We’ve all been there. The blinking cursor on the computer screen. The blank pages of notebooks. The seeming inability to start. Here are our top ways to get rid of writer’s block for good.

1.       Start writing anything. Get the pen moving. Action leads to action, inaction stays at rest. It might be the most horrible paragraph you’ve ever written. Fine, no one has to see it. You can edit later. The point is that it’s on the page.

2.       Define your  audience. You’re not going to have effective prose unless you have an audience in mind. This will help you narrow your subject and use defined diction.

3.       Talk it out. Whoever said you have to wait until your writing is perfect before showing it to anyone was full of bologna. Seek out a trusted friend, colleague, or family member and have fun writing together! It’s guaranteed to break through those mental blocks.

4.       Dance, get up, shake it out. Make your breaks about movement after you’ve been sitting so long.

5.       Change perspectives. If you’re writing fiction, write from another character’s point of view. If you’re writing nonfiction, write as if you were speaking to young child. How does that change your style and composition? Does it increase clarity?

Use these tips today and tell us how they worked for you! Shut out writer’s block and get writing.

Read the News-Herald article on foreign language education by Amy Popik and Elizabeth Lundblad:"Training for the Future: Northeast Ohio schools think globally with curriculum." School leaders in Ohio are supporting foreign language education, should we all take a greater interest?

Read the article through this link or copied below:
 http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20131210/training-for-the-future-northeast-ohio-schools-think-globally-with-curriculum-with-video


What do you think? Is being mono-linguistic a deficit in the global world today?

By Amy Popik, The News-Herald

Elizabeth Lundblad, The News-Herald

and Jean Bonchak, The News-Herald

Posted: 12/10/13, 1:01 AM EST | Updated: on 12/10/2013

Michael Allen Blair/ [email protected] Ted Krejsa, Russian teacher and world language department head for Kenston High School, teaches a Russian II class Wednesday at Kenston High School.

EDITOR’S NOTE: With the world continuing to shrink thanks to improved communications and transportation, students can no longer wait until college or job training to think globally. This is the second in a three-part series looking at how high schools are now taking a global perspective.
The globalization of education is growing as technology tightens the connections of people around the world.
One way in which students are being linked to other cultures is through the expansion of foreign language offerings.
Ted Krejsa, who teaches Russian in the Kenston School District, favors the following quote attributed to Gregg Roberts of the Utah State Office of Education — “Monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st century.”
Krejsa added that the knowledge of world languages is beneficial in many career paths, either through direct use, enhancement or providing further opportunities.
Rather than focusing on grammar as was the case some years ago, more of an emphasis is being placed on communication and proficiency, he said.
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School Assistant Principal Denice Teeples said NDCL follows a similar strategy.
“Our World Language classes not only focus on the language, but on the culture of the people,” she said. “With globalization it will be critical for our students to understand the social culture of other countries to make them effective communicators and collaborators with a diverse population.”
“We have a pretty substantial foreign language class structure at the high school,” said Heather Miller, director of curriculum and instruction at Euclid Schools.
Perry High School students have French and Spanish available to them on campus. And students interested in learning a different language have the option of taking language classes at local colleges through the school’s dual credit program, where students earn both high school and college credit, said Betty Jo Malchesky, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment at Perry Local Schools.

World influencing courses
Perry students also can expand their global footprint is through the Credit Flex program.
“Credit Flex is an opportunity for students to dream of what their interests might be and it might be a dream of pursuing a subject that we have right here on campus but doing it in a unique way,” she said.
Malchesky said she’s had a student who combined Perry’s chemistry and environmental science objectives and went to study those courses with his family in Peru. Taking the school’s standards, that student was able to enhance his own study of the material.
“How do you say no to that?” she added.
When reviewing curriculum offerings, Melissa Mlakar, director of curriculum and instruction for Riverside Schools, said the administration doesn’t specifically use increasing globalization as a frame of reference, but the district isn’t ignoring the realities facing today’s students.
“It is always in the back of our minds that no matter what our students want to do in the future, we want them to be prepared to do it,” she said.
“They’re interacting with a multitude of people and places ... as part of our strategic plan, we’re looking at our elective offerings to see if we can get the kids some of these new experiences. We’re not necessarily looking to add programs but how we can improve or change what we already have.”
With another nod toward globalization, Teeples said NDCL is taking a different approach to the subject of geography.
“For example, no longer will we teach ‘geography,’ it will be ‘human geography’ which will focus on the culture of the people within the context of geography,” she said.
Business classes also are feeling globalization’s effects.
“No longer can people enter a career and expect to be ‘managed,’ ” Teeples said.
“In order for our students to be globally competitive, (they) must learn to think critically, be creative, work collaboratively and communicate effectively with a diversity of people.”
Euclid and Mayfield Schools offer several classes in business that cover a wide range of topics such as entrepreneurship, finance, business law, business Web design, international business and more.
Mayfield Schools Assistant Superintendent Joelle Magyar said she anticipates a focus on international studies and business in the future.
“I see more application for international business … coming more from project-based learning, and setting up a situation and having kids research and understand the concepts behind that … rather than just providing a course,” she said.

Creating global classrooms
Miller said some teachers in Euclid Schools are interacting globally with other students around the world to promote international communication and teach students more about different cultures.
“There are some teachers who do some blogging and connect with others through social media,” she said. “We do have distance learning labs with a camera set up. They are not used on a regular basis, but they are an option for teachers.”
Teeples said that even though NDCL is “just a small dot on a world map,” through technology and innovative teachers the school is shrinking the globe for students to learn with and about others around the world.
“Teachers and administrators at NDCL are keenly aware of the challenges we face to educate our students to be globally competitive in a rapidly changing world,” she said.
An international program was begun to bring a world diversity to NDCL. Video conferencing to interview international students from China during the admissions process is used. Currently enrolled are four students from Germany, eight from China and one from South Korea.
E. Andreas Johansson, director of Technology Integration & Curriculum in Kenston Schools, said that “by participating in local and global learning communities like professional learning groups within a school building or district, attending educational conferences and EdCamps, seeking feedback on Twitter and through other social media, and using a multitude of platforms that weren’t available even 10 years ago, teachers are able to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning. This allows teachers everywhere to gain new knowledge from other connected educators around the world, thereby contributing to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession, of our schools, and of the Kenston community as a whole.”
Educators agree that today job-seekers no longer compete only with those from the U.S., but also with people around the globe.
“It is clear that the world is changing, it has been and will continue to change,” Teeples said.

1.      The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

An interactive story, the reader talks to the mouse who finds a lusciously ripe strawberry and is trying to keep it away from the ominous Big Hungry Bear. So frightened that he will lose his prize, the mouse tries all kinds of ways to hide the strawberry including disguises, burying it under the soil, and locking it under chains. Finally, the reader convinces the mouse that there is only one way to keep the strawberry away from the      bear: split it in half, share it with the reader, and eat it all.

  Life Lesson: To enjoy what you have, rather than selfishly hoarding it.

2. The Hundred Dresses

Chosen as a Newbery Honor Book, the story follows a Polish girl named Wanda Petronski as she gets teased mercilessly for wearing the same pale blue dress to school every day. When Wanda claims to have 100 beautiful dresses in her closet, this only makes the other children mock her more. Then there is a contest for submitting a dress design. She submits 100 beautiful drawings of unique dresses, but by this time she has already moved away from the school because of the bullying. Those who teased her feel remorseful and send her an apology, hoping she will receive it one day.

Life Lesson: This is a very eye-opening book about the effects of bullying and appreciating others despite their perceived outside differences.

3. Stellaluna

This story follows the life of a bat who loses her way from her family and instead is raised by baby birds. Forced to act the way mama bird acts, Stellaluna tries to fit into a mould she was not meant to fill.

Life Lesson: It is better to be yourself than try to fit into what you are not

5.      Olivia

Written by Ian Falconer for his niece, Olivia is a book series that follows an energetic, spirited piglet and doing things just the way she likes them.

Life Lesson: Be unhindered by what others may think of you and remain true to yourself

Vote on your favorites below or add a new book in the comments! Also, don’t forget to check out When the Lights Go Out, I’m Not Afraid of the Dark, a children’s story about overcoming feelings of separation and dealing with change. 

Have you ever wondered how to get started with electronic publishing? In this post, we’ll tell you about Ruby Mountain Press and some of what we learned in the journey of e-book publication. Traditional publication is becoming increasingly difficult, and can be a very frustrating and costly process for publishers. For writers, often, publishing houses are slow to respond, may ask you to make changes that don’t align with your vision, and only provide you with a small percentage of the sales.

Technology is a great tool. As an online public school director, Kathryn Knox (the author of three of our books), is very aware of the efficacy of sharing ideas in an online platform, especially in a way that maintains the quality of the material and that reaches multiple audiences. Though we still love physical books, and holding them in our hands, the potential for e-books is huge and worth pursuing.

We have three e-books published already:

·         A Teen’s Guide to the Conversation Game

·         Language Soup:   A Taste of How Diverse People in the World Communicate 

·         When the Lights Go Out, I’m Not Afraid of the Dark

Two more e-books are going through our editing process and will appear soon:

·         Poompoms Go to School (a children’s picture book coming out soon as part of a series)

·         Windows on Leadership:  A Manual for Charter, Online, and Blended Schools (publication scheduled for winter 2014)

The road to establishing these books on Amazon as well as Apple has been a hard one, but we wanted to share some tips with you about the process and our road to e-book publication.  


How do I get started?

Write a book of value. Think about a need out there – something that you would love to read but haven’t found yet, then write about it, and write it well. Two of our most popular books are A Teen’s Guide to the Conversation Game and Language Soup (both nonfiction) because they fill a niche and a need for information. As with any book, be prepared for the many drafts and reviews and rewrites that come with writing and don’t think about the money or rewards. As Ray Bradbury said, “If only we could remember, fame and money are gifts given us only after we have gifted the world with our best, our lonely, our individual truths.”  

Can I just send my book to an e-reader distributor after it’s written?

Online professional publishing is more complicated than you’d think it would be. You can’t just copy and distribute a book as you would a blog, or expect that publishing in one electronic format will allow your book to be read on all devices. 

What is the hardest part of electronic publishing?

One of the hardest parts of the process after you’ve gotten a good book written that you’d like to share with a large audience, is trying to figure out which formatting software to use to create an e-book. If your target device is an Apple iPad, you can use Apple’s iBooks Author. This will allow you to produce multi-touch books for iPad.  If your target is an Amazon Kindle, you can use Apple’s Pages. “Pages” is useful for exporting an Epub version, that can easily be converted to Kindle’s Mobi-pocket format using a conversion program such as Calibre.

Another challenge also comes from having “reflowable” pages versus fixed layout pages. Fixed pages can be useful for children’s books because the pictures and text will remain side by side. Apple’s iBooks Author is designed to easily create fixed layout picture books. However, these can’t be read on a Kindle. Nor can Apple’s “Pages” be used to create fixed layout epub. To create fixed layout epub, -for example, for use on a Kindle- you need to create your own epub, using  XHTML and CSS and then generate a mobi-pocket format using Amazon’s Kindle Previewer. This is easier than you might think since there are good sample epubs, with all the XHTML code that you can use as a template. A useful reference is at Book Industry Study Group : Field Guide to Fixed Layout for E-Books.

Any general advice?

Establish a vision you can stay true to. Have an audience in mind. Be patient, and perseverant. Work with people who will encourage you and who have a similar work ethic. Have the humility to do revisions, to listen to feedback. And remember, as you interact with good books, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see” (Thoreau).

We’d love to hear from you!

Contact us on our website at RubyMountainPress.com and be sure to check out our books on Amazon and iTunes: http://amzn.to/16CDZYv    bit.ly/14YEC4a

 

An experiment was conducted involving two groups of students: American and Chinese. The children were given an unsolvable math problem. The American students gave up early, while the Chinese students worked for over forty-five minutes, looking at the problem as an intriguing challenge. Are Chinese children smarter or more perseverant than American children in general or is something else going on?

Some parents and teachers in America tend to believe that ability trumps effort, and the language that is used reflects this thinking: “You are amazing!”, “You are so smart”, are definitive phrases of praise, yet, when students aren’t smart, great, or amazing, they don’t know what to do next to improve.  It is if academic strength is a state of being, based on ability. You have it, or you don’t.  “You’re not good at Y, and that’s okay.” Or, “Your dad and I aren’t good at math.”  Instead of,  “You did X well because you practiced.  You can do better with Z.”  This shift in language is something that’s actionable for parents and it’s hopeful for kids. If the language can be shifted to the student doing their own analysis of their work, and analyzing their improvement strategies for the future, it gives them power. Language is an influential force.  Language that focuses on effort and encouraging kids to improve, to persevere with effort, helps to build grit and the desire to push through challenges, to work through problems even if the solution doesn’t come easily.