A nation’s prosperity is defined by the residents’ willingness to achieve it. Thus, it is great to know that Filipinos are taking advantage of educational opportunities thrown their way. It is not everyday that people are given the chance to drastically improve the way they are living. The fact alone that many residents of Iloilo City took part of an educational program should evoke genuine happiness from every Filipino citizen. The numerous scholarship applications received by Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas only affirms that many of the city’s residents are indeed availing of President GMA’s scholarship program under Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Willing high School Graduates aged Eighteen to Fifty-Five years old will get a chance to enroll in an eight-hour training program everyday. Some of the learning courses offered by the different schools range from food and beverage services, welding, bartending to housekeeping; medical transcriptions and commercial cooking are the courses offered by St. Zita Training and Development Center, Inc. and KRYZ Culinary Arts and Restaurant Institute, respectively.

Aside from each beneficiary receiving a daily 60 peso allowance, every scholar will receive a certificate from TESDA after finishing the said eight-hour training program. These certificates may serve as credentials for job applications, making the lives of many Iloilo City residents better. As it remains a “big hit” in Iloilo City, many more are expected to sign up until the end of the program in December 2009. We can only hope for the same driving spirit in our other cities.

The best method for improving educational standards is to utilize every tool available including state-of-the-art technology. Computers and the Internet have expanded the way in which information can be delivered to the students. Today, networking technologies provide a valuable opportunity for teachers to practice new learning techniques and for students to acquire them.

Teachers are now more open to grasp the idea that computers facilitate new, interesting and productive learning. The need to adapt this new media into the classroom is a great way to revolutionize the traditional teaching method.

Computer and the internet introduce new materials and provide easy reference to the existing ones. They also provide the students with forums where students can openly communicate with their peers, thus reemphasizing the need for computer-based writing skills at a young age. This way, the students can have a fun way to improve their grammatical skills and increase their vocabulary.

The adoption of technology within the scholastic environment is driving literacy instruction beyond the traditional oral and print-based medium towards online, electronic and multimedia texts. The inclusion of computers in classrooms will create new opportunities for students to embrace writing and collaborating as a means for self-expression. By changing the way that information is presented, processed and used, technology has a big influence on how students read, write and communicate.

In addition to provide an effective writing, reading and sharing community, Technology also offers practical and cost effective resources that support the integration of new technologies within current literacy teaching. The growing influence of technology makes learning more interesting and urges the students to be more productive at school.

One reason for today’s competitive college admission landscape is due to the fact that many students and their parents want to study at the same schools. This phenomenon makes a serious competition for limited spots and aside from that most these college applicants can not actually afford to attend in their first choice of college or university.

Education vs. Cost

Financial considerations are extremely important in getting a higher education and in choosing a college or university to attend. The total college cost including four years of tuition, room and board, fees, books and other expenses could add up to $100,000 and that amount of money is not easy to come by.

Sure, the prestige of studying at a famed college or university will be great on your résumé but will be a total loss if you cannot afford the paper to print it on. However, there are many ways to cut down the college education cost.

One way is to applying for a scholarship or grant. Many colleges and universities offer different types of scholarships which include scholarships for athletes, students planning to study at a particular field and community service. There are also scholarships that are awarded or given to students who have less than perfect academic records. Students can contact the financial office aid school at the college or university they plan to attend and learn if they can qualify for any grants or scholarship provided by the school.

Aside from the tuition fees, books and accommodation, another factor that adds to college cost is the campus lifestyle. Universities and Colleges have different social atmosphere depending on its location which could add up to the total projected college expenses. Doing a little research on these matter will not hurt. Ask advices or insights from current students, college representatives, friends and even college guidance counselor if the school’s lifestyle fits the student’s personality and wallet.

On the whole, students must choose a college or university that offers knock-out academics, impressive financial-aid package and great campus lifestyle. Regardless of stature, popularity, size and location, finding the college or university which offers those three crucial things is the most important consideration for students being enrolling in any college or university.

Do not be swayed by the hype. Be wiser, acquire quality education and spend less.

The Mayor of Providence, Rode Island proposed to tax the 25,000 full-time college students at Brown University and other private colleges in the city of $150 per semester.

Mayor David Ciciline said “the fee would raise $6 - $8 million a year for the city, which is facing $17 million deficit”

The proposal is still in the early stage but it has riled some of Brown University’s students, who said it is unfair to force them to saddle the city’s debt. This only proves that the city has clearly overlooked their volunteer work and other contributions including the money they spent in restaurants, bars and stores.

“We want to support the city as best as we can but financially is not really what we can afford” said Heather Lee, President of Brown Graduate Student Council. “We are more able to provide labor, apply the things that we are learning in the classroom, than we are to write a $300 check.”

College students are already involved in tutoring, arts education and mentoring for public schoolteachers. For instance, Providence College offers students to staff-after-school programs and Brown University is raising money for a $10 million endowment to help the city’s school system.

Even so, Mayor Ciciline said that everyone is expected to help the city through the economic crisis. He wants students to have a vested interest in the city instead of seeing themselves as visitors who are just passing through.

“It is really about a shared commitment to the well-being of your community that you are a part of,” Mayor Ciciline had said. “Everyone should be doing their part and coming to the table.”

Students at Rhode Island College, a state school in the city and the Providence campus of the University of Rhode Island are exempted.

If enacted, it would be the first time that a U.S city has directly taxed college students just for being enrolled.

Joddla Med Siv Joddla Med Siv Cd2 (Krogers Damm)

Classroom organization has lately become the last priority in most teachers’ to-do lists. Quite frankly, Student grades often reflect student organization so low grades would mean lack of order in the area where order is most beneficial.

The following are some possible ways for a teacher to organize the classroom:

Color coding. It is a great visual tool for student organization. As most students are visual learners, relating classroom and study tasks with color will yield more student productivity. With this process comes consistence— color coding will only become successful when it becomes a habit.

Using a Homework Folder. The two pockets of the folder will provide easy organization for students. On the left side, students should put any worksheets or assignments that need to be completed for homework. Once completed, each piece of homework goes directly in the pocket on the right. This organization method will help students keep all their homework together in one place and keep track of to-do’s and other important tasks.

Proper Use of Student Agenda. A student agenda is a tool that teachers can use to their advantage. This is the perfect opportunity to provide direct instruction in time management and organization. It is best for the student and for people assisting the students in their studies, for them to know what to do and where the students stand in class.

It is within a classroom that a student finds motivation to do more and to work harder—

Proper classroom organization would be one of those necessary moving forces to produce better student output.

Here are two facts: Reading makes you smarter and the more reading you do the better.

In a paper called “What Reading Does for the Mind” by Anne E. Cunningham, associate professor of cognition and development at the University of California made a case study and claimed that reading:

-increases vocabulary

-boost general knowledge

-helps keep our memory and reasoning abilities intact as we age

Researchers today believed that reading pour more words into the human brain than conversation and television.

Cunningham’s paper ranked the frequency of 86,741 English words. A word’s frequency is how often a word appears in speech or writing. In speech the average word frequency is 400, meanwhile words in the children books, which people think are simple, have an average frequency of 627. In other words children’s book is more sophisticated than the average conversation.

The only way for you to expand your vocabulary is to learn “rare” words and you can only encounter them through reading a printing page. In a news paper, 68.3 words per 1,000 are “rare”. In children’s literature books, 30.9 words per 1,000 are rare. On prime-time TV it sinks to 22.7 and in conversations it sinks even lower, 17.3 words per 1,000.

It is true that the smarter you are the more stuff you know. Relatively, how much you read was shown to have a big impact on how much you know and by extension, how smart you are.

If you read more, you will likely know more about general facts. Cunningham found out that the more you watch TV, the more likely you will understand a question wrong. But, the more you read, the more you will give right answers. General ability did not matter here; the amount of reading vs. television consumption did.

Reading a lot can also protect your mind when the wear and tear time starts. Even if you reach midlife and over, you can still deliver a strong logic and deductive reasoning if you increase how much you read today.

So even if you are talking to well-educated people, your best shot at expanding your vocabulary is by reading. In fact, an early start in reading is important in predicting a lifetime of literary experience. The act of reading can compensate for modest levels of cognitive ability by building your vocabulary and general knowledge.

How exactly is a “perfect” resume defined? A resume is not merely a fact sheet with a list of past jobs. The best resumes are the ones that reveal who the person is with respect to the job he or she is applying for. The essence of the person and their drive, personality and enthusiasm for their career must be evident.

In writing your resume, begin with a clear professional objective. Make it realistic and as open ended as possible without being vague. Make sure that your goal as a professional leaves an impression on the person handling your application.

Also, highlight your skill strengths. This is what makes an applicant interesting as it allows your personality to shine through the pages. Talk about your work accomplishments in very specific terms, be it a legit job or volunteer work. And when doing so, always put yourself in a bigger frame and display your accomplishments on a grand scale that go above and beyond the traditional job parameters. Give a good impression but be careful not to over-embellish. Never say anything on a resume that is not entirely true because, like an enticing marketing campaign, people reading it will expect the person to be twice as terrific as the resume. Be sure to live up to the name.

Lastly, remember to ‘flawlessly’ get to the point. Most of the people in charge of hiring in applicants reject carelessly written resumes. So, besides not making your resume too long as it will only bore the person reading it, also make sure to check for proper grammar and punctuation.

Remember that, with an effective resume, you will easily find your career niche in this world.