The Scout Report -- Volume 22, Number 3

Irish poet, Paul Muldoon, has written 30 collections of highly technical verse that have won him a Guggenheim Fellowship, the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and a faculty position at Oxford University among other honors. He is also the poetry editor at The New Yorker, and his conversations with fellow poets, featured here, are a small wonder to behold. Listen in as Muldoon invites Ellen Bass to read Adam Zagajewski's "Try to Praise the Mutilated World." Or tune in for his discussion of Josh Ashbery's "Tapestry" with Meghan O'Rourke, or his intellectually invigorating tete-a-tete with humorist, journalist, and poet Calvin Trillin, who turned 80 in December. This star-studded podcast will thrill wary students as much as seasoned English teachers, and it will engage anyone with a love for contemporary poems. [CNH]

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William H. Reusch, emeritus professor at Michigan State University, published his Introduction to Organic Chemistry in 1977. Readers may purchase it for a list price of $137.74; or they may access the Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry, which contains nearly the same information online, for free, on this surprisingly comprehensive website. Here readers will find a fully operational organic chemistry textbook, divided into the two overarching topics of General Principles and Functional Group Reactions. Within General Principles, readers will learn the basics of Structure & Bonding, Intermolecular Forces, Chemical Reactivity, Aromaticity, and other subjects. Functional Group Reactions covers Alkanes, Alkenes, Alkynes, Alcohols, and many other subjects. For readers looking for a comprehensive, freely available organic chemistry textbook, this site will be a true boon. [CNH]

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This site from the Research Triangle Institute "provides quick and easy access to national-, state- and initiative-level data that describe the progress and success of community college students." Readers interested in the retention and development of community college students may like to begin by selecting Explore the Arch from the landing page, where they will find explanations of the five areas, including Enrollment, Developmental Education Placement, Progress, Transfer and Completion, and Workplace Preparation and Employment Outcomes. Readers may select any of these indicators for further explanation. For instance, selecting Enrollment navigates to a site that offers a brief text on enrollment statistics, as well as a helpful graph that visually presents community college enrollment by gender. The site also features informative tabs that may be helpful for readers interested in the methodology behind the study and its data. [CNH]

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Many readers will likely know the story of "Galloping Gertie," the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that, on November 7, 1940, under the sway of a powerful wind, began to make powerful undulating motions - until it collapsed into the Puget Sound hundreds of feet below. But what really happened? For decades physicists have used the doomed bridge as a dramatic object lesson in resonance, the tendency of a system to oscillate at large amplitudes at certain frequencies. New research, however, has challenged that assumption. Aside from the erudite explanations in this article, written by Alex Pasternack and published on Motherboard, readers will find stunning film of Galloping Gertie, as it shifted and shaked, as well as period photographs, and several YouTube videos with alternate explanations for the bridge's failure. Anyone who loves a good engineering mystery will find much to appreciate in this well written article. [CNH]

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This excellent resource from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) provides university and advanced high school students with valuable information about how to write a strong essay. The site explains that a good essay "aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence." It should answer a question, include a thesis statement and an argument, develop a thesis, and include examples, support evidence, and information culled from credible sources. Possible writing steps are colorfully presented, from "Analyze the question and define the key terms" to "Complete your final draft and turn it in." Readers may select any of these suggestions to navigate to a page that provides further detail and context. For instance, "Take notes" reveals a separate support page dedicated to Effective Notemaking from Written Text. [CNH]

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The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has assembled an excellent repository of resources for educators who would like to ensure that LGBT students see themselves reflected in classroom lessons. Here readers will find articles about the now-classic children's book, Heather Has Two Mommies, links to resources dedicated to celebrating LGBT history month, and an engaging section called Unheard Voices: Stories and Lessons for Grades 6-12. This last section includes brief audio interviews with LGBT activists, as well as classroom materials and thematic lessons. Elementary teachers will also find much to appreciate in the Ready, Set, Respect! Elementary Toolkit, which develops diversity-focused lessons that encourage elementary school students to be respectful and inclusive. [CNH]

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According to a report by the Pew Research Center published in late 2014, the frequency and severity of cyber attacks are increasing quickly - and they are likely to continue to gain traction as the World Wide Web becomes ever more entwined with business, education, and everyday life. For educators who would like to train their students to stay safe online, this site from the National Cyber Security Alliance can provide valuable resources. Readers will find the resources divided by age group, including sections designed for K-2, 3-5, Middle & High School, and Higher Education. There is also a special section provided For Administrators. To access the resources, readers will simply want to select Learn More under any category. For example, navigating to the Higher Education section provides a list of tips, on topics such as Keep a Clean Machine, Protect Personal Information, Connect With Care, and others. In all, this site provides valuable resources for educators teaching to all ages, as well as helpful resources for anyone looking to be more cyber secure. [CNH]

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Thinkport, which was born out of a creative partnership between Maryland Public Television (MPT) and Johns Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education (CTE), stands by its mission to support effective teaching and meaningful learning while also building bridges between schools and families. The site may be focused somewhat on the culture and goals of Maryland schools, but educators from around the country will find wonderful, tech-savvy resources for their classrooms here. Readers may like to start by selecting Think K-12 Classroom, which shows a drop down menu of topics, which include Envirohealth Connections, Interactive Media, Interactive Tools, and Math. Selecting any of these navigates to lesson plans and other resources. For instance, the EnviroHelath Connections tab features Interactive Investigations, where students can Meet the Experts in environmental health through freely available online videos. They may also engage with the interactive online lesson, EnviroMysteries, which allows students to study real world problems, such as a fitness center that is struggling to take care of a lead paint problem. [CNH]

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For readers who love data - and the visual representation of data - this site from statistician Nathan Yau will provide hours of brainy entertainment. Readers may like to scout the site by Categories, such as Visualization (Seeing data), Statistics (Analyzing data), and Maps (Seeing geographic data), among others. They may also explore Recent data representations, which, at the time of this writing, included a lottery simulator, an analysis of the character appearances in the classic romantic comedy Love Actually, and a visual representation of all 1,942 currently known exoplanets. There are also excellent Tutorials, such as How to Make an Interactive Bar Chart with a Slider; however, these require a monthly membership with FlowingData, for a $5 per month fee. [CNH]

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Lee Rosenbaum has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and a number of major art magazines. In addition, her blog, CultureGrrl, won a "best blog" award way back in 2009 and has been a major voice in the art world ever since. Here readers will find more-or-less weekly posts on museum exhibits, art auctions, and nights at the opera, as well as learned reviews of art, both contemporary and classic. Recent posts have included a review of the Metropolitan Museum's Ancient Egypt show (with video), an overview of the Association of Art Museum Directors' (AAMD) bid to save ancient art works from ISIS, and a recent "Shakeup at the National Academy," in which director Carmine Branagan left the organization under undisclosed circumstances. Readers may also enjoy the My Work Elsewhere section, where they can link to Rosenbaum's op-eds, reviews, and articles in major newspapers, and, perhaps especially, her educational appearances on public radio (one warning: some of the older links are broken). [CNH]

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Cylinder recordings, which predated vinyl records, were the first commercially produced sound recordings of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. On this site, hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Cylinder Audio Archive, readers will find more than 10,000 cylinder recordings that cover the gamut, from popular songs to vaudeville acts to opera, and more. To scout the site, readers may like to select Discover, which navigates to a Browse Collection page where readers will find the entire collection divided up by Genre (Band Music, Cakewalks, Carols, Fiddle Tunes, etc.), Instruments (Accordion, Bagpipes, Banjo, etc.), Topical Subject (Baseball, Disasters, Prohibition, etc.), and Ethnic and Foreign Cylinders (Argentine, Austrian, Balkan, etc.). Readers may also use the excellent search function to locate a specific cylinder by keyword, author, title, subject, year, or UCSB call number. Indeed, the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive is a well-organized and wonderful peek into America's musical and cultural past. [CNH]

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Expert Enough, a blog by Corbett Barr and Caleb Wojick, two young entrepreneurial polymaths, begins with a simple premise: "We are all capable of so much more than we think." From there, Barr and Wojick posit that one doesn't need to be the world's greatest expert in anything, just "expert enough" to accomplish prescribed goals, and that it actually takes "surprisingly little effort in most fields" to gain that expertise. After skimming the homepage, which lays out the Expert Enough philosophy, readers may like to dive in to the site's most popular articles, which include such missives as "The Lost Art of Becoming Good at Things," "Deliberate Practice: What It Is and Why You Need It," and "The Expert Enough Manifesto." From there, explore the full archives to find recent posts such as "Become an Expert DJ in Two Months" and "10 Steps to Create a Standing Ovation Worthy TED Talk," as well as a Most Used Categories section and archives organized by year and month. While it seems that the Expert Enough blog is currently on hiatus, there are plenty of interesting ideas here for readers that would like to learn new subjects. [CNH]

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For readers who would like to peruse a well-argued libertarian perspective on tech issues, the Cato Institute's Telecom, Internet, and Information Policy section is a learned place to start. Here readers will find commentary on such topics as Free Speech and Technology, Intellectual Property, Internet Governance and Regulation, Privacy Issues, and Telecom Regulation. Recent articles have tackled the issue of whether or not police officers should be mandated to wear body cameras, a call to streamline the financial regulatory system to allow for greater innovation and efficiency, and a denouncement of current problems at the NSA. In addition, the Multimedia section includes scores of interviews and discussions that showcase the views of CATO scholars as they take on other commentators and advance their ideas on major news programs. [CNH]

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This online collection from the American Antiquarian Society boasts design books from some of America's most renowned early architects, as well as a wide array of architectural drawings, lithographs, engravings, periodicals, and photographs of classic American buildings, such as the home of Louisa Mary Alcott. Here readers will find the works of Asher Benjamin, whose late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century architectural vision shaped American cityscapes through the Civil War era. Readers will also find much to admire in the featured design books of Samuel Sloan, Minard Lafever, and Charles Bulfinch, all of whom influenced the development of American architecture. After reading the informative Introduction, the various categories of Drawings, Lithographs, and Periodicals provide a glimpse into the burgeoning architectural trends of early America. For readers who would like to browse the collection more thoroughly, the Search Tips tab provides helpful advice for how to make the most out of the American Antiquarian Society's holdings. [CNH]

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What is perhaps most striking about National Public Radio's Music Reviews is the sheer range of what is reviewed. The excellent writing, however, always demands mention, as Will Hermes, Oliver Wang, and others delve into the wonders of folk albums, pop anthems, jazz compilations, movie soundtracks, and more. Recent articles have explored the best albums of 2015 ("From Hip-Hop To Country," by Ken Tucker), reviewed ZZ Top front man Billy Gibbon's first solo album, and extolled the "big blocky chords and loud piano sounds" of jazz pianist Matthew Shipp's "Conduct of Jazz." There are also links to Fresh Air episodes that concern music and musicians, and the All Songs 24/7 Music Channel, where readers can listen to a continuous stream of songs that have played on NPR's All Things Considered. [CNH]

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The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) skillfully works to preserve and share the data, objects, and narratives that contextualize Ireland's rich cultural heritage. Providing access to over 2,200 historical and contemporary items physically housed in collections across the country, the portal acts as a central hub, offering interactive multimedia tools and digital resources to archivists, researchers, educators, historians, and the interested public. Readers can find out more about the contributing institutions under Organisations, or browse/search the repository through the Discover section. Perhaps best of all, readers may opt to Visit the DRI Project Website to explore a sampling of current projects and online exhibits. For instance, just this January the DRI launched Inspiring Ireland 1916, a two-part project with an award-winning website that presents objects from Ireland's National Cultural Institutions alongside publicly collected memorabilia to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. [CBD]

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Setting up a Wi-Fi network can be a complicated task with a lot of unknowns. For instance, where exactly will your phone or laptop pick up the strongest, or weakest, signal within your home or office? Enter NetSpot, a free service for Mac devices that creates a complete map of a given Wi-Fi network to assess the quality of its connections. Users simply walk from position to position, marking spots every few feet, to scan the area for available Wi-Fi signals. NetSpot then generates a heat map, with red representing strongest signals and indigo indicating the weakest. While the free version has some limitations when compared to the paid options, readers who struggle to know where best to place their work stations will find that NetSpot provides extremely useful information. [CNH]

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The popular and free digital tool, ThingLink, is an astonishingly easy way to create interactive graphics that encourage collaboration, increase engagement, and enliven lessons and homework. After signing up for a Basic Education account (other options are available, some at cost), users are led through several steps to create interactive, annotated images. For instance, an uploaded image of a historical figure, such as Harriet Tubman, may be "tagged" to link to an informative website, video clip, or other rich media from around the web. Users may also annotate directly onto the image themselves. Various tutorials dedicated to such topics as Image Tagging, Adding Content, Creating a Class Group, Creating a Channel, and other topics, make for an easy process. ThinkLink is available for Desktop, iOS, and Android devices. [CNH]

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