Books

Do you like reading? If you are someone, like me, who appreciates the art of thinking outside the box, you try to expose yourself to all kinds of thinking. I saw a video for a book on the Harvard Business Review Ideacast. You can watch them on YouTube, or they are also a free, downloadable podcast on iTunes. Type in HBR.

Back to the point: this video intrigued me. Why? Because when I'm thinking outside the box, it's usually to find a solution to a problem.



I went out and bought the book immediately and while I'm only up to chapter 4 so far, I'm loving it. If you are a manager looking for new ways to get your creative juices flowing - and inspire your team to do so as well - this is a great place to start.

Their web site: http://innovatorsdna.com

My Review of Instant Expert: Ancient History: Egypt DVD

I purchased this DVD, finding it at Fry's Electronics for the least expensive price.  It's a very good DVD!  I would really like to see them make more.

Originally submitted at AETN

HISTORY introduces INSTANT EXPERT, an exciting new line of titles offering on-the-spot knowledge to students and lifelong learners on a wide variety of topics. Long before the Romans built their first mud huts, ancient Egypt's mighty pharaohs began commissioning and building monumental masterpi...

Instant Expert: Ancient History: Egypt DVD

Fantastic

By genealotech from Mesa, Arizona, USA on 8/2/2011

5out of 5

Pros: Entertaining, Informative, Great Cinematography, High Production Value
Cons: Poor Tech Explanation
Best Uses: Middle school students
Describe Yourself: Movie Buff

This is a fantastic video showcasing the Pharaohs who didn't just exist, but made engineering history with their monuments. The pyramids are only part of the story. Very well done, and with a DVD quiz to review some of the points. There is a booklet included with the DVD containing a brief summary, additional discussion questions and internet links for further research.

The one drawback that I saw was the use of engineering terms without giving a basic explanation of it's meaning and how it worked. Engineering An Empire did a better job.

I'm hopeful they will make more!

(legalese)

Arizona's Architecture

This is a special from one of the local papers in Arizona, and is perfect for use in Arizona History studies (4th Grade).

http://www.azcentral.com/centennial/architecture/

The Birth of An Idea

A tweet from Disney on Twitter:

Link: http://yfrog.com/h3r4lujj

Disney on Twitter:

Disney

The Internet's New Domain Endings

I'll have to change my PowerPoint lessons on Domain Names.

Link: From CNN

New Ideas Can Come From Anywhere

I love examples of people using existing items in a new way, and creating something magnificent in the process.

Another Use For Microsoft Excel

This past school year, we were faced with the task of tracking and monitoring textbooks going home with our middle school students. Teachers were being told they would have to do the tracking themselves, which meant the teachers were coming up with all kinds of manual tracking forms and procedures. When I found out about this, I knew there should be a way for the technology we have at the school to accommodate this better. I tried a little experiment in the library and found the answer:

If you make up a list of your students in Excel, you can turn it into a mini database and use the library's bar code reader to enter the numbers from the textbooks for you.

I made one for each grade level. It took 20 minutes for a class of 25 with three textbooks per student to get everyone entered in. I sent the lists to the teachers, and did so again at the end of the school year when the students turned their books in.