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Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: How do I view "real" page numbers on my Kindle books?
There continues to be a problem that not all books in the Amazon kindle store have real page numbers. If students are expected to cite sources and not allowed to use location numbers, then Amazon can expect the pushback seen on this forum post. Meanwhile, a helpful person on the forum has noted how you can know what to read on the Kindle if your professor or teacher says "read page 80-92" - you can dive into the table of contents on the website and save a copy. This is the only solution. It is time for Amazon to get their act together and have all Kindle ebooks display page numbers if there is a printed copy of the book. If there is not a printed copy of the book, there needs to be a consistent reference point or "page" that all can use for sourcing and citing content. "1. Look up the book in the in the Amazon Kindle store (where you purchased it). 2. Click on the book where it says "Look Inside." You want to look at the table of contents, which will have the pages numbers for each chapter. 3. It defaults to the "kindle edition," which does not have the page numbers in the table of contents. However, there is a tab above that says "Print Book." Click on that. 4. Once you're on the "Print Book" display, it shows the page numbers in the TOC. By doing the above, I was able to determine that "the first 26 pages" = Chapters 1 & 2. I used Evernote to take a screen capture of the entire TOC, which I'll refer back to."
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MobileRead Wiki - Kindle Myths and Partial Truths
This is a fascinating wiki full of myths and truths about ebook readers. It says it is maintained by the users of the site. I've found it to be quiet accurate as I perused this page. If you have questions about ebooks, this is a great reference.
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Information on whispercast and how to sign up. This looks like the system for managing Kindles (you can send content to school owned kindles or personal Kindles) and in fact, you should move towards this. I don't know about moving the books you already have. I do like how you can upload pdf's etc. to distribute.
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Some rules have changed as I've been reading up on having Kindles at schools. (Back in February I read a spate of posts mentioning that Amazon said that having 6 kindles share one account was just for "personal use" and that libraries can't do it.) But Amazon does have information on Whispercast which lets you handle distributing books. It is a "free self-service online tool" and I'm thinking that it is something we need to be using. It looks like you can also distribute many of the free ebooks onto Kindles.
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Kindle for iOS update brings boost to students and visually impaired | ITProPortal.com
The recent Kindle updates over the past few months have quite a few teachers. In particular, if you have a textbook on Kindle, you can collate notes by color, which is a major enhancement. This article does a nice job of summarizing the features important to educators. "The update also brings some changes that should be especially helpful for students and teachers, like the ability to highlight long passages that span multiple pages. In addition, the Notebook feature for textbooks has new filtering options, which should help you more quickly and easily find all your notes, bookmarks, and highlights by colour"
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How to Publish an E-Book: Resources for Authors | Jane Friedman
An excellent compendium of information about writing and publishing ebooks that is continually updated by the author. Great work.
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Book Creator for iPad for iPad on the iTunes App Store
I"ve been hearing a lot of great things from teachers about Book creator as a new way they have students create reports. Called, Book Creator, children can create pages, send them to their teachers and then the teacher can put them together further.
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Friday, 5 July 2013
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| clutter (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee) |
Here's a trick that has helped me craft better blog posts. I keep a list of wasteful words. They are enemies of clarity.
What is a wasteful word?
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| This is my list of wasteful words. What are yours? |
My list of wasteful words
- There are / There is
- It is
- very * extremely * really * actual
- Given the fact * in fact * the fact is that
- had a * have a * had an * have an * have on * had on
- on how to
- of the
- say that * think that
- successfully
- along
- has
- ones
- specifically
- again * available
- with regard to * with respect to * in reference to * in connection with * for the purpose of
- advance * together * basic * close * end * free * past
- you need to
- a lot
Find and eliminate
Create a Word clutter collection
Teach powerful writing and blogging
4 Times I always clear word clutter
- Before I turn anything in to my editor. All chapters or articles get searched for every word. For frequent words, save time and turn on the advanced search feature and check "match exact word."
- "Epic Blog posts" - If it takes longer than 30 minutes to write, I'm going to check it. If a post starts going viral, I'll recheck it for clutter words.
- When I'm trying to communicate simply. Less clutter words, more meaning. I've used this in important emails and letters.
- This post. I am afraid of using these words and harming my thesis here. I've already searched three times! ;-)
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Foxit PDF Reader: The Best Free PDF Reader to Create, Annotate, Form Fill, View, and Print PDFs
This versatile free PDF reader is highly recommended for the Mac.
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CutePDF - The free PDF Converter, Convert to PDF for free, Free PDF Utilities.
This is the PDF reader I install on most machines. It gives you a simple way to print PDF's
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The Only Free PDF Reader and Creator | Nitro PDF Reader
A free reader and creator. You can also add your signature. Versatile PDF reader and creator for the PC.
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If you're on a Mac, here are the hotkeys that will save you time.
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Listly List - iProductivity: Student Workflow in the iClassroom
This is a popular list on list.ly given by a teacher about iProductivity in the classroom. You can see how the listly tool works and also some great information on using ipads in the classroom. I like how you can drill down to different views including "curated" order - crowd rank and alphabetized. This is like Diigo lists but with crowd enhanced capabilities. Cool tool and informative list.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
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| I use Google Analytics to help create this list. Google Analytics Hacks (Photo credit: Search Engine People Blog) |
- 89 Lesson Plans and Ideas for teaching Math
- 89 cool apps, sites and tools for teaching this came out in April 2013 so it is very popular to end up on this list.
- 15 Fantastic Ways to Use Flipboard - I keep updating this post with new information. This is an example of how a post can become evergreen if you keep nurturing it.
- QR Code Implementation Guide - With over 1631 tweets in the USA alone, this is one of my most Tweeted posts ever written.
- My Freebies - My sister helped me design an internet safety poster which you can download for free (you can get large sized prints at cafe press as well). This isn't really a blog post, but I wanted you to know about it since so many are finding it useful.
- 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher another highly tweeted post
- 50 Teaching and Lesson plans that rock
- Making the Case for Cell phones in Schools
- 7 Key Ingredients in the successful 21st Century Classroom April 2013
- 10 ways to End the School Year on an Up Note when You're Exhausted May 2013
- 15 Wrong Ways to Implement Common Core I mention this because it came out in May also and because of the traffic, I think it is important. Also because it was a guest post by Johnna Weller.
Why you should share what you like wherever it is
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Google Alerts - Monitor the Web for interesting new content
Another small change. Google alerts NO LONGER allows RSS delivery. This is a big deal for many of us who use the service to monitor our brand. Big yuck. I hope they don't discontinue this for Google news. IF you want to monitor your school's name, go to this site and set up the alert and send it to email.
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Wichita teachers union balks at lesson-plan requirements | The Daily Caller
There are many who don't understand this one point. I used to have someone who required me to have beautiful lesson plans. They were detailed. I spent more than an hour a day on them. So much time so that sometimes I felt unprepared when the kids actually walked in the door. When those detailed plans were removed and I was allowed to focus on the content created for the students to use and then keep a grid (I keep links, etc. to what I'm doing) - THAT Was when real innovation happened in my classroom. Things like wikis, blogs, etc. happened after those super-restrictive requirements were taken off my shoulders. I had the wrong audience when I had those detailed lesson plans - my audience was the principal at the time. Now, I still have plans but I keep it in a grid in a book and then keep copies of what I use with students in dropbox and other places. I do far more now than then because my focus is the students. Lesson plans aren't bad. However, if you spend your time making the LESSON PLAN itself pretty and perfect then likely you're not spending your actual time PLANNING, printing, collecting, and creating what you'll be doing with your students. Also, when you do things like #geniushour and 20% time projects, you no longer have a lesson plan but a project plan which is an entirely different thing altogether. Don't fault teachers for this. Teaching is the hardest job everybody thinks they can do and few really can.
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Google Apps update alerts: Print Google Forms in a fillable format
Google just announced you can print Google forms in the way that makes it simple for them to fill in the form online (or for you or your staff to enter them.) This is great.
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Protecting Your Child’s Privacy Online | Consumer Information
New guide for parents from the Federal Trade Commission about protecting children online. It says that parents should get a "plain language notice" about information will be collected before they want to use features on an site or download an app that collects their personal information. I'm very curious how this is going to happen since often parents aren't involved in the app installation process for their children. Review the parent guide to understand the current rules.
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Revised Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule Goes Into Effect Today
The revised COPPA act went into effect on July 1, 2013. Take time to read up on and know this act. It includes mobile devices - geolocation information, photos, videos, and audio recordings. This is going to influence MOBILE PHONES big time as well as app makers. It says they have to have actual knowledge that they are gaining information from kids under 13. What about my under 13 child who has a mobile phone. Verizon knows the age - is this enough to trigger problems. I don't have a smartphone for him but he does have an iPad mini. So many questions here that we'll need to review and understand as part of BYOT programs, etc. The biggest issue is I doubt many app makers are compliant right now.
- The modified rule, approved by the Commission in December 2012, widens the definition of children’s personal information to include persistent identifiers such as cookies that track a child’s activity online, as well as geolocation information, photos, videos, and audio recordings.
- It requires that operators of websites or online services that are either directed to children under 13 or have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information from children under 13 give notice to parents and get their verifiable consent before collecting, using, or disclosing such personal information, and keep secure the information they collect from children.
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A Must-Have Guide To Becoming A Better Blogger | Edudemic
An excellent set of infographics about blogging that I'll be using with students in the fall. Great set of discussion tools.
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I think every literature teacher should participate in National Novel Writing month in November. It is a great free program that is gamified and electrified by students writing together. Sign up now and plan this into your writing curriculum. You set the goals for your student writing.
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The Importance Of Leading-Up | Big Is The New Small
As I read this article on leading up, I'm curious if this is encouraged in schools. Leading up is when a person exerts influence on leaders one or two levels above him or her. We need teachers who can lead up. Is it encouraged? I'm not so sure.
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Chemicals found in phones are a no-no for kids - Cincinnati Business Courier
I saw this on Fran Drescher's Twitter account from the Cincinnati Business courier and am quite floored by it. Am I the only one who doesn't know this? How about all of the little kids I see where parents are handing them their ipad and smart phones for play purposes. I jusst need to know more but it is based on a study presented at the Pediatric Academic societies meeting in DC. Of course, they recommend hand washing. But pregnant women should be careful - a 10x increase in maternal PBDE's is associated with a 4 point IQ deficit. Of course, we also have the age old question here of causation or correlation. I do think we need to know more and also if the equipment we're purchasing to use with young children has PBDEs in them. If you know more, please leave comments. It does say that some manufacturers are voluntarily phasing these out. "Small children should not touch electronic items such as TVs, mobile phones, computers and other products, according to University of Cincinnati researchers. Chemicals found in such items and in many other products, including older carpets and furniture, can cause behavioral and cognition problems, they have found."
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Hashtag Immortalizes Father's Devotion After His Death
My friend Beth Kanter, nonprofit fundraising pioneer, is honoring her late father by asking for people to donate to the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation. She has created a hashtag #oceanloveearl. IF you want to support or know more about this movement, here's the information on Mashable
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
- The World Education Congress has named their outstanding award winners. I was excited to see one of my blog sponsors, WizIQ win best virtual classroom provider for the second year in a row. Lots of interesting companies herein the global education community.
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Best Virtual Classroom Provider
» WizIQ.com, authorGEN Technologies Ltd.
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Tuesday, 2 July 2013
I’m going by the upper road, for that
still holds the sun,
I’m climbing through night’s pastures where
the starry rivers run:
If you should think to seek me in my
old dark abode,
You’ll find this writing on the door,
“He’s on the Upper Road.”
Streams in the Desert - July 2
There are times we must move on. We've lived in a place that served a purpose. We've gotten comfortable there. We've had good times there. Yet, there are new travels ahead with a new purpose and new mission.
As we've been talking on my Facebook page about whether we miss our students, I'm struck by the comments of those teachers in transition between schools. Leaving a school must have heartache in it. Every teacher I know who is a great teacher loves their kids and many colleagues at any school - no matter how tough.
My Mom still shows me the platter presented to her when she left her first school. My sister still misses some of her colleagues and talks fondly of her first class at Gwinett County schools near Atlanta. It is part of who we are. Our treasures are not dollars in the bank, but faces that come to mind and the stories that enrich our lives full of meaning. Good teachers are rich. We aren't biding our time, we are building it. When we retire, great teachers have castles of legacy built upon the stories and richness of lives forever changed.
Today, I have lunch with Casey - she's in college and was one of the two students that Thomas Friedman mentioned when he wrote about the Flat Classroom projects in his version 3 of the World is Flat. She is doing great in college and I'm excited to hear her stories. She couldn't stay in her old abode (high school) but had to move on to the upper road (college) and then will move beyond. Like my son who just finished his first college test yesterday in Psychology. The upper road calls.
I'm writing this because many of us educators have transition. We may have to give up coaching a sport and move to another. We may have to give up a club to do another. We may no longer be teaching a subject we love and have to move to one we're not so crazy about. If we're parents, we might even have to let our own child move to their upper road without the baggage of an overly sad parent hanging over their heads. (sniff)
I never want to be the kind of teacher (or parent) who lives in the old, dank abodes of time past - wishing for how it used to be. It used to be hard and it will continue to be hard because that is the profession we have. The profession we have is tough. I pray daily to be like Moses' burning bush to be on fire without burning out (something only God can do, honestly, because teaching is sooooo hard.)
So, teacher, as you face transition - let's move to the upper road with purpose. Let's remember the past abode with joy, but as our bodies move forward, let our hearts and souls move forward too. Let's be fully present in the present - learning from the past but not living there. Let it go and go on.
The upper road calls. I'm packing my bags. Will you?
Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad
