Where the Writers Go to Write - Writing.Com TodaysMeet - Give everyone a voice (Students will enjoy backchanneling) 30 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Bad While I like to think I know a little about business writing, I often fall into a few word traps. For example, "who" and "whom." I rarely use "whom" when I should. Even when spell check suggests "whom," I think it sounds pretentious. So I don't use it. And I'm sure some people then think, "What a bozo." And that's a problem, because just like that one misspelled word that gets a resumé tossed into the "nope" pile, using one wrong word can negatively impact your entire message. Fair or unfair, it happens. So let's make sure it doesn't: Adverse and averse Adverse means harmful or unfavorable; "Adverse market conditions caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." But you can feel free to have an aversion to adverse conditions. Affect and effect Verbs first. As for nouns, effect is almost always correct; "Once he was fired he was given twenty minutes to gather his personal effects." Compliment and complement Compliment is to say something nice. For which I may decide to compliment you. (Seriously.
7 Apps for Teaching Children Coding Skills It's hard to imagine a single career that doesn't have a need for someone who can code. Everything that "just works" has some type of code that makes it run. Coding (a.k.a. programming) is all around us. If you're concerned that that a) elementary school students don't have the ability to code, b) there's no room in the curriculum, and c) you don't possess coding chops to teach programming skills, throw out those worries. In no particular order, we have listed all the coding apps that are appropriate for young learners. GameStar Mechanic Platform: WebCost: $2 per student GameStar Mechanic teaches kids, ages 7-14, to design their own video games. Scratch Platform: WebCost: Free! Tynker Platform: WebCost: Free! Move the Turtle Platform: iOS (iPad and iPod)Cost: $2.99 We love Move the Turtle, a gamified way to learn programming procedures. Hopscotch Platform: iPadCost: Free! Daisy the Dinosaur Platform: iPadCost: Free! Cargo-Bot Platform: iPadCost: Free!
Cumberland River Review Actively Engage Students Using Hands-on & Minds-on Instruction Contrary to popular belief, “active engagement” involves more than “hands-on” instruction. Years ago, I discovered this when I realized that hands-on teaching didn’t always result in student learning. Yes, my students had fun, but follow-up activities showed little grasp of essential concepts. How could that be? My students appeared to be actively engaged, but apparently only their hands and their mouths were active! My “ah-ah” moment came when I realized that both minds and hands are necessary for active engagement. Luckily, there are dozens of active engagement “tools” you can use to spark excitement and add rigor to your lessons. These classroom games... Use these teaching strategies to ensure feedback is maximized in your classroom. Here are a few classroom activities that will help students develop habits that... Use these teaching strategies to stress the importance of comparing and... Active Engagement Tools Random Student Selection Learn more about The Hat here. Hands-on Instruction
60 Historical Photos Worth 1000 Words posted by Katharine J. Tobal The American newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” in 1911. Over 100 years later, this still rings true. Each photograph tells a story, a special event or moment, and helps us witness the past. 1. 2. 3. 106-year-old Armenian Woman Guards Her Home, 1990 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.Nagasaki, 20 Minutes after the Atomic Bombing in 1945 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. About Author Katharine J. I'm Syrian activist, reporter, photographer, and graphic designer.
5 Proven Ways to Engage Students In Your Classroom The eyes roll back, the mouth scowls, the fingers grip the not-so-secretly hidden cellphone, and the brain checks out. These are, as teachers everywhere can attest, the surefire signs of a disengaged student. And these symptoms are ravaging the educational system. Teachers know that student engagement is the key to learning retention and having a great overall classroom experience, but they often don’t have the time or energy to come up with some of the outrageous things that they see other teachers doing online to keep kids’ interest. Some of us just can’t plan a flash mob for every lesson. Disengaged students are unmotivated to complete their work, apathetic about learning outcomes, and resistant to participating in classwork. Everyone has suggestions for improving student engagement. Strategies and Tools for Student Engagement Use 1:1 devices: We know, this isn’t a cheap option, but it is a legitimate way to increase engagement and participation in the classroom. In Short
How to Start a Novel Time to confess: I’m a closet novelist. For the last six years, I’ve been sitting on a great plot, but I find the idea of writing a novel daunting. A few days ago, my best friend said to me, “You should write your novel this year. You know, the one where the young woman is in a bus in Rio de Janeiro, and she suddenly hears…” “You remember the story? “Of course I remember! I’m still uncertain whether to start writing the novel or not. What about you? Are you a closet novelist? Maybe you have great ideas but you wonder how to start. To make things easier, I asked five experts how to start a novel. 1. The first step I take after being struck with an idea for a novel will seem like a non-step, but it’s critical—just as important as the second step, which is research, research, research. The first step doesn’t involve any books or paper or pencils. It doesn’t require speaking with another living soul, either. I consider: Does the idea have the legs required to last the length of a novel? 2. Why? By C.
22 Simple Ideas for Harnessing Creativity in the Elementary Classroom Here's an experiment you can conduct in many schools, maybe even the school where you teach. Look through the door of one classroom and you might see the students hunched over, not engaged, even frowning. The teacher looks frazzled, tired and wishing he or she were somewhere else. What is the second teacher doing that the first one isn't? Creativity is innovation. Creativity is thinking outside the box. Creativity is improvisation. Creativity is professional growth. Creativity is being a risk taker or mold breaker. Creativity is passion. Suggested Activities: The Game of Learning For the first six activities, seat your students in a circle and introduce a ball or something else they can pass easily between them. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Suggested Activities: The Artsy Side of Creative 9. 10. 11. 12. Creative Science 13. 14. 15. Incorporate Your Students' Favorite Things 16. Creative time savers 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Live Like a Turtle
102 Resources for Fiction Writing « Here to Create UPDATE 1/10: Dead links removed, new links added, as well as Revision and Tools and Software sections. Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration. Also, I recommend some resources for Revision and some online Tools and Software. Too many links? 10 Days of Character Building Name Generators Name Playground The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting) How to Create a Character Seven Common Character Types Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters It’s Not What They Say . . . Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character” How to Start Writing in the Third Person Web Resources for Developing Characters Speaking of Dialogue