Smart Boards In The Classroom

The last couple of years have seen the introduction of (almost) affordable LCD projectors and interactive white boards, namely smart boards, into schools and colleges throughout the United States. While most schools have embraced this technology and the new teaching opportunities it affords, some, especially special schools have had difficulty coming up with ways to use it with their students. This article describes some of the ways we have used our smart board and LCD projector with our SLD and PMLD students.

Smart boards can be used anywhere with video cameras or players and will happily connect to any computer providing the software has been installed. Most smart boards can be fitted to a moveable stand enabling you to push it wherever it is needed in school (and allowing access to kids in wheel chairs!). Tape the cables to the floor using gaffer tape so no one can trip over them and teach the kids how to load the software and calibrate the screen getting them to count the points as they touch them.

Interactive whiteboards add a whole new dimension to the use of art software. Freed from the cognitive load of having to use the mouse, kids creativity runs wild. Children who would struggle to make even the simplest of pictures with a mouse, confidently choose colors and tools and produce quite complex patterns and pictures with hands and fingers.

A smart board and LDC projector provide opportunities for students to access technology in a highly motivating way. It is our experience after using the equipment for over a year that kids learn quicker and retain more of the lesson when they have used the whiteboard. Start your lesson with a turn taking session on the board then let them loose on the computer and see for yourself how much they have remembered!

Hamzah Tariq is Business Analyst at http://www.electronicwhiteboardswarehouse.com specializing in interactive whiteboard technology.

Eco Mat Yoga Emeryville

That Cloudy Swimming Pool May Not Be Yellow Algae

Last spring I had a problem with my swimming pool that stumped both my pool supply company and myself. It was during early florida spring when all of that yellow dust or pollen is in the air. My pool began to get cloudier and cloudier and the filter could not seem to keep up with clearing the water. Usually during this time of the year the sand filter had no trouble keeping up with the pollen. It just needed to be back-flushed more often.

This year it was different. As the days went by I was no longer able to see the bottom of the pool and it wasnt getting any better. At that time I figured that I better take a water sample down to the pool chemical supplier and have them test it. When I tested it always came back with readings indicating that all of the chemicals were in their ideal range. The pool chemical supplier said that the water looked ok and that my problem is most likely yellow or mustard algae. I bought chemicals to treat the algae which required that the filter be running for twenty-four hours to be effective. When I checked the water the next day it was even worse yet. I went back to the pool chemical company and they told me that the process would work it just took time, but that I should start seeing results.

After not seeing results I went to a different pool supply company and the people there knew what the problem was right away just by looking at the water sample that I had brought in. They said that it was the filter. The sand in the filter had become ineffective so I changed the sand and ran the filter for another twenty-four hours and it cleared right up. It turned out that the sand in a sand filter can lose its edges over a few years of being in a filter so the contaminants just pass right through it and back into the pool.

It definitely would have benefited me to get a second opinion before I took any action on trying to fix the cloudy water problem. The cost of running the filter all of those extra hours and the algae chemical were unnecessary expenses.

Changing the sand in a pool filter is routine maintenance that should be done every two years. To keep it running at its peak performance.

Bob Crane is a Nutrition Consultant and involved in introducing an extraordinary new Internet Work at Home Based Goji Juice Business System. Check out the new Goji Juice Storefront Contact him online at: www.domesticbiz.com

Dallas Yoga Supplies

Hurricane Trivia - The Answers Are Blowing In The Wind

Living in florida, or anywhere else on the gulf coast and East coast, forces residents and tourists to deal with hurricanes. Perpetuated by Mother Nature, forever an unforgiving and wild woman, hurricanes are devastating to structures, economies, and, most unfortunately, lives. But, like any weather phenomena, hurricanes are interesting, and knowledge of them arms us with the keys to self protection. So how much do you know about hurricanes? Take our quiz to find out.

1. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when it involves winds that go how many miles per hour?
a. 74
b. 80
c. 90
d. 25 on residential streets; 55 on highways
2. The atlantic hurricane season goes from when to when?
a. April 1 to August 30th
b. June 1 to November 30th
c. May 1 to october 30th
d. There are no hurricanes in the atlantic
3. hurricanes are named alphabetically, with female and male names alternating. When did this way of naming first start?
a. 1979
b. 1890
c. 1938
d. hurricanes don't have names; that's just silly
4. What is the name Hurricane derived from?
a. sugar cane
b. the storm god Huracan
c. a philosopher in ancient rome
d. an alcoholic drink
5. On July 17, 1943, Joseph Duckworth made history by doing what?
a. Flying his plane into the eye of a hurricane
b. Accurately predicting a hurricane's path
c. Rescuing a group of school children from a storm surge
d. Stopping a hurricane by pulling it in with a lasso
6. On what side are North American hurricanes the strongest?
a. The left side
b. The front
c. The right side
d. The democratic side
7. Specific names of hurricanes are retired when what happens?
a. They are used twice
b. The hurricane merges with other storms
c. The hurricane they are named for is particularly devastating
d. A person with the same name files a lawsuit
8. What is not likely to facilitate safety and therefore considered a hurricane myth?
a. Taping the windows shut
b. Placing sandbags around the house
c. Stocking up on extra food and water
d. Evacuating
9. What is the deadliest hurricane on record?
a. hurricane Andrew
b. The lake Okeechobee of 1928
c. The Galveston hurricane of 1900
d. This is a trick question; hurricanes are friendly
10. What is the definition of a tropical Depression?
a. A storm that produces at least 30 gallons of rain
b. A storm with a defined circulation and winds up to 38 miles per hour
c. A storm that includes a tornado, hurricane, and tsunami within 48 hours
d. A storm that is very sad
Answers: 1. a. 74; 2. b. June 1 to November 30th; 3. a. 1979; 4. b. the storm god Huracan; 5. a. Flying his plane into the eye of a hurricane; 6. c. The right side; 7. c. The hurricane they are named for is particularly devastating; 8. a. Taping the windows shut; 9. c. The Galveston hurricane of 1900; 10. b. A storm with a defined circulation and winds up to 38 miles per hour.

See how you did:
9-10 correct: You know your stuff. You winder, win.
6-8 correct: Not bad, not bad at all. Hurr-ray.
3-5 correct: About average: coast, but no cigar.
Less than three: Yikes. Too bad the answers weren't really blowing in the wind.

Jennifer Jordan is a senior editor for http://www.milleniumlimo.com. An avid sports fan, she likes the miami Dolphins but her heart belongs to the Denver Broncos.

Yogilates R Integrating Yoga And Pilates For Complete