Blog Education

Alternative Medicine Education in India

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:02:00 +0000

India is home to different alternative and complementary treatment streams. The main among them are Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Siddha, followed by Unani, Naturopathy, Yoga, etc. Before the advent of Allopathy into the land by British rulers, Ayurveda and Siddha were the only treatment options available. The suppression of natural cure methods for the sake of Allopathy has dwindled the importance of Ayurveda, Yoga and Siddha over time.

Now there is newfound revival for Ayurveda and other alternative medicines. The single most important reason why people turning away from Allopathy and towards Ayurveda is the fact that side effects so common with Allopathy and an almost total absense of side effects with Ayurveda medicines.

Now Government has recognized courses for all types of alternative medicines. Ayurveda medical colleges under direct government control are the main centers of ayurveda education in India. Ayurveda medical colleges and research centers in private sector are relatively new to Indian medical scenario.

Employment Opportunities in Alternative Medicine

With surge in demand for Ayurveda and other medical sciences by people of India and from around the world, persons educated in alternative medicines today have worldwide opportunities. Training centers, treatment centers, hospitals, resorts with Ayurvedic treatment facilities etc are main places where they can try employment.

Independent trainers and recognized doctors also have lot of scope in Ayurveda research, development and treatment industries.

Different Ayurveda Universities work from India. A common resource center to get information on all systems of medicines in India is at http://www.IndiaMedicine.nic.in/.

Alternative Medicine Training Courses Offered by Kerala Ayurvedics

Masseur Training

Panchakarma Assistant Training

Ayurveda Pharmacist

Ayurveda Nurse

Ayurveda Nursing Assistant

Educational Evaluation Quality - Good Results

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:01:00 +0000

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.

Home schooling - How to Avoid Burnout

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:59:00 +0000

As with any project you take on, there is always the chance for burnout. Here are some simple steps you can take to help avoid burning out on home schooling.

1. Don’t try to do more than you or your child are capable of doing. Most students are average. Don’t expect your 3 year old to read novels or your teenager be able to ace the SAT test and get a full ride into college. These things happen, but they are not the norm.

2. Set a routine and skip the strict schedules. Do your children know what is expected of them each day? They need to get up, eat breakfast, do some chores, read, write, do arithmetic and a few other things that you set for them to do. They should not be playing on the computer or playing outside until their normal routine is finished. Some days are easier to accomplish than others. On the low motivation days, you can always throw in some fun or an occasional incentive.

3. Enjoy your children and develop your relationship with them. If you have a habit of relating with your child, with mutual listening, then you can work through any curriculum struggle or lack of motivation. You and your child should enjoy learning together and separately. If you are interested in a certain topic like cooking or gardening then your children should see you pursuing that knowledge. We all learn better when we are motivated to learn something ourselves.

4. When you home school you don’t have to mimic what the schools do. They have to structure their days a certain way because of the volume of students they have and the tests they have to pass. Homeschoolers can learn in many different ways using unusual methods like hopping up and down a step when you answer a flashcard or problem correctly. Use the flexibility of home schooling to avoid burnout by changing the atmosphere a little bit. Play music one day. Light some candles another day. Declare a “game day”.

If you keep your life and day in proper perspective, you can easily avoid burning out on home schooling. Your children probably won’t remember the lesson of the day although they will build on their knowledge and grow in their intelligence, just as they won’t remember the meal they eat, but it will help them grow physically. Your children will mostly remember the atmosphere of your home and how you treated them.

Homeschool Curriculum - Do I Need It?

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:59:00 +0000

Homeschool curriculum and books are plentiful. Choosing from the huge selection can be overwhelming. Do you really need to purchase a home school curriculum or can you save some money and home school with books alone? Here are some thoughts that can help you make your decision:

1. You need a core plan - Whether you purchase a home school curriculum or develop your own, you need to know what you want to accomplish. What do you think your child should be doing each day? What do you want them to know and understand by the time the school year is over?

2. Focus on reading, writing and arithmetic - Any good home school program focuses on the basics. Make sure you address the core subjects and know what you want to accomplish there before you add any other subjects to your list.

3. Know how you and your child learn best - Learning style plays a key role in how you and your children will learn. In public school teachers can’t really teach based on learning style because of the volume of students they have to work with. But a home school parent can certainly know their child’s learning style and use resources to support that. If you don’t know yours or your child’s learning style you can take an assessment online and find out. http://www.hjresources.com/hsrecommend Then when you decide to choose curriculum or books you will know what types of resources you need. You might even save yourself a lot of frustration in the long run.

4. Use your resources - In the early days of home schooling there wasn’t much available to parents. That is definitely not the case now. There is almost too much information available now. You have the internet, library and a host of used curriculum sites where you can get books and resources at a fraction of the cost.

5. Do you use a curriculum to learn something yourself? Think about what you do when you want to learn about something. Do you buy a curriculum to learn or do you read books, listen to audio and watch videos? Your children need to see you have a love for learning. You can learn about how to cook, sew, garden, remodel your house, improve your skills at a job, etc.

Even though purchasing a curriculum can give you a feeling of security knowing that everything your child needs to know will be covered, be careful that you don’t take on too much and get burned out. If you focus on the basics and know what you want to accomplish, then you can make an informed decision as to whether you will need to purchase a curriculum or whether you can just use books and resources to accomplish the same goals.

Learn French Whilst You Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:58:00 +0000

If you want to learn a new language, then why not learn it in the comfort of your very own car. There are hundreds of excellent courses around that will help you do just that. I have put together the top four tips on how to go about learning French in your car. It's so easy that you could start today!

I think your car is one of the best places to learn a new language. The best thing about learning in your car is that you can do it alone. Trying to pronounce new words and copying strange accents is difficult, not to mention embarrassing. French is a beautiful language but, recreating an authentic accent can create some very comedic results. Thankfully, you can do this in the privacy of your own car. No one can hear you making mistakes, so you can repeat words over and over again without annoying the hell out of anyone.

Some people find it difficult to maintain a structured learning pattern. The best results can be seen from learners who set aside time each day, which they to dedicate to learning. This shouldn't even be a concern for you as you could use ever journey in you car as a learning session. Be sure not to learn during those longer journeys – be sure to keep the sessions short. Your drive to work, the school run or even the weekly trip to the supermarket would be perfect. It's proven that short bursts of learning are the most effective and help you retain maximum amounts of information.

Listen, repeat and learn. This is the mantra for the most popular CD and audio courses on the market. Repeating and learning is simple, but listening is the most difficult thing to do. Sometimes you think you are listening, but really it's going in one ear and out of the other. Listen as many times as possible. The more times you hear a word or phrase the more likely you are to commit its meaning and how to pronounce it to memory. Listen for the subtleties in the accent and the rhythm of the language. Recreating an authentic accent is far more difficult than remember words.

Now you know the benefits and best techniques for learning French in your car – you are going to need a French tuition course. Because you are learning in your car, the best solution would be for you to purchase an audio course. Many of these courses are created specifically to use in a car. All teaching will take place in the car and there will be no written work involved. You won't have to worry about scary French grammar, allowing you to fully concentrate on your French conversational skills.

It's easier than ever to learn French in your car. You now know the best and most successful ways to go about it, so all you need now is a French CD or MP3 Audio course – oh and a car.

Learn To Speak French Free

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Do you know that you can now learn to speak French free online? All you have to do is know where to look. I have put a list of the four best places to start looking. If you follow my simple ideas you could start learning French for free online - today!

Do you ever come across French words and have no way of finding out their accurate English translation? If so, the Google language tool may just the thing that you've been looking for. It so simple to use and best of all it's absolutely free! Go to the Google search engine and type – “google language tool”. Click on the link and you will be taken to the translation page. Type in the word, choose the language (in this case it will be French), then choose the language you want it translated into (this will be English), hit enter and you'll have instant translation. Remember this can work the other way too.

There are hundreds if not thousands of online companies that will try and sell you all kinds of online French courses. Because there is so much competition, these sites will often offer freebies as incentives. Some will even offer free trails of their products with no obligation to buy. Why not take advantage of this? All you would need to do is sample a handful of these courses and you'll have enough French tuition to last you the next couple of months. When you eventually run out, all you would need to do is sign up for some more free courses. It's so simple and you'll never have to spend a dime!

I am sure you have heard about the new craze of streaming video sights such as youtube.com and Google video. You can literally find clips on any subject you search for. Have you ever thought about searching for French tuition? Give it a try. You'll be amazed at how many free video clips there are available. You don't have to stop there, you could even check out some current French TV and music Videos – the possibilities are endless.

There are numerous websites such as the UK site bbc.co.uk that simply offer free tuition. All you have to do is know where to look for these sites. Fortunately, there are search engines that can do all the hard work for you. All you need to do is type “learn to speak French free online” and hit enter. This search will instantly return one and a half million sites for you to choose from (depending on your internet connection). You don't have to look at all of them out (that would take forever), just check out a handful from the first page and you will bound to find some great information - free of charge.

Most people underestimate the amount of free information that is available to them via the internet. I hope my handy hints have helped you realise just how easy it can be to learn to speak French free online.

Principles of Educational Evaluation Formulas

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:57:00 +0000

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.

Talking Dictionaries And Language Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:55:00 +0000

Is it worth the extra money to purchase an elecgtronic dictionary with sound?

The following comments have specific reference to learning Spanish but I believe they are relevant to the learning of other languages as well.

Some people (curiously and unfortunately, not all) who learn a new language are interested in achieving a good accent in their new language. Nevertheless, it is not well known that there are three components of the accent of a given language: the rhythm or intonation (the music) of the language, the links between the sounds, syllables, and words in an utterance, and lastly, the proper pronunciation of the sounds of the language. The lesson here is that the formation of the vowels and consonants of a language is only part of the task of learning that language. However, it is where most learners begin. Let’s look at the place of the pronunciation of the vowels and consonants of Spanish.

Many language experts believe that the intonation and linkage contribute more to speaking like a native than does the proper pronunciation of all the sounds. This can be seen in the manner in which the people of San José, Cost Rica pronounce the Spanish letter “ere”. For some strange reason, which I have not been able, to track down historically or linguistically, they pronounce the word “arroz” just like a Gringo would. Their double “r” is not trilled as in most Spanish speaking countries; it is not velar as it is in much of Puerto Rico. It is pronounced just as an untrained American would pronounce it. Yet, the person hearing this “error” has no doubt that the persons speaking are native speakers of Spanish. The flow of their speech is perfect and the listener just thinks, “I wonder why they pronounce that word that way…” In other words, often the pronunciation of the sounds is the least important element of speaking well.

Yet pronunciation is the place where the learner should begin. Habits of bad pronunciation once ingrained become automatic and are hard to eliminate, while errors of intonation and linkage can more easily be consciously detected and corrected in later stages of the learning process.

The person learning Spanish has one advantage over the person learning another language. The advantage is that most the vowels and consonants of Spanish are close to those of English, and their pronunciation is perfectly regular.

First of all, the vowels sounds represented by the 5 letters, a, e, i, and u, have five sounds. That’s right, five! It is not like the case of the many English vowel sounds represented by the same letters, such as rough, cough, though, and through, or the case of the same sound represented by different letters in the words, ache, weigh, pay, hey, jail, and tape.

The major difference is that the vowel sounds in Spanish are pure; they do not have the little “tail’ that English vowels have.

The consonant sounds in Spanish are largely similar to those of English. This does not mean that they are all the same! There are differences with the “l”, “b” and “d” sounds. The main difference with some consonants in Spanish is that they are not “aspirated”, that is they are not made with a puff of air, as are those of English. If you put the back of your hand in front of your mouth when you say “Papa” or “tonto” in Spanish you should not feel the same movement of air that you feel when you say “Pope” or “tent” in English.

These differences are real but fairly manageable by the learner who wants to start off right in Spanish. Once the differences are known they can be worked on. For example, it is relatively easy to leave off the English glide at the end of the Spanish vowels.

Progress can be made with written descriptions of the Spanish sounds. The sounds can be described by comparing them with close English words. And the ear can be trained by listening to native speakers. There are many speech samples on the Internet and most large cities in the United States have at least one Television channel transmitting in Spanish.

All of the above has the purpose of leading into the issue of the value of a “talking” dictionary. Many people who want to learn Spanish think that they need a talking dictionary. Often the learner thinks that this will provide an advantage in learning the language. However, it is a mistake to invest in a talking dictionary. The very best are very expensive and most of them, even the most expensive, have such small speakers that it is impossible to hear the fine points of the pronunciation of Spanish.

The learner very soon knows how to pronounce Spanish since the rules are 100% regular. What is need is the effort to actually pronounce the sounds. Many learners are ashamed of imitating the sounds of the language they are learning and they speak the new language with the same intonation, linkage, and pronunciation of their own native language.

The end result of the learner’s pronunciation (as of his or her overall accent) will be the result of his or her own ability and of the effort expended. The talking dictionary does not contribute anything to the equation. A good electronic Dictionary such as the Oxford Spanish English Dictionary, found at www.LeerEsPoder.com/dicOxford.htm , will be all the learner needs.

Psychoanalysis and Educational Practice - A Possible Relation?

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:55:00 +0000

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.

Teach Your Kids French

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Teaching your kid a new language can be extremely beneficial to them in the future. Just think of the opportunities it will open up in later life. They'll have a head start over other kids and it'll be an excellent addition to their college applications. We all know that kids pick new thing up much faster than adults, so now is the perfect time to help them learn French. Here are some suggestion that you may find helpful...

Is it hard to get you kids attention? Are they forever playing on their computers or listening to their ipods? Well, you can now find modern French tuition that's available as interactive Cdrom games that can played on their computers, and as MP3s for their Ipods. There's no point trying to get your kid to read text books that focus on difficult French grammar, they'll never stay focused long enough to take it all in. You have to move with the times and let your kid learn French using modern technology.

A great way to get you kid interested in learning a new language is to introduce them to French culture and customs. Don't worry, you don't even have to travel to France. A great alternative is to take them for their first French meal, or try cooking it yourself if you're up for a challenge. You could even take them to the movies to watch a French film. Why not get hold of some French music (on-line French radio or from your local library). The French are famous for their Hip Hop – I but your kids will love it!

There are many excellent French tuition courses around at the moment, some offer courses tailored to young children. This could be the prefect way to get your child learning French. Not only will they save you a lot of time and effort, but I'm sure you'll also learn or thing or two. These courses are extremely well structure and will move your child from the beginner to the intermediate stage in a few weeks.

Remember learning is fun. Try and make it as different to school as possible. Don't apply too much pressure, expect instant results or be afraid to give your child rewards for their learning effects. And above all don't forget, they also have pressures and homework from their school life. If your kids has an important exam coming up, then ease off on the French. It's not a race – your kid has the rest of his/hers life to learn French, so don't rush.

You see, learning doesn't have to be boring and all hard work - it can be fun if you know how. I hope my suggests help your kid learn French.

To Read or Not to Read?

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:53:00 +0000

"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

Top 10 Certification Exam Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:52:00 +0000

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.

Academic Summer Camp Has Cure For Senioritis

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:51:00 +0000

The academic summer camp, SuperCamp, has some advice for high school seniors suffering from senioritis. It is possible to prevent this common disease and if you already have it, there is a cure. Seniors can avoid this affliction with the help of a few Quantum Learning study skills that are taught at SuperCamp.

Slant - Sit in the front row or middle section of the classroom. Lean slightly forward in your chair, as if you are hanging on the teacher’s every word. Ask questions to clarify anything you don’t understand. Nod your head to show you are listening and interested. Talk to your teacher after class to build rapport and establish a relationship.

Mind Mapping™ - Capture valuable class information with the innovative note-taking technique of Mind Mapping. Begin by writing your main topic in the center of the page, then draw branches radiating outward from your topic. Label each branch with a subtopic. As your teacher lectures, add information to each subtopic by drawing more branches. Use colors, symbols and pictures to help you remember the information and make your Mind Map more fun!

Circuit Learning – This is a great way to prepare for tests and learn more efficiently. It works especially well with teachers who like to give a test or a pop quiz every Friday. On Monday, begin a Mind Map of the week’s topic. On Tuesday, add new information you learned, and review material from the previous day. Continue adding and reviewing information throughout the week and by Friday, you’re ready for that test!

Test-taking Strategies - Does test-time jitters ruin the time you spend studying and preparing? Allow yourself enough time to get to class a few minutes early; hurrying causes tension and mental crunches, and you can use the few extra minutes to review your notes one last time. Before and during the test, give yourself positive messages: “I know this information and I’m going to get an A.” If you feel yourself getting tense, close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths. Imagine a relaxing scene. If you’re having trouble concentrating or are feeling overwhelmed, try drawing a Mind Map in the margin of your paper. It will help you remember what you studied.

Study Area - Design the optimum study area. Your study area should include good lighting, a desk or table to work at, a comfortable chair, inspirational posters, and plants. Play Baroque music softly in the background. Study at the same time every day and take a short break every 30 minutes. Tackle the most difficult subjects first. When you get them out of the way, the rest will be easy.

SuperCamp summer programs fill up fast. Go to http://www.SuperCamp.com now to learn about enrolling your son or daughter while spaces remain. Age-specific programs are available for students in grades 4-12 and incoming college freshmen. At the website, you also can get a free eBook that gives you an inside look at what works with teens from a world leader in youth achievement, SuperCamp co-founder Bobbi DePorter.

The Quickest Way To Learn French

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:50:00 +0000

Did you realise that it is now easier than ever to learn French fast and for free? Yes that right for free! I have some great ideas that won't cost you a dime. These quick yet effective methods are proven to get great results in less than two weeks. Read on to learn more...

The first thing you need to do is to visit your local library. If you're not a member, then all you have to do is join - don't worry it's free. First start buy checking out all the book they carry on French learning and French Tuition. Guess what, not only will they have shed loads but they are all free to lend. Don't stop there. Move onto the audio section. Yeah that's, right libraries don't just carry books these days. Get yourself some French audio courses – again these are usually free, if not it'll only cost about two bucks to rent for the whole week. We're still not finished – now move on to the DVD section and look for some French DVD tuition. Look at just how much French tuition there is on offer – and the best part is, it's all free.

If you were shocked by how much free stuff they've got at the library then your gonna be amazed by how much free stuff you are going to find online. Lets start simple – you're going to need to use a search engine. You can use Goolge, Yahoo or whatever you prefer. Now start looking for some French websites, it doesn't matter what ones, just as long as the text is written in French. The next thing I want you to do is to try and read it. “What on earth?” I hear you shout. Calm down – just give it a try. You won't understand very much in the beginning, but the more you do it the more you'll understand.

Make sure you check out what's going in your local community. Get down to your local, book store, coffee house, college or library and check out some of the notice boards. I bet you'll find either a French group or some French evening courses. These groups and courses are usually free or very inexpensive to join. What a great way to meet new people! You'll actually be able to have real life French conversations with real people.

Take a trip to the movies. No, this isn't an excuse to check out the current Hollywood blockbuster – you've gotta watch a French film. Don't worry, they all have subtitles, so you'll be able to understand what's going on. Not only will you be entertained, but you'll also be improving your vocabulary and pronunciation. Its a win win situation. If they're aren't any films showing at your local cinema, then visit a video store and rent some – this is a even cheaper option.

Did you ever imagine that learning French fast and for free could be so much fun? I hope my suggestions have made you realise that learning can take place outside of the classroom.

Does Your Child Have a Bad Case of Senioritis (aka the Senior Slump)?

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:02:00 +0000

This is the time of year that some kids really begin to slack off. You know, they feel like because the applications are done, the colleges won't care how their grades are or what classes they are taking.

This is wrong, wrong, WRONG

First off, let me make you feel better. It's not just your kid, it's EVERYBODY'S kid. Ok, well almost everybody's kid...

Anyway, it's so bad that Charles Reed, the chancellor for the Cal State system called 12th grade 'the biggest wasteland in America'. And right now, even as I write this, 9 state governors are seeking to completely overhaul the senior year, saying that it's currently a "waste of the student's time and taxpayer's money".

Crazy, huh?

So, don't beat your kids too bad if they've got it.

BUT, and this is the big but, that does NOT give them an excuse to totally slack off and just basically coast until summer.

Here's why: (seniors, are you paying attention?)

First off, the slacking is SO bad that 1/2 of the colleges nationwide have to offer remediation (think: remedial). And I'm not talking about community colleges at all. I'm talking 4 year schools ONLY. Half of them

What that means in plain English is that if you slack off and don't pay attention this year, no problem, you'll just have to re-take those classes once you get to college. Which means, it's longer until you graduate. Which, of course, costs your parents more money and delays you getting out into the real world and making serious money of your own.

Oh yeah, and that's IF you get in in the first place.

Here's what I mean:

If you are applying to any sort of competitive school, meaning pretty much anything other than a community college, they WILL be looking at what classes you are taking your senior year.

And they WILL notice if you went from challenging yourself by taking, say, 6 academic classes your junior year, and now you're only taking 4 classes and they are all electives. And that WILL affect their decision.

Right here, this can be the difference between getting into your 1st choice...and your last.

..Or not getting in at all.

Now, on the same subject, once and for all, YES! YOUR SENIOR YEAR GRADES DO COUNT.

A LOT

Got it?

Here's what happens: If you are borderline for getting in to a college, they will call your high school to request the latest copy of your grades. Which, by the way, you gave them the right to do when you filled out your application. And if they notice that you are slipping, they probably will not admit you.

Or, they can withdraw your admission even after they've offered it.

I know, it's not 'fair', but I've warned you.

Story: We had a student last year who was offered admittance to SDSU….on one condition: she had to get a 'C' or better in chemistry her senior year.

Yep, you got it: she got a 'D +'.

So, her admission was revoked, and NOTHING we could do would get them to reinstate her. Not offering to retake the class over summer, not getting the teacher to re-do her grade.

Nothing.

Because, basically, they said that she had shown them that she didn't have the discipline to succeed in college. Goodbye SDSU, hello Cal State San Bernardino.

She already had her room and everything. She had even started hanging out with her future roommate.

Do NOT let this happen to you.

Now, I know you're burnt out and everything, but here's what you can do to finish strong:

1. Realize that senior does count...both the classes you take AND the grades you get in them. So, like I said above, finish strong. You're almost there, don't let up know.

2. Evaluate your schedule. Don't get so busy with work or friends or your boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever that you're using up all the time you used to spend studying. Stay focused on your academics.

3. All right, this is going to sound lame, but challenge yourself. Yeah, yeah, I know. You've been hearing this forever. Here's what I mean: Look for ways to push yourself. Form a study group if you have to, or try to find something for extra credit that's interesting (key word: interesting).

4. Get your dang internship already. I've beat this one to death, but it's vitally important which is why I keep sounding like a broken record on this. Remember, it will help you both in determining whether you're even going to school for the right thing or not, AND it will get your foot in the door for the future.

5. Lastly, you're so 'done' with high school? Cool. Go take a class or two at a community college. Make sure it's academic, but this will give you a chance to get your feet wet and see what college is like, as well as being able to walk the halls with adults, and not a bunch of 14 year old freshman.

I don't know if these will help you or not. Like I said, probably the MOST important thing is to realize that 'almost done' and 'done' are NOT the same thing.

In fact, that's a pretty good quote. You should probably write that one down.

Hang in there. You'll be in college soon enough.

Building Solid Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Throughout our twenty-six years of producing SuperCamp learning and life skills academic summer camp programs for teens and youth, we have also endeavored to give parents some of the tools they might need to support the continued personal growth of their children after their return from our summer camp.

We have found the following to be worthwhile elements in building rapport with children:

• Know what they like, how they think, and how they feel about what’s happening in their lives.
• Imagine what they say to themselves, about themselves.
• Know what keeps them from getting what they truly want. If you don’t know, ask.
• Speak the truth to them in a way they can hear it, clearly and gently.
• Have fun with them.
• Treat them as equals.

Many of the beliefs that we teach and practice at SuperCamp are worth sharing with SuperCamp families. We strongly believe that:

• Respect and caring – for ourselves and for others – is vitally important.
• Every person is gifted and capable of learning.
• There are no failures, only learning experiences through which we gain greater self-understanding.
• Positive support, a nurturing environment, and good communication are essential – for learning and for life.

Parents who make an effort to build their relationships with their children will also build their feelings of acceptance and trust – which will in turn build their self confidence. Self-confidence is a vital ingredient in the happiness and academic success of our children.

Learn More at SuperCamp

At SuperCamp, our exceptional staff go in-depth with campers from age 9 to 18 on how to build strong relationships with friends and family and on many other life and learning skills that help build grades, confidence and motivation. Our Youth Forum is seven days long and is for students going into grades 4-5 in the fall. Junior Forum and Senior Forum are 10 days long. Junior Forum is for incoming 6-8 graders and Senior Forum is for incoming 9-12 graders. We even have a college boot camp, Quantum U, an 8-day programs for incoming college freshmen.

SuperCamp is held at eight beautiful colleges across the U.S. throughout the summer. Quantum U takes place at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. More information on our programs is available at www.supercamp.com and www.quantum-u.com.

We also offer a unique 3-day Parent Weekend at which parents of kids in SuperCamp gain an insight into what their children are learning in their programs. In the process, parents tell us they learn a lot about themselves, as well. You can view a Parent Weekend video at http://www.SuperCamp.com.

What Is ADD? Getting Past Lists of Symptoms

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:37:00 +0000

What is ADD? Surprisingly the secret lies to knowing lies in knowing why folks with Asperger's tend to correct people. In essence, folks with Asperger’s process words in an unnaturally fussy manner. Similarly to how eighteen month olds learning language process words then, they feel compelled to repeat words precisely and have no real awareness of how doing this feels to the other person.

The key to understanding people with Asperger's then lies in the phrase, "compulsive verbal precision forced on others." Folks with Asperger's literally cannot stand to hear to vagueness, especially conceptual vagueness. Hence their compulsion to correct anyone whom they hear speaking vaguely, or imprecisely, or with anything less than professorial comprehension. Fussy. Fussy. Fussy. Anything less is simply a waste of time and unacceptable.

People with ADD lie at the other end of the fussy / fuzzy continuum. These folks rarely correct people; they know all too well what this feels like. They also often feel like being asked to find the right words is boring or a waste of time or next to impossible. Thus they tend to be the folks Aspie's correct the most. Of whom am I talking? Why the unnaturally fuzzy minded people of the world, of course. The folks who have ADD.

What exactly is ADD? Word wise, it's an acronym for Attention Deficit Disorder. Or as the fussy minded folk out there refer to it these days, ADHD; attention deficits with or without hyperactivity.

Please realize these words in no way offer us any real clues as to what underlies this condition. In fact, the only way to get a real sense of what underlies ADD is to set aside the "hyperactivity" part while at the same time, doing your best to disregard any and all images which may pop into your head as to what "attention deficits" may look like.

Not every one with ADD is hyperactive. That should tell you something. More important, we all have attention deficits, even Aspie's. Thus defining ADD as an attention deficit sometimes accompanied by hyperactivity does more to confuse the issue than to help. And yes, I know what I've just said is anathema to many in the medical community especially when, from the outside, folks with ADD do appear to have attention deficits. In reality though, defining ADD as attention deficits is more like defining manic depression as mood swings. Duh! Of course this is true, but so what. My point is, defining ADD as attention deficits is next to useless, as it does nothing to define the actual underlying condition.

What is ADD then? ADD is an unnatural state of mind and body wherein people instantly and compulsively digress. These folks literally try to pay attention to too many things at once. They then get lost and end up either sinking into an inner mental labyrinth of blankness or they seek escape by blurting out the first words that come to mind.

Why do they blurt out the first words which come to mind? Because blurting out these words feels better than standing there looking like an idiot. Doing this quickly also satisfies the educational world's misconception that quick answers imply learning. It also resembles the quick mindedness we think makes us clever or sly, as well as being a doable way to escape the pain of being lost in a wordlessly amorphous state of mind.

Now take a moment to take all these images in. Can you picture what it feels like to have ADD? You get asked a question. Then you stand there, blank and stuck, hoping to out wait the questioner until they give up and just move on. Know how many wives misread this as that their spouse doesn't love them enough to talk? Or parents that their child doesn't care about learning? And when I suggest this is not the case, these wives or parents say things like, "then why don't they answer me?" Why? Because this person has ADD.

Sometimes, too, the person answers but only after what feels like a long time to the questioner. To which the questioning wife responds with that the husband's answer isn't sincere. He's said it only because he believes she wants to hear it. Or if it's a child being helped with homework and she answers after a time, then it's assumed she could be finding the answers more quickly if only she would try harder. Not really. But it does look like this.

Most important of all, can you imagine how bad it feels when even simple questions evoke this kind of pressure in a person? Perhaps this why folks with ADD prefer having the wrong words to no words. And why quickly spitting out the first words which come to mind feels better than being slow to respond with the right words. Now add to this that when people with ADD can't answer quickly, they hear things like, "come on now, you can do it if you try" or worse; "did you forget to take your medication again?," or "quit stalling and just spit it out." Really makes a person feel like talking is going to be fun, don't you think?

What about you? Have compulsive digressions been a way of life for you? If not, then please allow me to offer you a few brief visual insights into what is really happening here. Why visual? Because insights make sense only to those who can visualize them, which is why we call them "in - sights" rather than "in - logic" (sigh).

What does someone with ADD look like then? How, in fact, can you know if you have ADD?

The easiest way to test people for ADD is to ask them a question then notice what happens to their eyes. The simpler the question, the better. For instance, asking people what their favorite color is can be a good ADD test. As can asking them what they'd like for lunch, or what they ate last night.

What do the eyes of folks with ADD look like when they are being asked a question? Before I tell you, I first need you to know that in order for this look to make sense, you need to see it as being on the opposite end of the spectrum from what the eyes of folks who have Asperger's look like. The core requirement one needs to know in order to accurately gauge this test then is how folks with ADD look when being asked a question as opposed to what folks with Asperger's look like.

Let's do the Aspie's first. What do folks with Asperger's look like when they're being asked a question? If you watch closely, you'll feel like their eyes are reaching out into the world, often with a sense of positive anticipation. Their eyes will literally widen a bit, sometimes quite a bit, and if you are an intuitive type, you can almost feel they are reaching out toward you, wanting to give you their answer.

This look is very similar to how the eyes of eighteen month olds look when you ask them a question; widened with positive anticipation. The eyes of folks with ADD will appear to be the exact opposite. The eyes of folks with ADD will appear to be receding inward, often in a suddenly blank and or guarded manner and with an overarching air of negative anticipation.

Know this look resembles children at an early age too, in this case, the look two and a half year olds give you when you ask them something. Thus if you contrast and compare the eyes of eighteen month olds being asked a question with the eyes of two and a half year olds, you'll have a good basic sense of what to look for.

Now try visualizing what I've just said about ADD. Eyes which appear to be receding inward, often in a suddenly blank and or guarded manner, with an overarching air of negative anticipation. This look closely matches the annoyed eyes of a two year old being asked to pay attention. Or being asked to learn something, or shown something, or being told to answer a question.

These pictures are a good way to begin to assess someone for ADD. They can also be used to infer what is happening inside of the minds of folks with ADD. Withdrawing in a guarded manner versus the positive out reaching of Aspie's. Big difference, right? More important, this happens to people with ADD even when they are being asked simple questions.

Thus were you to watch a film in slow motion of their reaction to being asked a question, you'd realize the blunt "get away from me" part of their response is actually their secondary response. Their primary response is actually that they feel compelled to find the right answer and so, digress into blankness. Realize too that this response is so much a part of their nature that it happens to them even when the question being asked is something they readily know, like what they ate last night.

This in fact is what makes this test for ADD so revealing. These easily observed responses are involuntary responses. Thus they offer us the best clues to the true nature of people with ADD.

What about their motives for not answering? Can't you logically infer their motives from observing them? In truth, if they're going blank, they cannot be choosing to do anything. You cannot chose what you cannot see, and all motive assumes mental access to choice.

How are you doing so far? Feeling any scientific skepticism right now? If so, good for you. Nothing truly new ever becomes intuitively obvious until much debate has passed. For now, I merely ask that you allow me to try to teach you something about the nature of discovering new ideas, the idea that all new discoveries are rooted in someone learning to recognize a previously unseen pattern. Einstein, Newton, Descartes, whomever. It doesn't matter. They each discovered patterns previously unseen.

The thing that's especially important to know is that, with all natural things, these patterns are always fractal in nature. Including the patterns which define ADD as ADD. How do I define patterns as being "fractal patterns?" They are "recognizable visual patterns which always repeat differently." As opposed to the holy grail of the today's statistically based sciences, wherein the only acceptable test for truth is "recognizable numeric patterns which always repeat identically." The closer to identical, the better.

Did you notice that the difference between these two ways of evaluating things? For the most part it lies in the last word; repeats "differently" versus repeats "identically." This is what makes using lists of symptoms to evaluate someone for ADD fail. Despite the statistical evidence behind each of these symptoms, at the single person level, each symptom may or may not be present. Why not? Because ADD never repeats identically. Not even in the same person on different days.

Contrast this way of knowing things with how we might determine if a leaf is an oak leaf. And yes, oak leaves are simpler than people. Still, the method we'd use to identify them both, in theory, should be the same. Right? Good science should be good science regardless of what we're testing for, yes? Surprisingly, most people would not use science's chosen method though. We'd intuitively use the very opposite method. We'd look for recognizable patterns which repeat differently as opposed to patterns which repeat identically. Identical patterns appear only in artificial oak leaves, right? Real ones always repeat differently.

This simple test for truth is how a nine year old can so readily identify a leaf as an oak leaf. How? He recognizes the visual pattern with always repeats differently. This is why the differences you'd see between oak leaves never really matter and why, once you learn what an oak leaf looks like, you know this pattern for life. The differences you see never matter because you are not cross checking a list for what you are supposed to see. You are looking only for a recognizable visual pattern.

Now consider how this concept holds true for identifying all natural objects, clouds to snow flakes, smiles to yawns. In each case it's the visual pattern we learn to identify, not a list of conditions. Moreover once we learn this pattern, we then recognize this thing for life. Easily, and with one hundred percent certainty.

Imagine being able to diagnose ADD with this much ease and degree of certainty? How much more could we help people with ADD. In effect, we'd be diagnosing them with one hundred percent certainty. Moreover, unlike cross checking people's behaviors against written lists of possible symptoms, wherein folks are considered to have ADD merely because they appear to have more of these things than chance would allow, with fractal patterns, what you see is one hundred percent true. Either a person has ADD or they do not. It's this simple. Can you imagine?

Please know that fully grasping this point is anything but simple. In effect, I'm saying that we should be using the same method to identify ADD as we'd use to identify oak leaves and smiles. Moreover, I'm also saying that the only truly scientific way to know the nature of ADD is to learn to recognize the fractal patterns which define it. Recognizable patterns like eyes reaching out, widening a bit, and feeling positive versus eyes receding inward, narrowing a bit, and feeling squirmy are just such fractal patterns. This makes identifying and learning to recognize these kinds of patterns enormously important in everything from diagnosing and understanding ADD to knowing how best to help.

Not convinced yet as to the importance of learning to recognize these kinds of patterns? Know you've been using this kind of pattern recognition to test for truth all your life. As babies, we learn to recognize these kinds of patterns in our mother's face within minutes of being born. Moreover, know it or not, we continue to rely on these kinds of visual patterns for the rest of our lives.

Want to experience this for yourself? The next time you meet someone, before you speak one word, take a moment to consciously take in what you see on person's face. Then ask yourself who this person reminds you of. Take your time. This test only works if it's the first thing you do.

Now watch how you feel as the conversation unfolds, paying close attention to how your "first visual impression" sets the tone for what you expect this person to be like. This impression can often lead us to immediately like or dislike a person, including that some of what we expect may eventually turn out to be wrong.

In a way then, what I'm saying here about the eye patterns of folks with ADD is that these patterns tell us far more than words like "distraction" can ever tell us, including things like that these folks are frequently more motivated to learn than has previously been thought. Unfortunately, our first impressions of people with ADD appear to make them the very opposite. They often appear to be folks who have no interest in learning but in fact, any teacher who gets an ADD kid to be interested knows this impression is utter nonsense. When they are focused, kids with ADD love learning just as much as the other kids. We think otherwise mainly because we judge what we see on their faces to mean disinterest.

What would you find if you were to spend some time exploring these visual patterns? You'd find a very simple truth. That beneath it all, people with ADD simply focus too much on escaping their need to have the right answer, while folks with Asperger's focus too much on having the right answer and not enough on having good questions.

Now picture what I've just described, the basic difference between ADD and Asperger's. Said more simply, the biggest difference between these two conditions lies in the speed at which these two kinds of folks process words. Now ask yourself how true these two visual patterns of speed feel in your body? Now trust your gut. Attention deficits are not even close to what you see. Digressing into bluntness is the real deal here. And speed is the clue to the underlying problem.

Does it still sound like what I'm suggesting here is more based on vague guesswork than on hard science? If so, then try this. Try watching a foreign film wherein you have no knowledge of the language being spoken. Now turn off the subtitles and continue watching. After a few moments, ask yourself how well you can understand the gist of what is going on just from what you're seeing. You'll be surprised at how much you can sense merely by watching the fractal patterns of body language and such.

Even more to the point, try reading a line of text wherein you cover up the bottom half of the words. You'll be stunned at how much of the gist of these words you can get even from just seeing the fractal visual patterns of the upper halves of these words. Scientists use this test to reveal the underlying nature of learning language, including that much of what we think we read or hear is never actually there. The nature of typos, remember?

Okay, yes. This is a lot to take in. Moreover reading through all this is a whole lot harder than if I were to have given you a list of symptoms for ADD. The thing is, if you've gotten even the vaguest sense of how we learn to identify oak leaves, then you have the first clue as to how best to identify folks with ADD.

How do we best help people with ADD? Obviously, it's complicated. What I can tell you at this point though is this. The key to knowing how best to help folks with ADD has been in front of us all along, right there, in plain sight. Moreover the proof for this being true lies in a single, simple question. The question? Why does taking a medication which speeds up a person's sense of time help people with ADD to focus? Go slow now and for Pete's sake, don't look for the answer with logic alone.

What does a person's sense of time have to do with ADD anyway? Remember, you cannot arrive at a truly scientific answer unless you find the underlying visual pattern which always repeats differently. In truth, underlying fractal patterns are the only truly scientific way to define anything, including everything in the natural world. What fractal underlies ADD? I've already given you the clue. It has everything to do with something I've said repeatedly here, that the person's sense of speed. What does this tell us? A lot if you understand fractals.

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:49:00 +0000

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.

History Of The Early Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:48:00 +0000

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.

Learn French Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:47:00 +0000

Learning French is now easier and more accessible then ever. I have put together a list of the top four ways to learn French. Hopefully this will help you choose best possible French tuition option for you.

Learning a new language doesn't have to take hours each day. You'll find that most modern language courses understand how busy people are, so they create courses that require less than 20 minutes study time each day. I am sure you could spare 20 minutes a day out of your bust schedule to gain a new valuable skill. These short daily sessions help you retain more information and are a great way to keep you motivated.

Have you ever thought about using your time more effectively? I am sure there are times during you day that you could fit in some extra French tuition. What about during your commute to work? Maybe even during your lunch break? Think about it? Could you squeeze in some extra French tuition into these times? Most modern courses can be purchased in CDs or MP3s formats. All you would need to do is upload the tracks onto your Ipod and take it to work! The last thing any of us want to do when you come home from work – is work some more. If you use your time more wisely you won't have to.

Have you ever though about teaching yourself to learn French for free? I know it sounds crazy, but it's easy if you know how. The best way to start is to simply use your ears. Get on-line and listen to some French internet radio stations. The more you listen the more you'll realise the similarities between English and French. Before you know it you'll start to understand some of the things they are saying – you'll be amazed how quickly this will happen. Another great tip is to rent some French movies from your local library. All foreign movies now have English subtitles so it's understand what's being said.

If you want to learn French very quickly then you may want to think about one 2 one French tuition. This can be quite expensive, but you will be able to speak and understand French in no time at all. If you are serious about learning another language, and are prepared to pay for it then this is definitely the way to go. A great less expensive alternative is to attend an evening class. You won't receive the same amount of individual attention, but expect to see some pretty impressive results in a relatively short amount of time.

Hopefully my top four ideas on French tuition have enlightened you, and help you get a step closer to learning French.

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:46:00 +0000

My preschooler can count twice as high as your preschooler -- but does that mean she really understands number concepts? In truth, she has memorized a sequence of words. Although children can't learn math unless they know how to count, counting is only one aspect of math.

Children begin to count on their own as they grow, and they learn from everyday experiences with length, quantity, time, temperature, money, and more. Through Preschool program, children expand their true understanding of math. Adults should recognize that games such as sorting and putting objects in sequence are actually early experiments in math, even if they don't look much like geometry!

Here are some everyday opportunities for children to begin thinking about numbers:

• All about me - Teach children their own address and phone number as well as their age. Also, record their height – in centimeters and metres. Putting a child on a scale represents an opportunity to compare pounds and Kg, and heavy versus light. Children can also learn what size clothes they wear, and be able to judge what will fit and what won’t.

• Cooking -- Adults pour, measure, divide, estimate time, and read labels every time they prepare a meal. Why not include young children in on the activities? Before he can pour pancake batter or read recipes, a child can stir with a wooden spoon in a plastic bowl. Show a child how you follow a recipe step by step, and how you set the oven temperature. Remember to warn children about what's too hot to touch or eat!

• Managing money -- Children can start knowing about money even before elementary tutoring. You can start letting your child touch, count, save, sort, and spend money. What better way to teach children about the value of money than by taking them shopping and showing them how much they must pay for items -- and how much they will save with coupons!

• Around the house -- Household repairs offer children excellent opportunities to practice math skills. Let children watch as you measure a door frame, or hang a picture in the center of a wall. Children can help you make a list of items you will need to complete a project, including the number of tools. Everyday activities like setting the timer on the VCR or setting the dinner table are opportunities for children to count and work with numbers.

• Play -- Children may also race against the clock or measure the distance they can hit or throw a ball. Help children make neighborhood activities and sports more than just good exercise.

When children pretend, they often create lifelike situations in which they may check a bus schedule, or gauge how much gas is needed for a long car trip.

• Travelling -- Even a short car trip offers children experiences with math. Ask children to identify the speed limit on a passing sign. Estimate the number of minutes it takes to get to a relative's house. Remember games you played in the back seat of the car, like counting yellow school buses and adding up the numbers on license plates.

For more information on how to better prepare for you preschooler, please visit us at the Bayhill Bulletin at http://www.bayhilleducation.com. We are located in Ontario Richmond hill specialized in preschool elementary high school tutoring. And remember…we are among the leaders in York Region preschool program education.

Students Learn Flexibility At Academic Summer Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:45:00 +0000

The academic summer camp for teens and pre-teens, SuperCamp, tells students to get off what's not working. Shift perspectives. Maintain the ability to change what you're doing to get the outcome you desire.

Flexibility is being prepared for change and having the willingness to do things differently. If a strategy is not working, try something different until you find something that does work. Many times every day you face situations that look different from what you had planned. You could be rigid and continue to do things the same way over and over. Or you could be flexible and respond by adapting to the changing situation. Which response is more likely to produce your desired outcome in the long run?

Go on — make a change — try something different

People in their eighties and nineties looking back at their long lives have said that their regrets are more often about the opportunities for change they didn’t take than the ones they did. More often than not, change pays off. Hockey player Wayne Gretzky put it this way: “You miss 100% of the goals you never try for.”

Then why don’t people make more changes? What keeps people from trying new things? Comfort? Convenience? Fear of the unknown? Using old methods feels easier—even though it often isn’t.

How well do you handle change? Do you hold on to old ways of doing things even when you know they don’t work? We all do sometimes. It’s not easy to recognize or admit when something isn’t working. Some people routinely fight against change. You’ve probably known rigid, inflexible people who refuse to adapt to new circumstances. But let me ask you: How many highly successful rigid people do you know?

What’s flexibility? It’s the capability to adapt to new or changing situations to obtain the outcome you want. It’s the ability to get off what’s not working and find what does work. And it’s a prime ingredient of a successful life in a changing world.

Why Flexibility?

Every day we face situations that are different from what we expected or planned. But we do have choices when this occurs. We can be rigid and stick with a set of behaviors that no longer fit the plan—or we can adapt and handle the situation with flexibility. We all know that life does not follow a rigid plan. It’s fluid, dynamic, and ever-changing. Staying flexible means having the courage and openness to change when your situation changes.

Every aspect of our lives demands flexibility. You’re running six mornings a week to train for a tennis tournament but you sprain your ankle; instead of giving up, you swim in the mornings until you heal. You’ve planned lunch with an old friend at an upscale bistro, but when you learn that she’s bringing her four small kids you opt instead for a burger restaurant with a play area for kids. You’re planting a bed of red roses and need six more to finish, but your local nursery is out of the red variety—you alternate red with white. You get a great promotion, but at the same time your mother falls ill, so you defer your job change for three months so you can take care of her, but while you're there you study to prepare for your new position. Life can require flexibility in the greatest and smallest of situations.

Be ready to change what you’re doing to reach your goals

Flexibility challenges you to let go of what’s not working and try new things until you hit upon what does work. It’s hard to recognize—even harder to admit—when something’s not working. You’ve invested time, money, pride—and you’ve convinced yourself it has to work. To become flexible, develop the ability to recognize when it’s time to let go of an unworkable method and try something different. It’s hard on the ego, but until you admit you’ve got a problem, you can’t take the next step.

Try these steps to move toward greater flexibility:

• First, you have to accept the reality of change. Recognize that it’s normal to change the way you do things because it's inevitable that circumstances change. It’s nothing personal—it’s just the nature of life. The best plans in the world can become impractical or obsolete. Make it okay for something not to work.

• Second, in order to let go of things that aren’t working, learn to detach your ego. We get our pride wrapped up in our methods—we take the need for change as a personal attack on our intelligence or our ability. Or sometimes we just get stubbornly attached to our way of doing things because it’s “our way.” Make sure your ego doesn’t get in the way of your flexibility. Save ego for the results, not the means. Take your work, not yourself, seriously. What you want is more important than looking good.

• Third, challenge your assumptions. In order to see when change is needed, you have to become conscious of your beliefs about a situation. Don’t judge (and condemn) alternate paths before you’ve tried them. To increase awareness of your assumptions, become a rigorous questioner of your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Question your authority! Learn to ask yourself, “Why do I think that?”

• Finally, learn to recognize the difference between a plan that’s not working and a temporary setback. When things are not going well it could be because the method is bad and doomed to fail, or it may simply be a momentary pause in a massive upswing. How will you know the difference? Your gut will tell you. Tune in to your gut, then measure your results.

New ideas don’t come to those with closed minds. When you realize it’s time to reformulate your actions, break yourself wide open. Start by promising yourself to be wide open to new thoughts. Learn to suspend your assumptions and listen without judgment. Brainstorm. Branch out. Get creative. Explore as many possible solutions as you can. By throwing yourself open to the possibilities, you’ll discover avenues for success that you would never have considered before. You might even find ways to improve things that are working.

If you want to experience whole-life success, learn to dance with change. To succeed, you have to look for ways to make everything better. Suspend your assumptions, seek new ground, throw yourself headlong into the unknown.

Borrow ideas from other subjects, other applications. If you can find wisdom in the way a violin is tuned, that same method may apply to the way an annual report is written. If the patrol method used by Canadian geese to safeguard their flocks works for them, the same method might work to keep a group of nine-year-olds safe on a camping trip. Be willing to cross borders, mix and match, move methods from one application to another, and stand them on their heads.

Don’t fall back into rigidity if you find a possible solution and it doesn't work. If the old method wasn’t the method, this new one might not be it either. Be ready to try several new methods! Assign a deadline to the experiment and give it all you’ve got for the duration. If, in that time, it yields few results, let it go.

Complacency is the enemy of success. When you get comfortable, you stop moving forward. You dig in, shut down, doze off, disengage. Your spirit falls asleep. If complacency is the enemy of success, change is its best friend. Change wakes you up, gets you on your feet, and engages you.

But change for its own sake isn’t what I’m talking about here. It doesn’t work to simply change things randomly. The rule of thumb when it comes to change is to keep what’s working—and let go of what’s not.

Commit to Flexibility – it's fun, and it works!

When you commit to Flexibility, you’ll discover a side benefit—life’s more fun when you're flexible! Being open to change as you meet the unknown can be a thrill! A friend who’s president of a state university told me he knows he’s on track, moving things forward, when he feels a bit of fear. Do you sometimes find yourself tingling with fear? Do you experience that heightened sense of alertness and readiness that comes with facing change? Excellent! That’s how you know you’re flexible enough to enjoy the challenge of change—and the success it brings.

Affirmations for FLEXIBILITY:

• I challenge my assumptions in order to see when change is needed.

• When something isn't working, I try another way.

• I change strategies whenever it's necessary to attain my goals.

"When you're through changing, you're through." —Bruce Barton

SuperCamp summer programs fill up fast. Parents, go to http://www.SuperCamp.com now to learn about enrolling your son or daughter while space remains. Age-specific programs are available for students in grades 4-12 and incoming college freshmen. At the website, you also can get a free eBook that gives you an inside look at what works with teens from a world leader in youth achievement, SuperCamp co-founder Bobbi DePorter.

12 Great Memory Strategies For Better Grades

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:39:00 +0000

"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.)

Basic Steps in Preparing for College

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:38:00 +0000

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.

How To Compare 529 Plans?

noreply@blogger.com (Bash) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:36:00 +0000

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.