Introduction
Diversity education is becoming a solution for many businesses. In the European Union, it is offered to small and medium-sized businesses to develop their capacity to include people of across states in the union and cultures. Australia's government utilizes diversity education to end a history of discrimination against Aboriginal and Islander people. Asia finds it useful for increasing productivity in multinational companies, and for addressing the historical challenges of achieving harmony between Muslim and Hindu citizens. South Africa has implemented diversity education to adjust to the removal of the Apartheid system. The United States has offered diversity education for decades, although the rationale for its use has changed over time.
This article is limited to characterizing the history of diversity education in the United States. A history of diversity education in other countries and continents will follow in future issues.
Diversity Training and education in the United States
Many organizations, communities, military sectors, and higher education institutions have been conducting some form of diversity education since the 1960s in the United States. Businesses used diversity training in the late 1980s and throughout the 90s to protect against and settle civil rights suits. Many organizations now assume that diversity education can boost productivity and innovation in an increasingly diverse work environment. The assumptions about the value of diversity training, as a result of its changing functions and uses, have evolved over the decades.
Diversity education basically started as a reaction to the civil rights movement and violent demonstrations by activists determined to send a clear message to Americans of European descent that black people would no longer remain voiceless regarding their treatment as citizens. Social change in order to achieve a more stable society prevailed was the rationale for the education, which primarily focused on training to increase sensitivity towards and awareness of racial differences.
Encounter groups became a popular training method for bringing white and black Americans together for honest and emotional discussions about race relations. The military employed encounter groups in what is perhaps the largest scale diversity education experiment ever conducted. Many of the facilitators viewed the "encounter" among racial group participating in diversity training as successful when at least one white American admitted that he or she was racist and tearful about racial discrimination and white supremacy.
Employing a black-white pair of facilitators was considered essential for exposing participants to the two race relations perspective and to model cross-racial collaboration. The facilitators were typically men, and the white facilitator was most valued if he could openly show emotions about his own journey in discovering his deep-seated racism.
Facilitators saw their work as a way to achieve equality in a world that had historically oppressed those with less social, political, and economic power. Confronting white Americans who made excuses for, or denied their racism, was common in this diversity training approach. The goal was to increase white American sensitivity to the effects of racial inequity.
White American participants tended to respond to confrontation in sensitivity training in three important ways. One group of whites became more insightful about the barriers to race relations as a result of being put on the hot seat during the encounters. Another group became more resistant to racial harmony as they fought against accepting the facilitators' label of them as racists. A third group became what the military referred to as "fanatics." These individuals began advocating against any forms of racial injustice after the training.
H. R. Day's research on diversity training in the military indicates that the Defense Department Race Relations Institute reduced the amount of training hours and curtailed the use of the "hot seat" techniques in response to negative evaluations by many participants who completed the training. Diversity training in corporations also began to change as Affirmative Action laws were being curtailed by the federal government.
While gender diversity education began to emerge during the 1970s and 1980s, diversity education in the United States expanded in the 1990s to focus on barriers to inclusion for other identity groups. Ability difference, ethnic, religious, gay, lesbian, and other worldviews began to appear in education and training.
Some diversity pioneers argue that the broader view of diversity has "watered down" the focus on race to the extent that it is no longer seriously dealt with in training. Their assumption is that focusing on prejudice towards other groups does not activate the visceral reaction needed for individuals, organizations, and the society as whole to deal with core discrimination issues.
Recent research shows that people in the United States have more negative reactions towards people who are gay or lesbian. It seems that many Americans share an anti-gay and lesbian attitude, primarily based on religious beliefs. However, even the attitude towards gays and lesbians is becoming more positive way, as indicated by the success of the movie Brokeback Mountain about two cowboy lovers, and the introduction of legislation that protects their rights.
Multiculturalism refers to the inclusion of the full range of identity groups in education. The goal is to take into consideration each of the diverse ways people identify as cultural beings. This perspective has become the most widely used approach today in diversity education. The inclusion of other identity groups poses the challenges of maintaining focus on unresolved racial discrimination and effectively covering the many different identity groups.
The current focus on white privilege training in one sector of diversity work maintains a place for racism in diversity education. White privilege education involves challenging white people to
Saturday, August 23, 2008
A Passion for Diversity
Some people work at their jobs because they have to make a living, and they get to express themselves after work. Some people have careers that they love, and have a hard time not taking home their work with them when they go home. And then there are successful people in the diversity field. They have a passion for diversity and they live their work. Whether or not they take their work home with them, their work is always driven by the values they live every day, and their lives are driven by the values they promote at work.
When organizations began to embrace diversity in the 1980s, many of them thought that diversity training was the answer. They thought that if every employee attended a diversity training class, biases, complaints and lawsuits would disappear and everyone would work together in harmony forever. There were two kinds of people engaged in diversity training, education and organizational development. There were those who thought of it as program or a trend. These people read a few books, took a train-the-trainer class or bought one in the mail and called themselves experts. The second group knew that it was a process, not a one day program and that in order to create change they needed to live it, learn it and continually develop their passion for it.
They were cognizant of the need to integrate diversity into the business strategy of any organization and the rest of their lives. They also knew there were no quick fixes—that it took patience, and time—but change was possible.
The first group lost interest and went on to something else but people in the second group are still here helping to create change They’re working to create inclusive environments where all people can do their best work and have their individual skills and talents, recognized, appreciated and utilized.
I wanted to know more about this passion for diversity and where it came from. What drives some individuals to maintain their personal mission, vision and values despite resistance, challenges and nay sayers. I interviewed four people whose passion for diversity is so great it’s like a magnetic force that continues to get stronger and attract everything in its path. These four people are Terry Howard, Director of Diversity for Texas Instruments; Michele Atlas from Workforce Diversity Network; Deb Dagit, Executive Diversity Director at Merck; and, Edgar Quiroz, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Kaiser Permanente.
I asked all of them, Why did you get involved in diversity? Here are their stories:
Terry Howard, Director of Diversity at Texas Instruments, has a long-standing and personal connection with diversity. “As an African-American male, I’ve been involved in and experienced diversity my entire life. From a career standpoint, I actually got involved in this work by ‘default.’ During the mid 1980s, I managed a group charged with delivering employment and EEO service for AT&T. Our client base was very diverse and that itself heightened my interest in this work. The challenge of fostering awareness of that growing diversity and leveraging it was most intriguing to me. In 1986, I read the Hudson Institute report Workforce 2000. This ignited me and I knew I wanted to help break new ground.”
Terry’s passion and his involvement in diversity continue to grow. He now supports 15 diversity affinity groups at Texas Instruments, as well as the many business level diversity committees and their annual diversity conferences. “In between, I write a monthly internal diversity column and issue periodic diversity tips on the full range of diversity topics, and I speak on diversity and inclusion at meetings and retreats internally and externally .” Recently he founded the Diversity Connection Symposium for Texas Diversity Professionals, a group consisting of representatives from Shell Oil, Price Waterhouse, First American, Intel, Intuit, JC Penny, Delotte and others and delivered talks in France and China. He takes his passion for diversity and inclusion to the community, having participated in a community march against hate. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my role in the successful integration of religion and faith in the workplace amid lots of skepticism.” He said that people were still talking about the standing room only session “When Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation”.
When asked what drives him his reply was, “My passion is driven by my curiosity about the far-reaching implications of diversity and getting organizations to see that connection. It never stops.”
Deb Dagit, Executive Director of Diversity for Merck, told me that she had lived months at a time from when she was 11 to 16 in the Shriners Hospital to receive treatment for a bone condition that resulted in fractures and bone deformities. She was there with other children who had bone and burn disabilities from all over the world. “I became close to kids from all over the world who were also living in the hospital for months at a time, cut off from families and "normal" life . I learned what we had in common was more significant than what was different, regardless of our cultural differences."
During the time she spent in public school she was separated from the rest of her class as schools were not required to integrate children with disabilities and therefore there were many restrictions on how she was allowed to attend. She had to sit right next to the teacher’s desk and was not allowed to go to recess or lunch with the other kids. In describing her experiences she says, “Because of how I was treated, I related to other kids who were also seen as needing extra attention from the teacher, whether for behavioral issues or learning challenges . Issues of fairness, respect and inclusion became very important to me as I observed who was singled out and how this caused them to be treated by other members of the class .” After graduation, Dagit tutored people who immigrated from Vietnam after the war. She saw how they struggled to learn the language, culture, and to fit in with other kids.
She explained that there is a disproportionate number of people with disabilities who are veterans and who are from minority backgrounds for a variety of reasons , and that along with diversity issues amongst people with disabilities who come from different backgrounds, there are diversity issues around different types of disabilities. “Some disabilities are more stigmatized than others,” she noted.
Her experiences inspired her to become a diversity leader. She traveled to Washington DC and spoke to lawmakers about the importance of passing the ADA and fought against weakening amendments . “During that time I thought about struggles and victories like Brown vs. the Board of Education and the Voting Rights Act, and the importance of civil rights for all people. This experience also caused her to realize the importance of 'reasonable accommodation' for all employees as a foundation for what are now called 'work environment' initiatives."
“In my first corporate job out of college I was told very matter of factly that I would never get beyond an 8 or 9 dollar and hour entry level job. After about 5-6 years I began to realize that they were serious about this low ceiling, so l left the corporate world for four years and I worked in the non-profit sector primarily on disability issues . As comfortable and engaging as it was to be with my "tribe," I knew that to effect real systemic changes more broadly. it needed to be from the inside out, companies nee d to see diversity and inclusion as important to the success of their business and consistent with the workplace ethics and corporate social responsibility values the espouse. When I re-entered the private sector it was as an executive with senior level responsibility and salary.
Deb says her passion for diversity only continues to grow. She was a founding member of the Conference Board Workforce Council on Diversity 13 years ago . “I have never been around anything else that keeps me stimulated 24 hours a day. I rarely read anything that is not in the field. I have a global vision and I want to help create the kind of world that does not just tolerate differences, but one where people are truly respectful and inclusive of other s, the kind of world that is healthy for our children.”
Edgar Quiroz is the Director of Workforce Diversity at Kaiser Permanente's National Diversity Department. He told me, “I really never sought to get involved with diversity work, diversity work got involved with me.” He grew up in San Francisco in a diverse neighborhood with African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians and Latinos like himself. While attending high school in the 1970s he was active in community student leadership. “I organized youth in under served communities city wide to help them with jobs, careers, and educational enhancement. Not one of my past job descriptions ever included diversity as a duty, but I always managed to weave diversity work into my functions. As a boy, my father and I walked the picket lines with Cesar Chavez in support of the UFW.” He began working at SF General Hospital as a youth outreach worker. “I worked with young people who were homeless, drug and alcohol addicted, prostitutes, battered and abused.
Today Edgar says he is privileged to be the Director of Workforce Diversity for Kaiser Permanente where he has worked for 20 years. During this time he was a founding board member and past president of the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association. “I chose Kaiser Permanente because their social mission on community wellnes, diversity and cultural competency are aligned with my own. My primary three areas of involvement are: 1) Enhance the diversity, cultural competence, skill and performance of our workforce; 2) Provide culturally competent medical care and culturally appropriate service to improve the health and satisfaction of our increasing diversity membership; 3) Grow our membership through effective market segmentation approaches that target specific populations which are the fastest growing segments of our society".
Diversity impacts his personal life every day. His family is bi-racial, and it is important to him that they all know, embrace and celebrate both his Latino culture and the African-American culture. “My passion for diversity has increased to a point that far exceeded any of my expectations. It’s only gotten better and I maintain my lifetime relationships with mentors and colleagues. I love my work, and there is a lot more work to do. As a country we have to pay more attention to populations that have been ignored so more people have access to quality health care. I remain optimistic and hopeful. I am inspired by all others who are also working for change.”
Michelle Atlas began her career in Vocational Rehabilitation in Rochester, New York over 13 years ago. Seven years ago, she was hired by the Rochester Business Alliance to create a new program to provide employment services to people with disabilities. After the first year, she was asked to represent the Rochester Business Alliance at the Workforce Diversity Network, an organization whose mission is to create a nationwide learning network to support organizations in learning more about the benefits of diversity in the workplace, and is expanding to other areas in the USA “I didn’t know a lot about other areas of diversity beyond disability, but as I began to learn about all the other dimensions, diversity and inclusion became so important to me and I kept learning and expanding my knowledge base about every component.” As a representative, Michele got to meet diversity leadership in various kinds of organizations. She learned more about diversity initiatives and issues that organizations were dealing with. “I felt a very strong affinity for this work. I went from being a representative to the Diversity Workforce Network to serving on the board and becoming a part time staff member; working with the Executive director, and coordinating membership and organizing our national conference. I love the spirit of the other people who do this kind of work. My passion comes from being a part of something that is so good for the world at so many levels. I’m excited by other cultures, and I am part of an incredible program called the Mosaic Partnership where leaders in our region are partnered with someone from a different race and participate in group coaching sessions.”
Michelle talked about how crucial it is for people in the health care field to be culturally competent. Besides her part time work with WDN, she consults, coaches and trains people who employ people with disabilities to be more culturally competent. “My learning points have been to honestly assess my own biases and to then be able to help other people assess their own and feel safe. Learning about my own biases has been very liberating and other people I work with have said that it is true for them. If we want to move forward from diversity to inclusion we have to identify our subtle biases and work through them. I hope I never stop learning.”
Although these four individuals are from different industries and came to diversity work from different experiences and backgrounds, they share certain qualities and experiences that contribute to their passion for diversity. From Deb’s voracious reading of diversity books to Michele’s personal involvement with the Mosaic Partnership, we see that these four remarkable individuals have all cultivated lifestyles that support their passion for diversity. They live and breathe diversity—both coming from diverse backgrounds and seeking out diverse interactions and experiences. They have all adopted learning orientations so they can continue to develop their own cultural competence and help others to do the same. Moreover, as we saw with Edgar’s work with underserved communities and Terry’s work with “Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation” in the workplace, the passion of these four diversity leaders is driven by a lot of ‘Cs’: courage, concern, and commitment to diversity initiatives. Be it Terry’s commitment to helping organizations understand the implications of diversity, Deb’s global goals for a better world, Edgar’s views on what this country needs to better meet the health needs of its diverse population, or Michele’s emphasis on breaking down barriers through helping people safely address their own biases, this is truly a visionary group of professionals. Most importantly, their visions are long-term, powerful, and important ones that they consistently move forward a day at a time. These are the kinds of diversity leaders that we need working in rganizations of all kinds.
For an organization to successfully leverage the diversity of its organization to improve its performance three concurrent imperatives must be in place. First, diversity must be part of your overall business strategy and, secondly, your organization must move from representation and numbers to inclusion at every level. Finally, you will only be successful if you bring in diversity leaders who not only have knowledge of but a passion for diversity.
When organizations began to embrace diversity in the 1980s, many of them thought that diversity training was the answer. They thought that if every employee attended a diversity training class, biases, complaints and lawsuits would disappear and everyone would work together in harmony forever. There were two kinds of people engaged in diversity training, education and organizational development. There were those who thought of it as program or a trend. These people read a few books, took a train-the-trainer class or bought one in the mail and called themselves experts. The second group knew that it was a process, not a one day program and that in order to create change they needed to live it, learn it and continually develop their passion for it.
They were cognizant of the need to integrate diversity into the business strategy of any organization and the rest of their lives. They also knew there were no quick fixes—that it took patience, and time—but change was possible.
The first group lost interest and went on to something else but people in the second group are still here helping to create change They’re working to create inclusive environments where all people can do their best work and have their individual skills and talents, recognized, appreciated and utilized.
I wanted to know more about this passion for diversity and where it came from. What drives some individuals to maintain their personal mission, vision and values despite resistance, challenges and nay sayers. I interviewed four people whose passion for diversity is so great it’s like a magnetic force that continues to get stronger and attract everything in its path. These four people are Terry Howard, Director of Diversity for Texas Instruments; Michele Atlas from Workforce Diversity Network; Deb Dagit, Executive Diversity Director at Merck; and, Edgar Quiroz, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Kaiser Permanente.
I asked all of them, Why did you get involved in diversity? Here are their stories:
Terry Howard, Director of Diversity at Texas Instruments, has a long-standing and personal connection with diversity. “As an African-American male, I’ve been involved in and experienced diversity my entire life. From a career standpoint, I actually got involved in this work by ‘default.’ During the mid 1980s, I managed a group charged with delivering employment and EEO service for AT&T. Our client base was very diverse and that itself heightened my interest in this work. The challenge of fostering awareness of that growing diversity and leveraging it was most intriguing to me. In 1986, I read the Hudson Institute report Workforce 2000. This ignited me and I knew I wanted to help break new ground.”
Terry’s passion and his involvement in diversity continue to grow. He now supports 15 diversity affinity groups at Texas Instruments, as well as the many business level diversity committees and their annual diversity conferences. “In between, I write a monthly internal diversity column and issue periodic diversity tips on the full range of diversity topics, and I speak on diversity and inclusion at meetings and retreats internally and externally .” Recently he founded the Diversity Connection Symposium for Texas Diversity Professionals, a group consisting of representatives from Shell Oil, Price Waterhouse, First American, Intel, Intuit, JC Penny, Delotte and others and delivered talks in France and China. He takes his passion for diversity and inclusion to the community, having participated in a community march against hate. “One of the things I’m most proud of is my role in the successful integration of religion and faith in the workplace amid lots of skepticism.” He said that people were still talking about the standing room only session “When Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation”.
When asked what drives him his reply was, “My passion is driven by my curiosity about the far-reaching implications of diversity and getting organizations to see that connection. It never stops.”
Deb Dagit, Executive Director of Diversity for Merck, told me that she had lived months at a time from when she was 11 to 16 in the Shriners Hospital to receive treatment for a bone condition that resulted in fractures and bone deformities. She was there with other children who had bone and burn disabilities from all over the world. “I became close to kids from all over the world who were also living in the hospital for months at a time, cut off from families and "normal" life . I learned what we had in common was more significant than what was different, regardless of our cultural differences."
During the time she spent in public school she was separated from the rest of her class as schools were not required to integrate children with disabilities and therefore there were many restrictions on how she was allowed to attend. She had to sit right next to the teacher’s desk and was not allowed to go to recess or lunch with the other kids. In describing her experiences she says, “Because of how I was treated, I related to other kids who were also seen as needing extra attention from the teacher, whether for behavioral issues or learning challenges . Issues of fairness, respect and inclusion became very important to me as I observed who was singled out and how this caused them to be treated by other members of the class .” After graduation, Dagit tutored people who immigrated from Vietnam after the war. She saw how they struggled to learn the language, culture, and to fit in with other kids.
She explained that there is a disproportionate number of people with disabilities who are veterans and who are from minority backgrounds for a variety of reasons , and that along with diversity issues amongst people with disabilities who come from different backgrounds, there are diversity issues around different types of disabilities. “Some disabilities are more stigmatized than others,” she noted.
Her experiences inspired her to become a diversity leader. She traveled to Washington DC and spoke to lawmakers about the importance of passing the ADA and fought against weakening amendments . “During that time I thought about struggles and victories like Brown vs. the Board of Education and the Voting Rights Act, and the importance of civil rights for all people. This experience also caused her to realize the importance of 'reasonable accommodation' for all employees as a foundation for what are now called 'work environment' initiatives."
“In my first corporate job out of college I was told very matter of factly that I would never get beyond an 8 or 9 dollar and hour entry level job. After about 5-6 years I began to realize that they were serious about this low ceiling, so l left the corporate world for four years and I worked in the non-profit sector primarily on disability issues . As comfortable and engaging as it was to be with my "tribe," I knew that to effect real systemic changes more broadly. it needed to be from the inside out, companies nee d to see diversity and inclusion as important to the success of their business and consistent with the workplace ethics and corporate social responsibility values the espouse. When I re-entered the private sector it was as an executive with senior level responsibility and salary.
Deb says her passion for diversity only continues to grow. She was a founding member of the Conference Board Workforce Council on Diversity 13 years ago . “I have never been around anything else that keeps me stimulated 24 hours a day. I rarely read anything that is not in the field. I have a global vision and I want to help create the kind of world that does not just tolerate differences, but one where people are truly respectful and inclusive of other s, the kind of world that is healthy for our children.”
Edgar Quiroz is the Director of Workforce Diversity at Kaiser Permanente's National Diversity Department. He told me, “I really never sought to get involved with diversity work, diversity work got involved with me.” He grew up in San Francisco in a diverse neighborhood with African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians and Latinos like himself. While attending high school in the 1970s he was active in community student leadership. “I organized youth in under served communities city wide to help them with jobs, careers, and educational enhancement. Not one of my past job descriptions ever included diversity as a duty, but I always managed to weave diversity work into my functions. As a boy, my father and I walked the picket lines with Cesar Chavez in support of the UFW.” He began working at SF General Hospital as a youth outreach worker. “I worked with young people who were homeless, drug and alcohol addicted, prostitutes, battered and abused.
Today Edgar says he is privileged to be the Director of Workforce Diversity for Kaiser Permanente where he has worked for 20 years. During this time he was a founding board member and past president of the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association. “I chose Kaiser Permanente because their social mission on community wellnes, diversity and cultural competency are aligned with my own. My primary three areas of involvement are: 1) Enhance the diversity, cultural competence, skill and performance of our workforce; 2) Provide culturally competent medical care and culturally appropriate service to improve the health and satisfaction of our increasing diversity membership; 3) Grow our membership through effective market segmentation approaches that target specific populations which are the fastest growing segments of our society".
Diversity impacts his personal life every day. His family is bi-racial, and it is important to him that they all know, embrace and celebrate both his Latino culture and the African-American culture. “My passion for diversity has increased to a point that far exceeded any of my expectations. It’s only gotten better and I maintain my lifetime relationships with mentors and colleagues. I love my work, and there is a lot more work to do. As a country we have to pay more attention to populations that have been ignored so more people have access to quality health care. I remain optimistic and hopeful. I am inspired by all others who are also working for change.”
Michelle Atlas began her career in Vocational Rehabilitation in Rochester, New York over 13 years ago. Seven years ago, she was hired by the Rochester Business Alliance to create a new program to provide employment services to people with disabilities. After the first year, she was asked to represent the Rochester Business Alliance at the Workforce Diversity Network, an organization whose mission is to create a nationwide learning network to support organizations in learning more about the benefits of diversity in the workplace, and is expanding to other areas in the USA “I didn’t know a lot about other areas of diversity beyond disability, but as I began to learn about all the other dimensions, diversity and inclusion became so important to me and I kept learning and expanding my knowledge base about every component.” As a representative, Michele got to meet diversity leadership in various kinds of organizations. She learned more about diversity initiatives and issues that organizations were dealing with. “I felt a very strong affinity for this work. I went from being a representative to the Diversity Workforce Network to serving on the board and becoming a part time staff member; working with the Executive director, and coordinating membership and organizing our national conference. I love the spirit of the other people who do this kind of work. My passion comes from being a part of something that is so good for the world at so many levels. I’m excited by other cultures, and I am part of an incredible program called the Mosaic Partnership where leaders in our region are partnered with someone from a different race and participate in group coaching sessions.”
Michelle talked about how crucial it is for people in the health care field to be culturally competent. Besides her part time work with WDN, she consults, coaches and trains people who employ people with disabilities to be more culturally competent. “My learning points have been to honestly assess my own biases and to then be able to help other people assess their own and feel safe. Learning about my own biases has been very liberating and other people I work with have said that it is true for them. If we want to move forward from diversity to inclusion we have to identify our subtle biases and work through them. I hope I never stop learning.”
Although these four individuals are from different industries and came to diversity work from different experiences and backgrounds, they share certain qualities and experiences that contribute to their passion for diversity. From Deb’s voracious reading of diversity books to Michele’s personal involvement with the Mosaic Partnership, we see that these four remarkable individuals have all cultivated lifestyles that support their passion for diversity. They live and breathe diversity—both coming from diverse backgrounds and seeking out diverse interactions and experiences. They have all adopted learning orientations so they can continue to develop their own cultural competence and help others to do the same. Moreover, as we saw with Edgar’s work with underserved communities and Terry’s work with “Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation” in the workplace, the passion of these four diversity leaders is driven by a lot of ‘Cs’: courage, concern, and commitment to diversity initiatives. Be it Terry’s commitment to helping organizations understand the implications of diversity, Deb’s global goals for a better world, Edgar’s views on what this country needs to better meet the health needs of its diverse population, or Michele’s emphasis on breaking down barriers through helping people safely address their own biases, this is truly a visionary group of professionals. Most importantly, their visions are long-term, powerful, and important ones that they consistently move forward a day at a time. These are the kinds of diversity leaders that we need working in rganizations of all kinds.
For an organization to successfully leverage the diversity of its organization to improve its performance three concurrent imperatives must be in place. First, diversity must be part of your overall business strategy and, secondly, your organization must move from representation and numbers to inclusion at every level. Finally, you will only be successful if you bring in diversity leaders who not only have knowledge of but a passion for diversity.
Math Anxiety - Is There A Dark Cloud Over Your Child's Math Work?
Are you tired of the yelling and cajoling to get your child to do his Math work?
• Are you tired of the tears of frustration as your child struggles to learn math and do math problems he does not understand?
• Are you tired of feeling helpless to help your child understand his math work, because you were never good at math in school?
• Are you tired of the complaints that math is boring and tedious and totally unrelated to anything in real life?
Why is this? What is it about math that causes such pain and anxiety, turmoil and fighting, tears and anger? Is it math or our own fears of failure, of not being very good at math ourselves? Is it math or is it the method that we employ to teach math to our children? Is it math or an illusion of catastrophe if our child does not become proficient in this skill? In a series of three articles on Math Anxiety, I will be addressing these points.
Personally, I don’t think it is math. Math is ancient. People have been learning math for centuries. Even in this country, people learned math, were profitable in business and industry, and our nation became great. Basic math or accounting was the foundation of every household and business. More complex math enabled us to create great inventions and great engineering feats. We even put a man on the moon. We accomplished all this because of our nation’s ability to do math. Math is not hard. It is a basic skill, like reading. Yet no one would admit to not being very good at reading.
I think the problem is with how we view math, as this awesome hard thing other people do. I read a wonderful historical fiction book called Carry on, Mister Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. Set just before the American Revolution, the main character, a self-educated young man who taught his shipmates how to do a lunar sighting. A lunar sighting is a navigation calculation for determining your ship’s position while out at sea. My first thought was of awe. I could not imagine the complex math that was involved in doing a lunar sighting. I thought the math was more than I could ever do.
Why did I think that? What is the math that’s needed to do a lunar sighting? I don’t know. So why did I assume that it was more than I could do? Shame on me! The book had just related that this young man was teaching his shipmates how to do these calculations. His shipmates were uneducated men and boys. Here I am with a B.A. in mathematics, a college graduate, a good education in one of the most advance nations in the world and I’m thinking that this math is beyond me. This in itself is very revealing of the mindset towards math in America. What is your mindset? Do you assume the math will be too hard before you even try? Do you convey this mindset to your children? It's time to change this negative attitude towards math. Start with doing something fun that involves math, like figuring out how to do a lunar sighting. Math is not hard. Math is basic. Everyone can do Math!
• Are you tired of the tears of frustration as your child struggles to learn math and do math problems he does not understand?
• Are you tired of feeling helpless to help your child understand his math work, because you were never good at math in school?
• Are you tired of the complaints that math is boring and tedious and totally unrelated to anything in real life?
Why is this? What is it about math that causes such pain and anxiety, turmoil and fighting, tears and anger? Is it math or our own fears of failure, of not being very good at math ourselves? Is it math or is it the method that we employ to teach math to our children? Is it math or an illusion of catastrophe if our child does not become proficient in this skill? In a series of three articles on Math Anxiety, I will be addressing these points.
Personally, I don’t think it is math. Math is ancient. People have been learning math for centuries. Even in this country, people learned math, were profitable in business and industry, and our nation became great. Basic math or accounting was the foundation of every household and business. More complex math enabled us to create great inventions and great engineering feats. We even put a man on the moon. We accomplished all this because of our nation’s ability to do math. Math is not hard. It is a basic skill, like reading. Yet no one would admit to not being very good at reading.
I think the problem is with how we view math, as this awesome hard thing other people do. I read a wonderful historical fiction book called Carry on, Mister Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. Set just before the American Revolution, the main character, a self-educated young man who taught his shipmates how to do a lunar sighting. A lunar sighting is a navigation calculation for determining your ship’s position while out at sea. My first thought was of awe. I could not imagine the complex math that was involved in doing a lunar sighting. I thought the math was more than I could ever do.
Why did I think that? What is the math that’s needed to do a lunar sighting? I don’t know. So why did I assume that it was more than I could do? Shame on me! The book had just related that this young man was teaching his shipmates how to do these calculations. His shipmates were uneducated men and boys. Here I am with a B.A. in mathematics, a college graduate, a good education in one of the most advance nations in the world and I’m thinking that this math is beyond me. This in itself is very revealing of the mindset towards math in America. What is your mindset? Do you assume the math will be too hard before you even try? Do you convey this mindset to your children? It's time to change this negative attitude towards math. Start with doing something fun that involves math, like figuring out how to do a lunar sighting. Math is not hard. Math is basic. Everyone can do Math!
The World Doesn’t Need Another Math Textbook
I know this statement is shocking. Some of you may feel that I have announced the end of the civilization as we know it. How in the world will people learn math without the latest and greatest math textbook. The answer is simple. The same way people have always learned math prior to the modern education system, by doing math as they go about their everyday lives. You may ask “Is that possible?” “Would it work?” I believe so. It’s the reason I made this statement when I was asked if my new book, “Math is Child's Play” was going to be a Math Textbook. But in all fairness, let’s look at both sides, school math versus everyday math.
First let’s look at school math. I have been studying of late the topic of Math Anxiety. Increasing number of people profess to hate math, to be ‘no good at math,’ to be anxious about doing basic math. These same people were taught math in our public schools. When did this situation of math anxiety start? Who knows for sure? But what’s significant is that it’s increasing, not decreasing. It’s increasing despite the modern education system, despite New Math and the latest teaching methods, despite all the money and energy that has been put towards the problem. Just for the record, I found a book “Mathematics; A Human Endeavor” by Harold R. Jacobs copyrighted in 1970 which in its preface the author mentions the failure of New Math in the schools. A book from 1964, titled “Mathematics for Elementary Teachers” by Ralph Crouch and George Baldwin which was written to teach math to elementary teacher who found themselves expected to teach math although they had no training in math.
Marilyn Burns, a well known math expert, has been addresses math anxiety since 1970 with her first book, “I Hate Mathematics” right through to her more current book, “Math; Facing an American Phobia” 1998. The latter book speaks to math anxiety as a growing phenomenon. And more recently “Math for the Anxious” by Rosanne Proga, copyrighted 2005 also is very clear about math anxiety and its causes. Of course, all this math anxiety is good; at least it is for the math textbook industry. Math anxiety sells math textbooks. Parents are concerned that their children learn math better than they did. Teachers are calling for a better way to teach math. This is great news for the math textbook companies. For you and me, this is bad news.
So let’s look at the other side. Is it possible for people to learn math in everyday life; running their business or household, doing projects, etc.? Is this possible? I believe it is and it is already happening without anyone being aware of it. My daughter professed to hate math, yet she is doing math everyday on Neopets. When I asked her about it, she said that it wasn’t real math. So what kind of math was it? I think she meant that it wasn’t ‘school math.’ I met an airline pilot who went into great details about the calculations she did in her head in order to fly the plane. Later she professed that she hated math in school. She wasn’t ‘good at it.’ She wasn’t even capable of balancing her own checkbook. When I pointed out that the calculation she did to fly the plane was math, she was adamant that it wasn’t because she wasn’t any good at math in school. She said “It’s just a formula that I plug numbers into.” Marilyn Burn relates a similar story about an interior decorator who could price out the cost for a complete room, but also felt that she wasn’t any good at math. These are people who couldn’t do ‘school math’ but are doing the math that their everyday lives demand of them. They probably learned this math on the job; hence they don’t relate it to school math.
Math is best learned in the real world, with real life situations. It may start with counting out the cookies your mother gives you. Later you start comparing the number you got with the number your brother got. You quickly learn to calculate the he got ‘how many’ more than you did, so that your complaint can be accurate. Next, you are watching Mom slice up the pie or cake. You quickly calculate how many pieces each person can have, that is until Mom steps in and tells you how many you can really have. Then you calculate how many you can have tomorrow with all those guests gone. This is a simple real life scenario, but how many math concepts did I cover here. These skills grow with your children. How many of you have watched your older children go through their Halloween candy. My child sorts and counts to evaluate how she did. Halloween is also a great time for teaching about taxes. Parents need to take their share of the sweet earnings, and not just of the candy the child doesn’t like. Remember, Uncle Sam takes his cut off the top before you ever see a dime.
Playing is a great way to learn math. I like miniature golf and billiards for learning about angles and force. Of course this may sound like Physics, Newton’s Law of Relativity. And it is, but there is also no better way to learn geometry and algebra than with a practical application. What could be more practical than learning as you play? Wow, here’s another real life example for learning math. I like playing games. You name it; board games, card games, strategy games. If it challenges me and tests my intellect and problem solving capabilities, I like it. Games like Nim, checkers, chess, mancala, Stratego, Battleship, Risk, etc. help develop logic sequences and strategy.
Games like Uno, Skip-bo, Set, Rummikub helps children develop their ability to see patterns. Games like cribbage, gin rummy, Scrabble actually help children practice addition and multiplication.
But enough with the games, let’s talk some serious stuff. If you want to learn math, do a project like decorating a room. Do the whole works from calculating the paint or wallpaper, to calculating the material and sewing the drapes, to ordering and positioning the furniture. Design a new cabinet layout for your kitchen, including calculating cabinet dimensions, appliance positioning and project costs. Try building something like a drop desk or a play ground swing set, or a go-cart. How about doing a baking or sewing/quilting project? Do all the preparations for a dinner party, including the planning, shopping, seating arrangement, cooking, etc. Try paper trading some stock and track them for a year. Start an eBay business. Wow! Wouldn’t that be something, having your child’s math project turn into a home-based business that pays for your child’s college education? It’s possible and it’s real life.
When it comes to learning math, everyday life has plenty of opportunities and the learning is natural, not forced. On the other hand, the math anxiety problem is rooted in our modern education system. The problem lies with having non-math experts teaching math as if they were experts. The problem lies with having math textbooks that present math in an artificial and rigid manner. As much as I liked Marilyn Burns book, “Math; Facing an American Phobia,” I think she missed the correct conclusion of the situation. Ms. Burns is still trying to ‘fix’ the system. It is obvious to me that it is time to throw the system out and go back to learning math in everyday life. Hence I stand by my statement “The Last Thing the World Needs Is Another Math Textbook.”
Ann LaRoche, Math Expert and Author of the book "Math Is Child's Play." Ann advocates learning math by playing games. Card games and board games are the fun and easy way to strengthen math skills and improve problem solving capabilities. In her book, Ann debunks common math myths, addresses math anxiety, and gives practical advice to parents who want to help their child with math but feel unable or unqualified. Ann sheds light on the confusion wrought by New Math and has a process for handling math homework time that will turn those tears of frustration into smiles of triumph.
First let’s look at school math. I have been studying of late the topic of Math Anxiety. Increasing number of people profess to hate math, to be ‘no good at math,’ to be anxious about doing basic math. These same people were taught math in our public schools. When did this situation of math anxiety start? Who knows for sure? But what’s significant is that it’s increasing, not decreasing. It’s increasing despite the modern education system, despite New Math and the latest teaching methods, despite all the money and energy that has been put towards the problem. Just for the record, I found a book “Mathematics; A Human Endeavor” by Harold R. Jacobs copyrighted in 1970 which in its preface the author mentions the failure of New Math in the schools. A book from 1964, titled “Mathematics for Elementary Teachers” by Ralph Crouch and George Baldwin which was written to teach math to elementary teacher who found themselves expected to teach math although they had no training in math.
Marilyn Burns, a well known math expert, has been addresses math anxiety since 1970 with her first book, “I Hate Mathematics” right through to her more current book, “Math; Facing an American Phobia” 1998. The latter book speaks to math anxiety as a growing phenomenon. And more recently “Math for the Anxious” by Rosanne Proga, copyrighted 2005 also is very clear about math anxiety and its causes. Of course, all this math anxiety is good; at least it is for the math textbook industry. Math anxiety sells math textbooks. Parents are concerned that their children learn math better than they did. Teachers are calling for a better way to teach math. This is great news for the math textbook companies. For you and me, this is bad news.
So let’s look at the other side. Is it possible for people to learn math in everyday life; running their business or household, doing projects, etc.? Is this possible? I believe it is and it is already happening without anyone being aware of it. My daughter professed to hate math, yet she is doing math everyday on Neopets. When I asked her about it, she said that it wasn’t real math. So what kind of math was it? I think she meant that it wasn’t ‘school math.’ I met an airline pilot who went into great details about the calculations she did in her head in order to fly the plane. Later she professed that she hated math in school. She wasn’t ‘good at it.’ She wasn’t even capable of balancing her own checkbook. When I pointed out that the calculation she did to fly the plane was math, she was adamant that it wasn’t because she wasn’t any good at math in school. She said “It’s just a formula that I plug numbers into.” Marilyn Burn relates a similar story about an interior decorator who could price out the cost for a complete room, but also felt that she wasn’t any good at math. These are people who couldn’t do ‘school math’ but are doing the math that their everyday lives demand of them. They probably learned this math on the job; hence they don’t relate it to school math.
Math is best learned in the real world, with real life situations. It may start with counting out the cookies your mother gives you. Later you start comparing the number you got with the number your brother got. You quickly learn to calculate the he got ‘how many’ more than you did, so that your complaint can be accurate. Next, you are watching Mom slice up the pie or cake. You quickly calculate how many pieces each person can have, that is until Mom steps in and tells you how many you can really have. Then you calculate how many you can have tomorrow with all those guests gone. This is a simple real life scenario, but how many math concepts did I cover here. These skills grow with your children. How many of you have watched your older children go through their Halloween candy. My child sorts and counts to evaluate how she did. Halloween is also a great time for teaching about taxes. Parents need to take their share of the sweet earnings, and not just of the candy the child doesn’t like. Remember, Uncle Sam takes his cut off the top before you ever see a dime.
Playing is a great way to learn math. I like miniature golf and billiards for learning about angles and force. Of course this may sound like Physics, Newton’s Law of Relativity. And it is, but there is also no better way to learn geometry and algebra than with a practical application. What could be more practical than learning as you play? Wow, here’s another real life example for learning math. I like playing games. You name it; board games, card games, strategy games. If it challenges me and tests my intellect and problem solving capabilities, I like it. Games like Nim, checkers, chess, mancala, Stratego, Battleship, Risk, etc. help develop logic sequences and strategy.
Games like Uno, Skip-bo, Set, Rummikub helps children develop their ability to see patterns. Games like cribbage, gin rummy, Scrabble actually help children practice addition and multiplication.
But enough with the games, let’s talk some serious stuff. If you want to learn math, do a project like decorating a room. Do the whole works from calculating the paint or wallpaper, to calculating the material and sewing the drapes, to ordering and positioning the furniture. Design a new cabinet layout for your kitchen, including calculating cabinet dimensions, appliance positioning and project costs. Try building something like a drop desk or a play ground swing set, or a go-cart. How about doing a baking or sewing/quilting project? Do all the preparations for a dinner party, including the planning, shopping, seating arrangement, cooking, etc. Try paper trading some stock and track them for a year. Start an eBay business. Wow! Wouldn’t that be something, having your child’s math project turn into a home-based business that pays for your child’s college education? It’s possible and it’s real life.
When it comes to learning math, everyday life has plenty of opportunities and the learning is natural, not forced. On the other hand, the math anxiety problem is rooted in our modern education system. The problem lies with having non-math experts teaching math as if they were experts. The problem lies with having math textbooks that present math in an artificial and rigid manner. As much as I liked Marilyn Burns book, “Math; Facing an American Phobia,” I think she missed the correct conclusion of the situation. Ms. Burns is still trying to ‘fix’ the system. It is obvious to me that it is time to throw the system out and go back to learning math in everyday life. Hence I stand by my statement “The Last Thing the World Needs Is Another Math Textbook.”
Ann LaRoche, Math Expert and Author of the book "Math Is Child's Play." Ann advocates learning math by playing games. Card games and board games are the fun and easy way to strengthen math skills and improve problem solving capabilities. In her book, Ann debunks common math myths, addresses math anxiety, and gives practical advice to parents who want to help their child with math but feel unable or unqualified. Ann sheds light on the confusion wrought by New Math and has a process for handling math homework time that will turn those tears of frustration into smiles of triumph.
"A Wealth of Family" by Thomas Brooks: Book Review
A Wealth of Family
by Thomas Brooks
Alpha Multimedia, Inc. (2006)
ISBN 0977462935
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (6/06)
"A Wealth of Family" has something to be enjoyed or learned by people from all walks of life, no matter what your gender, socio-economic background or culture. This is a fantastic book. It centers on Brooks upbringing as an adopted black men who wanted to find his roots. I found it difficult to write this review because his story touched me in so many ways, it was hard for me to narrow down which area I enjoyed the greatest or which part of his life experiences taught me the most. In spite of our differences (gender, race, upbringing) I learned a lot about myself as I read. I admire his ability to see the positive learning experiences that come from experiencing negative situations.
Brooks was raised by a very protective, divorced black woman. They had to struggle financially. He had close extended family in his life and a wonderful male role model. In his youth, he learned that he was adopted. His birth mother was a white woman and his father was an African from Kenya. Brooks developed an interest in finding his birth family so that he could learn about his roots.
Throughout his education, Brooks had to deal with racism and poverty. He experienced racism from his friends and teachers. He attended a predominantly white school. Some of his friends would make racist comments based on ignorance without realizing that their beliefs were wrong. Brooks chose to get his revenge by excelling in academics and athletics. Then he had to deal with black-on-black prejudice by being told that he was "acting white" by his black peers.
Brooks was the first in his family to attend college. This was a whole new learning experience for him. He had to deal with the paradox of trying to show everyone that black people can excel at everything and then being accused of being boastful and arrogant when he would succeed.
After Brooks completed his education, he was contacted by his birth mother. Through her, he is able to meet his siblings in England and contact his father's family in Kenya. After a great deal of effort, he is able to meet his birth father and extended family in Kenya. Brooks is able to connect his adoptive family, his English family and his African family. Now he truly knows his roots.
What I really enjoyed about this book is that the story did not end when he met his mother. He continues on and teaches us about the how much more his life was enriched by being able to combine his family from their different cultures.
I highly recommend this book to be used in African-American studies classes and in Cultural Counseling classes. I think that it would be great to be read in areas of underprivileged youth. Brooks showed that he could overcome all of the hardships in his life and he is actively involved in making a difference in the lives of others.
Brooks writes about how slavery has robbed African Americans of their history and culture. This often leads them to think that they are inferior. Because of his experiences he developed a perspective of himself as a "world citizen, not limited by race, religion, nationality or political ideology." If everyone could develop this view of themselves, there would be an end to racism and we would have world peace.
by Thomas Brooks
Alpha Multimedia, Inc. (2006)
ISBN 0977462935
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (6/06)
"A Wealth of Family" has something to be enjoyed or learned by people from all walks of life, no matter what your gender, socio-economic background or culture. This is a fantastic book. It centers on Brooks upbringing as an adopted black men who wanted to find his roots. I found it difficult to write this review because his story touched me in so many ways, it was hard for me to narrow down which area I enjoyed the greatest or which part of his life experiences taught me the most. In spite of our differences (gender, race, upbringing) I learned a lot about myself as I read. I admire his ability to see the positive learning experiences that come from experiencing negative situations.
Brooks was raised by a very protective, divorced black woman. They had to struggle financially. He had close extended family in his life and a wonderful male role model. In his youth, he learned that he was adopted. His birth mother was a white woman and his father was an African from Kenya. Brooks developed an interest in finding his birth family so that he could learn about his roots.
Throughout his education, Brooks had to deal with racism and poverty. He experienced racism from his friends and teachers. He attended a predominantly white school. Some of his friends would make racist comments based on ignorance without realizing that their beliefs were wrong. Brooks chose to get his revenge by excelling in academics and athletics. Then he had to deal with black-on-black prejudice by being told that he was "acting white" by his black peers.
Brooks was the first in his family to attend college. This was a whole new learning experience for him. He had to deal with the paradox of trying to show everyone that black people can excel at everything and then being accused of being boastful and arrogant when he would succeed.
After Brooks completed his education, he was contacted by his birth mother. Through her, he is able to meet his siblings in England and contact his father's family in Kenya. After a great deal of effort, he is able to meet his birth father and extended family in Kenya. Brooks is able to connect his adoptive family, his English family and his African family. Now he truly knows his roots.
What I really enjoyed about this book is that the story did not end when he met his mother. He continues on and teaches us about the how much more his life was enriched by being able to combine his family from their different cultures.
I highly recommend this book to be used in African-American studies classes and in Cultural Counseling classes. I think that it would be great to be read in areas of underprivileged youth. Brooks showed that he could overcome all of the hardships in his life and he is actively involved in making a difference in the lives of others.
Brooks writes about how slavery has robbed African Americans of their history and culture. This often leads them to think that they are inferior. Because of his experiences he developed a perspective of himself as a "world citizen, not limited by race, religion, nationality or political ideology." If everyone could develop this view of themselves, there would be an end to racism and we would have world peace.
Automotive Review, 2008 Mazda CX-7
We're on the Road in the 2008, Mazda CX-7
The Good: Nice styling, good handling, decent list of standard features, good curbside appeal, very safe.
The Bad: Road noise is somewhat pronounced, rear seats are low.
Overall: The CX-7 is a sharp looking small SUV, sporty styling while offering a well designed, handsome and functional interior.
The CX-7 is Mazda's five passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle, initially introduced for 2007. The powertrain consists of a 2.3 Liter 4 cylinder turbo engine, outputting 244 horsepower and 258 lb foot of torque, coupled to the front wheel drive, six speed automatic transmission with sportshift! Mazda offers the CX-7 in three trim levels: Sport; Touring; and Grand Touring.
The CX-7 is very sporty, from the five-pointed grille and prominent front fender, up to the A pillar slanting at a 66 degree angle, the Mazda holds true to "the soul of a sports car" slogan. The integrated rounded xenon headlights round out the front corner of the vehicle nicely! It's retains the sharp handling and responsiveness of a car, while offering light duty utility as well.
Safety
The CX-7 scored best marks in Government Front, Driver and passenger, side driver/ rear passenger test as well as good marks in government rollover tests. The 5 passenger SUV has many standard safety features, including: ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, as well as Dynamic Stability Control and Traction Control System. Also standard find side impact door beams, Front/Rear crumple zones, an anti-theft immobilizer and TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System), four wheel ventilated disc brakes; Front wheel or Active Torque-Split All-Wheel Drive. The CX-7 has thick D pillars, but the area is very visible using the side mirrors. This Mazda also features a good compliment of six airbags for front and back.
Driving Impressions
The CX-7 is a handles well and although you might expect a v-6 to be necessary for this size vehicle, you'd be surprised how well the 4 cylinder turbo performs. Unlike the turbo of the past there's almost zero lag. The turbo does a great job of compensating for what could otherwise be a lighter duty engine for this rather hefty vehicle.
Handling is solid, responsive and tight (without being numb) and thanks to the four wheel independent suspension you'll feel little road, the response is direct. Road noise is a bit more audible than others, but it's not enough to be troublesome. Consumer Reports rated Mazda's CX-7 as less than average for first year reliability, but we did not note any potential issues during our test drive.
The Way You Feel Inside
Jump into the CX-7 without needing a boost, it's not a huge SUV. Mazda's red and blue lighting combine for a pleasing hue across the clean and simple analogue gauge cluster. Interior styling is handsome and build quality is good, inline with the category.
Function meet form, form meet function: nice looking front/side defrost vents are smartly integrated into the dash, which is stacked to include a centered LCD display, for clock and audio info. Discover a large lockable center console, large enough for a music junkie's CD collection, and more space for snacks. Got power? Plug in to either of the 12v power outlets. Drivers will also appreciate lighting accents that make it easy to see the interior while driving at night, thanks to the indirect blue cabin illumination (on the upper trim). Drivers and passengers delight with lumbar adjustment on front seats, that are also heated (love the heated seats, also on upper trim).
The CX-7 has a good long list of standard features, they include: Cruise Control, AM/FM/CD audio with automatic level control (automatically adjusting the volume (smooth and non intrusive) based on noise levels) fold away brake pedal assembly, LATCH rear child safety seat anchors and tethers, A/C, power door locks, plus more. The CX-7 offers fun, a sporty drive and a bit of utility as well, and gives you alot for your money!
Stowage
For a five passenger SUV, you'll likely be taking the weekend road trip and the CX-7 is ready for the road, with decent and versatile stowage space. Fold the rear seats down (although they don't lay entirely flat, check the photo below) and you'll have 58.6 cubic feet. With the rear seats up find 29.9 cubic feet about average for this class vehicle, and decent space for the weekend warrior or occasional camper. Options exist to extend your storage with a roof rack (100lbs max); and the tow package (towing capacity up to 2000 lbs).
By the Numbers
By the new 2008 fuel rating the FWD CX-7 is rated at 17 city / 22 highway, and we averaged 17.8 MPG on premium fuel, combined (city and highway) driving. (AWD model gets 16 / 21MPG)
Mazda CX-7 Sticker Price
FWD Sport Trim starts at $23,750.
FWD Touring Trim starts at $25,500. and
FWD Grand Touring starts at $26,300.
AWD Sport Trim starts at $24,450.
AWD Touring Trim starts at $27,200.
AWD Grand Touring Trim starts at $28,000
The Good: Nice styling, good handling, decent list of standard features, good curbside appeal, very safe.
The Bad: Road noise is somewhat pronounced, rear seats are low.
Overall: The CX-7 is a sharp looking small SUV, sporty styling while offering a well designed, handsome and functional interior.
The CX-7 is Mazda's five passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle, initially introduced for 2007. The powertrain consists of a 2.3 Liter 4 cylinder turbo engine, outputting 244 horsepower and 258 lb foot of torque, coupled to the front wheel drive, six speed automatic transmission with sportshift! Mazda offers the CX-7 in three trim levels: Sport; Touring; and Grand Touring.
The CX-7 is very sporty, from the five-pointed grille and prominent front fender, up to the A pillar slanting at a 66 degree angle, the Mazda holds true to "the soul of a sports car" slogan. The integrated rounded xenon headlights round out the front corner of the vehicle nicely! It's retains the sharp handling and responsiveness of a car, while offering light duty utility as well.
Safety
The CX-7 scored best marks in Government Front, Driver and passenger, side driver/ rear passenger test as well as good marks in government rollover tests. The 5 passenger SUV has many standard safety features, including: ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, as well as Dynamic Stability Control and Traction Control System. Also standard find side impact door beams, Front/Rear crumple zones, an anti-theft immobilizer and TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System), four wheel ventilated disc brakes; Front wheel or Active Torque-Split All-Wheel Drive. The CX-7 has thick D pillars, but the area is very visible using the side mirrors. This Mazda also features a good compliment of six airbags for front and back.
Driving Impressions
The CX-7 is a handles well and although you might expect a v-6 to be necessary for this size vehicle, you'd be surprised how well the 4 cylinder turbo performs. Unlike the turbo of the past there's almost zero lag. The turbo does a great job of compensating for what could otherwise be a lighter duty engine for this rather hefty vehicle.
Handling is solid, responsive and tight (without being numb) and thanks to the four wheel independent suspension you'll feel little road, the response is direct. Road noise is a bit more audible than others, but it's not enough to be troublesome. Consumer Reports rated Mazda's CX-7 as less than average for first year reliability, but we did not note any potential issues during our test drive.
The Way You Feel Inside
Jump into the CX-7 without needing a boost, it's not a huge SUV. Mazda's red and blue lighting combine for a pleasing hue across the clean and simple analogue gauge cluster. Interior styling is handsome and build quality is good, inline with the category.
Function meet form, form meet function: nice looking front/side defrost vents are smartly integrated into the dash, which is stacked to include a centered LCD display, for clock and audio info. Discover a large lockable center console, large enough for a music junkie's CD collection, and more space for snacks. Got power? Plug in to either of the 12v power outlets. Drivers will also appreciate lighting accents that make it easy to see the interior while driving at night, thanks to the indirect blue cabin illumination (on the upper trim). Drivers and passengers delight with lumbar adjustment on front seats, that are also heated (love the heated seats, also on upper trim).
The CX-7 has a good long list of standard features, they include: Cruise Control, AM/FM/CD audio with automatic level control (automatically adjusting the volume (smooth and non intrusive) based on noise levels) fold away brake pedal assembly, LATCH rear child safety seat anchors and tethers, A/C, power door locks, plus more. The CX-7 offers fun, a sporty drive and a bit of utility as well, and gives you alot for your money!
Stowage
For a five passenger SUV, you'll likely be taking the weekend road trip and the CX-7 is ready for the road, with decent and versatile stowage space. Fold the rear seats down (although they don't lay entirely flat, check the photo below) and you'll have 58.6 cubic feet. With the rear seats up find 29.9 cubic feet about average for this class vehicle, and decent space for the weekend warrior or occasional camper. Options exist to extend your storage with a roof rack (100lbs max); and the tow package (towing capacity up to 2000 lbs).
By the Numbers
By the new 2008 fuel rating the FWD CX-7 is rated at 17 city / 22 highway, and we averaged 17.8 MPG on premium fuel, combined (city and highway) driving. (AWD model gets 16 / 21MPG)
Mazda CX-7 Sticker Price
FWD Sport Trim starts at $23,750.
FWD Touring Trim starts at $25,500. and
FWD Grand Touring starts at $26,300.
AWD Sport Trim starts at $24,450.
AWD Touring Trim starts at $27,200.
AWD Grand Touring Trim starts at $28,000
Learn How Not To Be An Identity Theft Victim
Every year thousands of cases of identity theft are reported to the FTC. A report by the same body states that since 1997, over 3 million of these types of cases have been reported to law enforcement agencies world wide. And the numbers keep climbing every year. The development of information technology has only made it perhaps easier to commit these crimes. But are there ways of you preventing yourself from being one of the unlucky victims or avoiding a recurrence, if you have already been stung?
There are 3 steps that anyone can take to reduce this risk. Let us look at them one after the other.
1. Protect Your Credit Card: This is one of the most sensitive of your personal information. It is also one of the most targeted by fraudsters because it contains your financial information, which they can put to immediate use by buying stuff, etc. You should make sure that you keep your card away in your wallet or other storage system when not in use. Also, make sure that when your credit or debit card is swiped at any terminal, that the first twelve digits are masked. This will prevent potential thieves from stealing this information. When you endorse the merchant's copy, also ensure that you give it to them yourself and not leave it on the table, where others can pick it up without your knowledge.
2. Keep Away Your SSN: Your social security number is probably the most sensitive of your personal information. It is used to get a new job, open a bank account, file your tax returns and lots more. If it falls into the wrong hands, it might spell a lot of trouble. If you discover or suspect that some person or company is meddling with it, report it immediately to any one of the three credit reporting agencies so that they can put a fraud alert on your credit file. You may also want to report it to the police and the FTC so that proper investigation can be carried out. Without taking the adequate steps to report it, you may be liable for a lot of things for a long time to income, including not being able to get a loan, buy a house, etc. Also, be wary of organizations that use it as your identification number with them. You could probably have a different type of member or user ID created for you.
3. Shred Sensitive Information: It is a wise idea to buy a paper shredder if you will be needing to get rid of a lot of documents with your personal information in it. Bills, forms and similar documents that contain your SSN, credit or debit card information, telephone numbers, date of birth and others should be shredded and not just put away in the trash can.
Whether you are a struggling low-income earner of a well-off business owner, it is one of the wisest decisions of your life that you should take steps to prevent yourself from being a victim of identity theft.
There are 3 steps that anyone can take to reduce this risk. Let us look at them one after the other.
1. Protect Your Credit Card: This is one of the most sensitive of your personal information. It is also one of the most targeted by fraudsters because it contains your financial information, which they can put to immediate use by buying stuff, etc. You should make sure that you keep your card away in your wallet or other storage system when not in use. Also, make sure that when your credit or debit card is swiped at any terminal, that the first twelve digits are masked. This will prevent potential thieves from stealing this information. When you endorse the merchant's copy, also ensure that you give it to them yourself and not leave it on the table, where others can pick it up without your knowledge.
2. Keep Away Your SSN: Your social security number is probably the most sensitive of your personal information. It is used to get a new job, open a bank account, file your tax returns and lots more. If it falls into the wrong hands, it might spell a lot of trouble. If you discover or suspect that some person or company is meddling with it, report it immediately to any one of the three credit reporting agencies so that they can put a fraud alert on your credit file. You may also want to report it to the police and the FTC so that proper investigation can be carried out. Without taking the adequate steps to report it, you may be liable for a lot of things for a long time to income, including not being able to get a loan, buy a house, etc. Also, be wary of organizations that use it as your identification number with them. You could probably have a different type of member or user ID created for you.
3. Shred Sensitive Information: It is a wise idea to buy a paper shredder if you will be needing to get rid of a lot of documents with your personal information in it. Bills, forms and similar documents that contain your SSN, credit or debit card information, telephone numbers, date of birth and others should be shredded and not just put away in the trash can.
Whether you are a struggling low-income earner of a well-off business owner, it is one of the wisest decisions of your life that you should take steps to prevent yourself from being a victim of identity theft.
Identity theft today is
Identity theft today is, according to the FBI, one of the fastest-growing crimes in America. Roughly 10 million Americans have had their identities stolen. It is a huge epidemic.
So how does it happen? How can a thief steal highly confidential, personal data without you knowing about it?
Here are the some of the more common ways you can be parted from information you wouldn't want to get in the wrong hands.
1. Dumpster Diving.
This is simply a crook wading through your trash. All sorts of information can be obtained by going through your garbage. Bills, receipts, letters, etc. This is probably the easiest way for a thief to pick up on sensitive information.
2. Phishing
This is where the thief pretends to be a legitimate financial institution or company and sends you emails (spam) or some pop-up messages, trying to get you to reveal your sensitive information. They may even telephone you at home, using blocked numbers.
3. Old-Fashioned Stealing.
Crooks will steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records, or bribe employees who have access.
So how can you get around this, and prevent your confidential information from getting into the wrong hands? Here are a few common sense tips to try and offset the above:
• Shred your sensitive documents BEFORE you throw them out. When you pay bills, shred the piece you would normally throw out. Credit card receipts? Keep them just long enough to check against the monthly bill, shred them and THEN throw them out. As for pre-approved credit card offers, unless you are actually going to sign up for the card, shred the offer immediately and then throw it out.
• No legitimate organization is going to email you, telephone you or write you a letter asking for personal information. If you are asked to provide confidential information in any of these manners, do not even reply. Delete the email, shred the letter, hang up the telephone. Do not reply to any of these phishing methods under any circumstances.
• Use common sense to help prevent theft. Keep your wallet in your front pocket; use an over-the-shoulder bag which won't easily be pulled off; get your mail o
ut of the mailbox as soon as you know the mailman has delivered it.
Trying to stay one step ahead of today's sophisticated criminal mind is not easy. In addition to taking the above steps, you also might want to consider an identity theft prevention program. They are all different, so be sure to do some research before signing up with any of them. The small fees they charge, however, could be well worth the peace of mind from knowing that your credit and good name are well protected.
So how does it happen? How can a thief steal highly confidential, personal data without you knowing about it?
Here are the some of the more common ways you can be parted from information you wouldn't want to get in the wrong hands.
1. Dumpster Diving.
This is simply a crook wading through your trash. All sorts of information can be obtained by going through your garbage. Bills, receipts, letters, etc. This is probably the easiest way for a thief to pick up on sensitive information.
2. Phishing
This is where the thief pretends to be a legitimate financial institution or company and sends you emails (spam) or some pop-up messages, trying to get you to reveal your sensitive information. They may even telephone you at home, using blocked numbers.
3. Old-Fashioned Stealing.
Crooks will steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records, or bribe employees who have access.
So how can you get around this, and prevent your confidential information from getting into the wrong hands? Here are a few common sense tips to try and offset the above:
• Shred your sensitive documents BEFORE you throw them out. When you pay bills, shred the piece you would normally throw out. Credit card receipts? Keep them just long enough to check against the monthly bill, shred them and THEN throw them out. As for pre-approved credit card offers, unless you are actually going to sign up for the card, shred the offer immediately and then throw it out.
• No legitimate organization is going to email you, telephone you or write you a letter asking for personal information. If you are asked to provide confidential information in any of these manners, do not even reply. Delete the email, shred the letter, hang up the telephone. Do not reply to any of these phishing methods under any circumstances.
• Use common sense to help prevent theft. Keep your wallet in your front pocket; use an over-the-shoulder bag which won't easily be pulled off; get your mail o
ut of the mailbox as soon as you know the mailman has delivered it.
Trying to stay one step ahead of today's sophisticated criminal mind is not easy. In addition to taking the above steps, you also might want to consider an identity theft prevention program. They are all different, so be sure to do some research before signing up with any of them. The small fees they charge, however, could be well worth the peace of mind from knowing that your credit and good name are well protected.
Benefits of Increasing Physical Activity
Activity breeds activity and inactivity breeds inactivity. Have you ever spent a day sitting and just watching TV. How did you feel at the end of it? Were you tired and unmotivated? This is the vicious cycle of inactivity. The more time you stay stationary, the less you are inclined to get up and move around.
However, once you start moving and make it a regular habit, you will find that you will want to spend less time sitting and watching the tube. You will find that your motivation will increase and you will want to be out doing more.
You may not believe this, but your body likes to move (no, really!). So, by increasing your physical activity level, you are helping your body feel good and work better.
Physical activity can benefit you in many ways. It helps your heart and lungs function better. It is a great way to help prevent heart disease and strokes. It can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can help you lose weight, build muscle, and relieve stress.
In short, physical activity is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your body.
Physical improvements are not the only benefits of increasing your activity level. Being active can also improve your mood. When you move, your body releases endorphins, which make you feel good. When you are inactive, you are more susceptible to depression. So put yourself in a better mood by getting up and moving!
To get these benefits, though, you have to do it, do it regularly, and do it frequently. Once a week won't cut it. The good news is, once you get in the habit of regular physical activity, your body will want more of it. You will find that you have more energy and you will probably be surprised at all the things you get done in a day!
So what are you waiting for? Your journey starts with the first step. Take it today!
However, once you start moving and make it a regular habit, you will find that you will want to spend less time sitting and watching the tube. You will find that your motivation will increase and you will want to be out doing more.
You may not believe this, but your body likes to move (no, really!). So, by increasing your physical activity level, you are helping your body feel good and work better.
Physical activity can benefit you in many ways. It helps your heart and lungs function better. It is a great way to help prevent heart disease and strokes. It can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can help you lose weight, build muscle, and relieve stress.
In short, physical activity is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your body.
Physical improvements are not the only benefits of increasing your activity level. Being active can also improve your mood. When you move, your body releases endorphins, which make you feel good. When you are inactive, you are more susceptible to depression. So put yourself in a better mood by getting up and moving!
To get these benefits, though, you have to do it, do it regularly, and do it frequently. Once a week won't cut it. The good news is, once you get in the habit of regular physical activity, your body will want more of it. You will find that you have more energy and you will probably be surprised at all the things you get done in a day!
So what are you waiting for? Your journey starts with the first step. Take it today!
Benefits of Increasing Physical Activity
Activity breeds activity and inactivity breeds inactivity. Have you ever spent a day sitting and just watching TV. How did you feel at the end of it? Were you tired and unmotivated? This is the vicious cycle of inactivity. The more time you stay stationary, the less you are inclined to get up and move around.
However, once you start moving and make it a regular habit, you will find that you will want to spend less time sitting and watching the tube. You will find that your motivation will increase and you will want to be out doing more.
You may not believe this, but your body likes to move (no, really!). So, by increasing your physical activity level, you are helping your body feel good and work better.
Physical activity can benefit you in many ways. It helps your heart and lungs function better. It is a great way to help prevent heart disease and strokes. It can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can help you lose weight, build muscle, and relieve stress.
In short, physical activity is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your body.
Physical improvements are not the only benefits of increasing your activity level. Being active can also improve your mood. When you move, your body releases endorphins, which make you feel good. When you are inactive, you are more susceptible to depression. So put yourself in a better mood by getting up and moving!
To get these benefits, though, you have to do it, do it regularly, and do it frequently. Once a week won't cut it. The good news is, once you get in the habit of regular physical activity, your body will want more of it. You will find that you have more energy and you will probably be surprised at all the things you get done in a day!
So what are you waiting for? Your journey starts with the first step. Take it today!
However, once you start moving and make it a regular habit, you will find that you will want to spend less time sitting and watching the tube. You will find that your motivation will increase and you will want to be out doing more.
You may not believe this, but your body likes to move (no, really!). So, by increasing your physical activity level, you are helping your body feel good and work better.
Physical activity can benefit you in many ways. It helps your heart and lungs function better. It is a great way to help prevent heart disease and strokes. It can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can help you lose weight, build muscle, and relieve stress.
In short, physical activity is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your body.
Physical improvements are not the only benefits of increasing your activity level. Being active can also improve your mood. When you move, your body releases endorphins, which make you feel good. When you are inactive, you are more susceptible to depression. So put yourself in a better mood by getting up and moving!
To get these benefits, though, you have to do it, do it regularly, and do it frequently. Once a week won't cut it. The good news is, once you get in the habit of regular physical activity, your body will want more of it. You will find that you have more energy and you will probably be surprised at all the things you get done in a day!
So what are you waiting for? Your journey starts with the first step. Take it today!
Fun Activity Days in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire has recently transformed itself into a wonderful location for corporate events. An enjoyable and interesting activity days in the city can provide you chances of enjoying a varied range of activities or events so that everyone has something to enjoy. As per the preferences and choices, people can mix 'wow factor' in activities such as quad bikes and rage buggies to provide a thrilling sensation to all participants.
An activity weekend in Oxfordshire can not only an entertainment event, given proper arrangement can be used to encourage teamwork, leadership and problem solving too. You can add an element of competition between teams and shape it to be a high-spirited pleasurable event!
Oxfordshire Activity Weekends
Oxfordshire is the county in the South East of UK known to many for Oxford printing press, the university of the same name, and of course, as a venue of several motor sport events. A typical Oxfordshire activity day package comes with great fun and ingredients for team building. You can find many event planning companies that specialize in corporate group activities in Oxfordshire. It is highly advisable to collect information about different options prior to make a plan on how to organize successful activity weekend events in the county.
Once in Oxfordshire, you can involve a varied kind of adventurous events such as dragon boat racing, hovercraft driving, fly-fishing, and many such others. By indulging into such activities, an organization can effectively influence the team spirit of the group involved in the fun activities.
Recently, Oxfordshire has grown into a wonderful location for spending quality time. Being naturally rich, the place invites people who are looking for some private place to gather some real fun. So, if you are looking for a place to conduct activity weekends, which will enhance the efficiency and attitude of people, Oxfordshire comes calling! Where are you?
An activity weekend in Oxfordshire can not only an entertainment event, given proper arrangement can be used to encourage teamwork, leadership and problem solving too. You can add an element of competition between teams and shape it to be a high-spirited pleasurable event!
Oxfordshire Activity Weekends
Oxfordshire is the county in the South East of UK known to many for Oxford printing press, the university of the same name, and of course, as a venue of several motor sport events. A typical Oxfordshire activity day package comes with great fun and ingredients for team building. You can find many event planning companies that specialize in corporate group activities in Oxfordshire. It is highly advisable to collect information about different options prior to make a plan on how to organize successful activity weekend events in the county.
Once in Oxfordshire, you can involve a varied kind of adventurous events such as dragon boat racing, hovercraft driving, fly-fishing, and many such others. By indulging into such activities, an organization can effectively influence the team spirit of the group involved in the fun activities.
Recently, Oxfordshire has grown into a wonderful location for spending quality time. Being naturally rich, the place invites people who are looking for some private place to gather some real fun. So, if you are looking for a place to conduct activity weekends, which will enhance the efficiency and attitude of people, Oxfordshire comes calling! Where are you?
How To Get The Most Out Of Music Lessons
Congratulations! You have chosen music lessons for your child because you want the best for them. Now that you have made this important first step, we would like to assist you in defining and understanding your involvement. Here are a few of the basics to assist you in supporting your child's continuing musical education.
1.) Sit with them for the first few months of lessons, as often as possible. For those younger children, call it "Play Time" and not "Practice." Children need help in developing the discipline to practice on their own.
2.) If possible, choose the same time and duration each day. For example, each day immediately after school for a minimum of 20 - 30 minutes. (especially before everyone is too tired). If you miss a day here and there, don't be concerned. You could also try splitting the practice time into 2 equal sessions of 15 minutes - in the morning and afternoon.
3.) Positive feedback is very important. Help your child through the ups and downs. Be cheerful and encouraging always. At the end of your practice session, make sure the last thing you do is fun. Do not withhold lessons as a punishment especially for not practicing. Find an alternative if you must (withholding TV, video games, computer time, etc.)
4.) Years of Study. We know through years of experience that if a child stays with lessons for at least three years, he or she will have a foundation and appreciation of music that will last a lifetime. A priceless gift. The first year is fun. The second is more challenging. In the third year, interesting music is ready to be mastered, and your child will be considered a "musician."
5.) Your child may want to quit from time to time. This is normal. Music lessons can go through difficult stages at times. It is at these times, discontinuing lessons may seem to be the obvious solution. Children, who are allowed to quit, rarely return to lessons. Adults, who quit too early as children, often wish their parents had made them "stick with it." We have never heard a parent say, "I'm glad my parents let me quit."
It is often those children who frequently take lessons with us as adults. If the subject of quitting comes up, we recommend that you be the "decision maker." A child is not capable of seeing ahead and realizing the value of a music education. We make all kinds of decisions that we know are best for our children.
1.) Sit with them for the first few months of lessons, as often as possible. For those younger children, call it "Play Time" and not "Practice." Children need help in developing the discipline to practice on their own.
2.) If possible, choose the same time and duration each day. For example, each day immediately after school for a minimum of 20 - 30 minutes. (especially before everyone is too tired). If you miss a day here and there, don't be concerned. You could also try splitting the practice time into 2 equal sessions of 15 minutes - in the morning and afternoon.
3.) Positive feedback is very important. Help your child through the ups and downs. Be cheerful and encouraging always. At the end of your practice session, make sure the last thing you do is fun. Do not withhold lessons as a punishment especially for not practicing. Find an alternative if you must (withholding TV, video games, computer time, etc.)
4.) Years of Study. We know through years of experience that if a child stays with lessons for at least three years, he or she will have a foundation and appreciation of music that will last a lifetime. A priceless gift. The first year is fun. The second is more challenging. In the third year, interesting music is ready to be mastered, and your child will be considered a "musician."
5.) Your child may want to quit from time to time. This is normal. Music lessons can go through difficult stages at times. It is at these times, discontinuing lessons may seem to be the obvious solution. Children, who are allowed to quit, rarely return to lessons. Adults, who quit too early as children, often wish their parents had made them "stick with it." We have never heard a parent say, "I'm glad my parents let me quit."
It is often those children who frequently take lessons with us as adults. If the subject of quitting comes up, we recommend that you be the "decision maker." A child is not capable of seeing ahead and realizing the value of a music education. We make all kinds of decisions that we know are best for our children.
Online Guitar Lessons Just Get Better
Online guitar lessons, using new advanced music software technology, are an excellent, and inexpensive learning system for those pupils who do not respond well to one to one lessons, or even find them intimidating.
For the cost of a couple of guitar lessons with your local teacher, you can download an online guitar lesson for absolute beginners, intermediate or advanced guitar players which will take you on as far as you wish to go, with your hobby or career. And of course you only make one payment. And best of all, you only have to turn on your computer, in a few months, or a year, to go back for a free refresher course. Most come with a money back guarantee.
You can listen to, and compare different online teaching methods before you choose. Some concentrate on one genre, or a specific aspect of playing the guitar, like bass guitar lessons, acoustic guitar lessons, learn guitar chords or jazz or playing the blues or how to play guitar fast like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett and other great guiitarists.
Uniquely, online guitar lessons simultaneously stimulate our sense of sight, hearing and touch whilst we repeatedly watch, listen and play, in our own time, at our own speed, in our own home, which helps the learning and memory process.
Other online guitar lessons will teach you how to read and play guitar tabs, bass tabs or tabulated music. This is a form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on the fretboard rather than which pitches or notes to play. Tabs can be easily typewritten as ASCII tab, (pronounced "ask-ee") a plain-text computer file and are easy to download. If you type "tab music" in Google they'll find you thousands of tunes and loops which you can download for practice. This will get you playing guitar quickly, without having a prior understanding of music theory, and you don't even need to be able read music!
But do bear in mind that if you read solely from tab, you will not be able to join in with other musicians and you won't be able to read music that has been composed for other instruments or written in standard staff notation / sheet music.
At the same time, music software has also advanced a pace, which you can easily use in conjunction with your online guitar lessons. Some online guitar lessons include their own software which enables you to slow down a loop or piece of music until you are up to speed. The musical pitch is retained, so your instrument will sound like the instrument your can hear on the video, but playing at a slower speed.
You can also buy this software separately, or you can download other music software which enables you to isolate the guitar chords and bass tabs for any pop/rock song or other genre. Just select a song or music from almost any file format, such as CD or MP3, click "Analyze" and the chords, bass tabs and any hidden tones are revealed. You can then record and make loops or slow the piece down and jam along at a speed that suits you, until you're ready to go faster. You will quickly learn pieces that were just too difficult to get right before, all for the price of a couple of guitar lessons.
And one other thing. When learning to play the guitar, or other instrument, you mustn't overlook the valuable contribution play-along music or accompaniment music will have on your playing skills. CDs are available for hundreds of popular songs and music with the guitar (or other instrument) section deleted ready for you to play your interpretation. All you need is a CD player to have the next best thing to having a real live band playing along with you when you practice. And they will help you to feel more at ease when you first start to play alongside your friends and other musicians. Play-along CDs are also the easiest and least expensive way to make a recording which features you playing your own instrument. You can then, if you wish, submit your music to websites, radio stations or schools.
There has never been a better time to go online and learn to play the guitar.
For the cost of a couple of guitar lessons with your local teacher, you can download an online guitar lesson for absolute beginners, intermediate or advanced guitar players which will take you on as far as you wish to go, with your hobby or career. And of course you only make one payment. And best of all, you only have to turn on your computer, in a few months, or a year, to go back for a free refresher course. Most come with a money back guarantee.
You can listen to, and compare different online teaching methods before you choose. Some concentrate on one genre, or a specific aspect of playing the guitar, like bass guitar lessons, acoustic guitar lessons, learn guitar chords or jazz or playing the blues or how to play guitar fast like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett and other great guiitarists.
Uniquely, online guitar lessons simultaneously stimulate our sense of sight, hearing and touch whilst we repeatedly watch, listen and play, in our own time, at our own speed, in our own home, which helps the learning and memory process.
Other online guitar lessons will teach you how to read and play guitar tabs, bass tabs or tabulated music. This is a form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on the fretboard rather than which pitches or notes to play. Tabs can be easily typewritten as ASCII tab, (pronounced "ask-ee") a plain-text computer file and are easy to download. If you type "tab music" in Google they'll find you thousands of tunes and loops which you can download for practice. This will get you playing guitar quickly, without having a prior understanding of music theory, and you don't even need to be able read music!
But do bear in mind that if you read solely from tab, you will not be able to join in with other musicians and you won't be able to read music that has been composed for other instruments or written in standard staff notation / sheet music.
At the same time, music software has also advanced a pace, which you can easily use in conjunction with your online guitar lessons. Some online guitar lessons include their own software which enables you to slow down a loop or piece of music until you are up to speed. The musical pitch is retained, so your instrument will sound like the instrument your can hear on the video, but playing at a slower speed.
You can also buy this software separately, or you can download other music software which enables you to isolate the guitar chords and bass tabs for any pop/rock song or other genre. Just select a song or music from almost any file format, such as CD or MP3, click "Analyze" and the chords, bass tabs and any hidden tones are revealed. You can then record and make loops or slow the piece down and jam along at a speed that suits you, until you're ready to go faster. You will quickly learn pieces that were just too difficult to get right before, all for the price of a couple of guitar lessons.
And one other thing. When learning to play the guitar, or other instrument, you mustn't overlook the valuable contribution play-along music or accompaniment music will have on your playing skills. CDs are available for hundreds of popular songs and music with the guitar (or other instrument) section deleted ready for you to play your interpretation. All you need is a CD player to have the next best thing to having a real live band playing along with you when you practice. And they will help you to feel more at ease when you first start to play alongside your friends and other musicians. Play-along CDs are also the easiest and least expensive way to make a recording which features you playing your own instrument. You can then, if you wish, submit your music to websites, radio stations or schools.
There has never been a better time to go online and learn to play the guitar.
Effective Classroom Management
I often have teachers ask me what is the best approach to classroom management?
As a veteran teacher I have seen far too many teachers fail because of classroom management problems. (Remember, classroom management and student achievement are directly related.)
And, all too often I see teachers resort to all types of crazy classroom management plans trying to get a handle on student behavior.
Unfortunately, many of these classroom management plans involve elaborate systems of rewards and punishment. For example, writing students names on the board with check marks added next to the name for each inappropriate behavior. Not only is this degrading, but the effectiveness of this classroom management plan is short-lived at best. In fact, often times this classroom management plan can have the exact opposite effect on student behavior.
Likewise, rewarding students for behavior that is expected of them sends the absolutely wrong message. Teachers should not reward a student for acting appropriately in class. Rewarding appropriate behavior is not effective classroom management, it is bribery and the students will come to expect it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not speaking about a pizza party or movie after a week in which the students worked well in class. That type of reward is fine as long as it is unexpected. The type of rewards that are bad are the ones in which the teacher promises upfront that if “you behave today, I will give you a piece of candy.” No, the student should behave in class because that is what’s expected. Little Johnny will not throw his pencil across the room, because it disrupts the learning of the other students and can be dangerous, not because he will get candy!
So, if teachers do not give rewards or punishments as a classroom management plan, then how do teachers effectively manage student behavior?
Easy, the key to classroom management is keeping students actively involved in the entire lesson. This is done with just a handful of simple teaching strategies.
Here are five effective classroom management tips you can use in any classroom regardless of subject or content area. These classroom management tips will keep all students actively involved in all classroom lessons. (Remember, keeping students involved in the lesson is the most effective classroom management plan.)
1. All-Write: Instead of having students raise their hand to respond to a question aloud, have all the students write down an answer to the teacher’s question. Not only will the teacher get much more class participation, but the quality of student responses will also improve.
2. Pair/Share: Have students pair up with a partner and share their answers before discussing it as a class. This gives the students a chance to respond without the anxiety of speaking in front of the entire class and also allows the teacher to “monitor” the room and talk to various students about their responses. The “pair/share” is great teaching strategy to use right after the “all-write” strategy.
3. On-the-Clock: Give students specific time limits to complete tasks and make sure you stick to those time limits. By putting students “on-the-clock” the teacher helps the students stay focused. I even use an egg timer to make this teaching strategy even more effective.
4. Check-for-Understanding: Not understanding the teacher’s directions is a major cause of classroom management issues and student behavior problems. Therefore, no matter what set of directions a teacher gives, the teacher should always “check-for-understanding” by simply asking a couple of students (at random) to repeat the directions back to the class.
5. Do Now: Effective classroom management starts from the second students walk into the classroom. Therefore, the “do now” is a short assignment that the students are to complete as soon as they enter the classroom. Personally, I put up 1-4 review questions on the board every day as the “do now” assignment. The “do now” gives the students something to do right away and is a great opportunity for review.
Remember, effective classroom management is not about rewards and punishments. Effective classroom management is about the teacher keeping the students actively involved in the entire lesson. By practicing the teaching strategies above, teachers will greatly reduce classroom management problems.
As a veteran teacher I have seen far too many teachers fail because of classroom management problems. (Remember, classroom management and student achievement are directly related.)
And, all too often I see teachers resort to all types of crazy classroom management plans trying to get a handle on student behavior.
Unfortunately, many of these classroom management plans involve elaborate systems of rewards and punishment. For example, writing students names on the board with check marks added next to the name for each inappropriate behavior. Not only is this degrading, but the effectiveness of this classroom management plan is short-lived at best. In fact, often times this classroom management plan can have the exact opposite effect on student behavior.
Likewise, rewarding students for behavior that is expected of them sends the absolutely wrong message. Teachers should not reward a student for acting appropriately in class. Rewarding appropriate behavior is not effective classroom management, it is bribery and the students will come to expect it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not speaking about a pizza party or movie after a week in which the students worked well in class. That type of reward is fine as long as it is unexpected. The type of rewards that are bad are the ones in which the teacher promises upfront that if “you behave today, I will give you a piece of candy.” No, the student should behave in class because that is what’s expected. Little Johnny will not throw his pencil across the room, because it disrupts the learning of the other students and can be dangerous, not because he will get candy!
So, if teachers do not give rewards or punishments as a classroom management plan, then how do teachers effectively manage student behavior?
Easy, the key to classroom management is keeping students actively involved in the entire lesson. This is done with just a handful of simple teaching strategies.
Here are five effective classroom management tips you can use in any classroom regardless of subject or content area. These classroom management tips will keep all students actively involved in all classroom lessons. (Remember, keeping students involved in the lesson is the most effective classroom management plan.)
1. All-Write: Instead of having students raise their hand to respond to a question aloud, have all the students write down an answer to the teacher’s question. Not only will the teacher get much more class participation, but the quality of student responses will also improve.
2. Pair/Share: Have students pair up with a partner and share their answers before discussing it as a class. This gives the students a chance to respond without the anxiety of speaking in front of the entire class and also allows the teacher to “monitor” the room and talk to various students about their responses. The “pair/share” is great teaching strategy to use right after the “all-write” strategy.
3. On-the-Clock: Give students specific time limits to complete tasks and make sure you stick to those time limits. By putting students “on-the-clock” the teacher helps the students stay focused. I even use an egg timer to make this teaching strategy even more effective.
4. Check-for-Understanding: Not understanding the teacher’s directions is a major cause of classroom management issues and student behavior problems. Therefore, no matter what set of directions a teacher gives, the teacher should always “check-for-understanding” by simply asking a couple of students (at random) to repeat the directions back to the class.
5. Do Now: Effective classroom management starts from the second students walk into the classroom. Therefore, the “do now” is a short assignment that the students are to complete as soon as they enter the classroom. Personally, I put up 1-4 review questions on the board every day as the “do now” assignment. The “do now” gives the students something to do right away and is a great opportunity for review.
Remember, effective classroom management is not about rewards and punishments. Effective classroom management is about the teacher keeping the students actively involved in the entire lesson. By practicing the teaching strategies above, teachers will greatly reduce classroom management problems.
Social Network Technology in the Classroom
Considering that today's students were born wired, and live and play in the world of the Web, the challenge for many teachers and administrators is meeting students on their own turf and adapting to the students' medium of choice. Specifically, the emergence of social networks has created a technical gap between teachers, students, and parents unlike any that has previously existed. The need to use technology in the classroom is becoming more important every day. Clearly, social networking will be at the core of any technology that is to succeed in the classroom.
Although some teachers are hesitant to use social networking (also referred to as Web 2.0) - considering privacy issues and a potentially steep learning curve - it's important that they learn to understand and use these tools that are becoming increasingly embedded in the lives of their students.
However, social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are the students' domain, and teachers and parents may not always be welcome. To many of today's students, a teacher socializing on Facebook is the equivalent of having that teacher show up at a weekend party, or at a regular student hangout.
Today's educators need an intuitive, safe, online environment that connects students, teachers, parents, and administrators in a responsible way. One that is geared toward education and one that, while driven by teachers, is open to students, parents, and administrators.
Simply put, they need a social network for the classroom.
In a true Web 2.0 environment, students, parents, and administrators can participate in the teaching process by showing mastery of a specific topic or concept. All parties can interact to ask questions, share knowledge, and relay experiences. The proliferation of ideas never needs to be stagnant. This concept applies not only within a specific classroom, but across all classrooms that can now share a common learning environment - a common social network. To take it a step further, the concept not only applies to all classrooms sharing that same learning environment, but to all classrooms across time.
Consider, as an example, a lesson that was taught in the classroom just ten years ago: The lesson was introduced, a discussion followed, and the lesson ended.
Now, consider that same lesson as it is taught in a Web 2.0 embraced environment: The lesson is introduced, and an online discussion follows. But this discussion includes the viewpoints and experiences of students, teachers, administrators, and parents from around the globe. It will include comments and span new ideas and conversations. It will be supported by images and videos which will also spawn new ideas and conversations.
In addition, this same lesson, when taught the following year, already has the foundation of the previous year's information. The next year builds upon the previous two years, and so on. In the end, we have an ever-growing historical account of the ideas brought about by the lesson - a clearly superior situation to the way it had been taught ten years earlier.
Considering the speed at which technology is evolving, teachers should be encouraged to find and use a social network. One that can be used responsibly and that is geared toward the proliferation of ideas that start in the classroom.
Although some teachers are hesitant to use social networking (also referred to as Web 2.0) - considering privacy issues and a potentially steep learning curve - it's important that they learn to understand and use these tools that are becoming increasingly embedded in the lives of their students.
However, social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are the students' domain, and teachers and parents may not always be welcome. To many of today's students, a teacher socializing on Facebook is the equivalent of having that teacher show up at a weekend party, or at a regular student hangout.
Today's educators need an intuitive, safe, online environment that connects students, teachers, parents, and administrators in a responsible way. One that is geared toward education and one that, while driven by teachers, is open to students, parents, and administrators.
Simply put, they need a social network for the classroom.
In a true Web 2.0 environment, students, parents, and administrators can participate in the teaching process by showing mastery of a specific topic or concept. All parties can interact to ask questions, share knowledge, and relay experiences. The proliferation of ideas never needs to be stagnant. This concept applies not only within a specific classroom, but across all classrooms that can now share a common learning environment - a common social network. To take it a step further, the concept not only applies to all classrooms sharing that same learning environment, but to all classrooms across time.
Consider, as an example, a lesson that was taught in the classroom just ten years ago: The lesson was introduced, a discussion followed, and the lesson ended.
Now, consider that same lesson as it is taught in a Web 2.0 embraced environment: The lesson is introduced, and an online discussion follows. But this discussion includes the viewpoints and experiences of students, teachers, administrators, and parents from around the globe. It will include comments and span new ideas and conversations. It will be supported by images and videos which will also spawn new ideas and conversations.
In addition, this same lesson, when taught the following year, already has the foundation of the previous year's information. The next year builds upon the previous two years, and so on. In the end, we have an ever-growing historical account of the ideas brought about by the lesson - a clearly superior situation to the way it had been taught ten years earlier.
Considering the speed at which technology is evolving, teachers should be encouraged to find and use a social network. One that can be used responsibly and that is geared toward the proliferation of ideas that start in the classroom.
What is a Science Kit?
A science kit is basically a toy or collection of toys for kids, but scientific! What do we mean by that? Well, as opposed to a doll or toy car, for example, a science kit is a science project or group of projects consisting of hands-on experiments that often result in a fun science toy. Science kits, such as the ones sold by Science Store for the Stars, are presented in an easy-to-understand and interesting way and are intended to teach kids facts about various science subjects. For example, Crystal Radio kits are very popular and consist of one project; build a crystal radio. While they work on this project, kids learn about electronics and electricity, and how radios function.
When they’re done they have a cool toy that really works! Or take “The How’s and Whys of Science” kit by Educational Insights, which has many experiments in various subjects including biology, ecology, astronomy, and others. Kids can learn why the sky is blue, why it rains, how you can bend light, and conduct experiments similar to those real scientists would to discover many of the Earth’s secrets. As you can see, a science kit is infinitely better for children than a regular toy. Not only do kids use their imaginations, but they learn real science which will help them in both school and the real world. When you start to understand how the world around you actually works, you start to think in a different way. Instead of just accepting things as they are, you become curious about them, begin to ask questions, and realize that there is reason and logic to world around us.
It’s never too early for a child to start learning science and parents are the best teachers! If your child asks you about the Moon, will you simply reply, “It’s the Moon?” Or would you rather say, “The moon is bound to the Earth by gravity, causes waves in the ocean, and reflects light from the Sun?” Kids have amazing memories and retain information presented by their parents better than anyone else and if you give them a science kit to learn these things, they will eat it up with a spoon. The more they learn at an early age, the easier it will be in school and as they get older.
Science kits and science experiment books are the absolute best way for kids to learn science.
It’s well known that kids learn concepts and skills more quickly, retain in memory longer, and have more fun, when they learn with hands-on experiments rather than simply reading about them in books. Science kits are designed specifically for these experiments and can make an otherwise boring subject fresh and exciting. There is real educational value built right into a science kit. They are designed, created, and written by teachers, scientists, and other professionals in various fields of science and they incorporate appropriate national teaching standards. Science kits are also a great source for science fair project ideas.
Science kits can be used at home as activities for one or more children. They are an excellent way for teachers to explain certain science concepts to their students and are great for parents who home-school their children and want to spice-up the curriculum. How much do adults love crossword puzzles, Soduko, and other mind challenging games? Well, kids want to be active problem solvers as well, and the design of science kits caters to their big imaginations and creativity by involving them in direct experimentation. And if your child is falling behind in one area of science, you will be sure to find a science kit covering it. It’s a great way to get a child interested in a science subject!
Science kits tend to use real life investigations, so kids will think about what they’ve learned and apply it when they go outside to explore, or while they are in the classroom. If the kit doesn’t already include what’s necessary to perform the ‘investigations’, all you’ll need are some common household materials and occasionally some batteries. Overall, a science kit will teach a child science concepts that they can apply to the world around them, and help them think “outside the box”.
It’s a fact that science is becoming more and more neglected in our schools and American kids are falling farther and farther behind the rest of the world in science knowledge. Most schools, public and private, now have suggested reading lists for summer break. Look at science kits and experiment books the same way and give your kids a boost in the subject of science. They’re prefect for birthdays, holidays, or when you’re feeling generous any time of the year. It’s science-learning-fun!
When they’re done they have a cool toy that really works! Or take “The How’s and Whys of Science” kit by Educational Insights, which has many experiments in various subjects including biology, ecology, astronomy, and others. Kids can learn why the sky is blue, why it rains, how you can bend light, and conduct experiments similar to those real scientists would to discover many of the Earth’s secrets. As you can see, a science kit is infinitely better for children than a regular toy. Not only do kids use their imaginations, but they learn real science which will help them in both school and the real world. When you start to understand how the world around you actually works, you start to think in a different way. Instead of just accepting things as they are, you become curious about them, begin to ask questions, and realize that there is reason and logic to world around us.
It’s never too early for a child to start learning science and parents are the best teachers! If your child asks you about the Moon, will you simply reply, “It’s the Moon?” Or would you rather say, “The moon is bound to the Earth by gravity, causes waves in the ocean, and reflects light from the Sun?” Kids have amazing memories and retain information presented by their parents better than anyone else and if you give them a science kit to learn these things, they will eat it up with a spoon. The more they learn at an early age, the easier it will be in school and as they get older.
Science kits and science experiment books are the absolute best way for kids to learn science.
It’s well known that kids learn concepts and skills more quickly, retain in memory longer, and have more fun, when they learn with hands-on experiments rather than simply reading about them in books. Science kits are designed specifically for these experiments and can make an otherwise boring subject fresh and exciting. There is real educational value built right into a science kit. They are designed, created, and written by teachers, scientists, and other professionals in various fields of science and they incorporate appropriate national teaching standards. Science kits are also a great source for science fair project ideas.
Science kits can be used at home as activities for one or more children. They are an excellent way for teachers to explain certain science concepts to their students and are great for parents who home-school their children and want to spice-up the curriculum. How much do adults love crossword puzzles, Soduko, and other mind challenging games? Well, kids want to be active problem solvers as well, and the design of science kits caters to their big imaginations and creativity by involving them in direct experimentation. And if your child is falling behind in one area of science, you will be sure to find a science kit covering it. It’s a great way to get a child interested in a science subject!
Science kits tend to use real life investigations, so kids will think about what they’ve learned and apply it when they go outside to explore, or while they are in the classroom. If the kit doesn’t already include what’s necessary to perform the ‘investigations’, all you’ll need are some common household materials and occasionally some batteries. Overall, a science kit will teach a child science concepts that they can apply to the world around them, and help them think “outside the box”.
It’s a fact that science is becoming more and more neglected in our schools and American kids are falling farther and farther behind the rest of the world in science knowledge. Most schools, public and private, now have suggested reading lists for summer break. Look at science kits and experiment books the same way and give your kids a boost in the subject of science. They’re prefect for birthdays, holidays, or when you’re feeling generous any time of the year. It’s science-learning-fun!
The Value of a Science Fair Project
With the jam-packed schedules of today's families, why would either a student or a parent want to add one more major activity? Clearly, any school project assigned to a student should meet a stringent test for usefulness. Surprising to some, a science fair project is one of the best learning experiences a student can undertake. And, if it is taken seriously, it can be an excellent way to earn significant prizes, qualify for scholarships, and distinguish a college application.
Conceptually, a science fair project is very straightforward. A student chooses a scientific question he or she would like to answer. Then, library and Web research on the question gives the student the background information he or she needs to formulate a hypothesis and design an experiment. After writing a report to summarize this research, the student performs the experiment, draws his or her conclusions, and presents the results to teachers and classmates using a display board. Most students do their projects for a school science fair, but in many cases students can enter that same project in fairs at the city or county level. This is the first step in competitions that lead up to the international level, where prizes total over $3,000,000 and the top winners take home $50,000 scholarships.
What makes a science fair project such a great learning experience is that it involves so much more than science. If the student is in middle school, the research report will most likely be the longest paper the student has ever written. The bibliography for the report will also be the first ever for some students. And, while library research is still important, these reports are a great way to hone computer research skills as well as learn the ins and outs of common office programs such as word processors and spreadsheets. Most projects involve a good deal of math, and all students get an opportunity to enhance their presentation skills when they prepare their display board and discuss the project with judges.
A science fair project will also have a longer duration than any other assignment a student has done. In contrast to the typical school homework due the next day or perhaps a week hence, a science fair project requires a student to learn to plan over two or three months, a skill of immense importance in adulthood. Procrastination is definitely not rewarded.
Savvy students, especially those who work their way up to higher levels of competition, learn even more about communications skills. They learn the importance of marketing--picking topics and tuning their presentations in ways that will make them most likely to impress a science fair judge. While some may bemoan this lack of purity in the pursuit of science, the fact is that even a professional scientist must compete for funds to continue his or her research. When better to learn how to persuade others than before your livelihood depends on it?
A science fair project even provides an opportunity for the discussion of ethical issues such as plagiarism and falsification of data. Indeed, such a discussion is highly recommended. The ease of copying information from the Internet is hard to resist, and many students are far ahead of their teachers in understanding what is possible.
Preparing a science fair project is an excellent example of what education experts call active learning or inquiry (also "hands-on" learning). It is a very effective instructional method; indeed, it is recommended as a cornerstone of successful science teaching. Yet, according to the National Research Council, active learning is not employed often enough in the classroom and its absence is seen as one of the key factors behind kids losing interest in science and not performing to their potential.
Colleges want to see what students have done with the opportunities they have available to them, and science competitions are a fantastic opportunity. Typically, from two to four percent of science fair entrants at the high school level move on to the top level of science fair competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. While the competition is stiff, those odds are a lot better than the lottery.
Of course, learning about science is at the heart of a science fair project. Our society relies more on science every day, and science fairs are a great way for students to become more knowledgeable about how the world around them works. Every citizen needs sufficient science literacy to make educated decisions about what they see or read in the media, about their own health care, and about other every-day problems.
A science project is a great way to improve your child’s academic and communication skills, not to mention help their college resume. If your child’s teacher doesn’t assign a science project, ask him to.
Conceptually, a science fair project is very straightforward. A student chooses a scientific question he or she would like to answer. Then, library and Web research on the question gives the student the background information he or she needs to formulate a hypothesis and design an experiment. After writing a report to summarize this research, the student performs the experiment, draws his or her conclusions, and presents the results to teachers and classmates using a display board. Most students do their projects for a school science fair, but in many cases students can enter that same project in fairs at the city or county level. This is the first step in competitions that lead up to the international level, where prizes total over $3,000,000 and the top winners take home $50,000 scholarships.
What makes a science fair project such a great learning experience is that it involves so much more than science. If the student is in middle school, the research report will most likely be the longest paper the student has ever written. The bibliography for the report will also be the first ever for some students. And, while library research is still important, these reports are a great way to hone computer research skills as well as learn the ins and outs of common office programs such as word processors and spreadsheets. Most projects involve a good deal of math, and all students get an opportunity to enhance their presentation skills when they prepare their display board and discuss the project with judges.
A science fair project will also have a longer duration than any other assignment a student has done. In contrast to the typical school homework due the next day or perhaps a week hence, a science fair project requires a student to learn to plan over two or three months, a skill of immense importance in adulthood. Procrastination is definitely not rewarded.
Savvy students, especially those who work their way up to higher levels of competition, learn even more about communications skills. They learn the importance of marketing--picking topics and tuning their presentations in ways that will make them most likely to impress a science fair judge. While some may bemoan this lack of purity in the pursuit of science, the fact is that even a professional scientist must compete for funds to continue his or her research. When better to learn how to persuade others than before your livelihood depends on it?
A science fair project even provides an opportunity for the discussion of ethical issues such as plagiarism and falsification of data. Indeed, such a discussion is highly recommended. The ease of copying information from the Internet is hard to resist, and many students are far ahead of their teachers in understanding what is possible.
Preparing a science fair project is an excellent example of what education experts call active learning or inquiry (also "hands-on" learning). It is a very effective instructional method; indeed, it is recommended as a cornerstone of successful science teaching. Yet, according to the National Research Council, active learning is not employed often enough in the classroom and its absence is seen as one of the key factors behind kids losing interest in science and not performing to their potential.
Colleges want to see what students have done with the opportunities they have available to them, and science competitions are a fantastic opportunity. Typically, from two to four percent of science fair entrants at the high school level move on to the top level of science fair competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. While the competition is stiff, those odds are a lot better than the lottery.
Of course, learning about science is at the heart of a science fair project. Our society relies more on science every day, and science fairs are a great way for students to become more knowledgeable about how the world around them works. Every citizen needs sufficient science literacy to make educated decisions about what they see or read in the media, about their own health care, and about other every-day problems.
A science project is a great way to improve your child’s academic and communication skills, not to mention help their college resume. If your child’s teacher doesn’t assign a science project, ask him to.
Home School Curriculum - Should I Buy a Packaged Curriculum?
There are many home school curriculum's available and sometimes it can be hard to know which one to choose or whether to choose one at all. Here are some features of ready-made curriculum that you should consider before buying:
1. You may tend to spend more time on desk work and not feel the freedom to take advantage of home school support group activities, outdoor projects, or community activities.
2. Packaged curriculum tends to be expensive and leave you with less money for field trips or other supplies you might want to purchase.
3. You may tend to keep using the curriculum even if it is not working because you spent the money to purchase it.
4. Some packaged curriculum requires a great deal of teacher preparation and reading through manuals before you are able to teach the material.
5. There is a higher rate of burnout on homeschooling when people purchase a ready-made curriculum. It may cause you to grow weary of the preparation and your child to grow weary of filling in workbook pages and not engage his curiosity.
6. Packaged curriculum tends to be one-size-fits-all and is based on the average student. If your child is advanced or delayed, you may be disappointed with your purchase.
Packaged curriculums were originally designed for private school classrooms, but they do have their place in some home schools. If the parent and child enjoy structure and advanced learning, then a packaged curriculum could work for them. Many people adapt the curriculum to fit their needs and goals and some follow it exactly and have success. Once you assess your goals for homeschooling and take into consideration your child's learning style, you will be able to make an informed decision on what you need to purchase for homeschooling.
1. You may tend to spend more time on desk work and not feel the freedom to take advantage of home school support group activities, outdoor projects, or community activities.
2. Packaged curriculum tends to be expensive and leave you with less money for field trips or other supplies you might want to purchase.
3. You may tend to keep using the curriculum even if it is not working because you spent the money to purchase it.
4. Some packaged curriculum requires a great deal of teacher preparation and reading through manuals before you are able to teach the material.
5. There is a higher rate of burnout on homeschooling when people purchase a ready-made curriculum. It may cause you to grow weary of the preparation and your child to grow weary of filling in workbook pages and not engage his curiosity.
6. Packaged curriculum tends to be one-size-fits-all and is based on the average student. If your child is advanced or delayed, you may be disappointed with your purchase.
Packaged curriculums were originally designed for private school classrooms, but they do have their place in some home schools. If the parent and child enjoy structure and advanced learning, then a packaged curriculum could work for them. Many people adapt the curriculum to fit their needs and goals and some follow it exactly and have success. Once you assess your goals for homeschooling and take into consideration your child's learning style, you will be able to make an informed decision on what you need to purchase for homeschooling.
Learning Style, a Key Factor in Picking Good Homeschool Curriculum
What are Learning Styles and why should you care about them? A person's learning style is, in a nutshell, the methods that help them learn the easiest. Some people have a hard time concentrating on reading but have no problems focusing on a lecture. Others fall asleep at a lecture but are engrossed by a mutlimedia presentation. This is because they all have different learning styles.
The Three Basic Learning Styles
Visual : The visual leaner is, obviously, very visual. They do well with visual aids such as charts, graphs, maps, etcetera and are generally fond of reading. A child with a visual learning style would most likely enjoy a literature-based curriculum as well as colorful worksheets. A program with a multimedia component would also be appropriate, such as supplemental courses on cd-rom or even participation in a virtual school.
Kinesthetic: How to Determine Your Child's Learning Style In closing, it is very important to pay attention to your children's preferred learning style. It will make for a far more pleasant and positive learning experience for both of you. Play to your childs natural strengths and you will avoid a lot of frustration in the long run.
Watch your child and what they gravitate towards during leisure activites. What are their favorite hobbies? Don't be afraid to try different methods and see which ones your child does best with. Ask your about his likes and dislikes as well. Chances are, he will let you know if he really hates a certain book or program.
Kinesthetic learners are enjoy the act of "doing" to aid in learning. Activity is an important part of these energetic learners style of learning. Children that fit this learning profile usually have difficulty in a traditional educational setting. They tend to be fidgety and may need more breaks than the average child to "burn off energy." Lots of hands-on activities and experiments would be ideal for this type of learner. Unit studies and Montessori methods are well-suited to this learning style as well.
Auditory : The auditory learner is able to assimilate and remember information by listening and talking about what they have learned. Auditory learners often have a great appreciation for music and story-telling. Auditory learners may do better with oral quizzes and recitation rather traditional methods of homework and testing. The best type of homeschool curriculum for an auditory learner would likely be one that includes plenty of oral discussion, recitation and unit studies. The classical and Charlotte Mason methods would both be good choices for children with an auditory learning style.
The Three Basic Learning Styles
Visual : The visual leaner is, obviously, very visual. They do well with visual aids such as charts, graphs, maps, etcetera and are generally fond of reading. A child with a visual learning style would most likely enjoy a literature-based curriculum as well as colorful worksheets. A program with a multimedia component would also be appropriate, such as supplemental courses on cd-rom or even participation in a virtual school.
Kinesthetic: How to Determine Your Child's Learning Style In closing, it is very important to pay attention to your children's preferred learning style. It will make for a far more pleasant and positive learning experience for both of you. Play to your childs natural strengths and you will avoid a lot of frustration in the long run.
Watch your child and what they gravitate towards during leisure activites. What are their favorite hobbies? Don't be afraid to try different methods and see which ones your child does best with. Ask your about his likes and dislikes as well. Chances are, he will let you know if he really hates a certain book or program.
Kinesthetic learners are enjoy the act of "doing" to aid in learning. Activity is an important part of these energetic learners style of learning. Children that fit this learning profile usually have difficulty in a traditional educational setting. They tend to be fidgety and may need more breaks than the average child to "burn off energy." Lots of hands-on activities and experiments would be ideal for this type of learner. Unit studies and Montessori methods are well-suited to this learning style as well.
Auditory : The auditory learner is able to assimilate and remember information by listening and talking about what they have learned. Auditory learners often have a great appreciation for music and story-telling. Auditory learners may do better with oral quizzes and recitation rather traditional methods of homework and testing. The best type of homeschool curriculum for an auditory learner would likely be one that includes plenty of oral discussion, recitation and unit studies. The classical and Charlotte Mason methods would both be good choices for children with an auditory learning style.
Adapting Lesson Plans To Student Numbers
One of the main problems with most lesson planning material is adapting it to specific classroom needs. Over several articles, we will list the typical problems which normally make activities unusable for a teacher's specific class, and how to get around the problem by adapting the way the activity is presented. We will identify principles for adapting activities to allow nearly any lesson plan to be usable, regardless of your class profile.
To illustrate the these principles, and how they can be applied, we will take a simple warmer activity:
Name of activity: Chinese whispers.
• Divide the students into two equal groups.
• Have the members of each team sit in a line, with opposite teams facing each other.
• There should be as much distance between the two lines as possible.
• The teacher sits at the head of the two lines and whispers a sentence to the first person in each line.
• This student has to pass the sentence on to the next student by whispering, and in this way the sentence is passed down the line.
• When sentence reaches the last student, he/she stands up, runs to the teacher, and repeats the sentence to the teacher.
• If it is the same sentence the teacher said to the first student and is correctly repeated, the team wins a point.
Part I. The problem of student numbers in a class.
Here are solutions and principles to adapting activities to all the different variables in student numbers:
1) A class with only one teacher and one student!
Here, there are no students to pass the sentence on. Impossible to adapt? No!
Solution: adapt the activity by creating 'virtual' students:
• The teacher says a first set of sentences (between three and seven) to the student. The number of sentences depends on their complexity and the student's competence.
• The student listens and then repeats them into a voice recorder.
• The teacher then says a second set of sentences, which the student then also repeats into the voice recorder.
• The teacher then plays back the first set of sentences that the student recorded.
• The student listens and is recorded repeating them again.
• Then the teacher plays back the second set of sentences that the student recorded.
• The student listens and is recorded repeating them again.
• Finally, the student repeats the sentences for the last time, without recording, and sees how much variation from the original teacher's sentences has been created.
Principle: Here, the recorder has 'multiplied' the number of students, allowing the information to be passed on (like in the original activity). Use other supports (recorders/the written word/role play cards etc.) to replace the fact there are no other students, and have the single student multitask!
Note: If you try this activity, you will find it is very revealing in terms of identifying the more ingrained mistakes that the student suffers from.
2) A class with between 2 to 5 students.
In this case, there are not enough students to create 2 lines of competing students (a minimum of 3 students per line is needed for the game to work well)
Solution: Make the sentences slightly more complex, and simply have the original teacher's sentence travel from one student to the next and back to the teacher. The students are thus playing against themselves to see how many they can get right.
Principle: When an activity requires more students, it is always possible to scale down or simplify the system the activity needs.
3) A class with an odd number of students.
The problem here is that one of the two lines will have an unfair advantage - the one with the least number of students! This is a big 'no, no' in competitive classroom games.
Solutions:
a) You need a minimum of 3 students per line to make this activity work, so if you have 7 students, ask one to volunteer to take the teachers place. Students often enjoy this role more than joining in the activity!
b) With nine or more students, work with a combination of an odd number of lines, and the above suggestion of replacing the teacher until team numbers are balanced.
Principle: The teacher can always be used as an 'expendible' part of an activity, being included, or not. Passing on the teacher's role to students is also a valuable teaching technique in its own right.
4) A large class.
The ideal number of students in a line is about five. But for groups of 30 or 40 students (not uncommon in many countries), large numbers of students returning simultaneously to the teacher with the repeated sentence can make it impossible for the teacher to declare a winner, as students talk over each other!
Solution:
Make the sentences considerably more complex. This slows down the rate at which it travels down the line and effectively staggers the rate at which students come to you. You may also include queuing up before repeating the sentence as a rule.
Principle: Adjust the complexity required of the students to pace an activity, and include peripheral rules to overcome problems that crop up. They can be
invented n the spot - the students never mind!
5) A group with students of an uneven level.
Here the problem could arise from a less competent student/s causing a disadvantage to a team due to slowness or a high level of inaccuracy.
Solution:
a) Instead of a 'first past the post' approach, set a generous time limit for the sentence to reach you. This will increase the chances of a weaker student performing well.
b) Instead of having individuals pass on the sentences, have pairs of students passing on the sentences. This is actually a very fun alternative to consider anyway - particularly with large student numbers.
Principle: Decide if a race or a time limit activity is best for your purposes. Always use student pairs to overcome differences in capabilities.
Part II on this subject will talk about adapting lesson plans to different age groups.
To illustrate the these principles, and how they can be applied, we will take a simple warmer activity:
Name of activity: Chinese whispers.
• Divide the students into two equal groups.
• Have the members of each team sit in a line, with opposite teams facing each other.
• There should be as much distance between the two lines as possible.
• The teacher sits at the head of the two lines and whispers a sentence to the first person in each line.
• This student has to pass the sentence on to the next student by whispering, and in this way the sentence is passed down the line.
• When sentence reaches the last student, he/she stands up, runs to the teacher, and repeats the sentence to the teacher.
• If it is the same sentence the teacher said to the first student and is correctly repeated, the team wins a point.
Part I. The problem of student numbers in a class.
Here are solutions and principles to adapting activities to all the different variables in student numbers:
1) A class with only one teacher and one student!
Here, there are no students to pass the sentence on. Impossible to adapt? No!
Solution: adapt the activity by creating 'virtual' students:
• The teacher says a first set of sentences (between three and seven) to the student. The number of sentences depends on their complexity and the student's competence.
• The student listens and then repeats them into a voice recorder.
• The teacher then says a second set of sentences, which the student then also repeats into the voice recorder.
• The teacher then plays back the first set of sentences that the student recorded.
• The student listens and is recorded repeating them again.
• Then the teacher plays back the second set of sentences that the student recorded.
• The student listens and is recorded repeating them again.
• Finally, the student repeats the sentences for the last time, without recording, and sees how much variation from the original teacher's sentences has been created.
Principle: Here, the recorder has 'multiplied' the number of students, allowing the information to be passed on (like in the original activity). Use other supports (recorders/the written word/role play cards etc.) to replace the fact there are no other students, and have the single student multitask!
Note: If you try this activity, you will find it is very revealing in terms of identifying the more ingrained mistakes that the student suffers from.
2) A class with between 2 to 5 students.
In this case, there are not enough students to create 2 lines of competing students (a minimum of 3 students per line is needed for the game to work well)
Solution: Make the sentences slightly more complex, and simply have the original teacher's sentence travel from one student to the next and back to the teacher. The students are thus playing against themselves to see how many they can get right.
Principle: When an activity requires more students, it is always possible to scale down or simplify the system the activity needs.
3) A class with an odd number of students.
The problem here is that one of the two lines will have an unfair advantage - the one with the least number of students! This is a big 'no, no' in competitive classroom games.
Solutions:
a) You need a minimum of 3 students per line to make this activity work, so if you have 7 students, ask one to volunteer to take the teachers place. Students often enjoy this role more than joining in the activity!
b) With nine or more students, work with a combination of an odd number of lines, and the above suggestion of replacing the teacher until team numbers are balanced.
Principle: The teacher can always be used as an 'expendible' part of an activity, being included, or not. Passing on the teacher's role to students is also a valuable teaching technique in its own right.
4) A large class.
The ideal number of students in a line is about five. But for groups of 30 or 40 students (not uncommon in many countries), large numbers of students returning simultaneously to the teacher with the repeated sentence can make it impossible for the teacher to declare a winner, as students talk over each other!
Solution:
Make the sentences considerably more complex. This slows down the rate at which it travels down the line and effectively staggers the rate at which students come to you. You may also include queuing up before repeating the sentence as a rule.
Principle: Adjust the complexity required of the students to pace an activity, and include peripheral rules to overcome problems that crop up. They can be
invented n the spot - the students never mind!
5) A group with students of an uneven level.
Here the problem could arise from a less competent student/s causing a disadvantage to a team due to slowness or a high level of inaccuracy.
Solution:
a) Instead of a 'first past the post' approach, set a generous time limit for the sentence to reach you. This will increase the chances of a weaker student performing well.
b) Instead of having individuals pass on the sentences, have pairs of students passing on the sentences. This is actually a very fun alternative to consider anyway - particularly with large student numbers.
Principle: Decide if a race or a time limit activity is best for your purposes. Always use student pairs to overcome differences in capabilities.
Part II on this subject will talk about adapting lesson plans to different age groups.
Sparking Students' Interest Using Colored Paper and Binding
As most teachers know, creating lesson plans and making bulletin boards are tasks they were able to practice and begin to master as part of their teacher preparation programs. What many programs fail to address is how to spark student interest in those lessons. As seasoned educational professionals know, getting the students interested in the assignment is often the biggest hurdle they must cross.
Student interest is often the differentiating factor between teachers who have established control of their classrooms and teachers who have not. Most of the time, students who act out are those who are feeling bored and who are not properly inspired to work. Good teachers know that there are simple things they can do to get students interested in projects and class work.
One of the ways teachers can stimulate a little interest is to vary the color of the paper assignments are printed on. This is especially beneficial for tougher assignments that most of them are disinclined to complete, much less enjoy. It seems like such a silly thing, but students do actually react to paper in a new color. Not only are students more interested in completing such work, they also sometimes are more careful with the work they submit on colored paper. It is a simple suggestion that probably won't revolutionize your teaching, but if it results in increased participation, it's worth a shot, right?
In that same vein, students like to see their names in print and their designs in use. Most of them relish the attention they receive from their peers when they are acknowledged for something they have done. For that reason, teachers should consider covering their bulletin boards and wall with the works of the students in the class instead of with commercial bulletin board kits. They like to admire each other's work and will sometimes become competitive over who will do a better job on the next project.
Continuing with this idea of showcasing student work, teachers can keep files of each student's best work which they can then assemble into a portfolio at the end of the semester or school year. Provided all of the items are the same size (like 8½ x 11), teachers can use a binding machine to punch holes into the documents and bind them into a single publication containing the best of each student's work for the semester or year. Many kinds of binding machines are available, so educators need to think a bit about how many pages they will need to bind at a time and what types of covers they prefer.
In addition to using a binding machine to create student portfolios, teachers can also use the machine to create custom educational materials such as lab books, journals, and daily language notebooks. Educators may want to consider bringing the machine into the classroom to allow students to assemble their own journals or lab books. This allows them to see firsthand just how much effort goes into these things and can also provide them the opportunity to customize their own book somewhat (according to the teacher's specifications).
Learning is at least a somewhat subjective process. By making a few simple changes in how teachers present information to students, it's possible to teach students more by virtue of their increased interest in the educational materials themselves.
Student interest is often the differentiating factor between teachers who have established control of their classrooms and teachers who have not. Most of the time, students who act out are those who are feeling bored and who are not properly inspired to work. Good teachers know that there are simple things they can do to get students interested in projects and class work.
One of the ways teachers can stimulate a little interest is to vary the color of the paper assignments are printed on. This is especially beneficial for tougher assignments that most of them are disinclined to complete, much less enjoy. It seems like such a silly thing, but students do actually react to paper in a new color. Not only are students more interested in completing such work, they also sometimes are more careful with the work they submit on colored paper. It is a simple suggestion that probably won't revolutionize your teaching, but if it results in increased participation, it's worth a shot, right?
In that same vein, students like to see their names in print and their designs in use. Most of them relish the attention they receive from their peers when they are acknowledged for something they have done. For that reason, teachers should consider covering their bulletin boards and wall with the works of the students in the class instead of with commercial bulletin board kits. They like to admire each other's work and will sometimes become competitive over who will do a better job on the next project.
Continuing with this idea of showcasing student work, teachers can keep files of each student's best work which they can then assemble into a portfolio at the end of the semester or school year. Provided all of the items are the same size (like 8½ x 11), teachers can use a binding machine to punch holes into the documents and bind them into a single publication containing the best of each student's work for the semester or year. Many kinds of binding machines are available, so educators need to think a bit about how many pages they will need to bind at a time and what types of covers they prefer.
In addition to using a binding machine to create student portfolios, teachers can also use the machine to create custom educational materials such as lab books, journals, and daily language notebooks. Educators may want to consider bringing the machine into the classroom to allow students to assemble their own journals or lab books. This allows them to see firsthand just how much effort goes into these things and can also provide them the opportunity to customize their own book somewhat (according to the teacher's specifications).
Learning is at least a somewhat subjective process. By making a few simple changes in how teachers present information to students, it's possible to teach students more by virtue of their increased interest in the educational materials themselves.
Summer Activities For Children
The biggest challenge for parents is to keep their children busy during the summer vacations. While children eagerly await their vacations in order to get out of the routine of school, studies, exams, etc., give them a week into their vacations and their chant begins of being bored.
In order to avoid this situation it is important for parents to plan their child's vacations well in advanced. In fact, even a family vacation is planned, one should have a plan in hand on what will be done while on vacation. For this, one should ideally go on vacation through a professional holiday planning company and opt for a tourist package to ensure that the maximum is done while in the new city or place of visit.
Well, for those at home, there is the option of the varied classes, based on the child's interest, as well as the convenience of dropping and picking up the child from these classes. This becomes a little difficult if both parents are working. And for many, the child of multiple classes may fall beyond their budget.
The next option is to keep them busy with the varied summer activities for children. This could be a mixed bag of activities such as a couple of games and sports such as swimming, badminton, tennis, hockey, cricket, etc. There are varied clubs that conduct summer camps for children in the mornings.
Then there could be some intellectual activities such as book reading, creating a journal or scrapbook on the child's favorite subjects. These could include a country of their choice, the animal kingdom, dinosaurs, outer space, etc. Basically, while creating a journal or scrapbook the child is learning a lot about their topic of interest.
Creative activities should also be a part of the vacation plan. This is because having the child indulge in art and craft makes them tilt towards creativity. They get an opportunity to stretch their creative minds and make some incredible objects. They can either join a class, or then learn at home with the various art and craft kits. There is so much available in the market. For instance, for girls there are embroidery kits, and for boys there are various mechanical kits to create varied objects.
Apart from this, if one is living in a large housing complex them one can encourage the children to get together and do a project. For instance, they could all bring in their books and create a library. They can pay for borrowing the book and at the end of the vacation they give that money collected in charity. Or then they can organize various drives, such as a clothes drive, stationery drive, etc., wherein they collect all their old clothes, as well as books and stationery; maybe even toys; and give it to an orphanage. This way the children are kept busy and they are learning how to add value to society.
The important thing is that when planning the activities, parents should not force their decisions on their children. They should sit down and understand what their child enjoys doing, and accordingly find away to keep them busy in such activities.
In order to avoid this situation it is important for parents to plan their child's vacations well in advanced. In fact, even a family vacation is planned, one should have a plan in hand on what will be done while on vacation. For this, one should ideally go on vacation through a professional holiday planning company and opt for a tourist package to ensure that the maximum is done while in the new city or place of visit.
Well, for those at home, there is the option of the varied classes, based on the child's interest, as well as the convenience of dropping and picking up the child from these classes. This becomes a little difficult if both parents are working. And for many, the child of multiple classes may fall beyond their budget.
The next option is to keep them busy with the varied summer activities for children. This could be a mixed bag of activities such as a couple of games and sports such as swimming, badminton, tennis, hockey, cricket, etc. There are varied clubs that conduct summer camps for children in the mornings.
Then there could be some intellectual activities such as book reading, creating a journal or scrapbook on the child's favorite subjects. These could include a country of their choice, the animal kingdom, dinosaurs, outer space, etc. Basically, while creating a journal or scrapbook the child is learning a lot about their topic of interest.
Creative activities should also be a part of the vacation plan. This is because having the child indulge in art and craft makes them tilt towards creativity. They get an opportunity to stretch their creative minds and make some incredible objects. They can either join a class, or then learn at home with the various art and craft kits. There is so much available in the market. For instance, for girls there are embroidery kits, and for boys there are various mechanical kits to create varied objects.
Apart from this, if one is living in a large housing complex them one can encourage the children to get together and do a project. For instance, they could all bring in their books and create a library. They can pay for borrowing the book and at the end of the vacation they give that money collected in charity. Or then they can organize various drives, such as a clothes drive, stationery drive, etc., wherein they collect all their old clothes, as well as books and stationery; maybe even toys; and give it to an orphanage. This way the children are kept busy and they are learning how to add value to society.
The important thing is that when planning the activities, parents should not force their decisions on their children. They should sit down and understand what their child enjoys doing, and accordingly find away to keep them busy in such activities.
Fun Activities For Toddlers
vEvery child undergoes various stages of child development starting from infancy, to toddler and then to teenage. These stages of childhood are filled with loads of fun, entertainment, learning and multitude of activities.
Each child is born as an active learner in a world of competition and challenges. The early formative years or when the child is a toddler is the best stage where he can learn the maximum. All that your child learns at this stage of life is carried along with the growing age. Toddlers often learn through their bumps, discoveries, falls, relationship and numerous other activities.
There are ample of fun activities for toddler that you can enjoy with your child. Through these activities you can help your child grow physically, emotionally and socially. So, keep your child involve in various activities that can encourage the zeal of learning, discovering and social interaction.
Here are some of the most amusing and entertaining toddler activities for your child:
Fun with Household Objects
Leave your child with some household object. Ask him to pick up one object and you explain him the essentials of that particular object. While picking up the object your child will also discover the image of that object. This kind of discoveries become a vital part of toddler's inquiring mind and stimulates his drive towards learning and accomplishment.
Fun with Bean Bags
Toddlers enjoy tossing the bean bags. Provide your child with ample of old socks and dried beans. Ask them to fill the dried beans in the old socks and prepare interesting bean bags.
Funny Flashlights
Let your child enjoy the flashlight game. Take a torch or any other source of flashlight. Take the light to different objects in your house and ask your toddler to name those objects. You can also tell stories and make shadows using flashlights.
Visit a Museum
Toddlers enjoy learning new things and visiting new places. Take your child to a museum where he will discover various kinds of art pieces, games, toys and many other things that can help stimulate the power of brain and your child's learning skills.
Fun with Water
Toddlers enjoy having fun with water. Take a tub full of water and give your child containers of different size. Let him or her play by pouring water from one container to another. This is a fun game and will also help your child develop hand and eye coordination.
Connecting Dots
Make dots on a large piece of paper in a way that it resembles some cartoon character. Ask your toddler to join the dots and recognize the character produced.
Shape Hunt
Take a piece of paper and draw different shapes. Pin point one shape on the paper and ask your child to hunt or search for an object that has identical shape to what you pointed.
Toddler Rhymes
Sing melodious tunes of rhymes to your toddler. These melodious tune and lyrics will help your child to calm down.
Hide & Seek
Hide and seek is one such game that almost all toddlers enjoy. You don't need to gather a good number of people for this game. Convert your house into a fun playhouse and enjoy playing hide and seek with your toddler.
Coloring Activities
Toddlers love colors. The best activity every toddler enjoys is scribbling with colors on a piece of paper. Don't bound their imaginations and allow them to explore their creativity to make something colorful and beautiful.
Puzzle Games
Puzzle games can be fun as well as educational. There are various kinds of puzzle games like matching, taking a child to his home, and various other kinds that they enjoy solving.
Each child is born as an active learner in a world of competition and challenges. The early formative years or when the child is a toddler is the best stage where he can learn the maximum. All that your child learns at this stage of life is carried along with the growing age. Toddlers often learn through their bumps, discoveries, falls, relationship and numerous other activities.
There are ample of fun activities for toddler that you can enjoy with your child. Through these activities you can help your child grow physically, emotionally and socially. So, keep your child involve in various activities that can encourage the zeal of learning, discovering and social interaction.
Here are some of the most amusing and entertaining toddler activities for your child:
Fun with Household Objects
Leave your child with some household object. Ask him to pick up one object and you explain him the essentials of that particular object. While picking up the object your child will also discover the image of that object. This kind of discoveries become a vital part of toddler's inquiring mind and stimulates his drive towards learning and accomplishment.
Fun with Bean Bags
Toddlers enjoy tossing the bean bags. Provide your child with ample of old socks and dried beans. Ask them to fill the dried beans in the old socks and prepare interesting bean bags.
Funny Flashlights
Let your child enjoy the flashlight game. Take a torch or any other source of flashlight. Take the light to different objects in your house and ask your toddler to name those objects. You can also tell stories and make shadows using flashlights.
Visit a Museum
Toddlers enjoy learning new things and visiting new places. Take your child to a museum where he will discover various kinds of art pieces, games, toys and many other things that can help stimulate the power of brain and your child's learning skills.
Fun with Water
Toddlers enjoy having fun with water. Take a tub full of water and give your child containers of different size. Let him or her play by pouring water from one container to another. This is a fun game and will also help your child develop hand and eye coordination.
Connecting Dots
Make dots on a large piece of paper in a way that it resembles some cartoon character. Ask your toddler to join the dots and recognize the character produced.
Shape Hunt
Take a piece of paper and draw different shapes. Pin point one shape on the paper and ask your child to hunt or search for an object that has identical shape to what you pointed.
Toddler Rhymes
Sing melodious tunes of rhymes to your toddler. These melodious tune and lyrics will help your child to calm down.
Hide & Seek
Hide and seek is one such game that almost all toddlers enjoy. You don't need to gather a good number of people for this game. Convert your house into a fun playhouse and enjoy playing hide and seek with your toddler.
Coloring Activities
Toddlers love colors. The best activity every toddler enjoys is scribbling with colors on a piece of paper. Don't bound their imaginations and allow them to explore their creativity to make something colorful and beautiful.
Puzzle Games
Puzzle games can be fun as well as educational. There are various kinds of puzzle games like matching, taking a child to his home, and various other kinds that they enjoy solving.
Teaching - Introducing The Amazing Lesson Plan Activity Multiplier!
The problem:
If teachers tend to go bald, its most likely from tearing their hair out in an attempt to find stimulating classroom activities for demanding age groups or classroom situations. What we propose here is how to avoid follicle transplants by using the amazing activity multiplier! The principle is presented here as I use it in language teaching, but it can be applied to any subject being taught.
What to do:
1. Draw up a grid on a sheet of paper and write the names of your favourite activities in separate boxes across the top of the page. Use specific activities rather than types of activities e.g. 'Chinese whispers', or '20 questions' rather than 'warmers'.
2. Write the same activities down the left hand column of the grid, again putting one activity in each box of the grid.
3. Now take any empty box on the grid, and see which two activities correspond to its row and column.
4. This represents a new 'hybrid' activity, and needs to be adjusted to fit to your exact needs.
Here is an example.
Lets take the following well established warmer activities:
• TPR (total physical response). This involves the teacher giving an instruction or description, and the students either do it, or act it out.
• Chinese whispers. This involves the teacher whispering a sentence to one student, that then has to be passed on down a line of students, conserving the information whispered in its original form.
• Grab the card. This is where a teacher places cards on a table (they
may have pictures or writing) and makes an utterance that corresponds to one of the cards. The first student to 'grab' the card wins it.
• Lip reading. The teacher gives students a target sentence, and they have to 'say' it to a second student, but without making any noise. The second student has to repeat the sentence by lip reading what their partner is saying.
We put them in a grid thus: TPR, Chinese Whispers, Grab the Card, Lip Reading across the top of the grid and TPR, Chinese Whispers, Grab the Card, Lip Reading in descending order down the left hand side of the grid.
The intersection between columns and rows are the 'new hybrid' activities created. So, lets see what we've got!
The intersection between Chinese whispers and grab the card for example. This would mean that the teacher sets up the class in the usual way to play Chinese whispers, but instead of the last student repeating the sentence back to the teacher, they would have to grab a card which corresponds in some way to the sentence being whispered.
To illustrate this, lets say the teacher whispers the sentence 'I play golf on Sundays'. This is whispered down the line of students, and the last one has to quickly stand up and grab a card picturing a man playing golf, and a card with the word 'Sunday' written on it. This is a new hybrid activity based on the two original activities.
The above grid has 13 activities to stimulate your imagination. Add more original activities, and you greatly multiply the resulting hybrid activities. The whole principle can be multiplied still further by adding different activities to the right hand column, and even to the bottom row! It's an exponential teacher suggestion machine!
Taking this approach allows a tremendous injection of variety and fun into a teachers' classes, and saves a lot on hair transplants! Amazing.
If teachers tend to go bald, its most likely from tearing their hair out in an attempt to find stimulating classroom activities for demanding age groups or classroom situations. What we propose here is how to avoid follicle transplants by using the amazing activity multiplier! The principle is presented here as I use it in language teaching, but it can be applied to any subject being taught.
What to do:
1. Draw up a grid on a sheet of paper and write the names of your favourite activities in separate boxes across the top of the page. Use specific activities rather than types of activities e.g. 'Chinese whispers', or '20 questions' rather than 'warmers'.
2. Write the same activities down the left hand column of the grid, again putting one activity in each box of the grid.
3. Now take any empty box on the grid, and see which two activities correspond to its row and column.
4. This represents a new 'hybrid' activity, and needs to be adjusted to fit to your exact needs.
Here is an example.
Lets take the following well established warmer activities:
• TPR (total physical response). This involves the teacher giving an instruction or description, and the students either do it, or act it out.
• Chinese whispers. This involves the teacher whispering a sentence to one student, that then has to be passed on down a line of students, conserving the information whispered in its original form.
• Grab the card. This is where a teacher places cards on a table (they
may have pictures or writing) and makes an utterance that corresponds to one of the cards. The first student to 'grab' the card wins it.
• Lip reading. The teacher gives students a target sentence, and they have to 'say' it to a second student, but without making any noise. The second student has to repeat the sentence by lip reading what their partner is saying.
We put them in a grid thus: TPR, Chinese Whispers, Grab the Card, Lip Reading across the top of the grid and TPR, Chinese Whispers, Grab the Card, Lip Reading in descending order down the left hand side of the grid.
The intersection between columns and rows are the 'new hybrid' activities created. So, lets see what we've got!
The intersection between Chinese whispers and grab the card for example. This would mean that the teacher sets up the class in the usual way to play Chinese whispers, but instead of the last student repeating the sentence back to the teacher, they would have to grab a card which corresponds in some way to the sentence being whispered.
To illustrate this, lets say the teacher whispers the sentence 'I play golf on Sundays'. This is whispered down the line of students, and the last one has to quickly stand up and grab a card picturing a man playing golf, and a card with the word 'Sunday' written on it. This is a new hybrid activity based on the two original activities.
The above grid has 13 activities to stimulate your imagination. Add more original activities, and you greatly multiply the resulting hybrid activities. The whole principle can be multiplied still further by adding different activities to the right hand column, and even to the bottom row! It's an exponential teacher suggestion machine!
Taking this approach allows a tremendous injection of variety and fun into a teachers' classes, and saves a lot on hair transplants! Amazing.
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