Readers Choice: Top Ten

sábado, 31 de agosto de 2013

Reverbnation & 2013 Catalog of Books by Thomas Jerome Baker

Reverbnation & 2013 Catalog of Books by Thomas Jerome Baker

Reverbnation is a pretty cool site. I like the idea that I can add photos of my book covers, my video booktrailers, and my blog posts. It’s a place where I can bring together a lot of material to share with my fans.
There, I said it: fans.
According to reverbnation, I have a total of 2125 fans, 27 video plays, and 7 song plays. I just finished putting the site together. Reverbnation tells me I’m only 43% complete, still more than 50% tasks are left to do to complete the site. And it’s 2 o’clock in the morning.
Thank you, to the fans of my blog, my books, my Facebook, my Twitter, my Goodreads. Wherever you are in contact with me, thank you for the connection.
We live in a globally connected world, and connectivism is definitely a big part of what I do.Connectivism has been called a theory of learning for a digital age. Some agree, others disagree. Nonetheless, after you read this book, you will have knowledge of howconnectivism can benefit you, both personally and professionally.
Wow, it’s 2 in the morning, and we are all connected…
I think I’m going to go to bed now. Wait…The song, Die Zeit Hält Niemals An (Time Never Stops) and Pauli, Der Bademeister (Paul, the Swimming Pool Manager) is sung by my son, Thomas Jerome Baker, Jr. I admire his talent tremendously, because I’m not very talented, musically. I can’t sing, but I like music, even German rap music about swimming pool managers named Paul.
OK, I’m going to bed now…

2013 Catalog of Books by Thomas Jerome Baker


#Culture of #Excellence: #Accountability & the #International #Baccalaureate

#Culture of #Excellence: #Accountability & the #International #Baccalaureate

The culture of excellence” – Presidente Rafael Correa of Ecuador, referring to the International Baccalaureate…
Firstly, let me make my position clear:The International Baccalaureate has the best education system in the world.
If you doubt the sincerity of my conviction, and ask me for the evidence that supports my assertion, then I would respond by saying that the IB system of education functions worldwide, across national borders, with the same level of quality: excellent. Those standards of excellence are never lowered. If a student, a school, a nation desires an International Baccalaureate education, they must meet the same standards of excellence, which are never lowered for any reason.
With all due respect to the high performing national education systems, such as Singapore,Finland, Korea, Japan, China, each one is a product of a particular society, and a particular culture, confined to a national history, a national narrative, with its related circumstances. That is the way education of the past century, the 20th century, has functioned, and in some cases, many cases, functioned well.
Nonetheless, nobody would go to Finland, Korea, China, or any other high performing education system, copy that education system, and return to their own country to implement the foreign education system, no matter how great it has proved to be for the high performing country of origin.
The reasons are obvious, and I will state them, using Chile and Finland, as my only example. Finnish education is characterised by high levels of equality, while Chilean education is characterised by high levels of segregation, the highest in the OECD. Given this contrast, I ask: Could the Finnish system of education work in Chile?
The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.
The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.
Chile isn’t Finland. What works in Finland will not work in Chile. Let me give you one example. In Finland, they do not have standardised national tests. The Finns trust teachers to be professionals, to be accountable to a profession, to deliver high quality education to the children, day in and day out, every school day.
In Chile, on the other hand, we have an extremely large number of standardised national tests. Teachers are not accountable to a professional body nor a profession. Little wonder that educators are not trusted to be professionals, to deliver high quality education every school day. Therefore, testing is the instrument which ensures accountability, that teachers are in fact doing what they are supposed to do, namely, teach all students, the advantaged, the disadvantaged, the rich and the poor, regardless of all arguments that might suggest anything less than teaching all students is admissible…
Let’s be clear: Nothing justifies failing to teach students, no matter how many obstacles we may face, no matter what the challenges we face, no matter whatever may make this a herculean task.
If teaching calls for a Hercules, then we become Hercules.
If the task is difficult, and calls for a Superman or a Superwoman, then we become Superman or Superwoman.
Anything less than rising to meet the challenges of the day and of the hour are not acceptable.
We are talking about not only the lives of our children, but their childrens’ lives and their grandchildrens’ lives, generation after generation. The price of failure is horrible, because it echoes in eternity, infinitely, every hour of every day.
I know the idea of accountability may sound harsh, especially to a dedicated, highly motivated teacher like myself. I love teaching, it is my “raison d’etre“, my reason for existence.
Yet I do not doubt, not even for a moment, that if Chilean teachers were not held accountable through standardised testing (SIMCE), that the results would be extremely detrimental, adverse, in some cases debilitating, for many children.
Quickly, I hasten to temper my pessimism by saying that the Chilean teacher has not been socialised with a positive self-image of excellence. A look at the history of education and its development in Chile tells a different story.
The perception of Chilean society, in its majority, is that only people who could not study a more lucrative, more prestigious career (engineering, medicine, law, etc.), become teachers. I admit this is debatable, but the evidence of poor quality, lack of professionalism, must, in a fair debate, tip the scales in favor of my pessimism, rather than give hope for optimism.
Again, to adopt the Finnish system of no national accountability testingno national standardised testing of all students, would be extremely harmful for large numbers of students in Chile.
The results, as I have said before, would echo in eternity, and Chile would pay a high cost in terms of personal quality of life, at the individual level, and in national terms, in international competitiveness.
It could send Chile into the Dark Ages, one day at a time, one student at a time, and I do not exaggerate when I say Dark Ages, though you are welcome to dispute the bleak picture I paint with those two words, “Dark Ages“…
I have been clear in my example: What works in one part of the world, in one country, will not work in another country. If we compare apples and oranges, they are both round, yes, but they are nevertheless quite different.
Chile is not Finland, no more so than an apple is an orange. In sum, education models that subscribe to a “one size fits all” philosophy are doomed to failure when it comes to exporting national systems of education from one country to another.
Graduates
The International Baccalaureate, however, is the only education system in the world today that is operating across international borders, successfully. For more than 40 years, the IB has delivered high quality education on a global scale, not confined to national borders, national circumstances, or even socioeconomic levels.
In the International Baccalaureate, both the rich and the poor have to meet the same high standards of quality, across the globe. Again, for more than 40 years, students from all walks of life, from all circumstances, have achieved success in the International Baccalaureate. Yet no one tells the story of the IB better than the IB itself:
About the IB
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a not-for profit foundation, which offers four high quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools.
For 45 years, IB programmes have gained a reputation for rigour and high academic standards, for preparing students for life in a globalized 21st century, and for helping to develop citizens who will create a better, more peaceful world.
Currently, more than 1 million IB students attend nearly 3,500 schools in 144 countries.
(Source: www.ibo.org )
“An international education must go well beyond the provision of information and is involved in the development of attitudes and values which transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender or politics.” -International Baccalaureate Organization Subject Guide (1996).
It is my belief that any education that does not unite the nations of the world in a common endeavour is a relic of the past century. A common sense of sharing the responsibility, equally, for the welfare of the planet, globally, is needed more than ever today.
Finally, I can only say one thing: The IB program is a positive way forward for any education system in crisis, any education system that desires quality, any education system that aspires to excellence, any education system that wishes to educate its citizens in the image of the twenty-first century, rather than the past century…

viernes, 30 de agosto de 2013

#Indie #Publisher Book Launch: The Way of the APE

#Indie #Publisher Book Launch: The Way of the APE

The book launch is a tradition. The proud author notifies some friends and family to bring some of their friends and family to the event. A press release is distributed to the press with the inverted synopsis of your book. Then they send a reporter and a photographer to take your picture with your book at the event venue. With some variation, depending on who the author is, who the publisher is, etc., this is the old way of launching a book, the traditional way.
Now let’s look at the new paradigm, the indie (independent) publisher (me). To begin, the indie publisher is an APE, that’s AuthorPublisher, andEntrepreneur.
In other words, one person (me) is in control of everything in this modern day publishing paradigm. Firstly, I am the Author of the book. I am responsible for delivering a story that people want to read. I write, rewrite, write some more, rewrite some more, until I am satisfied I have delivered my best writing.
Next, I Publish the book. I decide what the front cover will look like, the back cover, the blurb, the size, the layout, color, black and white, all of those things are done by one person (me).
Thirdly, it is time to be an Entrepreneur and sell the book. All marketing decisions, promotion decisions are made by one person (me). Ideally, marketing begins as soon as the idea to write a book has formed in my mind. That’s right, even before the book is written, even before it is published, marketing begins. The marketing platform, target audience, and budget is defined and turned into an Action Plan. The Action Plan is constantly refined and updated.
In sum, the indie publisher (me) is one guy doing three jobs: Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur (APE). Now, this APE thing is really cool, but I wasn’t the person who thought of it. It was Guy Kawasaki, APE is his brainchild. Who is Guy Kawasaki? (No, it’s not a motorcycle, it’s a man).
guy-kawasaki-ape
Guy Kawasaki
As one of the Apple employees responsible for marketing the Macintosh computer in 1984, Kawasaki had a first-hand experience with the value of getting in on the ground floor of new ideas. Soon he would bring his evangelism for the Apple brand to the high-tech business world. He is the co-founder of Alltop.com, “an online magazine rack,” and Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. A writer, speaker, and consultant, Kawasaki has also become a high-tech marketing guru. He has authored numerous books including:Reality CheckThe Art of the StartRules for RevolutionariesHow to Drive Your Competition CrazySelling the DreamThe Macintosh Way and Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. His latest book is APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur: How to Publish a Book
Author – Publisher – Entrpreneur: Three Jobs, One Person
Three jobs for one person is a lot. Also, that’s frightening, because who is good at all three of those jobs? Certainly not me.
Sometimes I’m a better Author than Publisher, other times I’m a better Publisherthan Entrepreneur. With experience, I have gotten better at each of the three jobs that an indie publisher must do. There is still so much more to learn…
This brings me to the book launch. If you followed my work plan above, you already know I consider myself to be launching the book almost as soon as I have a firm idea that I intend to write a book. In other words, I’m not going to wait until I have published a book to suddenly spring it on the world. I want the world to already know about it before it is published, to be waiting eagerly for the book, even to participate in some aspects of the book, like suggesting a title, a book cover, an opening line, a character, a location, etc.
So as you can see, the book launch is already in progress from the earliest stages. I am fortunate, also, to have Amazon as my partner. They provide tools which make each aspect of being an indie publisher (APE) easy, especially the entrepreneur part. Let me explain:
I have no physical inventory, no books in a garage, or in the trunk of a car. I don’t have a store. I don’t have any employees. Once I publish the book, Amazon does everything. If you want a print book / paperback book, as soon as you pay for it, Amazon will print it for you. This is called “Print On Demand” (POD). Even better, if you want a digital eBook, as soon as you pay for it, Amazon will send it to your reading device (Kindle Reader, tablet, PC, iPad, iPhone, etc.) Instantly, within milliseconds, you will be reading your book.
To sum all this up, I am an indie publisher, in other words, an APE. As you can imagine, I am constantly “launching” my books. Constantly. The process involved in being an APE is nonlinear, it follows its own trajectory.
For people like me, that’s encouraging, because it means I can do things that seem mind boggling, like publish 63 books in two years. Yes, sixty three books, written by Thomas Jerome Baker. No traditional publisher in his/her right mind would have ever let me publish 63 books in 2 years. The costs involved would have been tremendous. So traditional publishers work very slow. They have to be careful because everything they do requires a financial investment, and they are in business to earn a profit, not to lose their capital. In the end, someone like me, an indie author, would have been lucky to publish one book, just one, in two years.
Anyway, this month, I will be in Concepción to “launch” my new book, “I Live In Chile”. I’ve written a news release, distributed it to the press, and prepared a short talk (Power Point) about the book. But I won’t be signing any books, nor will I have any books to give away, at least not physical copies. As you know, that’s traditional, but I am not traditional. For the people who come out to the launch (lanzamiento de libro) I will give away free copies of the eBook. As you know, that’s the way of the APE…
See you in Concepción, bring your “Cueca” dancing shoes!

jueves, 29 de agosto de 2013

The International Baccalaureate: “La Cultura de Excelencia”

The International Baccalaureate: “La Cultura de Excelencia”

“The culture of excellence” – Presidente Rafael Correa of Ecuador, referring to the International Baccalaureate…
Everyone has heard of this education program, the International Baccalaureate, but no one is really sure what it is exactly. Some people, like President Correa and myself, say it’s the best education system in the world. We are both convinced of it, President Correa and myself.
I do not exaggerate when I say that if the International Baccalaureate were a country, it would lead the rest of the world…by a tremendous distance. Yet I do not wish to have you trust in my words, or the words of President Correa. We are only human, so I ask you to find out more about the International Baccalaureate, for yourself…
Oh, I know that you may have heard that the International Baccalaureate is a program for the elite. Nothing could be further from the truth. I assure you, you are mistaken. Again, don’t take my word for it. For example, no one would consider the state school system in Ecuador to be an elite student population:
“Ecuador has one of the largest populations of Diploma Program participants in Latin America with 708 DP candidates in 2011. There are currently 51 IB-authorized schools in the country, including 50 offering the Diploma (DP) program.
In addition, there are over 60 schools in the process of seeking authorization as IB schools.
The Government of Ecuador has shown an exceptionally high level of support for IB education. The Ministry of Education has indicated that they will support the development of IB schools and programs in all of the country’s 24 provinces.” (Source: NCREST)
Ministerio de Educación de EcuadorBachillerato Internacional
Read about how the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is transforming education in Ecuador’s state (public) school system:
Ecuador’s schools, teachers, and students benefit from in-country expansion of the IB Diploma Programme
“An international education must go well beyond the provision of information and is involved in the development of attitudes and values which transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender or politics.” -International Baccalaureate Organization Subject Guide (1996).
It is my belief that any education that does not unite the nations of the world in a common endeavour is a relic of the past century. A common sense of sharing the responsibility, equally, for the welfare of the planet, globally, is needed more than ever today.
Finally, I can only say one thing: The IB program is a positive way forward for any education system in crisis, any education system that desires quality, any education system that aspires to excellence, any education system that wishes to educate its citizens in the image of the twenty-first century, rather than the past century…
About the IB
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a not-for profit foundation, which offers four high quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools.
For 45 years, IB programmes have gained a reputation for rigour and high academic standards, for preparing students for life in a globalized 21st century, and for helping to develop citizens who will create a better, more peaceful world.
Currently, more than 1 million IB students attend nearly 3,500 schools in 144 countries.
(Source: www.ibo.org )

domingo, 25 de agosto de 2013

Five Short Stories: Chile Lindo Santiago Querido

Five Short Stories: Chile Lindo Santiago Querido

Why should anyone read, “Five Short Stories“? To enjoy your story, within the limitations of your life. We all live busy lives: family, work, relationships, friendships, rest, and relaxation. We have obligations to meet, we are multitasking constantly. That’s why many people just don’t even bother…
What we do have is a small window of opportunity. We travel to work, sitting in a car, on a bus, on a train, on a plane. That’s the moment to read for 15 to 30 minutes. With this book, when you arrive at your destination, you have completely finished reading your story:
1. Journey of a Hero: Who is a hero/heroine? Answer: Anyone who does something requiring courage, bravery, disregarding one’s own personal safety. Could someone be a hero/heroine without even being aware of their actions? Maybe, but in the end, the reader must decide who, or rather, if the story has a true, hero/heroine. Yet our hero (?) will go on a journey, a quest if you will, for riches, wealth, and power. What will he/she find? Read this story for the surprising answer…
2. True Love is a love that conquers all obstacles to be together, and in this second story, there will be a seemingly unconquerable obstacle. Our hero will risk everything for the woman he loves, but will it be enough? You must answer that question my friend…
3. Impossible Love, we know this story well, for have we all not loved? Yes, under circumstances when it would have been wiser, NOT to have loved, we have loved. Impossible Love is not bound by the dictates of reason and logic, as we shall see in the third story. This story will help you remember your own impossible love story…
4. In the fourth story, when love does not live anymore, then it must be WAR, and there is no WAR more terrifying, than when it is a Wronged Woman At War, as we shall see in the ageless story of love, war and revenge handed down to us by the Roman historian Tacitus.
5. In the final story, we seek PEACE, and a seemingly innocent hero, unaware of anything except the present moment, must make a choice, a final decision, with the fate of the Earth unknowingly hanging in the balance. Will it be the right choice? Read this book to find out…
Five great stories, short, enjoyable, a pleasant way to bring the joy of reading back into your life, or, to continue a wonderful habit…the joy and pleasure that is found in reading great stories in great and wonderful books…
“The first necessity for the short story…is necessariness. The story, that is to say, must spring from an impression or perception pressing enough, acute enough to have made the writer write.” ~ Elizabeth Bowen
“The short-story writer knows that he can’t proceed cumulatively, that time is not his ally. His only solution is to work vertically, heading up or down in literary space.” ~ Julio Cortazar
“I like to read short stories and I like to write short stories. The connection is obvious.” ~ Thomas Jerome Baker
“What you are today and what you will become in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.” ~ Twyla Tharp

Five Short Stories: #Journey of a #Hero, #True #Love, #Impossible Love, A #Woman (wronged) at #War & #Peace

Five Short Stories: #Journey of a #Hero, #True #Love, #Impossible Love, A #Woman (wronged) at #War & #Peace

“What you are depends on the stories you read.” Five must-read stories are told: Journey of a Hero, True Love, Impossible Love, A Woman at War & lastly, Peace.
Who is a hero/heroine? Answer: Anyone who does something requiring courage, bravery, disregarding one’s own personal safety. Could someone be a hero/heroine without even being aware of their actions? Maybe, but in the end, the reader must decide who, or rather, if the story has a true, hero/heroine. Yet the journey, a quest if you will, for riches, wealth, and power, will be undertaken.
True Love is a love that conquers all obstacles to be together, and in this second story, there will be a seemingly unconquerable obstacle. Our hero will risk everything for the woman he loves, but will it be enough?
Impossible Love, we know this story well, for have we all not loved? Under circumstances when it would have been the wiser course of action not to have loved? Impossible Love is not bound by the dictates of reason and logic, as we shall see in the third story.
In the fourth story, when love does not live anymore, then it must be WAR, and there is no war more terrifying, than when it is a wronged Woman At War, as we shall see in the ageless story of love, war and vengeance handed down to us by the Roman historian Tacitus.
In the final story, we seek PEACE, and a seemingly innocent hero, unaware of anything except the present moment, must make a choice, a final decision, with the fate of the Earth unknowingly hanging in the balance. Will it be the right choice?
Read this book to find out the surprising answer…
Attitudes to the Short Story
“I like to read short stories and I like to write short stories. The connection is obvious.”
~ Thomas Jerome Baker
“A short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.” ~ Stephen King
“[The short story creates] a vivid realization for the reader of that which moved the author to write, be it incident, be it emotion, be it situation…. thus the art of the short story becomes as much an art of tone as of incident.”
~ H. S. Canby
“The first necessity for the short story…is necessariness. The story, that is to say, must spring from an impression or perception pressing enough, acute enough to have made the writer write.” ~ Elizabeth Bowen
“The short-story writer knows that he can’t proceed cumulatively, that time is not his ally. His only solution is to work vertically, heading up or down in literary space.” ~ Julio Cortazar
“The real challenge is to pull as much of life as a story can bear into the fewest possible pages: to produce, if possible, that hallucinatory point in which time past and time future seems to co-exist with time present, that hallucinatory point which to me defines the good or great short story…”
~ Maurice Shadbolt
“The essence of the short story is to isolate, to portray the individual person, or moment, or scene in isolation…detached from the great continuum…at once social and historical…. the short story is a natural form for the presentation of a moment whose intensity makes it seem outside the ordinary stream of time, or the significance is outside the ordinary range of experience.” ~ Wendell Harris
“I see today a new art of narration, a novel literature and category of belles-lettres, dawning upon the world. And this new art and literature–for the sake of the individual characters in the story, and in order to keep close to them and not be afraid–will be ready to sacrifice story itself…. The literature of individuals is a noble art, a great earnest and ambitious human product. But it is a human product. The divine art is the story. In the beginning was the story…. Within our whole universe the story only has authority to answer the cry of heart of its characters, that one cry of heart of each of them: ‘Who am I?’”
~ Isak Dinesen
“What you are today and what you will become in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.” ~ Twyla Tharp
http://amzn.to/19FUbft “A short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.” ~ Stephen King
“The first necessity for the short story…is necessariness”
~ Elizabeth Bowen”
“The short-story writer knows that he can’t proceed cumulatively, that time is not his ally.” ~ Julio Cortazar
“The real challenge is to pull as much of life as a story can bear into the fewest possible pages…” ~ Maurice Shadbolt
“The essence of the short story is to isolate, to portray the individual person, or moment, or scene in isolation..” ~ Wendell Harris
“I see today a new art of narration…The divine art is the story. In the beginning was the story…. Within our whole universe the story only has authority to answer the cry of heart of its characters, that one cry of heart of each of them: ‘Who am I?’”
~ Isak Dinesen
“I like to read short stories and I like to write short stories. The connection is obvious.” ~ Thomas Jerome Baker
“What you are today and what you will become in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.” ~ Twyla Tharp

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