Advice For A New ESL Teacher

by: Douglas Anderson

When you first arrive in your assigned country, the first few minutes can be shocking. The air smells different, the people surging around you are likely different, the looks of buildings and storefronts and wares for sale may all be different.

If you are in modern country, such as Japan, you will likely feel only slightly uncomfortable, as the airport will be clean and streamlined, although perhaps twice as busy as you expected. But signs will be in English, and you will have no problem navigating through the airport to the outside world.

If you are in a third-world country, the airport could be a far cry from anything remotely comfortable, with military soldiers everywhere, a crush of people, strange maybe even repulsive smells in the air, total chaos. If you are alone, this can be especially intimidating.

When I arrive in a new country, I am always surprised at the first few moments outside the airport. The sky looks different, the air smells different, the chaos of people coming and going is different. Finding a bus or taxi or jeepney can be a fun experience but it is more likely to be a trying experience, so it is best if someone can meet you and help you get oriented for the first trip from the airport to your place of residence.

Depending on your guest country, and the resources available, you may get a private room with a private bathroom, or a shared room and a public bathroom.

The school may look a wee bit different from the brochures, which tend to highlight greenery and other colourful aspects. Brochures also don't tell you about oppressive tropical heat, or cold winds from the mountains.

Before starting your trip, you should read up on the culture of the country. For example, in Thailand, people would be shocked if you touched a child's head, or if you washed your underwear and hung it outside to dry.

During my stay in Thailand, I managed a software development project and hired a couple of university-educated Thai women to help. We worked out of my two-bedroom apartment. One moved into the spare bedroom in the apartment, and the other slept on the sofa five nights a week. The one in the bedroom said she lived a long way away and the daily commute was aggravating. Fair enough. But the second one lived 20 minutes away by elevated electric train. I never really understood why she wanted to live with me. Perhaps I was a father-figure for her.

One day, I rounded up all the towels to put in the washing machine. The women had their own bathroom, and the towels were provided by me. The apartment was modern and fully equipped.

One of the women said, "Doug, what are you doing?"

I said, "I'm going to wash all the towels in the machine."

She said, "But you took the white one."

The white one was a cotton bathmat that had been on the floor in front of the shower.

"Yes, I will wash it with the others."

"Doug, you can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It's for the feet."

Apparently in Thai culture, you don't sully your body towels with foot towels.

I said, "Sorry, this is a machine, very hot water, with detergent and fabric softener. I am going to wash all the towels and bath mats together."

She was unhappy with this, had a strange look on her face, like I had said something totally disgusting.

After the towels had been washed and dried, I took one of the bath towels and held it under her nose, and said, "Smell this."

She took a whiff and said, "Oh, Doug, smell very good."

I said, "That's the fabric softener, it has perfume to make the towels smell good."

Then I held the white bath mat under her nose. She didn't move away, although I expected her to. "Smell this one."

"Doug, same same."

"Yes," I said, "and now you know why I washed them together. In your culture, you wash them by hand, and would do the foot mats last. In my Western culture, with machines, we put them all in together and they come out the same."

She accepted that. In this case Western culture overruled Thai culture.

As I write this in November 2007, a British ESL teacher has been arrested in Sudan, which is a Muslim country, for letting her primary school students name a teddy bear "Muhammed". Although this is a very common name in Sudan and other Muslim countries, giving a toy bear this name is apparently insulting to Islam, according to the charges against her. One of the parents of the students complained to police and she was arrested. If found guilty, she could receive many years in prison, a hefty fine, and 40 lashes with a whip.

So learning something about the culture you will be living in is advice you should take seriously.

In Central and parts of South America, for instance, you might think the culture is Spanish, and that is certainly the dominant one, but the underlying Mayan culture is still there, especially amongst people whose primary language is Quechua or Aymara. Don't assume you understand their culture because you know about Mexican or Spanish culture. Do some research first, so as to help you understand where they are coming from, and try to structure your lessons to fit with their culture. This can be as simple as changing place names: don't talk about the Mississippi River, for example, use a local river instead. They will associate with that, but not associate with the Mississippi.

The beliefs and attitudes of your guest country will potentially be different from what you naively expected, so research! research! research!

As you become accustomed to your new daily routine, students, and fellow teachers, you will discover that some of the teachers have become cynical with time. They may have been there 20 years, and never say anything good about the place; they seem to live in a cloud of negativity. You will be eager and fired up and enjoying the challenge; they will talk about police purges, stupid management at the school, incompetent governments, corruption, and whatnot. The list is never-ending. Try to avoid these people. Live your own life, and be happy with the little differences and challenges that are thrown your way.

In Thailand, the vast majority of people are Buddhists. They are taught from an early age to meet adversity with a smile. One time, I was waiting under an awning for a tropical downpour to lessen. I watched a young lady attempt to cross the flooded street in front of me. She stepped in a hidden pothole, lost her balance, and fell face first into 6 inches of dirty water. She stood up, brushed the water off her face, and laughed. If that had been me, I would have been cursing. But she was a Buddhist. She laughed.

Meet adversity with a smile.

A good philosophy to live by.

If your assignment is in a third-world country, find out if the school and/or students have basic supplies. In rural Peru, for example, there might be one small chalkboard for a one-room school, no paper at all, and certainly no pens or pencils. While that kind of school is not going to have English classes, you can still help them enormously by traveling with two suitcases, one for your stuff, and the other filled with notebooks, pencils, chalk, small chalkboards, crayons, art paper, children's scissors, etc. Before you start your flight, contact the school and find out if they need these supplies, or if they can put you in touch with a rural school that does. Those $50 worth of supplies might be more than a rural school has ever seen and will make a big difference.

Another piece of advice: keep a journal of your experiences. If you have Internet access, create a blog and update it regularly. But in any case, be careful not to write anything in your journal or blog that is critical of the school management, the local religion, or the government. That journal will be a treasured keepsake in future years, and remain with you the rest of your life.

After you've been living and teaching for a while in the guest country, returning to your home town in your native country can be a jarring experience: culture shock in reverse. You became an ESL teacher for the fun of travel, the joy of discovering a new culture, and now you're back in Wal-Mart or Tesco standing in a queue behind an enormous fat lady with a shopping cart full of junk. Your mother is glad to see you, but you find your town boring, the food bland and voluminous.

If you are back for good, and have to get a job, you will probably find yourself bored out of your skull working in an office. Your co-workers will have no interest in your ESL experiences and couldn't care less about the things you did and the places you went.

Pretty soon you will be scouring the Internet looking for other ESL jobs; you've got to follow your dreams, wherever they take you...

About The Author

Doug Anderson has a web site with English grammar tips and ESL teacher tips at http://www.learn-faster.org/English

Basic Steps in Preparing for College

by: James Freman

Maybe you or your child or just someone you know is still in high school or even in middle school. It is never too early to prepare to receive and higher education to further your success in life. Have a better education usually means a higher salary and studies have proven that those with a college degree earn more than those with just a high school diploma or a G.E.D.

So now that we are clear that more education means more money down the road in life, what do you need to make that happen? First off we need to make sure we clear up some misunderstandings. Not all colleges are the same, each and every college or university is the same. Each one has their own strengths that they excel in, so before you decide where to attend you first need to decide on what you wish to major in. Once you've decided on what you want to be in your future then you can decide on which campus you wish to attend. And don't limit yourself to just 1 school. Try to pick a variety of places that you might want to attend because the more you try to shoot for, the more chance you will have into being accepted into some college or university.

As mentioned before, not all colleges and universities are the same. This also applies for how much attending a certain university or college charges a student to attend their classes. Some places like community colleges charge a very low amount for their classes and private universities charge extremely high priced amount for just a quarter. But don't get discouraged, there are still ways to pay for them. By applying for scholarships, student aid programs or getting student loans, you can pay for an education that you could have only dreamed of.

So now that you've decided on what you wish to learn about, which campus to attend and how to pay for that education, what's left? Everything else. Before you can even go and get that Bachelor's you first need to quality before your application is to be even reviewed by the committee. And that means your high school education. High school is usually where the acceptance committee will usually start looking at. From your academics to your extra curricular activities they will account into everything that you may have done during your high school year to see if you are even eligible to attend their most prestigious place of learning.

Academics usually mean your grades that you received in your high school classes. From math to English, you first need to learn the basics before you can try and learn the higher forms of these subjects. Academics also include the tests that just about most universities require like the SATs and ACTs. There are after-school programs for students to attend to learn and how to analyze these tests so they can score higher for these exams.

Colleges and universities also pay attention on what activities you may have been involved in during your high school year. From school clubs to after-school community service programs that you may have volunteered for, they will take into account on what kind of activities you participate in to have a much better understanding of you.

So now that you understand the gist of what needs to be accomplished, get out there and jump start your brain of yours so that you can make a better person of yourself.

About The Author

James Freman
http://www.nextstudent.com/

Principles of Educational Evaluation Formulas

by: Luiz Gustavo Arruda

Educational Evaluation may be inherently a process of professional judgment.

The first principle, according to Cann, is that professional judgment is the foundation for evaluation and, as such, is needed to properly understand and use all aspects of evaluation. The measurement of student performance may seem "objective" with such practices as machine scoring and multiple-choice test items, but even these approaches are based on professional assumptions and values. Whether that judgment occurs in constructing test questions, scoring essays, creating rubrics, grading participation, combining scores, or interpreting standardized test scores, the essence of the process is making professional interpretations and decisions. Understanding this principle helps teachers and administrators realize the importance of their own judgments and those of others in evaluating the quality of evalution and the meaning of the results.

To Shadish, evaluation is based on separate but related principles of measurement evidence and evaluation.

To Cann, It is quite important to understand the difference between measurement evidence (differentiating degrees of a trait by description or by assigning scores) and evaluation (interpretation of the description or scores). Essential measurement evidence skills would include the ability to understand and interpret the meaning of descriptive statistical procedures, including variability, correlation, percentiles, standard scores, growth-scale scores, norming, and principles of combining scores for grading. A conceptual understanding of these techniques, to her, is needed (not necessarily knowing how to compute statistics) for such tasks as interpreting student strengths and weaknesses, reliability and validity evidence, grade determination, and making admissions decisions. This author has indicated that these concepts and techniques comprise part of an essential language for educators. They also provide a common basis for communication about "results," interpretation of evidence, and appropriate use of data. This is increasingly important given the pervasiveness of standards-based, high-stakes, large-scale assessments.

Another point of view, offered by Shadish considerates evaluation concerns merit and worth of the data as applied to a specific use or context. It involves a systematic analysis of evidence. Like students, teachers and administrators need analysis skills to effectively interpret evidence and make value judgments about the meaning of the results.

Evaluation decision-making is influenced by a series of tensions to Cook. His basement parts of idea that competing purposes, uses, and pressures result in tension for teachers and administrators as they make assessment-related decisions. For example, good teaching could be characterized by assessments that motivate and engage students in ways that are consistent with their philosophies of teaching and learning and with theories of development, learning and motivation. Most teachers want to use constructed-response evaluation because they believe this kind of testing is best to ascertain student understanding. On the other hand, factors external to the classroom, such as mandated large-scale testing, promote different evaluation strategies, such as using selected-response tests and providing practice in objective test-taking.

These tensions, to the same author suggest that decisions about evaluation are best made with a full understanding of how different factors influence the nature of the assessment. Once all the alternatives understood, priorities need to be made; trade-offs are inevitable. With an appreciation of the tensions teachers and administrators will hopefully make better informed, better justified assessment decisions.

Evaluation influences student motivation and learning. Wilde and Sockey have used the term 'educative evaluation' to describe techniques and issues that educators should consider when they design and use evaluation methods. Their message is that the nature of evaluation influences what is learned and the degree of meaningful engagement by students in the learning process. While Wiggins contends that evaluation tools should be authentic, with feedback and opportunities for revision to improve rather than simply audit learning, the more general principle is understanding how different evaluations affect students. Will students be more engaged if evaluation tasks are problem-based? How do students study when they know the test consists of multiple-choice items? What is the nature of feedback, and when is it given to students? How does evaluation affect student effort? Answers to such questions help teachers and administrators understand that evaluation has powerful effects on motivation and learning.

Teachers and administrators, to Shadish, need to not only know that there is error in all classroom and standardized evaluation, but also more specifically how reliability is determined and how much error is likely. With so much emphasis today on high-stakes testing for promotion, graduation, teacher and administrator accountability, and school accreditation, it is critical that all educators understand concepts like standard error of measurement, reliability coefficients, confidence intervals, and standard setting.

To Cann two reliability principles deserve special attention. The first is that reliability refers to scores, not instruments. Second, teachers and administrators need to understand that, typically, error is underestimated.

COOK, J. Evaluating Knowledge Technology Resources. LTSN Generic Centre, 2002.

CANN. E et al. English Language Arts: A Curriculum Guide for the Middle Level (Grades 6-9). Saskatchewan Education. 1998.

HIRSCHMAN, L; THOMPSON, H. Overview of Evaluation in Speech and Natural Language Processing. In J. and Mariani, editor, State of the Art in Natural Language Processing, pages 475 -- 518.

SHADISH, W. Some evaluation questions. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 6(3), 1998.

WILDE, J.; SOCKEY, S. Evaluation Handbook. Clearinghouse. 2000.

About The Author

Luiz Gustavo Arruda, Ph.D. is a biologist, tenure coach and dissertation coach and has as a personal goal helping faculty and graduate students complete research, writing essays, and publish, while maintaining high educational levels and other commitments. In addition to dissertation coaching, he gives classes, workshops and teleclasses on time management, writing, career planning and grad student/advisor relationships.

Monografias Prontas Team - http://www.monografiaac.com.br

Empresa de Monografia didática - http://www.monografiaad.com.br

Psychoanalysis and Educational Practice - A Possible Relation?

by: Luiz Gustavo Arruda

Psychology and psychiatry construct models, clinical habits of behavior, pictures, types of personality, reception systems, etc. Objective of these models would be, in the words of Comte, “to know; to be able to foresee”. To find the common traces to all pathology would serve of practical guide for the therapeutical experient. The illusion would be to arrive in port to the moment when everything in the field is explained of beforehand. To find so many laws, concepts and characteristics where all singular trace is explicable by the generality. Illusion supported from the presumption of the particular individual in this case that of a universal, late or early order for scientific knowing. On the other hand, psychoanalysis operates on the citizen of science. Citizen that is included in this world to be able to consist as such. Science would be the ideology of the suppression of the citizen. And psychoanalysis would operate on what science globe and at the same time leaves to escape, as the interior, the improvisation, the feeling. (COUTINHO, 2000)

The first attempt of an operational joint of Psychoanalysis and Pedagogy can be observed since 1909 from personal texts between the Pedagogical Researcher Oskar Pfister and Freud. The first one produces two scientific texts of Pedagogy where are incorporated ideas inherent to psychoanalysis and requests the adhesion of the psychoanalytical theory to the operational Pedagogy. Freud answers affirmatively and thus a solid interlocution is initiated with an epistolar intercourse during following the thirty years (PATTO, 1996).

The demands of some educators from now on, are of diverse nature in the plan of the joint to know, pedagogy convokes psychoanalysis to a conjunction that tries to restore new fields. The result would be a kind of Psychoanalytical Psychopedagogy. In the level of the empirical problems, school (through its direct and indirect educators), requests the practical and specialized tool that generates solutions to conflicts that burst and interrupt the daily and normative functioning of the institution. For another part, we can find a large number of offers of knowledge and tasks, which, are considered as a fount of deregulation or occultation the same origin of the demand. It has been remembered as the example to the proper Freud in his preface to the book of August Aichhorn where he writes “… the educator must possess psychoanalytical formation” (OLIVEIRA, 2003).

Ana Freud (OLIVEIRA, 2003), is another eloquent example when she speaks to educators in their proper language, and inform them on the infantile development since perspective of the psychoanalysis (psychology of I). She tries to inform the teachers, to make them understand the infantile psychological drives of reproduction in order to understand their learners. She writes a small text recommending psychoanalytical experience as the optimum way to educational preparation.

There are several approaches that try to explain the joint of psychoanalysis e (in, for, with) education. Thus, we see the following intentions among others:

- Psychoanalysis to know the unconscious determination of the pedagogical relation and to be able “to educate in scientific form”.

- Psychoanalysis to decide the problems derived from the presence of the pupils who do not answer adequately to the requirements of the school.

- Psychoanalysis so that the professors “psychoanalyze” themselves.

We can revise the difficulties in the attempt to articulate psychoanalysis, as a discipline that points its ways to know about the “irrationality of the behavior”, with the field of the rationality where is inserted the production and reproduction of the knowledge. In the last years are more and more abundant the works that point Psychoanalysis as a valid way to observe and to work on the delimitation of these fields.

Mezan (2002, P. 214) says:

“… the knowledge of the psychoanalytical theory that acquires the educator will have as barrier that hinders its application the proper sexuality and repression….e what we want to stress,….in all attempt of application of the psychoanalysis to the educative field is that, in the existing difference Unconscious knowing theoretically and clinically, they are played both reach and limits of such aspiration”.

It is obvious for any professional whose object of work is the individual person, the theory of the subject that contributes psychoanalysis must be part of his cultural luggage. Teacher cannot be himself it the edge of the process. We also assume that a professor who has passed through a psychoanalytical process will be more receptive to the aspects of the life of his pupils that in another way would be outside of the pertaining to school work. But in all times, not psychoanalyzed professors had been sensible to the concerns and problems of their pupils. Also we cannot deny that many children or adolescents present hidden problematic individual situations that lead them to answer with effectiveness to school petitions.

REFERENCES

COUTINHO, Maria Tereza da Cunha e MOREIRA, Mércia. Psicologia da Educação: um estudo dos processos psicológicos de desenvolvimento e aprendizagem humanos. Belo Horizonte-MG: Editora lê, 2000.

LAPLANCHE, J. & Pontalis, J.-B. (1992). Vocabulário da psicanálise. São Paulo: Martins Fontes TCC

PEÑA, J. F. (1986). Platão e Banquete. Letras da Coisa no. 3. Curitiba, PR: Monografia Coisa Freudiana - Transmissão em Psicanálise.

KUPFER, Maria Cristina. Educação para o Futuro: Psicanálise e Educação. SP, Editora Escuta Monografias, 2000.

PATTO, Maria Helena Souza. A Produção do Fracasso Escolar. São Paulo, T. A. Queiroz, Editor, 1996.

HASS,C.(2000). A coordenação pedagógica nuna perspectiva interdisciplinar. In: QUELUZ, A. (org.). Interdisciplinaridade. São Paulo, Monografia Pioneira.

FREUD, Sigmund. O Mal-Estar na Civilização; Vol. XXI (1927-1931); Edição Standard Brasileira: Imago Editora Ltada, RJ. Pg.95.

BERMAN,M. Tudo que é sólido desmancha no ar: a aventura da modernidade(trad. Carlos F. Moisés, Ana Maria L. Ioriatti) . São Paulo: Monografias Cia das Letras,1986)

HERRMANN, F. O que é Psicanálise? São Paulo:Brasiliense,1984

HOBSBAWN, E.. A Era dos Extremos: o breve século XX: 1914-1991(trad. Marcos Santarrita). São Paulo: Monografias Cia das Letras,1995.

MEZAN, R. Freud Pensador da Cultura, São Paulo:Brasiliense, 1985.

MEZAN, R. Interfaces, São Paulo: TCC - Companhia das Letras,2002.

OLIVEIRA, M. L. Por que a Monografia de Psicanálise na Educação : fragmentos. In: revista Perfil, Monografia nº IX, 2003, Departamento de Psicologia Clínica, FCL, UNESP, Assis, SP, pp. 25-35.

About The Author

Luiz Gustavo Arruda, Ph.D. is a biologist, tenure coach and dissertation coach and has as a personal goal helping faculty and graduate students complete research, writing essays, and publish, while maintaining high educational levels and other commitments. In addition to dissertation coaching, he gives classes, workshops and teleclasses on time management, writing, career planning and grad student/advisor relationships.

http://www.monografiaac.com.br - Educação em Monografia e Pesquisa

http://www.monografiaalpha.com.br - Ponte entre TCC e Monografias

Ten Steps to Successful Music Teaching in The Early Childhood Classroom

by: Marlene Rattigan

Young children learn by doing, by being actively involved in their learning through exploring and experimenting, through copying and acting out. And so it is with learning music, the foundations for which are best learnt while developing primary language. As such, a successful early childhood music program must incorporate movement and should quite naturally involve learning across the curriculum. The music program, therefore, can form the basis for the whole curriculum.

1. Make it Fun. They are not in your class to learn music, but learning music is what happens while they're having fun. It it's not fun you've lost them. Fun for them may not be fun for you. If it's not fun for you, you'll NEVER be able to convince them that you're enjoying it. You'll start using every excuse not to do the music session because you'll see it as a chore. If, on the other hand, you have a song, a piece of music or an activity you think is really cool, you'll have no trouble engaging the kids as your enthusiasm will carry them through. Sounds pretty logical, yet few class teachers conduct music lessons as part of the daily curriculum. Find a resource that suits you and do something every day - even if for only five minutes.

2. Establish clear rules from day one. Without this your class will quickly disintegrate into a shambles. They must stop when the music stops. This encourages listening skills. Listening is a skill that has to be learnt. Hearing is a sense we are born with. There's a huge difference. If they can listen, they can respond, and they can learn. Teach them about "space bubbles". Have them stand with arms outstretched and gently swing around. No-one is allowed to go inside their space bubble. Anyone who does must sit to the side. They will not want to miss out on the fun so encourage them to join in for the next track of music or next activity. Do not allow "time out" to be a preferred option. Not every child will feel confident enough to participate fully but sitting out is not an option.

3. Young children learn by doing. Get them actively involved. Music at this age is music and movement. This will incorporate story telling through use of percussion instruments or drama; it will involve dance and action songs and also singing. It will also involve interpretive movement - play some gentle classical music and use scarves to stimulate the imagination.

4. Include motor co-ordination activities. This will stimulate and integrate right and left sides of the brain. Musical instruments are played with both hands. This subject is the topic of a great body of research. Children today are generally not physically active enough to get sufficient stimulation to establish neural pathways. If you can do something daily in the way of motor skills, especially cross-patterning activities conducted to music, it will help enormously.

5. Relate activities to their level of understanding. Engage their imaginations. They live in a fantasy world ' take advantage of it. You personally may not feel inclined towards fantasy. It doesn't matter. Whatever engages them is what matters. Whatever you are wanting them to learn can be done best by engaging their imaginations, and fantasy is the easiest. Use drama in any way to engage their imaginations.

6. Praise them often. They respond best to positive reinforcement. A baby is born fearless. No matter how many times the baby falls over when attempting to walk, and despite injuries along the way, he or she will get up and try again, over and over until that skill is finally mastered. It never occurs to the child, or anyone else, that you have to get it perfect the first time. Everyone encourages them which is an added bonus. Somehow along the way though, by the time many children are in mid primary school, they have already been given so many negatives which erode their self-esteem that they give up trying new things.

7. Remember the K.I.S.S. principle and Keep It Simple Sunshine. Only do a few activities or songs at a time in your music lesson. Repeat them often and only when mastered do you add modifications or a new activity. Keep the whole lesson simple but fun. Do not confuse simple with easy. If the class structure is simple, you can easily add in a more challenging activity.

8. If the children are unused to music and movement sessions, do not try to be too ambitious. Five minutes a day may be enough for the first few weeks, depending on the children. Repeat the lesson (maybe up to three or four times) until confidence and competence improve. They need the repetition. You can add modifications for greater complexity and variation or change one or two activities before moving onto a new lesson. Set them up to succeed.

9. Initially the teacher should model the movements but not necessarily do all the running around. Choose a child to model for you (or the Teaching Assistant or even a parent) if you prefer not to or are unable to model the movements yourself. Observe the children's ability to perform the skills in movement, music, drama, listening and social interaction. The music lesson thus contains so many more outcomes. You are then leveraging your time by combining learning areas. That is why the movements need to be modeled appropriately.

10. Finish each session with stretching and relaxation. (Stretches should never hurt.) After a "mat session" music lesson the stretch only needs to be a full body stretch on the floor, after which the children close their eyes and listen to the music. Initially -

Tell them what you want them to listen for, or, tell them a story of what the music is about, or, ask them to tell you what they think the music is telling them.

If you don't relax the children at the end of the lesson, thus utilizing this time for the affective aspect of music, they'll be unsettled for the rest of the day, especially if it's a dance and drama session. When they are used to relaxing at the end of the lesson they will happily lie down and relax but they need to be taught how to first. Each relaxation session, therefore, does not necessarily have to involve active listening but initially it must. Children are sometimes loud and boisterous because they think that's how they are expected to behave. Give them permission to be still and silent and teach them how. They need it.

About The Author

Marlene Rattigan is an Early Childhood and ESL teacher with a background in Music and Physical Education. She has written the Kidz-Fiz-Biz resources - Kidz-Fiz-Biz - learning through drama, dance and song, and Kidz-Fiz-Biz MULTICULTURAL - learning about other cultures through drama, dance and song. To purchase, to receive her free e-newsletter or for further information, go to http://www.kidzfizbiz.com.

15 Secrets To Boost Your I.Q In Less Than 30 Days

by: Dr. Enigma Valdez, C.H.

The same reason that people visit the gym on a regular basis, is probably the same reason you’re interested in raising your IQ. We just aren’t challenged enough physically or mentally. Setting aside time to work your mind out and organizing your various mental muscles can help you to be more creative, solve problems quicker and focus on the things you want.

Contrary to what most people believe, brainpower goes beyond inherited genes. Scientists have proven that intelligence is a combination of both genes and environment. When laboratory rats were given more toys to interact with, they ended up having much smarter rats than the ones that did not have any toys. Studies have also shown that you can grow more neurons with a stimulating environment.

The benefits of being mentally fit are very obvious. You’ll be able to enjoy accelerated learning. If you’re in high school, college or attend a university, you may find yourself having an easier time of your studies and your grade point average raising. You’ll also find yourself being able to think logically more often. You’ll be able to assemble a clear line of logic and reasoning that can help you make better decisions in life. Another benefit is that of increased creativity. Whether you’re into music, art, writing or any other form of art, training your mind can definitely open the flood gates of creativity in those areas as well.

In addition, your memory and focus will increase. Training with certain kinds of memory tools such as pegging and linking can help you uncover new ways to store information permanently and have an easier time of recalling things. Through meditation, your focus can improve greatly. You can start by meditating 10 or 15 minutes a day. Simply find a quiet place and sit or lay completely still, with eyes closed. Then, as much as possible, quiet your mind and focus on your breathing. If you’re not used to doing this, it may be extremely difficult. That’s ok. The more you do it, the easier it gets. As you stick with it, you’ll notice some very big improvements of being able to hold ideas and imagines in your mind much longer and stronger.

So how can you boost your IQ in less than 30 days? Here are the key secrets:

1. Write – when you write down your thoughts, it can be a great tool for you to reflect and make decisions. Some people use journals to write down their thoughts, others have simple notepads or notebooks. Simply writing what you think and feel can help you have a new perspective when you go back and read those words.

2. Meditate – as already stated, you can significantly boost your IQ through meditation. It may not seem logical, that you could boost your IQ by thinking about nothing at all, but it does help you bridge a connection from your conscious to your subconscious mind. And the subconscious stores every bit of data of our lives. Nothing is lost to the subconscious.

3. Be active – if you’re not already active, start a regular exercise routine. Having a healthy body also affects the mind.

4. Have Hobbies – have a regular routine of doing things you love to do, whether it’s fishing, bowling, bicycling, knitting, or reading a mystery novel. The more fun and passion you experience, the easier it will be to process and assimilate new information.

5. Read at least 15 minutes a day – Try to read at least 15 minutes a day. It may be hard to read if you’re pressed for time, but 15 minutes is very doable by anyone of this day and age.

6. Think – involve yourself in documentaries, books, magazines or board games that make you think. Actively challenge your current assumptions.

7. Study IQ puzzles – visit your local book store and buy yourself a couple of IQ puzzles or crossword puzzles. Make sure you get ones that have the answers in the back so that you can work out any mistakes. Go over them again and again. It keeps your mind sharp.

8. Play competitive games like chess. You can log on to the Internet and play with other players around the world. You can also play billiards.

9. Walk in someone else’s shoes – empathy goes along with IQ intelligence. By exploring someone else’s perspective of the world can help you to think through other people’s eyes. Although this is not a logical reasoning ability, it is an ability that can help you think out of the box when you’re stumped on a problem.

10. Create something on a regular basis – find something you can create, whether it’s writing an ebook, building a bird house, planting a flower, overhauling a car engine, or drawing a picture. Use your creative powers on a regular basis.

11. Conduct thought experiments – Ask yourself “what if” questions. Write them down and see how far you can take a certain question.

12. Break out of the routine – try to consciously break a routine, even if just for a short time. If for example you drive the same way to work every day, try a new route. If you sleep on the left side of the bed, sleep on the right side, or even the opposite direction.

13. Explore new cultures – seek different worldviews than your own. Meet people from other cultures and let them teach you about their food, language and traditions.

14. Learn outside of your usual interests – don’t stick to the same old things. If you like rock music, try listening to rap or jazz. If you’re into art or music, get into a programming language.

15. Use your brain more – Force yourself to use your brain more in everything that you do. In many cases its just having the intention to use your brain more that can actually give you surprising results. Logic, focus and creativity are a handful of mental muscles that you should be exercising on a regular basis.

These techniques can definitely help you boost your IQ, no matter who you are. If you’re looking to join a high IQ society, like MENSA, then are two ways to go about it.

The first is to submit your GRE scores. The other is to let MENSA send you a supervised test. In my opinion, if you haven’t completed your GRE yet, you may find it easier to take the GRE after having studied GRE test books. You can get them at any major book seller or http://Amazon.com. By implementing these IQ boosting strategies for the next 30 days, you can significantly increase your Intelligence Quotient.

About The Author

Dr. Enigma Valdez is an internet genius dedicated to helping individuals improve their lives. You can visit his site at Http://www.HighIQ-University.com

To Read or Not to Read?

by: Gigi Reynard

"To Read or Not to Read?" This is the title of a three year study on reading trends in the US released by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The reports concludes that: - voluntary reading rates are dropping - reading skills are "worsening" among teens - adults are becoming less proficient readers

Pretty grim news for people like me who's life is all about books and reading. It was with some trepidation that I downloaded the 98 very dry, dull pages and began to read them. Just as I was beginning to nod off I came across this little gem:

"Opinions aside, there is a shortage of scientific research on the effects of screen reading—not only on long-term patterns of news consumption, but more importantly, on the development of young minds and young readers. (A good research question is whether the hyperlinks, pop-up windows, and other extra-textual features of screen reading can sharpen a child's ability to perform sustained reading, or whether they impose unhelpful distractions)." (To Read or Not to Read p53)

That woke me up. I decided I didn't need to torture myself anymore and deleted the report from my machine.

There is an assumption here that I violently disagree with -- the only reading worth studying or reporting on is a printed page in a book.

With the advent of the first .com in 1985 the written word gained a whole new life. Email, Web Sites, Blogs, Instant Messaging, and Social Networks have created an explosion of words and creativity.

Look around any Starbucks and count the number of people typing on laptops, PDAs and cellphones. Count those reading newspapers. If they are not reading, what exactly are they doing?

My email, RSS feeds and blogs provide me with more reading material in one day than I used to get in an entire month.

I could say that it this is all work related and not in any sense voluntary. I would be lying.

Everyday, I follow links that take me to very strange places. It is so easy to intrigued with some weird factoid and go off on a reading tangent totally unrelated to anything! My personal downfall is when someone sends me a Facebook link. It is very possible that an hour later I am making new friends - after reading all about them. I don't even want to discuss YouTube! Are they unhelpful distractions? Who knows for sure. What we do know (from experience) is that those distractions very often keep us doing sustained reading. AND we are in fact reading things we probably never would have had access to or read any other way. Say what you will, it is still reading. And it is not exactly unpopular.

The last time there was this must energy created around words and ideas was when Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century. His press unlocked literacy and information and gave it to the people. For centuries the book has informed and entertained us.

Electronic reading propels literacy and information to the next level. It takes a one dimensional object and adds to it participation, sound and movement to create a richer, multidimensional experience.

I have always loved books; that is unlikely to change anytime soon. And yet, I find myself increasing feeling claustrophobic and impatient with print. It has been a long time since I picked up a magazine or newspaper. Why bother when I get the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Publisher's Weekly on my screen with instant updates, links and feedback opportunities.

Consciously, or unconsciously, we are all in the process of examining and redefining how and why we read.

The NEA is alarmed and gloomy about reading in America. I am not.

Call me a crazy optimist; but the evidence of my own eyes suggests that reading is alive and well and maybe even on the upstroke.


Copyright (c) 2007 Gigi Reynard

About The Author

Gigi Reynard is CEO of eBooks About Everything(http://www.ebooksabouteverything.com). eBooks About Everything is the fufillment of a life long dream -- owning a bookstore. Gigi retired from a high tech company after 25 years as a systems analysit and program manager. eBooks combine her love of technology and reading.

At First For Learning Mandarin Chinese Language

by: Wang Liguang

In the business world needless to say, speaking and listening are the most important skills in order to share your idea.

Let me put my concept straight if you know what you want to converse and you know lots of Chinese words, then you can easily create sentences in Chinese!

Well that's what you will be getting from this website

Free learning more with sound at http://www.easy2chinese.com

You might be asking yourself this question How can I read and learn Chinese without knowing any Chinese's letter? My answer is "You can start by reading PIN YIN language. PIN YIN is the language which is used by people who learn Chinese around the world.

My piece of advice is First of all, you should know about 3 things in Chinese. They are Grammar, Alphabet, and Vowel and Pitch Tone .

Somehow, if you're bored out of your brain with the Grammar, you can just pass the step and get straight to the conversations. By clicking the sound buttons which will show you every word, you can try memorizing them all. This way is the easiest and most enjoyable way to learn Chinese. And at any certain time in the future where you feel that you want to learn it profoundly, you can come back to the Beginning. Make your own choice of learning! learning Mandarin Chinese free at http://www.easy2chinese.com

About The Author

Hello Everyone !

My name is Wang Liguang, but I'm American that can speak Chinese because I learned with my grandfather and I think it's not so hard for everyone if you know the easy way to speak Chinese Language and I want to lead this way for you in my website http://www.easy2chinese.com everything is free, see u there with your any comments, Good Luck !

An Honor Roll, Not A Watch List, For Colleges

by: Stuart Nachbar

Members of Congress on the House committee on education have come up with an absolute bonehead idea: to publish a "watch list" of schools that have increased tuition at rates higher than inflation.

I am surprised when members of the House speak of reigning in college costs with measures such as this, when they fail to do the same for health care. I am sure the list of hospitals that have raised charges beyond inflation would be longer than the number of bad-behaving colleges.

What will a watch list do? It will not put colleges and universities on-notice because Congress cannot regulate their business practice, but it will embarrass their presidents and possibly force them to submit paperwork or public testimony to explain their pricing decisions. If the federal government publicizes such a list, it may also scare prospective applicants away from institutions that need students, even if the school is in a position to offer considerable financial aid.

This is one scenario where it is better for Congress to butt-out. State governments are already taking their own steps to regulate tuition increases for the institutions that are under their control. The voters, including parents and students, have a stronger voice with their state government than they do with the federal government. Placing state-supported schools on a watch list would serve to show that some states have less commitment to higher education than other states. I doubt that any member of Congress wants to embarrass the governor of the state in which they reside.

Private institutions, like public ones, can prepare parents and students by publishing their annual tuition rates (670 have already agreed to do this, thanks to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities) and they can make their own decisions. This is one time that parents do not need Congress to be a nanny for them.

However, Congress should do the opposite, which is also something it is good at: rewarding the good schools, irrespective of their tuition charges.

Therefore, I have an alternate proposal. Congress should create an "honor roll" of colleges — the colleges that do the best at retaining and graduating their students. In a previous piece, I wrote that approximately 260 four-year colleges have retained 85 percent of their freshman class and graduated 65 percent of their entering first-year classes within six years. There is a good mix of schools to set an example for the rest.

It makes far more sense to recognize the most successful schools and use them to help their peers. While colleges have varied missions, their primary task is to help their students receive degrees. Every college wants to do that better, and every college president already knows that some schools do that better.

The honor roll could be more than a list; it could be an exchange of ideas to help schools get better. Unlike other markets, college presidents do not want their competition to fail; it is an embarrassment to all schools when a single one closes. The success of a college not only depends on its ability to manage student costs, but also the academics, student services and physical plant. The honor roll could also be a motivational tool with college employees; they do not receive the same incentives as private sector workers.

A public honor roll would also be noticed by employers. They want to recruit the best and the brightest; not all of them go to the schools that are considered prestigious today. However, inclusion on the honor roll elevates the prestige of many institutions for a very positive accomplishment. The honor can only help their students in their job search; it certainly cannot hurt.

Even better, Congress might not need to fund the honor roll after a year or two. The same corporations that support intercollegiate athletics or aggressively hire entry-level employees can be drawn in to support a national honor society based on student achievement, or maybe one of the ranking sources would like to make the investment. There are no scholarships or stipends attached, only the costs of ceremony and publicity.

Are there negatives? Yes. Schools might be tempted to fudge graduation rates or let students slide in order to be included on a list, but then, the honor roll would be important enough to be worth the effort—including all of the paper work that might otherwise be expended on a watch list.

About The Author

Stuart Nachbar has been involved with education politics, policy and technology as a student, urban planner, government affairs manager, software executive, and now as author of The Sex Ed Chronicles. Visit his blog, http://www.educatedquest.com

Medical Education in Russia

by: Kristina Bogacheva

Russian Federation is the country that always had very high level of medical education. It was the first country in the world where was opened pediatric faculty (Russian State Medical University), first country in Europe where was opened medico-biological faculty (Russian State Medical University), it is the country where were made a lot of greatest medical discoveries, where were born a lot of greatest scientists.

Nowadays the row of Russian Universities was placed in the ten best Universities of rating of UNESCO. For example Moscow Medical Academy has the 2nd place in pointed rating. It proves that the medical education in Russia always had and has the best quality.

In accordance with national legislation of mature economies countries students that graduated any University registered by WHO have the same rights. No matter where University is. Much more important the personal merits of students. The most part of Russian Medical Universities is registered by WHO.

The cost of medical education in Russia is much less than in Europe and USA. So foreign students can get excellent education at acceptable price.

When foreign students study in Russia they get a chance to learn the treasure culture of this biggest country, to see the world famous places.

There are different agencies who can offer their help with entering medical Universities in Russia. One of well-known is Russian Educational Medical Center which can propose admission letters, invitations, accommodation services and other kind of help. It works with students of all nations and offers undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, nursing courses.

Use your chance! Get the best medical education with competitive price!

About The Author

Kristina Bogacheva is a worker of REMC. Please visit our web-site: http://www.med-education.ru

How To Compare 529 Plans?

by: Kip Goldhammer

If you are investing in a 529 state plan, it is easy to compare. The reason is that American citizens are allowed to take any state plan, and then they can even switch between plans if they want to. That is the reason everyone wants to compare 529 plans before they actually open an account. So how do you make the comparison? What do you look for?

Well, it is not quite straightforward to compare 529 plans of different states. There are too many things to take care of. However, here are some guidelines that might help you to make the comparison.

1. Look into the tax breaks the plans are offering. In fact, if your own state plan is giving you a tax break, then it is not necessary to look into the plans of other states. Any limitations that exist in your own plan will be overcome by the tax deductions your plans offer. Currently, 31 out of the 50 states in America provide tax deductions on their 529 plans, along with the District of Columbia. These 31 states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

2. Look for the expenses of the plans. The expenses you will have to bear when taking a plan will be the enrollment fees, annual maintenance fees and the program management fees. This is a good parameter to compare 529 plans. Some plans, like that of the state of Wyoming have very high expenses. Even the plans of the stats of Alabama, Arizona, Maine and Tennessee are very expensive and hence not at all good choices.

3. See what kind of investment options the plans will offer you. Most plans will give you at least three investment options, conservative and aggressive. Some of the plans, like that of the state of Virginia, provide as many as 21 American funds, giving a very good choice for investors.

4. There are two kinds of 529 plans - those that can be opened directly and those which require a broker to open. The broker, or the state adviser, will help in opening the plan and also give tips and pointers on making investments. But it must be understood that broker plans are more expensive than the plans that can be opened directly.

About The Author

Kip Goldhammer

Read More about investing in your child's future. Start now at http://www.529planz.com Best 529 education account

Educational Evaluation Quality - Good Results

by: Luiz Gustavo Arruda

An adequate educational evaluation enhances instruction. Just as evaluation impacts student learning and motivation, it also influences the nature of instruction in the classroom. There has been considerable recent literature that has promoted evaluation as something that is integrated with instruction. To her, when evaluation is integrated with instruction it informs teachers about what activities and assignments will be most useful, what level of teaching is most appropriate, and how summative evaluations provide diagnostic information. For instance, during instruction activities informal, formative evaluation helps teachers know when to move on, when to ask more questions, when to give more examples, and what responses to student questions are most appropriate. Standardized test scores, when used appropriately, help teachers understand student strengths and weaknesses to target further instruction.

Good assessment is valid and considers validity as a concept that needs to be fully understood. Like reliability, there are technical terms and issues associated with validity that are essential in helping teachers and administrators make reasonable and appropriate inferences from evaluation results (e.g., types of validity evidence, validity generalization, construct underrepresentation, construct-irrelevant variance, and discriminant and convergent evidence). Both intended and unintended consequences of evaluation need to be examined with appropriate evidence that supports particular arguments or points of view. Of equal importance is getting teachers and administrators to understand their role in gathering and interpreting validity evidence.

Good evaluation is fair and ethical and there are four views of fairness: as absence of bias (e.g., offensiveness and unfair penalization), as equitable treatment, as equality in outcomes, and as opportunity to learn. It includes entire chapters on the rights and responsibilities of test takers, testing individuals of diverse linguistic backgrounds, and testing individuals with disabilities or special needs.

According to his text, there are also three additional areas characterized as also important:

- Student knowledge of learning targets and the nature of the evaluations prior to instruction (e.g., knowing what will be tested, how it will be graded, scoring criteria, anchors, exemplars, and examples of performance).
- Student prerequisite knowledge and skills, including test-taking skills.
- Avoiding stereotypes.

Evaluation that is fair, leading to valid inferences with a minimum of error, is a series of measures that show student understanding through multiple methods. A complete picture of what students understand and can do is put together in pieces comprised by different approaches to evaluation. While testing experts and testing companies stress that important decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score, some educators at the local level, and some (many?) politicians at the state at the national level, seem determined to violate this principle. There is a need to understand the entire range of evaluation techniques and methods, with the realization that each has limitations.

Good evaluation is efficient and feasible. Teachers and school administrators have limited time and resources. Consideration must be given to the efficiency of different approaches to evaluation, balancing needs to implement methods required to provide a full understanding with the time needed to develop and implement the methods, and score results. Teacher skills and knowledge are important to consider, as well as the level of support and resources.

We may consider a lot the importance in the fact of good evaluation appropriately incorporates technology. As technology advances and teachers become more proficient in the use of technology, there will be increased opportunities for teachers and administrators to use computer-based techniques (e.g., item banks, electronic grading, computer-adapted testing, computer-based simulations), Internet resources, and more complex, detailed ways of reporting results. There is to him, however, a danger that technology will contribute to the mindless use of new resources, such as using items on-line developed by some companies without adequate evidence of reliability, validity, and fairness, and crunching numbers with software programs without sufficient thought about weighting, error, and averaging.

To summarize, what is most essential about evaluation is understanding how general, fundamental evaluation principles and ideas can be used to enhance student learning and teacher effectiveness. This will be achieved as teachers and administrators learn about conceptual and technical evaluation concepts, methods, and procedures, for both large-scale and classroom evaluations, and apply these fundamentals to instruction.

About The Author

Luiz Gustavo is a Brazilian expert author and give classes of writing and research development in his country. Give him the pleasure to visit his website of Monografia de Educação. He also works for another company: TCC de Avaliação

Monografia de Educação - http://www.monografiaac.com.br/monografia.html

TCC de Avaliação - http://www.monografiaac.com.br/artigocientifico.html

Top 10 Certification Exam Tips

by: Vivek Sharma

Getting Certification is a cherished vision for every person, who desires to be recognized as a certified professional in the IT industry. Industry experts advocate going for more and more certifications these days. More the number of certifications you have, the more value you add to your organization!

Certification, undoubtedly, is one of the coveted affixes and a fundamental official recognition in the portfolio of a IT professional. It is believed that qualifying any certification exam acts as a great morale booster. This article highlights the tips to keep in mind while preparing and attempting any Certification exam.

Test Tips

1. Read Lot of Books on Certification:

Inculcate the habit to read a lot on certifications. Usually human brain tends to have extended recall of what has been read a few times.

2. Make Notes:

Ensure that you take notes of what you learn either while attending classroom sessions or reading study material.

3. Latest Industry Information:

Stay up to date with the technologies and latest happenings in the industry.

4. Don’t Act in Haste:

Don’t scuttle while attempting the test. Always read the question carefully before you look out for choices in hand.

5. Devote an ample amount of time:

Devote some time to ponder and think of the possibly correct answer before selecting one from the given choices.

6. Be Cautious!

Ensure that you interpret all the options correctly before selecting from available choices.

7. Follow Your Instincts:

If you get confused and can’t think of the answer with self-reliance, follow your instincts.

8. Use Common Sense:

Use your common sense while answering the questions. It will be the best deal.

9. Take Your Own Time:

Make the most of the time period for answering the test questions. Don’t’ haste.

10. Stay Informed:

Ensure that you refer to the most up-to-date and modernized versions of study materials for certification exam preparation.

Just remember these tips and you will triumph the computer Certification with distinction!

Best of Luck! Look out for more tips and tricks on website.

About The Author

Vivek Sharma is an associated editor with http://www.dreamtechpress.com. They are leading publishers of A+ certification books. These books focus on A+ Certification basics and A+ practice tests. Find more information about other computer certification books and competitive books for management exams.

Modern Italian

by: Jacob Lumbroso

Modern Italian, as often happens with many national languages, is in fact a dialect that has succeeded in imposing itself as the proper language of a larger region than the one corresponding to the land where a dialect is spoken. In the case of Italian, the Tuscan dialect, spoken in Florence, Pisa and Siena, has become the dominant dialect.

This is not because of political reasons as normally happens, but thanks to the cultural prestige it carries due to the fact that it was the language of the famed "Divina Comedia". This literary work written in the early years of the 14th century was considered the first literary work authored in the "modern language."

The Tuscan dialect is indeed the one in which renown authors such as Dante Alighieri, Petrarca and Boccaccio wrote. These three authors were considered the most well known Italian Renaissance writers. The economic success and development of the Tuscan region during the late Middle Ages gave the dialect extra weight despite the continued influence of the Venetian dialect.

The Italian languaeg is related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the now extinct Dalmatian. These three languaegs are part of the Italo-Western familyof Romance languages. Italian is nearest to Latin in terms of vocabulary other Romance languages are closer to Latin in terms of noun declension, verb conjugation, and phonology.

All languages spoken as the vernacular other than standard Italian are termed "Italian dialects". These include various recognized dialects such as Friulian, Neapolitan, Sardinian, Sicilian, and Venetian.

Other dialects are generally not used in the public square and are largely limited to informal conversations. Demographically, the younger generations tend to speak standard Italian almost exclusively though local accents and idioms do continue to be present.

The Italian language is spoken primarily in Italy, where it is the national language and is spoken by approximately 63 million people. It also spoken in two cantons (Ticino and Grigioni) of Switzerland where it is also known as an official language.

Italian speaking communities however reach far beyond Italy. Italian speakers are found throughout Europe most notably in England, Belgium, the various republics of the former Yugoslavia, Monaco, Molta and Argentina Others are found Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, United States and Canada.

A large community of Italian speakers numbering approximately half a million is also found in Australia. Substantially smaller numbers of speakers in the former Italian colonies of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Lybia.

About The Author

Jacob Lumbroso is a world traveler and an enthusiast for foreign languages and cultures. He writes articles on history and languages for http://www.ultimatelanguagestore.com and is currently working on a book for learning Italian.

Students: Control Your Debt

by: Tom Tessin

Each year, a majority of students leaving college come home close to $20,000 in debt, not including the student loans. One of the main reasons students come home in debt is because of the majority of credit card offers on campus. Since credit cards aren’t a bad thing, it all comes down to the person that is in charge of using them.

A credit card is only bad if you abuse the powers. If a student is going to go out and purchase things he/she can’t afford, they will soon find out that they will be over their head in no time. The main reason this is, is because they don’t physically hand of the money. Instead, they hand a plastic card over that has no value.

There are many ways to control your debt but the first thing it comes down to is the person using the credit card. If a person can accept their responsibility and be able to control their spending habits, you’ll be past the hardest step in no time.

In order to achieve these first two goals, there are other optional steps that you can take in order to stop your debt in no time. If you follow these steps and use them religiously, you will find your net worth will go from the gutter to the positive side in no time.

One of the best things to do when you’re controlling you debt is to use your debit card. If you don’t have one, contact your bank immediately and have it linked to your checking account. This way you’re able to see how much you’re spending each time you use. An easy to way to control how much you’re spending is to create an online bank account user name. This will immediately post each transaction you have.

Next, you’ll want to create a budget. A budget is helpful for month to month activities. This will show you how much money is going out and in. This will also give you a better overall picture of how your finances are. It’s usually best to add in savings as a bill too so that you can save a little bit on the side as well. If you stick with your budget, this will be one of the best debt fighters in the long run.

These are just a few ideas when it comes to fighting debt. In the long run, you should use your imagination on creative ways to save money. Instead of going out to eat, buy a cheap can of soup and make a tuna fish sandwich. That right there will save you a few bucks. If you continue to be creative and get into the habit of doing these things, you won’t have a probably at all with paying off your debt after college.

If you come out of college in debt, don’t let it get you down because you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in the majority. If you’re motivated and have a strong mind, you’ll be able to kiss your debt goodbye in no time.

About The Author

Tom Tessin runs and operates http://www.findcollegecards.com that focuses on student credit cards.

An Associate Degree Online Lets You Study At Your Own Pace

by: Nic Haffner

There are a number of reasons to get an associate Degree. For recent graduates from high school, it can make the transition to college or university a whole lot easier if they get an associate Degree on their way to getting a Bachelor's Degree. For some people that are looking for a technical education, an associate degree is in most cases what they need, and they may not want or even need further education. For those whose college plans or schedules are interrupted, having an associate degree makes it much easier to carry on their education later in life. For all of the groups of people mentioned above, getting an associate degree online is a good option.

Associate Degree online programs are available worldwide, and you can choose numerous of major courses of study. There are a whole bunch of good reasons to consider getting your associate degree online.

How much expense should I expect?

In most cases the tuition costs are lower for an associate degree online than through a traditional college or university program. In addition, if you take your degree on the internet you'll have the benefit of living at home as well as saving money for transport, since you don't have to travel to classes. It's also easier to stay in a job while going to school when you take your associate degree online, because this kind of learning give you a lot more flexibility and freedom to make your own schedules. This gives you the advantage of being able to work more, as well as the possibility of getting higher paying jobs while you go to school.

It's Convenient

With online education - also known as e-learning, you go to school and do your school-work at your own convenience. Online education means that you work your classes around your life, instead of the opposite; working your life around your classes. You don't have to miss classes or assignments either; you work at your own pace, no matter what is currently going on in your life. The school-work is available when you are. All the lectures, assignments, notes and and other material are archived on the web, so you can retrieve them anytime you're ready to.

Studying at your own pace

By taking your associate college degree online, you have the benefit of studying at your own pace. If you are among the busy people and have a lot on your plate and therefore need to go through your classes at a slower pace, you are free to do that. Otherwise, if you are in a hurry, you have the option of accelerating your pace as well. One of the big advantages with e-learning is that you are not stuck learning at everybody else's pace; you do your work and learn at the rate that's comfortable for you.

The Portability Is Unlimited

If you are young and your life is unsettled, getting an associate college degree online is ideal. If you move to another area, or go on a three months vacation to Africa, your college or university education goes with you. You can travel to any country all over the world, and keep on to take classes online.

As you can see, there are a lot of benefits associated with online education. If any of the benefits I have mentioned applies to you, it's definitely worthwhile for you to consider getting your associate college degree online.

About The Author

Nic Haffner likes to publish higher education articles. Read more of his popular and useful articles at http://www.online-accredited-degrees.net/

History Of The Early Gardens

by: Elizabeth Jean

In the beginning there was a garden with natural water fountains. Creation's garden. And life was good. All plants were natives. Food was pure and abundant. Predators and prey were in balance (which is not to say they were equal).

Then people got involved and introduced concrete fountains and many other things. They brought with them their urge for order and control, and a robust curiosity fed by experimentation. Soon, the earth was plowed into furrows and crops planted in rows. The best specimens were selected for breeding.

Yet even after farmers began growing food for whole communities, and pharmacists took responsibility for mass-producing medicine, people continued to tend gardens. For sustenance, yes, but also to create beauty, retain a connection to nature, and enjoy the simple pleasure of digging in dirt. Cast stone fountains were a way to carry water to the gardens. For a clearer picture of what a cast stone fountain looks like visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=61.

For nearly... well...forever, gardeners and farmers grew plants using common sense, careful observation, and the resources nature provided. Today, we call that approach "organic." But that term became necessary only to distinguish those time-tested tactics from the shortsighted chemical practices foisted on the public in the name of progress within the last century. The garden was, and always will be, our connection to the earth. The garden may be the true water fountain of youth.

7,000 B.C. Barley, millet, and lentils are cultivated in Thessaly, one of the Greek isles.

5,000 B.C. The staples of Native American cuisine, corn (maize) and common beans, are cultivated in the Western Hemisphere.

4,0000 B.C. Hello, variety: The people of the Indus Valley (what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan) are raising wheat, barley, peas, sesame seeds, mangoes, and dates on irrigated fields, as well as bananas, citrus, and grapes for wine in smaller plots.

3,000 B.C. Potatoes are cultivated and harvested in the Andes Mountains.

2,700 B.C. The Egyptians already know and grow 500 medicinal plants.

2,700 B.C. Olive trees are raised in Crete.

2,000 B. C. Watermelon is cultivated in Africa; figs are cultivated in Arabia; tea and bananas, in India; and apples, in the Indus Valley.

1,900 B.C. The Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III commissions more than 500 public gardens.

600 B.C. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, are built by King Nebuchadnezzar II (with help, no doubt, from a few thousand slaves). The gardens are laid out on a brick terrace about 400 feet square and 75 feet above the ground. Irrigation screws are designed to lift water from the Euphrates River to the gardens.

301 B.C. In the History of Plants and Theoretical Botany, Theophrastus (considered the Father of Botany) describes plant diseases, such as rusts and mildews, and explains how to hand-pollinate fig trees to maximize productivity.

149 B.C. Cato the Elder, in De Agriculture, urges farmers to plant grapes and olives (because they draw moisture and nutrients from the subsoil) instead of planting drought-susceptible grain.

900 A.D. Tofu becomes a dietary staple in China.

1305 Opus Ruralium Commodorum, by Bolognese agriculturist Petrus de Crescentiis, is the first book on agriculture to appear in Europe since the second century.

1354 The Alhambra, built by the Moors in Spain, is completed. The Islamic-style garden features enclosed courts surrounded by arcades, planted with trees and shrubs and enhanced with tile, fountains, and pools.

1510 Sunflowers from the Americas are introduced to Europe by the Spanish. In many countries they become a major oilseed crop. In others, they are bird food.

1528 Sweet potatoes, and haricot, cocoa, and vanilla beans, are introduced to Spain by Hernando Cortes, who presents some of the beans to Pope Clement VII. Until then, fava beans have been the only beans known to Europeans.

1540 A potato from South America reaches Pope Paul III via Spain. The pope gives the tuber to a Frenchman, who introduces it into France as an ornamental plant. Stay tuned for French fries.

Gardening continued to evolve with the addition of water wall fountains, new vegetables, fruits, flowers and bulbs from various parts of the world. For a distinctive water wall fountain idea visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=66. Machinery and chemicals also evolved as the demand to feed the world increased. Today, we face the overuse of synthetic nitrogen by farmers that causes soil to age the equivalent of 5,000 years. The good news is that composting can replenish depleted soils in just one season.

About The Author

Elizabeth Jean is an outdoor gardening writer and frequent contributor to http://Garden-Fountains.com, a popular Internet destination for water fountains and garden statuary.

What Are Plus Student Loans?

by: Peter Kenny

College expenses are high; there is little argument over that. Students and parents of students often need financial help in order to get into and subsequently get through the years of education that leads to an advanced degree. Thankfully, there is a somewhat new student loan program available that help out with these costs.

The Federal Parent PLUS Loans can help those parents with good credit histories to borrow money. This money can be used to help pay the education expenses of their children. Each student-child must be a dependent undergraduate student enrolled in an approved university or college, for at least half time in order to qualify for the loan.

The most useful benefit of the PLUS Loan is that parents can borrow federally guaranteed, low-interest student loans in order to pay for the child's college education. Unlike many other loans, the PLUS Loan program lets parents borrow the total cost of undergraduate education to include tuition, supplies, room and board, books, lab expenses, and even some travel costs.

Also, unlike many other student loans that are based on "need", these loans are non-need based. Eligibility is dependent on a regular credit check that determines whether the parent has an adverse credit history.

An adverse credit history is defined as being more than 90 days late on any debt or having any Title IV debt (including a debt due to grant overpayment) within the past five years subjected to default determination, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or write-off.

The college of choice may require additional loan applications. For this reason, parents should check with your school's financial aid office.

As of July 1, 2006, the interest rate on the PLUS Loan was set at 8.5 percent. The PLUS loans do not require any collateral to be placed by the parents. In addition, the interest that is paid on the loan may be tax deductible. It should be noted that the interest rate on these loans can and will vary over time, so parents should investigate the latest news concerning interest rates before assuming any posted rate is correct.

There are some restrictions on the PLUS loans. For instance, the annual limit on a PLUS Loan is equal to your cost of attendance, minus any other financial aid that is received from other programs. For example, if the annual cost of attendance to a school is $8,000 and the student will receive $5,000 in other financial aid, the parents of the student would be able to borrow up to, but no more than, $3,000.

There are also certain restrictions and requirements concerning the way the funds are to be disbursed. Much of the disbursement rules that apply to a particular loan will be directed by the particular school. In order to get the most recent issues concerning how the money will be sent and to whom it will be sent, parents and students should visit with the financial aid office of the intended university.

Students and parents who wish to learn more about this loan program can visit the PLUS loan website where more detailed information is located.

About The Author

Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/Loans/ and http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/mortgage/ http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/Loans/012008/the-best-way-to-use-a-buy-to-let-mortgage.html

Speaking Spanish Rocks

by: Catherine Smith

Spanish is the mother tongue of approximately 350 million people in 21 countries (Mexico: 95 million, Spain: 40 million, Argentina: 35 million, Colombia: 35 million, Venezuela: 25 million, Peru: 20 million. Spanish is the second most used language in international communication.

More than forty-seven million people learn Spanish anywhere in the world at this moment .

As you learn Spanish, traveling to Spanish speaking countries will be much more enjoyable. Time and time again while traveling in Mexico, Central America and South America I have had doors opened to me simply because I speak Spanish, allowing me to see and do things that many other visitors do not. When I read Latin American or Spanish newspapers, for example, I often find that I gain a sense of how other people think and feel, a way that is different than my own. There are many other reasons to learn Spanish like the great contribution of the Spanish and Hispanic American culture in Architecture, Literature and Arts.

Spanish can be easy to learn compared to other languages. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English's, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced. And while mastering the grammar of Spanish can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward enough that you can have meaningful communication after only a few lessons. Wherever you decide to go, be it to Central America, or to Spain, the mother country of the Spanish language, knowing the language will get you far. If you take a little time to learn some of the Spanish language before heading off to distant lands, your understanding and appreciation for the places you visit will be improved tremendously.

Spanish vocabulary is basically of Latin origin; however it contains many loan words from other languages, especially Arabic, French, and Italian. If you can learn Spanish, you'll have a head start in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. And I wouldn't be surprised if learning Spanish might even help you learn Japanese or any other non-Indo-European language, since intensive learning the structure of a language can give you a reference point for learning others. It's easy: Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn.

Learning a foreign language is fun and exciting and does not have to be boring. Learning Spanish allows you to enjoy the various nuances of a different cultural.

About The Author

Catherine Smith 2007-2008 Copyright

http://www.learn-rocket-spanish.info

Learn how to speak Spanish confidently and naturally in less than 3 months and take all the frustration, difficulty and headache out of your practice time. Simply visit http://www.learn-rocket-spanish.info to start learning Spanish today.

12 Great Memory Strategies For Better Grades

by: Linda Bress Silbert, Ph.D. And Alvin J. Silbert, Ed.D.

"I forgot."

"I can't remember that."

"I sit down to take a test and my mind goes blank."

"I'm not a good test taker."

These are all things students say when they forget assignments or don't do well on tests. All of us, students and non-students alike, forget important things. This happens when we don't transfer information into long-term memory. It is important to know how to do this in order to do well in school and beyond. Just think about it: you need to remember what you read, what your boss told you, the driving directions someone rushes at you at a stoplight, or, if you are a student, what the teacher says.

This article is written from a student's perspective as this will make it easier for them. However, these strategies are just as helpful for adults, because we all need a little help remembering new things.

Have you ever noticed that some things are easy for you to remember while others are difficult? For example, you may be able to remember how to put an engine together, or why it rains, but you may have trouble remembering the lines to a school play or multiplication facts. You'll be relieved to know that there's nothing wrong with you; this happens to everyone. The good news is that there are strategies that can help you remember what you need to remember. The twelve strategies (some of which are called mnemonic "ni mon ik" devices) introduced below will help you learn how to memorize important information. We know they are effective because they have been helping students at STRONG Learning Centers® for years, not only on homework and tests, but continuing to be valuable in their daily lives.

STRATEGY 1. CHUNKING

It is easier to memorize information when you break it up into small chunks. This is called chunking. You may not realize it, but you use chunking often, like when you memorize your friend's telephone number, a locker combination, or your social security number. It's easier to remember long numbers when you "chunk" them into groups of threes, fours and fives. That's because most people can only remember about three, four or five bits of information at a time.

Here are suggestions on how you can use "chunking" to remember information as well as numbers.

• Chunk vocabulary words by grouping them by parts of speech or other attributes.

• Chunk history by time periods or events.

• Chunk foreign language by grouping words into categories like household items or occupations.

• If there is no pattern to the information you need to study, just group the items into three, four or five at a time, and that will help a lot.

STRATEGY 2. UNDERSTANDING

Before you begin trying to memorize something, try to understand it. A good way to do this is by making a connection between what you are learning and what you have experienced. The better you can relate the new information to what you already know, the easier it is to learn. For example, before attempting to memorize events of European history, find the places on a globe (or world map) and see where they are relative to one another and also relative to where you live.

STRATEGY 3. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

These tools help you see things you are trying to learn. They help organize information. There are many different types of graphic organizers. You can even design them yourself.

• the Venn Diagram for comparing and contrasting

• a Web for the main topic and details

• the Cause and Effect Design with the event in the middle box, the causes listed in the left boxes and the effects listed in the right boxes. (The effects and the causes are connected to the event by lines.)

• the Cycle Organizer consists of shapes drawn in a cyclic pattern with words in each shape to represent things or events that go in cycles. For example, the water cycle.

To see/print examples of these graphic organizers, find No. 452 Improve Your Memory Skills, Silbert, at our StrongLearning website.

STRATEGY 4. VISUALIZATION

To visualize means to see an image in your head without actually looking at it. Visualization can help you learn almost anything. Here is an example. Let's say the topic is the water cycle. Create a mental image of a cloud. Picture it growing. Now see, and "feel" its heavy cold rain. See the rain hitting the ground, then flowing toward streams and rivers toward the ocean. Now "see" the hot sun hitting and evaporating the water and forming clouds…. Get the picture? If you can visualize parts of the water cycle, the boring diagram becomes meaningful and remember-able. In general, if you have trouble visualizing material, try drawing maps, charts, graphs, or pictures.

STRATEGY 5. ASSOCIATION

Another learning strategy is to associate, or "connect," each word or event with a person, place, thing, feeling, or situation. For example, you may connect what you are trying to learn with someone you know, or with a movie character or scene. When you have to learn vocabulary words, just write the new words, write the definitions next to them, and then write a person, thing, event, movie, or any strong association to help you remember the meaning of each word. For example, "My altruistic Aunt Alice gives great gifts." (Altruistic means generous.)

STRATEGY 6. RHYMING

We all used rhyming in the ABC song to learn the alphabet. And the rhyme "I before E, except after C, or when it sounds like A as in neighbor or weigh." This is also a great strategy even when learning the times tables. For example, 7 and 7 went down the line to capture number 49; 8 and 4 made some stew and gave it to 32. (Rhymes don't have to make sense!)

STRATEGY 7. TALKING

Here's a strategy that's easy and fun to use, especially if you like to talk! Just talk about the information you have to learn. Tell Grandpa, Mom, a friend, or your dog what you have to learn! Do you want to learn history? Then talk history — discuss, debate, argue. Think of a person who may have lived during a major historical event and pretend to be that person. Now talk about the important events: who was involved, when it happened, where it took place, what happened, and why? If you're learning a language, then speak it at the dinner table. It doesn't matter if others know what you are saying; you do, so you'll learn.

STRATEGY 8. STORYTELLING

Storytelling is a great way to help you remember information in any subject. Write a story by focusing on the key points of what you're learning and arranging them in a logical sequence. It can even be a song or rhyme that tells the story. And there's a bonus: each event in the story triggers your memory of the next event, so you'll remember even more.

STRATEGY 9. WRITING SENTENCES

Do you remember learning the silly sentence "Every good boy does fine" from music class? We used this to remember the notes. You may also have used the sentence "My Very Excellent Mom Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" to remember the planets. (Oops, change the sentence because Pluto is no longer considered a planet). This strategy can even help us learn those extra troublesome spelling words. Just make up a sentence using words that begin with the letters. So, to learn "aardvark," you may make up a nonsense sentence like: Aardvarks Always Run Down Very Angry Rowdy Kids.

STRATEGY 10. ACRONYMS

An acronym is a word made up from the first letters of a list of words. Here's how it works. You take the list of words or facts that you want to remember and put them in an order so that the first letters of each word, or the first syllables, spell a real word or a made-up word.

How do you memorize the names of the five Great Lakes? Easy, just remember "HOMES." H=Huron, O=Ontario, M=Michigan, E=Erie, and S=Superior. While this strategy won't help you understand the information, it at least helps you to memorize it. It's easy and fun, and you'll probably remember the information forever. You may be interested in knowing that our company name is an acronym. STRONG stands for: Self-esteem, Trust, Responsibility, Options, Needs, Goals.

STRATEGY 11. REHEARSING

When you want to remember information, you have to practice it, or else it fades. So, just as actors need to rehearse in order to remember their lines, students need to rehearse to remember what they are learning. Here are some helpful hints on "rehearsing" whatever information you need to learn for homework or tests:

• Rehearse for short practice periods (perhaps 30 to 60 minutes) and then take a short ten-minute break to call a friend, have a snack, or shoot some hoops.

• Use a multisensory approach every time you rehearse: say it, write it, read it, draw it, sing it – do whatever it takes.

• Just before going to sleep, review everything you will need to know for the next day or for the upcoming test. It's amazing how much more you'll remember if you rehearse the night before.

• Review in the morning while brushing your teeth, eating breakfast or sitting on the bus.

STRATEGY 12. PLAYING GAMES

Playing games is a great way to memorize information. You see, as you play the game you are learning the material and practicing it over and over again. Games can help you remember facts, formulas, definitions, events or any other information you're trying to learn. Here is an example.

Play Memory, alone or with others, using decks of cards you make from ordinary index cards you cut in half. Create pairs by writing the same number on each of two cards, 1 and 1, 2 and 2, etc. Write the numbers tiny so they will not interfere with play. On each pair, write a question on one card and the answer on the other card. For example, "2x7=" is on one card and "14" is on its pair, or "Where did the Pilgrims land?" is on one card and "Plymouth, Massachusetts" is on its pair. Then shuffle all the cards and play Memory with yourself or with a friend. If you're alone, see how fast you can match up all the pairs. You'll be able to check yourself by making sure the small numbers are the same. Have Fun!

For the Tough Ones: for the pairs that are really hard to remember, make a string "clothes line" between two places on a wall. Hang the pairs next to each other with spring type clothes pins. So, for example, if circle formulas get you down, every time you walk into your room you'll see "C=" and "2*pi*r" and "A=" and "pi*r squared" next to each other. Pretty soon you'll remember the info.

Another example is the many commercially available games to make learning to read easier and fun. A good example is, by using any of the twenty STRONG Learning Phonics Games, children in grades 1-6 can learn important phonics rules while playing popular card games: Go Fish, War, Memory, or Old Maid.

We hope you find that some of these techniques and strategies make it easier for you and your children to remember important things. We also hope that these strategies will help make school days and home nights a whole lot better.

(Originally published at the StrongLearning website and reprinted with permission of the authors, Linda Bress Silbert, Ph.D. and Alvin J. Silbert, Ed.D.)

About The Author

Linda Bress Silbert, Ph.D. and Alvin J. Silbert, Ed.D. are the founders/directors of STRONG Learning Centers in New York. They've written over 40 books and developed 20 phonics games for children of all ages. To learn more about the Silberts and the STRONG Method, visit their website http://www.oureducationalbooks.com. To subscribe to their free e-zine, send a blank email to: subscribe@StrongLearning.com.