E-Books for Science - FREE!

I found a site for middle- and high-school E-books.  They look useful - one of them covers labs for class - with PICTURES of the setup of equipment.  That part, I found a GREAT idea - how often have you hesitated to include a lab, because the diagram of the setup wasn't clear?


These books are, as the name suggests, modifiable.  Over time, you can create a book customized for the course you teach.


Here's the link to the site for high school physics books (called FlexBooks.


Here's the main site.

Bits and Pieces

Here's Apple's Steve Wozniak (yeah, the guy from Dancing With the Stars) on education.  





The debate over social media and networking in class continues, but, if the experience of a PA college holds true, then us fuddy-duddies who are skeptical about the value of the technology for education may be right.

Results released Friday showed that 25 percent of respondents reported better classroom concentration that week, while 23 percent found lectures more interesting and 6 percent reported eating better and exercising more.

Initial excitement about the NASA discovery of arsenic-based bacteria may be fizzling, as doubt grows about the discovery team's methods. 

Darn!  I was hoping that it was true.

Good news - Ed Week has a special section on technology, and it's downloadable.

According to CNN, 54% of Americans support the DREAM Act (which provides in-school tuition and freedom from deportation for non-American illegals under the age of 35).  I have STRONG doubts about the validity of that poll - the numbers are awfully high.  A lot of the outcome of polls depends on how they are worded.

I checked - it's a Gallup poll (they are QUITE often biased).  Go to see the actual question - note how it DOESN'T say that the act mandates in-state tuition prices, or that it would extend all the way to age 35.

Have you been hearing about US students falling behind?  (If you're teaching science or math today, this will NOT come as a surprise to you)  See the video.

Testing out Amazon Associates links

I've been talking to my sister, and she'd like to make some money blogging.  She'd be good at it, as she is not currently working, and is a truly good writer.

After talking to her, I decided to re-work my non-political sites, and get some money flow going.  One site I've had my eye on for some time is this site.  My Teacherlingo site gets a serious amount of traffic; ergo, if I can link the two, I have a win-win situation.

If you're reaching this site from Teacherlingo, keep accessing it there.  I'll have a more link; click it, and you can finish the post here.  If you do, that can keep the money flow in motion; enough of you do that, and I can start looking at not having to work full-time (which I'd truly like to have as an option).

I love kids, I love my subject area, I just hate getting out of bed at an unGodly hour, and driving almost an hour away.  It would be nice to have the ability to work part-time, whether I use it or not.

Posttest

...I'd like to make some money from this blog.  It actually gets the most traffic of all my blogs at this time.

Testing out the Cross-Posting Waters

Supposedly, I can post here and have my Teacherlingo site pick up the post. This post will test that feature.

An Interactive Map

I found a place where you can create a personalized map of the states you've visited.

This application is created by interactive maps.
You can also have your visited states map on your site.

If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.

Make your visited states map

WPF charts

Outliers

I picked up Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers recently, and decided to use an out of town flight to read it.

WOW!

Right in the first chapter, I was hooked. Gladwell talks about the effect of being born in the first few months of a year, and the major advantages it gives people in sports.

What struck me was about school.

"Elementary and middle schools could put the January through April-born students in one class, the May through August in another class..."

I'm going to sort my students out by birthdate when I return, and see if jis supposition makes sense. I suspect there is an effect.

BTW, just to disclose, I am a March baby.

How Bleach Works

This story is neat. It shows that, even in a substance as well known and widely used as chlorine bleach, some of the ways that it works to disinfect are not fully understood.

Sometimes, kids get the idea that all the simple things are completely understood. It's nice to see confirmation that there are still many mysteries in the world of science.

New Site for Blog

I'm using another site for now. It has some disadvantages - I can't make any money on ads, so far, but the numbers viewing it are greater. And, best of all, it isn't blocked at work, so I can post on my break.

Or, you can use the RSS Feed on this blog.

The Traffic is Down, The Livin' is Easy

To mix metaphors.

I can see from the traffic patterns that summer doldrums have set in. Not with me, but many of the usual readers are playing hooky...so I'll just have to be both more enthralling than playtime activities, and more attuned to what readers want to focus on.

One thing I want to post on this summer is how to do things in blogs that enhance traffic. Those of you who are also bloggers may find those interesting.

For example, I just made a linked post, that took my traffic on Technology in Teaching (TeacherLingo version) to this site. That way, I can benefit from the higher traffic there to build the traffic here.

Another thing I'd like to spend more time on is techniques and strategies to enhance classroom management for improved student performance. Suggestions gladly accepted.

The technology of science is rapidly changing. Texas Instruments has released its new graphing handheld, and it's a doozie.

I'm still quietly exploring the worlds of podcasting and videocasting/videoconferencing. I had a few setbacks - a kid snagged my Ipod, my MAC had to be re-installed after I screwed up installing Boot Camp (I really must learn to read the manual), and I hurt my back this spring in an auto accident.

Things are better now. My life seems to be settling down, and I'm beginning to see daylight. I'll be setting up a 2-3 times a week schedule for posting - catch me at Technology in Teaching, and I'll see you there.

Catching Up

I've been on the road too much of this summer, so far. One graduation, 1 TI training, next week NSELA, then PTRA in Canada. As Den and I are both changing schools again (to Charlotte, NC), we've been spending what time we have clearing out our old classrooms.

What little teacher blogging I've been doing has been at Technology in Teaching. The traffic I'm getting there is better than what I've been getting here.

Although that may change. I've an application to get $$$$$ for ads in, and, if I'm accepted, this site may pay for itself. What I'll be doing until then, is using the Technology in Teaching site, which will then direct (via a link) you to here. That way, I can up my numbers, and make a better case for improved ad rates. Sorry for any inconvenience that causes you. At this time, to justify my time spent blogging, I have to get paid for it.