us education

In the past, I really did not give much thought on my lesson planning. I had my textbooks and I just copied on the board what was on the textbook, gave quizzes from chapter summaries, and gave homework from the exercises in the workbooks. Teaching was so easy. But my students' results from benchmark assessments and spring testing were always below basic every year. I had a valid excuse, my students are diagnosed with learning disability, what do you expect? Well, low expectations lead to low achievement.
.
For the first time in my 6 years as a teacher my lesson plans were reviewed by my instructional supervisor and Math Professional Developer this school year. I was told that my lessons were not aligned to the standards, I had too many goals, my students get lost in the activities (arrggh!). So I revised the template not just once, and I gave much thought and worked with the activities to make it more interesting this time. It took me at least 8 hours to finish my 12 page lesson plan that I didn't have time anymore to do my laundry and grocery and take care of my family during weekends! Teaching was a lot of paperwork! It was exhausting! It was stressful!
.
But why do I have to stress myself? I shared my lesson plan to the lead teacher in my inclusion class and he exclaimed "this is a lot!" and I realized he was right. Where did I go wrong? I found a lesson plan template in my school district's website and used it. I discovered that it does not really restrict my creativity in lesson planning contrary to what one of my colleagues told me. Then I listened to my Math Coach and took into consideration the feedback of my instructional supervisor.
.
Now I am only writing 3 page of a week's lesson plan, I can breathe better and have a restful weekend. I am now having quality products from my students targeted to the standards of the lesson. They are scoring better in their quizzes, and they are enjoying their homework. Teaching is more rigorous but is still fun.

Americano news >>> Read more...

JEE is an exam which requires a high level of perfection in all respects - particularly in memory, logic, speed, and quantitaive analysis. Such perfection requires constant practice. Here, I would like to provide tips which may help my friends clear this exam.

Disclaimer: Though I have got a good rank of 96, my beginning (from X) was pretty ordinary - so I expect this guide to help the majority of students. Also, since I'm not a qualified instructor, I can only give my personal point of view.

1] Regular homework and studies. I mean, really regular, as in never-failed-to-complete-my-homework-on-time type regular.

2] Relaxation and timepass. Yeah. Really. All study and no play makes Jack a nut-case. But don't overdo it - 1 hour at the maximum per day.

3] Isolation. The more friends you have, the more possibility of you getting distracted. Keep a safe distance, avoid most parties and hangouts. The lesser, the better.

4] Taking tests. Join a test series, maybe two, or as many you want - I recommend FIITJEE. Constant tests help you practice and prepare your mind for the JEE pattern. If the tests are to be given at home, do them at the proper time in an isolated room.

5] Finish your syllabus by January, if you are a fresher. If you are dropping, do make sure you complete the syllabus.

6] Keep a positive attitude. Approach new topics with interest, not with an another-topic-to-mug attitude. Do some research on wikipedia, try to find applications in day-to-day life. This will help create interest in the topic and improve your understanding as an engineer.

7] Mental and physical exercises, like meditation and yoga. For further details, contact spideyunlimited.

AND FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT:

8] Attend all lectures, as in perfect 100% attendance. Quite a no-brainer, this one.

Don'ts

1] Overstress - the deadliest killer is sighted often among JEE students.

2] Procrastinate. As in, put off tomorrow what you can do today.

3] Hang out and waste time.

4] Worry too much. This is a major problem I've seen. People worry so much about classes / test series/ correspondence / teachers / batches / quality / notes / books / college / friend / girlfriend / food / hostel / accomodation .. u get the point... If I were to say it bluntly - just shut up, open the book, and start doing the damn problems!!

5] Lose confidence, or be over confident. IF you lose confidence, go to the forums, we can help you. If you are over confident, just contact me Just joking... Remember that there may be (will be) students out there smarter than you. This applies even if you are the topper of any institute.

6] Sleep less / eat less. The body is like any machine, and needs proper rest. Regular sleep of atleast 7 hours is a must.

Now i want to tell you that GOIIT.com which is a leading online education portal provides a platform where students or engineering aspirants can have online engineering entrance examination tutorials for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, etc. The portal intends to provide an elite expert panel, comprising IIT students, graduates and engineering coaching professional who have a common passion for Engineering Entrance exams in particular and science in general. The panel will provide online guidance to students appearing for the JEE. The biggest asset of the venture is that it is free, no subscription cost either! This comes as a huge-advantage to the student community who has been craving for personalized help, but could not afford it due to costs or demographics. It also breaks all geographic barriers to bring together some of the best brains in the industry to help nurture the next generation.

Americano the best top 10 >>> Read more...

the Anglican Church in North America (see AP article here), with their own bishops. 
Although the Mainstream Media portrays this as conservatives leaving the church, and although it is the who are doing the physical separation, this, rather, is the classic, We didnt leave them, they left us, syndrome, for the Episcopal Church for decades has drifted irreproachably into nothingness. Despite its creep into irrelevancy by condoning  homosexuality and other doctrines only recently considered heretical, the gave the Episcopal Church every chance at reconciliation. But the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop living with his was the last straw.      
What makes this all the more relevant to Virginia is that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (or the remnant thereof) is the successor to the Anglican Church set up by the  Jamestown colonists. The Rev. Robert Hunt, the chaplain of the colony, would not recognize his church today. With good reason — and its not just about openly homosexual clergy, flouting the Word of God. That is only a symptom of the problem; the problem being irrelevency through its moral, scriptural and theological relativity. 
This is what one of the Virginia dioceses most respected leaders, the Rev. Canon Robert G. Hetherington, the retired rector of historic St.

All information >>> Read more...

Read more... <<< hot news

Rhode Island is thinking up new and creative ways to destroy wealth - including one new idea to tax you for every single mile you drive.  Whether you drive inside Rhode Island or not apparently:
The major elements include:
•Both new and higher fuel taxes. The proposals include increasing the gasoline tax, now 30 cents, by up to 15 cents per gallon by 2016.They also include a new “petroleum products gross earning tax,” beginning with the equivalent of 10 cents per gallon of gasoline in 2010 and adding another 5 cents in 2014. That would affect all petroleum products, from gasoline and aviation fuel to those made from petroleum derivatives, such as plastics, paint and fertilizer.
•Car registration fees, now $60 for two years, would rise $40 per year immediately and could more than double, to $140, by 2013
A new mileage fee. The $150-million plan would not include it, but the $300-million plan would impose a half-cent-per-mile fee At a half-cent per mile, driving 10,000 miles per year would cost $50 per vehicle. One cent would cost $100.
Also referred to as a VMT fee (for vehicle miles traveled), the mileage fee would be based on odometer readings reported by vehicle owners when they renew their registrations. The mileage could be verified during mandatory auto inspections
Tolls. The $150-million plan could include tolls, $3 per car and $6 per truck, only at the Connecticut border
Tolls on a new Sakonnet River Bridge. The plan relies heavily on shifting the estimated $210-million cost of a new Sakonnet River Bridge, now the DOT’s responsibility, to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. It also assumes that the authority would borrow the money to pay for the bridge and charge tolls to pay the cost. Shawver said it isn’t clear how much the tolls would be, but guessed they would be in the $3-per-car range. That would take the cost of the new bridge off the DOT’s hands, while giving the authority the prickly job of imposing the tolls.
One other interesting fact.  Rhode Island already spends $354 million a year on its transportation systems.  So this postage stamp sized place is already spending $1 million a day and apparently getting broken bridges, bad roads, and lousy public transportation.
So based on that fact, why would giving more money to the obviously incompetent state transportation authority be a good idea?  Do you think they will spend the money wisely?  I would expect all the managers in the DOT to get a raise, lots of bonuses to be doled out to all the contractors, but if they do all this crap they will simply end up with the same crappy transportation system.  Only it will cost two or three times more than today.  And they will be back in a few years begging for more tax money.
And this doesnt count the money that is obviously being spent by county government, city government and who knows what other overlapping and duplicate wasters of tax money are also spending on transportation.
But they are good liberals up there in New England.  And apparently they hate Conneticut since they only want to charge tolls on getting in and out of that state.
Good luck with getting any value for all those taxes you will be paying.

Americano new top 10 >>> Read more...

The staff of a legislative advisory board recommended that the scandal plagued Texas Youth Commission be abolished and merged with another major agency dealing with young offenders. Dr. Chad R. Trulson, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of North Texas, says that the abolishment may be premature, and that officials need to consider all of the consequences of such action.

Best sites about >>> Read more...