visiting this amazing place with your family if you are ever in D.C.  It's just steps away from the Mall.

Government: If the founding fathers had Twitter what would the Bill of Rights look like? To commemorate Bill of Rights Day December 15th the National Archives had a Twitter contest asking people to Tweet each section.  Here are the winners of If the Founding Fathers Had Twitter. 

English: Figment.com is a new website where writers can share their writing.  Dead Caulfieds is a website dedicated to J.D. Salinger and the basis for a new book on the author published this month, J.D. Salinger, A Life. Use the Poetry Tool hosted by the Poetry Foundation to find poems using popuar search categories: occasion, title, first line, etc. 

Math/Statistics:  Ever wonder how much time a day the average American spends on leisure activities, household chores, their jobs?  Check out the American Time Use Survey for some great facts to know and tell at the dinner table.  (Sadly women still spend more time in their day than men on housework--51% as opposed to 20%.  Perhaps some of us can use this fact to get out of the clean-up detail during break--even the score at the end of the year...)

Biography: Using mapping software the website Muckety: Exploring the Paths of Power and Influence creates graphic relationships between people, not only in the news but also in fiction (many Harry Potter characters are profiled).  Users can also make their own accounts and create Muckety Maps of their own. 

Performing Arts/Music:  The Petrucci Music Library has an extensive list of free public domain sheet music. Fourteen Actors Acting showcases great actors from this year's movies, including our own James Franco, acting out "classic screen types". 

Sports:  Most people don't look to the lofty pages of the  NY Times for their sports news, but I encourage  sports fans to take a look at their multimedia offerings and blogs such as Off the Dribble  and Slap Shot .  Check out this multimedia piece Rushing the Quarterback Taylor Style. 


Business/Economics:  The Special Issues Index has links to a wide variety of articles that provide data for a large collection of industries.  Most articles are freely available online. Also check out the recent US Economy at a Glance (probably not a very jolly prospect these days and thus best viewed with a hearty eggnog in hand).  UNdata "a world of information" crunches data across a variety of issues for every member country.

Finally, Dessert:  Some favorite recipe websites when cooking with friends and family: Epicurius , Allrecipes.com Culinary.net.

Creativity & Collaboration

Paly has a new block schedule this year leading to more collaboration time for both students and staff.  Research points to the important link between collaboration and the creative process.  Explore these links and discover works from a wide variety of writers, artists and musicians.  

The "myth of the lone genius" is examined in the article Two is the Magic Number: a new science of creativity by Joshua Wolf Shenk.  Also included is a video presentation on this subject. 

Listen to this NPR tribute to John Lennon aired on his 70th birthday and featuring tapes of his last interview in Rolling Stone Magazine.  All We are Saying: Three Weeks with John Lennon. 

The subject of creativity is explored in a very creative fashion by Steven Johnson author of Where Good Ideas Come From.  Here's his Ted Talk on the subject. 

Thirty Years of Photography at the NYPL presents vintage photographs in a dynamic online exhibition. Don't miss the snappy video introducing the show. 

The European Library is a creative collaboration among 35 national libraries.    Visit the European Library Exhibitions Page for a look into the past using primary source books and manuscripts.

Reading, Technology, & Wikipedia for credit?

From the Colonial Horn Book to today's iPad, this Interactive Time line from the NY Times traces the path of educational technology.  It's helpful to keep in mind that books have never required charging devices.

And speaking of those pesky charging devices, what kind of reading is best for electronic readers?  Check out this great summary from the NY Times A Textbook Solution.  

If you love history and movies, you simply have to check out  YouTube Time Machine .This searching tool is a fantastic way to filter YouTube videos by production date to view authentic primary source video.  Check out videos from 1903. 

Google's Digital Literacy Tour offers zippy tips for evaluating information online and digital citizenship 

Wikipedia for credit?  The Wikimedia Foundation is collaborating with a few college professors to improve its content.

Perspective: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something

It's always good to put things in perspective when a new school year begins.  Perhaps these resources will help

This nifty website http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/ allows users to compare the USA to other countries.  Did you know that Canadians spend 45% less on health care than we do? 

What is the mindset of the college class of 2014?  Beloit College publishes a list of facts that includes such gems as:  Few in the class know how to write in cursive and The first home computer they probably touched was an Apple II or Mac II; they are now in a museum.

How informed is the world?  According to the 2010 IFLA World Report almost 100% of public libraries in the US have free Internet access as compared to 20% in Russia. 

Every day is a holiday...somewhere.  Find out about holidays around the world by country and religion by checking out Earth's Calendar. 

Reading All Summer Long

 Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience:  this is the ideal life.  --Mark Twain

So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.-- Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Interested in clicking rather than turning pages?  Read "The iPad, the Kindle, and the future of the book business" by Ken Auletta from the New Yorker, April 26, 20102.  


Nonfiction reading rules at the NY Times The Learning Network: Teaching With the New York Times and their innovative Summer Reading Challenge.  The site has a lot of offer educators when planning lessons about current events.

The Paly Library READ page has links to many reading lists as does the Palo Alto City Library Teen Page  , Santa Clara County Library and San Mateo County.  Don't forget the Paly Library reading blog Read@paly for book reviews and blurbs. 

Other good lists include recommendations from:

• Horn Book (An esteemed children's book review magazine)
• IndiBound Bookstores List (Books Inc. and Kepler's) Mention Paly at Kepler's and they will give the library a percentage of your purchase and Books Inc. gives student/educator discounts!
• UC Berkeley
• National Public Radio 
• NY Times

Personally I'll be digging into a variety of young adult books starting with Looks by Madeleine George (trying to stay away from vampires this summer) and "adult" books starting with Innocent by Scott Turow.    If you have any great suggestions please post them there.

In Honor of Memorial Day...

 Bivouac of the Dead

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.

Read about this famous poem that graces many military cemeteries and learn about the poet Theodore O'Hara from Dept. of Veterans Affairs 

A couple stunning new books about war: War by Sebastian Junger is the author's account of his time with an infantry platoon serving in Afghanistan in 2007/08, and THE MUST READ BOOK THIS YEAR is Matterhorn by Vietnam Veteran Karl Marlantes, a riveting portrayal of a group of soldiers doing battles with the enemy,  the jungle, and themselves during the Vietnam War. (I could only read a chapter at a time it was so intense.)  Read the review of Matterhorn by Sebastian Junger.  

To remember the brave men and women who have served our country check out this article from the Washington Post about The Best Lesser Known War Memorials

At War is the sobering and stunning blog from reporters with the NY Times

The History of Memorial Day from History.com

Bits of Knowledge: Food, Maps, Music, Science, War, and Literacy

Do this BEFORE lunch--Watch Jamie Oliver's passionate award-winning TED speech "Teach Every Kid About Food"

How do we see the world?  Before Google Maps there was ... Explore this concept with the fascinating new exhibit  Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda, & Art from the British Library and read this interesting article about the exhibition Ten of the Greatest: Maps That Changed the World. 

How about a little music?  Experiment with rhythm and sound with Wolfgram Tones

If science is of interest check out this review of Six Free Websites for Learning and Teaching Science including a great site from Scientific American.

 Discovering the Civil War is an absorbing new exhibit from the National Archives that takes our knowledge further about this violent conflict.  

We feel strongly about Information Literacy in the Library and we welcome this call to action! Information Literacy: A Neglected Core Competency

Who decides what students learn? What makes a good teacher? Fun facts to know and tell about the Internet and a handy photo resource.

During Black History Month our high school read Black Profiles in Courage by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and students learned about dynamic African-Americans who were never mentioned in their textbooks.  One student told me their lack of inclusion was because, "the winners write the books."  Who decides what our students learn?  The Common Core State Standards Initiative just published a draft of standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Science and Science.  Check out this fascinating article from the NY Times Magazine about how history/social science curriculum is formulated in Texas--How Christian Were the Founders.

March is Women's History Month.  Link to Women's History Month a resource that is "writing women back into history."

What makes a great teacher?  Doug Lemov, a founder of Uncommon Schools is trying to find out.  Read about his process and efforts of other researchers in the article Build a Better Teacher.

What are "18 Interesting Firsts on the Internet"?  Read the Tech Reader's blog to find out.  (A warning to those of us over 29-- this might make you feel old.)

Pictures offer powerful messages and are very useful for presentations when they are in the public domain.  Check out the Flickr Commons for public domain image collections from public institutions such as the Library of Congress and many university and museum collections such as the Getty.  Limit image searches to public domain photos using Yahoo Advanced Image Search. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/3110117432/

Remembering 2000 Naught and Looking Forward to 2000 Teen

Is is just me or do people seem to be in a big hurry to leave 2000 Naught* behind them?  Take a moment to read  This Decade in Words from language columnist Mark Peters to find out why just about everyone is elbowing their way forward to 2000 Teen.    Or perhaps you are a visual person like me and find this graphic reflection Picturing the Past 10 Years by Phillip Neimeyer  more revealing. 

The end of the year always brings a bevy of "best of" lists.  Eudutopia, filmmaker George Lucas' website dedicated to "what works in public education" has a Year in Review featuring its best blog posts.  If you don't have time to read many blogs (except this one of course) you might want to cut to the best and check out The Edublog Awards best of 09 list featuring blogs on education and libraries.  If you'd like a smorgasbord of Top 10 lists check out Time Magazine's Top Ten Everything of 2009, but don't click on Top Ten New Species if you're squeamish. 

But enough about the last year and decade, what about the history of the world?  BBC Radio 4 is kicking off an ambitious project called A History of the World in 100 Objects by weaving together stories about 100 objects from the British Museum.  Each object will get 15 minutes of erudite fame in true BBC fashion starting on January 17th.  The whole enterprise will be captured on their A History of the World website.  It's worth a bookmark, and I'll be checking back in with the venerable BBC to see if any of my favorite objects will be put on display.  (I am a huge fan of the winged-lion and wish it were in front of my office to protect me from the "forces of chaos.")

And what about books?  I started the New Year reading Stumbling on Happiness by Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert. It's a book about looking forward, and I recommend it to anyone who is thinking-----Onward!

*According to my handy dictionary the archaic phrase bring to naught means "ruin; foil" and set at naught means"disregard; despise" so the 2000 Naught moniker fits in more ways than one IF you're feeling cranky about the past decade. 

The Brain... The News... Fodder for the Curious... Best Books...That's all for 2009

How many times have you wondered: what is REALLY going on inside that teenager's brain? (Or your spouse or your friend or the crabby person standing in line in front of you ...)  Here are a couple of articles that shed some light on this persistent quandary.

• Reading and the Brain--What happens in the brain when we read?  READ this article and get an introduction to a fascinating new book: Reading in the Brain: The science and evolution of a human invention by Stanislas Dehaene

• "What is the Web Teaching our Brains?"   Are we being re-wired? Is that a good thing?  It seems that some tasks such as blogging (yeah) are actually beneficial...others promote anxiety. 

News!  Democracy depends on an informed public, so it is vital that we teach students how to read and interpret the news from a wide variety of perspectives.

• Check out this interactive website Play in the News that takes headlines and creates simulation games 

• Some news about news from Google.  Read about this proposal to limit how many articles readers can read using Google News.  There are NO limits when you use Paly's online database EBSCO.  See the Library Database page for information. 

A Couple of Great Curriculum Resources and Fodder for the Curious

• Shakespeare Searched lets users type in themes or words and find quotes from the Bard's works as annotated by the Folger Shakespeare Library

• The power of images comes to light while searching The Bettmann Archive.  Founded in Otto Bettmann's bedroom in 1936, this rich archive of photos and ephemera follows the history of the United States and the world from the mid-19th century.

THE END (for 2009 that is) Great books and my favorite video clip of the year....

• THE 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR!  according to the NY Times.  My top Five are listed below:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins-Wild dystopian fantasy for young adults and adults.
2. Joker One by Donovan Campbell--A sobering memoir about a tour of duty in Iraq written by a Marine platoon commander. 
3. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein--Told from a dog's point of view, this is a family story about love, loyalty, loss and redemption.   
4. Shiver by  Maggie Stiefveter --If you are wondering what to get for an avid twilight reader, this story about a hunky werewolf and a teen girl will be a sure-fire hit.  
5. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell--What does it take to be successful in this competitive world?   Some surprising conclusions..

• Best TED Lecture-- Dan Gilbert asks, "Why are we happy?"

Have Happy & Healthy New Year!

Armistice/Rememberance Day & Berlin Wall

1914 by WILFRED OWEN

War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in.
The foul tornado, centred at Berlin,
Is over all the width of Europe whirled,
Rending the sails of progress. Rent or furled
Are all Art's ensigns. Verse wails. Now begin
Famines of thought and feeling. Love's wine's thin.
The grain of human Autumn rots, down-hurled.

For after Spring had bloomed in early Greece,
And Summer blazed her glory out with Rome,
An Autumn softly fell, a harvest home,
A slow grand age, and rich with all increase.
But now, for us, wild Winter, and the need
Of sowings for new Spring, and blood for seed.

This heartbreaking poem and other reflections on World War I are found on The First World War Poetry Digital Archive. The Archive includes not only poetry but other fascinating and moving artifacts of "the great war" including photos, audio/video clips and educational timelines.  See an overview of this resource on YouTube. 

Voices of the Armistice are podcasts revealing the actual experiences of British soldiers during the war.

Guide to World War I Primary Source Materials details resources from the Library of Congress

In Europe days and months are reversed so the notation 9/11 has a different meaning, especially in Germany.  November 9th is the day the Berlin Wall came down, and this year marks its 20 year anniversary.  Check out information about this momentous event at Freedom Without Walls from the German Embassy and photos and video from visitBerlin. 

A school library with no books? 21st Century Skills and Some New Tools for Research and Environmental Action

What are the skills and dispositions we need to teach our students to prepare them for the 21st Century?  Route 21 is a collaboration among educational professionals policymakers and industry.

What happens when a school library replaces every book with Kindels?  Read this article from USA Today and find out what the students think.  (Thank you KB for this link)

Medpedia is a new medical resource using the Wikipedia model BUT with oversight from medical professionals. 

What is a vook?  Vooks combine text and video and can be downloaded onto a computer or smartphone.  I can see if for cooking but romance???

The Library of Congress Teacher's Page has links to great collections of primary sources and great tools for analyzing them.  There are also opportunities for professional development.  Check out their page on veteran's stories.  

Another new source for primary sources is Footnote.  They have partnered with the National Archives to offer high quality digital copies of important historic documents.  They also have a genealogy section using historic census information.  Unfortunately there is a fee to do any deep searching using the census data.  

Here's a website that encourages students to look at the environmental consequences of their purchases.  Be Different. Live Different. Buy Different

See a Film.. Read an Article.. Enjoy Books Photos Music

United Nations Association Film Festival comes to our neighborhood October 17th-25th featuring 50 documentaries from 50 countries with the theme Energy & The World.  A special event aimed at students will be held at Eastside Prep on Tuesday, October 20th from 4:15-7:40pm with a discussion with the filmmakers following Speaking in Tongues and Prom Night in Mississippi  What a great opportunity!!!

Geography is Destiny Read this short yet thought provoking article by NPR education correspondent John Merrow about the growing digital divide. 

Inverting Blooms Taxonomy Here's a quote from this interesting article about teaching history for understanding: "That’s because in history, as in other disciplines, the aim is not merely to collect what is known, but to learn how to think about problems in a new way." 

“Knowing the world means understanding the chaos and seeing the meaning.” This quote is from  a talk titled Knowledge in the Age of Abundance given by David Weingerger from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.  Read a summary of his speech.

It's National Reading Group Month!  Check out some of their suggested titles.

Explore this beautiful new interface for LIFE magazine's photo archives.  

A recommendation to check out study guides on Shmoop has appeared in this blog before, and now they have a music section.  Shmoop is a website that supplements popular high school curriculum  and literature with breezy yet informative summaries.  Unlike a lot of "educational" information on the Web, they source all their material and their ads aren't too intrusive. 

TED, Core Standards, Multitasking, Mindset, Inogolo, Europeana, Don't Forget TED

TED Talks are Terrific! Absolutely Great!  Download your favorites onto your MP3 device.   Email them to your friends.  Better yet, show them to students to get a great discussion started.  TED, a small nonprofit, stands for Technology Entertainment Design and is dedicated to offering "ideas worth spreading."  TED talks consist of a vast array of famous and not so famous people from all fields talking for 18-20 minutes about ideas that shape our world.  Some of my personal favorites are: Malcolm Gladwell's take on the Importance of Spaghetti Sauce, Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert's exploration Why Are We Happy? (surprise, it's not just about getting what we want...), lexicographer Erin McKean's funny (yes funny) ramble about redefining the dictionary and Sir Ken Robinson's provocative and highly entertaining chat called Schools Kill Creativity.  Environmental activist Majora Carter gives one of THE most passionate and personal pleas I've ever heard about urban renewal in the South Bronx. If you get hooked I'd love to hear about your favorites. 

Do you think there should be national standards for English and Math K-12?  Some important groups do(including the ever present College Board) and have presented a draft for everyone's review.  Have a look at Common Core Standards and give feedback until October 21st.

If you're reading this blog, grading a paper and talking to your dog you are multitasking.  Is this habit more productive than the old-fashioned doing one thing at a time?  Read a summary of a new Stanford study on multitasking to find out. 

For the class of 2013 there has always been Cartoon Network and text has always been hyper.  These are two cultural certainties listed in the Beloit College Mindset List.  Published every year since 1998, the Mindset List helps us understand the American cultural landscape inhabited by most of our students.  Does anybody out there really like blue Jell-O? (Thanks to SG, my good buddy at Long Beach Unified for this nifty resource.)

How do you pronounce Aeschylus, Eugene Delacroix, & Myanmar?  Use Inogolo, a handy audio pronunciation guide to find out.   

Looking for an old master painting or a rare European document? Search Europeana, a search portal that brings together collections from famous museums such as the Louvre, British Museum, and the Rijksmuseum.  Check out the video in the Find Out More section and the Timeline to get a feel for this vast collection.  Users can change languages so this is a great tool for researching in French or Spanish.

White House News and Views, Constitution Day, Wordle and Guess What? Learning Matters

No surprises here, the Obama administration is using the Internet to get their message across in a variety of ways.  Their website Whitehouse.gov features links to speeches in their media center and  blogs, and they have their own channel on YouTube. Obama's recent "back to school" message is featured here. 

Constitution Day is September 17th.  Check out this website from the The National Constitution Center and National Archives.  Play Constitution Double Jeopardy  or Who Wants to Be a Million Dollar Citizen brought to you by the Federal Courts.  

Feeling artistic AND literate at the same time?  Check out Wordle.net to use words and phrases creatively. 

Learning Matters with John Merrow features video, blogs, and podcasts from this intrepid PBS education correspondent.  Most famous in California for his film about Proposition 13 First to Worst, he has recently profiled Michelle Rhee and her efforts to improve the Washington DC school system. 

Hot Topics for a New School Year

Critical Thinking:

The Baloney Detection Kit from Skeptic magazine, especially for science teachers.

Social Media:

Did you know that if Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest? Check out this Youtube video about the "socialnomics" of social media.

Copyright Questions:

The school year is starting and teachers are amassing resources for their students to use. How much of a book can be copied without buying the book? What are the restrictions on showing movies in the classroom? Copyright for Teachers is a very handy resource to answer those thorny questions about fair use.

Creative Commons promotes less restrictive copyright.

Search:

Blogrunner from the NY Times aggregates popular blogs by topic--great for up to the minute commentary.

Hongkiat Here's a list of specialty search engines for finding pdf files, ebooks, music, sound effects and more

Worldcat searches the world's online catalogs for resources by zip code, so you can find what you need close to home.

Network with International Schools:

The International Education and Resource Network offers opportunities for schools and students to connect globally.

Wikipedia Life and Death

There was a fascinating article in the New York Times today about the power of Wikipedia in a life or death situation. A NY Times news reporter and his translator were taken hostage by the Taliban and the editor at the NY Times didn't want this information to go public in order to safeguard the lives of the two men. How did the editors at Wikipedia keep this information private and did taking information off the site conflict with its open access philosophy? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/technology/internet/29wiki.html?_r=1&ref=business

Summer Reading!

This year as always NPR has a great Summer Reading List . Kepler's staff has some great recommendations , and don't forget the Palo Alto Public Library's "Book Letters" for recommended reading . Check out what the librarians are reading and write your own reviews. If you want to cross some great books off your list check out the "100 Best Books" from the critics at Time Magazine.

Students or parents who bug their children about reading should check out the reading lists on the Paly Library's READ! page. Pleasure reading is not only good and good for you, research proves it helps students perform better on those dastardly standardized tests.

Google Books has improved its interface and the ability to search within a book. http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-features-on-google-books.html.

If you shop at Kepler's mention Paly and we'll get 10% of your purchase. Books Inc. Town and Country also gives discounts to teachers and students.

America.gov & Democracy Video Challenge

The new and improved america.gov site created by the State Department Bureau of Information Programs has some interesting articles, eBooks, video, podcasts etc. covering various topics such as global issues and multicultural America.

http://www.america.gov/ http://www.america.gov/amlife/people.html http://www.america.gov/global.html

Check out the Democracy Video Challenge and view the six winners that were selected from 900 videos submitted from over 95 countries. It's interesting viewing.
http://www.videochallenge.america.gov/