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Mastering Markdown · GitHub Guides
In addition to standard styling syntax (bold, italics, lists, ...), "GitHub.com uses its own version of the Markdown syntax that provides an additional set of useful features, many of which make it easier to work with content on GitHub.com" (GitHub Flavored Markdown, ¶1, 2017.09.12).
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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OpenDyslexic | Free, OpenSource Dyslexia Typeface
WordPress homepage introducing special typeface for readers with dyslexia
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
A few dyslexia [font-related] resources
For the list on the OpenDyslexic’s Related Research page (https://opendyslexic.org/about-2/related-research/), the ThinkMind URL below might work better for item three (Tablet PCs…):
That’s the pointer the first author uses:
For item four (Typefaces for Dyslexia), I think OpenDyslexic meant _previously_ "at dyslexic.com/fonts.” The link seemed broken; so here’s a new one:
That article recommended ... a BDA Tech page (https://bdatech.org/what-technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/), which indicated, “It is likely that line length, line spacing and font size are just as important" as fonts, and referred to Bigelow & Holmes 2014 post reviewing research:
In 2014, on GitHub, Niclas Darville (ndarville) shared a link to a ready-made Google Scholar search:
Two of the top three hits from that search today are behind paywalls.
French et al. (2013) may shed light on general benefits from alternative fonts. Rello and Baeze-Yates (2013) found, "Sans serif, monospaced and roman font styles significantly improved the reading performance over serif, proportional and italic fonts" (Abstract).
A Master's thesis from University of Twente by Leeuw (2010) examined one font in particular, Dyslexie. Leeuw's thesis is accessible on Google Drive.
That’s the pointer the first author uses:
- http://www.ub.uio.no/english/about/people/ubodigit/andrega/
- See Publications: Gasparini, Andrea, & Culén, Alma (2012).
For item four (Typefaces for Dyslexia), I think OpenDyslexic meant _previously_ "at dyslexic.com/fonts.” The link seemed broken; so here’s a new one:
That article recommended ... a BDA Tech page (https://bdatech.org/what-technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/), which indicated, “It is likely that line length, line spacing and font size are just as important" as fonts, and referred to Bigelow & Holmes 2014 post reviewing research:
In 2014, on GitHub, Niclas Darville (ndarville) shared a link to a ready-made Google Scholar search:
Two of the top three hits from that search today are behind paywalls.
French et al. (2013) may shed light on general benefits from alternative fonts. Rello and Baeze-Yates (2013) found, "Sans serif, monospaced and roman font styles significantly improved the reading performance over serif, proportional and italic fonts" (Abstract).
A Master's thesis from University of Twente by Leeuw (2010) examined one font in particular, Dyslexie. Leeuw's thesis is accessible on Google Drive.
References
- French, M. M. J., Blood, A., Bright, N. D., Futak, D., Grohmann, M. J., Hasthorpe, A., … Tabor, J. (2013). Changing Fonts in Education: How the Benefits Vary with Ability and Dyslexia. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(4), 301–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.736430
- Leeuw, R. de. (2010, December 21). Special font for dyslexia? Retrieved from http://essay.utwente.nl/60474/
- Rello, L., & Baeza-Yates, R. (2013). Good Fonts for Dyslexia. In Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (p. 14:1--14:8). New York, NY, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2513383.2513447
Alternative webpage readability extensions for Google Chrome
Searching for a replacement for Clearly, which has disappeared from Chrome extensions, I found a pointer to the following GitHub page in a comment on an Apps User Group post:
A few alternatives mentioned either in Curts' blog post and embedded YouTube video about alternatives (Control Alt Achieve, 2016.01.20), or in comments on it, included:
At present, Easy Reader:
If you favor either Easy Reader or Just Read, please share your rationale(s) in comments on this post.
- Alternatives for the Clearly readability extension (Eric Curts, 2016.01.21).
(Zach Saucier, 2016.10.28)
A few alternatives mentioned either in Curts' blog post and embedded YouTube video about alternatives (Control Alt Achieve, 2016.01.20), or in comments on it, included:
- BeeLine Reader (http://www.beelinereader.com/)
- Featured in Curts' blog post and YouTube video
- https://youtu.be/Q0sLceZAPDY (2016.01.20)
- 3.9 star rating by 150 (Chrome Web Store, 2017.09.06)
- Just Read:
- Maintained (Unknown, 2016.10.27)
- Mercury Reader (https://mercury.postlight.com/reader/)
- 3.9 star rating by 1426 (Chrome Web Store, 2017.09.06)
- Readability:
- Obsolete (Michael, 2017.03.21)
- Reportedly replaced by Mercury Reader (Anonymous, 2017.05.21)
- The Readability site said, "[C]heck out Mercury Reader" (c. 2016).
At present, Easy Reader:
- 4.7 stars by 472 of 30,587 users (Chrome Web Store, 2017.09.06)
- 4.7 stars by 376 of 72, 480 users (Chrome Web Store, 2017.09.06).
If you favor either Easy Reader or Just Read, please share your rationale(s) in comments on this post.
[205 words]
Sunday, August 06, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Empathy Vs Sympathy | Psychology Today
Comparison of pity, sympathy, empathy, and compassion in terms of increasing engagement with others
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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How many languages are there in the world? | Ethnologue
"This is a fragile time: Roughly a third of languages are now endangered" (7,099 languages are spoken today, ¶1, 2017.07.25).
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The Fracking Boom, a Baby Boom, and the Retreat From Marriage - Freakonomics Freakonomics
- Even the most persnickety economists will tend to grant that whether there is this geological formation under your county is probably exogenous to family formation preferences.
- A genuine research opportunity
- First let me be clear that we are not looking at North Dakota and Montana, in what’s called the Bakken region up there.
- The data do show that in response to these increased economic activity and earnings potential we do see an increase in births. But interestingly there’s the same response among married births and nonmarried births and no increase in marriage
- the nonmarital birth response is very different: a 10 percent increase in earnings associated with the coal boom actually led to a reduction in nonmarital births
- So a coal boom produced more marriage, more kids and fewer kids born to unmarried moms; whereas a fracking boom produced more kids, but no more marriage and a lot more kids born to unmarried moms?
- Not everyone sees the rise in nonmarital childbearing as a challenge, but if you look at the data on the economic circumstances of kids, it’s hard not to think of that as a challenge.
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Sunday, July 23, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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"_Empowered Educators_ is a landmark, international comparative study of teacher and teaching quality in the world’s top-performing education systems" (How are they doing it? ¶2).
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"Preparation for a career shaping the minds, values and spirit of our youth requires people of substance who are attracted to the profession because being an educator is an engaging and secure job choice" (¶17).
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The Origins of 10 Nicknames | Mental Floss
Explanations of more or less popular nicknames
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Pedagogy and the Logic of Platforms.pdf
In this article, Gilliard (2017) illuminated redlining, surveillance, and profiling practices that impinge upon educational and empowering uses of the World Wide Web.
- Digital redlining is the modern equivalent of this histori-cal form of societal division; it is the creation and maintenance of technological policies, practices, pedagogy, and investment decisions that enforce class boundaries and discriminate against specific groups.
- Students are often surprised (and even angered) to learn the degree to which they are digitally redlined, surveilled, and profiled on the web and to find out that educational systems are looking to replicate many of those worst practices in the name of “efficiency,” “engagement,” or “improved outcomes.”
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Avoiding Assessment Mistakes — The Learner's Way (Coutts, 2017.07.16)
"Testing for the skills valued in the 21st century, assessing socio-emotional intelligence and the capacity to function effectively within dynamic teams is difficult to do at scale, so we instead measure what is easy to measure. The trouble is in doing so we assign an inflated value to the parts of the curriculum which matter least and then lock ourselves in to teaching for these skills even when we know they are obsolete" (Assessment needs to be of the learning that matters, ¶1, 2017.07.19).
Sunday, July 02, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Book review: Post-admission Language Assessment of University Students
"In most cases, results from these types of tests are meant to guide students toward university resources that would help them achieve their potential in their studies and to optimize their employability upon graduation."
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Guest post with tips recycled from "past communication with online ESL teachers" (¶4).
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Search | LearnEnglish | British Council
Site search for "environment"
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Who We Are | International Rescue Committee (IRC)
"The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster" (Who We Are, The IRC: 83 years of history, ¶1, 2017.06.21).
Sunday, June 04, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Professional Identity in an Age of Social Media | Tomorrow's Professor Postings
"The more you tell your own story on a social media, the more difficult it is for other people to tell a story about you based on the fragments of material they find about you online" (Identity dilemma #1: Your employerm ¶5)
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Interactive practice for giving directions
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Diigo outliner supports image now | Diigo
"This new update allows you to insert images into an outliner directly on Diigo website" (¶1, 2017.05.23).
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At present (2017.06.01), this page covers three emerging issues: 1) Price volatility, 2) Investments, and 3) Climate change.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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How To Create Unique Online Programs In 4 Easy Steps by Elena Mutonono — Online Teacher Summit
Elena Mutonono suggested ways online educators can "find completely new [online] teaching formats" (2017.05.09).
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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OECD: PISA well-being infographics
Two-part poster of results from PISA survey on students' well-being
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PISA 2015 Results (Volume III) - Students' Well-Being - en - OECD
OECD (2017). PISA 2015 Results (Volume III): Students' Well-Being. Paris, FR: OECD Publishing. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264273856-en
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Must Have Tool for Educators- Diigo - A Classroom Friend - EdTechReview™ (ETR)
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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"This edited book will try to cover the main issues in language learning and teaching based on technology tools and programs. The publication addresses the application and implementation of research methodologies within English language classrooms in different cultures around the world. The main focus of this book will be on review, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies which meet the needs of applied linguists, CALL/TELL researchers, language teachers, and TEFL/TESOL/Linguistics graduate and post-graduate students. "
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Notes on needs and ikigai (生き甲斐)
As studies mentioned in the Criticism section of Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggest, the constructs, comprehensiveness, or fit of levels may vary according to age, broad socio-cultural characteristics, and local or geopolitical circumstances. Nevertheless, conceivable conflation of needs for self-actualization and self-transcendence seem to reflect notions attributed to ikikai (生き甲斐), for example: "the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile" and "mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable" (Ikikai, ¶4 [supporting references absent], 2017.03.11).
Sunday, April 09, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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"The MERLOT Content Builder is a free webpage and website development tool that is integrated into MERLOT. It is directly accessible by logged-in members from the MERLOT home page by clicking the Create Material with Content Builder tile or the Access Content Builder link from a member's profile page, under Actions. All webpages and websites built with Content Builder are hosted by MERLOT" (Help, ¶1).
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"The new MERLOT Smart Search extends access to online learning materials well beyond MERLOT's curated and peer reviewed collection. Smart Search helps to answer the pervasive and nagging question, "Where can I find OERs?'" (MERLOT Webmaster, One Stop Searching for All Your OER Needs!, ¶1, 2017.03.30 [JST]).
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Flexitome offers: an e-book reader an e-books shop a learning management system a resource library classroom tools authoring tools
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Brief interventions help online learners persist with coursework | Stanford News
"[Psychological] ... interventions had a large effect on the performance of learners in less-developed countries, doubling their persistence and essentially eliminating the global achievement gap" (Psychological interventions, ¶9).
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Blogger profile replaced permanently by Google+ profile
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The Best Password Managers | The Wirecutter
"Last updated: December 8, 2016," by Joe Kissell
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Live and on-demand programs
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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For Some, Active Learning Can Be a Nightmare | Tomorrow's Professor Postings
"The benefit for the average student is well understood, supported by research, and endorsed by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. However, it can be a nightmare for students with learning disabilities" (Tomorrow's Prof excerpt, ¶2).
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Pan-SIG 2017 - ConfTool Pro - Participate
- Paul A. Beaufait
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Description Unit Price Fee Conference
Conference Participation¥ 7,000.00
¥ 7,000.00 - Presenters must pay by 10th April to ensure their presentation is on the schedule.
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Megan Phelps-Roper: I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here's why I left | TED Talk | TED.com
- People often lament that digital communication makes us less civil, but this is one advantage that online conversations have over in-person ones. We have a buffer of time and space between us and the people whose ideas we find so frustrating. We can use that buffer. Instead of lashing out, we can pause, breathe, change the subject or walk away, and then come back to it when we're ready
- I know that some might not have the time or the energy or the patience for extensive engagement, but as difficult as it can be, reaching out to someone we disagree with is an option that is available to all of us. And I sincerely believe that we can do hard things, not just for them but for us and our future. Escalating disgust and intractable conflict are not what we want for ourselves, or our country or our next generation
- we're all just human beings. That we should be guided by that most basic fact, and approach one another with generosity and compassion
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Sunday, March 12, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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On-Line Cultural Training Resource For Study Abroad--University of the Pacific
"This material offers an opportunity to explore various aspects of intercultural communication and adjustment models that are known to impact upon all study abroad experiences. This is not a stand-alone, distance-learning course. Nor should it be a substitute for a University or program-based orientation or reentry program, if your institution has them available" (Introduction, ¶1, c. 2003).
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Writing Across Borders - OSU MediaSpace
"Writing Across Borders is a film for anyone who works with international students in a writing environment" (Details, ¶1, 2017.03.07).
Sunday, March 05, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Driving Campus Diversity One Decision at a Time | Tomorrow's Professor Postings
"Implicit biases are easily triggered evaluative beliefs or stereotypes that can influence our understanding of others and our behaviors toward them without our full awareness. They are related to, but distinct from, explicit or overt expressions of bias" (What is implicit bias, ¶2).
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http://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2015/03/31/1353908_1.pdf
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Are you ready for blended learning? | Tony Bates (2016.12.12)
"I’ve just come back from visiting two universities in central Canada and I have also been getting feedback from pilot institutions on the questionnaire we are developing for a survey of online learning in Canada. Although I do not want to anticipate the results of the survey, some things are already becoming clear, especially about blended learning" (¶1).
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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About Us - oomongzu (Fun & Innovative ESL videos and English videos)
Plenty of mind-numbing background music, but still worth checking further to see whether these "animated teaching videos for ESL and EFL learners" (About Us, ¶1, 2017.02.24 [JST]) might be suited to particular learners' needs
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Catalog of the Council of Europe's Pestalozzi programme publications, currently 1-5 (2017.02.23)
Sunday, February 05, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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What I learned from burning-out as a teacher
"Teaching communities can be incredibly nurturing, caring and supportive of the children in their care, but sometimes forget to extend this to the teachers who are at the front line. Teachers may be afraid of being seen as weak or struggling if they open up about their challenges or difficulties. My first piece of advice is find a colleague you can open up to and can offer support or just a listening ear, of course, you can do the same for them. Building and nurturing positive relationships is one of the most important things anyone can do for their well-being."
- Mindfulness refers to the process of bringing our attention and awareness to the present moment, with an attitude of non-judgement and acceptance
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Sunday, January 29, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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WS BLOG: Making Moves that Matter | The Writing Studio
"This post is meant to share some of my more-enlightening misadventures with stasis, destabilization, and resolution in hope that they will help writers, consultants, and teachers use the three moves more intentionally" (¶1, retrieved 2017.01.27).
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Grammar Girl : How to Peer Edit an Essay :: Quick and Dirty Tips ™
"[T]he following approach can help you prove your editing prowess" (¶3, retrieved 2017.01.20).
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APA Style Blog: How to Cite a YouTube Channel
"A reference to a YouTube *channel* follows the usual who (YouTube username), when (date), what (title), and where (URL) format" (¶1, 2017.01.19 [emphasis added]).
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Timeline JS3 - Beautifully crafted timelines that are easy, and intuitive to use.
"TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines. Beginners can create a timeline using nothing more than a Google spreadsheet" (Timeline JS, Overview, 2017.01/11).
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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David Autor: Why are there still so many jobs? | TED Talk | TED.com
Good news for techie teachers: "As our tools improve, technology magnifies our leverage and increases the importance of our expertise and our judgment and our creativity" (interactive transcript, 6:00).
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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How can I tell if a website is credible?
This webpage suggests six factors to consider when assessing website credibility, and adds, "If you are unsure whether the site you’re using is credible, verify the information you find there with another source you know to be reliable" (retrieved 2016.12.22).
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Helpful Hints to Help You Evaluate the Credibility of Web Resources
"These guidelines are to help you become familiar with various types of Web resources and the reliability of the information" you find among them (¶2, retrieved 2016.12.22).
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Free Puzzlemaker @ Discovery Education
"Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more-using your own word lists."
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Nocking The Arrow: Taking Steps Towards Global Competency
Schuetz, Robert. (2016.12.10). Taking Steps Towards Global Competency [weblog post]. Retrieved from http://www.rtschuetz.net/2016/12/taking-steps-towards-global-competency.html
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APA Style Blog: Writing Website In-Text Citations and References
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Falcon Scientific Editing | Publishing, Writing, and Grammar Resources for Researchers
A weblog highlighting guides and other resources for academic writing and publication.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
"Get tough, or die!"
Let me try to keep this story about advice I've received relatively short, yet informative. Though at first you may consider the advice valid only for participants in a particular event in Montana decades ago, in the end I hope you may find ways to generalize (adopt or adapt) it to your own circumstances. Here goes.
In high school, I competed in gymnastics. The coach of a cross-town rival team and I became friends after I had entered college, and beg[u]n judging local gymnastics meets.
In the off-season, the cross-town high school coach and I also became rivals in canoe races. In one race, actually a three-legged team-relay event, in which a grade school friend of mine had run, I'd cycled, and the two of us paddled together, my old friend and I finished fourth.
Though our running and cycling times weren't stellar, we'd been white-water canoeing together for years (since high school). So we passed a number of other teams on the river, including slow rafters, and were about to overtake another when the river narrowed.
As we passed just astern of a raft running the rapids ahead of us, an inner-tube it was towing on a tail line dragged under our canoe, and dumped us immediately. We lost time swimming the canoe to shore, emptying the water from it, and resuming the race.
At the end of the third leg of the race, my old friend and I finished fourth. My rival and his team had finished first or second. In the parking lot, at the end of the race, was where I got the advice.
My rival and his partner had loaded their low-cut racing canoe on his car rack. It was easy to distinguish from ours–a high-gunneled recreational model. The advice was on a bumper sticker on his car.
As the race committee began awarding prizes, it became clear that the third-place team hadn't waited around for awards. So my partner and I received the third prize. Though I don't remember what that prize was, I do remember the message on my rival's rear bumper.
It read, "Get tough, or die!"
[356 words]
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Evidence-Based Principles for Online Faculty Development | EDUCAUSE
"After research and discussion, the Professional and Organizational Development Network developed eight principles to guide institutions as they explore and select online educational development resources for their campus communities" (Key Takeaways, point 3).
Sunday, December 04, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Strategies to Help Students ‘Go Deep’ When Reading Digitally | MindShift | KQED News
"[C]asual digital reading on the internet has instilled bad habits in many students, making it difficult for them to engage deeply with digital text in the same way they do when reading materials printed on paper" (Schwarz, 2016.10.16, ¶1).
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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"カンタン出欠管理、調整ツール。 / 調整さんはURLをメンバーに送るだけで、イベントの出欠確認や日程調整ができる出欠表ツールです。 / ログインなしでもご利用頂けますが…!" (https://chouseisan.com/, 2016.11.18)
Sunday, November 06, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Giving Feedback | Tomorrow's Professor Postings
This extract from Nygaard (2015) covered a three-step process for responding to requests for feedback on academic writing. Nygaard, Lynn P. (2015). Writing for Scholars: A Practical Guide to Making Sense & Being Heard. London, England: Sage Publications.
Sunday, October 09, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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03. Organizing documents | Mendeley
"Mendeley searches document details - including the ‘General notes’ field - as well as within the body text of any PDF papers in your library" (Use search to retrieve references, ¶2< 2016.10.06).
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Author Services Publishing open access with Taylor & Francis
"Whilst there are many different definitions of OA, Taylor & Francis authors can choose to publish either “gold” or “green” OA in our journals" (Publishing open access with Taylor & Francis, ¶1).
Sunday, October 02, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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Digital Typhoon: Typhoon Images and Information - National Institute of Informatics
"Real time typhoon information" and links to tons of other earth-related info.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Diigo bookmarks (weekly)
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PIGATE in Cyberspace (2016.09.10) by Paul Beaufait on Prezi
"A mosaic representation of Internet communication technology (ICT) that organizers and members of the PIGATE teacher development community use. Their ICT use supplements and supports monthly face-to-face meetings and other activities."
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Welcome to pab's potpourri!
This is an experimental, informal blog for learning about blogging, blog development, and blog-related professional development activities.
