Free Web Seminar: Changing the Landscape of the Writing Classroom
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is offering a special free opportunity to participate in Chris Jennings Dixon's "7 Ways to Change the Landscape of the Writing Classroom" on Thursday, March 27, 2008, 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. EDT. The online session will discuss how collaboration, a common denominator in altering the writing classroom, promotes student reflection, analysis, and empowerment. Logins are limited, so be sure to sign up early. Can't make it on Thursday? Don't worry -- you can order the free archive version of the seminar online.
Source: Nationcal Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
English Teachers: Writing Poetry
Start planning your National Poetry Month celebration with the following lesson plans and classroom-ready resources, all of which invite students to write their own poetry:
"Found & Headline Poems," from Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Writing Exercises (M-S-C)
"Sestinas and Villanelles from the Inner City" (C)
"Novices Encounter a Novice Literature: Introducing Digital Literature in a First-Year College Writing Class" (C)
For more ideas for teaching poetry, see the Poetry Teacher Resource Collection, which includes links to additional articles, lesson plans, and other resources.
Source: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
"Found & Headline Poems," from Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Writing Exercises (M-S-C)
"Sestinas and Villanelles from the Inner City" (C)
"Novices Encounter a Novice Literature: Introducing Digital Literature in a First-Year College Writing Class" (C)
For more ideas for teaching poetry, see the Poetry Teacher Resource Collection, which includes links to additional articles, lesson plans, and other resources.
Source: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Science Journal Weekly Podcasts
Science's weekly podcast takes you on a tour of some interesting stories in the journal and on its sister sites. You can listen to these audiocasts on your own computer simply by clicking on the "Listen to MP3" links of podcast announcements. If you use a podcast aggregator like iTunes or Juice, you can subscribe to the podcast feed to automatically download the files for syncing to portable audio devices. Science is the world's leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The journal is available in the library.
Source: Science Journal
Source: Science Journal
WomenWatch for Women's History Month
For Women's History Month the library suggests WomenWatch, the central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programs, specialized agencies and academic and research institutions. This site includesUN news and research on international issues such as violence against women, women in power, and human rights of women.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
Website of the Week: GetBodySmart
GetBodySmart: An Online Examination of Human Anatomy and Physiology is a fully animated and interactive resource. Developed and owned by Scott Sheffield, who has taught this material at the university level for over twenty years, the website is appropriate for students and instructors. Aiming to explain the body's complex physiological interactions and to illustrate its important anatomical landmarks, the site includes diagrams and drawings as well as quizzes and a tutorial. General subject breakdowns thus far are: skeletal system, muscle tissue physiology, muscular system, nervous system, circulatory system, respiratory system, urinary system, and histology. Adobe Flash Player, which is required to view the animations, can be downloaded without charge by following a linke from the site.
http://www.getbodysmart.com/
Source: Medical Library Association News March 2008
http://www.getbodysmart.com/
Source: Medical Library Association News March 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
More on Wikipedia
Author Nickolson Baker entertainingly reviews Wikipedia: The Missing Manual by John Broughton in the current issue of the New York Review of Books. From the review:
"Wikipedia is just an incredible thing. It's fact-encirclingly huge, and it's idiosyncratic, careful, messy, funny, shocking, and full of simmering controversies—and it's free, and it's fast. In a few seconds you can look up, for instance, "Diogenes of Sinope," or "turnip," or "Crazy Eddie," or "Bagoas," or "quadratic formula," or "Bristol Beaufighter," or "squeegee," or "Sanford B. Dole," and you'll have knowledge you didn't have before. It's like some vast aerial city with people walking briskly to and fro on catwalks, carrying picnic baskets full of nutritious snacks.
More people use Wikipedia than Amazon or eBay—in fact it's up there in the top-ten Alexa rankings with those moneyed funhouses MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Why? Because it has 2.2 million articles, and because it's very often the first hit in a Google search, and because it just feels good to find something there—even, or especially, when the article you find is maybe a little clumsily written. Any inelegance, or typo, or relic of vandalism reminds you that this gigantic encyclopedia isn't a commercial product. There are no banners for E*Trade or Classmates.com, no side sprinklings of AdSense."
He recommends the book and I recommend his review, "The Charms of Wikipedia."
"Wikipedia is just an incredible thing. It's fact-encirclingly huge, and it's idiosyncratic, careful, messy, funny, shocking, and full of simmering controversies—and it's free, and it's fast. In a few seconds you can look up, for instance, "Diogenes of Sinope," or "turnip," or "Crazy Eddie," or "Bagoas," or "quadratic formula," or "Bristol Beaufighter," or "squeegee," or "Sanford B. Dole," and you'll have knowledge you didn't have before. It's like some vast aerial city with people walking briskly to and fro on catwalks, carrying picnic baskets full of nutritious snacks.
More people use Wikipedia than Amazon or eBay—in fact it's up there in the top-ten Alexa rankings with those moneyed funhouses MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Why? Because it has 2.2 million articles, and because it's very often the first hit in a Google search, and because it just feels good to find something there—even, or especially, when the article you find is maybe a little clumsily written. Any inelegance, or typo, or relic of vandalism reminds you that this gigantic encyclopedia isn't a commercial product. There are no banners for E*Trade or Classmates.com, no side sprinklings of AdSense."
He recommends the book and I recommend his review, "The Charms of Wikipedia."
Congratulations UCONN Women
Renee Montgomery scored 20 points and No. 1 Connecticut held off No. 23 Louisville 65-59 on Tuesday in Hartford to win the Big East tournament championship.
Charde Houston earned Most Outstanding Performer in the Big East Tournament. It was Connecticut's 14th Big East tournament title, including three of the past four. Congratulations!
Online Courses and Copyright Issues
Elsevier Agrees to Let MIT Use Bits of Journal Articles Online
Publishing courses online each year involves tracking down permissions for copyrighted items. A major challenge for colleges that want to post lecture materials on the Web involves making sure they have permission to use the copyrighted images from journals and other sources that professors have put in their power point presentations. This week the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it has reached a deal with Elsevier, one of the largest journal publishers, to allow a limited amount of material from its journals to be used in MIT’s OpenCourseWare project.
The publisher hasn’t exactly given away the store: The agreement allows the project to use up to three illustrations per journal article, and up to 100 words of text. But what if you are not MIT??? Good question-no anwer.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education Wired Campus
Publishing courses online each year involves tracking down permissions for copyrighted items. A major challenge for colleges that want to post lecture materials on the Web involves making sure they have permission to use the copyrighted images from journals and other sources that professors have put in their power point presentations. This week the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it has reached a deal with Elsevier, one of the largest journal publishers, to allow a limited amount of material from its journals to be used in MIT’s OpenCourseWare project.
The publisher hasn’t exactly given away the store: The agreement allows the project to use up to three illustrations per journal article, and up to 100 words of text. But what if you are not MIT??? Good question-no anwer.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education Wired Campus
Brainteaser: Famous Women Answers
Here are the answers to last week's brainteaser:
1. Sigourney Weaver
2. Edith Piaf
3. Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Dolly Parton
5. Jane Goodall
Was this too easy???
1. Sigourney Weaver
2. Edith Piaf
3. Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Dolly Parton
5. Jane Goodall
Was this too easy???
Women's History Month: Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of America is founded
Juliette Gordon Low started the all-girls club in Savannah, Georgia in 1912 with the aim of promoting social welfare by encouraging members to participate in community service and outdoor activities. Among the many famous girl scouts alumni are: Lucille Ball, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Reagan and Gloria Steinem.Today the organization has around 3.7 million members.
Source: The Smithsonian
Friday, March 07, 2008
Brainteaser: Famous Women
Try to identify these five famous women from the descriptions of them.
1. American actress who rocketed to stardom as the astronaut Ellen Ripley in the 1979 movie "Alien".
2. French singer, born in Paris, she became a street singer at the age of 15. She was nicknamed "the kid sparrow" by a night-club owner in 1935. She was famous for such songs as "Non, je ne regrette rien" and "Milord".
3. American author of nine autobiographical novels about growing up on the frontier in the 1870s and 1880s, starting with "Little House in the Big Woods".
4. American country singer born in Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children of a mountain farmer.
5. British zoologist who gained fame for her research on chimpanzees in the wild, having conducted the longest continuous field study of wild animals in their natural environment.
(Answers provided next week)
1. American actress who rocketed to stardom as the astronaut Ellen Ripley in the 1979 movie "Alien".
2. French singer, born in Paris, she became a street singer at the age of 15. She was nicknamed "the kid sparrow" by a night-club owner in 1935. She was famous for such songs as "Non, je ne regrette rien" and "Milord".
3. American author of nine autobiographical novels about growing up on the frontier in the 1870s and 1880s, starting with "Little House in the Big Woods".
4. American country singer born in Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children of a mountain farmer.
5. British zoologist who gained fame for her research on chimpanzees in the wild, having conducted the longest continuous field study of wild animals in their natural environment.
(Answers provided next week)
CQ Researcher Weekly Report:Buying Green
The Chevrolet Volt concept car, a plug-in hybrid not yet on the market, will get 150 miles per gallon, according to General Motors. Americans will spend an estimated $500 billion this year on products and services that claim to be good for the environment because they contain non-toxic ingredients or produce little pollution and waste. While some shoppers buy green to help save the planet, others are concerned about personal health and safety. Whatever their motives, eco-consumers are reshaping U.S. markets. To attract socially conscious buyers, manufacturers are designing new, green products and packaging, altering production processes and using sustainable materials. But some of these products may be wastes of money. Federal regulators are reviewing green labeling claims to see whether they mislead consumers, while some critics say that government mandates promoting environmentally preferable products distort markets and raise prices. Even if green marketing delivers on its pledges, many environmentalists say that sustainability is not a matter of buying green but of buying less.
Read the article and CQ Researcher every week--available from the library homepage (password protected).
Science Podcasts
The library subscribes to the Science Journal published weekly by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Science's weekly podcast will take you on a tour of some interesting stories in the journal and on its sister sites. You can listen to these audiocasts on your own computer simply by clicking on the "Listen to MP3" links on the podcast announcements. If you use a podcast aggregator like iTunes or Juice, you can subscribe to their podcast feed to automatically download the files for syncing to portable audio devices.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
March is National Women's History Month
The National Women's History Project, founded in 1980, is an educational nonprofit organization. Their mission is to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and program.The Project chose its 2008 national theme “Women’s Art: Women’s Vision” to honor the originality, beauty, imagination and multiple dimensions of women’s lives. Women in the arts have left their valuable mark upon history. Theirs is the story of amazing accomplishments often acclaimed at the time but later forgotten.This year’s theme provides a special opportunity to discover and celebrate women’s visual arts in a variety of forms that help expand the perceptions of each other and ourselves.
Source: National Women's History Project and the Library of Congress
Women's History Month Feature: Hester Prynne
National Women's History Month: Women's Art, Women's Vision.Hester Prynne, protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterwork The Scarlet Letter, is among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature. She's the embodiment of deep contradictions: bad and beautiful, holy and sinful, conventional and radical. I heard Professor Jamie Barlow on All Things Considered earlier this week suggest that this "proud adulterss is a mirror revealing readers' true feelings about the role of women in society." Listen to the twelve minute segment and you may want to re-read the book. I know I do.
Source: National Public Radio All Things Considered
Digital Aerial Views of Connecticut
Connecticut was the first state to complete a statewide aerial survey. Now Connecticut is the first state to put a complete statewide aerial survey online.The aerial survey of Connecticut was taken before the Hurricane of 1938 radically changed the topography of the state, but after a statewide paving project called "Get Connecticut Out of the Mud" enabled the popular new-fangled automobiles to climb the state's hills and cruise its valleys.The original photographic prints have long been one of the most heavily used collections at the Connecticut State Library.
The State Library has now digitized the 8,731 original 1934 aerial photographs, and published them as part of the State Library's DigitalCollections at http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm4/aerials.php. You can search for the aerials photos by town name, or by using either a street map locator ora topographic index sheet locator.
The State Library has now digitized the 8,731 original 1934 aerial photographs, and published them as part of the State Library's DigitalCollections at http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm4/aerials.php. You can search for the aerials photos by town name, or by using either a street map locator ora topographic index sheet locator.
What makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
Did you miss this article in the Wall Street Journal last week? "Finnish high-school students rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.
Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules." Read the article. Read the Wall Street Journal everyday in the library so you won't miss articles like this!
Source: Wall Street Journal February 29, 2008
Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules." Read the article. Read the Wall Street Journal everyday in the library so you won't miss articles like this!
Source: Wall Street Journal February 29, 2008
Prisons vs. Colleges
A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that Vermont, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut, and Delaware spend more on their prisons than they do on institutions of higher education.
Source: Inside Higher Ed, February 29, 2008
Source: Inside Higher Ed, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
The Next Subprime Mortgages?
Private student loans are booming, and a consumer-advocacy group has taken a critical look at those nonfederal loans, which now account for nearly one-quarter of all education loans. The outlook: a feeling of “sad déjà vu” when compared to the subprime-mortgage industry.
In a report released yesterdat that outlined some of the dangers of private student loans, the National Consumer Law Center reviewed 28 private loans issued from 2001 to 2006. The group found all the loans to have variable rates, with initial annual percentage rates ranging from 5 percent to 19 percent. The average initial APR was 11.5 percent. The survey also found an average origination fee of 4.5 percent (the highest origination fee for a loan in the study was 9.9 percent). Federal direct loans now have an origination fee of 2.5 percent.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
In a report released yesterdat that outlined some of the dangers of private student loans, the National Consumer Law Center reviewed 28 private loans issued from 2001 to 2006. The group found all the loans to have variable rates, with initial annual percentage rates ranging from 5 percent to 19 percent. The average initial APR was 11.5 percent. The survey also found an average origination fee of 4.5 percent (the highest origination fee for a loan in the study was 9.9 percent). Federal direct loans now have an origination fee of 2.5 percent.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
Women's History Month
Women's Art: Women's VisionThe National Women's History Project, founded in 1980, is an educational nonprofit organization. Their mission is to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and program.The Project chose its 2008 national theme “Women’s Art: Women’s Vision” to honor the originality, beauty, imagination and multiple dimensions of women’s lives. Women in the arts have left their valuable mark upon history. Theirs is the story of amazing accomplishments often acclaimed at the time but later forgotten.This year’s theme provides a special opportunity to discover and celebrate women’s visual arts in a variety of forms and mediums that help expand the perceptions of each other and ourselves.
Source: National Women's History Project and the Library of Congress
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