Category: Teacher-author

A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month.

A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from previous months: 

I’ve been blogging for about sixteen years, some professionally (for my tech ed career) and others on topics of interest to me (writing, USNA, and science). That first post–

The Edit Block

(don’t bother to click through. It’s boring)

putting myself on the line, ignoring that I had no hits, wanting to approve comments from spammers because that would look like someone loved me–I thought that was the hard part. The second post was easier and so it went.

But somewhere around the twentieth post–

This is why I teach

more personal, but blocky, not visual, too long, and not about writing.

I figured out I had to do blogging right. No comments–no surprise!–so why was I doing this? It wasn’t to show up, spout off and slink away. There was a lot more I wanted from blogging.

I could have quit–it was getting to be a lot like work–but I enjoyed the camaraderie with like-minded souls. I learned a lot about writing by doing it and could transfer those lessons to others. So I honed my skill.

Do’s and Don’ts

Let me share what I wish I’d known early rather than late so you don’t waste as much time and energy as I did:

• Keep posts to a five-ten minute read–How? Avoid big blocks of text. People will skip them, and then skip your blog.
• Only reblog 10% of someone else’s post. If you’re on WordPress and push the ‘reblog’ button (if available), they take care of it for you. But if you copy someone’s post–even if you give them attribution–you blew it. You have to get permission if you are reposting more than 10% of someone’s work. Where was I supposed to learn that?

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A lot of teacher-authors read both my education blog (this one–Ask a Tech Teacher) and my writer’s blog (WordDreams). In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month on my writer’s blog, WordDreams 

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I’ve started a new collaboration over there with an exciting writer’s blog called Story Empire. My column is: What’s happening in the literary world?

This series will spotlight what writers are talking about as well as literary-focused monthly events. I’ll keep the posts brief though I may return to one or more later in the year depending upon world events.

January’s topics:

• AI-powered writing tools
• AI-generated fiction
• Copyright and ownership
• AI training from internet content
• AI–ethics and bias
• AI–loss of creativity
• Calendar of literary events

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In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from my writer’s blog, WordDreams. Why? Because a lot of teachers are also authors. This one is from a while ago, but it’s about dogs. If you love these critters the way I do, you understand:

 

Today, Thomas Wikman,  proud owner of a Leonberger named Bronco, author of the definitive book on this breed, The Life and Times of Le Bronco, and I, soulmate to my fictional Canis-dog Ump, sometimes star of the Dawn of Humanity trilogy, will compare stories about our massive dogs. Despite that Ump passed on about 2 million years ago and Bronco more recently, the two huge furballs have gotten to know each other over the mythical Rainbow Bridge, the passage that carries pets to their Life Ever After. Though Ump is more wolf than domesticated dog (akin to the extinct Borophagus) and Bronco is a Leonberger, one of the largest dog breeds in the world, the two have a lot in common.

Here are the questions Thomas and I will answer:

1. Quick one-sentence intro to our dog friend
2. Tell about life with a large dog
3. How do they hunt?

I’m taking the first three. You’ll have to click through to Thomas’ blog for the last two! I do have a wonderful large dog named Casey…

but for the purposes of this blog, I’m focusing on the proto-wolf Ump (to the right below) who stars in my latest trilogy, Dawn of Humanity while Thomas is sharing his wonderful Leonberger, Bronco (on the left below). Here they are together;

One-sentence intro to our dogs

Ump: Ump is about 150 pounds, the feralness of his proto-wolf genetics blended perfectly with the loyalty of an animal who understands the human who saved his life. She is now Alpha and her tribe, Pack. Nuff said.

Bronco: A Leonberger, which is a very large rare working dog and companion dog originating from Germany. For a Leonberger, he lived an unusually long life.

Describe life with a large dog

Ump: Large is critical in the feral world of our ancestors. Lucy (the 1.8 myo female star of Ump’s trilogy, Dawn of Humanity) doesn’t view Ump as a pet, but as a tribe member responsible for hunting and protection, just like any other tribe member. In Lucy’s view, there is no difference.

Bronco: Leonbergers are very large dogs. A male Leonberger weighs between 120-170lbs. They are also very athletic and strong, and they are considered to be great carting dogs. Their pull is very large, in my estimate 2-3 times that of a German Shepherd. Therefore, they need to be well behaved and the person handling them need to be physically fit. When they stand on their back legs their paws can reach the shoulders of an average sized adult. That combined with their weight makes it important that they don’t jump up on people, which unfortunately Leonbergers love to do, just to be friendly.

They are intelligent enough to open cabinet doors, and their powerful jaws, reach and strength enables them to destroy furniture, doors, and wedding albums. If you can reach something in the kitchen, so can they, making them expert counter surfers. Therefore, training and taking precautions for their size are essential. They need a lot of space so if you live in an apartment a Leonberger may not be a good choice.

How do Ump and Bronco hunt?

Ump: Ump considers Lucy’s tribe his pack so he hunts exactly as he would if traveling with his proto-wolves. They hunt in a group, sniff out clues, communicate with each other with huffs and yips, and instinctively know who protects and who attacks. Because of Ump’s speed, developed senses of smell and hearing, tearing claws and teeth, he is a valuable addition to Lucy’s tribe.

Bronco: Bronco loved chasing rabbits and he wanted to chase cats and coyotes. However, we wouldn’t let him. It is too dangerous to have a 140lbs muscular dog running lose in the neighborhood. He was able to chase rabbits once when he got lose. He was fast but not as fast as the rabbit. What he was good at was sniffing out rodents, like hamsters. Leonbergers have a very good sense of smell. On a few occasions he sniffed out the location of our runaway hamsters. Bronco’s hamster rescue operations gave us some amazing tales to tell.

–photo credit Deposit Photos

A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share a popular post that writer readers enjoyed: 

 

For those reading this article who are either established authors, in-training, or anything in between, you probably have already figured out that the learning curve to become a  writer is steep and endless. I’ve read a ton of how-to books, attended more than my share of conferences, and meet with fellow writers twice a month to discuss our passion. In each of these situations, no matter how often I attend, I learn something new. So it is no surprise that I also find epiphanies in social media. Some streams offer one person’s insight that addresses a chronic problem I also have. Others answer questions I couldn’t put into words enough to get an answer from anyone else.

Tips

Here are some of the best writing tips I’ve gathered on social media in the past year:

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A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month on my teacher education blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. This particular post is on the hot topic of generative AI. While I do share a quick paragraph of my opinion (beware bias), the strength of this topic is in the post’s comments and the other 120 groupmember posts on this same topic (click here for the entire list of participants). If you’re looking for a great overview of generative AI, here’s a great place to start:

This post is for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group (click the link for details on what that means and how to join. You will also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge that are worth checking out. The first Wednesday of every month, we all post our thoughts, fears or words of encouragement for fellow writers.

This month’s question — The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?

My thoughts on this topic remain heavily conflicted. Every time I come up with an opinion, I have a counter-opinion. The only one that remains always there, though, is

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A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month on my teacher education blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. If you’ve already read this one, skip it. I’ll have a new post in a few days!

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Tech Tips for Writers is an occasional post on overcoming Tech Dread. I cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have asked about. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future tip.

I used to think of a cloud document as its own backup–secure, safe, and always there. That–of course–is ridiculous. It’s one copy of an important file that can be corrupted or lost. It may become inaccessible–you lost your password or got hacked or your identity stolen and the bad guy changed your logins. Or, it may simply be you can’t access the internet. Whatever the reason, I realized I needed to back those up, too.

For example:

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A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month on my teacher education blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. 

Here is one of the popular posts from my writer’s blog, WordDreams, during July:

Tech Tips for Writers is an occasional post on overcoming Tech Dread. I cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have asked about. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future tip.

I used to think of a cloud document as its own backup–secure, safe, and always there. That–of course–is ridiculous. It’s one copy of an important file that can be corrupted or lost. It may become inaccessible–you lost your password or got hacked or your identity stolen and the bad guy changed your logins. Or, it may simply be you can’t access the internet. Whatever the reason, I realized I needed to back those up, too.

For example:

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In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month on my writing blog, WordDreams: 

Reasons Why Readers Quit a Book

It used to be I almost always finished any book I started. I’d think about all the work the author put into writing it, figure it was my personal lens not their skill, and continue in the hope I’d learn a different way of thinking. Over the years, I’ve changed. With Kindle Unlimited, I can borrow a book, read a few chapters, and then return it with no muss or fuss. Now, I quit about 10% of the books I start even after spending the time to preview, read the blurbs, and explore reader comments.

Why? There are good reasons to not invest the time required to finish a book:

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A lot of teacher-authors read my writers blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post readers over there enjoyed. 

One of the popular posts on WordDreams was about progress on my next prehistoric fiction, but what really caught readers’ attention were 1) skills we never thought our ancestors possessed 150,000 years ago, and 2) the unexpected roots of music. See what you think:

 

Endangered Species is Book 1 of  Savage Land, the third trilogy in the primeval man series, Dawn of Humanity.

One piece of man’s prehistoric past I’ve wanted to uncover is when our ancestors first discovered religion. Conventional wisdom says that came about to answer unanswerable questions like why does it rain? And proof man believed in a god arrived when we began to bury our dead.

But I wanted more so I kept digging.

I discovered an interesting bit of paleo history in France called Bruniquel Cave. This is a 176,000 year old cavern

built deep underground by Neanderthals.

We know they did it because they were the only early man in Europe at that time. It is about

350 strides beyond the reach of natural light.

Not just any cave, though, with stone walls and a hearth. This one had been constructed:

Neanderthals gathered over 400 pieces of  heavy stalagmites and placed them in two rings, one within the other, and did it without natural light. 

How did they see in the pitch dark? There is evidence of fire around the circles–to light the area? Watch this:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbTEwV3EfKs]

To build this structure required brilliant planning, advanced technology, and symbolic thought — traits never attributed to Neanderthals prior to Bruniquel Cave. Now we know:

Neanderthals wielded fire

traveled comfortably deep underground

cut and moved massive stalagmites long distances

created a complex subterranean construction

imagined a world beyond survival and procreation

No researcher I read would even venture a guess why this construction was there or what its use. But, I will, in my upcoming trilogy Savage Land.

There’s something else about stalagmites and stalactites I learned: They make beautiful music.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EokR9C3CrZU&w=560&h=315] [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm1_aCjrC5o&w=560&h=315]

It makes me wonder if our ancestors built these stalagmite circles for music? Or worship? Any ideas?

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https://jacqui-murray.aweb.page/p/46e8c9bf-eaed-4252-8aad-3688e233a4cc

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