jade's Blog

Submitted By: Talib Siddiqui

While many people dream of getting some kind of degree, it is often impossible to interrupt your career to go to school. Most people have a job, and the hours and classes of a regular university or college often do not fit into their schedule. Or they have a family to support and can’t take the time to attend a university. Non-traditional students are becoming the norm instead of the exception, and many colleges and universities are recognizing this fact and responding to it by providing online instruction.

One great option for this type of person is to earn an online accredited degree. This is a degree from a college or university that has accreditation, which means it meets established criteria for each degree it offers.

The programs at these online colleges vary. It is a good idea to learn as much as you can about each one before making your decision about which one to attend. Request information and study it closely to make sure they offer the degree of your choice. For whatever kind of degree you want to earn, there is probably an online college that offers it. You can get Associates, Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, a post-graduate degree or simply a certification that is needed to get a better job. Many of these online programs offer financial aid, as well.

There are so many advantages to getting an online degree. You do not have to commute at all. You can arrange your classes to fit into your life, not the other way around. Distance learning saves you time and money by being able to do it at your convenience around your life. The flexibility is one of the greatest assets of the online degree. You also get the added benefits of meeting and interacting with other teachers and students, and having a degree usually means having a better job and an increased salary.

However, it is important to make sure that your program is accredited. It does you no good to earn a degree from a fly-by-night program that leaves you with a degree or certification that no one will recognize and is only as valuable as the paper it is printed on. Your education is the key to your future, so you need to make sure that it is a good education.While many people dream of getting some kind of degree, it is often impossible to interrupt your career to go to school. Most people have a job, and the hours and classes of a regular university or college often do not fit into their schedule. Or they have a family to support and can’t take the time to attend a university. Non-traditional students are becoming the norm instead of the exception, and many colleges and universities are recognizing this fact and responding to it by providing online instruction.

One great option for this type of person is to earn an online accredited degree. This is a degree from a college or university that has accreditation, which means it meets established criteria for each degree it offers.

The programs at these online colleges vary. It is a good idea to learn as much as you can about each one before making your decision about which one to attend. Request information and study it closely to make sure they offer the degree of your choice. For whatever kind of degree you want to earn, there is probably an online college that offers it. You can get Associates, Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, a post-graduate degree or simply a certification that is needed to get a better job. Many of these online programs offer financial aid, as well.

There are so many advantages to getting an online degree. You do not have to commute at all. You can arrange your classes to fit into your life, not the other way around. Distance learning saves you time and money by being able to do it at your convenience around your life. The flexibility is one of the greatest assets of the online degree. You also get the added benefits of meeting and interacting with other teachers and students, and having a degree usually means having a better job and an increased salary.

However, it is important to make sure that your program is accredited. It does you no good to earn a degree from a fly-by-night program that leaves you with a degree or certification that no one will recognize and is only as valuable as the paper it is printed on. Your education is the key to your future, so you need to make sure that it is a good education.

If you were every considering getting a degree to get a different or better job, now is the time to do it. Online accredited degrees are receiving a lot of attention, and before long, they will be considered similar to degrees that are earned in the traditional way. Whether you sit in a classroom or sit at your computer, the same academic standards are applied to these degree programs. Get yours!

Submitted By: David H. Urmann

nline health calculators are a tool used in calculating disease risks.

Online calculators are capable of measuring the health and fitness of a patient, especially when it comes to the weight, fitness programs, nutrition and even sports activities.

Online health calculators can help a person achieve his goals in improving overall health and fitness. It is fully customized, coming with graphical images, extensive help and printable reports. There are many health calculators available on the web which can give the best services, especially in measuring one’s health:

The BMI Calculator

BMI Calculator is a simple calculator that calculates the body mass index. BMI (body mass index) is the measurement of body fat based on one’s weight and height. It can be applied for both adult men and women.

This tool can be used by entering the weight and the height. Then, click and compute the BMI button in order to publish the result. The BMI result will feature if a person is underweight, normal, overweight and even obese.

The BMI can also help indicate total body fat in order to avoid the risk of diseases. This tool is limited to athletes and other people who have muscular build up. However, it has a tendency to overestimate calculations of body fat. On the other hand, it may also underestimate the body fat of older persons, especially those who have lost their muscle mass.

YourDiseaseRisk

YourDiseaseRisk is an online health calculator developed by the Harvard Center for cancer Prevention. It predicts and collects the latest risks of having a disease, compiling it into an easy-to-use tool.

Diseases include the following:

• Cancer
• Heart diseases
• Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• and stroke

The cancer section can cover cancers for the following:

• Breast
• Bladder
• Colon
• Lung
• Kidney
• Cervical
• Melanoma
• Ovarian
• Prostate
• Pancreatic
• Uterine
• and stomach

Life Expectancy Calculator

Life Expectancy Calculator is a tool used for calculating the life expectancy of a person. It is a virtual interview machine that publishes the virtual age based on the family history, lifestyle, eating habits and other information from an administering doctor.

ADA DiabetesPHD

DiabetesPHD (Personal Health Decision) is a powerful health tool for risk assessment. It is powered by Archimedes care modeling software, bringing a large range of clinical research for accurate health risk predictions. Aside from this, it can be used for discovering the effects of many health care interventions such as weight loss, smoking and medicine intakes.

Diabetes PHD can ask a person to input his or her health history information. Later on, it can determine a personalized result which shows the risks for any kind of diseases. It will then input the variables in a profile, which will show how this can affect the future health of a person.

AHA Heart Attack/Coronary Heart Disease Risk Assessment

AHA risk assessment is a tool supported by the American Heart Association. It helps in assessing the risk of having a heart attack or coronary heart disease. The tool also checks if a person has a metabolic syndrome (cardiovascular disease), stroke and diabetes.

The Risk Assessment Tool is for ages 20 or older particularly for those who do not suffer from a heart disease and diabetes. The tool uses a scoring system known as the Framingham Heart Study. Hence, the national guidelines call this as “ATP III”. The results include:

• Risk assessment
• Summary report
• Metabolic syndrome
• and action plans

These can be uploaded or printed.

Smoking Risk Calculator

This tool calculates the risk of dying with lung cancer and other diseases that is acquired in smoking. The data is provided by the American Cancer Society, coming from Cancer Prevention Studies.

Dr. Sears Body Fat Calculator

Dr. Shears calculator publishes the body fat percentage, the lean body mass and the protein requirement. This is in grams and it focuses on the maintenance of the activity level. It is the so-called “zone food block guide” that lists the foods you can use in a meal structure.

MedCal3000

MedCal3000 provides a wide range of related medical formula, along with a decision tree analysis tool and clinical criteria sets. These are used by most medical educators, clinicians, nurses and health care students. A subscription must be made in order to access all the equations.

UMMS Health Calculators

UMMS calculators are being supported by the University of Maryland. It helps in assessing the risks of:

• Asthma
• Cholesterol reduction
• Depression
• HIV
• Exercise
• Alcoholism
• Suicide risk

Aside from this, it also assesses the ratio of:

• Protein
• Carbohydrate
• And Fiber intake

Health Care Insurance Cost Calculator

This calculator allows the comparison of health care options or plans at a given time. It considers monthly premiums, co-payments, deductibles and co-insurance. The variables which will be inputted will be computed for the cost results.

Submitted By: David H. Urmann

Calculators are designed for mathematical calculations. This includes graphing calculators. It is a handheld calculator capable of solving equations and plotting graphs, performing numerous variable tasks. The Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium is one of the best graphing calculators ever to hit the market today.

A graphing calculator is an electronic device used in performing mathematical calculations such as solving equations and plotting graphs. It is programmable, allowing the user to create customized programs for education and scientific/engineering applications.

A graphing calculator can provide several calculations and text lines at the same time. Some have color displays, while others include 3D graphing. The TI-89 Titanium is one of the model graphing calculators popularly used today.

The TI-89 Titanium has a powerful computer algebra system developed by Texas Instruments. This allows the manipulation of symbolic algebraic expressions, where in, it solves the equation in terms of variables.

Hence, the TI-89 Titanium is a replacement of the TI 89 which was released during the summer of 2004. It has four times the ability of the TI 89, especially with regards to its flash memory. More Apps, programs and data are being stored. Thus, the TI-89 Titanium is necessarily a Voyage 200 without an integrated keyboard.

Features:
o TI-89 Titanium handles algebra, calculus, matrices, and statistical functions.
o RAM: 188 KB
o Flash Memory: 2.7 MB
o Pixel Display: 100 by 160 large pixels (split screen view)
o Power: 4 AAA Silver Oxide batteries
o Units: More than 100 in 28 categories
o Stored constants: 20
o 255 symbols in the character set (Greek, system, and international characters).
o Real time rotation- 3D surfaces.
o File sharing with the used of USB on-the-go technology.
o Optional assembly language programming
o Has a 3-D rotation and contour plots.
o Active Calculator Home history screen - can hold up to 99 previous entries for deep recalling purposes.
o Graph mode can stored up to 99 equations for each mode.
o Real and complex numeric results.
o Catalog includes syntax listing of functions and commands.
o With a pre-programmed applications such as CellSheet, Calendar, EE Pro, Contacts, German Localization, Finance French Localization, Planner, Notefolio, Polynomial Root Finder, Simultaneous Equation Solver, Statistics with List Editor, Spanish Localization. Symbolic Math Guide, Study cards and Tasks.
o Analysis: Function values, maximums, roots, minimums, derivatives, integrals intersections, arc lengths, and inflection points.
o Official AP Calculus exam review questions.
o Impact-resistant slide case.
o Compatible with TI Keyboard.
o 1 year warranty

Accessories:
• Silver oxide battery, TI-Presenter , ViewScreen Calculator, Presentation Link Adapter, Applications CD-ROM, USB silver cable for Windows/Mac, TI Connectivity Kit, GraphiTI, TI Keyboard, user's guide, TI-link cable, colored hard slide case, Kickstand Slide Case and warranty info.
Other available applications for TI-89 Titanium are:
• Calculus Made Easy
• Cabri Geometry
• Calculus Tools App
• DataMate App
• EE200
• Polynomial Root Finder App
• TI-Reader App
• The Geometer's Sketchpad
• LogIn App
• US Presidents App
• ME*Pro App
• LearningCheck App

School Used
The TI-89 Tritium, along with the other series, is one of the most function-rich and powerful graphing calculators which can be legally used in many testing situations. It is also allowed on:
• AP Calculus
• AP Physics
• AP Statistics
• PSAT/NMSQT
• AP Chemistry
• Math IC and IIC
• SAT I and II
The TI-89 Titanium's advanced functionality helps students, particularly in engineering and mathematics in doing problem solving with ease. Many high school teachers encourage their students to use graphing calculators within the Canadian and American education system. Thus, students tend to buy the TI-89 Titanium because of its game compatibility.

The TI-89 Titanium has really gone a long way. It is more reliable due to its advanced capabilities and its simplified methods. Texas Instruments tend to upgrade the TI technology more over the years, especially focusing on its fully featured functionality for the modern day computing.

Submitted By: Laura Robb

Once a month I invite students to choose a book they read and present a short, 2 to 3 minute book talk. From the start of the school year, it's helpful for you to model the book talking process by giving short talks on new additions to your classroom library or on favorite books, magazines, or graphic novels you want to spotlight. When a students says that a book was the "best" or "I couldn't put it down" or "I thought about it all day," they become topnotch salespersons for a favorite book. Students' recommendations inspire their peers to check out an author, a topic, or a specific title. That's why book talks are great advertisements for reading; they can also serve as assessments.

What follows are guidelines that discourage students from retelling their book's plot, giving away the ending, or explaining all of the information they learned.

First: Give students time to prepare, offer students book talk guidelines (see samples below) two to four days before books talks take place.

Second: Have students use the book talk guidelines to prepare notes on an index card because notes help students think about the points they plan to make.

Third: Have students limit their book talks to 2 to 3 minutes. Following the guidelines and preparing for and rehearsing books talks help s students meet this guideline.

Fourth: Ask students to speak slowly and clearly, and make eye contact with the audience.

Next, have students create listening standards for the audience. Here are standards a sixth grade class created:

Be a good listener.

Save your questions for the end of the book talk.

Avoid laughing, making faces, reading, doodling, or giggling. Such behaviors can make the book talker uncomfortable and lost concentrations.

There will be time for one to two questions for each book talk.

When I listen to book talks, I jot down notes on a 3-by-5-inch sticky note or in a composition book, to address how well the students are following the guidelines in the book talk. If you want to assign a grade, here's the criteria I use: allot 60 to 65 percent for content and 35 to 40 percent for presentation.

Here are guidelines for three Book Talks, You'll find more in Differentiating Reading Instruction and Teaching Reading: A Complete Resource For Grades four and Up.

Book Talk: Think About the Issue
State the title and author.
Explain the issue in your book.
Explain two things your book taught you about this issue.
Discuss whether this book changed your opinion about this issue, and explain how.

Book Talk: Shivery Suspense
State the title, author, and genre.
Read two examples of suspense from the book and explain why you felt each one was suspenseful.
Would you recommend this book to others? Explain.

Book Talk: Realistic Fiction
State the title and author
Identify three elements, such as setting, problems, or conflicts, and explain how each one is realistic.

Choose an event or character with which you connected and explain the connection.

These book talk guidelines encourage students to reflect on a specific element and showcase their understanding. You and your students can design book talks for other genres, for highlighting character, topic, or theme. I recommend that you have students present their books talks over two class periods. You'll find the "audience" listens better, and you'll also be able to complete other work with your students.