What It Takes to Become a Successful School Principal - Primary or Secondary

By Andrew J Belotti

The top three traits that an aspiring or a current school principal should demonstrate in order to become successful was difficult to narrow down as there were so many.

From observations, experience and discussions with educators the number one trait was integrity. Young staff and students looked at the values that the principal demonstrated in their daily life. It didn't matter whether the principal was a primary or secondary educator, the discussions always came back to the point that integrity was something that they really claimed as a foundation. Everything they stood for revolved around integrity.

The second trait was one of support. Support in the principal's personal life and their constant support of staff and students. All agreed that support created stability. A stable support network around the school principal included their home life with their partner and family. It was strongly suggested that the result of support and the giving of support was the building block for intrinsic stability.

The third trait was consistency. The principal had to show consistency with what they were saying and what they believed in. The principal must demonstrate the direction they wanted to take the school. A shared and clearly articulated vision was very important. When that occurred decisions were easily made about the schools direction.

Experience showed that being a successful school principal did require the principal to know when to sit back and not say anything. Many principals said it was a skill that they had to really focus on. Most of my research in this area showed that principals only had to have a small opportunity and they were quick to give their opinion when it would have been better to have kept quiet and let discussion by the staff roll on instead of stifling discussion. The majority of principals mentioned that was the area they had to learn very quickly because when they saw that they didn't interrupt or voice their opinion in the early stages of discussion the staff remained engaged and felt that they were being heard. Discussion did not close down. My observations of inexperienced compared to experienced principals saw a tremendous contrast in that discussions turned to debates very early in meetings with the inexperienced principal compared to the experienced principal. The inexperienced principal seemed at a loss when staff didn't contribute to discussions. The experienced principal let the diverse and free ranging ideas and opinions flow. Experienced school principals said that the quicker the inexperienced principal learned to remain quiet the better for him or her.

There were many good things about being a school principal. The principal had the ability to implement the things that he or she truly believed in. Principals who had a strong belief that the social and emotional well-being of students was as important as their academic ability, ensured that there was always a focus on social and emotional well-being. The principal had the opportunity to have a big picture understanding of education. It allowed them to keep more up-to-date with contemporary thought and practice. They had more professional development opportunities. It gave them a good understanding of the directions of their education system and systems around the world.

The successful school principal did many positive things with children. A principal holds a lot of positional power and most of the students hold them in high esteem. For student orientated principals it was very uplifting walking around the school and interacting with students. It was very important that principals knew their students as people.

To read more about what it takes to become a successful school principal, click http://www.andrewbelotti.com/index.php?p=1_10_School-Principal.

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Baby on the Back Seat - Infant Passengers on Driving Lessons

By Russell A Chaplin

I have found that on the rare occasion where a pupil has brought an infant along to a driving lesson owing to a lack of any alternative childcare it has been a very rewarding experience. When we teach driving we are preparing people to drive for the rest of their lives not just to pass a test. Safe Driving for Life is the strap line to the DSA logo and this is what we are aiming for. The learner might have to drive with a child in the car the day after passing their test so surely it would be good for them to gain experience of this in a more controlled environment.

Having their child in the car can bring a very real world feel to a driving lesson. The pupil gets a feeling of what motoring is really like. A great sense of confidence and satisfaction can be gained which assists the learning process. I find parents of young children have a greater sense of responsibility behind the wheel when their child is present leading to greater care being taken. Moving off becomes smoother so as not to disturb the child who has usually fallen asleep and forward planning improves owing to a greater appreciation of safety and consequences of careless driving.

It is important that the pupil is not overly distracted by having a child present. The child should be positioned on the back seat directly behind the drivers seat. A child visible through the rear view mirror would distract the pupil from looking through the windscreen at what lies ahead on the road. From this position it is easy for the instructor to regularly have a glance and check that the child is comfortable from the passenger seat.

The child should be properly restrained in an appropriate safety seat. If the parent straps the child in then the instructor should always check that the seatbelt fastening is secure and nothing is twisted. If the seat is too lose it can move about.

Make sure the correct type of baby or child seat is being used according to the weight of the child. For a small infant a rear facing seat would be best as this gives good head and spine protection. The infant's head should not be any higher than the top of the seat and the maximum weight specifications should not be exceeded.Once children have outgrown a rearwards facing seat, the best option is to use a forward facing seat with an integral harness, the large area of the harness helps to reduce the risk of injury to the child in the unlikely event of an accident. For an older child a simple booster seat would be sufficient provided the seatbelt is properly fitted. When a calm and safe approach is taken a mother taking her child on a driving lesson can have very positive results.

Hello there. My name is Russ Chaplin. I am a DSA approved driving instructor giving driving lessons Sherwood Nottingham. I hold the Diploma in Driving Instruction and have passed both the Diamond Advanced and Special driving tests, qualifying me as a Diamond advanced Instructor. I teach driving at all levels and also deliver the Pass Plus post-test training course. After nearly 10 years working as one of the driving instructors Sherwood Nottingham I am still as enthusiastic as ever.

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Driving Down Risk for Younger Motorists

By Russell A Chaplin

Younger drivers aged 17 to 21 are more at risk of accidents than any other age group. There are more penalties for speeding than ever before and insurance premiums are becoming more expensive each year. This article looks at the management of risk whilst driving.

The risk factor can never be fully eradicated from driving. Every time we get into a car and move away we are taking a risk as we cannot foresee what will happen next. Risk is an important part of human development and we all react to it in different ways depending upon our personality and the situation we find ourselves in. the secret to safe driving relies on the control of risk rather than ignoring it or simply shrinking away and avoiding it altogether.

The younger age group are more willing to take risks as they are at a developmental stage where they are trying to find out where their limits are. This can translate into reckless driving and carelessness with the inevitable consequences. I have seen former pupils speeding around and going against everything they were taught during their driving lessons. They listened at the time and were successful in passing their test but the message did not stick. The sense of freedom and self identity which goes hand in hand with gaining a driving licence overrides any previous teaching. It seems rules and advice are ineffective against our natural impulses to seek excitement and danger.

At the other end of the scale we see younger drivers who fear risk and will do almost anything to avoid it. Fear of emerging at junctions or even of moving off on a hill in case they roll backwards are symptoms of an inability to control risk. A dependence on being warned in advance or denying the element of risk altogether play a part in making a driver unsafe on the road. The timid driver is unpredictable and slow which can be a danger to other motorists. This can be seen on the road when drivers hold up traffic and invite others who are impatient into dangerous overtaking. Knowing there is risk involved in a task and managing it helps us to function well and gain a sense of self control. This is the middle ground we are looking for when it comes to good driving.

Younger drivers need to be taught active risk management from the very beginning of their driving career. When risk is neither feared nor embraced it can be controlled and decision making made all the more easier. Peer pressure will always be a factor for younger drivers especially males and this can be hard to account for as they are willing to allow others to tell them what level of risk is acceptable for fear of ridicule. Younger drivers need to have an idea of personal responsibility and this could be instilled if traffic education was on the school syllabus and they were taught about attitudes to driving from a young age.

Hello there. My name is Russ Chaplin. I am a DSA approved driving instructor giving driving lessons Arnold Nottingham. I hold the Diploma in Driving Instruction and have passed both the Diamond Advanced and Special driving tests, qualifying me as a Diamond advanced Instructor. I teach driving at all levels and also deliver the Pass Plus post-test training course. I am also a member of the driving instructors Arnold Nottingham group.

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Traffic Lights for Cyclists - The Way Forward?

By Russell A Chaplin

Passing cyclists on the road can be a challenge for driving instructors. Learners can be alarmed by the unpredictability and slow pace of cyclists as well as the risk of injuring them by passing too close to them. New plans for the testing of traffic lights for cyclists could possibly make the roads safer and procedures for their use will have to be taught during driving lessons.

The new style traffic lights for cyclists will be set at eye-level and staggered to give bikes a leading start from traffic light controlled junctions allowing them to get ahead of other traffic, mainly cars. Not exactly a good thing as car drivers will immediately start looking to overtake cycles at the first opportunity. Lorries and commercial vehicles will present a more serious problem owing to their size and lack of manoeuvrability. The inevitable slowing down of traffic flow could lead to worse congestion and even more stress on the roads, particularly at rush hour. This would create a pressure situation at the front of the queue where lack of road space may lead to dangerously close overtaking. It may possibly be safer for cyclists not to take position at the front and wait naturally in the traffic queue. Motoring organisations are in talks with the government regarding the changes in law necessary for extensive use of the lighting throughout the United Kingdom, but will go ahead and conduct trials using the new technology. Time will tell if the roads become safer.

Traffic lighting for cyclists are already used in other countries, with the green light showing a logo of a bicycle. In some countries the lights are used on separate designated cycle lanes and at major junctions. Department for transport figures show that the number of deaths has risen steeply for cyclists whilst overall traffic fatalities are on the decrease.

At many major junctions which already have multiple sets of traffic lights and filter arrows the confusion caused to learner drivers by yet another set of lights could be considerable, especially a green light which comes on prior to the main traffic lights. Inattentive motorists may think that the light is meant for them especially at night or during adverse weather conditions. This would probably lead to many false starts and stalling as the instructor intervenes to stop the car. Many cyclists already completely ignore red traffic lights, even the lights at controlled pedestrian crossings so could not be reasonably expected to conform to the new signals.

Perhaps a more effective way forward would be traffic education for cyclists and some form of testing. At the moment there is no such requirement and anyone can take a bike on the road without even a rudimentary knowledge of traffic signs and signals. Having untrained cyclists moving to the front of a busy traffic queue could present a very real safety issue.

Hello there. My name is Russ Chaplin. I am a DSA approved driving instructor giving driving lessons Bulwell Nottingham. I hold the Diploma in Driving Instruction and have passed both the Diamond Advanced and Special driving tests, qualifying me as a Diamond advanced Instructor. I teach driving at all levels and also deliver the Pass Plus post-test training course. After nearly 10 years working as one of the driving instructors Bulwell Nottingham I am still as enthusiastic as ever.

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Teaching the Use Of Satellite Navigation Systems

By Russell A Chaplin

Satellite Navigation systems are now a common part of our driving culture. Use of them is widespread and a reliance on them is becoming a concern among some sections of the driver training community. Here we look at the issues surrounding the teaching of their use.

Parents of a 21-year-old woman who was killed after following Satellite Navigation directions the wrong way down a dual-carriageway have told an inquest that use of the GPS devices should be included in driving lessons. The woman was involved in a head on collision after following explicit directions given by the device and failing to look at street signs.

The devices are notorious for sending people through No Entry signs and the wrong direction down one way streets. Having used the devices myself I can see how easily this would occur. Within an hour of using the device I became aware of how a driver defers responsibility to the GPS and ceases to plan according to what is occurring in the real world. It is easy to stop looking for speed limit signs as the audible warning prompts the driver to look at the small screen to see what the limit is. The video display showing which lane to be in at a motorway junction is particularly distracting. The directions given by the device are explicit and don't take into account real world factors such as roads being closed and roadworks. A younger driver would find it hard to override the instructions in light of their own judgement and would readily accept what the device told them.

The call for the use of the devices to be taught on lessons is a reasonable one. Having said this there are issues to consider. As there are many makes of device all with their own interface the teaching would be specific to that model, possibly not the model that the driver would use after their test. Many instructors do not use the devices on a regular basis. We know our own areas and would refer to a map to locate a new address rather than follow directions all the way. Some instructors do not actually like the devices at all and see them as a new danger.

If the use of GPS was top be taught it would have to be integrated as part of the learner syllabus. There would need to be a guideline for best practise so we are all teaching the same thing. It couldn't be a case of just driving around following the directions given by the device and seeing if anything goes wrong, we would need to know what we are teaching and the content standardised for all instructors.

Use of satellite navigation systems could, at the moment, be something taught by friends and family and would be a good opportunity for all concerned to become more aware of the pitfalls of using the devices.

Hello there. My name is Russ Chaplin. I am a DSA approved driving instructor giving driving lessons in Nottingham. I hold the Diploma in Driving Instruction and have passed both the Diamond Advanced and Special driving tests, qualifying me as a Diamond advanced Instructor. I teach driving at all levels and also deliver the Pass Plus post-test training course. I am also a member of the driving instructors Nottingham group.

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What to do with babies while homeschooling

by Lora

With four kids who are school age and three littles who aren’t, one of the most frequent questions I get about homeschooling is “What do you do with the babies?”

My short answer? Have a plan. Everybody’s plan looks different, but in order to make it through the day, you need an easy routine that ensures all of the needs get met.

A few hints to help you plan:

1. Give your smallest children attention first.

I read this somewhere so I can’t claim credit for this thought, but it’s true. Of course, the baby’s needs have to be met before any of us can function in the morning. He makes sure of it.

But I also try and have a cuddle with my toddlers before school. Ten mintues to read a book makes them feel secure and attended to. This breeds contentment when I need to focus on their siblings.

2. Assign an older child not doing school to play with a younger child.

Of course, this only works if you have more than one older child, but the “older” doesn’t have to be much older. We begin our mornings all together and then as I split off to work with individuals, I make sure there’s at least one child not doing school that can play with my Littles.

The change is good for my older kids as well as the toddlers. Different siblings play different ways and can change up the activity for everybody. Meanwhile, you’re secretly fostering relationships between all the sibs, you sneaky Mama, you!

3. Include your Littles as much as you can.

We start our day as a complete group, with prayer or some discussion of the day ahead. Then I put the baby on the floor with toys and let the little girls play with their downstairs toys. (Pick quiet toys for the room you do school in. I use Little People.)

I only insist that they stay in the room with us. They do not have to listen to the book I’m reading or participate in any way, unless they seem interested. Sometimes, they get sucked in to the story or are curious about the videos we watch on my laptop.

I also let them play with the math blocks during lessons. It gives us a chance to practice our Clean-Up skills when we’re done!

If they are too loud when they play, I ask them to be quieter until we are done. If they have trouble being quiet, I have them stop playing and sit right at my feet. Sometimes this turns into a battle of wills, of course, but perhaps that is the true lesson we all need to learn that day.

I try not to banish the Littles from the room while I’m teaching my older four all together. They like to be where the action is and I can supervise their activity.

4. Pack ‘n plays and baby slings were made for such a time as this.

There’s no shame in using some pack ‘n play time so you can have your hands free for a math lesson. It’s a safe, established boundary for your baby. You don’t have to leave them there long if you divide your day into short sessions.

When we adopted our daughter, I couldn’t use a pack ‘n play so I strapped her on my back. (I love my Ergo.) She was usually pretty content, although I have taught a spelling lesson or three at a full YELL because I needed to drown out the noise of an unhappy baby. (This would be a good time to keep your lessons short and end with a hug for everybody.)

5. Utilize nap time.

If the subject matter requires your complete attention to teach, naptimes are your friend. I ask myself, “If I teach this while the babies are awake, will I end up yelling?” If the answer is yes, then it probably needs to wait until there are fewer interruptions (and maybe I’ve eaten a bit of chocolate.)

A word of caution: if nap time is YOUR only break, make sure you don’t fill it completely with school. With our children home all day every day, we need to factor in a mommy break somewhere. This makes us better teachers and better parents.

I strike this balance by doing any teaching with my kids in the morning and then during nap time, they do all of their independent work. I’m still available if they need me individually, but I go to my room and take a break.

6. Retain your sense of humor.

There is no greater comedic relief than a toddler. Don’t forget to enjoy your Littles, laugh with them, and revel in the knowledge that your older kids are getting to enjoy them with you. This is such a gift, to laugh together and enjoy the babies. What precious memories you are giving your children when they spend the days with their siblings!

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A Look At Different Types Of Private Schools

By Karina Andrews

Once you have made the decision to send your child to a private school you will discover that there are many to choose from. In fact, as many as 25% of all elementary schools, as well as secondary ones, are listed as private schools in the United States. This could leave you wondering which school to trust with your child's education. There are different types of private or independent, such as Catholic schools or other religious, day and boarding, and so on. Understanding the differences can make choosing a bit easier.

Is there a difference between private schools and independent ones? This is a good question, because the terms are very often used interchangeably, which can cause confusion, because they are actually different. In most cases this that are private are part of a bigger organization, such as a church, for example. The Catholic schools would fall into this category. On the other hand, schools that are considered to be independent are not, and have their own governing body or trustees. Both the private and independent obtain funding through donors and sundry fees.

A day school is also sometimes referred to as a country day school and they are also private. The schools are invariably situated in the country or in the suburbs. The kids attend classes during the day. A boarding school provides accommodation for its students. Boarding schools and residential are different in that kids attending the latter reside at the school during the week, but return home for the weekends.

Kids with special needs can attend a special needs school. Some cater for kids with either learning or physical disabilities, but others address emotional needs as well. Then there are those that cater for kids who want to focus primarily on one particular talent, so that it can be honed. If this is the kind of school you want to enrol your child in, you will need to be specific about what you are requiring.

Military schools are also available and ideal for kids that fancy a future in the military. There thirty of them in the U.S. so you are sure to find the best one for your child. These are usually boarding school that focus a lot on leadership, discipline, and team building.

For those that wish to pursue their faith and religious convictions, a religious school, such as Catholic schools for Catholic kids, would be the answer. Your child will be schooled in the tenets of the religion, the beliefs, and practices. Some are very strict while others are more relaxed. Sometimes Catholic schools are referred to as parochial schools and there are many to choose from. They are funded by the Church, donations, and through fundraising events.

Other kinds of schools that are considered private or independent would include Montessori and Waldorf schools. Both of these kinds of schools have a different way of approaching education, with greater emphasis placed on certain aspects. For instance, at a Montessori school, students are encouraged to be independent and individual. The classes are not age restrictive, there are no grades, rewards, punishments, and so on. At Waldorf kids are encouraged to explore their imagination. Music, the arts, and language all play a major role and, as with Montessori schools, there are no grades.

Check out a great catholic schools, and their WhichSchool. For more information visit their website http://www.whichschoolmag.com.au

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Fundraising For Catholic Schools - Some Ideas To Consider

By Karina Andrews

Coming up with great fundraising ideas is not always an easy thing to do. It is important to remember that the outcome or results of the fundraiser will depend heavily upon what the fundraiser event was. What is needed is an idea that will solicit the interest not only of the kids that attend the school, but also of their parents, and others. Generally speaking, the ideas that can be used for a fundraiser at Catholic schools are much the same as those used for other organizations. There are a few exceptions to this, however.

In general, the activities of the fundraiser will mainly appeal to the student body of the school in question. While the parents and others, such as past pupils, are all possible donors, the students are the most important aspect. If someone is not affiliated with the school in any way, they are less inclined to be a donor, or see the importance of donating. While it is a good idea to try to entice outside donations, it is important that whatever ideas and activities are planned, they should not conflict with Catholic beliefs.

Sales fundraisers are invariably a hit with students and others. These include bake sales and even auctions. Furthermore, the organizers can also collaborate with other institutions that will also benefit. The great thing about this kind of fundraising idea is that it can appeal to a wider range of people, because it is not religion-based.

A fair is another great fundraising idea that incorporates the sales idea. This is an idea that will entice people not connected with the school. In fact, the organizers might want to take this idea a step further, as well, by inviting others to attend. If a book fair is the idea agreed upon, people can be asked to donate books to be sold at the fair. If the organizers are so inclined, they can also contact book sellers, or even publishers, and invite them to provide their books for sale at the event. This will provide them with exposure and sales that they might not necessarily have enjoyed, and so a small fee could be levied for the privilege. That means more funds for the school.

The majority of Catholic schools choose fundraising events as a way of generating donations and funds. They are usually very popular with the student body. Great fundraising events can include a Spring Dance for example, or even a Halloween Party. The students can pay a nominal entrance fee in order to attend the party or dance. If possible, the students should be encouraged to invite friends to the event as well, as this will generate more funds and make it a more successful fundraiser. Additional items can be on sale during the event to help generate even more funds.

If it is the parents and past pupils of the school that the fundraiser organizers wish to target, rather than the students, it is a good idea to host a benefit dinner or concert. Again, an entrance fee can be charged.

If all else fails and organizers are unable to come up with any great fundraising ideas, they still have the opportunity to enlist the help of the students. Have the kids vote for the type of event that they would like to be part of.

Check out a great Catholic Schools Sydney and their Catholic Schools. For more information visit their website http://www.whichschoolmag.com.au

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Helping Your Child Get The Best Education

By Karina Andrews

Many parents are concerned about the quality of their children's education today. Times have changed and kids are under so much stress, they find it difficult to focus on their studies. Teachers are forced to meet quotas and pass kids through the system. Parents are busy juggling careers, home life, and social activities. With all these distractions, it is easy to see why the quality of education suffers. When education fails, our kids pay a high price.

It may seem cliché, but it is still true. To get ahead in the world, you need a good education. To succeed in college or trade school, you must first succeed in grade school and high school. Below are some things you can do to help make sure your child gets the best education possible.

First, start with the school. Make sure you send your child to a school that cares about kids and has programs in place to help them succeed. You have many options. You may consider private schools, public schools, or even home schooling. Your family may have to make sacrifices to get into a good school, but it will be worth the effort.

Once you have decided upon a school, you must stay closely involved with your child's progress. Get to know the teachers and principals. Stay informed about homework requirements and your child's progress. The most successful students are the ones with parents who are involved with the school system.

Make learning a priority. Set up a structured learning environment at home and allot a specific time each day to devote to schoolwork. Never put social obligations ahead of school obligations. Let your children know from the time they are very young that school and getting a good education have high priority in the home.

Give your child as much help as he needs so he can succeed in his lessons. You may need to go over his homework every night. You may even need to hire a tutor if your child struggles with certain subjects. Your child needs to see success in order to be motivated to try harder. Although he needs to do the work himself in order to learn, you can support him as much as possible so he doesn't carry a burden that is too heavy.

It may be necessary to limit extra curricular activities too. Your child needs an active social life to be happy and fit in at school. But if sports and clubs interfere with the time needed for studying, it may be time to rethink your schedule. Rushing your child from soccer practice to band practice and the squeezing in meals is a stressful way to live and that may negatively affect his ability to focus on school studies.

Remember, that with your help, your child can be a success in school and in life. It doesn't matter if your child attends Catholic schools, inner city schools, or alternative schools, as long as you are his biggest supporter and fan, he will be more likely to stay motivated to succeed. With a solid education behind him, he will be equipped for a brighter future.

Check out a great catholic schools Sydney, and WhichSchool. For more information visit WhichSchool website http://www.whichschoolmag.com.au.

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Turn Your Adapted PE Class Into an All-Star Show

By Kevin C Brusotti

There are plenty of ways to adapt sports for a special education class in physical education. However, simply changing the game and keeping it as real as possible can be boring in some cases. I would like to offer some tips to allow students shine by showing off skills that may not be encouraged in a day-to-day physical education.

Basketball is a very popular sport that most students know. The easiest adaption for a lesson in basketball would be to simply place hoola-hoops in the bleachers. However, working on shooting skills on a lower hoop can get old rather quickly. Why not spice things up and host a slam dunk competition? With the hoop lowered, all students will have the ability to dunk safely without needing to jump. Encourage the students to replicate their favorite basketball players and be as fancy as they like. It is very simple to have peers and teachers be the judges, rating each dunk just like in the NBA. Along with rating student's dunks, it is important to create an exciting atmosphere. Cheering and applause after each performance is crucial, let the students know what they did was amazing. Add some fun commentary, "Holy cow! Did you see that slam?! We have a regular Michael Jordan in class!" Students will feed off of this energy and really get into the game.

With a sport like basketball, there is much more that can be done to allow students show off their talents. The game of "Horse" is always a fun game that promotes creativity. Students can show off their ability to do trick shots that people may have never know could be done. Try hook shots or shooting backwards from various distances, some students may even have their own shot to show off.

Dribbling in basketball and soccer allows for a lot of fancy foot or hand work. We have all seen professionals achieve incredible things when handling a soccer ball or basketball. Granted these students are not professional athletes, we need to encourage them to try these fancy skills. Challenge students to juggle the soccer ball as many times as possible. To make this simple, use a beach ball or a balloon so students will be able to juggle for longer. After students have challenged themselves, you can turn it into a team effort. In groups, they can work together to keep the ball up for as long as possible using only their feet. Teach the students how to use their head in a game of soccer (still using a balloon or beach ball) and add that to the juggling contest. The games will be much more fun adding a little flavor with these skill challenges.

These skills may not be conventional or recommended for a class, but adapted physical education is about allowing the students to have fun with their physical activity. Showing off skills is often frowned upon in these sports, but we have to remember this is physical education. We need to promote the showmanship so students can feel like a real superstar in class, something many children dream of all their lives.

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Why are universities so afraid of on line education?

A climate of fear is enveloping our major universities. One after the other they are signing up for being part of well capitalized venture financed operations that are offering free on line courses. The companies are paying the universities so, of course, the universities are taking the money. What do they have to lose?

New offerers appear regularly, the latest being one that wants students to attend classes remotely and pay full tuition for the privilege of doing this.

Something important is going on, but it is not quite obvious what. Well, it is to me.

The universities are desperately afraid. Of what?

The university that started all this was MIT when it announced over a decade ago that they would put all their course materials on line, free for all to use. The press made quite a fuss about this, but I said at the time that they just wanted to appear to be doing something, when MIT well knew that the course materials that professors prepare constitute a very unimportant part of what it means to receive an MIT education. (What is important at MIT? Working with faculty and students to create new ideas and new projects.)

I was asked if I wanted to head up that operation and told MIT that I would make real course offerings to create a world wide MIT on line delivery system. I was never called back.

I built a series of on line masters degrees for Carnegie Mellon University a decade ago and was not only not praised for doing this but was immediately fired.

I was explicitly told that Carnegie Mellon didn’t want to sully its brand by having too many Carnegie Mellon degrees out there. They want to be an elite brand name, as do all the major universities.

But, suddenly it seems the game had changed. Every university wants to go on line. But, this is not really the case.

To understand this, you have to think for a moment about courses and what they are all about. Most students take four or five courses at a time as full time students at a university. While they are doing this they play football or work for the student newspaper, or maybe even hold down a real job. Plus there a great many social events to attend, in addition to the constant action of dormitory life.

In the life of your average college student, a lecture course is something to be barely paid attention to at best, or slept through at worst. The fact that a friend can make a video recording of them for you means you can skip them all together.

And this, of course, is the origin of on line courses. As long as someone is making his recording of the lecture available to his friends why shouldn't the university do that and say that that was they wanted to do in the first place. Add a quiz or two, and no one ever has to show up. Voila! Coursera!

But why do the universities agree to this? The answer, as always, seems to be money.

But really the answer is fear. The issue is understanding what they are afraid of exactly.

Here are four things universities are deathly afraid of:

1. What if the model that “everyone must go to college” stops being pushed by employers and governments?
2. What if they simply can no longer charge large tuition fees to students?
3. What if professors, who at top universities are primarily researchers, were actually made to have teaching be their primary activity?
4. What if the students stop showing up on campus?

The money issue is a big one. Tuition amounts have risen way ahead of inflation supported by readily available student loan programs and by the belief that anyone who doesn’t go to college is more or less useless. We fail to observe how many successful people have never graduated college, including Bill Gates, who never stops promoting school standards, teacher evaluations, and now on line courses. Mr Obama wants to everyone to go college as do the authorities in the U.K. Why exactly? Because the universities are afraid and are lobbying hard for this. When you need a PhD to work in McDonalds however, the model will fall apart, and we are headed in that direction.

All that tuition revenue, and donations from alumni who fondly remember the great football teams and parties, help sustain what is actually an absurd model and every university knows and fears the downfall of that model.

The model is what I like to call the “superstar system.” Top universities compete for superstars in the same way that baseball teams and movie producers do. There are only so many big names and the university that has the most wins. If Harvard has more Nobel Prize winners than Yale, Yale is thinking about this all the time. (I say this as someone who was on the Yale faculty for fifteen years.)

Research universities want to sustain the model that has made them great places to live and work. I loved working at them for 35 years. But the students were, and are, being cheated. Some professors care about the undergraduates at an Ivy League school I am sure. I certainly didn’t.

I was once yelled at by an undergraduate who said he paid big tuition to Yale and I should meet with him at times other then my few and far between office hours. Of course he was right. But the incentives at the research universities are all about publishing and international fame, not about happy undergraduates. 

(I did meet with him by the way and he eventually became a researcher at a major university where the undergraduates find him to be very hard to find.) 

Just the other day, Northwestern University where I ran the Institute for the Learning Sciences for many years announced proudly that they would let people attend classes remotely if they met admission standards and paid full tuition. They should be ashamed of themselves. There are still plenty of people at Northwestern who know how to do on line education correctly. We pretty much invented it there.

But, what we invented was using the computer as a learn by doing device, eliminating lectures and classrooms, and replacing them by projects one could do on the computer with the help of faculty and other students.

I am slowly finding universities who want to use this model on line but the faculty always object to it. No lectures? No theories? Just learning by doing? Oh, the horror. The faculty might have to teach.

So, don’t be too impressed by MOOCs non-MOOCs and any other nonsense that keeps courses with a teacher talking still the staple of university education. Students put up with that because they get degrees they can brag about, not because of all the wonderful stuff they learned. It is not any more wonderful if you are at home in your pajamas.

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What Your Children Should Know When You Choose Home Schooling

By Mandy McCormick

Every so often we hear about parents deciding to home school their kids. Normally it sounds as if the parents were solely the ones who decided on it. While it is true that the parents should ultimately be the ones to make the decision to switch over to home schooling, the children should have a say in it as well.

They are the ones who would be most affected by it and so they should be aware of what they're getting into. Children should be made aware of the difference between home schooling and traditional education. They might not fully understand it yet, but they should be told.

As parents, here are some of the most important things that you should explain to your children about this:

Why?- You should explain to your children why you are choosing this for them and you should be honest with what you tell them. If you are switching them away from traditional schooling, then you should explain it long before you do the actual switch. If they have never known any other form of education then you should still explain things to them.

The Advantages- There are advantages to this and that is the reason why you decided to switch over to it. You have to explain things to them so that they would know why it is actually to their benefit that they are following a different education program from the other kids. They should see that they are actually getting something good out of the situation.

The Difference- Letting your child grow in ignorance of how the world works would not turn out well in the long run. You have to explain to them the way that traditional education works and how children learn in it. You have to answer their questions about it in an honest manner.

Ask Them- When you think that they can decide on their own, you need to ask them again if they would like to try traditional education. You should explain the advantages and disadvantages of doing so without exaggerating anything. They should know things as it is.

Exposure- You have to expose your children to the outside world as much as you can if you are going to decide that you want to home school them. You need to take them out to different places so they could learn from them.

Socialization- An important component of home education is the part where you would take them to meet other people. It is crucial that they should be able to socialize with children of their age as well as adults too. They should feel at ease when talking with other people.

The most important thing is that they should never feel that they are losing something because they are being home schooled. If anything they should feel the privilege of having the freedom to do a lot of things that other children cannot do. That should be one of your aims when you decide to get in your kids.

Lighthouse Home School Resources provides a complete line of curriculum, including home school books and home school supplies. For home school resources, visit Lighthouse today.

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How to Decide If Home Schooling Is for You

By Mandy McCormick

You might have been attracted to the prospect of home schooling your kids. It is likely that you have seen or heard about parents who talked about the benefits of this form of education and that drew your attention and interest towards it. You want to be able to give the same benefits to your kids.

The problem is that it is not all about benefits. There are also some very real disadvantages to this form of education. You have to be aware of those just as you are aware of the advantages.

Here are some steps that you can follow in deciding if you should switch to home schooling for your children:

· First of all, you should ask yourself why you are considering home schooling for your children. Is it because you want them to have freedom? Is it really for them or are you the one who will benefit from it?

· You should ask yourself if that is something that you can handle. It might mean more freedom for your kids but it would also mean a great amount of responsibility on your part. Is that something that you can handle?

· Try to connect with other parents who are into home schooling their children. There are groups for that in most areas and they would welcome your inquiries. Ask them about everything that you want and need to know about this form of education.

· Tell your children about home schooling and ask their opinion about it. You should never go ahead and switch to this form of education without telling your children first because they are the ones who will be affected by it the most. If they do not agree to it then don't go ahead.

· There are many curricula that are currently available now for home schooling. Search for the one that fits you and your kids. Pick the one that can really help them to improve as well rounded individuals.

· Do some research and if possible undergo training on the proper teaching methods. Remember that you will be taking on the role of your kid's teacher and that is not a simple task. You have to be as well prepared as your children for the change.

· Prepare a room in the house that will serve as their classroom. It is never a good idea to just use the other rooms when you are teaching them, because there are so many distractions there. Invest in setting a dedicated room.

· Have a plan on how you will be undergoing your kid's daily lessons. Make a schedule on when you are going to give them breaks and up to that time you are going to teach them.

· Be sure that you include a plan on when you will be taking your children outside on tours and when you would be meeting other people. This is an important component of their education.

These are just some of the things that you can do in starting out home education for your children. This would be an important step for both you and your kids.

Lighthouse Home School Resources provides a complete line of curriculum, including home school books and home school supplies. For homeschool resources, visit Lighthouse today.

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Tips for Teaching Young Children

By Patricia Bentham

How do we teach in a way that hooks into a child's natural desire to learn?

Children are naturally curious. They explore, experiment, touch, ask questions, and are motivated to learn. To them it's all play, and they don't need adults praising them for their efforts.

Wondering how you can help children succeed? Consider the following characteristics of how they learn to help you teach in ways that improve their ability to make sense of new concepts.

1. Young children learn when subject areas are integrated
Offer children thematic units rich with content and they will be interested and motivated, especially if you can bring real things to touch and explore that relate to the theme.

Basic literacy and math concepts can be taught and reviewed as the theme content is shared. A "winter" theme offers many opportunities to teach the letter W, to count and record the number of mittens on snowmen constructed in an art lesson, or to create patterns for paper scarfs.

A child learning about the life cycle of a butterfly may act it out with creative movement and poetry, paint the process with a large paper and paint, illustrate and label the stages in science and literacy lessons and listen to related stories and songs. Avoid pursuing a theme if the children have lost interest. Ask yourself if you are presenting enough "real objects". New themes get everyone motivated and enthusiastic.

2. Children learn in lots of different ways
Visual learners watch closely when you demonstrate an activity and like to draw and play with shapes and puzzles. Auditory learners understand ideas and concepts because they remember information they have heard, follow spoken directions well and remember songs easily.

Although all children learn through touch, some learn best combining touch and movement (tactile/kinetic learners). Some children like structure while others learn more easily in an unstructured environment.

If you want busy, happy and on task children, give them a variety of lessons that meet the needs of different learning styles.

3. Children often do not have the vocabulary to express themselves
Inexperienced teachers sometimes misinterpret a child's unwillingness to participate as stubbornness or bad behavior when in reality, the child may lack the skills to explain himself. Use reflective listening to help children communicate why they are upset.

Sometimes children work well in groups, learning to share and develop ideas. At other times they just need to be alone with ample time to figure things out for themselves.

Do not expect perfection. Relax and have fun with your students!

4. Children progress when concepts are taught in a structured, step-by-step way
When concepts are presented in a structured step-by-step process with each step building on previous knowledge, children learn with less effort.

For example, expecting a young child to understand the concept of a food chain without previous experiences with, and vocabulary about, chains and links is assuming too much.

5. Children's abilities to observe and process information develop at varying rates
Some four-year old children have superb small motor coordination and draw and cut beautifully, but have delayed speech patterns. Other children may be verbally eloquent but be physically uncoordinated or be at a scribbling stage in drawing.

Just as children develop physically at different rates, they also progress academically, socially, emotionally, and artistically at varying speeds. Effective teaching happens when teachers remember that learning is developmental.

Offer open-ended activities to meet the developmental stages of all students. An open-ended activity involves children at a wide range of developmental levels. Children are less frustrated working at their own level and they do not have to compare their results to a set of identical worksheets.

6. Children learn best when given things, objects, and stuff to explore
When teaching young children, always use concrete materials, as children need sensory experiences when learning new ideas and concepts.

Take advantage of the many educational learning materials available to teach geometry, number sense, pattern skills, symmetry, classification and other math concepts.

Use science materials like magnets, light paddles, scales, weights, and collections of birds' nests, as well as book character toys and puppets to enhance literacy.

7. Children need instruction, practice and time to learn new skills and concepts
A child doesn't learn to ride a bike by only looking at the bike and exploring its properties, he/she also needs time to practice and guided instruction.

Practicing concepts and skills does not need to be dull and repetitive. Do not automatically think "worksheet" when you think of skills practice. There are lots of ways to practice skills using puzzles, games, diagrams, art and more.

8. Children won't learn if they are over tired, hungry, upset or worried
Be flexible and understanding with young children. Check to see if kids are hungry. It's easier to let a child eat part of her lunch early, than attempt to make a hungry child concentrate on a task.

Sometimes a child needs to be left alone and creating a small retreat space in the classroom can help students who are too overwhelmed by home or other circumstances to cope with their peers or teacher.

9. Motivated children pay attention
Young children are generally motivated to learn about everything. Unless they have often been made fun of when investigating or presenting their knowledge, they have a strong desire to find out and share information.

Reinforce thinking processes rather than praising the child. Saying "That's an interesting way you sorted your blocks. Tell me what you were thinking" rather than, "Samuel is so smart" will focus the children's attention on exploring the blocks. Making too much fuss of any one child can result in a competitive atmosphere.

10. Children learn by teaching others
When children have an opportunity to communicate their new knowledge to adults or other children it helps solidify concepts. Some children need extra time to find the correct words to explain what they are thinking so patience is necessary.

To help children share their knowledge, use descriptive words as they play or work and they will copy your vocabulary.

11. Children Need to be Active
If children have been sitting still too long, they will let you know it's time to move. Even the best, well planned, interesting lessons fail if the children need a break.

Take plenty of movement breaks, go for walks around the school, march around the classroom or jump up and down! You will have more alert and focused students.

Summary

As children experience your love and acceptance and realize that you are willing to help them, they relax and learn. Keep a sense of enthusiasm, wonder and curiosity about the world around you, and your students will imitate your behavior. Your classroom may be one of the few places where their opinions and ideas are valued.

Learn how to teach geometry and other math skills to young kids with games, activities and art! Join in the fun! http://www.kindergarten-lessons.com/geometry_games_for_kids.html

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Completing Homeschool High School Records

By Lee Binz

Do you have perfectly crafted homeschool transcripts and course descriptions, ready even now for the event (soon to come) in which someone will ask you for them? Most folks don't, either, so don't feel badly. I have a friend who called me recently in a panic, because she needed a transcript on Monday (it was Friday). Since she homeschools in California under the private school law, she had never even considered that she might need a transcript some day. When her son decided that he wanted to enlist in the Navy, surprise--the Navy wanted a transcript!

I have another friend that needed help with her homeschool records. Her problem was that she just wasn't quite sure what school work they had done. She said that she was a binder person, but when she showed me her homeschool binder during our first day together, I opened it up and there was nothing there! She had some labeled sections, but there were no papers, no curriculum, nothing there! So we dug through the tub of stuff that she had brought with all of her homeschool pieces, and I helped her put together a transcript.

We went through every little bit of her homeschool. We went over how many hours she spent on American Sign Language, and every little bit of their activities. As I was leaving, I asked her what her plans for the weekend were, and she said that they were going to a Latin competition. This was the first time she had mentioned Latin! Latin was not in her binder or her tub--she had forgotten that they did Latin!

When it comes to keeping homeschool records, it doesn't matter how gifted of a home educator you are and it doesn't matter what wonderful intentions you have; there also has to be at least a small amount of follow-through. To be real, you can do your follow-through the same way I do my taxes: once a year, I panic and do my taxes. If once a year you get your act together, that is enough follow-through for you. To be honest, if this mother had made her transcript every year, she would not have forgotten four years of Latin; you just can't forget four years of Latin year after year.

So make sure you take some time each year to record what you did that year! That way, you'll avoid trying to remember four years of homeschooling in one sitting, and be ready to create great transcripts for your high school graduate!

Forgetting about record keeping is one of "The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School." If you are thinking about transcripts, you are probably not going to make this mistake! Learn how to avoid all 5 mistakes in my free e-mail mini-course.

My Total Transcript Solution will show you how to create an AMAZING homeschool transcript that will impress the colleges! Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, is a homeschool high school expert. Both her two boys earned full-tuition scholarships at their first choice university. Learn how she did it on TheHomeScholar.com.

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Teenage Home Schooling

By Kathy Davison

The idea of homeschooling through high school can be scary for many parents and usually it is through feelings of inadequacy where the parents do not feel fully qualified for the job!

This happens when the parent does not have many qualifications themselves so ask themselves the questions of how could they be qualified to do that job.

It is a fact of homeschooling that many homeschooled teens can actually complete four years of traditional high-school studies in 24 months or less.

Really?

Well if you sat down and thought about it then it does seem possible when there are no distractions and the teenager is able to focus on the task at hand.

Now I am a teacher/lecturer myself and I can tell you that with over 40 years being in this profession I have witnessed major changes in the administrative workload that goes with the job. The amount of time that is spent on taking registers, collecting paperwork, preparing for activities and especially science classes, the time to tidy up and then the time spent on disciplining is all time that is eating into the actual teaching and learning times.

In fact to be honest I often ask myself the question.

"Did I train to be a teacher or an administrative manager"

Of course in the days when I completed my teacher training in the 70's it was all about developing your techniques as an educator in the classroom and all of us were assessed on our ability to relate to the students to pass on our subject knowledge in an effective and stimulating manner. In other words we were encouraged to become teachers that would inspire students to learn and develop. So be it... today we fill out forms and tick boxes.

Anyway I am getting carried away with the realities of being a teacher today but it absolutely true that the large part of a school day would be taken up in mindless administrative tasks that are totally eliminated with a teenager that is being schooled at home.

This could be one reason a family make the decision to home school their teenagers,others could be the travelling time to get to school, bullying issues, peer pressure issues or teenagers that have special needs that are not accommodated by the schools within travelling distance.

All of these factors can result in teenage stress which in turn affects learning and attainment levels.

If a family decides to homeschool their teenager then good planning and record keeping will be essential.

Of course most importantly your teenager must be up for the idea as well. You can plan your home school program with your teenager's strengths and weaknesses in mind. Also important is their learning style, are they a kinesthetic learner, a visual learner, an auditory learner or a combination of a few styles. Go for a program that will enable your teenager to pursue their interests and also cover the basics that they will need to progress further into adult education.

Remember that there is no course that suits all teenagers so make sure you do adequate research before you put your plan into action and good Luck!

Kathy is a Health and Social care lecturer with young adults
Her website is focused on Health and lifestyle issues that effect teenagers
http://www.myhealthbusiness.info

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Helpful Tips When It Comes To Homeschooling Your Kid

By Monica Lozada

The public school system is suffering from budget cuts and has become a place where children easily fall between the cracks. However, private school is often too expensive. If you homeschool your children you will not have this issue any longer. When you are homeschooling your children you will make sure that your kids learn as much as they can.

Consider a blog online for your child to write. Writing is an important part of any curriculum, and writing blogs is an updated way of keeping a journal. You should give your kids something to write about that they enjoy. Make the settings on their blog private. Your child will be interested in learning how to research topics for the blog, a skill that will be useful throughout the years. You might also encourage them to use the blog as a platform for fiction writing.

Go on nature walks with your children. They are educational for many reasons. Let your small kids pick up leaves. Your kids can learn how to find trees in nature. Let older children research each species. Take photographs so the natural habitat will not be disturbed.

Explore the vast variety of forums and internet groups for homeschooling on the internet. These internet resources will bring a world of knowledge to you, without ever having to leave home. Not only will they be a great support system for learning about homeschooling, but they will also be able to contribute to lessons you have planned about geography and other cultures. This can make learning about the world available for your children in their own home.

Don't forget to use art in your lesson plans, even when you're not teaching art itself. Assign your children to make renditions of things that they read about in their studies. Singing, acting, sculpting can all be outlets for their creative expression. Let them immerse themselves completely in the subject matter, and watch for great results.

The biggest benefit to homeschooling is the ability to ensure that your child learns all that they need thanks to teaching them in the way that suits them best. You could for instance make the entire curriculum more concrete by including some experiments. Using dominant learning styles helps your child be more successful at learning.

Learn as much as you can before you begin the process of homeschooling. Join an internet group to get valuable ideas and insight on homeschooling. These groups have useful tips and advice that will help you to improve your own curriculum. Connecting with others who feel the same way you do about homeschooling can make the process seem easier.

If Homeschooling during the high school years, you can look into high school fundraising ideas to will help you out financially when it comes to taking field trips or other extracurricular activities. These activities are important and will help in the development of the child along with getting them outside.

Now you are armed with plenty of information, it's time to put together the ideal homeschooling plan for your children. Keep what you learned here in mind when making future educational decisions. With fortitude and sheer will, you will be the best teacher a kid could have. Your children are fortunate that they have a parent like you.

Monica has extensive experience when it comes to home schooling. For more info check out her other articles. Additional info on financial help, go to high school fundraising ideas for more.

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4 Factors That Need to Be Considered When Choosing a Tutor

By Pooja M Shah

The majority of parents find it challenging to choose the right teacher and learning center for their children. Nevertheless, choosing a tutor is an important step, which goes a long way in improving standardized test scores or grades. Many important factors need to be taken into consideration when selecting a tutorial company including tutorial experience, education level, subject expertise and tutorial style.

1. Records

To find an experienced teacher, it is important to consult the tutor's resume. When seeking for a tutor in small towns there may be just a few teachers to choose from. However, in a larger town, there will be a larger pool to select from. Many of the websites feature teachers' profiles listing the experience of the teachers. You can consider requesting for references. Nevertheless, it is important to avoid being attracted by testimonials that appear on the website because there is no possible way of verifying whether they are authentic.

2. Education level

The amount/level of education acquired by the tutor can be another deceptive trait. Somebody with a PhD in a given field or 30 years of experience in teaching is not necessarily the best choice. It will be difficult to empathize with learners when the subject content appears ancient and trivial. Choosing a teacher drawn from one of the top universities offers a better bet when you are looking for a tutor because they possess a standardized breath of education and test mastery.

3. Expertise

The subject expertise offers an easy way of evaluating. It is however a less important process particularly if you are seeking for high school teachers. Every teacher should have mastered all the necessary skills. In case you are seeking for expertise in a specific subject, it is important to select a teacher with a related college degree. For instance, if you are seeking for an English teacher you can consider selecting on that is mastered in Literature or has an English Major.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a mathematics teacher or science teacher you can consider choosing a fellow with an education in engineering with expertise in both of these areas.

4. Methods

The tutorial style is an important selection criterion that is often difficult to measure; nevertheless, it is considered the most important skill. The best way of doing this is to consider the references while keeping in close communication with the teacher once they have been hired. It is advisable to select a trainer who teaches the relevant skills to think and learn as opposed to a trainer who drills the facts

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Using Sugar As a Teaching Tool For Behavioral Problematic Students?

By Lance Winslow

One pet peeve of teachers is when students come to school on sugar highs, oh probably from eating half a box of Pop Tars, Mountain Dew, and Frosted Flakes with sugar sprinkled on top, just in case there wasn't enough already. Nice to wake up to a healthy and well-balanced breakfast I guess? The funny thing is, while I was in junior high and high school, I really loved Pop Tarts myself, of course, I was an athlete so I probably burned through it pretty quick, and good luck gaining any weight. Today, kids don't exercise nearly enough and onset juvenile diabetes is not funny at all. Worse, this behavioral problem in the classroom is a nightmare with 40-kids in the class.

Okay so, is sugar really all that bad for behavioral issues, I mean can we really blame it on that? Well, some say there are just too many kids with ADD and ADHD these days, with some medicated, some not, some are 1/2 the time if they remember to take their meds, and/or don't save them up and sell them to their friends - don't ask me why - that seems like a really bad pharmaceutical drug addiction to me. Nearly, every teacher I've ever met in all my travels to all 50-states has told me the real problems do start a home - discipline issues. Yes, then there is the sugar theory, which we know is a lot like Catnip for kids.

Still, you might indeed find this new study and research of interest, a little tidbit I happened across recently. You see, Medical Express had an interesting article recently titled; "Sugar boosts self-control, study says," posted on November 7, 2012 in the Psychology & Psychiatry section which stated; "To boost self-control, gargle sugar water. According to a study co-authored by University of Georgia professor of psychology Leonard Martin published Oct. 22 in Psychological Science, a mouth rinse with glucose improves self-control. "

Hey, you know what? If it worked for this study, hell, maybe it's worth a try, who knows, nothing to lose except a few teeth from cavities at the dentist office right? The question is; why does it work, or why did it work in these studies. Well, it turns out that is the most interesting part of all, and rather than me give away this cool little scientific teaching secret bathed in empirical evidence, I suggest you go read it all for yourself. If nothing more you've learned something new, even if you never utilize this knowledge to control the little monsters in your classroom. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on the Future of Education. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

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Music Calms the Savage Beast - What About Unruly ADHD Behaviors While Teaching?

By Lance Winslow

Not long ago, I was talking to a teacher about the challenges with 40 kids in the classroom in middle school. There are kids who misbehave perhaps because they ate too much sugar, or they misbehave at home with no discipline, so when they come to school it's very difficult to keep them from messing around and disturbing the other students. All this disruption makes it almost impossible to teach. Then there are the kids with ADHD or ADD, some of which are not on medication, and that's a whole other issue.

It's hard to say what the solution is for all this. We can't label every kid as having ADD or ADHD, and then giving them medication. Some kids just have way too much energy, there's nothing wrong with them at all, and they also have a discipline problem because their parents don't discipline them at home. Nevertheless, maybe we can alleviate some of the problems with at least one segment of these kids who become behavioral problems.

Medical Express had an interesting article published on November 5, 2012 titled; "For some children with ADHD, music has similar positive effects to medication," by Joann Adkins in the Attention Deficit Disorders category. The article stated;

With music we actually discovered, in most cases, it didn't really affect the children. While a few were distracted by music, the majority were not. "And in some cases, we found listening to music helped the kids with ADHD to complete their work. Actually for this subgroup, the effect of music on them was nearly as effective as medication."

They say that music calms the savage beast. Playing music is something that has been used for generations by humans to keep wild animals from attacking. Apparently, the music makes takes their mind off of what they are doing, while they try to register what those sounds mean. They end up liking the music because it is pleasing, or because it is different, and therefore they don't attack. That's a pretty good trick, that's pretty good to know, and so maybe this recent study isn't so surprising after all?

Am I calling these unruly behavior problem kids savage beasts? No, but I bet a number of teachers do, because they have to sit with them in a cage (classroom) and teach them all day, if you get my drift. It might make sense to play a little elevator music, something with a good beat, and that might help ADD and ADHD kids focus long enough for you to teach them, and prevent them from causing a ruckus and disrupting the classroom. Just a thought; please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on the Future of Education. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

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Important Tips People Who Have A Teaching Job Should Possess

By Hae Debenham

Being a teacher is a very important job, mainly because they are the ones responsible to teach the young minds of our future. So it's very critical to have a skilled and capable teacher in every classroom. That's why the level of training and examinations to be a teacher has always been enhanced to meet the needed standards in order to produce a great teacher.

The subjects Math and English have been a priority and examinations for these subjects for teachers who want to be an instructor have been more difficult. The exam is only allowed to be taken for only a specific number of times, so the trainees must perform well as it adds an additional pressure for them to pass the exam on the very first try. This changes in the process of evaluating and choosing a future teacher makes a teaching agency provide more quality and skilled professional teachers for their clients.

These improvement modifications will be effective September of next year, and teaching agencies will surely have a much easier selection process of the best aspiring teachers to have in their roster that clients who have opening slots for their schools can select from the best applicants available in the country who is very ready to teach students high quality education.

Many aspiring teachers look for teaching agencies to have that edge over other applicants and also to enhance the chances of landing their dream teaching job especially in a foreign country which offers a much higher salary. Therefore, teaching agencies are setting more strict requirements to have a much better selection of qualified trainees, which will surely make them stand out against other aspiring teachers, as with the help of these teaching agencies will only make them a better instructor and have a better credentials by way of passing the upgraded aptitude test and other more trainings provided by the agency.

These enhancements on the selection process will not only improve the standards of teachers but also the standards of teaching agencies. So, this move by the Department for Education makes perfectly sense because both parties will greatly benefit from it. However, I think the real winner in this method will be the students who will be experiencing quality education and guidance from the teachers who have been a product of this great undertaking, which will create talented and very skilled students who will be the future of the world.

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A+ Certification Training a Must for New Tech Experts

By Rima Hammoudi

Proper certification is necessary for almost any job that calls for the continued use of a particular skill. One particular area of expertise that is in demand is computer technology, due to the general population's increased dependency on technological operations.

Computer technology is evolving at a rapid rate. A direct result of this rapid growth is the need for more tech experts. This demand has greatly increased the value of the IT expert, as well as the scale by which he/she is measured.

The problem is that companies must be able to differentiate between people who are simply computer proficient, and those that are extremely qualified and immediately capable. The Computing Technology Industry Association has implemented what is known as the CompTIA exam in order to put a method to the technological madness.

The successful completion of the CTIA's exam provides victors with a very valuable certificate. The bearers of the certificate are immediately considered to be very capable individuals, as the exam certifies the individual's computer competency. They are immediately recognized as qualified service technicians.

Additionally, most companies jump at the opportunity to employ an A+ certified technician, as it holds the promise of immediate productivity. The exam is held in such high regard that it is backed by almost every major software company and their relative departments (including distribution, publication, resellers and vendors alike).

But not just anyone can take the test. Individuals considering A Plus certification must have entry-level experience in IT services. This exam is all encompassing, and is regarded as a way by which to measure the astuteness of potential IT experts. It requires exhaustive studying in order to pass, which is why some educational institutions offer A+ certification training. These preparation courses provide candidates with the skills needed to not only pass the exam, but also with a realistic view of how the computer and software world operates. Students learn the following computer-related skills:

- Building
- Configuring
- Diagnosing
- Installing
- Optimizing
- Preventative Maintenance
- Repairing
- Troubleshooting
- Upgrading
- Security

Taking an A+ certification course allows students to learn these tech skills while prepping them for their CompTIA exam. Advantageously, most institutions also use the latest software, while simultaneously teaching students how to adapt to changes so that they are better prepared for the rapidly changing technology that awaits them in the employable world.

The world of computers undoubtedly lines the path of our future work environment. Basic computer knowledge is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Regardless of the work field, most employers demand that new recruits have sufficient computer skills, regardless of software evolutions or computer brand. If you want to work with computers professionally, a profitable future awaits you if you are properly certified and prepared. With such a growing dependency on technological development, the need for adequate IT professionals is an absolute must.

Visit the Academy of Learning today for more information on http://www.academyoflearning.com/.

Rima Hammoudi is a Copywriter at Higher Education Marketing, a leading Web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile SMS Alerts, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other Web marketing services and tools.

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