Smart Situation » In the Classroom

The Benefits Of Drawing With Markers Over Crayons

GuestPoster — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:59:41 +0000

Drawing is a broad topic. It starts with very little kids as we watch the drawing development in children. It starts with making marks on paper with some kind of writing or drawing utensil. At that age it doesn't really matter as all they are discovering is that pencils. crayons, markers, they all make marks on papers. As the children develop the discover that they can control this writing utensil and their random mark making becomes more scribble like. As they get even older, their scribbles become more controlled and they actually start to make pictures.

Children love all kinds of art. They love painting, the love doing various collage project ideas and they love drawing. Most children start off by using crayons. For years the crayons they were given were the think box of Crayola crayons. It's only been recently that the crayon companies have started making thick, smaller crayons that fit much more easily into little children's chubby hands. Crayons are waxed based so they come off more easily from tabletops than paint does. Crayons also don't stain clothing like paint and markers do.

If children that are very young show a real interest in using markers than the best ones for them to use are the washable ones. Children don't tend to keep in the lines very well and when they color the markers get allover the place so its best to use washable one. When children get a little older and the get into real drawing activities as taught in the Monart method, that is when they will want to switch to real markers. Real markers have much more beautiful color than crayons and they are also more easily controlled. You can mix the colors getting some interesting color combinations and can work in greater details than working with crayons.

Crayons are really for young children but if you want to make draw beautiful pieces of artwork, you cant compare the difference that a good set of markers make.

Tags: collage, markers, drawing

Provide Extra Space At Your Writing Desk with a Hutch

GuestPoster — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:01:55 +0000

Writing desks are usually fairly narrow, much narrower in fact than a regular desk. This is great if you have a limited space to work with as it will fit much better in small rooms, or rooms that are already fairly full of furniture, but it can lead to problems with having enough storage areas.

Frequently, writing desks will have small, shallow drawers across the front of the desk, directly under the writing surface. Alternatively, they may be placed down the side of the desk. Usually, however, the drawers are not that big and they do not give you the opportunity for a lot of storage.

Thankfully, there is a solution if you need extra storage space on your small writing desk. All you have to do is purchase a hutch and set it at the back of the desk. Frequently, when you buy a new writing desk, you also have the opportunity of buying an optional hutch that matches the desk perfectly. If your small writing desk does not come with a hutch, or there are none offered for sale with it, you may need to shop around for one. Usually you can buy hutches at office furniture stores, though you may have to shop around a little till you find one that matches your writing desk perfectly.

Alternatively, if you are the adventurous type, you could always try to construct one yourself. Building a hutch is a fairly simple project, and it does not take a lot of handyman or carpentry skills to do so. There are many simple plans available online for a hutch, with easy step-by-step instructions. If you have all of the needed materials, you should be able to put one together in an afternoon, if all goes well and you do not run into any problems.

Hutches are great for providing you with additional storage space, when drawer space is limited, as it is with a small writing desk. If you are not able to buy one at the same time as you buy your desk you could look around and buy one separately, or even consider making your own.

Tags: writing desk, small writing desk, writing desks

Helicopter Flight Training Is More Than A Flight of Fancy

GuestPoster — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:47:57 +0000

Basically, anyone who is at least sixteen years old, in good health and able to speak fluent English is eligible to sign up for helicopter flight training and obtain a license once they pass the required testing.
Training courses generally run anywhere from just over one month to six months depending on the type of certification desired. For instance, those who’s goal is to simply earn a helicopter rating for their own private pleasure will need at least forty hours of combined flight time comprised of at least twenty hours with a flight instructor, ten hours practicing take-offs and landings in a traffic pattern at a “controlled” airport, and ten hours of solo flying. In addition, each student must show that they have completed three hours training to fly cross-country with a one hour flight of over 50 nautical miles in total, as well as at least a single solo flight of 75 nm with at least one leg covering 25 nm between taking off and landing.

Requirements for earning a certificate to fly helicopters commercially require even more training with one hundred hours behind the stick of plane a powered aircraft (100 hours), including 10 hours of instrument training, in addition to 50 hours piloting a helicopter. The required helicopter flight times must also cover experience flying cross-country (ten hours minimum) in various weather conditions, as well as piloting at night. Even more flight experience is needed by those who desire to become a helicopter airline transport pilot.

Helicopter flight training is not cheap, however, and can generally start around $50,000 depending on the type of school you attend and certification desired in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations. However, before enrolling in any flight school, it is important to do a background check before investing your time and money, to be sure that they are run honestly.

Tags: helicopter flight training, piloting a helicopter, flight school, fly helicopters

Hate School? How To Graduate Online

GuestPoster — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:01:58 +0000

Do you hate school? Are you tired of being surrounded by annoying people, and being held back or rushed by teachers all the time? Would you love to get out of there and learn what you want, when you want?

Unschooling is probably the best solution for you, but it can be hard to get your parents to agree. It might be easier to get them to let you finish high school online, though. This is because online schools are basically public schools that have their curriculum online. It's all the same stuff, and you get the exact same diploma when you finish.

You can find lists of online schools on the internet, there's probably at least one in every state. For example, here are some online schools in Maine.

Online schooling allows you to learn the material at your own pace and take the tests whenever you're ready for them. The drawback is of course that it's all the same curriculum and can still be dreadfully boring. But at least you can get it over with as quickly as you like and use the rest of your time for more interesting things.

The biggest argument parents use against online schooling is the lack of socialization. But just how much socialization goes on in public school anyway? You're surrounded by people and forced to be around them even if you don't like them. How does that benefit anybody? At least with online school you can hang out with whoever you want, and avoid annoying people. This will probably save your sanity, and you can tell your parents it'll save theirs too because you won't be surrounded by druggies, perverts or anything else your parents don't want you to be "influenced" by.

Tags: online diploma, online education, online high school

Seattle DUI Attorney | Why You Don’t Talk to Cops

GuestPoster — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:40:06 +0000

I watch television. I watch the cop shows. And I watch the shows with the criminal defense attorneys. In fact, I am a criminal defense attorney, and even more specifically, I'm a Seattle DUI attorney. And you know what, everything they say is right, including the part about never talking to the cops. But people still do. And it's usually because one of about three reasons. I'm here today to try to talk you out of believing you should talk to the cops.

For some reason, people always think they can talk their way out of trouble. They think if they just "explain" the situation or tell the cops why they were justified in hitting their buddy in the mouth or explain that they are drunk and that's what they're acting stupid, the cops will let them go. They are wrong. The cops will let you talk away, and then they'll arrest you and write down everything you said as justification for the arrest.

People also feel like they are smart enough to outsmart the cops. Whether this is trying to lead them down a different path, throw them off the scent, or just outright lie to them, it usually doesn't work. Even if cops are stupid, they aren't that stupid. And they're used to having people lie to them. And it's likely that your lies will easily be discovered as lies, and that will lead them right back to you.

Finally people (and clients of mine) often find themselves guilted or pressured into talking to the cops. They are experts at getting people to talk. They practice it. They know you are scared. They know you want to proclaim your innocence, so they do whatever they can to get you to do it (and then arrest you).

If you find yourself being investigated by the cops, whether a DUI, theft, assault, drug, or any other charge, don't talk to the cops. Demand to call a DUI attorney or criminal lawyer and don't talk until they have a chance to get there and tell you what to do (they'll never let you talk). You'll be glad you did.

The Importance of Learning English as a Second Language

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:03:42 +0000

If you are considering emigrating to America or another country that has English as an official language, you might have to learn English as a second language. America is pretty diverse in some regions, and some places have communities that are located in America but exist as microcosms of a different country. However, many of us will have to or want to interact with people on a larger scale, and in that case knowing English is an important skill to have.

It’s pretty intuitive, but language is a very important aspect of communication. People are familiar with the term “language barrier,” aptly named because not knowing the language of a country can close a lot of doors for you. You’ll find it very difficult during social interactions.

photo credit: avialle

There’s only so much that body language can convey, and certain gestures can mean very different things according to country.

Tags: english as a second language, teaching english as a second language, english, english as a foreign language, learn english

Yamazumi Boards

WestOcean — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:04:49 +0000

Yamazumi Boards are a tremendous visual method for improving business processes. They are simple stacked bar charts as deployed in the most advanced Japanese factories. The vertical bar represents time, and there's just one column for each business process. The bar is coloured in and segmented using a simple but effective formula -

1. The steps that add real value are highlighted in green.

2. The steps that are required by the process but do not truly "add value" are colored orange in the Yamazumi board.

3. The waste in the process - the blockage or failure mode - is marked in red.

There's a good Yamazumi Board example for a print shop at http://www.yamazumiyourlife.com. Here the problem highlighted in red is a breakdown in the printing machine that requires time and energy to fix. The value added element - the printing - is surprisingly short.

Yamazumi boards have four great advantages - they are simple, public, inescapable and accurate. They encourage a determined focus on the bottlenecks in any business process. Goldratt's theory of constraints tells us that we get maximum benefit first from working up to, and then eliminating, the bottlenecks in any process. Six Sigma tells us that we should focus on the vital few inputs that determine the output. The Pareto, or 80/20 principle, argues that 80% of the result comes from 20% of the causes. Well all these approaches are correct, and in each case Yamazumi boards are the strong visual metaphor that can power all these business techniques.

Yamazumi charts effectively reveal the "hidden factory" in every process - the sheer waste of internal and external failure costs that comes from rework, covering up for errors or dealing with customer complaints or warranties. So they are really a signpost to saving dollars.

There are special software packages that can help you use Yamazumi charts, but I prefer to use Excel. The process of creating a chart is simple. Ask yourself - what is the one process at work or business issue that, if solved, could revolutionize my productivity? Use a Y-board to visually map that process so you can see where the bottleneck really lies. The great thing about data is that it lies far less than intuition, or gut feel. And when all that data is spread out before you in glorious technicolor, it can scarcely fail to spur you to action.

Think about applying Yamazumi logic to your own business and personal life. How much of your working day adds real value (green), how much is simply routine maintenance (yellow) and how much is actually wasted (red)? The answers may astonish you. You can discover how to apply Yamazumi logic further at Yamazumi Your Life.

(c) WestOcean 2009

photo credit: abductit

Tags: Yamazumi Board, process improvement, Yamazumi chart, quality, Yamazumi

Reading for pleasure

Jon Ron — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:31:35 +0000

It is a great pleasure to read a book. Not only can you imagine many exotic places that you will never visit in your lifetime but you can become engrossed in a story. Reading books is something that you can do all through your life. You can educate yourself with books or simply enjoy reading a good story. My favorite authors are Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Annie Proulx, Dan Brown, Tolkien and Anne Rice. My favorite books are The Catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Rings and any good western or vampire book. My taste crosses many genre including Fantasy, War, History, Western and Vampire books. I like to read biographies which give an inside view to how a people lived their lives. Some books written for children become big favorites with adults, I can think of the Twilight series and The Chronicles of Narnia to name just two. Even if, like me, your sight begins to deteriorate you can listen to unabridged audio books on CD.

Tags: Anne Rice, Charles Dickens, Reading books, Stephen King, Western

Earn Your Degree Online Like Billy

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:40:00 +0000

photo credit: volantra

Billy Jacob laughed as he casually rolled out of the bed. Still in the clothing he went to sleep last night, Billy scratched his unshaven bearded and mused about the recent events. His uncle, Armbuck Jacob, had finally given up on Billy, and in a fit of anger had told the boy to go "earn your degree online" because "no real professor would ever deal with such an insolent nonsense." While his uncle Armbuck was only being sarcastic, and aggressive, Billy decided to take the advice. Going through to the shower, Billy could only hear his uncle's words in his mind playing over and over. He delighted in the fact that he was able to show off his ability to both be lazy and get an education, a college education. As he pulled the frozen pizza from the refrigerator he realized he only had a few minutes until his first class. Billy was in no rush, and has he chewed on the cold pepperoni pizza, he sat down at the laptop.

Tags: online training, online university degree, online education, online school, earn your degree online

So You Want To Know How To Get A Football Scholarshp..

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:16:29 +0000

photo credit: RadioFish

If you want to know how to get a football scholarship, I found a great site that can help. I love this time of year when football season is at full tilt and will be until the first of January in some form or fashion.

There are so many books and tapes and people telling you what to do. Then you add school counselors and coaches, but honestly, how many of them actually know what to do?

Why not go with somebody who actually for free tells you step by step what you need to do to improve your chances of being recruited? Why not at least read what they have to say? I mean if you won't put that much effort into it, I got a feeling you won't get a scholarship of any kind because you just may too darn lazy.

If you want to learn how to get a college football scholarship, read more.

Tags: how to get a football scholarship, college football scholarship