Okay, this was just too funny. I discovered a site called LiveBinder, which I think is going to solve my problem of iGoogle going away and my Box of Links not working. In fact, it will be a great tool for organizing different content areas, as well as for saving cool stuff I find on the Internet. (No, the book is not real, but it was fun to play with the app).

 One of the links within the tutorials for this site took me to: Page Plugins

I used this site to created the pseudo book cover posted here. 



The site lets you make all sorts of fun things to post on a blog or social network page - for free.  Free is good.  It is really easy, too.  Once you create your banner or whatever, you just copy the embed code onto your site, and voila!

Image taken from Amazon.com

On a more practical note, I found a book on Amazon that I think is really great. It is callde Making Thinking Visible. Co-authored by educators Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison, the book shares practical routines that can be used across grade levels to help students think more deeply about the subjects they encounter in class. It comes with a DVD demonstrating the use of these routines in real classrooms across a variety of ages and subjects. I think this book is well worth looking into. It is very practical - which is my favorite thing! The authors don't just pontificate about the benefits of higher level thinking. They show you. The book retails for $29.95.