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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 4 Number 8
COVER STORY
New teacher induction . . . what does that have to do with me, a veteran educator?
It Takes a Community
to Induct a Teacher
...
COLUMNS
How to Start a Lesson Plan Effective Teaching by Harry & Rosemary Wong
Business: A Poor Model for Learning Promoting Learning by Marv Marshall
A "To Do" List for the New School Year 4 Blocks by Cheryl Sigmon
Bridging the Gap Between School and Home - Using Children's Literature Postcard from Planet Esme - News from the world of children's books by Esmé Codell
Speak with Poise, Power and Pizzazz!!! Instant Ideas for Busy Teachers by Barbara Gruber and Sue Gruber
It Takes a Community to Induct a Teacher Teachers As Learners by Hal Portner
There's A Book Inside of You! - You Have To Think Out of Both Sides of Your Brain eBook Authoring by Glenn F. Dietzel
Ginny's List for Going Back to School The Eclectic Teacher by Ginny Hoover
Why Do Children Naturally Like Computer Class? Ed-Tech Talk by Dr. Rob Reilly
Back to School Sites The Busy Educator's Monthly Five (5 Sites for Busy Educators) by Marjan Glavac
August Articles
August Regular Features
August Informational Items
Gazette Home Delivery:

 
About Glenn Dietzel...
Glenn Dietzel is currently a Vice-Principal of an elementary school with the Lambton Kent District School Board. Glenn holds two post graduate degrees in Theology and Education. He lives with his lovely wife and two young sons in Sarnia, Ontario known as the Bluewater area, and home to beautiful beaches, amazing sunsets, and no hills.

Glenn founded Teacher eBooks (www.teacherebooks.com) in October, 2001. Teacher eBooks believes that there is a book inside every teacher and student. Becoming a published author is easy, affordable, and profitable. Teacher eBooks provides the necessary motivation, tools, and resources to assist educators-and students-in their dream to publish their passion, skills, knowledge and expertise in eBook format.

Glenn and partner Paul Jackson foster an enthusiastic interest in eBooking as the communication method of the future - "Awaken The Author Within YOU!" both by means of the World's First Educational eBook eCourse, their soon-to-be-released eBook Authoring Guide in pBook (traditional print) and eBook formats in early 2003, and their workshops. In each case they promote literacy and technology by providing the necessary attitudes, skills, and knowledge to assist educators and students in becoming eBook authors.


eBook Authoring
by Glenn Dietzel
Teacher eBooks (www.teacherebooks.com)
There's A Book Inside of You!

You Have To Think Out of Both Sides of Your Brain


The Big Picture Step of your eBook authoring excursion really comprises two separate tasks. Much like building a home requires the perspectives of both the architect and engineer, the Big Picture requires you to think from both sides of your brain. It requires you to see the reality of your dream in very concrete terms.

Just as an architect helps to convey the reality of your ideal dream home seen by your mind's eye, the Big Picture Step is where your fanciful (your architectural right brain viewpoint) and realistic (your left brain engineering perspective) hemispheres converge.

Both hemispheres of your brain must work cooperatively to help you see concretely the outworking of your imagination. You must clearly see the scope of your subject area. This naturally follows the Reflection and Commitment stages (Steps Two and Three) of the eBook authoring journey.

Compared to the first phase of the Big Picture which is very much a right brained activity, the second phase requires the engineer in you to appear. You need to think openly and without any ambiguity from your published eBook as discussed in a previous issue. You also must be able to frame this is in a definable Table of Contents (TOC).

The importance of spelling out distinctively your TOC cannot be overstated. Successfully completing this sub-step ultimately will allow you to write productively and efficiently in Steps Five and Six, the Editing and Writing stages. Shawn Fawcett in his very practical eBook on effective writing, "Writing Success Secrets: Practical Tips and Tricks for Everyday Writing" discusses the necessity of creating a very specific TOC.

Mr. Fawcett states, "This should be more than a rough draft TOC. It should be a carefully thought out breakdown of what you imagine your TOC to look like…" Mr. Fawcett goes on to say that, although this sub-step in the Big Picture stage does require some real laborious thinking, the dividends will be reaped when you actually begin to write your eBook. This will ultimately save you time and effort.

Your TOC is similar to the blueprint for your dream home. Blueprints are not abstract works of art---well maybe they are if you're not a builder. The genius of the blueprint is in the details it provides the contractor to make your dream happen. Nothing is left to guesswork and chance. Directions which do not lend themselves to an accurate detailed picture of your dream home lead to wasted time and money.

The more specific you can see your eBook as revealed in your TOC, the easier the rest of your journey will be. The TOC positions you to chunk effectively in Step Five. It shows you where you will have to do some research, ask for assistance from your team or gather feedback from your students.

Measured in nanometers because of its smallness, your DNA has the unbelievable ability to produce you---the big picture. The TOC is your eBook's DNA. It provides the blueprint to help you launch successfully into the Chunking and Writing Stages of your eBook authoring voyage. A specific TOC will inoculate you from the dreaded disease called "Writer's Block."

In the next month's issue, we look at Step Five of the eBook authoring journey, "You Need To Organize Your Information."


For a printable version of this article click here.

Gazette Articles by Glenn F. Dietzel:

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