Friday, December 29, 2006

Importance of Christian Boarding School in your Teens Life

Parents are struggling more than ever to keep their children on the right path amid social pressures, pop culture, and the noise and distractions of today's fast paced world. Parents will often choose a boarding school that also addresses their need to have a Christian-based philosophy - a program that understands the ethical and moral principles they would like to instill in their children.

When parents begin to notice their son/daughters making poor decisions, choosing the wrong friends, and becoming more and more attracted to destructive behaviors, then they look for help to control their teen.

Troubled teens are often confused and frightened. The defiance, anger, and rebelliousness reflect their confusion and fear. The first step in saving a child from a self-destructive path of academic failure, dangerous drug and alcohol experimentation, and even brushes with police is to realize you need professional help.Many people find Christian boarding schools for troubled teens program to be the best and most effective. Jesus Christ is proclaimed in all of the schools programs, and all after school activities. Christian schools stress the importance of living a Christian live and having Christian values.

These Christian Boarding School provides professional Christian counseling with licensed therapists, a nationally accredited Christian academic program, and a Biblically based life skills & emotional growth program. There spiritual approach to promoting change in troubled teen boys put them apart from other military schools or boot camps.

In Christian Boarding Schools teens will learn to determine what their weaknesses are and how it affects their behavior, and how to grow the opposing virtue which will help eliminate their destructive behaviors.

These boarding schools include a religious component to their schooling. These schools are good for students who want to make sure that religion is part of their life while at school. For a Christian program the core belief will usually be connected to the Bible. This makes it easy to judge the values that will be taught to your child in your absence.

Through our Christian-based philosophy and our "Program of Life" they are able to restore in her the awareness of right and wrong actions and improve his/her ability to listen to his/her conscience throughout the day. A child raised in a Christian home will eventually have a desire to gravitate back to the core values he or she has been taught.

Christian schools can really help them to get back on the right track, and turn their lives around. It is a great way for your troubled teen to clean up their life and be ready to face the world around them

Basic Tips For Choosing The Perfect Bedspread

You have picked out your bedroom and have purchased a bed. The walls have been painted and the carpeting installed. All the furniture is in its place. Now, you need to choose a bedspread. When purchasing a bedspread, whether it is for yourself or your children, there are several tips that you should follow to help with your choice.

Some tips for choosing a bedspread are:

1. Know of any allergies to materials. Bedspreads can be made from many types of fabrics, like polyester and cotton. If you know that you have an allergy to a specific material, look for it on the made from area on the tag. This will keep you from having a reaction and save you the time of having to return the bedspread.

2. Know the size of the bed - I know this sounds silly. Who would take home a bedspread that wouldn't fit their bed? Well, the truth is a lot. Trying to buy something quickly, many consumers end up bringing back the bedspread they choose because it wouldn't even fit their bed! Look for the large "twin", "full", "queen" or "king" sticker or tag on the bedspread before you buy.

3. Get matching or complementary colors - Think of how a bedroom would look with two clashing colors: your wall paint and your bedspread. When purchasing your bedspread, take some paint swatches with you for references.

4. Look for thread count - This tip applies if you are purchasing a "bed-in-a-bag" set. If you are someone who likes your sheets and pillowcases extremely soft, look for higher thread counts. Unfortunately, many of the bed-in-a-bag selections don't have very high thread counts, so you may have to settle if you find the bedspread you really love. (Or you can spend the money on the bed-in-a-bag and sheets.)

5. Take the time to find what you like - If you buy the first bedspread that matches the colors of your room and is the correct size, you aren't putting too much thought into it. In a day or so, you will probably run across something you like much better. Instead of buying the second bedspread and having to return the first, take the time to find the one you wont feel like returning down the road. (If you are buying for your kids - buy what they like. It really doesn't matter if you like it! Give them the freedom to express themselves in this rather harmless act of picking out their own bedspread.)

6. Think about quality - Take the time to pull the bedspread out of its packaging (if you can) to feel it and pull on it (gently). See if it is going to hold up to whatever you plan to throw at it.

7. Look at the washing instructions - Most bedspreads can be machine washed, but many require the oversize washing machines to get really clean. Look to see if you have what your bedspread is going to need for its laundering or if you will have to take it to be professionally cleaned. If you need to take it to someone, you will have to decide if that is a cost (in both time and money) you want to spend.

When you follow these simple tips when choosing your next bedspread, you may have a great bed covering for many years to come!

How to get a real 4 year degree in less than 3 years.

Imagine a way where you can control your own education schedule, work through the material as quickly or slowly as you desire, and get more one on one help when needed? Welcome to the brave new world of distance learning or E-Learning!

There are many accredited elearning or distance learning programs available today from reputable colleges. E-learning is a way to obtain the education you need at your own learning speed by attending college through online classes and the use of college level examinations.

Many formal college organizations have even opened a distance learning programs to take advantage of this rapidly growing market. You can obtain not only a 4 year degree but also advanced Masters and Doctorate degrees almost completely online. There's even specialty certification type programs available from many colleges as well. The benefit to the college is they can support many more students without a large increase in cost for additional staff or physical space.

E-learning is not a shortcut in the quality of your education however. Rather, it's an educational material delivery method that allows your to work at your own pace. Distance learning uses a variety of strategies to help you learn. Textbooks are used of course as are videos or audio of lectures, along with discussion forums, email and direct support when needed. The big benefit here is that you can go as fast or as slowly as necessary to complete the coursework. This means that it's possible to complete semester classes in much less time.

E-learning also supports work experience. Many of the distance learning colleges are now accepting word experience portfolios and granting college level credit based on that knowledge.

In addition, if you're a self learner, you may also want to consider CLEP [college level examination program] exams to collect college credit for basic courses even more quickly. A CLEP exam is a subject matter test given by a nearby educational institution. These are usually undergraduate classes in basic subjects like English, Art, Math and others. The benefit here is that you can study for the exam on your own then simply schedule and take it. If you fail the test or don't get a high enough grade for your satisfaction, simply retake the exam.

There is no penalty so you can retake the exam as many times as you need to successfully pass the test. Pass the test in English with the minimum score, notify your selected distance learning college, and they award you x number of credits in that subject. I've known people who completed almost all their pre-requisite and under graduate courses using only CLEP and DANTES testing.

As distance learning becomes more popular, the number of colleges offering this type of educational environment continues to increase. Some however aren't as quick to embrace all the levels of distance learning available. For example some colleges won't give full credit for CLEP examinations though most do. Others require you to attend at least 1 class physically at their campus to be eligible for distance learning opportunities.

The best way to decide if distance learning is for you is to sign up at a local community college for a distance learning or computer based learning class. If you find that this type of educational learning environment is for you, the next step would be to find a college you are interested in attending. New York and New Jersey have several well recognized and accredited colleges that are fully supportive elearning and distance learning

Psychology of Troubled Teens

Young kids play an extremely important role in our lives. As parents, we provide them with rules and expectations as guidelines to grow up with. We like to see them become well equipped people, who can stand up straight in this wild world. We expect compliance when they are still young. But that compliance goes quickly out the window, once they grow up. By the time they reach their teenage years, they have the innate ability to drive you nuts in no time at all, by defying all the rules.

At work, we might be able to face the toughest situations, deal with the worst clients, or make the best decisions under stress. But, what is your first line of defense at home? How do you successfully cope with these young "know-it-all?

Teens and Sex

Young people are constantly warned what will happen if they hang out with the wrong crowd, but a new study finds that when it comes to prejudices and stereotypes, friends do not have much influence. The study by psychologist Harold D. Fishbein, Ph.D., and sociologist Neal Ritchey, Ph.D., found no significant effects from the attitudes of friends on an adolescent's prejudices or stereotypes.

We are living in a world where it is still believed that boys can be sexually aggressive and it is the duty of the girls to resist sexual advances

As far as teenagers are concerned, their main sources of information on sexuality are friends, books and pornographic films. Parents are not their informants. Many parents give guidance only on prohibition without explaining the actual processes involved. Many a time, parents hush their adolescents to silence when they talk about a single friend of the opposite sex. Rather parents should encourage conversation and should also feel free to invite their teenager's friends and have a healthy get together at home.'

Teen’s Pressure

In today's competitive world, one needs to struggle and fight to make it in this dynamic, yet uncertain environment that is both stressful and anxiety-inducing.

Teenagers basically feel three kinds of pressure today: Pressure to perform; Pressure to conform; Pressure to reform

Pressure to perform: The pressure to perform comes principally from parents, teachers and peers to do well academically. The lack of aptitude tests or respecting the student’s preferences pushes them into fields which may not interest them or for what they are not equipped.

Pressure to conform: Apart from the pressure to perform well, they are often told how they must conform to the norms laid down by society. Pressure to reform: This is common especially in students in the age group of 13 to 17. Everybody is telling them when to wake up and what to do... Here's what you can do —

Anxiety: A sign of stress is holding one's breathe. The easy way out is to take deep breaths at regular intervals trying to calm your mind.

Workload: One needs to understand that one is strong enough to handle the tough challenges in life, studying and assignments being two of them.

Procrastination: Procrastinators need to cultivate the "art of starting" and this involves dealing with the minor discomfort experienced while beginning a much-disliked task. Once the job has been started, it is much easier to continue.

Assertiveness-Aggressiveness conflict: When one is assertive, one runs the risk of being aggressive. During heated arguments, verbal duels, disagreements or discussions, make it clear that although you are not in favour of the opinion of the other person, you are open to what he/ she is saying.

Others: Some students worry about factors like social and financial status, intelligence and habits that might make them different from their peers.

Do let your teen know what your values are, and your availability to discuss any matter, or to answer any question. With teenagers, parents must explain the reasons for their decisions and encourage a dialogue whenever possible. It is also important for parents to acknowledge and listen to their teens' thoughts and have them feel that they're understood. Discipline in the teen years is not just about rules, it's about youngsters learning values, trying on adult behavior and accepting responsibility. Its their duty and they have to do it for the sake of their teens. Parents have give their teens the gift of love and understand their feelings also. The most precious gift parents can give their children is the gift of time.

Professional Continuing Education Is Important In Many Fields

As the world continues to get more complex, careers are becoming more specialized and require continuing education credits to remain in good standing. This is especially true in the medical fields although many professions and professional organizations also demand their members to continue to develop the skills necessary for today's changing environments.

Almost any field of study that takes a great deal of study to become a recognized member will require continuing education. From engineering, medical nurses and doctors, respiratory therapists, quality managers and many others all are expected to maintain a level of education consistent with the field of knowledge. The reason behind this is to have professionals who have not only maintained but also developed and learned new techniques and skill sets. This is critical in much of the more complex business world.

Quality engineers and managers focus on competence and techniques that not only allow for the lowest cost products to be developed but also understand the trade-offs between cost and quality.

CPA's or certified public accountants, need to keep up with the latest laws and be up to date with many of the sometimes arcane accounting principles. Teachers and nursing are two other fields that also require continuing education to remain active in the profession.

Although a good education in many of the professional fields can provide a solid understanding of the industry no matter if it be financial, medical, industrial, or scientific. Ongoing competence in any of these fields however requires an ongoing process of continuing education. Continuing education is necessary for the professional to remain up to date with the latest techniques and knowledge base in the field of study.

Typically continuing education translates into a certain number of course credit hours for the professional every so many years. These additional education credits are sometimes mandatory when renewing government controlled certifications like a teaching certificate. Although some groups do not make the ongoing educational process mandatory, almost all provide an opportunity to obtain the educational credits through sponsored classes, seminars, and online "CBT" or computer based training.

Friday, December 22, 2006

How To Accredited College Degree Today Starting From Scratch

To accelerate the process of achieving a bachelor's degree, the program accepts up to 90 transfer credits from accredited colleges and institutions. Students without an approved associate 2019s degree from a regionally accredited college may transfer up to 64 credits and be granted junior status. Students awarded an approved associate%u2019s degree from a regionally accredited college may transfer up to 64 credits. Credits from Other Institutions Credits earned at other regionally accredited colleges and universities should apply toward a general studies degree.

Private school teachers with 2-5 years of full-time experience and a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university are eligible to apply. While most courses taken at a regionally accredited college or university are transferable, many issues impact how courses apply to a given degree program. Admission requirements include an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university, and course work in biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Eligibility for Admission To be eligible for admission, you must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. for most programs admitted to a full-time degree program in an accredited college/university maintaining a grade point average of 2.5 or above. Prospective students with baccalaureate degrees from colleges not regionally accredited, including Bible colleges, may be admitted upon evidence of ability to pursue graduate studies. - Hold an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or one that is a candidate for accreditation. Typically, the last 30 semester credits (senior year) of any regionally accredited bachelor's degree must be taken directly from your degree-granting college. Previous Degree Problems An applicant must have a previous bachelor's degree, master's degree or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university.

If the degree was granted by another accredited college or university, the applicant follows the policies and procedures of this section. Each accredited college and university listed provide a variety of online master's degree and online MBA programs in many specialized areas. Not all unaccredited colleges are degree mills in the traditional sense of the word as some provide legitimate academic work. Applicants must have earned a baccalaureate degree (or higher) from an accredited college or university prior to enrolling in this status. A two-year college degree in child development or early childhood education from an accredited college or university including the minimum course requirements below. All students interested in pursuing graduate education must fulfill the following initial requirements: Possess an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. (summer term only): Candidates must have a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university. (summer term only) Candidates must have a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university. About half of all regionally accredited colleges accept ACE/PONSI recommendations for degree credit.

All admissions to the Graduate College require that the student hold a baccalaureate degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university. Applicants must hold an OD degree from an accredited college of optometry and/or an advanced degree in an appropriate discipline. Rather than investigating "accreditted online college degrees," look into the opportunities available through the nation's largest accredited university. We feature hundreds of IT and Computer courses and degrees from accredited colleges and state licensed colleges and universities. Materials submitted in support of this application cannot be returned Possession of a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, from an accredited college or university. Applicants with a master's degree or earned doctorate from a regionally accredited college/university are not required to submit GRE scores. Its credits and degrees are recognized and accepted by other accredited colleges, universities, and professional schools throughout the United States.

Say “no” to Constipation and Internal Discomfort

In modern society, people worldwide have very stressful lifestyles,
conducting their daily activities under constant pressure. Common factors
like working in stressful conditions, bad eating habits, fatigue and
anxiety cause unbalances in the human body, weaken the immune system and
may lead to illness and diseases.

One of the most frequent disturbances that appear because of these
factors is constipation. Constipation is a common condition and it occurs
due to improper activity of the digestive and excretory system. It is
characterized by stomach aches, nausea, infrequent intestinal movement
and difficultly eliminated feces.

The extended symptoms of constipation are infrequent stools, abdominal
pain, nausea, vomiting and even fever, flatulence, gas, bad body odor,
unhealthy aspect of the skin and weakness of the body.

Basically, constipation occurs due to poor diet, insufficient fiber
intake and improper digestion. Occasionally, it is caused by nervous
tension, anxiety or other emotional conditions.

Constipation alone is not considered to be a serious condition.
Usually, it is just a sign that there is an unbalance or malfunction inside
the body. Therefore, constipation may be the symptom of another disease.

Despite the fact that it is a very common disturbance and sometimes it
disappears naturally, it is advised to pay a visit to a physician when
you suffer from constipation. If left untreated, it may persist and
lead to complications such as migraines, severe indigestion, appendicitis,
obesity, hemorrhoids and even intestinal cancer.

Therefore, if you are constantly confronted with constipation, ask your
physician to perform an elaborate examination and follow the prescribed
treatment in order to prevent any complications from occurring.

In order to prevent constipation from reappearing, you should first try
to improve your lifestyle and your diet. Restore and maintain the
balance in your system by eating properly. Make sure you drink enough fluids
and increase the amount of fibers in your diet by consuming plenty of
fresh vegetable and fruits. Reduce the amount of carbohydrates and
saturated fats by saying no to fast food and improvised meals and try to
respect an eating schedule. Also, try to avoid stressful activities and
make sure you get enough sleep.

By following these simple steps, you will fortify your immune system,
improve your health condition and prevent the reappearing of
constipation or other disorders.

Only Skin Deep? How to Maximize Sunscreen Efficacy

Ladies, if you could equip your friends and family with an invisible “bulletproof vest” that would protect them from any unseen dangers, you would do it in a heartbeat. Having a secure way of ensuring your loved ones’ safety all day, every day, would definitely make your job easier. And what if I told you that your search for this invisible, yet effective “bulletproof vest” is merely a mouse click away? That lifesaving product is called sunscreen.

Sunscreen, when used properly, works much akin to a thin and almost invisible bulletproof vest that contains organic molecules that absorb, scatter, and reflect UV rays, thus protecting you from a silent killer called the sun. Over-exposure to UV rays means a significantly increased risk for skin cancer, which is the world’s most commonly diagnosed cancer.

In fact, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, someone in the United States dies every hour from melanoma—the deadliest form of skin cancer. Yet, 90% of skin cancers are preventable if we are proactive about properly protecting ourselves from over-exposure to UV-rays from the sun. Among the simplest, most effective preventative measures we can take is by properly and regularly applying sunscreen.

Two decades ago, sunscreen was relatively unheard of, whereas today it has become apart of our common jargon. Heightened awareness of skin cancer and the importance of sunscreen, even sun protective clothing have, in ways, only further confused us and perhaps even caused us to ignore the warnings.

Have you ever wondered why there have been occasions when you slapped on a pound of sunscreen before hitting the lake only to return home burnt to a crisp? The problem is, we are told to use sunscreen but we aren’t instructed on how to properly apply it; to maximize its efficacy.

Unlike a bulletproof vest, however, sunscreen must be re-applied in order for it to properly provide protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays. Consider the 30-20-2 rule: Apply a SPF 15+ sunscreen to your skin at least 30-minutes prior to going outdoors (even on cloudy days), then reapply within the first 20-minutes of being outside to reinforce the protective barrier the sunscreen provides, and then apply sunscreen consistently in two hour intervals. For children under 18, sunscreen must be applied every hour. The reason sunscreen works in this way is based on the mechanics of our skin.

Our skin works much like a sponge does. The top layer of our skin, called the epidermis, absorbs sunscreen, forming a protective layer on the skin that blocks UV rays from reaching the melanocytes (or “pigmentation cells”) that lie deep within the skin. Yet, your skin—the largest bodily organ—reaches its saturation point after approximately two hours, thus leaving you unprotected and causing sunburn and/or other skin-related damage. Hence, it is imperative that sunscreen must be reapplied in order to enhance its protective powers.

Alas, not all sunscreen products out on the market today work proficiently. To deliver optimum level of protection, sunscreen must have sufficient amounts of essential ingredients. In other words, when choosing a sunscreen product for your family, take a look at the bottle; make sure it contains proven effective agents such as zinc oxide and Parasol 1789.

Furthermore, make sure the product is a broad-spectrum formula, meaning that it blocks both UV-B and UV-A rays. If the sunscreen is not broad-spectrum formula, do not buy it. You are not being sufficiently protected nor “covered” if your sunscreen does not clearly indicate that it protects from both UV-A and UV-B rays.

The significance of a broad-spectrum sunscreen cannot be over-emphasized. UV-B and UV-A rays have varied affects on your skin, your immune system, and your body as a whole. UV-B irradiation disrupts the melanocytes (the cells deep beneath the epidermis of your skin responsible for your pigmentation), causing them to release the “redness” known as sunburn.

Any change in the color of your skin as a result of over-exposure to the sun is a sign of damage, even if your skin tends to “tan” as opposed to burn. When this occurs, your melanocytes are trying to tell you that normal, healthy cells have been severely disrupted and therefore are attempting to compensate for that damage.

On the other hand, damage to your skin caused by UV-A irradiation is far more serious. UV-A rays are especially harmful as they penetrate deeper, breaking bonds of DNA which lead to cancer. You typically do not see the immediate effects of UV-A rays, but they are the chief culprit behind photo-aging and wrinkling in addition to actinic keratoses, a pre-cancerous skin condition. Damage to your cells as a result from over-exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or from a tanning bed is un-repairable.

Consider the following analogy: Have you ever left a basketball outside in the hot summer sun for a lengthy period of time? And after you retrieved the ball, you immediately notice that the elasticity of the ball is weakened—it feels “rubbery” and never quite “bounces back”? This is exactly what happens to your skin as a result of prolonged UV-A exposure. Both UV-B and UV-A rays have cumulative affects and coupled together often lead to melanoma skin cancer.

Thusly, make sure you understand “SPF” when purchasing a brand of sunscreen, and do not be fooled by those that claim to deliver a high level of protection. For starters, “SPF” stands for sun protection factor (or “sunburn protection factor”). The way SPF works can be best described by the following example: A SPF 20 sunscreen is only allowing five out of every 100 UV protons to reach your skin. In other words, it is blocking out 95% of the UV rays from reaching your skin.

That being said, dermatologist-oncologist Sancy A. Leachman, director of the Tom C. Mathews Jr. Familial Melanoma Research Clinic at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, recommends a SPF 15 sunscreen as ideal for daily, year-round use. Yet, if you are planning a long, leisurely day at the lake (or even a marathon day on the ski slopes), you will want to opt for a SPF 30 sunscreen, such as Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, and be sure to apply the 30-20-2 rule so as to prevent a painful reminder of your day of recreation.

In reality, sunscreen usage among Americans today has decreased by nearly 60%, according to a recent report by the American Academy of Dermatology. Could the lack of sun safety behavior be contributing to the ever-increasing skin cancer incidence and mortality? Certainly, the world’s most common cancer could be easily prevented if we are proactive about choosing effective sunscreens and properly, proactively maximizing their efficacy

Four Cognitive Skills for Successful Learning

The word “cognition” is defined as “the act of knowing” or “knowledge.” Cognitive skills therefore refer to those skills that make it possible for us to know.

It should be noted that there is nothing that any human being knows, or can do, that he has not learned. This of course excludes natural body functions, such as breathing, as well as the reflexes, for example the involuntary closing of the eye when an object approaches it. But apart from that a human being knows nothing, or cannot do anything, that he has not learned. Therefore, all cognitive skills must be taught, of which the following cognitive skills are the most important:

CONCENTRATION:

Paying attention must be distinguished from concentration. Paying attention is a body function, and therefore does not need to be taught. However, paying attention as such is a function that is quite useless for the act of learning, because it is only a fleeting occurrence. Attention usually shifts very quickly from one object or one thing to the next. The child must first be taught to focus his attention on something and to keep his attention focused on this something for some length of time. When a person focuses his attention for any length of time, we refer to it as concentration.

Concentration rests on two legs. First, it is an act of will and cannot take place automatically. Second, it is also a cognitive skill, and therefore has to be taught.

Although learning disability specialists acknowledge that “the ability to concentrate and attend to a task for a prolonged period of time is essential for the student to receive necessary information and complete certain academic activities,” it seems that the ability to concentrate is regarded as a “fafrotsky” -- a word coined by Ivan T. Sanderson, and standing for “Things that FAll FROm The SKY.” Concentration must be taught, after which one's proficiency can be constantly improved by regular and sustained practice.

PERCEPTION:

The terms “processing” and “perception” are often used interchangeably.

Before one can learn anything, perception must take place, i.e. one has to become aware of it through one of the senses. Usually one has to hear or see it. Subsequently one has to interpret whatever one has seen or heard. In essence then, perception means interpretation. Of course, lack of experience may cause a person to misinterpret what he has seen or heard. In other words, perception represents our apprehension of a present situation in terms of our past experiences, or, as stated by the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): “We see things not as they are but as we are.”

The following situation will illustrate how perception correlates with previous experience:

Suppose a person parked his car and walks away from it while continuing to look back at it. As he goes further and further away from his car, it will appear to him as if his car is gradually getting smaller and smaller. In such a situation none of us, however, would gasp in horror and cry out, “My car is shrinking!” Although the sensory perception is that the car is shrinking rapidly, we do not interpret that the car is changing size. Through past experiences we have learned that objects do not grow or shrink as we walk toward or away from them. You have learned that their actual size remains constant, despite the illusion. Even when one is five blocks away from one's car and it seems no larger than one's fingernail, one would interpret it as that it is still one's car and that it hasn't actually changed size. This learned perception is known as size constancy.

Pygmies, however, who live deep in the rain forests of tropical Africa, are not often exposed to wide vistas and distant horizons, and therefore do not have sufficient opportunities to learn size constancy. One Pygmy, removed from his usual environment, was convinced he was seeing a swarm of insects when he was actually looking at a herd of buffalo at a great distance. When driven toward the animals he was frightened to see the insects “grow” into buffalo and was sure that some form of witchcraft had been at work.

A person needs to interpret sensory phenomena, and this can only be done on the basis of past experience of the same, similar or related phenomena. Perceptual ability, therefore, heavily depends upon the amount of perceptual practice and experience that the subject has already enjoyed. This implies that perception is a cognitive skill that can be improved tremendously through judicious practice and experience.

MEMORY:

A variety of memory problems are evidenced in the learning disabled. Some major categories of memory functions wherein these problems lie are:

Receptive memory: This refers to the ability to note the physical features of a given stimulus to be able to recognize it at a later time. The child who has receptive processing difficulties invariably fails to recognize visual or auditory stimuli such as the shapes or sounds associated with the letters of the alphabet, the number system, etc.

Sequential memory: This refers to the ability to recall stimuli in their order of observation or presentation. Many dyslexics have poor visual sequential memory. Naturally this will affect their ability to read and spell correctly. After all, every word consists of letters in a specific sequence. In order to read one has to perceive the letters in sequence, and also remember what word is represented by that sequence of letters. By simply changing the sequence of the letters in name, it can become mean or amen. Some also have poor auditory sequential memory, and therefore may be unable to repeat longer words orally without getting the syllables in the wrong order, for example words like preliminary and statistical.

Rote memory: This refers to the ability to learn certain information as a habit pattern. The child who has problems in this area is unable to recall with ease those responses which should have been automatic, such as the alphabet, the number system, multiplication tables, spelling rules, grammatical rules, etc.

Short-term memory: Short-term memory lasts from a few seconds to a minute; the exact amount of time may vary somewhat. When you are trying to recall a telephone number that was heard a few seconds earlier, the name of a person who has just been introduced, or the substance of the remarks just made by a teacher in class, you are calling on short-term memory. You need this kind of memory to retain ideas and thoughts when writing a letter, since you must be able to keep the last sentence in mind as you compose the next. You also need this kind of memory when you work on problems. Suppose a problem required that we first add two numbers together (step 1: add 15 + 27) and next divide the sum (step 2: divide sum by 2). If we did this problem in our heads, we would need to retain the result of step 1 (42) momentarily, while we apply the next step (divide by 2). Some space in our short-term memory is necessary to retain the results of step 1.

Long-term memory: This refers to the ability to retrieve information of things learned in the past.

Until the learning disabled develop adequate skills in recalling information, they will continue to face each learning situation as though it is a new one. No real progress can be attained by either the child or the teacher when the same ground has to be covered over and over because the child has forgotten. It would appear that the most critical need that the learning disabled have is to be helped to develop an effective processing system for remembering, because without it their performance will always remain at a level much below what their capabilities indicate.

Strangely, though, while memory is universally considered a prerequisite skill to successful learning, attempts to delineate its process in the learning disabled are few, and fewer still are methods to systematically improve it.

LOGICAL THINKING:

In his book Brain Building Dr. Karl Albrecht states that logical thinking is not a magical process or a matter of genetic endowment, but a learned mental process. It is the process in which one uses reasoning consistently to come to a conclusion. Problems or situations that involve logical thinking call for structure, for relationships between facts, and for chains of reasoning that “make sense.”

The basis of all logical thinking is sequential thought, says Dr. Albrecht. This process involves taking the important ideas, facts, and conclusions involved in a problem and arranging them in a chain-like progression that takes on a meaning in and of itself. To think logically is to think in steps.

Logical thinking is also an important foundational skill of math. “Learning mathematics is a highly sequential process,” says Dr. Albrecht. “If you don’t grasp a certain concept, fact, or procedure, you can never hope to grasp others that come later, which depend upon it. For example, to understand fractions you must first understand division. To understand simple equations in algebra requires that you understand fractions. Solving ‘word problems’ depends on knowing how to set up and manipulate equations, and so on.”

It has been proven that specific training in logical thinking processes can make people “smarter.” Logical thinking allows a child to reject quick and easy answers, such as “I don’t know,” or “this is too difficult,” by empowering him to delve deeper into his thinking processes and understand better the methods used to arrive at a solution.

Goal Setting the SMART Way

Goal setting is a task that is often overlooked until the New Year, when people decide to set resolutions. However, these resolutions are nothing more than wishes and are far from what we would call "goals". Hence these "so called" goals have very little chance of being realized. Just ask any fitness club owner when the greatest number of sign-ups occur and when the greatest number of drop-outs occur. Clearly, these "resolutions" don't work!
So just what does work?

When it matters and you really want to accomplish your task, you will want to use tried and true goal setting techniques. Among the more successful methods is the SMART method of setting goals. SMART=Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-sensitive.

Goal setting starts with making sure that your goals are indeed SMART. Let's examine this briefly shall we.

A goal cannot be something general. It must be substantial and detailed. The goal must answer the questions who, what, where, when, how, and why.
As an example, if your goal is to get a raise, this is not specific enough and doesn't meet our criteria. If your goal is to get a 10% raise within 6 months, this is specific.
Measurable means exactly that. Your goal must be able to be measured or quantified. In the above example, a raise is not quantifiable, but a 10% raise is definitely quantifiable because the 10% number can be counted and verified.

A goal is attainable when it is realistic or feasable given your skills and resources. If you wish to be a pilot in 2 days and you have no money and no one to teach you, this may be considered "unattainable".

Realistic refers to your goal being "reasonable", meaning you are not 35 years old and setting a goal to have 3 kids before you turn 36! Your goal must be reasonable or surely you will have no chance of achieving it under any circumstances. This doesn't mean that goals that are "impossible" to achieve should not be attempted. History has shown us that what seems "impossible" to achieve for most people is indeed quite possible for others to achieve under the proper circumstances.

Lastly, "time sensitive" refers to all goals having a completion date. This is what separates goals from activities, activities do not require an end date. This is a very important distinction between a goal and an activity. Using our previous example, obtaining a 10% salary raise during your lifetime is not the same as a 10% raise within 6 months.

We certainly hope the above information will aid you in setting and achieving more goals during your lifetime. For further information, be sure to check out the many goal setting resources available to you online. In fact, make that your first goal!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

The Truth About Based Business Home Income Residual

If you want to run a business from home and are in need of a home based way to make some residual income, you have some options out there. Home based businesses often require a little residual income in order for the business to be worth the effort. This is no secret. However; what is not so commonly known is how a home based business can get that extra income. One good way to do it is through web affiliations. Basically in linking with another website you can increase targeted traffic and also earn a great deal of money in the process.

Of course, you can also opt for pay per click advertising to your affiliated sites so that you can double that amount. This means that you will get paid twice for the same thing. That is very smart residual income. When you can make some money by letting someone else do the work that is the dream. Web affiliates will do the marketing and everything else, all you have to do is provide a link to your website and watch the money roll in. If there is an easier way for a home based business to earn cash like this I would love to see it. After all, most people choose home based businesses so that they can have more time to themselves and their families. This is certainly a good way to accomplish just that, while still making money.

Home based businesses are generally small and can only earn so much on their own, however when you move it online you are opening it up to the world at large. That is just awesome. You can also go the MLM route, but affiliations are best. If you can learn to master website optimization it is even better as the traffic to your site will be astounding. Some affiliates will do that for you, so if that is something that you are interested in make sure that you research your affiliates thoroughly before you sign on.

Heart Attack – we all know the term, but what exactly is a Heart Attack

It has possibly been described as THE disease of the 20th Century and is certainly the one of the Century’s biggest killers but what exactly is Heart Disease and what exactly is a Heart Attack?

As they say, what is in a name? Well in this case the most common terminology in use is as follows. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is (as the name suggests) the Disease of the Coronary Arteries. Ischaemic Heart Disease or IHD is a narrowing of the blood vessels resulting in Ischaemia, which is a lack of blood supply to the Heart Muscle.

MI, Myocardial Infarction is the term that describes the death of an area of Heart Muscle as a result of a blockage in the blood supply. Myocardial Infarction as a term has become synonymous with the term Heart Attack.

We use the term Coronary to refer to the Coronary Arteries, the small blood vessels that keep the muscle of the Heart supplied with the nutrients, especially the oxygen that enable it to keep working properly.

Changes in the Coronary Arteries take place over the years and sediments, fatty deposits etc can build up in them and these lead to Angina, Heart attacks and sudden death.

Coronary Heart Disease has been documented as being the No 1 cause of death in the United Kingdom. Most of us at some time recon that we either know or have known someone who has suffered from a Heart Attack but according to statistics that has not always been the case.

This being so , what exactly has happened to either cause this increase in the incidence of Heart Attacks or has acted as an agent to assist the rise in the number of Heart Attacks?

In a bizarre way one of the best descriptions of the cause of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Heart Attacks is that it is a “disease caused by affluence”. It is becoming more and more common in the more developed countries and ones where the stress factor (one of the major causes of CHD) is a common factor.

Of the developed Countries where CHD is becoming more common, Western Europe, North America and Australasia are the leading territories in the CHD League. The link with affluence does seem to have some credence in that it has been chronicled that migrants moving to these countries from less developed territories or countries are showing an alarming increase in the incidence of CHD once they arrive or have spent some time in these more well developed countries.

It really does seem that in this as in most aspects of life that there is truly a price to pay for everything and in this it seems that some of us are paying with our lives.

The really sad aspect of this is that it doesn’t really have to be this way. CHD is preventable and can be treated if not eradicated.

Stress is Not Just For Adults

Stress is not just for adults. Stop everything you are doing and think upon this one fact if you read nothing else of this article.

Let me repeat it. Stress is not just for Adults! Kids are getting it too and this is really worrying if you follow this concept through to its natural conclusion. The knock on effects of this and the side effects of this could damage generations to come.

Before I start sounding as some weird harbinger of impending doom and disaster my line of thought is as follows. If the average age of those who find themselves suffering from stress becomes younger then the problem we have is that they will have insufficient natural and emotional resources to help them cope with this unnatural phenomena.

Or is it unnatural?

Many people don't realize that stress is a very natural and important part of life.

What is Stress? OK if you remove the need to strangle the nearest Parking Warden. Only joking here, Parking Wardens are nice people, I love Parking Wardens, well not in the biblical sense as my wife might object but I digress. Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. The problem with stress is when it becomes excessive, and when you don't allow yourself the opportunity to recover from stressful episodes.

Stress is epidemic in the western world. Stress is your response to any physical, emotional or intellectual demands. Stress is different for each of us. Stress is a fact of life, but it need not be a way of life. Stress is any factor in a person's life that causes change.

Stress is what you feel when you react to pressure from others or from yourself. Stress is an unavoidable part of life. Workplace stress is costing Britain billions and causing some 150,000 Britons to take at least a month off each year.

Stress is clearly a problem, and the need for remedial action is apparent. With Industry suffering under thousands of days lost due to excessive stress and pressure you would think that by now someone at possibly a governmental level would have tried to do something about it but nope, hey lets go and bomb some other country smaller than ourselves and really make ourselves popular.

But perhaps that’s it? Our glorious leader’s response to excessive stress is to go and relive it all by bombing someone else. Let’s just move the stress around a little and share!

If we get back to the real world for a little….

Stress is the physical and mental response of the body to demands made upon it. Stress is defined as a response to a demand that is placed upon you. Stress is something which affects only those who have high-pressure lives.

The level of your wellness or health is, in part, determined by the ability to deal with and defend against stress. Health officials stress that spreading knowledge is the key in the area of wellness and preventive medicine.

As a closing thought let me just repeat the opening line

Stress is Not Just For Adults! Many people don't realize that stress is a very natural and important part of life. It is just that as with most things too much of it can cause damage.

Thin Is In! Get Thin Quickly

Ever wonder how those celebs do it? On how they can lose weight quickly. Take for example Uma Thurman. She was pregnant months before filming "Kill Bill" but look at her in that movie. She was kicking ass. Hard to imagine that she just gave birth eight weeks prior to filming.

It does not stop there. You wonder how Angelina Jolie lost the baby weight after giving birth to her first biological child Shiloh. No wonder Brad Pitt is smitten over her. It is like she has superpowers. With just one snap of her fingers. Voila! No more baby weight!

But magic powers don't exist. What exists is the discipline of the person to shed those unwanted pounds. There are so many procedures and methods for anyone to lose the excessive weight which makes him or her conscious on a physical level. With the help of the website http://www.sayyestolosingweight.com/, people are informed on the sensitive yet most talked about topic of the 21st century - that is how to lose weight and fast!

Because of the rampant information that are broadcasted and shared through many types of media, the real diets are mixed up with the fad diets and it is difficult to determine which is which. Nutrition experts advise those who want to venture into dieting to eat healthy and to not restrict themselves by skipping meals just because it means they will be able to reach their target weight faster.

An example of a misleading weight loss diet is the infamous cabbage soup diet. This would only result to abdominal discomfort and flatulence, making you weak on a physical level. Not only will you be disappointed because you didn't lose weight, you'll also be shocked on your hospital bills.

What one must know about quick weight loss diet is that it does not imply a particular food. A diet is targeted to losing weight on a healthy manner. By eating a balanced diet which consists various foods providing the human body with the vitamins and minerals it need, then losing weight can be achieved.

It is how you stick to it and how determined you are in restricting yourself from indulgences such as sweets and carbohydrates that would determine how fast you can get your ideal weight.

Here's one basic tip on choosing the right diet for you. Decide on which diet in particular you will be concentrating on. What about it makes it easier for you to commit your lifestyle? By staying on that diet, then you have accomplished the first step in losing weight.

Try to eat in moderate amounts. What you eat normally, lessen it. In that way, you are not entirely restricting yourself. You are simply cutting back on what could be additional carbohydrates, fats and sugars in your body.

There is no such thing as "superfoods."That's like saying Angelina Jolie can just snap her finger then voila, she lost her baby weight. Diets that convince people there is "superfood"is a fad diet and smart people know that in an instant.

Sometimes these diets endorse a health association to make it seem that they are credible when it comes to advising people on the right diet. The public must be aware that the American Heart Association diet chart recommends servings each day from various food categories and not just the specific foods that are often indicated in these fad diets.

Simply put, if you want to lose weight quickly then just reduce the saturated fat and trans fat in your meal. Do not eat too much sweets. Eat more vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods. You can also move to fat-free or low-fat dairy.

Disrespectful and Rebellious Teens

Defiant Teens are children that have no respect for authority and mainly disrespect their parents.

Back talk when your teenager rudely tells you that you are a tyrant or an idiot has to be one of the hardest things for parents to deal with. Respect for parents is highly valued in every culture. Ways of showing respect differ from family to family. Some require prompt obedience without any protest; others are more relaxed. But disrespectful behavior is a tough challenge regardless of the specific form it takes.

We have found that children that have Defiance Disorder are very confrontational and need to have life their own way. It is a trait that some teens experience through their puberty years. Defiant teens, disrespectful teens, angry teens and rebellious teens can affect the entire family.

You will find yourself wondering what you ever did to deserve the way your child is treating you. It is very sad, yet very real. Please know that many families are experiencing this feeling of destruction within their home. Many wonder "why" and unfortunately each child is different with a variety of issues they are dealing with. Once a child is placed into proper treatment, the healing process can begin.

Their bodies and ideas are often equally awkward and unfinished but their struggle to master both is fascinating. Negotiating their transition from childhood to adulthood means that we are all making adjustments. As is always the case, this stage of my children's development is making me continue my own growth in the ways I manage human relationships.

To get to self-direction, there are a few universal explanations for every one of the situations that follow.

First, our children need to understand and agree and the consequence for breaking it. Only when they come to agree with our rules, through their own internal dialogue, will they become self-directed.

Second, sometimes parenting strategy leads some problems. Are you over-controlling or over-protective? Either trait can elicit an externally directed response, as your children react to an unhealthy situation.

Third, remember for all these parenting challenges how important it is for you as parents, to model the right behavior. If you're expecting your children to act one way and you act another, then the system falls down.

Parents of teenagers describe the teen years as a time of change, fear, rebellion, moodiness, disrespect, and frustration. But they also say it can be a time of fun, growth, adventure, sharing, understanding, and learning. Research shows that one of the best things you can do for your teen is simply to be there for them.
An effective way to work with defiant teens is through anger and stress management classes. If you have a local therapist, ask them if they offer these classes. Most will have them along with support groups and other beneficial classes.

Communication Problems with Teens

Communication problem is a most serious problem with the teens. Teen age is the most important period in anyone’s life. In this period everyone choose his/her career field. So communication makes effect on teen’s life. In teens life some teens face ego problem, which becomes the cause of their misbehavior. It is generally saw that misbehavior of the teens should be changed by follow few guidelines. This is the responsibility of the parents that if their teen is in problem then they pay more attention to their teens, listen to their teens and help them in problem.

Sometimes these communication problems in the teens are generated by the attitude of their parents. They do not pay their time to their teen and never listen to them, which cause the misbehavior of the teen. Generation gap is also the cause of the misbehavior of the teens. So we can say that teen years are the launch pad to adulthood, and parents have much to contribute for the journey, it’s critical for parents to find ways to restore clarity and understanding. In some cases the teens become reserved and they communicate with others very hesitately, which creates a problem in the career of teens. If parents not pay more attention to their teens and not listen to their teens then they became disrespectful toward them.

Teens can conclude that anger itself is a sin, and never benefit from the anger. They can commit themselves to denying or suppressing it in an effort to “be good.” That denial can end up creating more destructive expressions of anger. Anger is powerful and usually uncomfortable, no one likes it much. Rather, it says we shouldn’t be quick to anger in the midst of anger, or allow those bitter passions to go unresolved. Negative attitudes, cutting words, depression and a focus on death can all be expressions of denied anger.

Actions like punching holes in walls, fighting or setting fires may result from bottled-up emotions. Determine anger as a bad thing. If you can accept and assist your teen in their struggle with denied anger, discuss some ideas with them. Keep the distinction clear. Anger isn’t inherently wrong; it’s how you handle it that counts. Help your teens see how, in an attempt to deny his feelings. Just go to the following web sites and you find solutions.

School Bullying a typical issue

Just take an examples that an honor-roll student named Simon Jones jumped off the Bridge in New Westminster, Jones, 14, left a seven-page note that said he was killing himself because his classmates tormented him with names like gay or faggot. He had never told his mother he was being bullied. For many years now schools have been trying to tackle this problem.

Bullying has been defined as “the tendency for some children to frequently oppress, harass or intimidate other children, verbally, physically or both, in and out of school.” Bullying is the general term applied to a pattern of behavior whereby one person with a lot of internal anger, resentment and aggression and lacking interpersonal skills chooses to displace their aggression onto another person or a person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people.

International research suggests that bullying is common at schools and occurs beyond elementary school; bullying occurs at all grade levels, although most frequently during elementary school. It occurs slightly less often in middle schools, and less so, but still frequently, in high schools. High school freshmen are particularly vulnerable.

Bullying has two key components: repeated harmful acts and an imbalance of power. It involves repeated physical, verbal or psychological attacks or intimidation directed against a victim who cannot properly defend him- or herself because of size or strength, or because the victim is outnumbered or less psychologically resilient.

It seems that children bully for a variety of reasons and when dealing with child bullying it's essential to identify who is the bully at the center of the violence - there's usually one person who's the gang leader - and the reasons for bullying which include:

·Frustration - a child is impaired in some way and is frustrated and resentful because the source of their difficulty has not been identified - problems can include dyslexia, autism, allergy, being left-handed, some unidentified learning difficulty - nevertheless the child is expected to perform at the level required by the school and no attempt is made to identify the source of the frustration.

·The child is being bullied, the responsible adults have repeatedly failed in their duty of care, so the child slowly and reluctantly starts to exhibit aggressive behaviors because that's the only way to survive in this bullying-entrenched climate.

·Poor or no role model - the child has no role model at home, or a poor role model for one or both parents and has never had the opportunity to learn behavior skills

·Undue influence - the child has fallen in with the wrong crowd

·Abuse at home - the child is being abused and is expressing their anger through bullying

Bullying at school can leave scars throughout adulthood, impairing performance and preventing people achieving their potential. The psychiatric injury from bullying in childhood may also cause long-term damage to both physical health and mental health.

It is important for parents and teachers to be alert to the signs that a child is worried about school, and to talk regularly about school issues so that an opportunity is provided for concerns to be raised. When that happens action should be prompt and effective. However, new research shows that children and young people had very mixed feelings about telling an adult as they felt that it could make matters worse. These issues of trust cannot be assured in just the occasional conversation; they have to be developed as part of the total relationship.

If a child learns how to bully, and gets away with it, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest they leave school and carry on their bullying in the workplace. So some advices are provided to the kids and parents also.

Working at an International School Can Restore your Enthusiasm for Education

Imagine working at a school where you rarely have to use your disciplinary skills, the students are motivated to succeed and lead well-rounded lives by participating in sporting and creative activities. Even better, imagine a parent-teacher conference where the parents respect you and your profession and, your professional development is of concern to the school’s administration. These are the kind of benefits I have reaped from my move into an international teaching career.

Prior to securing my position as an international teacher in Thailand, I worked for more than three years in the United Kingdom. While I enjoyed my time there and learned a lot from my colleagues, there were parts of the job I didn’t like, and at times found a little soul destroying. That’s one of the reasons I now teach at an international school.

When I was teaching in England, I often found that I spent a considerable portion of my time on discipline. This was time that was taken away from my role as an educator and affected the chances of my students excelling. In my role as an international educator, I don’t have half or even a quarter of the discipline issues I had when I was teaching in England. It’s not because I teach less students, I still teach classes of 23 to 25 students. The reason I spend less time on discipline is because teaching is a respected profession in Thailand and therefore teachers are treated very well by the whole community.

Here in Thailand the majority of students are motivated to succeed academically. The whole school has a culture of rewarding success; academic successes, sporting successes and creative successes. This is in part because we are in Thailand, but it is also an integral component of the educational philosophy in the International Baccalaureate Organization’s (IBO) curriculum. In the UK I was constantly giving of myself to keep my students motivated and believing that they could achieve well if they put in the effort. After a while this became draining. Now I can concentrate on delivering content and opening my students’ eyes to the wider world around them because they are so motivated to learn.

I really feel that I am part of the community of my international school. My students greet me when I walk into school in the morning and they will greet me and stop to have a conversation with me whenever they see me on the street. There is a strong parents’ association that I can call upon for assistance if I am running an event or need extra adult supervision for an activity. The majority of my students have aspirant parents who support them in their studies, sporting and creative activities. In the UK parental support was not always forthcoming and nor were the students always polite.

One of the keys to being a great teacher is continuing to invest in your own education and development. That’s why many of us have professional development guidelines written into our contracts. From the school I taught at in the UK I received two days training that was aimed specifically at me or my subject area in over three years of teaching there. While this wasn’t the only professional development I received in that time I can honestly say that the only other training that was specifically targeted to meet my needs were courses that I found and paid for myself. Teaching abroad, I now have a professional development budget in excess of $US300 per year. Last year I attended a 3 day workshop in Singapore on the IBO curriculum, and this year I have attended a 4 day summit. Should I choose to do a Master’s degree, my school will pay part of the cost, and give me a salary increase once I have completed it.

You can experience many benefits from teaching overseas. I feel more enthused about being an educator now that I am teaching here in Thailand, and while I wouldn’t like to say that I will never teach in a state school again, I would certainly think carefully about any position offered to me.

If you are not feeling the passion for education that originally inspired you to become a teacher, perhaps you should be looking at moving overseas. An additional benefit is that they salary is better than I was getting in the United Kingdom as well!

5 Ways For Teachers To Make A Little Extra Money

I think it's a worldwide problem for teachers, we just aren't well-paid. I'm sure we've all had times in our lives when we have been little short of some ready-cash. In this article I like to share with you some of the things I've done, or thought about doing, in order to relieve my cash flow worries. And the method I have finally found to relieve my cash flow worries long-term.

Tutoring in Your First Language

One of the first things I ever did was to tutor people in the English language. At the time I was living in Taiwan, working as an English language teacher so it didn't take me long to realise that I could make extra money tutoring people. This was extremely lucrative for me and it was easy to find clients.

Now you might be thinking that you don't live in Taiwan so how is this helpful to you? With the amount of migration in the last five to 10 years it should be easy to find someone in need of English language tutoring, regardless of where you're living.

Tutoring in Your Subject Area

Of course the other alternative to tutoring people in the English language is to tutor them in your teaching subject. I have tutored students in math and accounting, and these aren't even my teaching subjects!

Something I've never done, but have seen people do very successfully, is to tutor students in English language using the curriculum they were covering at school. This will work for students in high-school and university, and you can certainly charge more per hour for this kind of tutoring.

Marking exams

When I lived in the United Kingdom I marked A-level exams for three years. This is another way I have earned a substantial amount of extra money. But the benefit wasn't just monetary; I became better able to prepare my students for the exams they sat. After I had marked exams for the first time, I noticed that my students’ grades improved and continued to do so over the next two years.

I made around £3000 ($US 5930) my first year, rising to around £6,500 ($US 12,850) in my third year. The reason I made more money was because I marked more papers, began to moderate coursework, and became a team leader.

The two problems with marking exams is that you have to do it right to be for the summer holidays at the end of a long hard year, and that you can only do it once a year. With this method you cannot control when you earn the extra money.

Teach Evening Classes

I worked my way through my Post Graduate Teaching Diploma by teaching English Language evening classes at the local high school. The pay was excellent and the hours suited the lifestyle I wanted to lead. The government put a cap on how much I was allowed to earn and I reached that limit teaching evening classes four hours a week.

If there are any evening classes being offered in your area, you could try approaching the organiser with a proposal. In my experience evening class organisers are always looking for new classes to add to their brochure.

Teach English Overseas

Teaching is a skill that can be adapted to almost any subject. Once you can teach you can teach almost anything, including language. There are a lot of hungry students in the world looking to learn English. If you can speak English, and you are a teacher, then you can teach English.

I know that I earlier mentioned that you can tutor the English language in addition to your current salary, but one way to increase your current salary without increasing your workload would be to move overseas and teach English abroad. A non-monetary side benefit to this option is that you get to live an exotic lifestyle and explore new cultures.

Finding a Teaching Job Abroad Using the Internet as an Information Medium

The internet has one purpose, to share information with people, and it’s a very powerful tool. I’m going to focus on how you can use the information that is available on the internet to secure a teaching position abroad.

Searching for Vacancies

Firstly you need to identify where you would like to work, and the kind of school in which you want to work. For example, I teach economics and would like to teach in Europe.

Once you’ve thought about the geographical area in which you want to work and have made a decision about that, you’ll need to go to a search engine and conduct a search. You are going to be looking for schools with relevant vacancies. Personally I find Google returns the most relevant search results.

In order to teach in Europe I’m probably going to have to teach in an international school, so one search term I might use is “international school Europe”. The reason I wouldn’t try the search term “economic teacher vacancy international school Europe” is that while it might be a more specific search term, in using it I am assuming that the schools’ webmaster has optimized the page for that search term.

For example, when I used the first search term “international school Europe” the first page of results has only two schools listed whose sites I can then visit and look for relevant vacancies. But the other results were directories of international schools in Europe which I could use to jump into my research with around 15 schools listed per directory.

When I use the second search term “economic teacher vacancy international school Europe” the first page of results has no relevant web sites listed. The sites were either economics news stories or job placement services recruiting teachers for schools in the United Kingdom.

Finding Information about the School

Once you’ve found a likely looking vacancy that you think you’d like to apply for, you can use the internet to gather more information about the school. This is an essential process, and should be carried out before you submit your application. As all teachers know, there are schools in which you want to work and then there are schools in which you wouldn’t work even if you were desperate for a job, so it’s important to do your research.

You will need to set out some criteria against which you can assess the school. If you are looking to teach in an international school, then there are industry specific criteria you should be looking at, and I’ve included them in a chapter in my book The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School.

You can find information about schools in many places. You could search the schools’ website for information. Look at:

* pictures they have on the site. I was keen on getting a job at one of the schools in the Bahamas when I saw that all the staff were all wearing shorts in the staff photo on the website!

* students’ work published on the website. One of my colleagues is currently looking for a new job teaching Information Technology at an international school and one of her strategies is to check out what students are doing at the school.

* whether the school has included information about living in the local area, either for parents or for teachers.

You could find out whether there is there a national (or international) education quality assurance organization, such as Ofsted in the UK, ERO in NZ, or ECIS for international schools, and see whether there are any reports available in the public domain about the school that interests you.