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Uncategorized23 Feb 2009 07:52 pm



When running your business it can often be difficult to know where to start to market your services and how to sell your product. Just because you are a great builder, accountant or dog groomer doesnt mean that you are a great salesperson!

Marketing you business effectively can be a daunting task, but you know you need to make sales for your business to succeed. So where do you start?

Using case studies to market your business is one option. A case study is an examination of events that allows the reader to understand the reality of a situation. Case studies have often been a popular tool for teaching in law schools and medicals schools. The cases look at how decisions where made, the steps of the plan implemented and the outcome of a course of action taken.

The beauty of a case study is that it describes a situation that an individual or group was in, and how the situation was resolved. Case studies tell a story about how this resolution was achieved. Usually a personal case study will show the background to the situation, the steps taken to implement change and the successes or failures that arose from this.

How do case studies help with sales? Well the answer to this is that they evoke emotion. By engaging the consumer emotionally case studies can compel action. Whilst you may be able to spout a lot of numbers, figures and jargon relating to your business, if you put your customer to sleep instead of getting them revved up to buy, your business is just not going to make it, no matter how great your product.

Sales are all about getting the customer to sign on the dotted line. Ultimately your sales pitch needs to be persuasive and your marketing needs to sell the features and benefits of your products. However, when you have done this a case study is just the thing to make these features and benefits real. Personal experiences of other customers are what move your buyer from a casual observer to an empathizer. When they can see themselves in other case studies then the product you are marketing becomes more tangible, more real.

Closing a deal requires a call to action and case studies are a great way to achieve that. As a sales tool the case study helps create a little drama and by engaging the customers emotions they can turn a looker into a buyer!



Uncategorized14 Feb 2009 05:17 am



Your initial freelance writing assignments are the best way to present yourself to your client for repeated work. If you provide for them a good product, at a good price, they are likely to come back time and time again. The goal of any career, particularly as a freelancer, is to have steady business. Instead of continually needing new clients or another job to fill your day, why not utilize repeat business? When you make the most of your freelancing time you are helping yourself to gain more business and maintain that which you already have.

For many people getting that first job is the key to success. It is the hardest part of working because more and more people want quality providers and want to use someone who is proven and worth the risk. You cannot get these jobs if you are new. But look at it another way. When you do get to that point, it is important to make the most out of all assignments so that you get return business from that client. This could be any number of things, but should always focus on maintaining a strong working relationship with the client. Providing them with good work, timely work, and listening and meeting their needs will have them coming back to you time and time again.

There is another, even more important, reason to build your business like this. That is referrals. When you do an outstanding job for people, they return time and time again with more business. But, they also tell people about your talents. This can be an outstanding way to use the jobs you get to create more jobs for yourself.

Now, that is not to say that you can not search for new writing job vacancies in other realms as well. But, you must strive to maintain the employment that you already have. By building strong relationships with your clients, you can help them continuously meet their needs while building your business.



Uncategorized13 Feb 2009 01:54 am



Assigning homework serves various educational needs. It serves as an intellectual discipline, establishes study habits, eases time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered in class, and supplements and reinforces work done in school. In addition, it fosters student initiative, independence, and responsibility and brings home and school closer together.

Homework is the time students spend outside the classroom in assigned activities to practice, reinforce or apply newly-acquired skills and knowledge and to learn necessary skills of independent study.

Practice assignments reinforce newly acquired skills.(Doyle, M. and B. Barber ). For example, students who have just learned a new method of solving a mathematical problem should be given sample problems to complete on their own. Preparation assignments help students get ready for activities that will occur in the classroom. Students may, for example, be required to do background research on a topic to be discussed later in class. Extension assignments are frequently long-term continuing projects that parallel classwork. Students must apply previous learning to complete these assignments, which include science fair projects and term papers.

Like mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage, homework seems to be a fact of life. Families play a vital role in educating children. What families do is more important to student success than whether they are rich or poor, whether parents have finished high school or not, or whether children are in elementary, junior high, or high school. Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.

But the value of homework extends beyond school. We know that good assignments, completed successfully, can help children develop wholesome habits and attitudes. Homework can help parents learn about their children’s education and communicate both with their children and the schools. And it can encourage a lifelong love of learning.

Research in the last decade has begun to focus on the relationship between homework and student achievement and has greatly strengthened the case for homework. Although there are mixed findings about whether homework actually increases students’ academic achievement, many teachers and parents agree that homework develops students’ initiative and responsibility and fulfills the expectations of students, parents, and the public. Studies generally have found homework assignments to be most helpful if they are carefully planned by the teachers and have direct meaning to students.

In addition to helping with homework, there are many other important ways that parents can help their children learn. Parents can encourage children to spend more leisure time reading than watching television. They can talk with their children and communicate positive behaviors, values, and character traits. They can keep in touch with the school. And they can express high expectations for children and encourage their efforts to achieve.

Homework is an opportunity for students to learn and for parents to be involved in their children’s education. A parent’s interest can spark enthusiasm in a child and help teach the most important lesson of all—that learning can be fun and is well worth the effort.

Teachers assign homework for many reasons. Homework can help children:

• review and practice what they’ve learned;

• get ready for the next day’s class;

• learn to use resources, such as libraries, reference materials, and encyclopedias; and

• explore subjects more fully than time permits in the classroom.

Homework can also help children develop good habits and attitudes.

It can teach children to work independently; encourage self-discipline and responsibility (assignments provide some youngsters with their first chance to manage time and meet deadlines); and encourage a love of learning.

Homework can also bring parents and educators closer together. Parents who supervise homework and work with their children on assignments learn about their children’s education and about the school.

Homework is meant to be a positive experience and to encourage children to learn. Assignments should not be used as punishment.

Teachers assign homework for many different reasons, and students may not always endorse – or even understand – their teachers’ goals. However, the fact that students don’t always understand or agree with us doesn’t give us the luxury of ignoring their views. Several factors argue against dismissing their complaints.

For one thing, all of us act based on our own perceptions of the world, not on the perceptions of others. Adults often refuse to follow the advice of doctors to lose weight if they are not convinced losing weight is as important as the doctor thinks it is. Simply telling students they have to do homework because it’s important is never going to be effective if we can’t convincingly counter their complaints that it’s not.

For another, the reasons teachers give for assigning homework often match up badly with the specific assignments they make, another case of “talking the talk” without “walking the walk.” For example, assigning homework to increase student mastery of the subject isn’t going to work if the assignments are simply repetitions of skills a student has already mastered. Moreover, reasons that go beyond academic achievement, such as teaching students to work without supervision, are suspect in any event. In an exhaustive review of research on homework, Harris Cooper found that “no study has examined whether noninstructional purposes (e.g., creating parent awareness, punishment) have their intended effects” and concludes that “most problematic [in the research on homework] is the number Of homework outcomes that remain unresearched . Implied questions about policy are important ones: Who decides what kind of out-of-school student habits and child-parent interaction should be promoted? And why should the school be doing such promotion? And how do we know that homework is a good tool for noninstructional goals, anyway?

Some policymakers are, in fact, beginning to listen to student voices. As a result, they are beginning to ask questions about factors such as how much free time students actually have. In California, for example, a school board member in the Cabrillo school district made national headlines when he proposed banning homework entirely.

What to do about homework remains unclear, although this research implies that overnight assignments may not be the ideal norm and that all assignments ought. to be thoughtfully designed and clearly valued by the teacher.

What is clear is that we should stop thoughtlessly assigning homework out of habit, assuming that students can and will do it, assuming that something good will come out of it, no matter what we assign. Too much harm – rebellious or indifferent students, angry parents and teachers – results when students refuse to do as they’re told. Or, docile obedience breeds an expensive form of cynicism among students who do “play the game” knowing that the point is not learning, but earning the teacher’s good opinion and good grades. It’s time to stop dismissing students’ criticisms as irrelevant excuses for laziness, to ask ourselves if we deserve their criticism, and to start thinking critically about exactly what we assign, under what conditions, and why.

Homework helps children do better in school when assignments are meaningful, are completed successfully, and are returned with constructive comments from the teacher. An assignment should have a specific purpose, come with clear instructions, be fairly well matched to a student’s abilities, and designed to help develop a student’s knowledge and skills.

In the early elementary grades, homework can help children develop the habits and attitudes described earlier. From fourth through sixth grades, small amounts of homework, gradually increased each year, may support improved academic achievement. In seventh grade and beyond, students who complete more homework score better on standardized tests and earn better grades, on the average, than students who do less homework. The difference in test scores and grades between students who do more homework and those who do less increases as children move up through the grades. (Easton, J. and A. Bennett)

What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

According to some researchers, two ways to increase students’ opportunities to learn are to increase the amount of time that students have to learn and to expand the amount of content they receive. Homework assignments may foster both these goals. Reforms in education have called for increased homework, and as a result, reports show that students are completing considerably more homework than they did a decade ago.

According to statements by the National PTA and the National Education Association (NEA), the following amounts of homework are recommended:

• From kindergarten to third grade, no more than 20 minutes per day.

• From fourth to sixth grade, 20 to 40 minutes per day.

• From seventh to twelfth grade, the recommended amount of time varies according to the type and number of subjects a student is taking. In general, college-bound students receive lengthier and more involved homework than students preparing to enter the workforce immediately after graduation.

Children need to know that their parents and adults close to them think homework is important. If they know their parents care, children have a good reason to complete assignments and turn them in on time. There is a lot that you can do to show that you value education and homework.

Homework can bring together children, parents, and teachers in a common effort to improve student learning. Helping your child with homework is an opportunity to improve your child’s chances of doing well in school and life. By helping your child with homework, you can help him learn important lessons about discipline and responsibility. You can open up lines of communication—between you and your child, and you and the school. You are in a unique position to help your child make connections between school work and the “real world,” and thereby bring meaning (and some fun) to your child’s homework experience.(Paaletin)

Bibliography:

• Doyle, M. and B. Barber (1990). Homework As a Learning Experience. What Research Says to the Teacher, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: National Education Association. 319 492.

• Easton, J. and A. Bennett (1990). “Achievement Effects of Homework in Sixth Grade Classrooms.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. 320 675.

• Murphy, J. and K. Decker (May-June 1989). “Teachers’ Use of Homework in High Schools.” Journal of Educational Research, 82 (5), 261-269.

• Murphy, J. and K. Decker (February 1990). “Homework Use at the High School Level: Implications for Principals.” NASSP Bulletin, 74 (523), 40-43.

• Paaletin, 72 (507), 14-17.

• Rutherford, W. (1989). “Secondary School Homework Practices: Uses and Misuses.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.



Uncategorized01 Feb 2009 06:52 am



When sleep deprivation is suspected, your doctor will want to order a sleep study to test for apnea or other sleep disorders.

The sleep study takes a comprehensive look at your sleep dynamics. Some of the things it measures are how long it takes you to get to sleep, how many times you wake during the night, the quality of your sleep, and blood oxygen levels during sleep.

There are three common types of sleep studies:

Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) - There are two versions of this test. The daytime one tests for narcolepsy by measuring the degree of sleepiness during the daytime. The nighttime test measures how long it takes for someone to fall asleep.

Multiple Wake Test (MWT) - Measures if you can stay awake during normal activities when a person would be expected to remain awake.

Polysomnogram (PSG) - This is general evaluation and monitoring. There are two versions. One version is a two night test. The first night includes monitoring of sleep activities.

The second night is to find proper corrections for problems found on the first night. The second type of PSG is the split night.

The first half of the test is monitoring and recording, the second half is finding proper corrections especially during a sleep study for apnea.

Sleep studies look for the severity of apnea events. How long they last and how often they happen are important to assess. Airflow drops are considered apnea events. 5-15 apnea events an hour is considered mild sleep apnea. Moderate sleep apnea is 15-30 events an hour. Severe apnea is 30 or more an hour.

The other way to diagnose the severity of sleep apnea involves assessing when sleepiness occurs and how often. This method is accurate, but subjective to provided information.

Brain waves are measured during a sleep study for apnea. There are four different types recorded during the study - alpha, beta, delta, and theta. Each one represents a different sleep stage. The study will measure the amount of time spent in each stage of sleep.

A typical nights sleep will include a progression through the four different stages of sleep, then 60-90 minutes of REM sleep. This cycle is normally repeated around four times a night. Any deviation in this cycle can result in sleep deprivation issues.

Blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates are recorded. It is not unusual to see blood pressure spikes as high as 220/130 during a sleep study for apnea.

As an apneic event happen and the blood vessels constrict, the heart will race and cause pounding against the narrowed vessels thus increasing blood pressure.

After breathing resumes, respirations are increased in an effort to restore normal oxygen levels. This can have a devastating effect on overall health if it continuously happens over a period of time.

Sleep tests are crucial when sleep disorders such as sleep apnea are suspected. They will record valuable information that will be used in diagnosis and treatment plans.

The tests are performed by trained sleep technicians and the results are read by an experienced doctor specializing in sleep disorders.

Sleep studies for apnea may include same night treatment for severe cases. This is one test you will want to make every effort not to miss.



Uncategorized31 Jan 2009 08:32 am



On of the most impressive regions in Latin America all travellers must visit when studying Spanish in Argentina is definitely the Iguazu Falls. This is a favourite spot for many young people who come to study Spanish in these southern regions of the globe. It is also destination to be enjoyed by families who will always find a breathtaking paradise shared by Argentina and Brazil.

Both countries offer unique views of the cascades and you can visit both in just one day while you study Spanish in Argentina. From the Brazilian corner you get to see the entire landscape, as if you were seeing it on a picture or a postcard. While from the Argentinean side you actually go through the waterfalls, enjoying the jungle formations and getting wet as you go under the cascades and water splashes about. On land, there are many guided tours and excursions on offer for students who study Spanish in Argentina.

The place is enchanting and there are many tourist agencies, beautiful resorts, restaurants and nice activities for all ages. Study Spanish in Argentina and discover extensive biodiversity around the waterfalls; you will soon find yourself walking along with coatis, a very funny animal from the local fauna, similar to a little bear with the abilities of a monkey! Enjoy this fantastic place with your friends as you study Spanish in Argentina. 

As you study Spanish in Argentina and enjoy Iguazu, there is nothing to worry about. Everything has been perfectly designed to foreigners and travellers. You will find all the facilities and requirements fulfil to get immersed in the enigmatic culture of the country while you study Spanish in Argentina.

  

So if you are planning to go to South America to study Spanish in Argentina, the Iguazu Falls are definitely a must and the perfect chance to broad your trip and visit Brazil.

 



Uncategorized25 Dec 2008 01:03 am



Florida law requires all the prospective teachers to take a serious test for a legal authorization to teach. The test comprises of the basic skills-General Knowledge Test (GK), Professional Education test (PEd), and subject area examinations (SAE).

The GK test has total four subsets that include an essay, reading, mathematics, and English language test. The PEd (Professional education test, helps in testing the art of teaching and professional practices. The SAE (subject area examination) tests the examinee in the specific subject. The FTCE test carries all multiple-choice questions, excluding the essays.

People passing with flying colors in their academics fail to clear the FTCE test. The FTCE guide from teaching solutions will help you with your preparation for FTCE. The FTCE guide includes all the test topics and helps in very systematic study. Here is a brief overview of what the guide contains.

Study tips and technique

Mathematics: The simple technique is to break the question into smaller fragments and solve them individually. Reading: The GK test also carries a reading part. The tips in our guide will help you with the reading comprehension. Essay: The most important aspect of the GK test is the essay, which many people finds difficult. Our test guide includes certain vital tips that will help you to write a perfect essay. English Language test: The simple tips and learning techniques in our study guide are perfect for a great score; irrespective of the language you speak. Multiple Choices: The FTCE has all multiple-choice questions (except essay). The multiple choices are designed to puzzle you. But following our simple tricks and tips, you are sure to score high.  PEd (Professional Education test): The FTCE study guide will help also you through this section of the test. SAE (Subject Area Examination): The FTCE guide contains meticulous information about each subject. You will get tips for the multiple-choice questions as well as an essay required in the few subjects. Flash Card Study System: Flashcards are a very effective and efficient way of studying. Our study guide will help you learn this unique technique. 

The FTCE guide is a step-by-step instruction for a sharp mastery of all the FTCE content including essays. It contains practice questions that are similar to the real test, which help you to improve your score. We encourage you to study smartly, instead of just studying for long hours.

Our course is heavily focused on self-help because it helps you in better understanding and thus yields good results.

Our extensive study guides are written by the experts in the related field and will surely help you achieve a competitive score in the FTCE and give you, your most wanted career option.

If you are interested in learning more about FTCE Study Guide, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.



Uncategorized14 Oct 2008 08:24 pm



Are you too like me, who is not satisfied with the efforts of the tutor and performance of child but don’t have any better alternative? Is the hefty fee of the tutor delivering a sharp pinch at your pocket too? I discussed these and other related issues with my community members and came to know that these are the common problems being faced by every second or third parent. To find out a way, we discussed this problem with experienced experts of education boards, institutions and online tutoring service providers. Here, in this article, I am going to share those tips, which helped me a lot, you too may get the benefit.

Why online tutoring is better than conventional tutoring? Many parents doubt the effectiveness of online tutoring. But according to Mr. Eddison of tutorskingdom.com, online supplementary help has become a must to avail facility for every student, however purpose may be different. Main reasons behind the popularity of online tutoring are 1: 1 attention, individual assessment policies, technologically advanced teaching practices and flexibility in session schedule. You may ask the selected tutoring company to design the course module and sessions according to your specific requirements. Some tutoring companies provide short term packages also like online assignment help, math help, test preparation and essay writing etc. This feature of online tutoring saves time for students and money for parents. Apart from this, students save lot of energy, time and money in commuting to tutor’s place facing chaos on roads, winter winds and rain falls.

When you expand your hard earned money to get a service, you expect results also, even if it is comparatively a small amount. Is it possible to get quality tutoring service within your budget limitations? The outcome of online tutoring largely depends upon the right selection of tutoring company. When you surf on the Internet to find out a GOOD online tutoring company, you get confused seeing the big claims and attractive promotional schemes. Apart from this, your friends, community members and relatives also suggest different tutoring companies relating their experiences. But, a recommended tutoring company or online tutor proved good for one child may not be equally good for another. Why?

Because every child has different learning capabilities, weak points, tendency and likings. Before selecting the tutoring service, it is must to define the purpose like help in a particular subject, homework help, preparation for competition and improving a particular learning skill like writing or analyzing or expressing etc. Can you assess your weak-points yourself even after defining the ultimate goal?

Appearing in assessment test, conducted by many good companies like the one Tutorskingdom.com free of cost is the best way to assess particular requirements. Anytime free access to previous sessions, free question banks, assessment policies, session monitoring, teaching practices and previous records etc are important aspects about which one should compulsorily ask before finalizing the deal. Attending ‘free trial sessions’ is an ideal way to judge the quality of sessions and suitability of teaching tools like software, whiteboards and language etc. As being the service user, you deserve the right to investigate in the claims. It is better, if you could find out some references in your community. Before finalizing the deal with a tutoring company, you may also ask for ‘Return Back’ policy.

At last, students too need to take some own initiatives to make the hired budgetary online tutoring more interesting and result oriented. Wouldn’t you like to know - how? Just visit http://tutorskingdom.com/ or mail at info@tutorskingdom.com.  



Uncategorized14 Sep 2008 12:54 am



In Singapore, many parents and students want only committed tutors from tuition agencies. However, as much as they would like to recommend committed tutors , they cannot guarantee that all their tutors will be 100% committed due to various difficulties and reasons. From our past experience, below are some of the factors that may affect the suitability and commitment of the tutors :

 



Location

If a tutor’s student lives near his house, the tutor may settle for a lower tuition fee and may be more committed since he is able to cut down on travelling time and thus save on transportation fees.

It is therefore beneficial for a parent to provide a tuition agency with his or her postal code and/or detailed address, so that the tuition agency can find tutors as near to the parent’s residence as possible.

Salary

A tutor’s salary may not be the most important of all, but it is significant.

Tutors who take up a low-paying assignment may not commit for a long period. A tuition rate that is $10-15 less than the market rate may be acceptable to a tutor. However, if a parent pays about $50 less than the market rate, the tutor will most likely not commit for long. He or she may even feel unmotivated towards teaching as well.

It is well known that teaching is a respected profession; and MOE teachers nowadays are well paid by the ministry. So our advice to parents is that: give the tutors out there the rewards they deserve. The popular saying “Good stuff comes at a price” applies in this case as well.



Difficult Students

Usually, tutors want to commit their time to teach students who are keen to learn and improve. Moreover, tutors may not be able to help students who don’t wish to help themselves. It takes two hands to clap. So before a parent requests for a change of tutor, he or she should find out whether his child is keen to learn from the child’s tutor in the first place. In certain cases, it may not be the tutor’s fault at all when there is no academic improvement.

So, when a parent request for a tutor from a tuition agency, letting the agency know the character of the child may help the agency in finding the right tutor.